Bound To You – Chapter 1 – Manali

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For those of you who have missed the intro, here is the link:

https://www.tellyupdates.com/bound-to-you-intro/

Roshan spotted Riddhima standing in a trance on the staircase.
“Hey, Morning Di!”

“Morning Roshan!” She said while trying to fake a smile. She could not possibly disclose her fears to him yet.

She got surprised to see a tray full of delicious looking pancakes on the table, with maple syrup drizzled over them.

“By the time I returned from the church, Roshan Baba had already prepared the breakfast all by himself,” explained Mrs. Francis.

“Oh Roshan, you really didn’t have to do it,” said Riddhima. “You could have waited for me to wake up and make the breakfast for all of us.”

“What difference does it make whether I cook or you cook?” said Roshan. “Plus, you had a really hectic schedule the past entire week, juggling between hospital and home. Finally you got a Sunday all to yourself, and I really want you to make the full use of it.”

Riddhima smiled at her brother. He was right, the last week had been really tight for her. She worked as a physiotherapist at a private hospital, which was also attached to a physiotherapy college. So she taught her students in the daytime, while she saw her patients in the evening.
Roshan himself worked at a reputed MNC, and was doing quite well for himself.

“Are the two mischief-makers up yet?” asked Roshan. Just as he said that, there was a loud thud of footsteps running down the stairs.
“Well, well, well. Speak of the devils, and the devils appear,” laughed Roshan.

“Good morning Mumma. Good morning Mamu.” The kids said in unison, giving each of them a tight hug.

“Good morning cutie-pies. Look what Mamu has made for you guys….pancakes!” said Riddhima.

“Yay! My favourites!” said Reyansh already beginning to munch upon them.

“No, they are my favourites!” said Rhea crossing her arms across her chest.

Riddhima intervened. “No fighting! No fighting! Be like good children and finish your breakfast ASAP.”

“But Mamu, where are my strawberries dipped in chocolate? You know I always want them with pancakes,” said Rhea.

“Oh here comes Miss Bossy and Miss Fussy. Your slave is at your service!” said Roshan giving a little bow. “I’ll get them right away for you Madame.”

Riddhima giggled at this healthy banter. Her Rhea was the little drama queen of the house who always wanted her way, no matter what. On the other hand, her Reyansh was the most well-mannered and calm boy ever who always acted way too mature for his age.

When nobody was looking, Riddhima excused herself and went to a corner to make a call.

“Riddhima?” said the voice from the other end.

“Yes, that’s me Kabir. I got the same dream today also.”

“Just relax Riddhima. Nothing’s gonna happen. You’re just getting paranoid for nothing literally.”

“Kabir, you know right that my sixth sense can never be wrong? I’ve a bad feeling that Vansh may find out about me sooner than I could imagine.”

“Riddhima, when he couldn’t find you out in the past seven years, how could he possibly do that now? He has no freaking idea that currently you are staying in this small town of Manali. Plus, my men are constantly keeping a lookout for you and your family.
But if you are still feeling weary, I could always hype up the security.”

“Yes please do that,” pleaded Riddhima. “This time if Vansh finds me out, he’ll also get to know about his children and how I hid about my pregnancy from him. Then God only knows what he’ll do with me!”

“Don’t worry Riddhima, everything is under control as of now,” assured Kabir.

_________________________________________

Vansh stood in a dark room, the only source of light being a flickering candle. The whole room was surrounded by large portraits of a young, beautiful girl – Riddhima. Out of nowhere, he flung a pocket knife at one of the portraits, shattering it into small pieces of glass.

“It is not your mistake that you betrayed me. In fact, it is my mistake that I ALLOWED you to do the same.”

Just then, he felt a hand over his shoulder. It was his stepmom, Anupriya.

“Till when will you keep hurting yourself for her betrayal?” she asked with tears in her eyes.

It’s been seven years since she went away from our house, from our lives. Please, for heaven’s sake, just remove her from your memories and move on! She just doesn’t deserve to be remembered.”

Vansh jerked off her hand. “Mom, you should know that Vansh Raisinghania neither forgets his betrayers, nor does he let them forget about him. Until I don’t find her and punish her myself, I won’t be able to come at peace.”

Before Anupriya could say anything further, Vansh left from there. She looked at Riddhima’s portrait with disgust, and internally cursed her to never remain happy.

_________________________________________

Vansh was engrossed in an important meeting with few foreign delegates on the 10th floor of his office, when suddenly his right-hand, Angre barged in.

Vansh stared at him furiously. “How dare you Angre!”

“Boss, there is something really important. Even more important than this meeting,” said Angre.

Turning to the delegates, Vansh said, “Excuse me gentlemen, but there’s an emergency. I’ll be back in a while, until then my assistant, Suzie will entertain you all.”

Once in the privacy of his personal cabin, Vansh signalled Angre to speak up.

“I’ve found Riddhima’s location. She is in Manali,” said Angre softly.

Vansh’s eyes widened up. “Manali?”

“Yes Boss. One of our men saw her at a local railway station in Manali. We don’t know her exact address as of now, but we’ll be able to find that out in sometime.”

“Book my ticket for Manali ASAP. Also arrange for my stay over there,” said Vansh.

“But what about your other meetings scheduled for the coming week?” Angre tried to reason out.

“Cancel all of them. Nothing’s more important to me than….Riddhima,” said Vansh.

He thought to himself, “Seven years! Seven years of pain that you had given to me, I’ll return all of it with complete interest, sweetheart.”

_________________________________________

It was 12AM in the night. Everyone was fast asleep, except Riddhima who kept tossing and turning in the bed. Even though Kabir had increased the security, she felt a weird feeling of uneasiness creeping through her.

Bang! She jumped up with surprise on hearing a loud noise coming from the balcony.
Thud! It sounded like something or someone had fallen down.

She quickly grabbed a pistol in one hand from the drawer that Kabir had given to her for protection. With the other hand, she frantically tried to call Kabir up, but he wasn’t picking either.

Mustering up enough courage, she left her bedroom and headed towards the balcony. From afar, she could see a figure lying on the floor of the balcony. When she went closer, she became shocked to see who it was. “You?”

That is it for today guys. Hope you liked the update. If you do, do not forget to comment below. Question for you all :

Who do you think is the one whom Riddhima found in her balcony?