Tangled hearts in love

Chapter 7 - Vindication

Riddhima mumbled, “I know that Vihaan is dead, but everyone was forcing me to marry a mafia guy on that day. I don’t want to marry a mafia guy, so I told a lie and escaped from that situation.”

Ajay and Uma were shivering to know the consequence Vansh will take on her. “ If he comes to know about the truth…” said Uma with a shivering voice.

“He will kill me. I am ready to face him. Before, that I will make you escape from this prison.” Riddhima completed the sentence making them gasp.

Riddhima heard someone was coming, so she started to go in the direction of the entrance and noticed Angre standing in front of the gate. She tried to stay calm so that Angre wouldn’t know that she was interacting with the couple.

“Have you examined inside this building?” questioned Angre.

Angre was not interested in explaining this building to her as she already know about this building more. She replied, “Yes”. Angre refused to explain some places and he told, “Some areas in this mansion our prohibited areas, we don’t have access to many areas.”

Reyansh came behind them and told, “Riddhima, especially the building where the boss is residing.”

Riddhima nodded her head and came back to the entrance of the mansion. She turned her head to face the mansion and felt like a tiny creature in front of this huge building.

So many questions were running through her mind, but she was confident that only two people can answer all her questions. It will be Chanchal and Rudra.

One week had passed but still, she had no idea of saving the couple. At night, She didn’t even have a proper sleep or rest because she had witnessed Vansh killing two people in front of her eyes this week. The biggest guilt inside her is that she couldn’t save their life of them. This is the reason, She hated the mafia.

Years have passed, but still, the wound in her heart hasn’t healed. She hadn’t even shared her feeling with her close friends. Her past was horrible, she don’t want to tell her emotions repeatedly and get sympathy from everyone.

After so many tragedies in her life, She didn’t know the purpose of her life. She was completely shattered at the age of 8. Her Shankar uncle helped her mentally and financially in every situation in her life.

He told her about the importance of life. Riddhima’s silent thinking came to an end when the auto driver told her that her destination has arrived.

Riddhima came to the office after completing her medical classes. She peeped inside the room to check whether Vansh was present in the room, but she noticed Ragini sitting in the room. Riddhima entered the room without asking permission from her.

“How dare you enter inside this room without knocking on the door?” asked annoyed Ragini.

“This room belongs to me, I am not an i***t like you to knock on the door and enter inside my cabin,” replied Riddhima taking her files from the table.

“What the hell are you talking about? This room belongs to Vansh. Not only this room, But the entire building belongs to Vansh.” Said furious Ragini.

“I agree but this room belongs to me as I am his secretary. So I have all access to use this room. So I don’t want to get any permission to enter this room. I will ask permission only from my boss.” Explained Riddhima. Ragini remained silent as she noticed Vansh coming inside the cabin.

For a week Riddhima managed to forbid the meeting of Vansh and Ragini. But today she was perplexed by the events taking place. Vansh was not interested in talking with Ragini.

“Mam, may I know the reason to meet boss today?” interrogated Riddhima to Ragini.

“Hey Scumbag, I don’t want to tell you the reason for meeting my Vansh.” Retorted Ragini.

Vansh glared at Ragini as he hated someone calling him by his name. When she told ‘My Vansh’ Riddhima felt something different in her heart. Riddhima was thinking deeply but it got interrupted when she noticed the door opens up again. Mr. Mahendra Pratap entered inside carrying a smartphone in his hand.

Riddhima didn’t like him at all, She noticed Mahendra Pratap sitting next to Ragini. As usual, Vansh was busy working on the laptop. Mahendra Pratap was talking about the business issue to Vansh. Ragini started to drool over Vansh. Rudra, Angre, and Reyansh also came inside the cabin and stood beside Riddhima.

“How are Mahendra Pratap and Ragini related?” asked Riddhima in a whispering voice to Angre.

“Father and Daughter,” whispered Angre giving a shock to Riddhima.

After the business conversation, Ragini whispered something to Pratap. After the conversation, Mr. Pratap's gaze fell on Riddhima. He glared at her.

“Vansh, I can understand….” started Mr. Mahendra Pratap and halted by Vansh.

“Again, if you or your daughter call me by my name. I will throw you and your daughter out of this building from the 21st floor. I am just tolerating you because of Anupriya ma and my grandmother.” Fumed Vansh.

“Sorry, I can understand you don’t have any feelings for my daughter. But Ragini is trying to develop some feelings between you both. That was the main reason she is visiting you every day despite her busy schedule. But your stupid secretary is not allowing Ragini to meet you.” Groused Mahendra Pratap to a silent Vansh.

Vansh was not ready to answer the useless question so he remained silent still working on the laptop. On the other side Riddhima was fuming inside her. She couldn’t tolerate this man calling her stupid. She is going to be a reputed doctor in this country. She couldn’t control it anymore.

“Am I looking stupid for you?” Fumed Riddhima gazing at Pratap.

