Mareez-E-Ishq (Chapter 17 – A Bit Closer)

Hey guys!! Hope you’re doing well!!

Please pardon me for the delay. I’m really very sorry for it.

Here’s the link for the previous chapter, https://www.tellyupdates.com/mareez-e-ishq-chapter-16-the-enemy-unmasked/

A Bit Closer

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Everyday I get a little bit closer to reach you, but I can’t wait till I’m with you forever.

~Vansh

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Vansh’s POV

Night came as a reward of sorts, serenity above to calm the soul. The twinkling stars illuminated the night sky like beacons of hope for all the lost souls of the world.

There was a day when I was one of those lost souls, but the day my Riddhima entered my life like one of those stars, the darkness of my life got replaced by her shine.

One glimpse of hers is enough to make my heart run a marathon. Indeed she has captivated my heart; and now she resides over there, very close to me.

My thoughts got broken by the ping sound of my phone. I checked my phone to find a mail sent by Ahaan.

Come to the study as soon as possible. I will be waiting for you, it read.

Without wasting a single second, I got up from the bed and slowly made my way towards the study room.

It was almost midnight and except for the ticking sound of the clock, there was an eerie silence everywhere. My eyes wandered around the whole mansion and stopped in one particular direction, the room where my love was.

A sudden urge to watch her angelic face crossed my mind but I waved it off, remembering about the mail Ahaan sent me. Having a quick look at her room, I went towards the study, which was already lit up.

Opening the door without making any sound, I entered the study only to meet with the serious faces of Ahaan and Angre.

Something is not fine, my conscience informed me.

“What happened?” I asked keeping my tone low, as I seated myself on one of the couch.

Taking a deep breath, Ahaan replied, “Someone have hacked the system of VR Enterprises, but thankfully the data is safe. Also the same person has been trying to hack the phone numbers of our family members.”

“So that’s why you mailed me instead of calling me up?” I asked, to which he nodded.

“And..,” he started again but trailed off.

“And what Ahaan?” I asked when he didn’t complete the sentence.

“And Riddhima’s location was constantly being tracked since the time she had been visiting VR Mansion as your physiotherapist. In short, she was under someone’s gaze 24×7,” Angre completed the sentence making me furious.

Meddling with my work was still okay, but meddling with the lives of my loved ones is something I can’t withstand.

My anger grew no bounds and all I wanted to do was to kill the person who has been keeping an eye on my family and my love. Whosoever is behind this entire scenario have to face the consequences and I will make sure that they face them very soon.

Get ready for your doom.

Author’s POV

“Did you find out who is behind all this?” Vansh asked keeping his tone calm, but anyone could make out how angry he was.

“My men are working on this and soon they’ll inform us about the same,” Angre replied immediately.

“Dig this matter to its deep and make sure that no information is left behind. I don’t want any negligence,” Vansh commanded.

“And Ahaan I asked you to find about the Sharma Company. Did you do that?” asked Vansh.

Ahaan, who had already completed his work nodded in affirmative and started,

“This Sharma Company was formed almost 30 years ago by Vikram Sharma, and since then they have been one of our competitors. Though the company had good reputation in the market, but it could never replace VR Empire, due to which it was always at number second. But few years ago, the company faced losses and it became hard for Vikram Sharma to bring it back to normal.”

“In order to expand his business and overcome those losses, he went abroad and started investing with foreign companies. To his luck, his business went quite good and he was able to overcome those losses. Meanwhile the Sharma Company in India had also gained a stable position and once again they are our competitor.”

“But who operated the company over here while he was in abroad?”

“The company was run by his trust worthies, whom I suppose to be his children.”

“Did you find out who they are?”

“He has a son and daughter but their identity is hidden from the world,” Ahaan said.

No longer had he completed his words, when Angre’s phone went off.

Looking at the caller id, he immediately picked it up and his serious demeanor changed into a light one, listening the piece of information he had received from the person from the other side.

“What is it Angre?” asked Vansh, who happened to notice his changed expression. Ahaan, who before was busy on his laptop, too decided to pay attention to their conversation.

