#3 ~FF: Untold Stories~ - Page 48

Originally posted by: LadyMeringue

Aaru told me that you were rather surprised with my saying yes. Tabhi mujhe kuch gadbad laga. 🤣🤣 And don't worry about the reviews, even I have to review on yours yet. 😭😭

Originally posted by: LadyMeringue

Poplu, is that your new username? Don't tell me you forgot your password again. 🤣

Ps. If it's really you, (which I'm a 99% sure), don't you think you're too young for the tequila shots? 😉😉 #TequilaShots

Originally posted by: Bloomfield

Poplu! 😲😲

Have fun 🤣🤣

Originally posted by: -FlameOfHope-

No girl, I don't drink. 😳😳 But thanks, anyway.

Originally posted by: Bloomfield

When did I say that you drink?😆😆

Originally posted by: -FlameOfHope-

You gave me the drink. And I said I don't drink. So what should I reply other than this? 🤪🤪

Originally posted by: Bloomfield

Usme It's the weekend, let's party tha...You can have some soda too, right? Or juice? 🤪🤣

Originally posted by: -FlameOfHope-

I will opt for juice. 😛😛

A/N: Hey there everyone! :D :D Here is the next update! :D :D

Happy Reading! :D :D

Ishaani was disturbed from her binge diary-reading when her phone rang offensively, the noise annoying her. Picking up her phone in chagrin, her face however relaxed when she saw the caller-id. A confident smile now curving upon her face with easy melancholy, she answered the call.

"I hope you have what I've asked of you."

"He's agreed to sell the painting on the 23rd. He'll be physically present in the auction. No agent or representative. He's badly pressed for cash," came back the prompt response and Ishaani sighed, satisfied.

"What did you tell him about the painting?"

"Landscape painting from the Romanticism period in late 19th Century. Prized possession and definitely a matter of sustainable interest for several of the art galleries and people studying them."

"Did he verify?" asked Ishaani, her tone still not betraying the apprehension she felt.

"He did, and it was just like you predicted. He got the same answer from the others, just like you instructed me to tell them with the said incentive," replied the mysterious caller, and Ishaani now smiled cruelly.

"Perfect. And have you invited all the people that I asked you to?"

"All the 249 guests accounted for, including yourself."

"Keep an extra seat open. If luck has it, our 250th guest is going to be a very special one," added Ishaani, her voice now betraying the slight flutter her heart felt at the thought of the said guest.

"What about the switch?"

"On the day of the auction. Remember, nothing should go wrong. Nothing," instructed Ishaani, her voice suddenly grave.

"I owe your father my life, Miss Parekh. He was my most special buyer and so are you. This is the least I can do."

"I'll contact you after a couple of days for the progress report," spoke Ishaani, her tone business-like.

No further words were exchanged as Ishaani disconnected the call, her mind buzzing emphatically with the words that were just spoken. Goodness knew the amount of preparation that she'd put in setting up the whole play. The drama was written, the stage was set and the audience were there to shower their blessings upon the participants as well. All that remained were the subject and the object of the play, both of which were crucial to its success or failure.

Ishaani sighed as her eyes fell upon the painting in front of her once again, reminding her of the deception that her life had been nothing short of. The same background of the sunset, the same girl looking towards the sea... yet it wasn't the same. A gift she'd received. Yes, a gift it was; her most prized gift. Eyeing the insolent painting before her eyes with the utmost of disgust and loathing, she turned her eyes away from it just as one of the helpers entered the room with a tray of food.

"Mala, I want you to pack this painting off and keep it in the storeroom carefully until the time I'll need it again, alright?" Mala nodded her head as she took off the painting and left the room, Ishaani eyeing both of them pensively.

Lies, deception, manipulation! That was all her life had ever been all those years! She walked towards the empty wall where another deception of her life was just taken off. How many deceptions had she borne, really?

She walked back to her desk and plopped down upon the companion chair, taking her head into her hands. The art of manipulation! How many times had Ranveer warned her against it? How many times had she joked and he been serious about how easily she trusted and how stupidly she judged? How many times had she been cross with him for saying things like that?

