Hello everyone! I know I said I would update in April, but I got bored of studying and decided to take a break in between. Also, I’m really sorry that I couldn’t reply to your comments, but I read all of them. Thank you everyone for all the love and the appreciation. Definitely means a lot to me.
For those of you who have missed the 16th chapter, here is the link :
https://www.tellyupdates.com/in-the-name-of-love-ishq-mein-marjawan-chapter-16/
The next morning when Riddhima was about to head for her college, she heard Anupriya call her from behind.
“Yes Aunty?” she asked.
“Riddhima, few guests are going to come over in the afternoon. So make sure that you’re back home by atleast 3PM.”
“But I have lab sessions today afternoon, so…”
“So what?” said Anupriya furiously. “I’m sure that the sky won’t fall down if you skip classes just for one day. I don’t know how it was in your house, but here at VR mansion, we take great care to follow all etiquettes. It would be considered absolutely ill-mannered, if any of the family member does not remain at home to welcome the guests.”
Riddhima sighed. The Raisinghanias had been very generous and polite towards her and she could never even fully repay them for what they had done with her and her brother. The least she could do was to obey what was being asked from her.
“Fine Aunty. I’ll be back home right in time.”
“Good,” said Anupriya. “That’s what I wanted to hear from you.”
After Riddhima had left, Gayatri came upto Anupriya. “Who are these guests for whom you are getting so excited and have even asked D’Souza to prepare all these delicacies?”
“Well, yesterday at the party, I happened to meet my friend, Priya, who met Riddhima and immediately liked her for her son Akshat. So today, the entire Goenka family is coming over to personally meet Riddhima,” said Anupriya rubbing her hands in glee.
Gayatri was shocked. “What? How can you even agree for such a thing Anupriya when you very well know that I had already chosen Riddhima for our Vansh? This is totally unacceptable!”
“Maa first of all, it wasn’t me but Priya herself who had asked for Riddhima’s hand,” she lied through her teeth. “So what was I supposed to even do? Should I have plainly refused the proposal? What reason could I have possibly cited? Obviously, I couldn’t tell her that Riddhima and Vansh’s alliance has been prefixed, because nothing’s even confirmed as of now.”
Gayatri tried to protest. “But….”
“But what Maa? Haven’t you seen how Vansh and Riddhima are constantly at loggerheads? They are literally poles apart, like the sun and the moon! They also have an enormous age gap between them, how do you even expect them to live together?”
Gayatri kept quiet for some time. She realized that what Anupriya was absolutely true. “I don’t really know, but Riddhima is too young to get married…”
“Don’t worry about that, Maa. They are ready to wait until Riddhima completes her studies. Akshat is a very nice guy, and you should know that because you have met him umpteen number of times. Let Riddhima meet Akshat atleast for once, for who knows they might start liking each other even?”
Gayatri finally agreed to it, but her heart was aching. In spite of all the arguments she saw taking place between Riddhima and Vansh, her heart still strongly felt that they both were meant to be each other’s.
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Vansh was sitting in his personal cabin, intently listening to Angre. Apparently, he had managed to acquire some vital information regarding Sushant’s case, and was disclosing the same to Vansh.
Angre started, “My informers told me of a woman called Kamla Devi living in a chawl, whose husband disappeared few days back. Her husband was a local pickpocket. On matching the blood group and other body dimensions, I realized that he must be the same man whose body the police has found.”
“How sure are you Angre?” asked Vansh.
“99 percent. Of course, there’s still a one percent chance, that I might be wrong,” said Angre. “But Boss, there was a very strange thing that I found. When I inspected Kamla Devi’s house, I found a large bundle of money hidden under the mattress. When I quizzed her about it, she turned white and gave some lame excuse that didn’t make any sense. When I started narrating about Sushant Sinha’s case in front of her, she started sweating profusely. There is definitely something sinister going around, but she is not ready to reveal anything yet.”