“Looks like the bird itself wants its chicks to be caged,” Angre smirked, and so did Vansh after listening him.

“Which bird and chicks are you talking about? asked Ahaan, who was clueless regarding the statement Angre made.

“Vikram Sharma and his children,” Angre replied, but sensing the confusion on Ahaan’s face continued, “The bird was spotted at Mumbai airport an hour ago. And where do you think will it go?”

“To its chick,” Ahaan grinned understanding the whole fiasco.

“The curtain from the chicks will soon be removed,” added Vansh.

The trio left the study with a triumph look on their face, unknown to the fact that their whole conversation was overheard by someone.

“I need to do something before Vikram harms anyone.”

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Tossing and turning on her bed, Riddhima tried to sleep but all her attempts were futile. How hard she tried to sleep, but couldn’t.

How could she, when she has slept all day?

Groaning in frustration, she got out of the bed and made her way towards the window. Slowly opening it, she let the cool night breeze enter the room, making the curtains flutter. It seemed as if the curtains were also enjoying themselves.

Riddhima smiles feeling the wind blow her hair into a tousled mane. Her body relaxed and her eyes closed on their own accord.

Vansh, who happened to go by the way of his room, stopped in his tracks hearing the ruffling voice of curtains coming from the room, indicating that the windows were open. Panicking that Riddhima might catch cold; he rushed inside the room to close the windows, but stopped in his tracks by seeing the mesmerizing view in front of him.

Standing next to the window was Riddhima, who looked like a fairy descended from heaven. The moderate wind gently swaying her hairs along with the moonlight falling on her face added more to her beauty.

Although the moon was shining with all its might, yet it looked pale in front of the enchanting beauty standing in front of him.

Riddhima, on the other hand, was busy enjoying the breeze unaware of Vansh’s presence in the room.

“Riddhima,” Vansh called, but she remained unfazed.

Walking up to her, he gently patted her shoulder, unknowingly making her shriek in fear.

To prevent her from shouting, Vansh kept his one hand on her mouth while the other involuntarily held her waist.

“It’s me,” he whispered, still holding her.

Finding a familiar face, Riddhima breathed in relief and closed her eyes to calm her racing heartbeat.

Vansh, on the other hand, smiled seeing her innocent self. He kept staring at her, until his view got blocked by a few hair tresses falling over her face. Gently tucking them behind her ear, he stood straight only to witness a pair of doe shaped eyes looking at him intently.

Realizing their position he retreated back and stood there all flushed.

Another embarrassing moment of the day, he thought.

An awkward silence made its way around them as both of them stood there contemplating what to do.

“Is everything okay?” Vansh asked, trying to break the ice.

“Yes,” Riddhima replied.

“Then why didn’t you sleep?”

“Umm… I didn’t feel like to sleep,” answered Riddhima meekly.

Watching Vansh’s expression change, she added puppy eyed pointing at his bed, “Because everything I did today was lying on that bed and sleeping.”

Her childlike explanation made her appear more adorable. She looked sweet like honey and innocent like an infant. All Vansh wanted to do at the moment was hold her tight in his arms and soothe her, howbeit couldn’t.

“Oh,” he felt sad for her situation. He understood her emotions as he had himself been a victim to that situation, when all he was asked to do was sleep and rest. Only he knew how hard he spent that time. ‘How long can a weak person be bedridden?’, Used to be his question every time someone asked him to rest.

An idea stuck his mind, and without a second thought, he asked her the same.

“Would you mind accompanying me at the beach?” he asked.

Riddhima’s eyes lit up at the mention of beach. She had always been a nature lover and spending time at the beach watching the waves crashing at the shore, had always been her favorite pastime.

With an ear to ear smile on her face, she nodded. She looked like a child being offered her favorite chocolate.

“Let’s go,” Vansh said chuckling at her childish behavior.

Nodding Riddhima held Vansh’s hand, in the same way she used to hold of Sejal whenever they would go on a beach. Sometimes the people of our past leave us, but not their memories.

