Bound To You – Chapter 7 – Ghosts From The Past

Thanks a lot guys for the wonderful response. I’m really humbled.

For those of who missed who have missed the 6th chapter, here is the link :
https://www.tellyupdates.com/bound-to-you-chapter-6-confrontation/

@Anjali Thank you (^hearts^)
@Ravneet Thank you
@Yashi Thanks dear
@RiansHLoveR Thanks a lot. Yeah I’m a little free so therefore planning to update regularly.
@Nisha Let’s see what happens
@ Priyanshi_13 Thank you dear
@R.N. Thanks a lot, here is the update
@Pranjal Thanks a lot, here is the update
@Aisha08 Thank you
@Vyshnavi Thank you dear
@Aishwarya Wanjari It would take some time dear. They both are so heartbroken and betrayed right now, it’d require some time to heal their wound.
@AarushiSoni Thank you so much, now you don’t have to wait (hehe)
@Ishu Thank you
@Riaa Aww thank you so much (^hearts^). It really makes me happy that you are liking this story. Yup, both Vansh and Riddhima are trying to outwit the other, lol.
Yeah all this is really frustrating considering the fact that we have don’t even have a proper date as to when the exams would be conducted now.
@Priya Singh Thanks a lot. Here is the update.
@Thakur Priyanka Thank you dear
@Mary Thank you so much. Really means a lot to me (^hearts^) This chapter has quite a lot of romance, I hope that compensates for all the arguments that took place between Vansh and Riddhima in the past chapters. You stay safe too 🙂
@Shivangi Thanks a lot. Here is the update
@Pomu Thank you so much. Yeah, don’t we all love to see Aryan getting slapped, lol.
@Jayashree Thanks a lot. Glad you liked it.
@Priyadharshini Thank you dear.
@JJ Thanks a lot
@Vkjhp Thank you
@Niyati12 Thank you dear
@Anu It would take sometime for everything to be solved, but I’ll try to reveal things gradually.
@Neetu Thank you dear
@Riansh1212 Aww thank you for all the kind words. I’m really humbled (^hearts^). Really glad that you are loving it.
@Unnamed Thank you dear. True that Rhea is stubborn, but her twin brother is totally opposite to her. God knows whom he went upon!
@Parita Thank you so much.
@Amna Do you feel sorry for Riddhima, or are you angry at her?
@Aditi Here is the new chapter dear.
@Astha Haha thanks a lot. Tbh, all IMM2 fans enjoy seeing Aryan getting slapped, it’s like our guilty pleasure! I know Anupriya is behaving really rude with Riddhima here, but she hates her for what she did to Vansh, which I feel is kinda justified. Whereas in the other FF, her hatred was absolutely uncalled for.

After tucking the kids into their bed, Riddhima sat by the window, gazing into the starry sky. Even though Vansh had given a separate room for her to stay, but she had insisted upon staying in the same room as the kids. She didn’t believe Vansh even a bit, and was fearful that he could run away with the children while she dozed off.

She opened the doubly barred windows, closed her eyes, and let herself sink in the fresh breeze. But even as she did that, Anupriya’s words started ringing in her ears. “You are the reason for her death!”

Riddhima tried to cover her ears to stop those voices, but instead more such voices started playing in her head.
“Your Honour, she is an unfaithful and characterless wife! How can we ever trust such a woman? Don’t know how many more men she might have had flings with!”

Unable to bear the torment, Riddhima splashed a glass of water onto her face, hoping that those menacing voices would end atleast now, but to no avail. She was getting increasingly irritated and losing her self-control, when Kabir’s calming words echoed again :
“Sometimes to do something right, a little wrong must be done….”

Year 2014

It had all started exactly seven-and-half years back. Riddhima had taken her only family, her younger brother, Roshan to the hospital. The doctors had given her the worst news ever – that Roshan had been suffering from Bone marrow cancer. He needed a bone marrow transplantation, and the entire treatment would require atleast 40-50 lakhs rupees.

Even though she had been working as a physiotherapist since the past two months, being a fresher she got paid a meagre sum of 15000 rupees. Her parents had passed away few years back, and she had brought up her brother with a lot of difficulty. She had lost enough in her life, and did not want to lose her dearest brother too.

