For those of you who have missed the 6th chapter, here is the link :
In the Name of Love (Ishq Mein Marjawan) – Chapter 6
Gayatri felt a little upset at Riddhima’s rude behavior with Vansh, but she let it slide. After all, grief often tended to cloud a person’s mind, and made him to act rashly. And Riddhima here was struck with a hell lot of grief as shown by her disturbed face. Only a little more than a month had passed, but she was no longer the chirpy and happy-go-lucky girl that she had chosen for her grandson to marry to…..
“I am so sorry Nani for all this,” said Riddhima.
“No beta, you don’t have to be. In fact I am the one who should be sorry for coming to visit you so late,” sighed Gayatri. “How are you and Ishaan even managing?”
Gayatri was happy to know that she had been admitted in an esteemed medical college. “I knew it! Didn’t I tell you that you would definitely do wonders in your entrance test?”
Riddhima nodded and then continued her story of how she didn’t have enough money to pay her admission fee and how she had to sell her dad’s second-hand car to pay that. She also has to pay Ishaan’s school fee by next month for which she was planning to sell some of her mother’s jewellery.
Gayatri was left aghast at the constraints faced by Riddhima. She was working in the morning as a salesgirl, and in the evening she used to give tuitions to some of the younger kids living in her building. Inspite of all this, she could barely manage to earn a meagre 12-15000 per month.
“What to do Nani? I don’t have any other option. Call centers are willing to pay me more, but they want a person willing to do the night shift. I can’t do that, I can’t leave Ishaan alone at night,” said Riddhima.
Just then, a burning stench filled the room and Riddhima rushed into the kitchen, but it was too late. “Ohh nooo! The food has got badly burnt,” said Riddhima sadly. “I had forgotten to turn down the flame I guess.”
“Didn’t you have a maid?” asked Gayatri looking at the mess in the kitchen.
“We used to have, but unfortunately after all this….I just couldn’t afford to keep her anymore,” said Riddhima, opening the windows wide open to let the stink go.
Gayatri went upto Riddhima and caressed her face. “You are so young, yet you are so strong. You need anything or any help, just give me a call. Do not hesitate, and even if you do, just remember how your father had helped us in our times of need. Okay?”
“Okay,” said Riddhima with tears in her eyes. She hadn’t meant to share all this her, because she wasn’t that type of girl at all who would go on ranting about her hardships in front of the whole world. But don’t know with Gayatri, she felt something different. Even though they didn’t share blood, she felt like she was a near one.
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Vansh had been standing outside the building, waiting for Gayatri since quite some time. “She didn’t even call me yet. What is taking her so long?” he mumbled to himself.
Just then he saw Gayatri coming towards him, accompanied by Riddhima.
Ignoring Riddhima, he turned towards Gayatri and said, “Dadi, I had asked you to call me when you are done so that I could come up to pick you.”
“Actually, my phone’s battery had died. That is why I couldn’t contact you and Riddhima had to come all the way down along with me,” said Gayatri.
“Let’s leave quickly then. I’m getting late,” said Vansh, holding out the door of the car open for his grandmother.
As he was himself about to sit in the car, he heard Riddhima call out his name. “Vansh?”
Vansh turned around and glared at her.
Riddhima corrected herself. “I mean Mr. Vansh Raisinghania. I am really sorry for whatever happened. You may think I went overboard with my behavior but I had no other option as….”
“I do not need your hopeless sorry,” said Vansh coldly. “Keep that to yourself.”
Riddhima felt irritated at his behavior, but she decided it was best to leave this man alone. “Bye Nani, take care.” Saying this she disappeared inside the building.
Just then, Vansh heard a group of rough looking men, sitting on the portico of the building and giggling amongst themselves.
“Oooh, that was Riddhima right?”
“Yes, it was her. What a beauty she is!”
“I have heard that her parents are dead or something and she’s staying all by herself.”
“Yes, she is. Isn’t that good because now we can have some fun with her?”
“But I’ve heard that this girl is really hot-tempered?”
“Haha! That is even better. Because hot-tempered girls are guess what….HOT!”
“Oh my God! Look at these rogues eyeing my poor Riddhima. Please do something Vansh,” said Gayatri.