But isn't that what exactly happened? Wasn't that exactly what she fell prey to? But no! This wasn't her fault entirely... she'd pushed him away, yes. She gave them both the agony of a lifetime, yes. She killed them both that night - yes, yes and YES! But was it entirely her fault? No. She was in no bubble or illusion about that. Why would she be, when Ranveer was the one who created the whole fiasco in the first place!

Ishaani pulled open a drawer and removed a 302-page book from it, looking halfway between infuriated, exasperated and emotional. The title boasted out Ishaani Parekh: The Enigma Unveiled. But what instantly caught her attention was the post it that was attached upon the book, the open handwriting of the person she loathed the most, jeering at her.

Now that we have truly parted ways and I've extinguished the fire of my revenge, I'm no longer in need of this. In case you are wondering, this is what helped me become the man you fell for. If you ever meet the servant, give him my regards and thank him dearly for handing me this gem of a nuke. This is the only reason I managed to do what I did with such sheer brilliance.

See you, never!

Love,
Chirag

This was what she received on the day they were officially divorced. A gift wrapped box waiting for her back in the apartment that she was staying at. She'd opened it to see the book staring at her innocently, the only mal-addition being the extra piece of paper stuck upon it. Below that had been all her unsent and Ranveer's unreceived letters from his time away in Sydney. The son of a bitch had intercepted it all from both sides! Then that would only mean that their emails had met the same fate!

The thought of it alone made her blood froth ferociously. But it was only when she'd read through the note upon the book that she knew her life was once again going to take another ugly turn.

She'd taken in the book's appearance and instantly realized that the heading was in Ranveer's handwriting. What was going on? She'd thrown open the book in a demented frenzy, flipping through the pages as though expecting to unearth all of the secrets of the earth in one go, but all she managed to see was the haze of Ranveer's long and slant handwriting in heaps and heaps of notes, as though making some kind of secret formula.

She knew that she'd have to calm her mind down if she needed to understand what doom was about to fall upon her head. She'd barricaded herself in her room for nine hours as she read every single word, soaking in every single letter that marked herself inked on paper. But what made her blood go cold was the fact that it was Ranveer who had penned all this down... How had this come into Chirag's hand? What kind of irony was life playing with her? Could it be that after everything she'd done to him, there was still another nail remaining? That this book was very well what brought doom upon herself and Ranveer?

She pushed the pages back upon the first page, now emotionally exhausted. Oh yes, the final word of doom was still remaining - Ranveer's letter on the first page:

Date of commencement: 8th February, 2006:

My Sweet Sunny,

If you've found this book before the right time... Well, that's my surprise gone down in the drain. Nosy girl, I knew you'd find this in my absence. When will your habit ever go of nosing around with my things? I can't believe you actually checked underneath the mattress! That was supposed to be fool-proof! But well, when do surprises ever work in my case?

Ahem, never mind. You asked me to surprise you with how much I know you, so here you go! It's taken me nearly two years to compile this but I still feel like I've barely touched the surface with this book,. But now that I've actually written this much, I feel like I could go on and on and yet I'd not even cover much up. They say that sometimes you are with a person for so long and yet you don't know them at all. But that's not the case with you... and this experience has been really fulfilling.

So as promised, this is me unveiling the biggest enigma of my life - Ishaani Parekh. I write this in hope that I do know you truly and this does provide you with a hearty laugh. This is both of us on paper. Happy Reading and well, I'm still pretty mad at you for ruining my surprise. I know that you'll say that I should know how to keep a secret and blah blah, but like I've told you countless times, you must not be nosy.

We could go on and on, but we'll have this conversation when we meet in person!

Love,
Ranveer

Ps. i: Once you've read this, destroy the copy. You don't want anybody finding this book and making wrong use of it. This is just supposed to be a personal joke between the two of us and I can trust the Parekh household to say that not one person would be interested in reading this book even if they find it. But please, destroy it, since I didn't have it in me to destroy this until I gave you the original copy.

