In the Name of Love – Chapter 47

Those of you have missed the previous update, here is the link :
https://www.tellyupdates.com/in-the-name-of-love-chapter-46/

@Niyati12 Thanks a lot!
@Raavi Thanks a lot!
@AarushiSoni Aww thank you so much. Lots of hearts to you too as well!! Why are you so sweet?
@Jia Kar You don’t have to say please so many times dear. Here’s the update
@N Ayesha Thank you dear
@Cutie Thanks a lot. I know that you are upset but everything has to end at some point or the other. Isn’t it?
@Aisha08 Thank you dear
@Anannya07 Thanks a lot. Lots of love from my side as well and take care of yourself too.
@1234Aayu Thank you so much. Aww, that was so sweet of your teacher to do that. Only if all teachers were like that, then school would have been a much better place, isn’t it? Also I’m happy to see the similarity in how both you and Nandu found comfort in a locket. Glad that you are finally out of your stage fear. More power to you!
@SUMISHA Thank you dear
@Priyanshi_13 Thanks a lot. Yes, you got that right!
@Varshini Thank you dear
@KB Thank you dear
@Mj Thank you dear
@Neetu Thank you dear!
@Annoyinguser Thanks a lot. Arre boards ka pucho hi mat. I think every student knows/will soon know the feeling of getting your results online.
@Priyanka Thakur Thank you so much. Yes finally, they have some happy and light moments in their lives.
@Mary Thanks a lot!
@FARHANA Thanks a lot. I know you might be upset, but everything has to come to an end after sometime….
@Jasmine Kaur Thank you dear
@RiansHLoveR Thanks a lot. Aww, that’s so sweet of you.
@Jayashree Thank you so much. I’m so glad you liked it.
@Priyadharshini Thank you dear
@JJ Thank you dear
@Vkjhp Thank you dear
@Sree Thank you dear
@Parita Thanks a lot. Yes, you’re right on that!
@Jayanthi Thank you so much. Ngl, but I always feel so humbled after reading your compliments.
One thing that I actually found helpful in changing the mood from one chapter to another is time leap. I did use time leaps in ‘Bound To You’ as well. But I’m really glad that you found the transition smooth.
.
You are absolutely right – mothers and fathers behave differently towards the same problem. I think mothers have a more emotional approach, while fathers are more practical and tend to think logically.
Even though Riddhima doesn’t herself realize this, but she has actually started to develop maternal feelings for Nandu.
.
PS : Do you sing or play any musical instrument? It’s just that the analogy you gave got me a little curious.
@Riaa Thank you so much. I’m so glad that you liked these chapters.
Riddhima has matured over these five years, which is quite a long time. And that’s one of the reason why she has come to accept her relation with Vansh so willingly and happily.
As for Riddhima not preferring to be called as Nandu’s mother, is because maybe she feels awkward around it. But she does love the little girl a lot, and that is what should matter in the end.
Hehe, ngl but Riddhima’s imagination is too wild. She always thinks in the wrong direction, but she isn’t the only one to be blamed for that (wink).
There are I guess 5 more chapters to go, so you can enjoy until then. Tbh, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to find so much time ever to sit and write something down. But I’ll try.

xxxxx

Riddhima was shocked to see the results displayed on the screen in front of her. She believed that she had written the exam well and was expecting a decent rank.

But here, she hadn’t just got a decent rank, she had got much more than that. She had topped in her state!

She kept pinching herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming or something. When reality finally hit her, she started jumping about in joy. She unlocked her door and ran into the living room, where Sushant and Ishaan were sitting tensed.

“Papa! Ishaan! Can you both believe that I topped in the whole of Maharashtra?” she squealed in delight.

“What!” Both the men blurted out in amazement.

Ishaan started jumping around with Riddhima, and even lifted her up in his arms in happiness.

“What are you doing? Put me down, you fool!” Riddhima grumbled.