Vansh didn’t move instead he looked at Riddhima astounded, taken aback by her act. When Riddhima didn’t see him moving, she raised her eyebrows quizzically at him bringing Vansh out of his trance. Smiling slightly, Vansh shook his head and moved ahead, entwining his hand with hers.

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The seaside was bereft of usual hubbub at midnight. The vast expanse of the sea under the crescent moon seemed like a monster attempting to swallow the shore with its waves lapping back and forth.

Vansh and Riddhima took a stroll along the shoreline, braving the occasional wave that soaked their feet, and almost swept Riddhima twice but Vansh held her up.

Wind was bilateral and Riddhima’s hair rambled with the wind. She seemed excited venturing the beach like a lost puppy. A smile crept on Vansh’s face watching his love smile whole-heartedly. Taking out his phone, he captured her picture without her notice and stuffed it back immediately in his pocket.

Tired after the continuous stroll, they sat on the sand next to each other and witnessed the nature’s beauty. The night sky filled with numerous stars and the sea waves crashing at the shore under the moonlight was really a mesmerizing view. Both of them admired the beauty of the setting, while Vansh used to watch in her direction to get a glimpse of her.

All of a sudden, Vansh heard sniveling sounds. It was Riddhima, gazing the sky with tears running down her rosy cheeks.

“What happened Riddhima?” Vansh panicked as he made her face him. Her eyes were moist with tears with a few falling over her cheeks.

Vansh cupped her face with his hands and rubbed her tears with his thumb. He didn’t know what happened all of a sudden that her happy face was now all gloomy with tears flowing from her eyes.

“I miss her,” Riddhima said. Her voice was slow and a bit cracking.

“Whom?” Vansh asked, sounding as humble as possible.

“Sejal,” her voice broke, and it merely came as a whisper.

She cried more and Vansh couldn’t do anything but to console her. He knew how hard it was for a person to forget their loved ones. And even if they try, some instances in life make one remember them. Same might have happened with Riddhima. Though it had been months Sejal passed away, but after today’s incident some memories of her might have shook Riddhima off.

“You know what Vansh… when I was a kid… I used to think that… that my parents left me… because I was bad,” Riddhima started and he listened her intently.

“I used to feel very sad, lonely watching… other children with their parents…But then Sejal came and all my loneliness vanished,” she smiled sadly.

“Whenever I used to feel sad or miss my parents, you know what she used to say?” Riddhima asked Vansh, who in response shook his head.

“She would point at the stars and say, ‘You parents didn’t leave you, they are right there among those stars watching their daughter.'”

“Then she would ask me the reason they are twinkling. I didn’t know it, but she told me that they are twinkling smiling me, their beautiful daughter,” she looked at the sky and smiled slightly adding, “And then all my sadness used to disappear.”

Vansh was silently listening her narrate an incident from her past. Though, his heart ached to watching her tears and listening her cracked voice, but he couldn’t do anything else than sitting back and listen her. However, he kept consoling her in between of her sobs.

“And see her destiny,” she chuckled sadly before adding, “She is one of those stars.”

Tears were now flowing at a lightning speed from her eyes. Not able to watch her breaking once again, he hugged her and tried to soothe her. Her sobs slowly subsided and she was now breathing slowly.

Vansh looked down and found her sleeping in his arms. He carefully picked her up and moved towards his car. People passing by, smiled at him and he in return, smiled slightly.

For them, they were an adorable couple who loved each other, and their assumption was almost right to an extent. They indeed were a perfect couple, with one having realized his feelings, and another with soon to realize it.

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Finally an update after a very long break!!! Apologies for the delayed delay!!!

How was it? Do tell your views regarding it.

Feel free to point out the errors, and do tell whether it was interesting or not.

Are you guys enjoying the storyline or you feel it boring? Do tell because if you guys feel it boring, I can make some changes in it.

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Now… Extremely very sorry for such a delayed update. I know I am really very late this time, but please pardon me. I was and still am busy with my studies.

Got a short break from school, but not from studies. Studies are also important and they can’t be neglected. I hope you understand.

Anyways, lets hope to meet you guys soon with the next update which I’ll try to update soon.

Till then, take care!

Stay safe! Stay healthy!

Au revoir!