FF: Darkhaast / Tum Se Hi |PreRish| Updated: Ch 11 on Pg 17 | 17/9 - Page 13

Wonderful update! 👏 Many confusions got cleared. 😆 kookie is adorable.❤️ loved PreRish's convo. update soon.

I wonder why Rishabh calls his mother Priya?

Kookie baby morphs into Cupid Baby 😍😎

Please update soon!!!! Part 10 has been so cute and shows you that there is nothing more than family. Pleaseeeeeeewe updateeeeeee

I read all the 10 chapters in a go!

Loved the story so far. I’m so fond of Sneha, cute doll. And priya Bose- she’s my favourite character

Chapter 11

A drink or two later, Rishabh missed his sister Shnehal a little bit more than usual. He hated himself for listening to Ma and ignoring Papa (Senior Mr. Bajaj) when he asked Rishabh to step in. Rishabh, then, believed in love. He had wanted his elder sister to live happily, in love, no matter the cost.

There were days Rishabh wished he had taken a sword to her husband. There were days, he wished he could back in time to stop their meeting, marriage or alliance. There were days he wished he could change time. That he could go back and change everything. But no matter what he wished or how hard he wished: he couldn't change time. And he couldn't save his sister. And that broke Rishabh Bajaj apart.

He had wished the Basu's were insignificant. That they could be dismissible. But he couldn't ignore the fact that Mohini Basu orchestrated her nephews plan to marry Shnehal Bajaj.

Rishabh hadn't cared if Mohini Basu knew or did not know about her nephew's plans. Rishabh Bajaj didn't care. Mohini Basu should have thought twice before orchestrating her master plan. Before introducing her nephew to Shnehal as her brother.

Mohini Basu should have thought multiple times before playing with fire. Before ruining his sister. And before murdering his family.

And no matter how much Mohini Basu pretended that the world moved on, that her mistakes were unaccounted for and that she was forgiven. Rishabh Bajaj would never forget.

He would make Mohini Basu and her family pay. Till they bled, had no one to turn to and till they decided to it all on their own accord. And even then, Rishabh wouldn't be satisfied.

Nothing could bring his sister back. Nothing would bring Shnehal back. Nothing would bring back her calls umpteen times a day to check up on him, his meals and to keep him company. Or have him lie his head on her frail limbs as she jerked her wheelchair back and forth on worst days to annoy him. Nothing could bring back his Di. Or her meals, his love, and her advice.

And every time Rishabh remembered it, he felt his soul ignite with hatred. And every time he felt hatred, he felt like a pawn. And every time he felt like a pawn, he felt trapped. And nothing would do the Basu's any good when he dealt with his claustrophobia.

That night, when Rishabh's men told him of college boys following a very drunk Shreya Bajaj home. Bajaj played with the rim of his scotch glass.

Ah. Fate. How wonderful it was?

All Rishabh's men had to do was make sure Shreya took the route to the join property for Basu Publications and Basu Godown. Then she had to lock herself in. Separating herself from the boys. And then like magic, the godown lit itself on fire.

Just like it had for Shnehal. His sister.

Days before she could be deemed treated. Hours before her final surgery. And moments before Bajaj would beat the shit out of that scum.

But Bajaj liked his games. He loved his entertainment. And what finer entertainment would there be then Mohini Basu shitting in her pants.

So Bajaj watched the same live feed Mohini Basu did. Only, instead of fear, he felt mirth.

He watched as Shnehal Basu traced her steps back to escape the fire. Only to fall in the chair. The authentic wheelchair the Basu's had claimed for millions of dollars. The first wheelchair to come to India.

He watched as the fire grew. And the boys outside beat the door. He watched her cripple in fear. And Mohini Basu stood there terrified as her being was enveloped in panic.

He watched the realisation hit Moloy Basu.

And then like a clockwork, seconds before it got too much, it stopped.

A reminder that their lives were in his hands.

Bajaj sipped the last of his neat whiskey as he smirked and shrugged it all off.

It was a good day. He definitely felt better.

The door knocked thrice. And then barged in Prerna to be pushed aside by a force that was Kookie.