“Don’t worry Dadi, I’ll handle this,” said Vansh. “But please don’t call that girl ‘poor’. I didn’t find her behavior with me ‘poor’ at all. In fact, I feel that she can easily handle these guys.”
“Vansh!” scowled Gayatri.
“Relax Dadi, I’m calling up Angre right now. Hello, Angre? Listen I’m sending you a location and I need you to clear that area of all roadside rogues right now. Right now means right now. And I don’t want any lecherous man to ever, ever loiter around here. Got me?”
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When Ishaan returned home from the market, he was surprised to see a box of chocolates and a box of muffins, waiting for him on the table.
“Whoa! Who got this?” he asked, already digging his fingers into one of the muffins. “Hmmm! This tastes like heaven.”
“Gayatri Nani had come over here to pay us a visit,” said Riddhima.
“Ohh! Good old Nani! Did she come alone?” he asked, now trying to grab the chocolates. “These ones are expensive, by the way.”
“Mmm, she came with Vansh,” she said trying not to think about him.
“Vansh is such a cool guy, though,” said Ishaan licking off his fingers. “I remember he attended Mumma’s funeral as well. He spoke to us nicely then, and today he brought us these finger-licking chocolates. And muffins, of course.”
“So?” asked Riddhima raising her eyebrow. “What’s the big deal in that?”
“Of course, it’s a big deal,” said Ishaan. “Don’t you see how rich he is? And yet he is quite polite and gracious. Often rich people aren’t like that.”
“I don’t exactly agree with you Ishaan,” she said.
“What is wrong with you Dids? Why are you acting so indifferent when I’m praising him?”
“I don’t know Ishaan. I don’t know him enough, but he gives off bad vibes to me.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“I don’t know how to explain this, but I don’t feel good about him,” said Riddhima. “I don’t feel Vansh is a good man.”
Just then, the doorbell rang.
“Who can it be again?” said Riddhima.
“It’s Dinesh Chachu and Tripti Bua,” said Ishaan after checking through the peephole. He opened the door and greeted them. “Hello, Chachu and Bua.”
“We are not here to listen to your ‘hellos’, ok?” snarled Tripti. “Where’s that sister of yours? Call her right away.”
“I’m right here,” said Riddhima appearing before them. “What do you want?”
“What did you tell the ACP about us, huh?” asked Tripti burning with rage.
“What did I tell him? I just told him the truth,” said Riddhima nonchalantly.
“This girl! I’ll kill her one day!” screamed Tripti. She was getting out of control.
“Tripti, relax sister. Let me handle this,” said Dinesh. Turning to his niece, he asked, “Did you tell the ACP that you suspect us of Bhabhi’s murder? And you also said that you think that we are behind Sushant Bhai’s disappearance?”
“Yes, I said this,” said Riddhima.
“Why did you say something like this?” asked Dinesh. “The ACP has now started to doubt upon us, when in fact we are absolutely innocent.”
“If you really are innocent, then you will be proved innocent,” said Riddhima. “So what is there to get so afraid and worried about? Unless…unless you are guilty of doing something sinister.”
Dinesh said, “It is really not like that Riddhima. Its just that we are worried, worried about the bad name that this accusation will bring to us. What will happen to our jobs? What will happen to Nikisha? Who will marry her after her father has been wrongly alleged of a crime?”
“But I can’t do anything about that now,” said Riddhima.
“No, no, you can,” said Dinesh. “You talk to the ACP again, and tell him that suspecting us was a mistake on your part. You can say something about how your misery has clouded your brain….”
“I am NOT going to change my statement,” said Riddhima firmly, her arms folded across her chest.
“I’ll cut her into pieces!” shouted Tripti. “How dare you? You know what you are just like your mother, ill-mannered and as cunning as a fox. She was a witch, and so are you!”
Dinesh tried to calm Tripti down, but she was getting hysterical.
“Leave, right now!” shouted Riddhima. “I can’t believe you are standing here in my house and badmouthing about her when she’s no more, and you expect me to just stand still?”
“I won’t leave!” screamed Tripti. “I won’t leave!”
