Bound To You (Book Two) – Chapter 10

A happy new year to everyone. And super sorry for being super late. I was facing some technical issues while logging in, hence the delay. Otherwise these chapters were already written long back.

@Vibhuti Thank you

@Priyanka Thakur Thanks a lot

@Prabhleen Thank you

@Anika Krishnan Thanks a lot

@Disha Thakur Aww, thank you so much! Definitely means a lot to me!Also really sorry for the delay. But hope this double update makes up for it!

@Palak14 Thanks a lot! Hehe, nobody wants Vansh to die, is it?

@Neetu Thank you

@Jayanthi Aww thank you so much! Your comments always seem to bring a smile on my face. So this really means a lot to me.

*

Link to the 9th chapter : https://www.tellyupdates.com/bound-to-you-book-two-chapter-9/

*

“Vansh!”

Riddhima woke up with a jolt. Sleepy eyes, sweaty forehead and messy hair, she looked at her surroundings. She was in the comfort of her room.

She cried remembering Vansh. It had been close to two months since that harrowing incident had occurred where she had lost him.

That fateful night, Angre had rowed their boat to safety to the neighbouring village. Ensuring that an unconscious Riddhima was put under the care of some trusted people, Angre contacted some of the other Intelligence officers requesting them for help.

Within a few hours only, troops were sent to de-escalate the situation at Chiria. Kabir who himself had fainted after having killed his enemies, was rescued. Not only that, taking Kabir’s help later on, the Indian Army troops even opened fire on the Maoist secret underground basement, thus killing almost all important members of their gang. With Saanvi, Surya and Vasooli dead, the three main people orchestrating the bomb blasts, everything was under control. Their respective houses were ransacked and all the dangerous explosives and bombs were seized.

With the Maoists eradicated from Chiria, it once again came under the control of the Indian Government. Of course, it would take time for the people of that village to accept and adjust to the new changes, but still it was a big win for the Government.

That is how the bomb blasts that were planning to be held across the country were successfully curbed. Even though it was a moment of joy for everyone since thousands of lives had been saved, there was one particular person, the main man behind the success of this mission, who wasn’t present to see this day. Agent Talvar, aka Vansh Raisinghania.

Taking utmost precautions, the Intelligence sent few divers into the crocodile infested lake in a bid to conduct a search for him. But there was no trace of him whatsoever.

“The crocodiles must have killed him,” they said grimly. “There is no way he could have been saved.”

Riddhima bawled her eyes out hearing this news. She cried, she shouted, she pleaded. But there was nothing anyone could do for him. He was dead.

“He was a martyr,” said Kabir getting overwhelmed. “He gave up his life to save the lives of his countrymen…” He choked back on his own words.

“How will I live without him? What would I tell the children? I had promised them that I’d bring their father back…” Riddhima sobbed inconsolably. Not able to stand upright any longer, she was about to fall down, but Angre and Kabir caught her in time.

Angre turned his face away not wanting to see Riddhima’s pain. And also because he didn’t want her to see his pain too. He was the closest to Vansh, standing by his side through the thick and thin, all through these years.

And now he was no more. His best friend, his confidante was no more. He had left him alone.

“You will always be alive in our memories, Boss,” he wept quietly to himself.

*

“Riddhima!”

She was thrown back into the present as she heard her name being called. It was Anupriya.

“I heard you scream, so came to check upon you…” She patted her sympathetically. “Were you missing Vansh?”

Riddhima tilted her head to the other side, in order to hide her anguish from her. It wasn’t easy for Anupriya as a mother to bear the news of losing her son. And Riddhima didn’t want to increase her sorrows further.

“I’m fine MummyJi. Trust me,” she said trying to put a brave face on.

“You needn’t hide your tears from me, Riddhima. I know the turmoil you are going through…” Riddhima felt Anupriya’s fingers tremble against her skin as the emotions got better of her. “Even I had lost my husband many years back, so I can understand how you are exactly feeling…”

It was at that moment that Riddhima realized how brave her MIL was. She had seen so much in her life – from losing her husband, to losing her younger son Aryan to prison, and now, she had lost her eldest son Vansh too. For the world she was a stepmother, but only the family knew how Anupriya loved Vansh the most, much more than her own children.

“I also need to be brave for Vansh. He’d never want me to fall weak…” she thought to herself.

The precious words that Vansh had told her many months back before leaving for the mission, rang in her ears :

“If I die, I don’t want you to cry at my funeral. Rather I’d want your chest to swell up in pride thinking that your husband attained martyrdom…“

Anupriya’s soft cries broke her from her thoughts.