Ps. ii: There's a fair version of a 100-pages that's pretty much the final conclusion of all the notes I've made you and that was supposed to be your actual present. I have a nice acknowledgment for you over there, so wait for the original copy. This letter is just in case of three circumstances:

1. You read it before time.

2. I not being there with you when you find this.

3. The original copy of the book somehow not reaching you on the time I've planned for it to happen.

Ps.iii: 'Sunny' tops the top ten things on your pet peeves list. To know more, open the book and start reading already!

Ishaani shut the book as she'd finally let the tears stream from her eyes, the ache in her heart reaching a peak until she fell upon the ground in a heap, not knowing what was happening to her. That was it. That was her cul-de-sac. She was the first linchpin that led to the whole destruction... She'd egged him into doing this. She'd confessed to him that day in the forest how nobody knew her for who she truly was and wished to have someone who could read her inside-out, someone who knew her every move and every action at the back of her hand.

How long had it been since he'd last called her Sunny?

He'd looked at her curiously when he said that he knew her that well, but she'd mistook his passion for sympathy. She's stupidly challenged him in a joke to gift her a book of the same title as her birthday gift on her twentieth birthday since he knew her that well, penning not just herself, but all the tricks and trades as well. What was Ranveer's fault in it? He'd just wanted to make her happy, like always! He'd die for her happiness if it came to that... Why would he back away from this as long as it brought a smile upon her face?

No matter how much she wanted to blame it upon him and say that it was entirely his fault that everything had happened, she was too tired to play the blame game. She wanted to succumb. She wanted to die. She wanted to tell him how much she cared for him, how much she missed him, how much she needed him! She wanted to hug him, drown herself into his arms, die in his arms of guilt and shame. But die with his last burning image in her eyes.

Life was too harsh for her broken heart and it stabbed her too brutally for her to encompass all the pain seamlessly into her chest. She'd thrown the book away from herself and had run to her bedside to fetch her new companion - her scalpel. The scalpel would help her out... Oh yes, a single stroke and her pain would flow away. One stroke... one stroke...

She was no coward five years ago to end her life, because the scalpel had found its exact target upon her arm, the pain working as a shot of adrenaline that snapped her back into reality. A reality that was as barren as the pages of an abandoned book. What had she got left in life anymore? All her life had been a game, she a pawn at the hands of the masters of the art of manipulation. A book had determined the course of her fate; her decision to choose her head over her heart once again had sealed her doom.

Homeless, loveless and abandoned - what was the life of a person like this? But no... She was no coward. She was a fighter. She owed it to Ranveer and she most certainly owed it to her father. These two men were around whom her life had always revolved, who had loved her the most in this world. One, she'd lost. The other, she had to win back.

Ishaani snapped out of her thoughts of the past as she stared at the book, feeling a surge of hatred pump its way into her veins forcefully as she pushed the book back into its recluse. She needed the scalpel even more now that the end was near. She'd chucked the habit long, long ago, but the taste of it from five days ago had evoked a new craving - a craving for more pain, more blood to keep her in control... to make her broken self feel alive.

She got up and walked into the bathroom to search for the scalpel but she'd used the one last spare already. She stared at her hands that had now begun to shake, the tremors evident. She needed it! The pain... She'd tied it down so compactly into the broken shards of her heart that she couldn't bear it seeping into her heart. It was slow poison, burning and torturing her soul inside out. She was dead when she'd abandoned all her feelings and emotions. She needed to be the same way now.

Now that she was so close, she couldn't lose control.

The scalpel wasn't there, but she needed something to fill the void. Anything that could give pain. She looked around the bathroom, nothing satisfying her needs. She'd have to ask Mala to order a couple of scalpels. She was losing control and fast, and she needed to keep herself in check. The pain couldn't seep out again... no! She'd numbed herself of it... Her pain couldn't flow through her broken heart again. She was cold, broken... lifeless. No! She couldn't feel anything, she shouldn't feel anything!

She saw her hands shiver again, this time more violently. She shut her eyes in prayer, hoping for the terrible moment to pass away. It was an addiction she couldn't fall prey to it again. The last time, she'd barely managed to rid herself of the vice and she knew that wouldn't be so this time. She knew that now that the time for Ranveer to return was drawing in closer and closer, she'd begun to feel human again.

