Bound To You – Chapter 19 – A Happily Ever After? *Last*

Those of you who have missed the previous update, here is the link :

https://www.tellyupdates.com/bound-to-you-chapter-18-a-new-phase/

@AarushiSoni Thanks a lot. Hehe, you are literally everywhere!
@N Ayesha Thank you dear
@Prabhleen Thank you dear
@Yashu Thank you dear
@Akirti Thank you dear
@Cutuuu Thanks a lot. Never got to see KaVa in the show, so I showed them here, hehe.
@Prapti0809 Thanks a lot. Yep, they are love.
@Anannya0807 Thanks a lot. We all love KaVa together, isn’t it? Take care and lots of love to you too.
@1234Aayu Thanks a lot. Aww, I know it is ending but I may have some good news for you.
@Aisha08 Thank you dear
@Sumisha Thank you dear
@Priyanshi_13 Thank you dear
@Priyanka Thakur Thank you so much. Yes, these three are really good friends right now thankfully.
Actually in this story there’s no Ishani.
But yeah, even I had a thought to bring up Sia for Kabir instead but then decided otherwise.
@Varshini Here’s the update
@Samistha Choudhary Here’s the update
@Neetu Thank you dear
@Cutie Thanks a lot. But I’m sorry, it has to end. However I do have a good news for you.
@Jasmine Kaur Thank you dear
@Milee Thank you so much. Glad to know that you liked the bonding between the trio. I did try to put in quite a bit of romance in this chapter. Hopefully, you’ll like it.
@Jayashree Thanks a lot
@Priyadharshini Thank you dear
@JJ Thank you dear
@Vkjhp Thank you dear
@Sree Thank you dear
@Adyyy Thanks a lot. I’m glad you liked KaVa and KaHana.
@RiansHLoveR Thanks a lot.
@Unnamed Thank you so much. Hain na? Even I felt the same the moment I saw Ahana in the show for the first time. She and Kabir make a good couple. Ngl, I’ve always had a soft spot for Kabir even in the show (maybe I’m a sadist, lol). I secretly wanted him to get a girl for himself too.
.
Actually before even starting this story, I had already pre-decided to keep around 15-16 chapters. The thought of this story being missed makes me overwhelmed you know.
I actually have something in my mind, but don’t know if it will be able to culminate or not.
.
Haha, don’t worry, the kids won’t interrupt their parents’ romance this time.
@Pretty User Thanks a lot. Loved all the emojis you used (hehe)
@FARHANA Thank you so much. It really means a lot to me.
Actually even this story is going to end. And I’m not ending it because the show is ending, it was already pre-decided.
@Parita Thank you so much. Yes, the trio have finally turned into the thickest of friends.
Even I am going to miss talking to all of you in this FF. The other FF is still going on, but it will also be ending soon.
@Scarlet Flower Thank you dear
@SRISTI Thank you dear
@Jayanthi Thank you so much. Like I said even earlier, I always look forward to reading your views about the chapter.
I know you love the kids, that is why I’ve added more of their parts in today’s chapter. Hope you like it.
Actually this FF was supposed to be a fast paced one. That is the reason I keep changing the mood across the chapters. And using time leaps also helped in that.
I really loved that interview too. For me, as much as Rrahul and Helly are a part of the show, even Vishal equally is. But unfortunately, he couldn’t make it to the OTT version that made me miss Kabir terribly.

One month later, Mumbai

Riddhima looked up at the sky filled with orange and red hues. The sun was just beginning to ascend from the horizon, and it was truly a sight to behold.
Children around her giggled while the adults chattered away. In the background, she could hear the crashing of the waves against the shore and the chirps of all kinds of different birds.

Every single time her jogging shoes grazed across the sand, she could feel blood rushing throughout her body. Feeling out of breath, she decided to take a quick pause.

Facing the sea and spreading her arms wide open, she tried to inhale the fragrance of the ocean.
“This is what I missed about Mumbai the most…” she said out aloud.

“Riddhima, Riddhima!” Vansh jogged towards her, panting and puffing.

“What is wrong with you? Why do you always have to stop here and there every once in a while and thus prolong our jogging session of half-an-hour to that of a whole one hour?” he asked looking annoyed.