“I had told Vansh to not leave for that unknown place. I had a gut feeling that something would go wrong, and a mother’s instinct never lies. But he never listened to me! On the pretext of expanding this stupid business, he ended up putting his own life in danger. If only he had paid heed to my fears…”

Riddhima closed her eyes. Anupriya still had no idea about Vansh being an undercover RAW agent. And Riddhima did not even make any efforts to explain anything to her. She just wanted things to go as it is in the flow.

She got down from her bed and picked up Vansh’s photoframe from the mantlepiece.

“I had promised you that I’d take care of everything in your absence. Trust me, I will never break this promise.” Tears made their way to her soft cheeks. “Come what may.”
______________________________________

Hearing Rhea and Reyansh’s wails, Riddhima and Anupriya rushed downstairs. The children were apparently in the temple, kneeling down before the deity with folded hands.

“Dear God, why did you snatch our Papa from us?” Rhea cried.

“We always behaved nicely and never did bad with anyone. Then why are you doing bad with us? Please return our Papa to us. We miss him….” sniffed Reyansh.

The twins were Riddhima’s biggest weaknesses. She could bear the biggest hurdles in the world, but watching her children cry for their father felt as if someone had plunged a dagger into her very heart.

Hiding behind a pillar, she broke down and Anupriya tried to console her.

The twins oblivious to all this, continued crying. Hadn’t the elders told them that God would always listen to their prayers? Yes! He’d surely listen to them if they prayed some more…

Just then Kabir entered before the kids with a solemn face. They immediately clung onto him.

“Uncle, please tell God to send our Papa back to us…” sobbed Rhea.

Kabir knelt down. Wiping their tears away, he took both of them into a hug. They weren’t his children, but he loved them. Always. Since they were babies.

“You both love your Papa a lot, right?”

The twins nodded in unison.

“Then you should know that even your Papa loves you both a lot. And he’d never want to see you sad anytime. He’d always want you to stay happy…” He said with a distant look in his eyes. Losing his wife and his bestfriend in one go had not been easy for him either. Of course, he had a new reason to live, his baby girl, but still.

“Now will you two give me a beautiful smile? Pleeease….prettyyyy pleeese,” he spoke in a dragging tone and made funny faces in order to get them to laugh. And that’s what happened.

“You know what I got for everyone? Ice-cream! Now tell me, who wants to eat some mouth-watering, delicious ice-cream?”

“Me, me!” They jumped in excitement completely forgetting about their miseries.

Kabir smiled at their innocence. It was so easy to cheer up children, wasn’t it?

Carrying both the kids in his arms, he brought them to the living room. He opened a large plastic bag revealing the numerous ice-cream cups he had brought along.

Riddhima feeling a little better after seeing her children happy, came out of the hiding. Anupriya also followed behind.

Kabir’s eyes gleamed when he saw the two ladies. “Oh, it’s good you guys came too. See, I got ice-cream for everyone. Chocolate one for the kids, lychee for you Aunty. And Riddhima, your favourite, blackcurrant. I don’t even know how you seem to like it so much. Yikes!”

“Yikes!” The twins agreed.

Riddhima flared up her nose. “Excuse me? What is so ‘yikes’ about it, huh? No one should dare say anything about my blackcurrant ice-cream!”

“And no one should dare say anything to Riddhima,” defended Anupriya.

“Aha! Mother-in-law to the rescue?” said Kabir playfully.

Anupriya shook her head. “More like a mother to the rescue…”

Riddhima looked up at the older woman, feeling immensely touched. She had always craved for her parents after she had lost them in a deadly riot at a tender age. Having a mother back in her life in the form of her MIL was the best thing that could happen to her after ages.

Soon, Angre and Sia made their appearance.

“The servant said you called us?”

“Oh yeah. We are having an ice-cream party right now!” Kabir said excitedly. Sometimes in order to escape he vicious cycle of gloominess, it was necessary to fake being happy every now and then. And that’s exactly what he was trying to do.

He handed a cup to Sia. “Your favourite vanilla flavour.”

“Thank you,” she replied looking straight into his eyes. Kabir looked away now wanting to serve ice-cream to Angre.

They hadn’t even taken few spoons, when the servant came down with a crying Payal in his arms.

“Let me take her!” Both Kabir and Sia said at the same time and awkwardly looked at each other.

Riddhima intervened. “It’s okay. I’m done eating. Let me handle her until you guys finish your ice-cream.”

The expert that she was handling babies, Payal went completely quiet as soon as she found herself in Riddhima’s lap.

