FF ||Renewed Ties|| Updated Last Part Page 20 - Page 11

an amazing update
but i am not getting a good feeling about the next update...feeling really scared😭

loveeed it so much
thanks for the pm!

👍🏼 brilliant sweetheart

Hi darling,

Chapter 8

Geet sat beside Maan in the car as they drove to Dev's office. The moon was almost full, the milky way miraculous, and there was a soft breeze that ruffled her hair. She felt beautiful. She glanced at Maan who sat beside her looking spectacular in a suit. Maan studied her quietly. Then he took something out of his pocket, held it in the palm of his hand. It glinted in the moonlight. She stared.

"You left this in your bathroom."

"My pendant?"

Maan let it dangle through his fingers, the small disc spinning in the moonlight.

"Will you wear it tonight Geet, for me?"

"Yes" Geet whispered. "Yes, I will." She turned around, lifted her hair up, bent her head forward. Maan looped the chain around her and fastened the clasp at the back of her neck.

"A second chance," Maan whispered and kissed her lightly on the cheek.

Geet turned to watch as they approached Dev's office. The tension in her stomach coiled tighter. "One hour to midnight" Maan said as they entered the building.

Maan adjusted the small communications device in his ear. He was now in contact with his teams. He reached for Geet's hand, grasped it firmly. "Showtime," he murmured.

Maan's teams had surrounded the building. They were waiting for his orders. He noticed that Dev had mounted cameras everywhere. Knowing that Dev was most likely watching his guests through the cameras, Maan looked up and stared directly into one.

Dev was hugely relieved to learn that Geet had finally arrived. She was safe on his turf. He was back in control. Dev checked his watch - forty nine minutes and it would all be over. So far everything was going according to plan. He glanced at the bank of plasma screens that lined one wall of his office. Forty five minutes to go. He turned his attention to the security screens and watched the entrance. Something instantly caught his attention. A man captured by camera nine looked right at him, right into his office, a direct challenge in his eyes. Dev went stone still. His heart began to race. He hit a button, froze the frame, zoomed in. That haunting feeling surfaced again as he looked into the man's eyes. They were ice gray - like a dangerous wolf.

Dev's blood turned cold. He knew where he had seen those eyes before. Perspiration prickled over his lip. His heart began to race. He zoomed in closer. The man's angular face and violent scar filled his vision, his room, his very soul.

By God.

He felt faint. Could it be? Could it be him?

Maan?

Geet knew. This was the cousin Geet was talking about. His head was spinning. What in hell did Maan have to do with any of this? Where had he been all this time? He'd been duped.

He turned back to the bank of screens, panic and confusion licking through his body. A guard knocked, opened the door to his office. Dev spun around, nerves biting at him.

"Thirty-eight minutes to go, sir. Would you like me to link the feeds?"

"No! No, not yet."

Damn, he was not in control here. His eyes shot back to the bank of security cameras, and his heart clean stopped. Dev hit the communications button. "Bring Maan to me. I must speak with him. At once!"

Maan opened the door to Dev's office, entered as silently as a ghost and locked the door behind him.

He'd left the gaurd lying unconscious outside.

Dev was standing with his back to him, fixated with the image of Geet talking to his employees outside just as Maan had asked her to do.

"Dev"

Dev turned slowly to face him. Maan's heart accelerated slightly. Dev had been expecting him.

"Maan," Dev said, studying him. "You're alive." There was a slight vulnerability in his voice that Maan recognised. Maan understood how a woman like Geet could make a man vulnerable.

"I made a mistake, Maan."

"You made many mistakes, Dev." Maan said moving closer.

Dev stiffened, squaring his shoulders. "No," he said slowly. "I made only one. I underestimated you. What do you want Maan? why have you come back?" He began to edge towards the console as he spoke, his hand fingering along the counter with the control buttons.

"I wouldn't touch those controls, Dev, not if you value Geet's life."

Dev's eyes flickered sharply. "What do you mean?" he spoke cautiously, calmly, but Maan knew his brain had to be racing a million miles a minute, searching for escape routes. "Is it revenge you're looking for?"

Behind him, a digital clock read twenty-nine minutes. It flipped to twenty-eight. It was counting down.

"Justice, not revenge. And I will get it. But that's not why I'm back. I want you to call off the biological attack."

Dev paled. The clock clicked down to twenty-seven minutes.

"How do you know about the bombs? What does any of this have to do with you?"

"I am here on behalf of the Defence Secretary."

Dev's body twitched, but his features remained unchanged.

Maan extracted the chain from under the collar of his dress shirt and yanked the detonator tab free. He flicked the tab open, positioned his thumb over the pad, held it up for Dev to see. The clock flipped to twenty-six minutes.

"Call off that attacks, Dev or I press this button and Geet dies."

Dev's eyes flickered sharply but he remained silent.

Maan stepped closer. "Why don't you turn around, take a look at that screen behind you. See the pendant around her neck?"

Dev held Maan's eyes for a moment, then he turned, very slowly, and stared at the screen.

"If I press this button, that pendant will inject a pathogen into her body - a disease designed in your lab."

Dev whirled around, eyes wide.