She sat in the garden on a secluded bench, thinking as to how she would be able to arrange such a large sum of money. She buried her head into her palms, and started sobbing uncontrollably.

“I can help you out of this mess,” a soft voice said from behind.
Riddhima wiped off her tears and turned around. There was a handsome man standing close to her.

Riddhima tried to ignore him, but the man continued, “I’ll get your brother treated, but in return you’ve to do something for me.”

Riddhima had had enough of all this. She snapped at him, “How dare you talk to me like that! Firstly, I’m not that kind of girl who’d be ready to do anything and everything for money. And secondly, how cheap of you to try to take advantage of someone’s helplessness, just to satisfy your lustful desires!”

The man said, “You’re misunderstanding me, Riddhima. I don’t want you to do any slanderous job, but rather I want to give you the most respectful and courageous task, for which your name would be written in golden letters for years to come.”

He pulled out a card and flashed it in front of her. “Officer Kabir Sharma from the Indian Intelligence Bureau. Can we talk in private?”

When Riddhima hesitated, he said, “Trust me. I’m an Intelligence officer, I won’t do anything wrong with you.”

Riddhima nodded and soon Kabir took her to an abandoned cabin a few kilometers away from the main city of Mumbai. Even though she had agreed to him, she felt a little unsafe to blindly trust a stranger and follow him into an unknown place. She had her pepper spray in her bag and decided to use it if things went wrong.

Kabir finally spoke, “Getting Roshan treated will be my responsibility, but for that he would be sent to US because of better health facilities. From finding the donor, to arranging for the surgery, the finances and paperwork, everything will be handled by us. You needn’t worry about anything.
But in return, you’d have to work as a spy for us.”

He flung out a photo at her. “Vansh Raisinghania, a famous businessman in daylight, but a powerful underworld Don by dark.”

As Riddhima studied the bearded man in the photo, Kabir went on, “Currently, the entire black market is under his control. Not only that but he is also one of the topmost drug smugglers of our country.
Since this man has come into power, there have been a series of unrests in Mumbai. Shootouts between opposing gangs, kidnappings, murders, extortion calls, all these have become pretty common in this city. But unfortunately for us, he’s very sharp and witty, and has many contacts in the political parties which would ensure that he wouldn’t even get a scratch upon his body.
And the most disturbing part – lately there are rumours going around that perhaps Vansh might also be involved in the recent bomb blasts. We’re not sure about that, and even if that is untrue, it is absolutely essential to nab him, for the sake of peace and tranquility of Mumbai.
And for that purpose, I want you to enter his life as an undercover agent, and transfer any vital information to us, as well as collect major proofs against him.”

Riddhima thought for a while. “But why me?”

Kabir took a deep breath. “You’re an orphan. You don’t have any relatives or friends whatsoever, whom Vansh can use against you. You have a brother of course, but he’ll be sent to US for his treatment, and Vansh would never get to know about him.
Riddhima, do you agree to this risky mission, where even your own life could be at stake?”

Riddhima stayed silent for sometime. Old painful memories came flashing back to her.
She said slowly, “Yes, I’m ready. And it’s not only because of the money. It’s also because I don’t want anyone to go through the same pain that I and my brother had to go through after losing our parents. I don’t want any other child to feel the agony of losing his parents and becoming an orphan, because life of an orphan is not easy at all.”
She shed few tears remembering her parents. “And Vansh has to be stopped from creating any more orphans in the city.”

Kabir looked at her proudly. “I knew it! The moment I saw you, I knew you would be the perfect girl for this job. Three days later Roshan would be sent to US, and from the fourth day onwards, your training will start.”

“Training?” she asked.

“Yes. Even though you are being sent as a spy, that doesn’t mean your life is not precious to us. Only after you get fully trained, you can make an entry into Vansh’s life.”

For the next two months, Riddhima was trained rigorously. From firing pistols to shooting rifles, from connecting transmitters to hacking easy softwares, she was taught everything that could prove handy to her during her spying mission. She learnt martial arts and fist fighting too.
She was made to run for miles at a stretch, made to jump from huge heights. Her speaking and personality skills were polished, and now she came out as a bold and confident talker who could convince anyone with her words.

On the last day of her training after she successfully cleared a tough drill, Kabir patted her back. “Well done Riddhima! You are a really fast learner, and I’m so proud of you. Now you are ready to enter Vansh’s life and create a havoc for him.”