“My little girl was feeling bored playing all by herself, huh?” Riddhima giggled causing Payal to giggle in return. This was a new thing that Payal had learnt. She loved mimicking others.

“Kabir Uncle, why didn’t you get any ice-cream for Payal?” Reyansh asked innocently.

The adults present there broke into a chuckle. Someone had said that children were the gateway to happiness, and he couldn’t be wrong…

“She’s too small now,” said Kabir.

“When will she become big? Tell her to grow up quickly so that we can play with her,” said Reyansh acting as if it was the important and serious topic ever.

“That can wait. But for now, Uncle is going to play with you.” Kabir grinned mischievously and began smearing ice-cream on their faces. Soon, the whole room was filled with laughters.

Anupriya looked on as she saw Kabir and the twins having fun on one side, and Riddhima taking care of Payal on the other.

“Yes. This would be the best way out,” she said to herself.
______________________________________

Riddhima was sitting in her bedroom blankly staring into the space, when she heard a knock.

Anupriya popped her head around the door.
“Can I come inside?”

“Of course.” Riddhima adjusted her posture and sat properly.

“I hope you weren’t sleeping…”

“No. Do you have some work MummyJi?”

Anupriya gulped. It was going to be tough for her to get Riddhima to agree to this. But it was important. For everyone’s betterment.

“I think you should move on.”

Riddhima stared in utter disbelief. “What?”

“Kabir is a nice man. He’ll keep you happy…”

“How could you even think something like this?” said an extremely hurt Riddhima. “This is….so wrong!”

“What is wrong in this? You lost Vansh and Kabir lost Ahana! You both are lonely and need each other…”

“I don’t need anyone to keep me happy! I don’t need anyone else in my life!” She became a little hysterical.

“And what about Rhea and Reyansh? Have you thought about them? Don’t they need a father in their lives?” Anupriya tried to reason out. “This arrangement would be the best. The twins would get a father, and little Payal would get a mother.

“At least think about Payal. She is so small, she needs a mother. You know how it is with Kabir. He just cannot seem to handle Payal well, because he’s still learning. Isn’t that why he and Payal are living with us in VR mansion since the last two months?”

Riddhima loved Payal. And her love for her had increased by many folds after Ahana’s demise. It was true that Payal needed a mother much more than the twins needing a father.

But marrying Kabir? It was totally out of question!

“I only love Vansh. I can’t give that place to anyone else in my life,” said Riddhima adamantly.

“Vansh loved you a lot. Even he’d want you to move on with a nice person and live your life to the fullest. Would he feel good seeing you mourning for him for the rest of your life?” Anupriya explained tenderly. “I know that you don’t love Kabir as of now. But love can happen after marriage, too?”

Riddhima still wasn’t convinced. And Anupriya saw that. She further coaxed her.

“You and Kabir are such good friends since so many years. You both know each other very well. Therefore, it won’t be so difficult for you to marry him.
And at least think about me, too. I’m growing old, and soon it will be time for me to leave. When I die, I’d want to go ahead with it peacefully, without any tension thinking about how my daughter-in-law and my grandkids will survive alone for the rest of their years…”

“I am enough to take care of myself and my kids. You needn’t worry.” Riddhima said rather harshly, and Anupriya knew it was the end of matter from her side. Now she’d have to take Roshan’s help to put some sense into her mind.
______________________________________

“I can’t believe it that MummyJi has now sent you to convince me for this. This is just absolutely ridiculous!”

Riddhima irritatedly stomped around the place while Roshan looked on a little afraid. He maintained a safe distance away from her in the fear that she hit his foot in her anger.

“Di, she just means well for you. And she isn’t wrong this time. I support her.”

Riddhima shot him an I-cannot-believe-you look. But Roshan continued undeterred.

“You’ve spent your prime years struggling and fighting alone. After our parents’ deaths, you were alone for many years. After your major showdown with Vansh, you were left all alone yet again for seven years. Until when will you keep on bearing all this? I can’t see you suffering anymore!”

He wept a little. “I am your brother, and want to see sunshine enter your life once again. Where am I wrong?
And the kids…is it fair to them to strip them away from their fatherly happiness? And Payal…what about her? Why don’t you understand that your one decision will end all of our worries! This is in the best interest of everyone!”

Riddhima squeezed her eyes shut. She was tired. Tired of saying no to everyone. Tired of repeating the same thing over and over again. This pressure from everyone to say yes was actually taking a toll on her. So much so that she was beginning to feel guilty. Guilty about the fact that she was only thinking about herself and not thinking about others’ happiness.

It was easy fighting in a battlefield against your enemies, but tougher to fight against your loved ones.
______________________________________

“Now only you have to give your nod to this marriage. Di has already agreed.”

