For those of you who have missed the 12th chapter, here is the link :
https://www.tellyupdates.com/in-the-name-of-love-ishq-mein-marjawan-chapter-12/
Riddhima and Vansh spent the rest of their drive in complete silence. After their car had finally arrived at VR Mansion and before Riddhima could get down, Vansh handed over his blue Versace blazer to her. She stared at him blankly.
“Dadi wouldn’t like to see you this way,” he simply said.
Riddhima looked down at her torn sleeves and nodded. She quickly covered herself with the blazer, and within no time she was surrounded by a strong yet captivating leather scented cologne.
Vansh was relieved that for once she did listen to him without arguing. To be honest, the only reason he wanted her to cover herself up was to protect her from the ogles of the other men in the house – guards, drivers, servants, and of course his own cousin Aryan himself.
When they entered VR Mansion, they found the whole family eagerly waiting for them.
“Thank God you are safe!” cried Gayatri while embracing Riddhima. “You have no idea, how all sorts of wicked thoughts were coming up in my mind!”
“Dids!” said Ishaan running downstairs. He hugged her tightly for atleast minute and it felt like he wouldn’t let her go.
“It’s okay Ishaan,” said Riddhima softly, patting his back. “Look at me, I’m absolutely fine.”
“I was so scared…so damn scared! For a moment I felt I might lose you too as well, just like how I lost Mumma and Papa,” cried Ishaan.
Riddhima could feel her heart become heavy with emotions again, but she had to remain strong.
“I’m never, ever going to leave you Ishaan,” said Riddhima trying to hold back her tears. “And I know we have lost our mother. But we will definitely find our father, and soon he’ll be back with us. I promise you that.”
Aryan decided that it was a golden chance to yet again impress Riddhima and said, “From the time Ishaan has come back from school, he has been worrying for you like hell. I tried so hard to console him, but no, he wouldn’t budge a bit. And not only him but even the rest of the family was quite worried for you. Including me.”
Riddhima definitely could sense the stress on the word ‘me’, but decided to ignore it anyway.
“But Riddhima, tell me one thing beta, why didn’t you take your scooty today to college?” asked Gayatri. “Had you been on your scooty, this problem wouldn’t have even occurred, right?”
Riddhima looked at Vansh and caught him looking at her as well. She understood that Gayatri had not been informed about Vansh punishing her. Gayatri and Vansh loved each other dearly, and she didn’t want to create any rift between them by spilling out this piece of information.
“Dadi, let me tell you what exactly happened….” Vansh tried to say, but Riddhima cut him off abruptly.
“Actually Nani, I got a muscle pull in my left hand when I fell over today morning. That is why I decided not to take my scooty today, and instead hire an auto,” said Riddhima.
Vansh was both surprised and moved by this gesture. She didn’t complain about him to Dadi, when this was exactly what she should have been doing. What exactly was going on in that little head of hers?
“If this was the matter, why didn’t you ask one of our drivers to drop you?” said Gayatri annoyedly. “Next time…..”
“Next time, I promise this will never happen, okay?” said Riddhima caressing Gayayri’s face.
“Okay,” said Gayatri bringing Riddhima’s hands close to her lips.
“Wait, isn’t that Vansh’s blazer?” Chanchal said out loudly. “Why are YOU wearing it Riddhima?”
Riddhima could suddenly feel everyone staring at her questioningly. It kind of felt awkward to tell the family about her, uhm, ripped out dress. As she was thinking about what excuse could be perfect in this situation, Vansh came to her rescue.
“She was cold. I know the weather is quite warm outside, but I guess it was just fear and uncertainty that was making her shiver,” he said.
“Shivering with fright? That too for someone like me? Huh, couldn’t you have come with a better excuse Vansh?” Riddhima thought to herself. Nonetheless, she decided to go with the flow.
“Go to your room and get freshened up,” said Gayatri. “Till then I’ll get Mrs. D’souza to arrange dinner for everyone.”