“Oh! You only want Jiju to lift you up, huh? Ahem, ahem!” Ishaan began pulling her leg, yet again.

Sushant scolded him, “Don’t bother her. Today is her day, and I want her to enjoy it to the fullest.”

He came closer to Ruddhima and kissed the top of her head. “I am so, so proud of you, my child. Keep working hard like this throughout your life.”

“I will, Papa.”

“Ishaan, go and get Riddhima’s favourite sweets from the market,” ordered Sushant.

“I’ll get them right away,” Ishaan replied, making his way out of the door.

When Sushant noticed Riddhima dialling up someone’s number through her phone.

“Are you calling Vansh up?” Sushant asked with a glint in his eye.

“No Papa, I’m checking up with Ashima about her results,” her eyes still glued to the phone.

“But don’t you think you must share this news with Vansh, too? I’m sure beta, he’ll be so happy for you.”

“Of course. The first thing I want to do is share it with Vansh, too. But I don’t want to disclose it to him on phone, rather I want to do it in person. I don’t want to miss the look on his face when I tell him this,” she smiled fondly.

“Shall we leave for VR Mansion, then?” he suggested.

Riddhima readily agreed to this. She gladly remembered how Vansh had comforted her with his words just a few days before her exam. In fact throughout her MBBS, he had been nothing but encouraging towards her studies.

Vansh himself could not attend college and had to dropout instead, because of the responsibilities of looking after the business. Of course, he had managed to get a degree after turning his business successful, but he knew he missed out a lot. And he didn’t want anyone else to miss out on their education, like he had to.
_____________________________________

Everyone at VR Mansion was surprised when they saw the Sinhas arrive there with a box of sweets.

Gayatri was super elated to know when she was told the reason.

“I knew that my Riddhima would definitely do wonders!” she beamed, enveloping her into a hug.

“Of course, this had to happen, Maa. Riddhima is a very nice girl, who has only shown goodness towards others.” Urvashi said this with a faraway look in her eyes, as she remembered how Riddhima had taken such good care of her when she was mentally unstable.
“And God blesses such good people with only good things.”

Riddhima quickly took the elders’ blessing by touching their feet.

When she approached Chanchal, she saw that she had a sulken face on.

“Chachi, won’t you say anything? You seem to be unusually quiet today,” Riddhima taunted her.

Chanchal tried to force a smile. “What can I say, Riddhima? You have rendered me absolutely speechless with your achievements.”

Now, it was Sia’s and Nandu’s turn to congratulate her.

“You don’t know how happy I am for you!” Sia said excitedly. “So a seat in Masters in Paediatrics is confirmed, right?”

“Not only Paediatrics, but she can get any damned subject and college she wants,” said Ishaan. “She is the God damn topper for crying out loud!”

Riddhima found Nandu to be a little gloomy.

“What happened? How did your story telling competition go?” she asked.

“I didn’t win any prize,” Nandu replied looking down.

Riddhima tried to console her. “So what if you didn’t win this time? I’m sure you’ll do it next time. But whatever happens, I don’t want to see you sad, ever. Okay?”

Saying this, she started tickling her, causing Nandu to curl up due to uncontrollable laughter.

Riddhima stopped when she saw that Nandu’s mood had finally got uplifted.

“Papa also said the same thing,” added Nandu. “And your amulet worked again! I didn’t forget even a single line on the stage.”

Nandu was growing quite rapidly and now, she almost reached till Riddhima’s shoulder.

“Thank you, Aunty,” she said, wrapping her arms around her waist. “You are very nice.”

“But not more than you,” Riddhima said in return.

Everybody was chatting amongst themselves, but Riddhima’s attention wasn’t there at all. Her eyes danced about the whole place, looking for him.

Urvashi who observed this, spoke, “He is in his room.”

Riddhima was startled. “Whom are you talking about?”

“About the same person whom your eyes have been searching for since quite some time,” said Urvashi.

