Mareez-E-Ishq (Chapter 16 – The Enemy Unmasked)

Hey guys! Hope you’re doing good!

First of all apologies for the delay. I know this time it took so long, but better late than ever.

Those who missed the previous part, or in case forgot it, just go through the previous part: https://www.tellyupdates.com/mareez-e-ishq-chapter-15-realization/

The Enemy Unmasked

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I’m not just falling in love with you, I’m falling into you. You’re an ocean and I’m falling in, drowning in the depths of who you are. I know it’s scary in a way, but it’s also the most amazing thing I’ve ever experienced.
You’re the most amazing thing I’ve ever experienced.

~Vansh

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Author’s POV

On his whole way back to VR Mansion, Vansh kept checking upon Riddhima, waiting for her gain consciousness, but to no avail. Looks like the dose she has been given was strong.

Anger welled up in his chest and his face contorted with rage thinking of someone hurting his love. His knuckles whitened as his gripped the steering wheel tightly. He promised himself not to leave the ones who were behind this whole deed.

Upon entering the premises of VR Mansion, he quickly got out of the car and carried her towards his room.

He could have taken her to any nearby hospital but when surrounded by numerous enemies, he couldn’t take the risk of her getting hurt once again.

Thankfully, his mom and sisters had gone to temple and there was no one at home, except Ahaan, who had already arranged for the doctor.

Making his way inside his room, he delicately placed her on the bed and let the doctor check her. He silently stood there watching the doctor treat her.

His eyes brimmed with tears and he tried his best to control them. His heart sank watching her lay on the bed, almost lifeless. Never in his life he felt this bad, even when his dreams got shattered; but now he felt as if he’d die if something happens to his love.

You don’t know who is important to you until you’re on the verge of losing them. And once you know what they mean to you, you won’t let them go far from you.

“Mr. Raisinghania, she is totally fine. Thankfully the injuries were minor and they have been treated. She’ll gain consciousness in an hour,” the doctor’s voice bought him out of his thoughts.

Vansh felt a heavy weight lift up from his heart listening the words of the doctor. Mumbling a small thank you to the doctor, he slowly made his way towards her unconscious figure.

Except for the sound of Riddhima’s slow breathing, no other sound could be heard. Making himself comfortable on the stool next to her, he started caressing her face.

Her glowing skin had lost his colour, and she looked pale. Her once rosy lips had lost their shine and her chubby cheeks were stained with tears. But still, she looked beautiful to him.

Maybe that’s the magic of love. Though you are able to see their flaws, you choose to see past them. You don’t fall in love with the person’s appearance; instead you fall in love with their soul.

Vansh held her small hands into his big rough ones, and a smile appeared on his face when they fitted them perfectly. His gaze shifted to her bandaged wrists, and he could not help grit his teeth, but one look on her angelic face faded all his anger.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry Riddhima. I failed to protect you. Please forgive me,” he whispered slowly rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb, “But I promise to punish all those who did this to you.”

“I promise to protect you from the whole world, no matter what the situation is. I’ll never let anyone harm you, even if it means sacrificing my own life. This is my promise, and Vansh Raisinghania never breaks his promises.”

The intensity of his words is enough to tell the power that his words carried. This man wasn’t the famous business tycoon, but a man wounded in love; a man who could do anything to protect his love.

Giving a light kiss on her forehead, he moved outside the room, not before giving her a fleeting look.

Once outside the room, the emotions in his eyes changed from calm to anger. His hardened eyes and clenched hands were enough to tell how angry he was. He looked no less than a wounded lion at the moment. Not to mention ‘A wounded lion is more dangerous than a lion.’

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“Vansh, how can you say that the kidnapping wasn’t normal? I mean in a big city like Mumbai, these cases are quite common,” said Ahaan.

“Ahaan, think deeply. Had it been any normal kidnapping, the kidnappers would have kidnapped Riddhima any other day, when she comes to work all alone; then why did they choose the day when I wasn’t in the city,” Vansh said stressing the word I, “Secondly, Sarah didn’t get any call for ransom; when in normal every kidnapping is done for ransom, until unless there is any personal enmity,” he continued.

“I agree… but who could be enemy with Riddhima, when she was far more than rude to anyone,” Ahaan tried to reason out, “As far as I know, Riddhima is a very kind-hearted girl, who cannot even think wrong of others, doing something wrong is a far away talk.”

“That’s the point,” Vansh thought for a while and continued, “Between did you find the call records of the phone we got there?”

“Yes… it’s almost done. Just wait for sometime,” Ahaan replied typing something over his laptop.