Vansh closed his eyes, thinking deeply. “Interesting, very interesting. That woman surely knows more than what she is showing us. Ask your men to watch her house closely. Tomorrow I’ll interrogate her myself, and I’m sure she’ll break down under the pressure.”
“Yes Boss,” said Angre. “I’ve already assigned two men who are keeping a close eye upon her.”
Vansh’s eyes jerk opened, as a sudden realization dawned upon him. “Wait Angre. Didn’t you find it strange that the entire body was so badly burnt, yet the wallet was relatively undamaged? It’s as if someone purposely kept the wallet there, only so that we can obtain Sushant Uncle’s driving license and letter from it. It’s as if someone wants to shove this belief down our throats that Sushant Uncle has indeed died!”
Angre said, “Wait, it now makes sense! This is a case of identity theft! There is someone who wants us to believe that Sushant has died. That is why they even got a roadside thief to pose as Sushant Uncle, who would later burn himself to death. They might have promised him that they would pay a large sum of money to his wife after his death, and that explains the bundles of notes found in her house!”
“That’s right Angre. That’s how it must have happened. But of course the plan backfired, once the blood and DNA tests were done,” said Vansh. “But the main question is, that why would someone want to fake Sushant Uncle’s death? Is he really alive, and if yes, where is he? Did someone hold him captive? Is he kept confined by the same people who tried to forge his death? But one thing is for sure, whoever has done this, is a very powerful person with lots of contacts. A layman cannot even think of carrying out such a master plan!”
Vansh continued, “Angre, we must be very careful. I’m sure that Kamla Devi will definitely inform about us to the main mastermind. A single mistake, and we lose her. I would have questioned her today itself, but unfortunately Mom has invited certain guests, and wants me specifically to be home. But tomorrow, the first thing we do it to interrogate her.”
“Boss, should I inform this to Riddhima?” asked Angre.
“Absolutely not,” said Vansh. “She is finally starting to stay happy, I don’t want her to worry herself once again. We’ll reveal everything to her, once we have cracked the case.”
“But Boss, since I took up the case, Riddhima has literally been bugging me day and night, asking me if I have made any progress in the case or not. So much so that, I’m tired of dodging out of her sight!”
Vansh chuckled. “Angre, you are Vansh Raisinghania’s personal assistant, a trained bodyguard and a private investigator too, and yet you are getting afraid of a random girl? But of course, she is very stubborn, and she is not random at all. In fact she is special.” Vansh now had a wide smile on his face.
Angre couldn’t believe his eyes. He had never seen his boss smile so much, and here he was smiling and chuckling heartily at the mention of Riddhima. What was even going on?
____________________________________________________
When Riddhima returned back home, she was met with a mouth-watering aroma coming from the kitchen.
“Seems like these guests are really important ones. But who can they exactly be?” she said out aloud.
“Priya is my friend,” said Anupriya who had overheard her. “She is the one who is coming over, along with her husband and her son.”
“Oh, I see,” said Riddhima not knowing what to say.
Anupriya smiled at her. “Well, I’m happy that atleast for once, you did as I asked you to. Anyways, they’ll be here any minute, so why don’t you get ready quickly? God has already made you beautiful, but a little bit of touch up here and there would do no harm.”
Riddhima was still very confused and she had no idea why Anupriya was insisting so much on dressing up. The guests were Anupriya’s friends, not hers, that they would be interested in looking at her.
She was trying to decide what to wear for the occasion, when Sia entered her room.
“Thank God Sia, you are here! I cannot even understand what is going on, but the only thing I know is that something isn’t right.”
“Wait, did nobody inform you yet?” asked a bewildered Sia.
“Inform what?” asked Riddhima looking skeptical.
“The Goenkas are coming here to ask your hand in marriage for their only son, Akshat Goenka!” said Sia.
Riddhima was shocked beyond belief. A marriage proposal? For her? How could Anupriya just arrange an alliance for her, without even consulting her? Who had given this much right to her? She was filled with so much rage, that she started throwing her clothes around.