"This is not devil's lair, mommy," he squeaked at Prerna in annoyance. "You twicked me."

Why had Kookie started speaking so much? And why was it only with Prerna?

Kookie crossed her arms in rebellion. Only for Prerna to shake her head, shrug and throw her arms up in the air. "It seems like the devils lair to me." Then she scooted closer to Kookie, kneeled down and whispered in a scary tone, "See, it's big, it's dark, it's scary and very dimly lit. So scary."

"And speaking of which, the devil seems to be plotting something?" Prerna laughed. Kookie giggled in response.

"Very funny," Bajaj scowled at his wife.

"Aye, aye, don't bother about us. Continue grovelling. It's like you never saw us walk in," Prerna whispered in a nondescript manner. Then she threw a blanket over Kookie and her and said, "We're invisible now,"

Bajaj was sure he couldn't roll his eyes more than he did at the mother daughter duo.

How could they be so silly?

Then on Monday came his mother. Who dragged Reyansh from London, politely messaged Prerna and barged into Rishabh's office... Kookie and Priyansh-in-tow. Baba (Advay Mishra) just sighed as Priya dragged him out of his office. Well, to be fair, Rishabh politely followed his mother out as his Baba sighed at him.

He too had faced the same fate.

Then his mother dragged the family to the Ganges and spent hours in prayers she didn't believe in before making everyone distribute gifts among the unfortunate. And sweets Kookie, the mastermind, had started nibbling with her partner in crime.

When Rishabh saw her, she shrugged at him and threw her hands up in the air clearly annoyed before she quickly signalled him to turn away?

What? They were yummy? How dare Daddy get her caught? And that silly cry baby would blame her too? Today was not a nice day to fall in trouble with Mommy. She even made baby sit quietly for the whole pujo and then didn't give her chocolate for her hard work. Hmph.

Kookie realised she had to stay with chachu for pujo. Mommy was too serious. Papa was too gullible. But Kookie being Kookie went back and plonked herself in her mommy's lap.

It was so comfy. And she loved when mommy played with her. And she hated it with Priyu sat there and took her place.

But sometimes, Kookie was nice and let Priyu sit there. Priyu didn't have a mommy. He must be sad. Kookie was sad too when she didn't have a mommy.

Rishabh was three when his mother, Priya Bose, won his full custody. He had been called to the hospital later that day as Shnehal had been hospitalized due to crying so much. Rishabh had slept in the bed for three whole days with his sister as she prepped for her spine corrective surgery. A few weeks after that he had been walking down his school lane surrounded by the bodyguards his mother hired for him before he spotted Shnehal in her wheelchair besides the black SUV and guards of her own. Rishabh had waved at his sister excitedly and rushed over much to his guards annoyance.

"Rishu, when you coming home?" Shnehal had asked him. "I miss you. Don't you miss me?"

Rishabh who rarely spoke smiled at his sister. He didn't know when he would go home. He didn't like Suvarna Bajaj. She was scary. And Papa was never home. "Don't know," Rishabh had told his sister.

Often a while, Shnehal would come to visit Rishabh at school. She had even asked her parents to put her in the same school. Her father relented when she told him about Rishabh. It didn't matter Suvarna didn't know.

Rishabh and Shnehal often lazed in the park having their meals. Rishabh often giggled as he read his books whilst he lay in his sisters lap and she played with his hair. He told her stories his gibberish mind could read. She corrected his spellings.

When his mother had found out and transferred him to a more prestigious and elite school Suvarna Bajaj could never dream of admitting her kid in. Rishabh had sulked for a whole day as his mother got extremely mad at him. She told him not to trust the Bajaj's and threatened to change his name if he dared to disobey her.

Advay Mishra had taken him in his arms and away from home. He had taken him for his favourite Spiderman movie, shopping and brought him his favourite treats without Reyansh. His Papa never did that for him.

Advay had taken little Rishabh in his arms and told him that his mother loved him a lot. That she had fought very hard to bring him home. And the thought of losing him terrified her.

Rishabh had wept. What if Ma changed his name? He would no longer be Shnehal's baby brother. He hated it.

Advay had said, "Then what about Reyansh?"