Tossing her neatly tied pony tail, she said, “It is not my fault that I’ve short legs while you have been blessed with insanely long ones. Isn’t it obvious that I won’t ever be able to match your pace in this manner?
But instead of acting like an understanding husband, you are behaving all grumpy. From tomorrow onwards, I won’t be accompanying you for the jog!”

“God, I was just kidding, sweetheart. Why do you always get so touchy about your height though?” said Vansh looking amused. “You being short is actually a blessing in disguise. That makes it an absolute cakewalk for me to lift you up in my arms. Like this!”

He scooped her up and twirled around, while she kept giggling. When she saw the other people giving them nasty looks, she ordered Vansh to put her down and began scolding him.

“We are at a beach for crying out loud! Please keep your PDA only till our bedroom.”

“This woman! She enjoys every little thing I do with her, but later starts showing that she didn’t enjoy it at all,” he muttered under his breath.

She suddenly exclaimed with delight. “Oh my, my! Just have a look at these, so freaking beautiful!”

She bent down and started picking up some seashells. Vansh smiled at her.

“Why do women tend to like seashells so much?” he quizzed.

“Not only women, but even children love these a lot,” she said stuffing all of them into the pockets of her track pants. “Moreover, these will come in handy for Rhea’s and Reyansh’s art and craftwork, too.”

“How do you manage to even think of something this much far?” he asked amazed.

“This is called Mummy’s magic,” she chuckled.

As they both began to jog back to their house, Riddhima observed that people around her were showering her with weird glares.

“Why are they all staring at me like that?”

Vansh lightly bumped his shoulder with her’s. “Because they have never seen as gorgeous a woman as you, sweetheart.”

“Is there anything on my face?” she asked out of the blue.

Vansh bit his lip nervously. “Oh nothing like that,” he brushed it off. “Don’t think too much about it.”

When they reached their home, the first thing that Riddhima did was to head into the children’s room. Vansh followed her closely behind too.

“Surprise!” Reyansh and Rhea squealed in unison.

“You both already got up without me having to wake you up?” asked Riddhima pleasantly surprised.

“Yes, Mumma. Yesterday, we troubled you a lot, so we thought of making you happy today.” Saying this, Reyansh held his ears. “Sorry Mumma. We won’t repeat this again.”

“I am also very sorry Mumma,” said Rhea with puppy eyes. “Please don’t stay angry with us.”

Riddhima looked at them endearingly. She really was blessed with two of the sweetest and the most understanding kids.

She pulled their cheeks and said, “I can never stay angry with you both for a long time.”

Vansh who was standing in the background started sulking. “All surprises and hugs for Mumma? What about Papa? You both completely forgot about him, huh?”

“But Papa, you never, ever get angry on us. So there’s no need to say sorry to you,” Reyansh tried to reason out.

Riddhima couldn’t help but agree to this. For the past two months that Vansh had spent with his children, she had never even once seen him lose his temper on them. Not even when they resorted to their mischievous antics. This was literally the next level of patience, and this was something that Riddhima needed to learn from him.

“Not your sorries, but Papa definitely needs your kisses and hugs. But Rhea and Reyansh love only their Mumma, not their Papa,” said Vansh trying to feign a sad expression.

Not able to see their dearest father upset like this, the kids ran up to him and flung their arms around him.

Vansh like a pro dad, lifted both of them up with utmost ease.

“Papa, we also need to practice for the Father’s Day Competition too?” said Rhea. “In our previous school in Manali, we could never participate in this competition because you weren’t there with us. I used to feel very sad when I used to see other children enjoying with their fathers…”

“But now in our new school in Mumbai, we will participate in this competition every year. Right Papa?” said Reyansh looking at him hopefully.

Vansh grew emotional. All these years, he had spent far away from his own children. And when time had finally brought them close to him, this had to happen….

Reading into Vansh’s thoughts, Riddhima gently patted his shoulder.

“Leave about the Father’s Day Competition, and now think about the party that we have to attend tonight. Rhea and Reyansh, what are you both going to be wearing?”

Vansh interjected, “Today Mumma will be relieved from her duties and instead Papa will be making the kids ready for the party.”

Reyansh laughed with delight whereas Rhea kept a grim expression on.

“But you don’t know how to do my hair,” she said.