“Exact definition of stupid, Will be you.” Stated Mr. Mahendra pratap.

Vansh enjoyed the fight between the two. He was eagerly waiting for Riddhima’s reply.

“You and your daughter are stupid. Your daughter couldn’t even face me and solve the problem. Like a school kid, she had complained to you and you have come to meet boss to complain about me.” blurted Riddhima making everyone stun.

“Do you know Who am I? I am…….” Started Mahendra Pratap starting to praise himself. But he was interrupted by Riddhima.

“Why are you and your daughter always saying ‘Do you know who am I?’. My answer to your question is that You are stupid then your daughter is an i***t. ” yelled Riddhima.

“Riddhima, stop it.” Requested Angre.

“Angre, be silent. Let her talk. Riddhima, I am not stupid. I will prove it to you.” Said Mr. Mahendra Pratap screaming by snapping his fingers.

“Ok, then I am giving an open challenge. You or your daughter can ask me any question. But remember you can ask me only one question. If I answer your question then you should agree I am more brilliant than your daughter. If I fail in answering your question, then your daughter can visit my boss I won’t stop her and I will agree I am stupid.” Challenged Riddhima.

“Riddhima, Challenge must be from both sides. You can also ask a question to Ragini. If Ragini answered correctly, then I will spend an hour daily with her by taking her outing.” Announced Vansh believing Riddhima’s wittiness.

“Come on go ahead with your question Mr. Pratap as I know your daughter doesn’t have that much brain to ask me a clever question.“ declared Riddhima.

A furious Mahendra Pratap whispered something in Ragini’s ears, Mr. Pratap very well knows that Riddhima hates being in the mafia. So he told his daughter to ask a question related to the mafia so that she might not know some important fact about the mafia.

“As we all know, Ravi Malhotra became the first mafia leader in Mumbai. Who helped him to reach the position of becoming the first mafia leader?” questioned Ragini.

Even though Ragini doesn’t know the answer, Ragini recited the question as her father told her to ask this question to Riddhima. Ragini was sure that this girl don’t know the question.

Angre and Reyansh also don’t know the answer. Vansh knows the answer but what was waiting for Riddhima’s reply.

“Guru Raisinghania helped Ravi Malhotra to become the first mafia leader by casting his vote to Ravi Malhotra.” Said Riddhima with lots of emotion in her voice.

Yes, she knows the bond between these two elder members. Ravi Malhotra, her grandfather told about their friendship when she was young.

Vansh was astonished, this girl is unbelievable to him. She hates to be in the mafia but she knows these things in the mafia.

Mr. Mahendra Pratap was speechless. Ragini looked at her dad for an answer. “Your answer is correct.” Said Mr. Pratap as a sign of defeat.

Riddhima grinned looking at everyone’s face, she was happy that she answered this question. But something gave her a different feeling when her gaze met Vansh's gaze.

“I have important work…” said Mr. Pratap trying to escape from that situation.

Rudra halted him and told, “Mr. Pratap, It is proved Riddhima is brilliant. Now, Riddhima will ask a question to Ragini.”

Ragini was nervous gazing at Riddhima’s smirk. But she is pretty sure that her dad will help her.

“You should tell me a word such that every letter contains in a word.” Asked Riddhima to Ragini.

Ragini was stammering, she didn’t know the answer. Even no one knows the answer in that room.

Complete silence was there in the room, Riddhima didn’t convey the answer to anyone. But suddenly, a knocking sound was heard on the door. Aryan entered and told “ Bro, Mr. Francis is waiting for you to make a deal. I have made him stay in the conference room.”

“Aryan asks him to wait for five minutes. I will come. You failed to answer Ragini. So don’t come daily to meet me.” finished Vansh and indirectly he conveyed to everyone that Riddhima is the winner by asking her to follow him to the conference room.

In the conference room, Riddhima had a new experience. She observed that Vansh was doing illegal business with gold and diamond. She was perplexed because Vansh was associated with the fire clan. There is a rule in the mafia that fire clan people should do illegal business on gun-related stuff. Gold and diamond illegal activities belong to Earth clan people.

“Why is Mr. Firestorm doing gold and diamond type of illegal activities? Is this against the mafia rule?” These were the only thoughts running in her brain.

Anupriya and Gayathri also came to the meeting. Mahendra Pratap was sitting behind them and talking seriously about something. Vansh was looking at the diamond’s quality with his eyes. He asked Angre to place it in the locker in the office. He agreed.

After completing the visit, there went to have an industrial visit on their allied companies. During break time, Vansh surfed the internet to find the answer to Riddhima’s question. He was eager to know the answer. So he surfed each website to find an answer to that question. But even the Internet didn’t help him.

It was 1 A.M. when all the meetings today came to an end. Riddhima was sleeping inside the parked car. Vansh and Angre were busy talking about tomorrow's activities. She felt tired so she came inside the car and slept by wearing the air pods in her ears.

“Boss, I will drop Riddhima in her house.” Said Angre.