When Riddhima went upstairs to her bedroom, she was surprised to see a nurse waiting for her.
“Hello ma’am. I was informed that you’ve got few wounds, so I’m here to do the dressing,” said the nurse smiling.
“Wait, who called you over here?” asked Riddhima.
“Mr. Vansh Raisinghania,” the nurse replied.
What? Vansh called the nurse, especially for….her? Riddhima felt touched by this move. She always felt that whatever Vansh did and was doing for her and her brother, was only on his Dadi’s saying. But what he did today for her certainly proved that it was done out of his own concern.
_____________________________________________________
ACP Lakshya was sitting relaxed in his house and treating himself to a glass of whiskey after a tiresome day of work. Some old jazz music played on the radio in the background. Just then, his servant came up to him to inform him that someone was there to see him.
When he saw who it was he said, “Ohh! Inspector Kabir it is! What brings you here? And how is your father doing by the way?”
Kabir took his seat opposite him. He politely refused the glass of whiskey that was being passed over to him. “I came back two days ago, sir. Dad is much better thankfully, but of course we need to continue him on medications and regular checkups. I came today morning to meet you, but I came to know that you were caught up in other important work.”
ACP Lakshya said, “You know how it is Kabir. Elections are coming up and we need to make sure that no political unrest occurs. But inspite of all that, we still had those riots at Nehrunagar. Luckily, the situation at Nehrunagar is now under control.”
“Yes,” said Kabir shifting uncomfortably in the sofa. He didn’t know if it would work, but he had to do it, for Riddhima’s sake.
“Sir, actually there’s something I’ve been wanting to tell you since yesterday. I’ve been following your progress in Sinhas’ case. Sunidhi and Sushant Sinha,” said Kabir.
He waited for the ACP to say something, but when he did not, he continued further. “Sir, I have known the Sinhas since quite a long time. Sushant Sinha was my dad’s good friend. He was a very generous man, you can literally ask anyone who knew him. I cannot accept the fact that you are suspecting him for his wife’s murder.”
“Kabir, you know me very well! You know I wouldn’t blame anyone without any concrete evidence. Sushant had the strongest motive to kill. Also, it doesn’t suit a police officer to get emotional regarding any case,” said the ACP.
“I am not getting emotional, Sir,” said Kabir. “I know proofs are pointing towards Sushant uncle, but I firmly think that someone is trying to frame him. Sir, if you permit me, I’ll like to work on this case alongside you.”
“What? Are you out of your mind?” said the ACP angrily. “You know very well, that is not how things work in the police. Just because you know the Sinhas, doesn’t automatically give you the rights to investigate their case.”
Kabir tried to explain, “So what is the use of my joining the police force then, if I can’t be of any use to my family and friends? Please try to understand, this case is very important for me. And Sir, you already know that I’ve had a very good track record. I’ve cracked all the cases that I’ve worked on….”
“Except that one case, Kabir, which you haven’t able to solve even now,” snapped the ACP.
Kabir sat up straight at the mention of that one case. He had been working on it since many years, yet he was not even anywhere closer to solving it. That one case had become his life’s biggest goal, but he was willing to put it behind for the time being for his love, for his Riddhima.
“Sir, it is strange how people around you do not leave a single chance to remind you of that one failure, even when you have got a whole load of achievements to brag about. Yes, I have failed to solve that particular case. But other than that, I’ve not had a single unsuccessful case. And I assure you, that I’ll successfully crack this case as well, like I did with the others,” finished Kabir.
“Fine, Kabir. I’m ready to take you along on this case. I sincerely hope that you won’t disappoint me this time,” said the ACP.
“Thank you Sir. I’ll start working on it from tomorrow itself then,” said Kabir taking his leave from there.
While leaving from there, Kabir flinched as old memories came back to him, haunting him about how he had been ridiculed in front of the whole world for no mistake of his. No, he couldn’t let his past affect his present with Riddhima.
