In the Name of Love – Chapter 33

Those of you who have missed the previous update, here is the link :
https://www.tellyupdates.com/in-the-name-of-love-chapter-32/

@Prapti0809 Thanks a lot. Yep, there is a huge confrontation coming up.
@Ravneet Thanks a lot. Well, there won’t be a misunderstanding per say, but a huge crack in their relationship will definitely be there.
@TSA Thanks  a lot. Hehe, seeing you on TU after a long time. I think you’re one of those unique people who have spammed not only on wattpad, but also on TU.
@Mary Thank you so much. Yes, Anupriya killed her mother. Why, you’ll get to know in this chapter. I’m really glad that you are enjoying it! You stay safe too and lots of to you as well!
@Jayanthi Thank you so much. Makes me really happy to see you showing so much love to both the stories. I agree with whatever you said about Vansh’s character. He really loves Riddhima a lot, and there is a reason why he does so, which will be revealed further.
Of course, I’ve seen quite a few interviews of Manasvi, and he seems like a reserved and soft spoken guy, who prefers few words. That’s so unlike his character. I think, in the olden days, most of the audience used to have a preconceived notion that even the actors playing as villains, were as evil as their roles. But now, I think our audience has evolved quite a lot, and they know the difference between real and reel. In fact, now there’s a complete twist in which the audience now applauds the actor playing negative role much more than the one playing a positive role.
@Yashi Thank you dear
@Ayesha Thank you dear
@Akirti Thank you dear
@RiansHLoveR Thanks a lot. Glad you liked it.
@Niyati12 Thank you so much!
@1234Aayu Thanks a lot
@Annoyinguser Thanks a lot
@Pomu Thank you so much. Your guess was right though. Let’s see if Vansh is involved in this mess or not.
@Aisha08 Thank you dear
@AarushiSoni Thank you so much for being so sweet. Your words really mean a lot to me (^hearts^)
@Riaa Tbh, I want to end both the stories as soon as possible, lol. The other one, Bound To You, has almost come to an end, with only 2-3 chapters remaining. This story would take I guess a minimum of 8-9 chapters to end and wrap up everything. It’s actually becoming difficult for me to manage studies alongside it. I really don’t know how others do this, but I’ve never been a person who can multi-task at one time. I don’t know if I will write anything sooner, but after my exams get over, I might try to come up with something. These are actually annual exams of my college, which have been getting postponed from quite a lot of time owing to this pandemic. They don’t want to conduct exams in online mode, and hence the delay.
Yes, most of the female writers portray their lead women as strong and independent characters, be it in books or movies. It’s not difficult to see why women-centric films have essentially women on board as their directors or writers.
And whatever you said about Vansh’s and Riddhima’s characters, I totally agree with that. It also is kind of related to their upbringing. Like Vansh had quite an insecure childhood, and lacked parental support in his life. That is where his need for love comes from.
While Riddhima’s parents had left no stone unturned to give her a lot of love, care and emotional security.
I know I did try to portray Anupriya in a good light many a times, but sometimes good people also falter. So you never know….
@Priyanshi_13 Thanks a lot
@Samistha Choudhary Here is the update
@Cutuuu Aww thanks a lot!
@Scarlet Flower Thank you dear
@Priya Singh Thank you dear
@Parita Thank you so much. Yes, Riddhima has always been this smart-ass. She knows how to save herself from such situations, how to manipulate someone to get her work done, she’s done all of that. Whether Vansh is involved in all this or not, that will be revealed in the next chapter.
@Parul Thanks a lot
@Pretty User Thanks a lot, and you don’t need to be sorry at all.
@Tanvi_5117 Thanks a lot. Yes, I’m planning to end both of these as soon as possible. I’ll try to come back if possible after my exams get over.
@Jayashree Thanks a lot. Hehe, I miss this dialogue from Vansh. He doesn’t use it that often nowadays.
@JJ Thank you dear
@Priyadharshini Thank you dear
@Milee Thank you so much. Your words really mean a lot to me. Yeah, the next 2-3 chapters would also come real quick, because I’m almost done with them. Of course, there’s going to be a full blown confrontation between them.
@Neetu Thanks a lot
@Priyanka Thakur Thank you so much. Yes, every girl must be brave enough to handle such perverts on their own. She doesn’t need anyone else’s help at this point, she herself is enough for all of them.
Yes, all of your points are correct, but the last one – about Anupriya kidnapping Riddhima’s dad, that would be disclosed later.
@FARHANA Thank you dear. Yes, I’m writing another FF called Bound To You. You can check it out if you want.
@Qt Thank you so much. She has always been smart, ngl. Whether Anu is a culprit or not, you’ll find out in this chapter.