“Angre, it will take an hour to complete the work which I have given you. So, I will drop her off today.” Said Vansh by opening the driver's seat.

He somehow managed to wear a seatbelt to Riddhima and he also did that to him. The drive was completely silent as Riddhima was sleeping peacefully. He wanted to listen to some music because of her deep sleep he couldn’t listen to it. So he decided to remove the air pods in her right ear. He was interested to know what she was listening to for so much time. So he placed her air pod in his right ear.

No music sound was heard in her air pods. But within a minute, he understood a lady was giving a lecture on the topic related to Kidney.

Vansh was surprised to see her dedication even in her sleep she was listening to her professor’s lecture.

Riddhima’s sleep gets disturbed when she felt cold. Yes, Vansh has turned on the AC in the car. She slowly opened her eyes and noticed Vansh driving the car. She was amused to see him driving the car.But at the same time, she had a little confused.

“Where are we going?” she asked in a sleepy voice.

“I am going to drop you today at your house.” expressed Vansh.

Riddhima realized only one side of her air pod was on. So She touched the right side of her ear in search of another side of the air pod.

“I have it in my ears.” He told her giving her a shock.

“Do you want to listen to it or shall I play some music?” asked Riddhima politely.

“I thought that you will fight with me for plundering your air pods from your ears without your permission but you seem to be polite to me.” teased Vansh by remembering the morning fight with the Ragini family.

“I don’t like to fight. But When someone provokes me, I will not remain silent. Did you think I was rude with Ragini?” asked Riddhima.

“I don’t know whether you were rude or not. But I liked to watch when water clan and space clan fighting with each other.” Complimented Vansh.

“Yes, I know that you were enjoying it. I have a doubt. Shall I ask you?” pleaded Riddhima. Vansh nodded his head.

“For the past one week, I am noticing, Ragini trying to be close with you. But I noticed that you were not interested in her. Why?” queried Riddhima waiting for his reply.

“It was just a business deal for my grandmother. I didn’t have any attraction or feeling towards her.” Stated emotionless Vansh.

“So, What type of girl you are expecting to get married to in your life?” asked Riddhima curiously.

“No expectation.” He replied.

“The great businessman in India is not expecting anything from a girl. It’s weird. Every rich man in India will have a girlfriend or lover. Do you have anyone in your life?” questioned Riddhima.

“For one week, you were around me. How could you ask such type question to a boy? If you want an answer then No I don’t have anyone like that in my life. My only goal is to become the next mafia leader in Mumbai.”

“I agree we should have goals in our life. But Marriage is also important in everyone’s life. So don’t worry, I will help you to develop an interest in Ragini.” Said Riddhima.

Vansh quickly applied the brake in the car listening to her words. Riddhima held his left arm due to the sudden jerk in the car.

“Boss, What happened? Are you okay?” She asked with concern.

Vansh looked into her eyes, he liked the way when she was concerned about him. He noticed something clenching his arm. Riddhima too noticed it and removed her hands from him by asking for an apology.

“I can’t believe you. You are advising me that marriage is important. Then Why you didn’t marry that Kabir?” mocked Vansh.

“I don’t like him so only.” Muttered Riddhima and kept quiet. She understand that he started to question her so she remained silent.

“Why are you recording your lecture like this?” he questioned her.

“If I listen to someone’s speech, again and again, I have the capabilities of writing the exams well.” She stated.

Both were listening deeply to the lecture. Vansh also liked to learn new things. So he was listening without yawning.But Riddhima yawned twice in the drive. Soon, her home arrived. Vansh placed the leg on the car brake paved the way for the car to stop.

Riddhima removed the seatbelt and was about to open the door. But She felt Vansh pulling her wrist.

“Tell me the answer for it.” Stated Vansh bluntly.

“What question did you ask me? I don’t remember anything boss. Please tell me.” She requested from him.

“In the afternoon, you asked a question to Ragini. I need an answer for it.” He asked with his firm face.

“Oh! That question, You also don’t know the answer to that question. The future mafia leader of Mumbai doesn’t know the answer to this simple question.” She mocked him.

His grip on her wrist become tightened. She tried to remove her wrist from him but can’t.

“I know the answer. A pangram is an answer to your question.” He told.

“No, It is wrong.” She replied fast.

“You are lying. Vansh Raisinghania can’t be wrong. A pangram is a sentence containing all the letters of the alphabet.” Roared Vansh by clenching her wrist more.

“Yes! But I am asking a word containing every letter in it.” Said Riddhima by screaming due to the pain.

He left her hand, she quickly jumped out of the car. She was about to run inside her home but she knocked on the car’s window driver's seat. Vansh opened it.

“Are you going to tell me the answer?” questioned Vansh.

But she didn’t reply, she immediately cupped his right cheek with her right palm. Vansh was bewildered but liked when her palm brushed his cheeks. He admired how soft was her palm. She slowly removed her Air Pods from his ears.

She grinned at him and told running inside her house, “I will tell you the answer tomorrow.”