Part 4
âTook you long enough, Mrs Bajajâ
Unblinking, Prerna continued to stare at the man whose eyes had amusement and respite dancing a soft tango.
He maintained the contact, shoving his hands in his pockets and tilted his head slightly. Prerna missed her 70th heartbeat at that moment.
âWhat is all this, Rishabh?â Masi stepped in front of Rishabh, her voice shaky with a hint of panic.
But he continued to look past her as his daughter who had her cheeks in a pout until this point, left her seat and wrapped her little arms thoroughly around her motherâs salwar. Prerna looked down surprised to find kukiâs eyes glimmering with a happiness that had evaded Prerna since the past 4 days. Tucking her auburn strands behind her ear, she dropped down to her knees and took her daughter in a bear hug, the smile on her face as radiant as the sun.
âMamma aa gayi hai naâ, Prerna cooed brushing her nose in kukiâs neck, âAb meri kuki ko koi pareshaan nhi karega!â. And with that, cupping her daughterâs face, she placed sloppy kisses all over.
Rishabh smiled softly atthe scene, his eyes nearly misty.
âRishabh!â Masi called out for the nth time as Rishabh snapped out of his reverie and blinked back the tears threatening to escape. This wasnât the right time
Brushing masiâs hand nonchalantly off his arm, he turned to address his guests, the sardonic smile back on his lips.
âApologies for the inconvenience people but the party is over!â He shouted as the hall burst into chatter and whispers.
âI am sureâ, Rishabh spoke as the entire hall went quiet, âyou all must be itching to gossip and you shouldâŚ..in the comfort of your own living rooms though. This is my placeâ.
His words hung in the air like a katana slipping menacingly out of its scabbard. No more whispers followed but only the clicking of heels and boots as the crowd soon disappeared into the night.
âRishabh ye saâ
âOff! Off with your handsâ, Rishabh interrupted sharda unclenching her fingers off his arm. She looked at him flummoxed as he dusted his sleeve off and peaked a glance at her. âI wonât want the germs to spread. Deceit is rather infectiousâ.
âPar Rishaâ
âAnd! Donât take my nameâ Rishabh held his hand upfront and then pulled his fingers into a tight fist, âMy mother poured her love in this name.Donât sully itâ.
Prerna stood as a mute spectator,sense of the situation escaping her by a hairâs breadth.
âYou underestimated meâ, he started, turning his head to look at Prerna who was standing behind him with Kuki attached closely to her frame. âYou thought that I wonât be able to see past the web of lies you have weavedâŚthat I wonât know who the actual perpetrator is!â
âMrs Bajaj bit back the truth in order to keep me alive, isnât that right?â He asked, his back still facing her and yet she knew who he was expecting the answer from.
Prerna only nodded, confused about how he had come to know it all.
As if he had heard her unspoken query, he tilted back his head a little and took in a deep breath. âI underwent a blood test two days back and realized that anti Botulinum is present in it. Apparently I was fed botulinum in the form of my migraine medicine, but a lethal dose that was starting to constrict my lungs. And that cough medicine you gave meâ, Rishabh looked at Tanvi with steely eyes, âmustâve been the antidote, I presumeâ.
Tanvi nodded meekly under his penetrating gaze as his lips turned up in a cruel smirk and he looked away. âIt was quite the gamble, huh. If you wouldâve delayed the treatment by just one more hour, my nerves would have failed me and right now I wouldâve been but a pile of ashes!â
Prerna sucked in deeply as his icy words charged the atmosphere with despair.
âDonât, Mr. bajajâ, She called out meekly, her imagination of the nightmare almost coming to fruition, running wild. âDonât say it, please donâtâ.
The hollowness from his eyes disappeared as her fearful words coated with the honey of concern soothed his burning wounds.