Riddhima took a clean towel and wiped off the sweat from her head. She said, “If I go and seek Vansh, he could doubt me. He should be the the one trying to seek me, but how is that going to be possible?”

Kabir placed something that looked like a family portrait in front of her.
“That’s Vansh’s family. His Dadi, his stepmom, Anupriya, and his stepsiblings, Aryan and Sia.
After his real mother, Uma Raisinghania, passed away, his father remarried Anupriya, who soon gave him two more kids.
Even though they are his step relatives, Vansh treats them like his own. His family means everything to him, and his little sister is the apple of his eye.
On the pretext of being Sia’s physiotherapist, you’ll be getting close to Vansh.”

“Sia’s physiotherapist? Is she suffering from some disease?” Riddhima asked innocently.

Kabir shook his head. “No, she’s completely normal as of now. But soon she will be needing a physiotherapist after she meets with an accident.”

Riddhima almost leaped out of her skin. “What do you mean by that? Oh my God, are you going to get Sia’s accident done?”

“Yes,” replied Kabir quietly.

“But that is absolutely wrong!” exclaimed Riddhima. “What is Sia’s mistake in this? Why are you punishing her for her brother’s evil doings? You cannot play with an innocent person’s life like that.”

“Relax Riddhima, nothing would happen to Sia. The accident wouldn’t be a major one that could kill her. But neither would it be a minor one that wouldn’t even cause her any scratches. It will just break 2-3 bones, that’s it.”

Riddhima stood aghast. “How can you talk so casually about breaking bones? Just because we’re on a mission, that doesn’t mean we get the opportunity to hurt somebody. It’s immoral.”

Kabir became annoyed. “I’m sorry Riddhima, but in our world there is no scope for morals and ideals. Our world is brutal and ruthless, just like the world of our enemies. The thin line of difference between us is that we are doing it for right reasons, while they are doing it for the bad.
Always remember this – Sometimes to do something right, a little wrong has to be done.
And I atleast have humanity left in me, and that’s why I’m not going to kill her, just cause her a few fractures.”

A few days later, when Riddhima was seeing her patients at MedCare Hospital, a new case sheet was passed onto her, that read Sia Raisinghania on the front. She quickly went into the assigned room, and when she opened the door, she could see Sia screaming in pain.

Close to her, stood none other than Vansh Raisinghania. He was trying to console her but to no avail.

“Madam, please let me change the dressing or you might develop an infection,” said the nurse. She struggled to remove the bandages, but Sia pushed her away.

“Nooooo…..don’t touch me! Leave me alone!” screamed Sia. “Bhai, tell them to leave from here. It really, really hurts a lot.”

Vansh grew anxious looking at his sister’s state. But instead of scolding her, he started shouting at the nurses.
“Can’t you see she is in so much pain? Why can’t you guys be a little gentle with her?”

The nurses looked at each other and kept quiet. They could not afford to argue with Vansh Raisinghania and lose their jobs. They could see that his presence was making Sia throw more tantrums around.

“Excuse me, what is happening over here?”

Vansh turned his head in the direction of the voice, and found the most gorgeous girl standing in front of him. He was so besotted by her beauty that he obediently listened to her when she asked him to move away.

“Dr. Riddhima, the patient is not allowing us to do her dressing,” one of the nurses said.

Riddhima smiled at Sia and held her hand. “Ok, nobody would trouble you now. Let us talk about something. Uhm….let me think…..what’s your all-time favourite movie?”

“DDLJ,” said Sia, tears still running down her cheeks.

Riddhima quietly signalled the nurses to sneak in and start doing the dressing, while she continued to divert Sia’s attention.

“Oh yes, DDLJ is my favourite movie too! It has Salman Khan in it, right?” teased Riddhima.

“What rubbish! You know nothing about movies. It has Shah Rukh Khan in it…..Aaaaahhhhh!”
Time and again Sia squealed in pain as the nurses did her dressing, but everytime that happened, Riddhima was quick to distract her into more talking.

“See, your dressing is finally done! That didn’t hurt much, did it?” said Riddhima, fixing the last piece of bandage with the tape.

Sia realised that she had been tricked. “It’s not fair!” she said making a face.