xxxxxxx

Vansh kept trying Riddhima’s number, but every single time it went unanswered.

“Why isn’t she lifting my call up? How can she be so careless?” he grumbled.

He decided to call Rahul up, whose number he had managed to get from the Principal.

“Hello Vansh Raisinghania speaking.”

Rahul’s excitement knew no bounds. “Vansh Sir! It’s an honour to even speak to you. And can I just appreciate how kind and generous you are? Our entire batch….oops sorry, our entire college would be grateful to you forever. Also….”

“Just cut the crap and tell me where is Riddhima?” said Vansh impatiently. “Pass on the phone to her, right now.”

Rahul was taken aback by his rudeness, but he brushed it off thinking it to be a typical rich man’s pompousness.

“But Sir, even I don’t know where she is. I’ve been trying to call her up since half an hour or so, but she is not answering it. I last saw her leave with the Manager to the security camera room. But when I asked the same to the Manager, he said that he also doesn’t know where she is. In fact, I’m still waiting here at the hotel itself.”

Vansh hung up. He rushed out of his office and got into his car. He could sense that Riddhima was in danger, and he had to save her at any cost.

As soon as he reached the hotel, he grabbed the Manager by his collar and slapped him so hard that he fell flat on his face.

“You bastard! Where is MY Riddhima? What did you do with her?” Vansh barked at him.

The Manager pleaded in front of him. “Sir, I didn’t do anything. In fact, I had left her in the security camera room to watch some footage from a previous party, and when I came back, she was gone.”

“Which footage did she want to see?” Vansh asked skeptically.

The Manager hesitated. But he knew if he lied in such a crucial situation, then Vansh wouldn’t leave him alive.

“The party on the night of 21st March.”

Smack! Another slap came flying by.

“You son of a…..! Why did you show that to her?” roared Vansh.

The Manager held both his cheeks. “I’m sorry Sir. I tried to refuse initially, but had to give into her adamance towards the end. After all, she is the future Mrs. Vansh Raisinghania, for how long could I have denied her request?”

Vansh ordered him, “I want to see the CCTV footage from today afternoon. Even though I’ve an inkling as to who the person could be to do all this, but I still need a confirmation.”

The Manager showed him the footage on his phone.

When Vansh saw Riddhima being hit on the head and being dragged away, he immediately recognized the culprit. He grew extremely paranoid.

“Riddhimaaa!” Vansh screamed at the top of his voice.
______________________________________

Riddhima didn’t know where she was, and it was dark all around her. With each passing second, she was finding it increasingly difficult to even breathe properly.

“Is there anyone around?” she asked, her voice echoing all over.

She started gasping for air when suddenly, she saw a white light coming from a distance away. Even though she was exhausted, both physically as well as emotionally, she mustered up enough strength to keep walking.

When she went nearer, she was staggered to see her beloved mother standing in front of her. She rubbed her eyes to make sure it was real. The white light that had captivated her was actually emanating from her mother, making her look even more beautiful than she actually was.

A smiling Sunidhi beckoned Riddhima to come over.

Riddhima hugged her and cried happily. “Mumma! I missed you so much. Thank God, you came back again.”

Sunidhi patted her. “I missed you too. That’s why I had to come to see you. But now I need to leave.” Her voice sounded as soft as down.