âIâm alive thoughâ, he murmured with a small smile and then took a step in Shardaâs direction, âafter all you needed me alive to handover the property papers otherwise all this luxury wouldâve gone to my immediate family, my daughter and wife, naturally. Big mistake!â
Rishabh hissed the last two words seethingly, his demeanor flipping a drastic switch yet again, âYou let me live and now I will assure that your life stinks more than any hell ever would!â
Sharda took a step back as Rishabh closed up on her, âYou dared to harm my daughter! You did the unexplainable by attacking my family. You threatened my wife! Youâll pay!!â He roared, his deafening shout reverberating across the house as Kuki flinched and dug her face further into Prerna while Prerna just closed her ears.
âH-Humein maaf kar doâ, Sharda stammered, her old bones shivering under his enormous pressure. He looked down at the woman as the lines on his forehead mellowed down
âThe allure of forgiveness has always eluded me, you must be well awareâ, He whispered, his voice ghostly as if echoing the trumpet of satan itself.
âHanding you over to the policeâ,Sharda and Tanvi looked at each other as Rishabh trailed amused, âwill be letting you off easy. You mustâve heard endless stories of Rags to Richesâ. His grin grew wide as he quickly typed a number on his phone and pressed it close to his ear, âNow itâs high time that you play the lead in Riches to Rags storyâ.
âNhiâŚpleaseâŚâ
âSecurity!â
âRishabh donât!â
âThrow the trash out!â
âPrerna tum samjhao na!â
âWeâre sorry! Maaf kar do but please!â Masi begged as the security dragged the duo away while Prerna turned her face in other direction.
They deserved far worse. He had been way too generous.
âKuki betaâ, Rishabhâs soft voice called out to the liâl girl holding her mother close, âWhy donât you go and play upstairs? Papa and mama need to talkâ.
Kuki nodded as she sprinted across the hallway and up the stairs, soon disappearing into her room.
âMr. Bajaâ
âPrernaâ, he purred softly taking her slender palms in his while Prernaâs heart nearly jumped at the contact.
âThank you for coming backâ,he bit back a sob as he pressed the back of her palms close to his eyes. In response, Prerna sucked in a breath as her flesh felt the wetness of his tears against it.
âIâm sad Prernaâ, he spoke softly, his eyes still pressed close against her softness, âIâve lost the only relation I had with my mother. But, Iâll surviveâ, he chuckled softly as he withdrew away and looked into her eyes.
Prernaâs heart clenched as his eyes red with pain stared at her. The tear barely clinging to his lower lid caught her attention as she forwarded her hand in a trance to wipe it off, but he caught her wrist midway. âHowever if you wouldnât have comeâ, Rishabh moved closer, his scent invading her space and filling the emptiness she never knew existed.
âI wouldâve been devastated. Broken beyond repair. But you cameâ, he smiled a sweet one and pressed her fingers to his lips in a fleeting touch. Prerna closed her eyes,touch of his lips evoking an avalanche in the pit of her stomach.
âA-And if I didnât?â Her query barely audible, graced his ears.
âI wouldnât have married Tanvi either wayâ, he detached his lips from her fingers and started massaging his thumb slowly over her hand.
âHuh!â Prerna exclaimed, clearly distracted by the caress of his fingers against her own.
âIt was a trap. You were the target. Tanvi was a mere baitâ, He replied resting his inquisitive gaze on her eyes that were single handedly focused on his ministrations.
As the weight behind his words dawned, Prerna tore her gaze away from his large hands and looked up into his eyes.
âAap hamari khaatir hi humein chhodkar gayi thi. But I wanted you to come back for our sake, for my sake. Aapne mera vishwas tootne nhi diya. There was a time when you had sacrificed your own happiness to salvage someone elseâs. This time I wanted to be that pillar you rely on, so that you donât have to sacrifice yourselfâ, Rishabh finished as he let go of her hand and raising it to her face, wiped the stream flowing steadily down her left side.
âThank you for trusting me Prerna. Aapne mujhpe vishwas jatakar, mujhe ye ehsaas dilaya ki main bhi vishwas ke kaabil hoonâ.