“Then I’ll have to call the security guard,” said Riddhima. “Chachu, take her away right now, or I’ll have to call the guard.”
“Tripti, why can’t you behave properly? You should have let me talk to her, I’d have handled this situation. But now you have messed it up. Let’s go,” said Dinesh, dragging his sister behind him.
“What you’ve done to us, you’ll have to pay for that!” Tripti’s voice echoed as Dinesh kept pulling her away.
“Next time, you come here, I’ll surely get restriction orders against you,” shouted Riddhima, slamming the door.
She slumped down into the sofa, and started crying. She had been trying so hard, so damn hard to stay strong, but now she couldn’t. She just couldn’t….
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“Vansh, I’ve noticed that since you both returned after meeting Sunidhi’s children, Maa is looking so miserable,” said Anupriya. “Did something happen over there?”
Vansh recalled how Riddhima had affronted him. It made him angry. “Ohh nothing Mom. I think she’s just feeling sorry for them or something.”
“But Vansh, this is not good for her. I even observed that she didn’t eat much at dinner too. Remember what the doctor told us? He asked us to take good care of her and ensure that she remains happy and stress-free,” said Anupriya. “I’m worried, if this can have a negative impact on her health.”
“Wait, let me talk to her about this,” said Vansh, heading towards Gayatri’s room.
“Dadi?” He called her out after knocking on the door of her bedroom. But she wasn’t listening, she was lost in her own thoughts….
“Dadi!” He said a bit loudly.
“Yes beta, come in,” she said meekly.
“What has happened to you? Why do you look so worried? You didn’t even eat much today,” said Vansh.
“I’m just….worried….about Sunidhi’s kids,” said Gayatri. “You have no idea what they are going through. Poor Riddhima! She’s simultaneously doing two jobs a day, yet is unable to make the ends meet. At such a tender age, she is burdened with the responsibility of taking care of not only herself but also her brother. Remember their father, Sushant had done so much for us in our times of helplessness, don’t you think its our turn now to do the same?”
“I agree with you, but that doesn’t mean you’ll spoil your health by thinking excessively. As far as helping them is concerned, I’m all ready for that. I’ll immediately hand over few cheques to Angre, and he’ll pass them onto Riddhima and Ishaan,” said Vansh.
“Well….I was thinking if…if Riddhima and Ishaan stayed with us at VR mansion itself?” asked Gayatri.
“What!” blurted out Vansh. “That’s not possible Dadi.”
“Why not?” she asked. “Didn’t you see how those rowdy guys were talking disgustingly about Riddhima. Today you were able to call Angre and handle that situation, but it is practically impossible to keep a lookout for them by staying so far away. Haven’t you seen how difficult it is for her to manage home, work and college simultaneously? Today she almost the burnt the food and had to prepare it again.”
Vansh was getting irritated by all this. “As far as their place of accommodation is concerned, I’ll give them a new fancy house in a good locality. They’ll even have maids and servants to do the work for them. I’ll even pay for their education, handle all their finances. But sorry, I cannot keep them in my house.”
“You’ll give them money, a big house to live in and servants to look after them. But who will give them love and support? Remember, Sushant could have just given you money and could have said that his share of help was over, and it wouldn’t have even felt wrong. But that is not what he did. He not only provided you with financial assistance to set up your business, but he also stood like a pillar, guiding a newbie like you and preventing you from taking any rash decisions. So shouldn’t we be doing the same? We should also be there for them, guiding and supporting them, providing the love and care they so badly need,” said Gayatri getting emotional.
“Dadi, you know very well I trust no one, not even my own shadow,” said Vansh. “I have a number of enemies around me. I can’t take such a big risk. I’m ready to help them in whatever manner it maybe, but keeping them in my house, it’s an outright NO from my side. And that is my final decision.”
Precap : A small girl is seen running about in VR mansion. She tries to hide in the study. Vansh looks at her angrily. “Sorry Papa,” says the little girl.
Hello everyone! Hope you all are doing good. Thank you everyone for your lovely comments. I’m really overwhelmed. If you guys are on wattpad, you can follow me on @ni19534. Question for you all :
Will Vansh ever agree to keep Riddhima and Ishaan at his house?
Who is that small girl in his house?