“No, please don’t leave me Mumma,” she said holding her tightly. “If you really want to go, take me along as well. I can’t bear this any longer. I’m tired of getting hurt by everyone around me. Please take me…”

Sunidhi tried to explain, “Riddhima, you are our bravest child! If you give up like this, then who’d look after Ishaan? Unlike you, he is not very mature and needs you at every step of his life.
And you are not alone. I might not be close by, but I’d always be watching over both my kids. That’s a promise.”

Saying this, she planted a kiss on Riddhima’s head and started drifting away.

Riddhima kept crying for her, trying to reach out her hand. But it was too late. Her mother had disappeared and so had the light, making it all dark once again….

Riddhima came out of her dream and realized that she was lying on a soft surface. Her head pained like hell. She felt so weak, that she couldn’t even bring herself to open her eyes.
The sunrays fell right upon her face, causing her to squeeze her eyes shut even more.

Suddenly, the sunrays stopped disturbing her anymore, making her relaxed. She half opened her eyes and found Vansh, standing beside her bed and shielding her from the bright rays coming through the window.

Riddhima quickly shut her eyes again, not wanting Vansh to know that she was awake.
She could feel him sitting beside her and staring at her. Before she could know it, he gently kissed the top of her head. And then she heard the door being closed tight.

She finally opened her eyes with a lot of struggle and managed to sit upright. She could see that she was in an unfamiliar room and had no idea what this place was.

Her ears began to prick up on hushed voices coming from outside, which gradually became louder and louder.

“How dare you do this with her?” Vansh spoke angrily.

“So what else could I do? She had already come to know about the truth and I was scared thinking that she might inform the same to the police. Are you ready to see me go to jail? Has she become more important to you than your mother?” asked Anupriya.

“And what if something happened to her? You know how important this is to me,” said Vansh.

“This isn’t only important for you, but also for our entire family,” said Anupriya. “But you should understand that I had no idea about her condition. Otherwise I wouldn’t have harmed her like that.”

Riddhima wondered, “What condition are they talking about? Did something happen to me?”

Just then, her hand bumped against the glass causing it to fall down with a loud crash. The voices coming from outside stopped abruptly.

Anupriya barged inside her room. As soon as Riddhima saw her face, she started boiling with rage.

“What kind of a girl you are? Roaming about callously in such a condition. What kind of a doctor you are who knows nothing about her own body?” chided Anupriya.

Riddhima looked at her with menacing eyes. “You killed my Mumma, didn’t you?”

“That’s not the answer to my question.”

“That’s not the answer to my question, either!” thundered Riddhima. “How dare you, you nasty woman! Now you see what I do with you.”

She got up and tried to stomp towards her. But her weak legs gave way, and she soon found herself tumbling backwards. She closed her eyes anticipating another injury on her head, when suddenly she felt an arm supporting her by the waist. She opened her eyes only to find herself in Vansh’s embrace.

Riddhima reflexly pushed him away. “Stay away! Don’t touch me!”

“Let me explain….”

“Stop showing your fake love and concern for me. Why to pretend when I now know everything? Everything is nothing but a facade!”

“No it is not….” Vansh tried to protest.

Riddhima started clapping her hands.
“What a mastermind! To save your darling mother, you invited us to stay at your house, so that you could watch my movements 24×7. Then manipulated me to close the police case. And lied to me that you’d personally investigate the case, when you had no such intention.
After that forcibly broke me up with Kabir, because he’s a police officer and you were scared that he might get to the truth.
And then, when I decided to leave VR Mansion forever, you blackmailed me to get engaged to you, again because you were scared that I might approach the police for reopening the case in your absence.”

Vansh desperately said, “Will you even listen to me for once? I agree that whatever you said is partly true but….”

Riddhima’s voice cracked, “Why on earth should I LISTEN to you? So that you can spit out more lies? So that you can continue to manipulate me and play with my feelings?”

Anupriya said, “Stop blaming Vansh! It is not his fault. He was totally clueless about all this, until he himself started investigating your parents’ case. That is when he came to know….that…. ” She stammered. “That Sunidhi died by my hands! B-b-but it was totally accidental, I swear I did not do it on purpose.”