“Of course sweetie, I know! Don’t underestimate your Papa, he is very talented and very smart,” said Vansh.

Riddhima facepalmed. “Here we go again with yet another of his self-appraisal session!”

“I want two ponytails,” Rhea demanded.

“I’ll make whatever hairstyle you want, my Highness,” said Vansh planting several kisses upon her face.

“Can we first go down to have some breakfast? The party is in the evening, and we’ve an entire day to prepare for it,” suggested Riddhima.

When they finally went down, they found Sia to be already sitting at the table.

“Where were you guys? Have been waiting for you so long! Do you have any idea how hard my stomach is rumbling right….”

She stopped abruptly when she saw Riddhima, after which she started laughing uncontrollably.

“Are you okay?” Riddhima asked her looking confused.

Looking at Vansh glaring at her, Sia tried to stifle her laugh, but failed to do so.

“I think Vansh Bhai is really troubling you a lot nowadays, my dearest Bhabhi,” she said.

“What do you mean?”

“Oh nothing, nothing at all,” Vansh interrupted. “You know how Sia can get a tad too crazy at times?”

Without any warning, Vansh untied Riddhima’s ponytail and let her hair fall loose.

“What are you doing?” Riddhima said getting irritated.

But Vansh ignored her. He instead pushed all of her hair onto one side, so that now, her long tresses hung loosely over her left shoulder.

When he saw Riddhima have a confused face on, he murmured, “You look more beautiful this way.”

Sia, on the other hand found it hard to contain her giggles.

Soon Anupriya joined them and a string of ‘Good Mornings’ were exchanged between each and everyone.

Munching upon her sandwich, Anupriya said, “Today the party at Mehta’s is an important one. We can’t afford to be late. So please everyone of you be on time.”

“Dadi, do you know that Papa is going to dress us up for the party?” chirped Reyansh.

“Oh, how lovely is that!” Anupriya said cheerfully.

Riddhima was quietly eating her breakfast, when she noticed that everytime her hair grazed against her neck, she felt a stinging sensation there.

She took out her pocket mirror to see what it was all about. She was shocked to see a large bruise over her left side of the neck. She blushed when she recollected the events of the previous night that Vansh and Riddhima had spent with each other….

Now it made sense as to why everyone was glaring at her on the beach and why Sia had started laughing as soon as she saw her.

“Vansh!” she angrily thought to herself.

She covered her neck with her hand before Anupriya could see anything and excused herself from there.

Once in the privacy of her bedroom, Riddhima tried to hide the love bite with makeup and the likes, but nothing seemed to work. In fact, it caused her skin to burn further.

“Oh no! I can’t go to the party like this. I must do something,” she said getting desperate.

Just then, she felt a pair of arms wrap around her from behind. It was Vansh, trying to nuzzle into her neck, but she elbowed him in the stomach.

“Ouch! What was that for?” he asked rubbing the part where she hit him.

“For doing this.” She pointed towards the love bite.

Vansh tried to look here and there, very well knowing that now he’d be getting a good amount of scolding from her.

“You knew about it all this while and did not even care to tell me? God, what must all those people thinking about me?” she lamented.

“They’d be thinking that you must be really lucky to get such a loving and romantic husband,” Vansh grinned.

“Shut up! This is not funny. I’ve to suffer because of your ‘deed’. Eww!”

Vansh looked visibly miffed. “Not fair, sweetheart! Today you’re looking at my mark of love with disgust, but yesterday night you had thoroughly enjoyed it.”

Riddhima’s cheeks turned red.

Looking at the effect he had created, he continued teasing her.
“And don’t you dare act all innocent! It’s not as if you didn’t do anything yesterday night.”

“What did I do?”

Vansh unbuttoned his shirt. There were quite a few scratch marks on his chest and back.

“See what you did last night, Madam?”

Riddhima looked away feeling thoroughly flustered.

“Your’s will be hidden under your shirt, but what about mine? It is right on the neck and clearly visible. How will I attend tonight’s party in this condition?” she asked worriedly.

Vansh smiled slyly as an idea struck him.
“Don’t worry, Riddhima. I’ve a brilliant solution to your problem.”

“And what is that?” she asked looking at him suspiciously.