Reyansh was mommy's baby. Shnehal was not.

Rishabh put in his best behaviour for the whole week. And when the week ended, he had gone to Adhvay and given him the birthday card to Shnehal's birthday party. Rishabh didn't know how Advay had convinced Priya to let him go to the party. But Rishabh had proudly attended Shnehal's birthday party as her baby brother. He had walked over, given Shnehal her gift with a big smile on his face - her favourite power ranger set with AI outfit that he had begged, begged, begged Advay to get him. A move that had cost tiny Bajaj 99.9% of his pride.

"Happy birthday, beta," Adhvay had said to Shnehal.

"My baba," Rishabh had proudly introduced Advay to Shnehal.

Back in the present, Rishabh partook in a pujo of his own. He didn't believe in any God, but Shnehal did. She prayed for him, took him to churches, temples and other religious places. She had prayed for him for the silliest things and for the most major ones. And he partook in her prayers. Whatever it was to make him happy.

That night, like every night before this, Rishabh prayed for his sister, for the entity she believed in to take away the heart wrenching pain he felt. He prayed for Shnehal to be safe. And when Baba and he walked to the hotel they called home the next evening, Baba stopped in his tracks and held Rishabh's hands.

His hands shaking, lips quivering, Advay whispered, "Rishabh," as Rishabh followed his gaze.

There stood Kookie and Priyansh with arguing with a toddler as usual. What was new in that? What took Rishabh's breath away was the lady who came to the toddlers rescue.

And then stormed in Prerna scolding the two for "terrorising kids in every galli nukkad," whatever that meant. But Kookie scowled at Prerna and Priyansh jumped to her rescue. "He's bigger. And he stole my baby's cookie. See, see, Pri-chi, see." Kookie nodded fervently. "And he pulled my skirtutoo." she affirmed. For Priyansh to turn to the bigger boy and say, "Where's your mommy baby? Let my mommy talk to your mommy? How dare you pull my baby's skirt? Do you want a beating?"

Prerna rolled her eyes. Suddenly concerned about the beating. Where did Priyansh learn that? Kookie sighed at her mommy's concern. Mommy reeeally didn't watch movies that Kookie and Priyu watch with Rey chachu.

An older lady walked towards them and profusely apologised to Prerna for her grandson's behaviour. The younger lady, shook her head and smiled, "Rishu, what did Amma tell you about bullying little girls?"

"But Amma she looks like you," little Rishu said to his Amma. "I just wanted her to stop. So I caught what I could,"

Kookie grew madder. WHAT WAS THAT?

"Sneha Rishabh Bajaj," Prerna warned, "Do not lose your temper on the little boy again."

"And you mister, don't go pulling my little girls skirts or beating up my baby boy. Your Amma might justify you actions, but I won't."

Prerna sighed before calmly explaining to the little boy, "Sneha here,"

"Kookie," Kookie corrected her clearly annoyed.

"Kookie here has a very scary dad. And she complains to him about every little thing. You wouldn't want him to come after you. He's kind of like a khadoos too."

Priyansh giggled at Kookie's annoyance and Pre-chi.

"And waise bhi, it's not right to pull on other people's clothes. I can't tell you to yell too. But at least don't pull on people's skirts or pants. You can kheecho their shirt. At least they'll trip and fall and you'll get to see their face clearer."

The younger lady smiled and then burst out laughing. "Priya Wal," she said to Prerna.

"Prerna Sharma," Prerna introduced herself.

"Mommy," Kookie chirped as she peeked at the scary boy. She hid behind her mommy and dragged Priyu there too. Dirty, scary, annoying boy. Wait, till Kookie told Daadi.

"Priya. It's a nice name," Prerna smiled.

"It's short for Priyaragini. I once knew a lady called Priya. She gave me strength. So every time I look at my name, I find the courage to fight. It's a reminder of sorts," said Priyaragini (Ragini).