Riddhima started blushing while the rest started grinning amongst themselves.

“Why don’t you go up to meet him?” Urvashi suggested.

Ignoring the teasing glares everyone was giving her, Riddhima ran up to Vansh’s room.

“Vansh?” She knocked on the door but no answer came from inside.

She pushed open the door and surprisingly, she found the room to be empty.

Riddhima’s eyes fell upon a note kept on his study table.

Sweetheart,

I know that you are very eager to meet me. Tell Angre, and he’ll bring you to the place where I’m currently at.

—VR

“What in the world is this? Is this some kind of game? And how did he know that I wanted to meet him?” Riddhima wondered.

“Freaking sorcerer!” she said with a smile.
______________________________________

Angre brought the car to an abrupt stop causing Riddhima to wake up with a startle. Yes, she had dozed off during the two hour long drive. She really couldn’t help herself.

She got down the car and stretched her arms, trying to get rid of the sleepiness. She tried to look at her surroundings and was mesmerised to see a huge, beautiful house in front of her.

“Why did Vansh ask me to meet him here?” she pondered.

Before she could know it, Riddhima felt a cloth being tied over her eyes from behind.

“Vansh, what are you doing?” she whooped in delight.

“How did you know it’s me when I purposely used an altogether different perfume to confuse you?” Vansh asked, securing her blindfold tightly.

“Your touch,” Riddhima said softly. “I can recognize that anywhere in the world.”

“Oh, is that so?” he said this in a teasing tone. Supporting her by her shoulders, he tried to lead her into the house.

“Why did you blindfold me? I can’t see anything, what if I trip over and fall down?”

“Did I ever let you fall before? So how would I let you fall today?
But if you still are doubtful, then I’ve a solution to this.”

Without any prior warning, Vansh whisked her into his arms, earning him a light slap on the back from the lady in question.

“I came here to tell you something important, and here you are, busy carrying out your own drama,” she tried to sound annoyed.

“Patience, my love. Patience.”

He swiftly carried her inside the house after which, he carefully put her down.

When she undid her blindfold, she was astonished to see that the room in which she stood, was decorated with lights, balloons and flowers.

Vansh pushed a serving trolley towards her. A gorgeous looking chocolate cake rested on it, with “CONGRATULATIONS DR. RIDDHIMA” written on top of the cake.

“How did you know about my results?” Riddhima asked her mouth wide open in surprise. “I had specifically asked everyone at the mansion to not inform you about this, because I wanted to tell you all about it myself.”

She looked crossed and turned her back towards him.

“No one told me anything, sweetheart,” he assured her. “I’ve my own sources where I received this news from.”

“But that’s not fair that you use your power to find my results out without me telling you about it,” said Riddhima.

“It isn’t my fault because even I was eager like hell to find out how much you had scored in this exam, knowing very well how important this exam meant to you. Besides,” he started grinning. “Everything is fair in love, and love.”

He made her cut the cake and stuffed a large piece of it into her mouth.

Riddhima let out a moan, finding it difficult to chew upon such a large slice at once.

“You love chocolates, right?” he quipped, playfully feeding her with some more of that cake.

“Do you want to kill me or something with overeating?” Riddhima asked after she was finally done eating all of that.

Vansh kept grinning. Riddhima slowly approached him keeping her hands folded behind herself.

“And this is what you get for messing up with me!” She smeared some cake over his face, completely taking him by surprise.

Riddhima pulled a face at him and started running around, trying to dodge away from Vansh’s grasp. But she was no match for his long legs, and he caught her within no time.

She kept giggling and trying to free herself from his clutches.

Vansh, on the other hand, kept adoring her. Her sweet laughter was like soothing music to his ears, and he could keep on listening to her happy voices for ever.

“And this is what you get for messing with me, sweetheart.” His husky voice sending goosebumps over her skin.