“Just wait and watch. You’ll soon find out.”
______________________________________

As the time to go to the party was heading closer and closer, Riddhima was getting even more anxious.

And it did not help much that Vansh, instead of helping her, was busy fooling around.

With the children already ready, now it was time that Riddhima herself got ready. But she didn’t know how she’d be able to do that without the bruise getting noticed.

When she saw Vansh in front of her, she decided to give him an earful. But all of a sudden, he fainted and fell right on top of the bed.

For a second or so, Riddhima was frozen to the ground. When she finally found her mind, she ran up to him and sprinkled some water over him.

Hearing her cries, Angre and the rest of the family came running by.

Soon a doctor was called and he arrived straight away.

Thankfully, Vansh gained consciousness within some time.

The doctor examined him thoroughly and said, “His BP had shot down. He needs enough intake of fluids. Also, ensure that he takes proper rest and doesn’t exhaust himself a lot.”
Saying this, he took his leave.

Vansh weakly said, “I’m sorry Mom. But I don’t think I can attend the party in this state.”

“Of course! Your health is most important. Rest everything is secondary,” said Anupriya getting genuinely concerned for him. “It is okay. I’ll stay back while Riddhima and Sia can go to the party along with the kids.”

At this Vansh sat up straight with a startle. If Anupriya stayed back with him, then his wholely well crafted plan would spoil.

He was about to open his mouth to say something, when Riddhima spoke up instead.

“No Mummyji. I think it’s better if I stay behind with Vansh. The Mehta’s are very important to us, and frankly speaking, I don’t know them at all. I think in Vansh’s absence, Mummyji can handle them in a better manner.”

“Well done, sweetheart. This is the best decision you’ve taken in your life,” Vansh happily thought to himself.

“Well Riddhima, you’re actually right in this case,” sighed Anupriya. “I think this arrangement would be a better one. But if Vansh’s health worsens, do not hesitate to inform us. Okay?”

Riddhima nodded.

Anupriya and Sia shortly left for the party, taking the kids along with them as well.

When Riddhima got up to get some juice for Vansh, he pulled her back and placed his head in her lap.

“So how was my plan?” he winked at her.

Riddhima was literally left dumbfounded.

“This was all my plan to prevent you from attending the party and thus getting embarrassed there. Now, for the great feat that I’ve done, I’d like you to thank me with a lovely kiss,” smirked Vansh.

At this, she started smacking him till he groaned with pain.

“Serves you right! I can’t believe you did all that drama in front of us. Disgusting!” she huffed.

With his head still in her lap, he said, “Come on! Tomorrow, I’m leaving and I don’t know when I’d be returning even. So as a husband, how is it wrong for me to want to spend some romantic time with my wife? It would serve as a means of remembrance for us, especially me, during the time that we’d be away from each other.”

Riddhima started to tear up as he said this. But nonetheless, she tried to hold back her emotions because she knew she couldn’t fall weak.

“This mission would take how many months to get completed?” she asked after a while, her hands ruffling his hair.

“Maybe two months. Or four. Or even six,” said Vansh slowly. “And who knows, it might be possible that I never return too….”

Riddhima shuddered at the thought of losing Vansh forever.

Feeling her hands against his temples become tense, Vansh sensed her fears.

He brought her hands to his lips and kissed them.
Having a solemn expression on, he said, “Death has never scared me before. But strangely now, the thought of death is haunting me. I’m scared thinking as to what will become of you and the children if something ever happened to me?”

Riddhima’s inner woman was screaming painfully at her, unable to even imagine something like this.

“No, no Vansh! Nothing can ever happen to you, or else your Riddhima will die!“

But instead of that, she put on a brave face and tried to force a smile. However, the tears in her eyes couldn’t be hidden.

“I really hope and pray that you come back home, safe and sound. But…” she cracked up at this. “B-but I know that this mission is very risky and we must be prepared for any shortcomings.
You needn’t worry about anything here. You just concentrate on the mission, and nothing else.
I’ll handle everything in your absence – the business, the household, Mummyji, Sia and even the kids.”

“And will you be able to handle yourself?” he asked looking into her eyes.

Her conscience cried, “Vansh, I am nothing without you. I need you at each and every step of my life. You are my heartbeat, my breath, my whole world, my everything. How could I ever be able to live without you?”