Tears started streaming down Riddhima’s face. Her head started spinning and her hands became all cold and clammy.
“Accidental, like seriously? What an excuse! And what did you do with my Papa?”

“I did nothing!”

“Stop lying!” Riddhima screamed. She turned towards Vansh. “You used to say that you always considered my father as your guru, as your mentor. So instead of ensuring that he and his family got their fair share of justice, you joined hands with your criminal mother?
Remember Vansh Raisinghania, whatever you are today, is all because of my father. Had he not supported you that time, you and your entire family would have come on roads. blo*dy selfish, self-centred and ungrateful people!”

Vansh flinched. He knew that her outburst was justified, but that didn’t mean she could say whatever she wanted. “Now you are crossing your limits, Riddhima.”

“If I had to cross my limits, I’d have done that long back by slitting this woman’s thoat, who killed both my parents mercilessly.”

“I did not do anything with Sushant. In fact, I myself am very worried for him and want him to be found as soon as possible. I can never even think of harming him ever, because I love him!” Anupriya blurted out.

There was pin-drop silence. Vansh burried his face into his palms, not knowing what to do. He had tried, he had tried a lot to not let things get messy, but he had failed miserably.

Riddhima gaped at her. “How much low would you stoop? You had your eyes upon a married man who even had kids? You tried to come between my Mumma and Papa?”

Anupriya shouted, “I did not come between them, rather it was Sunidhi herself who came between me and Sushant! And my love for Sushant is not sudden, I had fallen in love with him even before he had got married twenty two years ago.”

Riddhima looked on shocked.

Anupriya started narrating, “Sushant and I used to study in the same college. We were madly in love with each other. We had even decided to get married once we conplete our studies.
Everything was running smoothly, when one fine day, Sunidhi entered the same college as a newbie. Sushant was quite well off at that time, and perhaps that made her to set her eyes on him. She did everything within her ability to create differences between us.
But Sushant was a man of principles, and his love for me was true and pure, and stood unwavered.

“But our happiness was shortlived. Sunidhi played a very big game and accused me of cheating on Sushant with some other man. I had no way to prove my innocence, because everyone stood against me.
Believing all those accusations, Sushant broke up with me. I was left distraught when I came to know that soon after he had gotten married to Sunidhi. I felt like my whole life had ended.
I continued to live a lonely life for the next few years, until one fine day, when I came across Pradeep, Vansh’s father. Having recently lost his wife, he was also a lonely man. Both of us decided to end each other’s loneliness by marrying each other.
I got a loving family and three beautiful children! What else could I have asked for? I was quite content with my life….”

“But I should have known that life was never going to be easy for me. Only seven years into our marriage, and I had become a widow. The family business had to be shut down, and we were in ruins. Vansh was only nineteen at that time, so young and gullible.
That was the time when Sushant entered our lives. I was shocked beyond words to see him before my very eyes, and I assume his reaction also must have been the same. I had no idea that Maa had a foster relation with Sunidhi, because I never got the opportunity to personally meet them.”

“I saw him living a happy life with his wife and children, and therefore tried to avoid him as much as possible. But whatever he did for Vansh and our family at that time overwhelmed me so much, that my old feelings for him got rekindled.
Not able to keep my emotions in control for any longer, I confronted Sushant and explained my side of the story with enough proofs.
He was shattered to know of Sunidhi’s deed. He hated cheating, and Sunidhi had done exactly that – got married to him through cheat….”

Riddhima kept listening to all this silently. So this was the cheat that her mother had written about in the letter addressed to her father?

Anupriya continued, “Sunidhi begged him for forgiveness, but he had lost all the love and respect that he had for her. He decided to go through a divorce. But he loved his children – you and Ishaan a lot. He knew that the divorce could hamper your childhood, and therefore decided to wait until both of you get settled in your respective lives. Even Sunidhi agreed to his condition.
Soon we got to know that Sushant has been fired from his company, and was suffering a severe financial crisis. Vansh tried to help him, but he having this whole mentality about self respect, didn’t want any external help. He distanced himself and his family away from the Raisinghanias and relocated to another unknown residential area about which we had no idea.”

