3 months passed by.
Meera now had enough money to buy a house and a car. She left Emerald palace to move into her new apartment. For the first time in many days, she felt free and happy. She continued to work for Adil. Her tolerance for pain and extreme sexual acts earned her a lot of money.
Aryan received a phone call. It was Meera.
"Yes, Meera," he said, "Tell me."
"Any update on Sharon?" she asked.
"Well," Aryan said, "She is a slippery one. The news is that her mother passed away due to an illness a few days ago. Now she has 2 younger siblings to take care of. But she had fled with her siblings. My men are looking for her now. No one seems to know where exactly she may have gone, she could be anywhere in the world, that's why it is taking time. The social media profiles of her siblings are under the scanner. I am sure one of them will slip up and give up their new location. But I'll let you know as soon as I have concrete information."
"Alright..." she said, "Where are you right now?"
"At home," he said, "Why do you ask?"
"Because you are coming over for dinner tonight at my place," Meera said.
"Thanks Meera," he said politely, "But it's really not necessary."
"Drop your Aryan and get out of your house," she ordered him, "I'm waiting for you outside."
Aryan reluctantly got out of his house. He was surprised to see Meera driving a brand-new car. She looked so happy; she was grinning from ear to ear.
"How's my new car?" she asked, beaming with excitement.
"She is a beauty," he said.
"Well, then hop in!" she chirped.
Aryan got into the car and Meera drove off.
"Business has been great," Meera said jubilantly, "I've never seen so much money in my life, and now I can buy stuff that I like...Adil totally loves me! He says I've made him more money than any other girl he's had. We are like making a fortune together. I am his top girl now and he has reserved me for the most elite clients. And Adil's got this money laundering system in place for me. Technically, now I own a company that manufactures mops. Can you believe I am actually paying taxes! And I've bought this awesome car from the honest tax paid income I earned from selling mops."
"That's a lot of awesomeness happening there!" Aryan said with a bright smile.
"Wait till you see my new house," she said, barely containing her excitement, "It's amazing! It's got this beautiful view of the sea like I always wanted!"
Aryan was quietly smiling at her.
She led him to her new apartment on the 22nd floor of a skyscraper. It was evening by then, and they could see the sun slowly set in the Arabian sea. The city lights came to life and the city began to gleam below.
"Isn't the view amazing!" she gasped holding the balcony railing.
"It is indeed," Aryan said, looking into her eyes with a smile.
Meera blushed. She walked gracefully towards him. Her eyes were moist with emotion. "Aryan, today, I have everything that I dreamed of...and I.." she choked her eyes getting tearful, "I'm just so happy, and I just wanted to share my joy with someone...and you are the only person I could think of...I just want you to stay for the evening, have dinner with me...and just hold me. You don't have to do anything that you don't want to, just be with me, it's just that I am so happy today...and I didn't want to be alone. Just tonight...and you can go in the morning...you are the closest thing I have to a friend..."
Then she took a deep breath getting a hold of her emotions, and smiled bravely. Then she lovingly touched his cheek and asked, "I hope I'm not asking for anything unreasonable."
Aryan pulled her close and gave her a warm hug, "It would be my pleasure to be with you," he said.
Meera was really happy that evening. She showed him around her new house. Her flat was furnished with exquisite furniture, and was decorated beautifully. He noticed a huge collection of books she had on all kinds of topics.
"So, you've been reading?" Aryan asked, looking at her books.
"Yeah," she said with a bright smile, "I love to read. I never got a chance to go to school or college but somehow, I can read and write. Maybe some kind-hearted person taught me, I can barely remember. So, I just try to educate myself by reading as much as I can in my free time."
Aryan noticed a photo frame with a picture of Meera and Kabir. He picked up the frame and smiled. "That's a beautiful picture," he said.
Meera smiled weakly. "It is for the nights I can't sleep, I just hold this frame to my heart, and...I just feel a little better," she said.
Aryan smiled and hugged her.
Later that evening, they had dinner together and Meera and then led him to the bedroom.
She made him sit on the bed and started running her hands on his body. She realized that he was hesitant.
"You don't have to have sex with me," she said with a smile, "I just want to hold you...if that's ok?"
"Hey Meera," he said roughly pulling her onto his lap, "Don't overthink, come here."
He locked lips with her gently running his fingers through her hair.
"I wanna show you something," she said, her eyes glowing with excitement and she slipped her dress off her shoulders letting it fall to the floor, revealing her perfect body. "The tattoos, do you see a difference?" she asked.
"Yes," Aryan said, "They look fainter."
"I've been undergoing laser treatments for tattoo removal. Mithila introduced me to a good dermatologist," Meera said, "I've had two sessions so far, and they are already so much fainter! The doctor says in another 6-7 sessions they will be gone completely! The thought itself makes me so happy...I'm going to be truly free Aryan, then...no one will look at my body and think dirty things..."