But Riddhima wiped her tears away and said, “Your Riddhima is not so weak that she’ll fall apart. I will take care of everything, including my own self. And that’s a promise. I will never let you down, Vansh.”

At this Vansh heaved a sigh of relief.
“Thank you Riddhima, for being so understanding. You’re the best woman I could ever ask for as a wife.”

She closed her eyes, tired of fighting against her own feelings. “How I wish I could tell you about the storm that is building inside of me, Vansh…”

“There’s one more thing I need to tell you,” said Vansh. “If I die, for the rest of the world, I’d be nothing more than an underworld Don. But you’d know the truth. You’d know that I died fighting for my country. So, I don’t want you to shed tears at my funeral. Rather, I’d want your chest to swell up in pride thinking that your husband attained martyrdom.”

Riddhima switched off the night lamp so that Vansh wouldn’t be able to see how miserable she felt everytime he spoke those hard hitting and heart wrenching words.

“I don’t need you to lay down your life for me to feel proud of you. I am already very, very proud of you,” said Riddhima as calmly as possible. “And why should we talk about death when both of us are right in front of each other, absolutely alive?”

“I had promised Reyansh and Rhea that I’d be participating with them in the Father’s Day Competition,” he sounded devastated. “But I’d have to break my promise to them. I am a very bad father, isn’t it?”

“No, you are not! A man who can endanger his own life to keep the rest of the children of his country safe, can never be a bad father. In fact, you’re the best father they could ever ask for.” She tried to console him further.
“They are very young now, and wouldn’t understand anything. But when they grow big and come to know about the kind of sacrifices you made for your country, they’d also feel very proud to call you as their father. Trust me.”

Vansh held her face between his hands.
“Your words, why are they so magical? They seem to have an unseen power over me. After talking to you, it seems that half of my apprehensions have vanished.
Sometimes I feel that you are a sorceress of some kind. A ravishingly beautiful one, that too.”

“And you’re my Emperor. I’d do anything and everything for you….” she whispered.

She bent her head down and softly kissed his eyes. He slowly pulled her lips to his own, dragging themselves into a world of ecstasy and absolute bliss.

“I love you so very much, Riddhima,” said Vansh.

“But I love you only a little bit,” Riddhima teased.

“Little?”

“Bit,” she grinned.

“I’ll show you what ‘little bit’ is,” he said pulling her closer to him.
______________________________________

When Riddhima woke up the next morning, she became paranoid on not finding Vansh beside her.

“Did he already leave without even meeting me?” she thought in despair.

She ran out of her bedroom, not even caring to change out of her night gown. She passed across the children’s bedroom and heard a husky voice from inside. She calmed down when she saw Vansh talking to the kids.

“I want both of you to promise me that you will never trouble your Mumma. In fact, you will continue to take care of her and obey her at all times.
There might be times when she scolds you, but you must understand that she loves you both a lot.

“Reyansh, I know that Rhea often bothers you, but she is your sister after all. Try to forgive her.”

“No Papa, I never trouble him,” said Rhea sharply.

“But you do trouble me a lot,” Reyansh tried to say.

“Reyansh is a liar.”

“No you are a liar, Rhea.”

“Enough! Silent both of you,” ordered Vansh.
Turning towards Rhea, he said, “Reyansh is your brother. I know he is always quiet and soft spoken but it’s not right to take advantage of that and annoy him like that.”

“Come on, promise me both of you that you’d stay by each other’s side, no matter what.”

“Pinky promise,” the twins said together locking their little fingers with each other’s.

“And whenever you fall into any trouble, you must always share it with your Mumma at any cost. Understood?”

“Yes Papa. But why are you telling all this to us today?” asked Reyansh curiously.

Vansh took a deep breath. Time had come for him to disclose about his departure to the kids. It was going to be tough, but he had to do it.

“Today, I will be leaving from here for few days,” he said.

“But you will come back before Father’s Day, right?” asked Rhea, her eyes brimming with hope.

Vansh looked at them dejectedly. “I’m sorry, Rhea. But that is not possible.”

Rhea started wailing, “But Papa, you had promised me….”

Vansh tried to caress her head. “I’m sorry sweetie, but I really have some important work.”

“I don’t want to talk to you, ever,” Rhea continued to scream.