“It was only after many years when Maa got to coincidentally meet you and Sunidhi near a local market. As soon as Maa saw you, Riddhima, don’t know why, but her heart was set on making you as Vansh’s wife. What made it worse was that even Sunidhi and Sushant agreed for the alliance.
I knew Sunidhi very well, and saw through her evil plans. Just like how she had managed to trap a rich man earlier, she wanted her daughter to do the same now!”

“Mom!” Vansh felt upset by what she was trying to hint at. He knew Riddhima was not that type of girl, and besides, he couldn’t bear to hear something so low about her.

Anupriya cut him off. “No Vansh, let me. I’m a mother, and I DIDN’T want that woman’s daughter to spoil my son’s life, just like how she did with mine. I couldn’t let Sunidhi’s daughter become the daughter-in-law of my house.
I called Sunidhi up immediately and warned her to back off. But she laughed it off! I felt angry and told her that I’d do everything within my capacity to not let this marriage happen. She became scared of losing an alliance from such a rich and goid family like us, and asked me to meet her.”

“The next evening, she called me to meet her on the terrace of an underconstruction building, located next to the Waves Mall. When I sneaked out of the party to reach the said location, Sunidhi had a confident look on her face. She wanted to strike a deal with me. If I agreed to get Vansh and Riddhima married, she’d willingly give divorce to Sushant. And if I refused, she wouldn’t.
I was thoroughly disgusted by her. She was so blinded by her desire to get her daughter married into a wealthy family, that she was even ready to trade her husband for that!
I blatantly refused to her, but she wouldn’t budge. Soon our arguments got heated up…..

Sunidhi : If you will agree to that which I’ve asked for, then I will have no problem in doing that which you want from me.
Get Riddhima married to Vansh, and I will relieve Sushant from our marriage in return. Deal?

Me : Over my dead body!

Sunidhi : Why not? In this way we both will get what we wished for.

Me : I have never in my life seen as greedy a person as you. You are even ready to use your loved ones for your own selfish motives. You are doing this all for money right? I’ll give you how much ever you ask for, just quote your damn price!

Sunidhi : I don’t want any money. Just give me what I want.
And all I want right now,is to secure Riddhima’s future.

Me : Never! Your greed has already spoiled many lives. I won’t let you spoil more.
Did you expect that I would just stay mute and not do anything? I’ve stayed quiet enough, but not now anymore. I will neither give into your filthy demands, nor will I let my love, Sushant, be snatched away from me this time.

Sunidhi : Your love? Hahaha! The one whom you are referring to as “your” love, has already become mine long ago by mind, by soul and by body.

Me : How dare you?

Not able to control anymore, I raised my hand to slap her, leading to a scuffle between us. We both had our hands on each other, each trying to overpower the other. But what we didn’t know was that we were inching closer and closer to the edge.
Before I knew it, Sunidhi’s foot slipped and she went falling down with a loud shriek.”

“I was literally paralysed and didn’t know what to do. I ran down and found her lying completely lifeless surrounded by a pool of blood.
I checked for her pulse and breathing, but she was dead. I started crying profusely, lamenting at what I had done.
With not a single soul around, I found a large heap of mud in the corner. I….I buried her in that heap in an attempt to hide the body.”

“I had become so panicked and even lost my senses, that when I returned to the party, I wasn’t even aware that my clothes were stained with the blood, until Vansh brought it to my notice. Of course, I brushed it off citing them to be ketchup stains. But from inside I was scared.
When I went to the washroom to clean myself up, I was shocked to find Sunidhi’s wedding ring stuck to my sari.
I started freaking out again, thinking that everything would be over if anyone found that with me. Once I reached home, I hid it carefully in my cupboard, hoping no one would could find it.

“I was very relieved when I came to know that the police case was shut down. But who knew that my relief would only be a short term one. Unknown to me, Vansh had personally started investigating both Sushant’s as well as Sunidhi’s cases. He being his smart self, had managed to connect the dots and understood that I was behind Sunidhi’s death….