“Riddhima just relax!” said Sia trying to calm her down.
“Relax? Like seriously? I should sit back and just let myself be at ease, while my marriage is fixed with a random stranger without my permission?” shouted Riddhima. “I am NOT going to meet anyone! Tell this to everyone.”
Sia was alarmed to see Riddhima behave this way. This avatar was something completely new to her. She decided to not say anything further, and quietly leave away from there.
“God only knows what will happen when the Goenkas arrive,” said Sia to herself.
____________________________________________________
“What was the need to do all this formality?” asked Priya looking at the large tray of snacks and beverages kept in front of them. “We only came here to meet the girl and finalize everything, that’s all.”
Anupriya grinned widely and said, “C’mon! Usually you come here as my friend, but today you came here as part of the groom-to-be’s family! How much ever modern we become, but the truth is that the groom’s family will always have an upper hand over the bride’s family.” Turning towards Gayatri, she said, “Am I right Maa?”
Gayatri looked lost in her own thoughts, but managed to put on a fake smile. “Yes, that’s true.”
Grabbing a chicken lollipop, Priya said, “To be honest, my Akshat doesn’t have any dearth of girls waiting to marry him. And why not, Akshat is good-looking, educated, belongs to a good family, and is so intelligent that he is soon going to be placed at ISRO! But what do we do, the only girl that all three of us seemed to equally like is only Riddhima. She is the type of daughter-in-law that I always dreamt of for my son. Beauty with brains!”
“Wow, Akshat is soon going to be appointed at ISRO! That is great news! But, isn’t it’s headquarter at Bangalore?” asked Anupriya.
Akshat who had remained quiet for quite some time, decided to now speak. “Yes Aunty, I will soon have to move to Bangalore. I’m supposed to join from next month onwards.”
Anupriya did a happy dance in her mind. Akshat was moving to Bangalore, which meant that Riddhima would also move in with him to Bangalore once they were married. Riddhima would be permanently going far away from their lives, once this marriage was done.
Just then Vansh arrived from his office, and was taken aback by the extravagant arrangements done for the guests.
“Hello Vansh! How are you beta?” asked Mrs. and Mr. Goenka in unison.
“I am doing well, thank you,” said Vansh quickly. “Excuse me, but Mom can I have a word with you in private?”
Anupriya said, “Sure, son. Could you all please excuse us for a minute?”
After they had moved away to a corner, Vansh asked, “Mom, what’s going on?”
Anupriya hesitated. She knew that Vansh wouldn’t take it in a good stride, but nevertheless, she had to tell him the truth.
“Actually, they are here for Riddhima’s alliance,” she said quietly.
Vansh was so appalled, that his face changed to a bright red colour. “What the hell!”
“Calm down Vansh,” said Anupriya.
“How could you even think of this? Riddhima is so young, she is just nineteen for heaven’s sake and is still studying!” said Vansh clenching his fists.
“Akshat is a very nice guy. Plus they are very supportive and broad-minded people, they would have no problem if Riddhima even decides to complete her education after the marriage,” said Anupriya.
“This is utter nonsense!” Vansh banged his fist on the wall. He himself could not understand why he was reacting this way, but he knew he couldn’t let this happen. He didn’t want Riddhima to get married to anyone. Not now, not even later.
“Vansh, please don’t create a scene,” said Anupriya trying to shush him up. “The guests are here, we need to behave cordially. Let Riddhima decide what she wants to do, as this is her life after all.”
Just then Ishani came towards them worriedly. “Mom, Riddhima is not even opening the door and has plainly refused to meet Akshat and his family!”
“What?” blurted out Anupriya. “How dare this girl? I’ll see how she doesn’t come down now.”
Saying this, she took the stairs to Riddhima’s room. Vansh closely followed her.
Anupriya banged upon the door to Riddhima’s bedroom. “Riddhima, open the door! Come out at once!”