Vansh looked on helplessly. This was what he had been dreading since the past few days – the reaction of the kids.

His glance fell upon Reyansh, who sobbed quietly. His heart went out to him. Unlike Rhea, he always tended to keep his feelings to himself.

“I am very sorry Reyansh,” he said.

“Papa, will you leave us forever like you left us before?”

His question pierced right through Vansh’s heart. How he wished he could give him an optimistic reply, but he also did not want them to dwell under false hopes.

Not able to bear it any longer, he walked away from the room when he saw Riddhima standing outside.

He hugged her and wept in her arms.
“I can’t do this anymore. I couldn’t be a good father and explain to them. I think Rhea and Reyansh will hate me after this!”

Riddhima rubbed his back and tried to calm him down. Cupping his face, she said, “Don’t worry about the children. I’ll make them understand everything. You just go and get ready. You can’t be late.”
______________________________________

“I don’t know what kind of business is this for which you’d have to travel to a place where there would be no proper network, and we won’t even be able to call you regularly?” asked Anupriya.

She had lost enough in her life. And after losing her son, Aryan, she had lost all of her remaining strength and courage. All she wanted now was for her family to stay close to her.

But now Vansh’s weird idea to carry his business out in a remote place seemed to frighten her. Her motherly instinct told her that something was off and that she shouldn’t let Vansh drift far away from her.

Vansh held his mother’s shoulders. “Mom, if this wouldn’t have been so important, I’d have never taken this decision. We can stay in touch with each other through letters. And I’d try to call you guys up once in a while.”

He had explained everything to Angre. In Vansh’s absence, Angre would be writing letters to his family on his behalf. Angre was also instructed to make a phone call once in a blue moon to his family, and talk to them on his behalf using a voice changer app.

Yes, Angre would be staying back at VR Mansion itself this time, and wouldn’t be accompanying him for this particular mission.

This fact had caused Riddhima to worry even more. She’d have felt much better had Angre also been a part of this mission.

Vansh hugged his mother and his sister. They all shed few tears.

“When I come back this time Sia, I will find a nice boy for you and get you married to him,” Vansh said through tears.

Suddenly, he felt two pairs of tiny hands tug at the corner of his shirt.

“I am sorry, Papa for speaking rudely to you,” said Rhea. Even as she did that, he could see tears flowing down her cheeks endlessly.

“Mumma explained to me that just like how superheroes have to leave their families to save the world, you also have to leave us. Will you also be saving the world, Papa?” she asked innocently.

“Something like that,” he replied hugging her. He looked at Riddhima and mouthed a silent ‘Thank You’ to her.

“Papa, when you won’t be here with us, how will we give you our daily goodnight kiss?” asked Reyansh choking upon his sobs.

Vansh handed them a picture of himself.
“You give your goodnight kiss to this photo, and that kiss will automatically reach me,” he said getting overwhelmed.

“But how can that happen?” asked the kids thoroughly confused.

“It’s called Daddy’s magic,” he replied.

He covered their faces with lots of kisses and with an unhappy heart, bade them their final goodbyes.

Riddhima accompanied Vansh outside till his car to see him off. She was really trying hard to fight back tears and not break down in front of Vansh. She could see that he was trying to do the same.

“Come back a winner,” she said kissing his forehead.

“I will….” he said giving a quick peck on her lips.

As he sat in the car to leave, Riddhima continued to wave and smile at him. When she saw his car vanish away from her sight, she started weeping profusely.

For the fear of the children catching her in this vulnerable state, she ran upstairs to her bedroom.
She threw herself upon the bed and clutched at the bedsheets until they tore apart.

She had been holding herself back for these many days since Vansh had first informed her about this mission. She didn’t know where he was headed to and what this mission was all about, because that was supposed to be a secret.

She looked at herself in the mirror and gently caressed the bruise that Vansh had given her on the neck. She remembered the many nights that she had spent in his arms. Would she ever get a chance to relive those moments again?

Vansh, who was driving the car, was also equally in pain. He continued to cry inconsolably, reminiscing the times that he had spent with his family, his children and his wife….

Bhale Doori Rahe Jitni
Nigaahon Se Nigaahon Ki
Magar Khwaabon Ki Duniya Mein
Milunga Tumse Rozana….