Riddhima laughed and lighly tapped her cheek. “Get used to it Sia, because we’re going to meet on a daily basis. I’m your physiotherapist you see.”

Saying this, she left from there while Vansh was still stuck in a trance. Her care for his sister had already made a special place in his heart.

For the next one week that Sia stayed in the hospital, apart from the physiotherapy sessions, Riddhima also used to come over to lend a hand in dressing, inspite of it not being a part of her job. Sia also became so used to her, that she refused to get her dressing done by anyone else other than Riddhima.

Vansh would also wait eagerly for Riddhima to show up, just so that he could get a glimpse of her. Whenever she came in front of him, his heart would do a little flutter and he would be at a loss of words. He tried hard to get Riddhima’s attention, but she at the most ignored him.

On the day of Sia’s discharge, Riddhima called Vansh to her cabin to discuss about her case.
“Sia is doing much better than before. The orthopedic wants to discharge her and I’m down for it, but let me tell you something really important, Mr. Raisinghania. She needs to undergo physiotherapy for atleast 2-3 times in a day, or else it can lead to severe joint problems later on.
Since Sia’s hip bone is still not fully healed, it would become a tedious task to bring her to the hospital everyday. So I’d rather that you hire a personal physiotherapist for her, who can care for her at her home itself.”

Vansh realised that he could keep on listening to Riddhima for hours at a stretch without getting bored. That was the kind of affect she was having on him.

“Mr. Raisinghania?” Riddhima snapped her fingers in front of him. “Did you even listen to what I said?”

“Of course I did Dr. Riddhima,” he said appearing a little flushed. After composing himself, he continued, “How much are you paid here?”

He waited for an answer, but when she didn’t, he said, “You can’t be getting more than 50k per month. But I’m ready to pay you double to hire you as Sia’s personal physiotherapist.”

Riddhima still chose not to answer and Vansh was getting irritated with her silence. “Okay 2 lakhs, would that do? Or maybe even 3 lakhs?”

“15k is all I get here,” said Riddhima finally. “And I’m sorry, but I cannot accept your offer.”

Vansh was surprised. Riddhima got an undeserving pay, yet she was refusing his offer. “Nobody ever says no to me, Dr. Riddhima.”

“I am not a ‘nobody’. I am Riddhima, and I make my own rules. Now please if you’d excuse me, but I’d like to see my other patients as well.” She gestured towards the door.

After Vansh had left, Riddhima recollected what Kabir had told her :
“Vansh likes challenges. So if you want to keep him interested in you, never agree to him easily. Create such a mysterious yet innocent aura around yourself, that Vansh becomes automatically drawn to you.”

Soon enough, Riddhima got a call that the Dean wanted to meet her. When she reached his cabin, she wasn’t even a bit surprised to see Vansh sitting with the Dean, because that was exactly what she had expected.

Vansh excused himself, but before leaving, he shot the most beautiful smirk towards Riddhima.

The dean looked upset with her. “Dr. Riddhima, how could you refuse to such a mighty person like Vansh Raisinghania? I’m quite embarrassed by your behaviour.”

Riddhima tried to explain. “Sir, I have genuine reasons for that. First of all, there’s transport problem because his residence is so far away from my own house. Secondly, I’d have to resign from the hospital to take up this offer. But Sia’s treatment is going to last for only 1-2 months. After that, I’d have to go through the hassles of finding another job.”

“Mr. Raisinghania is ready to provide you with an accommodation close to VR Mansion. Also you don’t need to resign from here, and I’m even ready to give you your monthly pay. You are always welcome to join back whenever you’re done with Sia’s treatment,” said the Dean. He pointed towards an envelope. “He has donated a cheque of 10 crore to this hospital, and might give more in the future too. Just say yes to this.”

Riddhima finally gave her approval and the Dean was elated to hear that. But more than him, it was Riddhima herself who was elated, because everything was going as per her plans.

The next day, when she reached VR Mansion, she was awed by its grandeur. She was making herself familiar with the surroundings, when Anupriya greeted her.

“Hello Dr. Riddhima! I’m Sia’s mother. Remember we met in hospital?”

“Yes, I do Ma’am,” said Riddhima. She recognized her and the rest of the family from the pictures that Kabir had shown her.

Anypriya said, “Actually I’m really sorry but Sia is still asleep. Should I wake her up?”

