Chapter 63

The next day, in the evening, a luxurious ballroom welcomed the guests. The whole room was crowded with the well-known business tycoons from across the country and their respective families.   

Everyone was engaged in chatting, drinking and introducing themselves with the others. While one person did not seem to be focused on the party as she stood alone and kept glancing at the entrance. 

"Are you looking for Sid?" Roli heard Sameer as she found him standing behind her with a glass of juice in his hand. 

"No" Roli refused to admit as she turned to him. 

"You can't even lie properly" Sameer giggled, making her annoyed. 

"Shut up. He said he won't come then why would I wait for him. He's a boring person who doesn't even know how to enjoy life. Let him stay in his room and talk to his laptop and phone" Roli was clearly mad at Sid for not joining the party. 

She even tried to persuade him into agreeing to come to the get-together party but he was adamant which made her go mad at him. But, still, she had a little hope that he would come. However, her hope couldn't last long as she found everyone from the Bharadwaj family at the party except Sid.  

"Not only boring, but he is also a kadoos" Roli continued to complain only to hear a stern voice from her behind "Really?". 

Roli froze as she recognised the voice instantly and turned around to find Sid with a stern face. 

"So, I'm a stupid and kadoos and what else?" Sid raised his eyebrow as he stared at Roli, who looked stunned. She was definitely not expecting him to appear out of nowhere when she was complaining about him. 

"You said you won't come, right?" Roli asked slowly, hoping to divert the topic. 

"I said but I got an invitation from a few of my clients so had to come to meet them" Sid answered, watching the hall as if he was searching for his clients. 

"So, you came for your clients" Roli pouted. Perhaps, she wanted him to come for her. 

"I don't have any other reason to come" Sid retorted, making her roll her eyes. 

"Fine, go meet your clients" Roli left the place with a huff. 

Sameer looked at Sid and his memory drifted to the past when they both had a tiff regarding Ritika in Ruchi and Nitesh's wedding three years ago. Sid too seemed to remember the incident and the atmosphere turned a little awkward around them as they both looked at each other. 

Clearing his throat, it was Sameer, who first broke the silence. "Well, Roli told me what happened three years ago at the resort. It was really strange. Did you try to know exactly what happened?". 

Sameer's question was vague but Sid clearly understood his intent and replied "I did. The receptionist was hired by someone to create the scene". 

"And who is that someone?" Sameer inquired while Sid remained calm as he was still not able to believe the person behind the misunderstanding was Ritika as per what the receptionist had revealed. 

"It's Ritika, right?" Sameer could guess the answer from Sid's silence. 

"It can't be her" for some reason, Sid was not ready to accept what he got to know. 

"And you still trust your friend" Sameer said in disbelief. 

"I make friends only after I trust them. So, yeah I trust her" Sid was annoyed. 

"Well, I just want to tell you that because of whatever happened on that day, Roli had suffered a lot for three years. I don't want that to repeat. So, whoever is the person behind it, keep them away from Roli" Sameer said, seriously. 

"I know what to do" Slowly their conversation turned intense as Sid stared at him. 

"I trust you but, not your friend" Sameer said, emphasising the last two words before turning around and leaving the place. 

Sid stood alone at the same place for a few moments as Sameer's words reverberated in his ears. All the guilt for bringing trouble upon Roli had once again overtaken his heart, making it heavy. 

"What are you still doing here?" He was brought back from his chain of thoughts as he heard a familiar voice, one that could make his heart melt as no one else could. 

Roli stood before him and raised her eyebrows as she asked "Don't you want to meet your clients?". 

As if a magical spell was cast, the heavyweight over his chest miraculously reduced in an instant as he felt her presence near him. 

Moving forward, Sid stood only a step away from her and said "I've met my client already". 

Roli was taken aback at the sudden proximity and the piercing look in his eyes. "What are you doing? We are in the middle of the hall" she said in a low voice, almost holding her breath. 

"I'm just standing. Why are you overreacting?" Sid chuckled at her flabbergasted expression?

Roli felt like stupid of herself as she realized how her mind ran wild for a second. 

"Were you expecting me to do something?" Sid smirked, making her look everywhere but at him. 

"Hey, Roli!" An enthusiastic voice disturbed Sid's teasing and Roli could only sigh in relief as if she got saved by the intruder. 

When Roli looked up to see who the intruder was, it was not just a single person but, the whole gang of Sid's friends. They were all belonged to the families owning enterprises so they were all invited to the party, though it was the first time they were a part of it. 

"After a long time!" Arun exclaimed in joy. 

