Author's pov-

In the shabby shade of narrow, canopied trees that were older than any of the ancestors could remember, stood a girl wearing a tribal salwar and a sleeveless kurti that looked more like a rag. She was peering through the trees, and then tried hiding behind the thick trunks upon listening to the thundering men after her. She was gasping for a breath, evidently the run away plan was teethering at the edges.

"Catch her, I won't let her live this time," could be heard echoing throughout the jungle. It seemed to be a tribal village that lacked any of the modern ethics.

The girl waited watchfully for a minute or two for the crowd to move past that area, and then treaded steadily, hiding among the trees. She reached the edge of the jungle, realizing that she had successfully made it out, she closed her eyes and cried in joy, her lips trembled in hopeful helplessness.

There were two ways — one that led straight out of the jungle to the road, which was a highway, and the other was no route at all: a flashy, shimmery waterfall, more than 200 meters above the land, which led to the outside of the jungle at the cost of one's life. The ambience was grim. The trees and leaves seemed fearful, and the water seemed to cry, pitying the future of the girl who had eloped before as well.

It was six months ago when she had tried eloping and had been caught by the same group of men. She had been tormented every second of her life since then. It wasn't sexual assault by them, but the surrender to a filthy fate where evert day counted to her destruction.

She smirked, looking at the road, caressing her face and wiping the sweat off her forehead. She held a clothes bundle tried together in a big cloth, breathed in once, holding herself together she tried making a leap where she was stepping into her new life, but he glow faded from her cheeks, and she heard the mockery, "So here you are."

She looked back slowly, gulping in her fears, her throat dry with anxiety and anguish. It was though replaced by the rare brazen look — the confident avatar of the girl who had been raised in the low-key lifestyle of a misogynistic household, where not potential and circumstances but patriarchy decided the rules. The man was a twenty-five-year-old, trying to control the life of a girl who didn't even belong to him, except the fact that she did.

Rajveer Rajawat, her nightmare she had made every attempt of surpassing, yet found herself at his disposal.

"Neeev!", he laughed out loud along with his foolish entourage, his hands on his waist as he tried to control his laughter. Even though he had some good-looking features, they were dimmed by his chauvinistic and manipulative demeanor.

Suddenly, he stopped smiling. An angry scowl crossed his face as he twisted his head around and raised hia voice with each passing line, "Second time ! It's the second time Neev that you have tried bringing disgrace to my name. Tomorrow is our wedding and you try to run away a day before. Last time you ran away after our marriage was fixed. I overlooked your mistake, pitying the condition of your family."

And then he stopped, both of them looked at each other with anything but love, her eyes spoke disgust and his spoke challenege. His face that was stone cold till now chased a grin, and he uttered the next words in a jibe,"Family?" And again came a mocking laugh.

Neev kept looking at him, holding a constant eye contact, as he raised his eyebrows and said, ".Now you won't elope, because I will lock you in a cage where you will entertain me. What do you say? You belong to me Neev ", he spoke and then tried going closer and she stepped back, just an inch away from falling down the cliff.

He stopped looking at the waterfall down the cliff, breathed out loud and ran his fingers down his temple. His palms tied together at his back, he stood tall and spoke in a calm voice, as if those were facts hurled at her every now and then,"You know you are mine, your pathetic family sold you to me at a mere 1.5 lakh, you do realise it huh !? Come jaan, let's go, its our wedding tomorrow, we won't fight today".

He offered his palm towards her in a soft act, but was it soft at all ?

Neev didn't say a word. His words kept ringing in her ears, and not a single tear fell from her eyes, because she had decided long ago not to shed tears over the wrongdoing and selfishness of her parents.

The man moved a meter closer to her as she grew anxious and panicked. "You see, Neev, you have no way to run now. So come here yourself. If you misbehave, be ready to be manhandled."