______________________________________________________
It was 10pm and Vansh had only half an hour left to check up with some important files in his study. A familiar lavender fragrance started to reach towards him, and then he heard a knock.
“Come in Riddhima,” he said without even looking up.
“Wait, how did you know it was me?” she asked popping in her head around the door.
“Your perfume,” he said after sometime.
Riddhima was left amazed. Perfume? He knew her by her perfume? What a strange man….
“What are you doing here, when you should have very well been in your bed, taking some rest?” said Vansh.
“Well, I came to return your blazer,” she said.
“Okay, keep it there,” he said pointing towards a chair.
Vansh waited for Riddhima to leave, but she simply kept standing there.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Uhm…are you free now? I needed to talk to you about something.”
Vansh sighed. He wanted to tell her that he was busy, but instead asked her to go ahead.
“Thank you so much, Mr. Raisinghania,” she said earnestly. “For saving me in the riots.”
Vansh was surprised to hear this from her. All she had ever done was to argue with him. And today she was thanking him. For some unknown reason, it made him feel good. But he wasn’t going to let her know that. So instead, he started scolding her.
“What do you think you were doing, huh? Do you have any idea how your social service could have gone wrong badly? What if you had died?”
“I am not scared of death,” she said quietly.
Vansh was taken aback to hear this. “What did you just say? You are not scared of death?”
“Yes. Death is inevitable. Everyone has to die one day or the other. Why should we feel afraid of something that would certainly happen and we have no way to prevent it? It just does not make any sense,” said Riddhima.
Vansh was flabbergasted. He hadn’t expected her to say something so deep considering how young she was. The only other person he knew who had no fear of death was Vansh himself.
“And what if you had got….” he hesitated before saying. “Raped? Now don’t go around telling me that you are not afraid of that either. Because every girl, every woman on earth fears that.”
“I agree that every woman’s greatest fear is that she’ll get molested. So what should we do, stay back at home cuddled up in our fears? Or instead overcome those very fears and do something that we could be proud of?” said Riddhima. “I am soon going to be a doctor. A female doctor. Do you have any idea how much female doctors have to suffer? They are often subjected to s*xual harassment, by both the fellow doctors, and the patients as well. But do they stop doing their duty? Do they stop treating their patients? No. That’s how a real woman must be. Fearless and strong-willed. I also was simply doing my duty there, Mr. Raisinghania.”
Vansh remained silent for some time. After a long pause he said, “And what about your brother, Ishaan? You go around claiming that there is nothing more important to you than him. So did you not realize that what would happen to him if God forbade, something bad happened with you?”
“Yes. When I was stuck in the riots, I wasn’t afraid of dying. But I was afraid thinking what might become of Ishaan after me,” said Riddhima getting emotional. “That’s why I am here in front of you. Can I ask something from you?”
“What?”
“Can you promise me that if something ever happens to me, you will take Ishaan’s responsibility on your shoulders, atleast until he becomes stable financially?” she said.
Vansh stared at her in awe for a while. What was this girl even made of? Why was she so raw, so different?
“Hmmm,” he nodded in agreement while simultaneously trying to suppress the new set of emotions bursting within him.
“Thank you so much Mr. Raisinghania. It really means a lot to me. At least now, I can die peacefully without having to worry about anything,” she said happily.
Vansh clenched his fists tightly. Thinking about her death, made him feel heart-wrenching. He could not understand why this girl was talking about her own death so casually. And he also could not understand why he felt that way for her.
“I’ll take your leave then. Good night Mr. Raisinghania,” she said.
“Good night, Riddhima,” he said in return.
____________________________________________________
Because of the riots, all schools and colleges were shut for the next day. Riddhima, Ishaan and Nandu got to stay at home and they along with Sia decided to have a game of ludo amongst themselves. Ishaan was in real trouble as Nandu’s pawn was closely following his pawn. He tried hard to get as far as possible, but he was only able to get a two or a one when he rolled the dice. Now it was Nandu’s turn to roll the dice, and she needed a four to kill Ishaan’s pawn.