Riddhima finally opened the door and was now standing face-to-face with Anurpriya. She saw Vansh too standing a short distance away.
Anupriya looked at her up and down. “Why are you not ready yet?” she asked.
Riddhima took in a deep breath. She was angry, very angry, so much so that, she was actually afraid she might say something nasty. But she decided that she had to keep her emotions in control and speak calmly.
“Didn’t Ishani pass on the message that I will not be meeting anyone?”
Now it was Anupriya’s turn to get furious. “Excuse me young lady, but what in the world do you think of yourself? Do you see yourself as a royal princess and us as your loyal courtiers whom you could keep waiting for as long as you desired?”
“I said I WON’T meet them, and that’s final,” said Riddhima sternly.
“Look at the audacity of this girl. How ill-mannered she is! You don’t even have basic manners that you should never keep the guests in waiting. Is this what your mother taught you?” snarled Anupriya.
“Excuse me! But you have no rights to comment upon my mother,” said Riddhima angrily. “As far as manners are concerned, not only me, but even you Aunty, don’t have them.”
“What!” said Anupriya surprised at Riddhima’s tone.
“Yes! Are these manners enough that you go and fix up my marriage up with a random guy without even once asking me? I don’t think so.”
Anupriya tried to explain. “I did not fix up your marriage yet. That will be your final decision that you’d have to take after meeting Akshat. Plus, I did not arrange the alliance with any roadside goon. Akshat is a very nice guy, he’s so intelligent that he’s got a job at ISRO. Can you believe it ISRO!”
Riddhima refused to budge. “I don’t care if he works at ISRO or even NASA! That’s not my call. I am not going to marry him just because he is nice, smart and rich. Besides, there are many nice guys out there in this world, that doesn’t mean I’ll go around and marry every one of them!”
“Okay, you want to reject him, that’s fine with me. But atleast come down and meet them once? Atleast for the sake of hospitality and this family’s respect?” requested Anupriya.
“I’m sorry, Aunty. But I will not come down. When I have already made up my mind to reject this alliance, then why should I waste his and his family’s time, and simply give an opportunity for them to raise their hopes unnecessarily?” said Riddhima.
Anupriya was burning with so much rage that she almost felt like giving her a tight slap. But obviously, she couldn’t do that.
“I don’t even understand what exactly are you showing this much attitude for? Even if you take a thousand lanterns along with you, you wouldn’t be able to find a gentleman like Akshat, I can guarantee you that.”
“I do not need such a guy who requires a lantern to be discovered!” said Riddhima. She had had enough, and she wasn’t going to be dictated around like that. “I know that you don’t seem to like me much, but that doesn’t mean you’ll get me married just to get rid of me! If you had such a big problem with me, you should had told me and I’d have happily left the house on my own accord.”
Before Anupriya could say anything further, Vansh jumped into the conversation. “How dare you speak to my mother like that?”
Riddhima tried to explain, but Vansh was in no mood to listen to her.
“Go to your room at once,” he ordered. “Right now.”
Riddhima stared at him for some time before going inside and shutting the door.
“Vansh, why did you ask that girl to head inside? She needs to come down and meet the Goenkas,” said Anupriya.
“No Mom, she won’t.”
“What are you saying? They have been waiting for long. It won’t feel right if she doesn’t meet them, it will look really disrespectful,” said Anupriya.
“So you should have thought about all this before inviting them over here?” shouted Vansh. “It is entirely your mistake that you didn’t think of asking Riddhima even for once. I won’t allow anyone to force her against her wishes. It is her life, and she gets to decide what she does with it.”
Riddhima who stood behind the door, was intently listening to Vansh speaking in her defence. Seeing someone support her, made her heart warm.
Anupriya objected, “But what would I tell the Goenkas? And how would they react?”
“I DON’T care! That’s up to you how you handle this situation,” said Vansh. “And since you were the one who created this mess in the first place, might as well you clear it up yourself. I’m out of this.” Saying this, he angrily marched off.