While Ahaan continued to do his work, Vansh paced in the study thinking about all the past happenings. His chains of thoughts were broken by Ahaan’s voice.

“Vansh, the call records are here,” Ahaan said with a proud smile.

“Anything suspicious?” asked Vansh.

“91********, this number have frequently contacted the kidnappers and the last call was made just five minutes before you reached there,” Ahaan stated looking onto his laptop.

“Whom does this number belong to?”

“This number belongs to a local PCO of Andheri.”

“Andheri… Anything specific about that area?”

“Nope, but the PCO is little away from Sharma Enterprises, one your competitors. Not to mention one of this Sharma’s men was seen near the factory which caught fire, the previous week,” Ahaan stated.

“Sharma…” Vansh whispered.

The silence in the study was interrupted by the sound of pinging on Vansh’s phone. There was a message from Angre,

Sorry boss… but we lost the deal to the Sharmas, it read.

“Ahaan just find about these Sharmas. Let me also know how much big player they are,” Vansh smirked.

“Sure.”

“You dare put your hands in the lion’s den, now get ready to face the consequences,” Vansh whispered in a determined tone and exited the study.

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If we were to leave you then why would we kidnap you?

Don’t forget to put a bomb before you leave.

Riddhima woke up puffing and panting. Her heart was beating very fast and she could feel the sweat buds forming on her forehead. Taking deep breaths in and out she tried to calm herself.

Once her breathing became normal, her eyes fell on her surroundings. It wasn’t the same darkness bound, dirty squalor. She tried to assess her surroundings, but could not make out where she was. Last thing she remembered was her fighting with the goons and something sharp stinging her neck, after which she started to feel dizzy.

Have I been shifted to another place? She thought as the memory of the caller’s words flashed in front of her. Her heart beat accelerated on her thought and once again she found it hard to breath.

“What happened Riddhima?” came a concern-laced voice.

Riddhima turned her head towards the direction the voice came from. She felt herself getting back to life when she saw Vansh moving towards her.

‘I’m safe,’ Riddhima thought as her vision blurred due to the tears and a smile appeared on her face.

Once Vansh was close to her, Riddhima threw her arms around and without thinking anything, engulfed him in a bone crushing hug.

Vansh was taken aback by the sudden hug, howbeit reciprocated it. This felt so different to him. He had been hugged before, but never like this. There was something so warm, something that felt right, smelt right.

When the aroma of his earthy cologne invaded her nostrils, Riddhima felt at peace. In this embrace she felt her worries loose their keen sting and her optimism raise its head from the dirt. All sort of negative thoughts vanished and now she felt at ease. His embrace was warm, and his big, strong arms seemed very protective when wrapped around her frail body.

Tears of happiness and relief automatically made their way into her eyes and she let those tears fall freely, unknowingly wetting his shirt. Her tense form relieved when she felt him brush her hair back with his fingers.

“Shh… Its okay Riddhima,” he said caressing her hairs.

His husky yet soothing voice made her feel alive. His touch provided her calmness and warmth, which she was longing for since long. Somewhere deep in her heart, Riddhima wanted this warmth to never end. She felt like a butterfly that has got a cocoon it was yearning for. In short, she felt safe and protected.

“Its okay Riddhima, you’re safe now,” Vansh cooed as he rubbed Riddhima’s back. He felt her tensed form relieving and her sobs subsidizing slowly.

“Now drink this water,” he said, once Riddhima was back to normal.

Riddhima slowly forwarded her hand to get the glass of water, but the pain in her wrists was unbearable, that the glass almost fell from her hand; had it not been Vansh holding it in nick of time.

Watching her fragile state, he helped her drink water with his hands. All the while, Riddhima admiringly watched him, and a smile made its way on her face when the memories of her helping him at the hospital flashed in front of her.

Riddhima felt her heart skip a beat when his dark brown orbs met hers. His eyes were filled with care and affection and she felt herself drowning in them. How hard she tried to look away, she failed. She couldn’t stop herself from admiring him. She felt attracted to him.

All this didn’t go unnoticed by four pair of eyes. They were Ishani, Sia, Sarah and Ahaan; who were secretly peeking Vansh and Riddhima, hiding behind the pillar.

“How adorable they look!” complemented Sia.

“And cute also,” added Ishani, peeping over Sia’s head.

“How I wish to see them both together the rest of their life,” said Sarah, who was just behind Ishani, peeping over her shoulder.

“Leave rest of the life, just think of running away from here,” Ahaan said in a shushed voice.