"Oh, its not the same one you plan to release over the country, Dev. You do not have the antidote for this one."

Dev stared at Maan, breathing hard, desperation filling his eyes.

The clock clicked down to twenty-five minutes. Silence stretched.

"I can't. The protocols are already in place. The pathogen will be release at five after midnight. There's nothing I can do to stop it."

Maan raised the detonator. "Then Geet dies, at your hand, with your pathogen. Ironic, isn't it, Dev?"

"I want her in here!" he demanded. "I need to see her. Now!"

Maan knew what Dev was doing. Dev was aware of how much Maan had loved Geet, and he was going to gamble with that. He was betting that Maan could not look into Geet's eyes and still press that button.

"Fine," Maan said slowly, his eyes on the clock. "Have her brought in. But one wrong move and I promise you she will die. Don't think I haven't got it in me."

Dev spun around suddenly, depressed a button on the console. "Bring Geet to me, at once."

The men faced each other, waiting for the woman they both loved to arrive. The clock ticked to twelve minutes.

The door flew open. Geet burst through in, then froze. "Maan! Dev!"

Maan spoke first, his heart thudding. "Come here, Geet."

She hesitated, her eyes fixed on Maan, her face a storm of emotions. "What's going on?" she whispered.

"Just come here now." She moved to his side.

"You have less than ten minutes to save Geet's life. Stop those bombs, or I press the button and detonate that pendant. Then you can watch her die."

"Maan!" Geet gasped.

His chest clenched. He tried to swallow, refusing to look at her. He couldn't look at her. He wouldn't be able to press the button if he did.

"I told you. I can't stop this. The bombs are programmed to go. There's nothing I can do now."

Four minutes.

"Dev, please, for God's sake, stop this thing. Please!" Geet pleaded in a hoarse whisper.

Three minutes. No one moved.

Two minutes.

Maan turned, looked into Geet's eyes and for a nanosecond, he almost faltered. "Trust me," he whispered. And then he hit the button.

Geet gasped as the needle in the pendant exploded into her neck. She stared in shock as a small dark trickle of blood dribbled down.

Then all hell broke loose. Maan's team burst through the door and surrounded Dev. The choppers could be heard approaching, buzzing low.

Maan heard his man's voice on the microphone. "The medics have landed. They are on their way up." Maan crouched down, popped the hidden compartment in his shoe, and released the syringe. "Tell them to wait outside until I give word" he told his man as he cracked the vial and filled the syringe.

Blood was already trickling from Geet's nose. Dev fought Maan's men, trying desperately to get to Geet as they restrained him.

Maan held up the syringe. "The antidote," he said loudly.

Dev stilled. All went quiet in the room.

"If she gets this within half an hour, she will make a full recovery. If not, she will die. This, Dev, is your chance."

Geet choked, put her hand to her mouth. It came away dark with blood. Terror filled her eyes. "You lied to me, Maan", she whispered hoarsely. "I... trusted you..." She coughed again.

"I'll do it." Dev said. He picked up the phone, punched in a code, and hit a number. Then he hit a quick-dial button. "Call off the attacks, at once. Yes. I am sure. Now!" He replaced the receiver, inhaled deeply, turned to face Maan.

"Save Geet's life. Give her the antidote" he said.

Emotion exploded into Maan's eyes. He spun around, dropped to his knees, took Geet's arm. Her eyes were closed, her skin deathly pale and cold. He quickly tapped her vein and injected the antidote into her arm. "Get the medics in here, now!" he yelled as he fed the serum carefully into her system.

The door crashed open. The medics made for Geet with a stretcher. Maan stroked her hand. "Geet, you're going to be fine. Trust me."

She refused to open her eyes. "Leave me alone, please."she whispered faintly. "I never want to see you again."

"Geet--"

She turned her face away from him, and the medics took her -- and they took Maan's heart with them.

Maan gritted his teeth, clenched his fists and closed his eyes tight. "Get that bas***d the hell out of my sight," he growled, without looking at Dev. "Notify the authorities. Hand him over."

He pinched the bridge of his nose as his men took Geet.

He'd saved a nation. But he'd lost the woman he loved.

For the second time.

great and amazing update hope geet could forgive him as he did all this to protect the country

Wahaayy!!

An update and a racing, fastt-paced one at that! Oh, poor Maan! But this was expected. However, I'm surprised that Geet trusted him only as much. Well, I wouldn't blame her. She's hardly come to terms with what has happened in her life, what with Maan disappearing off and then barging in again, and now this! Waiting to know what happens ahead. This FF's already reaching its end?

I hope Geet is able to understand his condition and forgive him ...

Originally posted by: tes_v1

Wahaayy!!

An update and a racing, fastt-paced one at that! Oh, poor Maan! But this was expected. However, I'm surprised that Geet trusted him only as much. Well, I wouldn't blame her. She's hardly come to terms with what has happened in her life, what with Maan disappearing off and then barging in again, and now this! Waiting to know what happens ahead. This FF's already reaching its end?

I have abt to 3 chapters to catch up on ...😔...lagging behind ...will read n come bk tonight...but i know they will be brilliant as usual