The Goenkas were very livid when Anupriya narrated the entire ordeal to them.
“Such disrespect! That too in the house of the Raisinghanias! Consider our friendship to be officially over, Anupriya. We will never forget this insult. Our Akshat is a one in a million! He can get any girl he wants. It was only out of sympathy for that girl that we brought up this proposal inspite of knowing about her horrid past and family background.”
Anupriya listened to all the humiliation silently. But from inside, she was raging at Riddhima.
____________________________________________________
Riddhima was crouched up on the bed, thinking about all that happened today, when she heard a knock. It was Sia.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“Yes, I think so,” said Riddhima quietly.
Sia inhaled deeply. What she was going to now say, could make Riddhima make really angry, but she had to do that at any cost.
“Riddhima, don’t take me wrong, but I really feel you shouldn’t have behaved that way,” said Sia. “The Goenkas insulted Mom a lot. She even lost a really good friend because of that, and I don’t think that things can ever turn normal between them.”
“Of course, she is your mother, so it is obvious that you would take her side,” said Riddhima sounding hurt. “You are turning a complete blind eye to the wrong that she did.”
Sia said, “I know what she did was wrong, but things could have been handled in a better way if you would have met the Goenkas atleast. You could later reject the alliance, and then atleast you and our family wouldn’t have looked as haughty as we now do.”
There was an awkward silence, when Riddhima suddenly blurted out, “I love someone else.”
“What?”
Riddhima said, “Yes, and that is why I refused to meet Akshat. Because that would be betrayal on my part that I’m meeting up guys for marriage, when I am already in a relationship. And I cannot betray, because I hate betrayal.”
“Why didn’t you tell this before? Mom and everyone else are thinking so wrongly about you,” said Sia. “But don’t worry, I’ll go and clear this matter once and for all.”
____________________________________________________
Downstairs, Anupriya was angrily grumbling in front of Gayatri and Chanchal. Chanchal was backing her up and further instigating her against Riddhima.
Gayatri had had enough of all this. “Stop it Chanchal! Anupriya is understandably angry with Riddhima, and instead of calming her down, you are adding more fuel to the fire. How distasteful!”
Anupriya said, “Maa, you were the one who always used to ask us to consider Riddhima as our daughter. Tell me, would my own daughter behave in a similar manner and get me insulted in front of the guests and bring a bad name to the Raisinghania family? Look at Ishani, she can also be very stubborn when she wants, but she has never ever gone against me! And on the other hand, we have this ill-mannered girl, Riddhima with us.”
Vansh came downstairs too listening to all the commotion. “What’s done is done! Mom, please stop stretching the matter.”
“Of course, you would say that only,” said Anupriya sarcastically. She still couldn’t believe that her own son had almost scolded her for a random girl.
Just then Sia came towards them. “Mom, Riddhima is not at fault.”
Everyone looked at her intently.
Anupriya said, “Vansh and Maa were no less, that you also started favouring her Sia.”
“Mom, Riddhima had a very good reason to do all this. She already loves someone else!” said Sia.
Anupriya was surprised to hear this. “Riddhima loves somebody? Who can it be? I just hope it is not Vansh!” she thought worriedly.
Vansh was also shocked. As he was wondering who it could be, a sudden thought crossed his mind. What if….she was talking about….him?? He didn’t know why but even though nothing as such had happened between the both of them, he half hoped that it was him only whom Riddhima was in love with.
Precap : Riddhima tells Vansh that she loves her father’s friend’s son. Vansh feels dejected.
Angre informs Vansh that Kamla Devi has run away.
Vansh tells Riddhima that he wants to meet her boyfriend. He and Kabir come face-to-face. They are shocked to see each other.
That is it for today guys! Hope you guys liked it. If you do, do not forget to comment. I’m not sure when the next update would come, but from 19th-20th April onwards, I’ll start posting regularly, that’s what I can say for now.