Kabir was surprised to hear this.

“Yes, that’s right. Please marry my Riddhima. Rhea and Reyansh need a father in their lives, and only you can fill that void.” Anupriya folded her hands in front of him.

“Aunty, what are you doing? Please don’t embarrass me further.” Kabir held her hands and kissed them. “Mothers don’t look good while pleading…”

“Do I have any option left, beta? A mother can go to any extent to garner happiness for her children, even if it meant she had to go down on her knees!”

“Aunty, what are you saying?” he slightly scolded her. “You don’t have to resort to such things. I have immense respect for you and you know that. But you must understand that…”

“Mom is right, though.”

Kabir followed his gaze to the door where Sia was standing. She slowly walked towards them.

“Payal needs a mother while Rhea and Reyansh need a father. The twins already love you so much. You are the only man they’d be ready to accept as a father in their lives, and no one else…” It looked like she was fighting tears. “You must marry Bhabhi. Please.”

Kabir looked on feeling miserable. Words barely came out of his mouth, and he could only nod his head in approval.

Anupriya and Roshan were elated by this, not caring to know if the other people around them felt the same or not.
______________________________________

The entire VR Mansion was beautifully decorated with lights and flowers. It wasn’t going to be a very grand function, just the close family and friends had been invited.

Anupriya personally looked after all the preparations, running from one corner to the other to ensure that everything was carried out perfectly.

“Mom relax. Don’t overexert yourself,” said Sia getting worried.

“I’m fine,” Anupriya assured her. “I’ve already sent Roshan to check up on Kabir. You also go upstairs and see if Riddhima is ready or not.”

“I did knock upon her room once or twice. But Bhabhi clearly stated that she wants no one near her and wants to stay alone for a while.”

Anupriya sighed. It was evident from Riddhima and Kabir’s behaviours that they weren’t happy at all. This marriage was just a compromise for them, nothing more.

But she was sure that in no time, everything would soon get alright.
______________________________________

‘BUSINESS TYCOON VANSH RAISINGHANIA’S WIDOW RIDDHIMA RAISINGHANIA REMARRIES TODAY’

His hands shivered as he held the newspaper, the frontpage headlines glaring at him.

“Noo! This cannot happen. I need to stop it!”

Tying a muffler over his face to hide his identity, he hurried out of his small cabin where he had been residing at for the past many days.

He stood near the main road and waved his hand when he saw an empty taxi about to go past him.

The taxi stopped in front of him and the window was lowered down.

The driver peeped out.”Where do you want to go, Sahab?”

“Mumbai. Right now,” he said hopping into the backseat.

“That will be…”

“Don’t worry about the money. I’ll pay you any amount. Just make sure to make me reach there in less than two hours,” he ordered.

“Less than two hours? It’s impossible!”

“I’ll pay you double the amount,” he said impatiently. “Just drive!”

The driver started the engine and began racing the car at high speed. This was a golden opportunity to earn lot of money, and he couldn’t miss it for the world.

He angrily threw away his phone whose battery had died down.

“Do you have a phone?” he asked the driver.

“I have, but there is no balance in it. Sorry.”

“Damn you!” he growled.

The driver quivered. If he didn’t take this particular passenger to his destination in due time, God only knew what would happen of him.

Back in the seat, he was fidgeting with his fingers and tapping his feet getting extremely anxious. He could ask the driver to stop by a local phone booth to call, but he didn’t want to take such a big risk. Besides, his call could be dismissed as a mere prank by them. They had to see him in person to believe it.

He kept glancing at his watch every now and then. But he needn’t worry much. The driver was excellent at his job, and he had brought him to VR Mansion in exactly one-and-half hour.

“What should have taken two-and-half hours, I covered the distance in one hour lesser the time. Now you should pay me as promised in reward…”

Without even waiting for him to complete his sentence, he flung 3 two-thousand rupees at him. Squaring his shoulders and holding his head high, he strode right into the house.

The security tried to stop him but when he revealed his face to them, completely taken aback, they let him in.

His eyes fell on the large banner lying outside the house.

‘RIDDHIMA WEDS KABIR’

With one swift movement, he destroyed the banner.

When he reached the doorway, he saw the pundit stand up and acknowledge the bride and the groom.

“The marriage is completed. You both are wife and husband from so on.”

The ground beneath his feet slipped and he almost lost his balance hearing that.

The rest of the family averted their gaze to the door from where the sound seemed to have come. Their eyes widened in shock when they saw who it was.

*

Hello everyone! That is it for today. Do comment.

Peace out!