Tumhe Main Bhul Jaunga
Yeh Baatein Dil Mein Na Laana
Kabhi Main Yaad Aaun Toh
Chale Aana, Chale Aana….

On the way, he spotted the Indian flag fluttering proudly atop a government building. He continued to look at it and regained his lost composure.

“Nothing comes before the country. Not even family, friendship and love. In fact, not even one’s own self.”
_____________________________________

The Same Day, New Delhi

As soon as he was out of the New Delhi airport, Vansh followed the map and reached a lonely looking building. He had found it strange that Goel, the Chief of RAW, had called him to meet him here instead of the RAW Headquarters.

He gave Goel a quick salute and wished him.

“Vansh Raisinghania, aka, Agent Talvar! Good to see you in person after many days,” greeted Goel.
“You must be wondering that why didn’t I call you to my office like everytime. That is because, this time it is different. There’s a big conspiracy going on around, and this time, RAW would have to work along with IB on this mission.
Agent Agni, please come inside.”

Vansh’s eyes widened up in surprise when he saw Kabir enter the room.

“RAW Officer Vansh Raisinghania and IB Officer Kabir Sharma, you both would be working together on the next mission. I know that you both know each other from before,” said Goel with a glint in his eye. “But you should know that no amount of familiarity or friendship…” he stressed on the last word. “Should come in the way of this mission.
Have I made myself clear gentlemen?”

“Yes Sir,” they said saluting him.

It was just then that Goel received a call and he had to excuse himself.

“Agent Agni from IB, huh?” said Vansh, trying to act all formal.

“Agent Talvar from RAW, is it?” said Kabir imitating him.

They stared at each other for a second or more, before breaking out into a hearty laughter.

“It will be fun working together,” stated Kabir.

“Oh yeah, it will,” said Vansh. “What about Ahana, though? You guys have barely been married for less than a month. What was her reaction to this?”

“Oh my God! Don’t even get me started about it. I had to make up a false excuse of teaching sports to a group of underprivileged students in an area with poor network,” said Kabir frowning. “There was a whole set of crying, bickering and what not. When you people had told me that she was clingey, I had half expected it to be a joke. But now I realize that you guys were telling the truth.
And it doesn’t help that she is pregnant, too.”

“Whoa, congrats man!”

“Thank you. By the way, what was Riddhima’s reaction?” Kabir enquired.

Vansh started smiling thinking about her. “She acted so maturely and so understandingly, that for a moment or so, I was caught up in some kind of disbelief.
But Kabir, all thanks to you. You really trained my wife well.”

“I trained your wife, but why can’t I train my own wife then?” said Kabir.

“Don’t worry. You send her to me, and I’ll train your wife for you, just like you did with mine,” Vansh winked.

Okay, so finally we’ve come to the end of this story. Thank you to everyone who showed their love and interest into this book. It feels surreal to see this book finally completed.

I don’t know whether the ending stood upto your expectations, but I wanted to give a glimpse on how even the families of our defence and Intelligence teams have to suffer. Hats off to all those heroes who continue to endanger their lives just for us to have a peaceful sleep every single night. And hats off to their families, their spouses and children too. No amount of military benefits can make up for the constant fear they live in after sending their loved one to fight in the way of the country.

Also, I tried my best to portray about the Army and the Intelligence as factually accurate as possible. But I agree that there would have been certain discrepancies here and there, and I apologize for that.

Many people have been requesting me to extend this book. I do have an idea in mind for a sequel to this book, but I cannot promise you on that. Even if I decide to write it, I’ll do it only after August/September.

But a little bit of warning before that :
1. The sequel would focus on the mission and would mostly include action and thrill. It would be difficult for me to incorporate romance in that, but I’ll try to add a little bit of it here and there.
2. It would have lesser chapters as compared to the 1st part.
3. It would come out only after Aug/Sept.

So now comment if you want the sequel or not. Also, it’s just a thought and not a promise. 

Also since the book is ending, let’s have our last bit of interaction here.
Tell me your favourite scene/part from the book.

[PS : I also would have asked about your favourite character, but I already know that everybody would take only Vansh’s name as usual, hehe]

Stay safe, stay optimistic.

Until we meet again, peace out!