He brought his cake-smeared face close to her’s, and rubbed his cheek against her’s, thus smudging the cake onto her as well.

“Thank you for this lovely surprise, Vansh,” Riddhima whispered, leaning close to his ear.

“Well, there’s another surprise for you as well,” said Vansh with a twinkle in his eye. “How did you like this house?”

Riddhima scanned the house around. “It is such a beautiful place. But whose house is this? Your’s?”

“Nope. It is your’s.”

Riddhima blinked at him in amazement.

“This is your house from now onwards,” Vansh reiterated. “A gift from my side to you.”

Even though she was thrilled to see his gesture towards her, but she also felt weary of accepting such an expensive gift from him.

As if reading her mind, Vansh said, “You are my fiancee, my soon-to-be wife. Don’t I have the rights to gift you something of my choice, irrespective of it’s price?”

“But…”

“And this gift is part of my backup plan, too.”

“Backup plan?” she was absolutely confused.

“You know my family, how they are. Always trying to intrude upon our romance. So whenever we feel that we aren’t getting enough private and romantic time for ourselves back at the mansion, we will straight away head here. What say?” A naughty smile started playing on his lips.

“I’m all for it, Mr. Raisinghania,” she replied coyly.

Vansh drew open the curtains, showing the balcony behind it. But what excited Riddhima beyond words was that the sea could be seen from the balcony.

“Oh my God, Vansh! This looks so….so…heavenly and aesthetic,” She squealed ecstatically.

She closed her eyes. The sound of the crashing waves and the fragrance of the sea, seemed to invade her senses.

“I knew that you love beaches. So, I thought that a sea-facing house would be the best gift. This would be our bedroom.” Vansh enunciated on the last two words, throwing a meaningful glance in Riddhima’s direction.
“Do you like it?”

“I love it,” she said still enjoying the beautiful sight.

“And I love you.” Vansh wrapped his arm around her waist.

“I love you, too,” said Riddhima. “Won’t you show me the rest of the house?”

Vansh held her hand and took her along with him all around the place.

“This is your house. So you’ll get to decide upon the interior decor, furnishing, painting and the likes.”

Riddhima carefully scrutinized everything around her.
”

This room will be the guest room. This will be the study. And this will be the children’s room. And…”

“Excuse me? Whose room did you say the last one was?” Vansh asked her suddenly.

“Children’s room,” she repeated herself.

“You mean….our children?” he asked slowly.

“Of course. Our house will have our children in it only, not any neighbour’s children, right?” Riddhima saw Vansh fondly smiling and looking elsewhere.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Now, why are you shying like a girl at the mention of children?”

“I am NOT shying,” Vansh said annoyedly. “It’s just that….I didn’t know that you had started thinking about our children, too.”

“What is there to think about in that? After marriage, we will have kids one fine day or the other.” Riddhima said this as if it was no big deal.

“Yes, of course. To be honest, Riddhima,” Vansh stared right into her eyes. “I can’t wait to have kids with you.”

She chuckled, “But you’d have to wait for that….”

Vansh sighed, “I know that. We’ll get married after you complete your Masters, that is, after three years. So there’s still a very long time until then.”

Riddhima scrunched up her nose. “If you are getting so impatient, then why don’t you leave me and use your other options? Ahaana, Anita, etc, etc, who I’m sure would be ready to marry you today itself….”

Vansh did not even let her complete her sentence and pulled her face close towards his. “Three years are nothing. I can keep waiting for you for a lifetime even.”

She intently looked into his dark and penetrating eyes. “But I’m afraid, I cannot do the same, Vansh.”

Vansh felt taken aback by her words. “What do you mean?”
He tried hard to cover up the pain from his voice, but was unable to do so.

Riddhima walked few steps back and then out of the blue, went down on her knees. Vansh looked on conpletely surprised.

“Vansh, you have a lot of patience, but unfortunately, I do not. I cannot bear to live without you any longer. Will you marry me? Not after three years, but within these few days itself?”

