Read The Forbidden Daughter for Free Online

dying down. The hired killer, who had just driven away from his house, had come to inform him that the investigation was also beginning to wane. The superintendent was getting frustrated with the dead-end case and was talking about closing it, calling it a robbery gone awry. The police still had no clue as to who had committed the murder.
    Karnik’s prayers had been answered.
    Meanwhile, he had paid several hundred thousand rupees of his hard-earned cash to the killer. He could only hope the man didn’t plan to blackmail him at a later date. He was a sly one, that fellow—and greedy. He was capable of extortion, too. If he could kill so casually, blackmail would come just as easily. If that happened, Karnik was doomed.
    At this point, he had no faith in anyone. If he himself could go from being a decent, family-oriented man of medicine to someone who blatantly broke the laws of the country as well as those of God, then why couldn’t someone else?
    Both his children, the son and daughter, were good people, both honest doctors and well settled. His wife was a pious woman. He and his family were respected in this town. At the THE
    FORBIDDEN
    DAUGHTER 29
    tail end of his career he had managed to jeopardize the esteem he’d earned over a lifetime.
    Stupid, stupid! But it was too late to turn back.
    Shutting off the computer, he rose to his feet and stretched.
    He had deleted all the records from his computer, then made sure they were purged from the electronic trash bin. Hopefully there was no trace of his abortions left anywhere.
    Fortunately he had always performed the clinical procedure alone, each and every time, with no nursing staff or any of his servants present. It had been done privately in his office, after hours and on Sundays. Even his wife had no idea about it. No one except the patient and her husband knew what was happening, and they had more to lose than he by making the information public.
    Shutting off the lights, he shuffled off to eat his supper. As he started to sit in his usual chair at the head of the dining table, his wife, Neela, looked at him with a slight frown. “Who was that man you were meeting so late?”
    “He is . . . the repairman who came to fix my computer.” He hated lying to his wife, especially when she was so trusting of him.
    While he waited for the cook to serve their dinner, Karnik sensed Neela’s discerning eyes studying him. How much had she guessed?
    He made a silent resolution. He would perform no more abortions. Never again.

    Chapter 4
    The early morning gloom was so thick Isha could almost feel it around her shoulders, like a mantle, too heavy to be removed and tossed aside. The Tilak household was still in deep mourning. It was five weeks since Nikhil’s death. And yet it felt like it had happened yesterday.
    To add to her anguish, the more she analyzed Nikhil’s bizarre death, the more she was convinced he had been murdered for a reason. She didn’t know for sure what it was or who was behind it. However, after some speculation, she had drawn a few conclusions. Nothing concrete, though—just some theories based on a gut feeling.
    Nikhil had been a friendly individual, well liked and respected by most . . . unless, one of his employees had a grudge against him? Or it could be a competitor. But if that were the case, Nikhil would have mentioned something to her. Every night, as they lay in bed together, they used to share the day’s experiences with each other. He used to talk to her about the business, tell her details of his day at work.
    Shaking off the grim thoughts temporarily, Isha tried to focus on what she was doing: urging Priya to eat her breakfast. Nikhil used to apply some fatherly discipline to make sure the finicky Priya ate.
    Ayee emerged from the devghar— altar room—after finishing her pooja . Her elaborate worship. The night she’d received the shattering news about Nikhil, she’d promptly fainted. The doc-THE
    FORBIDDEN
    DAUGHTER 31
    tor had