"How are you all?" Roli smiled warmly at them. She truly missed spending time with the gang. 

"We are super good" Ruchi came forward and hugged Roli, who returned the same with a smile. 

"From the day you returned, we were asking Sid to arrange a get-together for us but he seemed to forget all of us after you return" the complaint came from Ritika while all supported her complaint. 

Roli was struck for a moment she saw Ritika as her mind wandered back to the resort incident. Seeing Roli's calm, Sid could understand what she was thinking. 

So, to distract her from the past, he jumped into the conversation "She was busy with all office works so I couldn't arrange the time for the meet up. Don't blame me okay?". 

"Good escape, bro" said Nitesh and it was the moment when Roli noticed a baby in his arms. 

"Who is this baby?" Roli forgot the other things she was thinking as she looked at the baby. 

"Make a guess" Nitesh said as he handed the baby to Roli, who came forward. 

"Your baby!" Roli felt excited as she held the six months old baby girl in her arms. "Aww! She looks a lot like her dad" she said admiring the baby, who was playing with her hands. 

"And that's making her mom jealous" Ruchi pouted, making all laugh. 

"Give birth to a son then he'll look like you" Arun suggested, making Ruchi roll her eyes. 

"She is?" Roli pointed at a girl standing next to Arun. 

"Oh! I forgot to introduce. She's my wife, Avni. We just got married a few months ago" Arun introduced. 

"Wow! Congratulations to you both" Roli felt like she missed out on a lot of things here. 

"Thank you. I've heard a lot about you. And finally, I got to meet you today" Avni said, excitedly, making Roli smile. 

And the gang continued to chit-chat at one corner. While the others were engaged in their respective works. 

At one corner, there was an orchestra playing songs and there was also a play station at another side to keep the kids engaged. The whole hall looked so lively and joyful. 

Attendants were roaming all over the hall to serve drinks and snacks to people. When Roli, Sid and others were having a chat, an attendant reached there with a tray full of drinks. 

When he came near Roli, accidentally he got slipped and the remaining drinks on the tray were all fell over her dress. 

"I'm so_ sorry, Madam" he quickly apologised, anxiously. 

"Can't you just_" Sid was about to scold the man but was stopped by Roli. 

"It's okay. Just leave it" Roli said holding Sid's arm, which he wrapped around her as soon as the man stumbled. But, before he could pull her aside, the drinks fell on her dress. 

"I'm really sorry, madam" the man apologised once again before leaving the place. 

Roli went to the restroom to clean up while Sid followed her. When they reached, Roli turned to Sid as she asked "wait, are you going to come in?". 

Sid looked in the direction she pointed to find the ladies restroom and he looked away awkwardly. 

"You go. I will be here" Sid replied looking away. 

"I'm not a kid, okay? You can leave I will just come in a while" Roli said as she thought Sid was behaving like a mother, who was scared of her kid running away if left alone and she felt it cute.  

"I said I will wait here" Sid said sternly. There was an uneasy feeling in his heart that he couldn't figure out exactly what it was. For some reason, he didn't want her to get away from his sight.  

"Fine then keep waiting" receiving his stern look, Roli had to let it pass and went into the restroom. 

A few minutes passed by as Sid waited for Roli in the waiting area. Suddenly he received a phone call that he answered immediately as it was from one of his clients, who was also present at the same party. He insisted to meet Sid to discuss their new joint venture. Sid couldn't reject and he had to go to meet the client in the hall. 

Roli was still in the restroom, trying to wash out the juice stains from her dress. She was wearing a floor-length sleeveless gown. Gladly, her dress was made up of net fabric so it wouldn't catch water and she could wipe off the water with tissues, without making her dress wet. 

When she was done cleaning, she threw the used tissues into the dustbin and turned around to find Ritika standing before her. 

"Oh! You scared me" Roli was caught by surprise at Ritika's sudden appearance. 

However, what surprised her the most was the look on Ritika's face. There was no genuine smile that she always used to see on Ritika's face. Instead, it was a smirk. An evil one at that.  

Roli felt it weird to witness such a wicked look on Ritika. Just when she was about to speak up, she felt something approaching her face and even before she could realise what it was, she fell unconscious.

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A/N: I'm extremely sorry for the super late update. I was caught up in exams and other important works so couldn't find time to write. So, sorry for keeping you wait (if at all you're interested to read this story in any way) 

And I don't find this update up to the mark tbh. But, since it's already late and I've nothing else better than this in mind, I've posted it here. Hope you'd read it and give your reviews in comments section. 

Thanks for reading :)