Prerna smiled at the younger lady. The older lady arms the toddler in her arms. Prerna and Ragini chatted for a while before Kookie tired of following her mom and being a responsible baby holding Priyu hand rightly sighed and stopped walking. "Mommy, Kookie hungry, Priyu too,"

The older lady pulled Kookie's cheek much to her annoyance and guided Prerna and the kids to the nearest food joint. A suitable restaurant with jalebi and local foods. Kookie and Priyu, who were usually well mannered around Prerna, climbed onto their bench and waited for their waiter to come.

Prerna who was terrified of Bajaj accusing her of being an irresponsible parent with her precious kids excused herself and picked her phone and messaged him, "Kiddos and I are having food. We're hungry." Then she messaged him the location. It wasn't like Bajaj was paranoid, controlling or had issues. But it was always safer to send him their coordinates in a busy area when he constantly worried about their safety.

"Pri-ma, what a jalebi?" Priyansh asked Prerna much to the older lady's astonishment who took it upon herself to introduce the babies to various Indian delicacies. She then feed them a kaada to stop their stomach from being upset and exchanged numbers with Prerna with the promise of feeding the two younger ones authentic home-made meals. Kookie was almost sold to Priyansh's eager excitement but being a Bajju baby, she held her cool.

The lady introduced herself as Saira Wal. She was Priyarangini's mother-in-law. Her husband was a retired surgeon and son worked as a pilot. They lived a decent middle class life.

Priyarangini's on the other hand was engrossed in Kookie's features. She had such particular nit-picky mannerisms. She hated her chillies, didn't touch pepper, hated chai, begged for coffee, despised milk but drank chocolate milk and begged Ragini for a sip of cold coffee when her mom wasn't looking. Her pout seemed so familiar and so did her puppy eyes. It broke Ragini's heart.

Ragini starred at the little kid who breathed heavily when her food came by, expressed displeasure with a soft aaaiyaa, who kept quiet and loved to be fussed upon.

The fifth day after her surgery, Rishabh Bajaj came to Shnehal Bajaj's room with a big box. Shnehal had ruffled through the packages. The ribbons, the papers and wrappings to find a box of cookies.

"I thought of you," three year old Rishabh who had just returned from a Paris detour with his Ma said.

"I got you every little thing I ate," Rishabh sulked as he struggled to get himself on the bed besides his sister. "But the doctor at the door is silly. He didn't let me get anything in. I even gave my pocket money to buy you a pretty dress. It's pink, and frilly, and very very girly," Rishabh rolled his eyes.

"But they only let me get the cookie in," Rishabh rambled. "But it funny now. Coz you look like a cookie," he giggled referring to the spots on her face, a result of heavy medication.

Rishabh had giggled. Shnehal hadn't found it funny. She sulked. "It okay if you can't eat the cookie," Rishabh had struggled to get onto the bed and hugged his sister.

Shnehal checked for the little red scratches and patches on Rishabh's body. "Oh, they scrubbed me," he said to her shrugging it off. "Don't touch, silly. It pains. But they said I could meet you faster. So it's okay. I couldn't wait to see you."

"But I can't eat the cookie, Rishu," Shnehal had said to Rishabh.

"Oh, this is okay. I asked Baba to get these for you with me. Doctor said it okay too. And doesn't matter if you can't eat the cookie. We'll buy lots when we go of doctor house," Rishabh had said.

Shnehal and Rishabh had their own baking tests soon after that. Shnehal grew obsessed with cookies - different types, different shapes, different recipes. And Rishabh had started calling her Kookie. For she always had a new type of Kookie for Rishabh to taste.

Prerna scrunched the piece of paper with Saira Wal's address and contact information and hid it among her bullet journal before Rishabh came home. She decided against it, took a picture of it, and mailed another copy to herself and scrunched the paper and threw it in the bin.

She then proceeded to deal with the toddlers who didn't want to shower with each other, near each other, or even remove their clothes around each other.

Prerna prepared herself for the mammoth of a task. And went on mom mode to shower the two. When Rishabh checked into the room he found the paper outside the bin. And being the OCD freak he was, he went to chuck it in. Before he noticed a familiar handwriting.

He picked it up, shut the door on his back, and rushed outside to drive miles away. An hour or two later, he arrived at a busy street in front of a dimly lit two stored house. A beer carton in hand, covered by the veil of the night, Rishabh took in the noise of a busy household.