Shaking her head, she enclosed his palm over her cheek with her own and smiled, âI should be the one thanking you. Aapne mujhe bacha lia. You saved me from the loneliness that Iâve been living forever withâ.
Rishabh nodded and pulling his hand away, took her both palms in his, yet again. âPrerna-
She looked on questioningly as he went onto sit on his knees with her hands clasped in his warm ones. She gasped surprised and he chuckled.âDariye mat, marry me nhi kahunga!â
âWeâre already marriedâ, she replied suppressing a chuckle as his face lit up with a boyish goofy grin, âOf course!â
âWhat I wanted to say is that aap bahut achi hain. Actually, you are too good to be with me. And by that record, I should be letting you go because I sincerely feel that you deserve best of every world that exists out thereâ, Rishabh started as Prerna parted her lips to reply but he beat her to it.
âBut Iâm not sure if you will appreciate the idea of letting Kuki go. As a fact, as I said I should be letting you go but I wonât ask of you if you want to leave or not because personally, I donât want you to leaveâ, Rishabh spoke sincerely as she looked at him, feeling a warm glow in her chest.
âYou might want to leave though but I insist you to stay. I-I may not be and most probably will never become the man you envisioned of spending your life with but I promise to be the best that youâll ever find. I swear!â His eyes widened as he pinched the bulge in his throat between his thumb and forefinger, making Prernaâs smile grow wider.
âThe only love Iâm privy to is the one I have for my daughter. I care for you, feel happy when youâre around, when you boss me around and I promise to be ordered around without a complaint if this is what will make you stay. I donât want you to see me leaving ever again. Love wonât even begin to describe the way I feel. I j-justâŚ.want a chance. Give me one and youâll never regret it! ButâŚjust donât walk away. I wonât be able to live. Iâll probably become a living corpâ
âShhh!â Prerna clapped her hand over Rishabhâs mouth, dropping down to his level.
His surprised wide yet cute confusion etched eyes made Prernaâs heart flutter yet again.
âIâm not leaving, Ok! So cease with your nonsense!â She glared at him as he nodded innocently making her laugh. âEven if you wanted, I wouldâve straight up refused. Iâm here to stay.Main ab kabhi vapas nhi jaa sakti or should I say that I donât want to, any more.Ek time tha, but things have changed.I never want to envision my life without you. I canât put in words the things I feel about you but they overpower every emotion I had ever felt in the past. So, yes.I want you to give me a chance too. Give us a chance so that one day we can become truly each otherâsâ.
Rishabh smiled as he enclosed Prerna in a hug and she reciprocated it with a smile of her own. Her gaze flickered towards the balcony to see Anurag standing with a smile on his face as he whipped around and walked away.
âLetâs become--â, Rishabh whispered, his heart thumping loudly.
âYours--â Prerna whispered as they both closed their eyes and spoke in unison.
âTruely!â
And with this I wrap this FS up! First of all, thank you to every reader out here for reading and liking and sharing your views and giving me a chance to share mine.
Alright so, I donât know what emotional messy mess Iâve written here.Honestly, got a liâl lost in the depth of this all, I confess! But while writing it, I truly felt happy like you know seeing a calm scenery where the sun is rising behind the mountains and the river is flowing down, cutting across the rocks as the air whispers and trees dance. Something along those lines! This is my personal view though!
Anyway, the thing about botulinum as a poison, I researched it a bit but all the facts may not be up to the point of reality since Iâm not a medical practitioner so yeah. Botulinumâs highly lethal though, can cause death even in ng of quantities but is used in various medicines like for the migraine too. So I used that as a sort of base.
Thatâs all! I hope you all liked the ending. I HOPE that it was befitting to pave way to the start of something new. Do share your views.
Yours Truly,
Nish~
Link to my other stories:
|Deception| - PreRish SS https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/151185103?tid=5112520
|Drunken Confessions| - PreRish OS https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/151022663?tid=5108834
Edited by nish_vir - 5 years ago
Book Talk
Ye Hai Mohabbatein