Neev's eyes widened. She grinned, surprising him and his entourage and took a step closer, held out her hand and opened her mouth to speak, her voice low but firm, the voice she thought she had lost but always kept safe for the right day, "To marry you, Rajveer, is a fallacy my family lives in. I'd rather take my chances and die than surrender to you. You will never have me again Rajveer, your obsession is the curse to my life, and I will make sure you never have it forever."

His eyebrows squinted,"What do you mean?"

She looked away at the waterfall and smiled, raising his suspicion. He understood her intention and ran to grab her, but she darted to the side and made a high leap over the water.

Rajveer shrieked out loud, for a second his haphazard movements felt like he would jump in too but his men held him back. Within seconds, she couldn't be seen, and Rajveer wandered around, unable to accept his failure at the hands of the girl who had always surpassed him in every field — be it sports, education, or life; and was the only dream he wanted to fulfill.

Rajveer lost his senses in anger. He fell to his knees and began shouting her name. His men tried calming him down, but it was of no use.

Neev was an eighteen-year-old girl who belonged to the village of Kulbarwan, a place still unknown to most people in the world. The village was economically very weak, with ninety-nine percent of people belonging to the labor class. She came from a Kshatriya background of farmers. She had been engaged to marry Rajveer as soon as she turned eighteen, which was the very next day she eloped.

Rajveer was the elder son of the head of the village, who came from the higher Zamindar background. He had first seen Neev in the field where she was practicing sports.

He had tried assaulting her when she pushed him away. He fell to the ground, dirtying his clothes, which left him furious. He got up and grabbed her by the collar of her dirty shirt when she countered, hit his hand, and his back, throwing him into the field.

Everyone stood there, stunned. She was about to beat him even worse in her anger when her childhood friend Arjun arrived, trying to stop her and calm her down. He made her sit and folded his hands in front of Rajveer, pleading to let the matter go. Rajveer had never felt such hatred and humiliation. He immediately vowed to ruin Neev's life. He went to her parents, who were greedy people worried only about the comfortable life of their son, who was five years younger than Neev. They had sold her to Rajveer, promising to marry her to him when she turned eighteen. Neev heard about this, with Arjun's help, tried eloping. They even made it out of the jungle, but met the police halfway, who had already been informed to catch her. She was brutally beaten that day by her parents. But when Rajveer arrived, she grabbed the belt on its first strike. Blood caked her face, yet she looked at him with valor. Her parents held her tight while Rajveer gave her five hard lashes with the belt. She didn't cry. She kept her eyes closed. Arjun was spared because Neev didn't take his name.

Neev was a sportsperson — a freestyle wrestler. She used to take part in the village's daily activities and would fight with boys, often beating them.

Ever since her marriage was fixed, she had been practicing day and night, so that she would become strong enough to take on the entire village if needed. Finally, she realized that only by running away could her dreams come true and her life be saved from ruin.

Even though she had jumped off the waterfall without caring about her life, she had defeated Rajveer in every way. Rajveer went back home, sobbing in anger. He grabbed Neev's father by the neck and made him stand next to the electricity pole, tied up. Her mother begged him to let him go, but he hit her on the head. Rajveer called his father, Vyomesh Rajawat, who was no better than his son. He arrived smoking a cigar, signaling to Rajveer. Rajveer picked up an axe while the villagers watched, and struck it hard. Neev's mother screamed, eyes wide. His neck was cut, and he struggled to breathe, finding it difficult to survive. Rajveer didn't let him die. He took him to a doctor, got him partially treated, and kept him in the cage he had originally designed for Neev.

His father came and asked in confusion, "What are you doing, Rajveer? If you don't kill him, then how will you get your revenge?"

Rajveer cried in disdain and yelled, "Through his daughter."

"Didn't you say that disgusting girl jumped off the waterfall?"

"She is not someone who will die like this. Even God is protecting her since day one. I am sure she will survive and come back to check on them. If she doesn't, then I will give these two a death worse than I decided for my love NEEV"

END OF THE CHAPTER.

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