I hope you enjoy the story. I hope I have done justice to the original characters. Happy Reading. Constructive Criticism is always welcome.
CHAPTER 7
They had checked into a small 3-star guest house, that was on their way, run by a lovely old couple, who gave them the best room available which they termed as the “honeymoon suite”. It was anything but lavish compared to the hotels Vansh had stayed in but it still exuded a special warmth that he enjoyed over all the other hotels he had stayed in to date.
Riddhimma had locked herself in the bathroom on the pretext of freshening up, but she in reality she was psyching herself up into revealing her entire truth to Vansh. Something she had promised herself and him. It was easier said than done though. Because now that she had gotten to know Vansh she realized, she had fallen in love with him more than she ever anticipated. This was going to be the most difficult thing she had ever done she realized and she just hoped that at the end of it Vansh did not carry another heartbreak like the previous ones. She would hate to be the source of his heartbreak but she realized it was too late for the damage was already done.
When she came out of the bathroom, Vansh had gone into the bathroom to freshen up while they were waiting for food. For Vansh this little day away had been one of the best decisions he made of late. When Riddhimma had weakly whispered that this day not end, he had made a split-second decision to comply. Usually ‘The Vansh Rai Singhania’ never made impulsive decisions. He was the kind of man who planned and planned and then planned some more for his life to be perfect, but this time he just wanted to go with the flow. And so, he stopped by the small guest house he saw on the way and wished that this night not end because he really was not ready to go back to his reality. He wanted to live in this alternate reality all his life.
By the time he was out of the washroom, dinner had come and they both ate in silence. After dinner Vansh had turned on the television and had put on a music channel and asked Riddhimma for a dance which she had happily complied with. They started with a simple waltz which then turned into more of a freestyle party as they danced to random Bollywood numbers, both of them forgetting themselves in that moment. It was weird seeing Vansh dance so freely, but Riddhimma supposed this was who he really was, when he wasn’t being the perfect man everyone expected him to be.
They both fell on the bed heaving and tired but happiest they had ever been in years they supposed. When it was finally time for bed, Riddhimma stopped Vansh from sleeping on the couch. For starters it was awfully short, shorter than the one they had back home, and didn’t look as comfortable either, but if Riddhimma was being honest she didn’t want to separate from him just yet. So they were both laying in facing each other.
Riddhimma gathered all the courage she had and started “Vansh tumhein yaad hai meiney tumhein kaha tha k tumhein aaj apney sarey sawalon k jawab mil jaein ge.”
“Riddhimma…..” Vansh interrupted her, he didn’t want to taint the memory of this night, but there was no stopping Riddhimma.
“Please Vansh…. Aaj mujhey na rokna. Mein nahin chahti k future mein kabhi tum iss din k barey mein socho aur tumharey dil mein koi doubt ho k aaj ka din jo hum ne spend kiya hai, woh koi plan tha ya aik dhokka tha. Mein nahin chahti k tumharey liye aaj k din ki memory taint ho. Bus please promise me Vansh k you won’t hate me, kyun k mein shayad sub kuch bardasht kar paoon lekin tumhari nafrat ya indifference nahin kar paoon gi. Promise me please” she pled.
“Promise.” he replied
She put forth her pinky and he looked at her incredulously
“Iss ka kya karoon mein?” He looked at her confused.
“Uff ho, tumhein pinky promise ka nahin pata? Pinky promise woh wala promise hota hai jo aap kabhi bhi nahin tor saktey. Tou chalo mujehy apni pinky do.”
He put forth his pinky which she immediately locked with hers and sealed the promise. She snuggled into his side, her head on his chest and though Vansh was surprised, he didn’t push her away as Riddhimma had expected. They both needed to draw courage from one another to get through this ordeal.
“Tumhein yaad hai Vansh tum ne mujh se kuch dinon pehlay hi kaha tha k meiney apney dil mein bohat kuch chupa k rakha hua hai, k meray kayi aisey raaz thay, aur batein thein jo mein tum se baant nahin payi. Woh mein aaj tum se baantna chahti hoon. Mein na hamesha se aik simple si life jeena chahti thi, aik simple se admi k saath. Hamara aik paharon mein ghar ho jiss mein hamari aik si choti si dunya ho. Mein family aur pyar ka matlab nahin janti, mujhey lagta tha mein janti thi iss hi liye shayad ghalat insaan se pyar kar baithi. Tum se milney se pehlay mein kisi aur se pyaar karti thi Kabir se Pyar karti thi. Haan wohi Kabir jo uss din bhes badal kar hamarey ghar mein ghus aya tha. Mein uss se itna pyaar karti thi k meiney ussey propose tak kar diya tha, lekin who mujhey bina jawab diye chala gaya. I thought aik PT teacher ko itna kya zaroori kaam hoga, k woh itney important moment k beech mein chala gaya but I tried not to let my fears the best of me. Phir woh mujhey uss din tumhari party mein mila and he asked me to trust him, to meet him where we always met, aur meiney tab bhi uss pe bharosa kiya. Uss din mein jab uss ka wait kar rahi thi, woh aya tou sahi lekin who jiss halat mein aya, mein bohat darr gayi thi. Uss ne kaha k woh aik undercover CBI agent hai, aur who aik bohat khatarnaak criminal k saath lar kar aa raha hai. Woh criminal tum thay Vansh. Mein tum se abhi koi explanation nahin maangu gi Vansh because i trust you. I know that whatever you may be hiding you have your reasons for it. Itna tou jaan hi chuki hoon tumhein. I just want you to know my side of the story. But haan mein uss din ka intezar zaroor karoon gi jab tum mujhey apni puri kahani apni marzi se batao ge. Bus aik request hai Vansh....... Don't take too long." She said surprising Vansh. The woman who went behind his back to look for all her answers is trusting him without any explanations. He was indeed pleasently surprised.