The noise, running, chasing and hustle bustle.

"Rishu, you have five minutes before you get into the shower. Or I will drag you in there and drench you like a kitten. So help me god," yelled the lady. And Rishabh's breath hitched.

"Rishu, you don't need to revise three hundred times for a silly test. Take a break, shower, have your meal. Before I drag you to the washroom and shower you myself. Did you hear me or not?"

Rishabh wept. He sat in his car and wept. For what felt like hours. And then there was a soft knock on his car window.

He debated whether to open it or not. And he opened it. An older man stood at the door.

"We all have tough days, my son, but driving to lone streets and challenging fate will never work out. All this drinking and smoking... Won't you regret it in the future? When you'd want to live and realise that you shortened your life over mistakes in your youth?"

"Here's a meal. It's not much. Just Hyderabadi biryani my wife cooked for dinner. And a little bit of pickle. It will help you stomach all that alcohol. Don't park on the road. Park your car in the corner there. And if anyone asks you say that Roy Wal gave you permission. I'm Roy Wal."

Shnehal is safe with me. Rishabh felt the unsaid hover in the atmosphere.

He gratefully took the parcel of food as the older man tsked at youth and walked away. "They waste their life over cigarette, drugs and alcohol. And then cry as their kids get older and wives find better men in the future. What a silly world we live in," Roy Wal said as his daughter-in-law rushed over with a noticeable limp and covered him in a shawl.

She then looked back and wondered about the brother she left behind.

Would he be fine without her?

A/N

Thank you for the nice comments! Please do read and critique this story. It helps me fix and do bette. It also makes me write. I semi wanted to end this chapter with a looong PreRish moment. But then I would have to wait for a while to finish that and wanted to post this before I travel again. Once again, your comments truly motivate me. Or else I'd have dropped this story when and how with how crazy and tiring my routine is recently. Not to crib. I have fun too. It's just that writing is time consiming and a master procrastinator like me needs motivation or someone to be after me. The former works here. Thanks once again! I do read and love every comment! Like is an indictor for me to see who I have replied to so I can eventually reply to everyone! That's the current dream.

I've also realised the I need to add a time line to make this less confusing. I will do that soon!

And is it Shnehal? Why doesn't Prerna recognise her if it is Shnehal? I'll fix that!

Hey,

Thank you for updating I wish you had posted more Prerna and Rishabhs part but it’s ok. Every chapter is important for the story. So I am kind of confused if you don’t mind can I ask a question?

Is Kookie Prerna’s daughter? Since, I’m earlier chapters Bajaj had asked for embryo?

Once again thank you updating and I hope you update every soon with more Prerna and Bajaj scenes.

Niroo

Originally posted by: Nir_jaanu

Hey,

Thank you for updating I wish you had posted more Prerna and Rishabhs part but it’s ok. Every chapter is important for the story. So I am kind of confused if you don’t mind can I ask a question?

Is Kookie Prerna’s daughter? Since, I’m earlier chapters Bajaj had asked for embryo?

Once again thank you updating and I hope you update every soon with more Prerna and Bajaj scenes.

Niroo

Hey Niroo!

Thank you for your comment! It truly means alot. I semi wish I did too. But I'll make it a long one in the next update. Probably try not to include any extra characters and keep it on the three main ones. I promised myself to make this a simple plot. And look at me over complicating it.

Sorry for not making the update long and adding the prerish ones. Less than four hours of sleep today and such a long day ahead. Pray for me! But I'll be travelling so hopefully churning updates then! That's the plan.

Yes. She is! You reminded me of her debacle with Shnehal. I completely forgot about that! Thank you once again. Prerna is Kookie's mom for real. Or at least her biological one. Not counting the surrogate.

Thank you for reading!

Love,

Kia

Nice update but confused about this Wal family?

Hopefully we get more of Bajaj-Prerna scenes in near future

Thank you for the update 🤗

hey hun nice update. The timeline idea is really good... it can get a little confusing. Hope you don't mind my comment.

Interesting update👏

It was little confusing, What is the connection with Wal family

Waiting for next