“C’mon Nandu! All you need is a four!” said Sia excitedly.
Nandu rolled the dice and it turned out to be a six.
“Yes, yes! You still have another chance,” said Riddhima.
“You too Brutus! Dids, you are supposed to support me,” said Ishaan annoyedly.
“Well, Ishaan from now onwards I’ll be supporting Nandu, because she is way cuter than you,” laughed Riddhima.
“What even? That just doesn’t make sense!” remarked Ishaan.
Nandu rolled the dice again and now it was a four.
“Yeah! You are dead Ishaan,” said Nandu happily. She gave a high five to Sia and Riddhima who also started shouting in excitement. Their voices turned so loud, that they could be even be heard by Vansh and Gayatri who were sitting in the living hall downstairs.
Gayatri smiled widely. “Look Vansh, how Riddhima and Ishaan’s arrival has brought back laughs and giggles back in our house.”
“Mmmm,” he said.
“I came to know how you had scolded Nandu really badly the other day,” said Gayatri softly.
“Ohh, so she told you already,” said Vansh.
“Why wouldn’t she tell me? I’m her Badi Dadi, and she never hides anything from me and you know that very well,” said Gayatri. “You took great advantage of my absence, but what you did was completely wrong.”
“Dadi, how am I wrong if I want to discipline my child?” asked Vansh.
Gayatri said, “Discipline is important. But there is something more important than discipline, and that is love and understanding. Nandu’s teachers complained to you about how she was sleeping off during her classes and you simply started yelling at her without even trying to know the reason? She has been getting frightening nightmares since the past two weeks or so. And to avoid them, she is staying up almost the entire night due to which she is not even getting any sufficient sleep.”
She continued, “Beta, children are very sensitive. It is very important that we handle them with utmost love and care. Vansh, I know that you are hiding a deep pain within your heart and you have suffered enough. But it is not Nandu’s fault and you shouldn’t vent out your anger on her like that.”
“What do you mean Dadi?” asked Vansh getting a little angry. “Do you want to imply that I don’t love Nandu?”
“I know you love her Vansh. But loving is not sometimes just not enough. We need to show our love too. Nandu is small now, but when she’ll grow up, she will definitely come to know the truth about her being adopted. Do you want her to think that the only reason you didn’t love her enough was because she wasn’t your own daughter?” said Gayatri.
“Enough Dadi. I don’t want to talk about this further. Had we all not decided that we will never bring up this topic ever?” said Vansh. “As far as Nandu getting to know the truth is concerned, that will never happen. I will never let that happen.” Saying this Vansh left from there, not wanting to take the argument further.
Unbeknown to this conversation downstairs, the four of them decided to start off with another game when Riddhima’s phone started buzzing.
“I’ll come back really quickly,” she said to the others. “Don’t you guys dare to start the game off without me, okay?”
“Okay!” Ishaan, Nandu and Sia said in unison.
Riddhima went to take the call and was surprised to see it was the ACP.
“ACP Lakshya speaking.”
“Yes?” said Riddhima.
The ACP said, “We have found a body behind on one of the highways. The body is almost unrecognizable as it is severely burnt. But there’s a half burnt wallet behind which we presume belonged to your father, Sushant, since it contains his driving license. You need to come so that we can take a DNA test to indeed confirm that it is your father only. Hello? Hello are you listening…?”
But Riddhima had lost all her senses. The phone fell off from her hands, and she herself stumbled to the ground. And before she knew it, she could feel warm tears flow down her cheeks.
Precap : Vansh tells Riddhima that he’ll hire a private detective to investigate her parents’ case only if she helps in officially closing the police case.
That is it for today guys. Hope you liked it. Do not forget to comment below. Questions for you all :
Which case do you think was the one that Kabir had failed to solve many years ago and in fact is still working on it?
Do you think that the body that was found is really Sushant’s?