Vansh couldn’t believe that she had just said that. “You can’t be serious, isn’t it? Are you joking or something?”

“I am hell serious, Vansh!” she squealed in excitement. “Stop staring at me like that and answer my damn question! I can’t keep kneeling down like this forever because my legs are starting to hurt now. So, yes or no?”

Vansh helped Riddhima to stand up and made her sit on the couch.

“What happened to you all of a sudden? Weren’t you the one who wanted to complete her education first and then only get married?”

“What happened to you all of a sudden, huh?” Riddhima questioned him instead. “I had expected that you’d start jumping in joy at the mention of our marriage, but on the other hand, you’re acting displeased.” She shot a piercing look in his direction. “Don’t tell me, that you have found someone else behind my back.”

Vansh raised his hands in exasperation. “Can we please do away with those sad jokes and get a little serious?”

Riddhima grasped Vansh’s hand. “I am very serious. Five years back, I was young and over ambitious, with my primary focus being my career. But now that I’ve matured over these years, all I want to do is to settle down and begin a new life with you.”

Vansh took a deep breath. “I know, what you are feeling. But you must understand that this is not going to be easy. Managing marriage and studies hand in hand is no cakewalk. How will you be able to do this?
Riddhima, if you’re doing this just because you’re feeling guilty for keeping me waiting for so much time, then please don’t.
If I had my way, I’d want to marry you this very second, but not at the cost of your studies.”

“No, I’m not doing this out of any guilt. Rather, I’m doing this because this is what I want,” explained Riddhima. “I know that it would be tough to simultaneously cope up with both the things, but it is not something that is impossible. I’ve seen quite a few girls doing it, and I’m pretty sure I can do it, too.”

She continued, “Of course, this would be possible only if you’d not turn into one of those husbands, who becomes insecure at the thought of his wife staying busy at her work instead of giving him all her attention.”
She appeared a little hurt as she remembered how Vansh had behaved with her earlier regarding this matter.

Vansh read between the lines and started regretting his unfiltered actions. He realized that despite being much older and experienced to Riddhima, he had acted very immaturely.

“I am extremely sorry for my rash behaviour. I know, I shouldn’t have done that.” Holding her hands close to his chest, he further said, “I promise you that this wouldn’t repeat again.”

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence between the both of them.

Riddhima finally decided to speak up.
“Vansh, you should understand that business and the medical field, both work in totally different ways. In business, everything runs in a fixed and orderly manner. While the medical field is full of uncertainities, urgencies and disorganisation.
Not only while I’m studying for my Masters, but also when I’ll be taking up a job later on, there might be many incidents when I’d be assigned emergency duties. Due to that, I’d have to miss out on important occasions or parties, anniversaries, birthdays, weddings, etc. I cannot help all of that.”

Vansh assured her, “I promise you, that I’ll support and cooperate with you, no matter what come may. I know that I can act a little too cranky at times, but I’m willing to work on that.”

Riddhima smiled at him, and for a while, they both were lost in each other’s eyes.

“So?” Riddhima asked, coming back to the reality.

“So?” he asked her instead.

“Unbelievable, Vansh!” Riddhima groaned in frustration. “I posed a question to you, but you don’t even care to answer it.”

“So you are getting desperate to know my answer, eh?” he asked with a smirk.

Riddhima nodded, looking at him expectantly.

He grabbed her hand, firmly drawing her against his chest, and pulled her into a long, passionate kiss.

With his lips still pressed against her’s, he lifted her up in his arms and swirled her around like there was no tomorrow….
______________________________________

The Sinhas and the Raisinghanias gathered together for an important discussion at VR Mansion. The family priest had been called too, and he was supposed to be finalising a date for the marriage.

Vansh and Riddhima became nostalgic as they reminisced how they both had bribed the same priest to delay their marriage, five years back. But looking at their condition, it seemed that now they’d bribe him to pull an earlier date.