“No, it’s alright, I can wait till she wakes up,” offered Riddhima.

Anupriya moved away from the sight, and soon Dadi appeared before her.
“You are Dr. Riddhima, right? Sia and Vansh spoke a lot about you. Especially Vansh, he sang so many praises in your name. You must really be special, because my Vansh doesn’t praise anyone that easily.”

Riddhima smiled. She didn’t know that it would be so simple to impress Vansh. She was trying to look for him when her eyes landed on a colourful temple beside the living room. When she entered inside, she saw a beautiful idol of Ganesh.

“It’s strange to see you being honoured in the devil’s house,” she said quietly.

Through the corner of her eyes, she saw Vansh enter the living room and talking to someone on phone.

She remembered what Kabir had told her :
“Try to draw all his attention towards you. Try to create such situations by which Vansh’s feelings for you become so strong, that he feels helpless to express them in front of you. How much ever this seems immoral to you, just remember that you are doing this for all the right reasons.”

When no one was looking, she quickly slid the edge of her dupatta over the burning diya, closed her eyes and started praying.

When Vansh saw Riddhima’s dupatta burning, he screamed out her name, but she didn’t budge a bit. The fire had begun to spread towards her long flowing dress as well, when Vansh ran towards her and poured a jar of water over her until the flames had died down. Riddhima was totally drenched now.

Vansh grasped Riddhima’s arm and violently shook her, “Are you deaf? What the hell were you doing? I called out your name so many times, but you were busy in your worshipping! God forbid, if I didn’t arrive on time, what would have happened?”

Riddhima was moved. For the first time in her life, she saw love, care and worry for her in someone’s eyes, yet here she was, playing with the feelings of that same person. Wasn’t this wrong?

Vansh realised that he was hurting her when he saw pain in her incredibly big eyes. He took his hands off her.

“Mrs. D’souza! Please show her the changing room and give her some clothes to change into,” he said and soon walked away, leaving a drenched and confused Riddhima doubting her own morals and feelings.

After getting into a pair of dry clothes, she went to meet Vansh. “Thank you so much for saving my life.” She extended her hand. When Vansh slid his hand in hers, for a split second she felt a jolt of electricity course through her body. She wondered why.

“Would you mind if I did something now?” he said out of the blue.

“No.” She was confused as to what was going on in Vansh’s mind when suddenly, he brought his fingers close to her face and gently pushed the dangling strands of hair behind her ear. She flinched as his fingers brushed against her ear.

“It was covering your beautiful face,” Vansh said absentmindedly before realizing his mistake.

To end the uncomfortableness between them, Riddhima spoke up, “Where is Sia’s room?”

“Upstairs, first room on the right,” came the answer.

As she turned around hurriedly, her left foot gave way. She was about to stumble to the ground, but before that could happen, she found herself in his arms. Vansh’s arms.

“What is happening?” thought Riddhima. “It’s as if God is also playing his own part to bring me closer to Vansh.”

Vansh on the other hand was totally lost into her. He didn’t feel like leaving her at all. What magic was this girl doing upon him?

“Vansh!” a voice of a girl spoke from the doorway.

Vansh realizing the inappropriate position they had been standing in, quickly helped Riddhima out of his embrace. The girl came towards him and flung her arms around his neck, giving a peck on his cheek.

“Ahana, you didn’t even inform me that you were returning today,” said Vansh coldly.

“I wanted to give you a surprise!” said Ahana happily. She then looked at Riddhima. “Who is she?”

“She is Dr. Riddhima, Sia’s physiotherapist,” said Anupriya entering the scene.

Ahana came over to Riddhima and gave her a hug too. “Thank you so much Riddhima for whatever you did with Sia. But you need to do another favour upon me. Can you make Sia completely alright by next week? I want her to be able to dance in my Sangeet!”

“Sangeet?” asked Riddhima confused.

“Sangeet, the function that happens right before marriage!” Ahana draped her fingers around Vansh’s arm. “Our marriage! Vansh and I are getting married next week.”

Riddhima looked on, completely shocked beyond words. If Vansh got married to Ahana, what would happen to their plan?

That is it for today guys. Hope you liked the update, and if you do, do not forget to comment below. Question for you all : What do you think Riddhima would do after coming to know that Vansh is getting married to Ahana? How can this marriage be stopped?