Vansh : How could you this Mom? You killed Sunidhi Aunty? I’m ashamed that the one lady whom I respected so much is a murderer!

Me : It was an accident. I didn’t mean to do that. If you want to turn me up to the police, do that. But please don’t hate me like this! Please don’t….

Vansh : Do you have any idea that according to the Indian law, you can be sentenced to two years of imprisonment for accidentally killing another person which can be further extended too?
Mom, you have thoroughly disappointed me today. I won’t ever be able to love and respect you in the same way.
But I know that whatever you did was unintentional. That is why, I’ll save you from this mess.

I always knew that Vansh was a very good son, but that day I came to know that he was the best son in the world! He decided to help me and decided to hide the ring inside his study, as he felt it wasn’t safe enough in my bedroom. He even got all footage from that night’s party deleted.”

Turning towards Riddhima, she said, “But don’t know how you managed to lay your hands on it! And the rest you know is history….”

She continued, “Riddhima, I know that I’ve committed a grave mistake. And I’m really sorry for that. I hope I could do something to make everything alright. But unfortunately I cannot.
Somewhere, we can say that it was Sunidhi’s false deeds that indirectly caused her downfall.
Riddhima, you are her daughter, and you knew her inside out. You’d be knowing much better than me about how money minded and materialistic she was.”

Every child expects his parents to be perfect. And when he come to know about his parents’ wrongdoings, it pierces the heart a lot.
Even though Riddhima was boiling with vengeance, she knew that whatever Anupriya had said, was true.

Her mother was a nice woman, but had one single weakness – love for money and wordly luxuries.
Riddhima however had an idealistic mentality, just like her father. Many a times, she tried to put some sense into her mother’s head, but to no avail.

Riddhima recollected the conversation that she had with her mother, after having had met Gayatri………….

Riddhima found Sunidhi lovingly gazing at her.
“What is it, Mumma?”

“Nothing. Just thinking how much I’d miss you once you get married,” chirped her mother.

Riddhima’s became emotional. “Even I love all of you so much, and I don’t think I can live even a minute without you. That is why, I’ve two options now. And one of them is to never marry.”

“What nonsense are you talking about? I’m not so bad of a mother who’d keep her daughter in her house for her own selfish reasons,” Sunidhi said annoyedly.

“Come on Mumma, this whole concept of ‘what would the society say if we keep our daughters in our house’ is so outdated. If a girl doesn’t want to marry ever, what is wrong in that?”

Sunidhi raised her eyebrows. “So, do you want to indirectly say that you don’t want to get married, too?”

Riddhima said, “No, no, I definitely want to get married, but I’d prefer a husband who would move into my house and family, rather than me doing the same. After all, why should only the girls leave their homes to live with their husbands? It can happen the other way around as well.”

“Are you mad or something?” grimaced Sunidhi. “Do you know which kind of guy would be ready to leave his house to move in with his wife? A henpecked and worthless man, who’d have no amount of self respect! No, I can never let you have such a husband. In fact, I’d rather want you to marry a wealthy and powerful man, having a high status and a dignified aura.”

Riddhima disagreed with her. “Rich people tend to be very arrogant. I don’t think I can handle their tantrums. I’d rather have a simple, kind and principled man, like Papa. Plus, I don’t care much for money.”

Sunidhi tried to reason out. “You might not care for money, but money is very important to live a good life…..”

Ishaan interrupted them. “More than a rich guy, Dids needs a TALL one who can hand over the things from the topmost shelves and racks to her!”

Riddhima became angry and started running behind her brother to beat him. “How dare you make fun of my height!”

Sunidhi renarked with a glint in her eye, “And what if I found a guy who is both rich and tall? Will that do?”

Riddhima’s eyes welled up remembering her previous happy life with her family. She broke out of her reminiscence and turned towards Vansh. As soon as her eyes met his, he looked down, looking guilty.

Precap :
Riddhima tells Vansh that she hates him. He feels hurt.

The family is shocked when they get the news that Riddhima is pregnant.

Hello everyone! That is it for today guys. Do vote and comment below.

Peace out!