The priest finally looked up from his astrology book. “As per their horoscopes, there are only two dates this year when the said couple can get married.”

Gayatri turned a little worried. “And which are those dates?”

“One date is three months later. And the other is one week later. Which one would you prefer?” enquired the priest.

“I think three months later would be fine….” Gayatri and Sushant tried to say.

“No! One week later is the better option!” Both Vansh and Riddhima said in unison, surprising the rest.

“Bhai! So eager to marry, huh?” Sia started teasing.

Not wanting to miss this golden opportunity, Ishaan joined in too, “Oho! Both of them are equally burning in this fire of love and passion.”

Vansh glared at his siblings, but they remained unfazed and continued their session of leg pulling.

Sushant said, “But one week is such a less time to do all the preparations. How will we manage?”

“Papa, there’s no need of doing any preparations. We can just hold a simple wedding ceremony, inviting only the close relatives and friends,” Vansh suggested.

“What are you even talking about? I had always dreamed of a grand celebration for my grandson’s marriage with all the necessary pre-wedding festivities,” Gayatri said.

“But I and Riddhima are not much in favour of all these useless functions prior to marriage.” Vansh tried to get his Dadi and the others to agree to him, but to no avail.

“I think Bhai is only interested in doing marriage and the ‘post wedding custom’,” Ishani giggled.

Everyone present there understood the actual meaning behind her words. The younger lot began to laugh, while the elders tried to maintain a stoic expression, choosing to ignore her statement.

But Vansh and Riddhima, on the other hand, appeared very embarrassed.

Urvashi said, “If Vansh and Riddhima themselves want to get married within one week’s time, then we, being their parents, should bless and support them.
As far as the pre-wedding functions are concerned, I think if we all work together along with the wedding planners, then there won’t be much problem.”

Sushant, Gayatri and Rudra seemed to agree with this, and finally, it was decided that the marriage would be held one week later.

After all the congratulatories and sweets were exchanged, they sat down trying to sort out how everything will be carried out further.

A mischievous idea began to form in Ishani’s mind, and she decided to act upon it as soon as possible, before she forgot about it.

“Dadi, you forgot about the most important custom that is carried out before the marriage. And that is…” she smirked at her brother. “The bride and the groom cannot meet each other until they get married.”

Vansh almost spat out the water that he was drinking on hearing this.

“What nonsense!” he said angrily.

“Ishani is absolutely right,” Gayatri backed her up. “It is considered to be very ominous. God forbid, if some mishap took place because of that?”

Vansh was boiling in rage. How dare this Ishani fill Dadi’s already superstitious mind with even more crap? He’d surely teach her a lesson!

Later, Vansh found Ishani, Raj, Sia and Ishaan gossiping amongst themselves.

He went up to them, appearing as angry as ever. “Ishani! What was the need to tell all that to Dadi?”

“Come on, Jiju! It’s only a matter of one week,” joked Ishaan. “Don’t tell me that you can’t control yourself for even one week also.”

At this, everyone started laughing as loud as possible.

Vansh saw Riddima appear around the corner and told her, “If you can’t hit your brother, tell me. I’ll happily do it, instead.”

“Oh hello! Be careful of what you say, Jiju. Don’t take your brother-in-law so casually. Or else, I wouldn’t hesitate in refusing to let my sister go with you after the marriage.”

Vansh turned towards Riddhima for some help.

“Well, he actually has a point,” smirked Riddhima.

Vansh murmured, “Show how much ever tantrums you want before marriage, Riddhima. But once we get married, I’ll…..”

“Riddhima! What are you doing here, beta?” Gayatri called her out, looking quite displeased.

“Didn’t I tell you that you cannot meet Vansh until the next week?” she continued. “Come with me.”

Saying this, she took Riddhima by her hand away from there, while Vansh was left to grumble to himself.

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

Peace out!