"Anyway, continuing with my side of the story, Kabir told me he had just witnessed a colleague die at your hands and that he had to put you behind bars or die trying. Woh pehli dafa tha jab uss ne mujh se meray pyar ki Qeemat mangi thi, aur meiney bewaqoofon ki tarha haan kar di. Yeh nahin socha k yeh insaan jo mujh se sara time apney profession k barey mein jhoot bolta raha hai woh aur kitni bari bari batein mujh se chupa raha hoga. Uss ne kaha tumhara inner circle infiltrate kar k tumharey khilaaf sabot ikathey karo, aur meiney kiya. Siya se milna was chance, tumhein mujhey who job offer karna was also chance, but uss k agey meri har move Kabir k plan k mutabiq in anticipation of your reaction. Tum ne mujh par jitni baar shaq kiya, tum har baar sahi thay aur mein har baar ghalat. But I couldn’t see that. Mujh pe sirf tumhein Ragini k murder k liye incriminate karney ka bhoot sawaar tha, taakey tumharey arrest k baad mein aur Kabir apni zindagi start kar sakein, like he promised.”
Vansh felt like someone had burned his insides with acid, as he heard Riddhimma narrate her story but he didn’t stop her. He wanted to, he hated how easy it was for her to confess her love for his arch nemesis, but he had also realized that he wasn’t the only one being lied to, being played. She was too.
“Hamari shadi waley din tum ne poocha tha na k meray paas mauqa bhi tha aur time bhi tou mien bhagi kyun nahin? Mein bhagi thi aur almost qamyaab bhi ho gayi thi, lekin uss din Kabir ne apney sar pe bandook rakhi aur kaha k agar who tumhein jail nahin bhijwa paya tou uss k jeenay ka koi maqsad nahin hai. Aur mein aik baar phir apni mohabbat ki qeemat chukaney k liye uss mandap pe aa k baith gayi aur tum se shadi kar li. This started out as a game to put you behind bars lekin mein nahin jaanti kab mein tum pe bharosa karney lagi, kab tum pe depend karney lagi, kab tumhara sahara lenay lagi, aur tumhein sahara denay ki khuwahish karney lagi. Tum ney mujh se poocha tha k mein tumhein trust karti hoon ya nahin? I trust you Vansh, more than you know, iss hi liye shayad mein tumhein yeh sab bataney ki himmat kar rahi hoon. This had started out as a game to put you behind bars, lekin ab yeh meray liye tumhari innocence prove karney ka junoon bann chuka hai. Kyun k mein nahin chahti k koi tumhein aik murderer keh k bulaye, koi bhi tumharey barey mein kuch bhi bura kahe Vansh. Chahe who tumharey ghar waley hon ya bahar waley. I planned on telling you all of this jab meray pass pakka evidence hota, mein shayad sub kuch confess sivaye apney aur Kabir k lekin I realized mein tumhein andheray mein nahin rakh sakti Vansh. I can’t. I respect you too much to do that to you. I lo….. never mind.”
She had wanted to confess her tove to him in that moment. But she knew that after all this nothing but rejection awaited her and she did not have the courage to face that rejection. It was one thing to assume but entirely another for him to say and she didn’t think she’d be able to survive, if he refused her love.
Vansh was waiting for her to complete. Maybe she was going to say she loved him he mused. And that thought made his insides warm, but his mind again had to jolt him and remind him, that he might be getting ahead of himself. For she had just confessed that the reason she married him was to save Kabir and it is entirely possible she wasn’t going to say she loved him, maybe it was something else entirely. And took the wind right out of his sails.
“Aaj mein tumharey agey apney sarey raaz khol k rakh diye hain Vansh. Ab agey tum jo faisla sunao ge woh maanney ko mein tayyar hoon, chahe who gulab hua ya bandook.” Referring to the gift he had given her on the night of their wedding.
“But please don’t hate me Vansh!” She ended her story with a plead, looking up at his face, but he was just looking ahead, his face blank.
All this time Vansh had remained quiet. His mind was working at breakneck speed to try and process everything he was being told. It meant that maybe, just maybe Riddhimma was used by Kabir as a pawn. That she might just be partly innocent and manipulated by Kabir and that lifted some of the burden off of his heart. It felt nice to know that she trusted him enough to come confess her wrongdoing to him despite knowing that he might never forgive her. It made him feel light and for the time he just reveled in these feelings. He might not be ready for all the secrets Angre might bring forth and He might have to take some tough decisions tomorrow, but tonight he felt much better than he did in ages knowing that she trusted him, that in her twisted and warped sense of justice she was trying to protect him. And it made him happy that ‘The Vansh Rai Singhania’, who was everyone’s protector, now had a very tiny but fierce protector of his own.
When he didn’t feel Riddhimma relax, Vansh looked down into her eyes and softly commanded “Sleep, Sweetheart. Let’s not lose sleep over things that are to happen in the future. Besides meiney pinky promise kiya hai na, I could never hate you nor ignore you.” He ended with a soft smile while tugging a wayward strand of her hair behind her ear.
Vansh’s words and smile filled Riddimma with enough assurance that whatever tomorrow might bring she could face it. Maybe even at the end of it all, she and Vansh could possibly start over. Who knew?
And with these assurances in each of their hearts the two closed their eyes and dreamt happy dreams of a happy simple life ahead with each other.
THE END!
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