“What do you mean?” asked the girls in unison, as they now looked at him quizzically. Ahaan pointed towards Uma who was ascending the stairs.

All four of them immediately dashed away when they saw Uma approaching towards their direction. Ishani and Sia were lucky enough to make an escape; but in haste, Sarah bumped into Ahaan, which resulted her in Ahaan’s arms.

Sarah opened her eyes only to find Ahaan looking at her with an unknown emotion in his eyes. She couldn’t decipher what that emotion was, but strangely she felt butterflies in her stomach when she looked back into his eyes.

The sound of the footsteps broke their little moment. Realizing their position, they steadied themselves and luckily escaped from coming into Uma’s view.

On the other hand, both Vansh and Riddhima were too lost in their own world that they didn’t notice Uma entering the room.

“Ahem… Ahem…” Uma cleared her throat to make her presence known to both of them.

Both Vansh and Riddhima backed away, all flushed; whereas Uma, on the other hand tried her best to suppress her smile seeing their embarrassed faces.

‘My lovesick son,’ Uma chuckled.

Yes, Uma very well knew about Vansh’s feelings, not that he told him, she herself came to know. The look the concern in his eyes on the mention of Riddhima’s name didn’t go unnoticed by Uma’s well-experienced eyes. After all she was his mother and nothing can escape mother’s eyes; be it sadness, happiness, or a world famous feeling like love.

Uma was proud on her son’s choice. She always took a certain liking in Riddhima. With her polite nature and her cheerful smile, don’t know when she made her way to Uma’s heart.

“How’re you feeling beta?” Uma asked keeping the turmeric milk she’d bought, on the table.

“Better,” Riddhima replied meekly looking everywhere but her.

“That’s great. Between I’ve bought turmeric milk for you. Drink it as it will help speed up your recovery,” Uma said.

“Thank you aunty, but honestly speaking there was no need for this,” Riddhima said genuinely.

“Why no need? You’re like a daughter to me, and tell me which mother doesn’t care for her child?” Uma said keeping her hands on her hips.

Riddhima felt overwhelmed listening Uma’s words. She couldn’t help herself take Uma in a bear hug.

Always in her life Riddhima had dreamt for a mother’s love and listening Uma’s words she felt as if her dream came true. The craving in her heart for a mother’s affection was now fulfilled by Uma and now she felt at ease.

“Now enough of this rona dhona. Quickly smile,” Uma said cheerfully, to which Riddhima smiled.

“That’s like my girl. Now I think I must go. Take care, and don’t forget to drink the milk,” Uma said as she made her way outside the room, leaving both Vansh and Riddhima all by themselves.

‘Bappa please protect both my children from all the evils,’ Uma glanced at them before walking away.

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At some other place…

“It was a perfect chance. I would have hit two places with single bow, but because of those good for nothing morons, my plan backfired,” came a frustrated voice, followed by the sound of breaking glass.

“Had those morons done their work properly, I would now have been with my Riddhima, far away from Vansh. But because of you, everything destroyed.”

“You can’t blame me Kabir,” came a feminine voice.

“Why can’t I blame you Ahaana? Wasn’t it you who have hired those morons,” replied a frustrated Kabir.

“Then what’s my mistake in his. I just paid them for their work; it was their mistake that they didn’t do their work properly,” fumed Ahaana.

“Shut up both of you,” roared a deep voice.

“Dad,” both Ahaana and Kabir spoke shocked.

“Yes… your dad.”

“But when did you come from America?” asked Kabir.

“And why?” added Ahaana.

“You’re asking me why? I just gave you both one work but it seems you aren’t worth it. Instead of destroying those Raisinghania’s, you’re busy destroying my empire,” taunted their father.

“Dad it’s nothing like-” Kabir tried to protest.

“Just shut up Kabir. I thought that you wouldn’t disappoint me, but looks like that Ajay’s son have outwitted you. Now I will have to do something,” saying this he marched outside the room leaving the siblings infuriated.

“Vansh, I didn’t have any enmity with you, but because of you my Riddhima is not with me. Because of you, my father thinks that I’m good for nothing. Because of you I feel worthless. You’ll have to pay for this,” gritted Kabir.

“You’ll have to pay for this, Vansh.”

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{Word count: 2524}

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Once again sorry for the delay.

Between how was the chapter? Do tell your views regarding it. 

The enemy is unmasked, but the story behind the enmity is yet to be revealed.

What do you think will Kabir do?

To know more, stay tuned!

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Kudos to all those who guessed the enemy right.

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Please comment and motivate me to work harder.

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Till then, take care!

Stay safe, stay healthy!

Au revoir!