And along with being human came the heightened sense of pain and anguish that she'd suppressed so deep within her chest that it was crumbling her heart into pieces all over again, the broken pieces of her heart no match for the brutal pain that kept surging through it every time her mind crossed upon Ranveer. Taking in deep breaths as she felt her hands stop shivering, she opened her eyes slowly and stood up.

The moment had passed, leaving in its wake a cold heart once again. The winds had blown through her heart, crying its lament of cruelty and heartbreak. Her heart had frozen once again, the pain jammed within the jagged confines of its icy prison. The pain would try to melt through again, she knew, but that was for another time. The scalpel's cold reassurance would have been much better in gaining control, but this would have to do temporarily.

Ishaani's phone rang once again, and she instantly sprung upon it, glad for the distraction.

"Ma'am, there's a problem," rang out Rishi's voice urgently. His lack of greeting was significant. "The supplier has refused to supply the diamonds for the consignment for anything less than 10% of his extra commission on the same."

"Not my problem, Mr. Rishi," replied Ishaani, her voice icy. Gone was the vulnerability. The party was over; there was loads to be done yet. She continued in the same business-like tone. "He's not getting a rupee more than 2% of his usual commission."

"But ma'am-"

"Mr. Rishi, you know the rules. I'm not going to negotiate any further than this," replied Ishaani with finality. Rishi let out a frustrated sigh on the other side that managed to cock Ishaani's eyebrow in accordance.

"But what if-"

"Then we'll shift to Mr. RV's supplier in that case," came her reply once again, instantly knowing what query was upon the lips of her company's CEO.

"That's an additional three-day delay. We're right now in a cut-throat time schedule," said Rishi, trying to reason with his boss, but in vain.

"You needn't remind me about that, Mr. Rishi," retorted Ishaani, now sounded displeased. Mr. Rishi didn't give up.

"But what if Mr. RV doesn't-"

"There's no if and but there, but just so that we are clear upon this, we'll carry the deal on our own. I've kept all contingencies ready," replied Ishaani, now chagrined at the insistence and pressure from her colleague.

"But what about the-"

"Mr. Oberoi, I think you were the one who explained the entire agenda during the AGM," spoke Ishaani, now coolly. Her calm was even frightening than her livid demeanor and Rishi was no exception to the phenomena when it came to taking her wrath. Rishi fell silent as Ishaani continued.

"If you have any other doubt, please let me know. If not, get back to the supplier and let him know my answer. Even he knows that what he's asking for is too much for him shoes. Besides, I have offices across eighteen countries, so it's not like I'm going to shell all my money over this consignment to London. Tell him it's a take it or leave it offer. If he doesn't agree, remind him about the old debts that my father had let gone and about all the other commissions that he's going to miss out upon. We've got three other huge consignments coming up for Singapore, Korea and Geneva."

Rishi remained silent and it was evident that he got her point. There was to be no negotiation with her on this further, or even an argument for that matter.

"Is that all?" boomed out Ishaani, while Rishi rushed into speech once again.

"Puneet has spoken with the administration department of Mr. RV's firm. We'll be receiving their financial statements the moment the deal is signed for the JV. So hopefully we can have the JV-Audit sorted out simultaneously as the consignment preparations without any delay, since this situation is a little... special."

"The audit would take above a lot more time than that, but yes, since we are very much pressed for time, exceptions can be made by both companies," replied Ishaani, now pensive. Rishi grunted in approval.

Will that be all?" asked Ishaani, her tone now dismissive. Rishi took the cue.

"Yes, ma'am. Goodnight, and sorry for the trouble."

Ishaani disconnected the phone for the second time that night, the sense of purpose now overtaking her mind. Sighing, she slowly slipped off her father's watch from her hand, making sure to take care of the old relic with as much care as he could. The watch was the symbol of what she lost. Her father had had this watch for above twenty-five years, and now it was hers to preserve. Time never remains the same, Ishaani. It has to end where it begins. She'd worn it since the day she had decided that she wanted to revolve her life around, the watch her motivation to keep going. She had to change her time with her own bare hands.

The hands had gone all around. It was time to stop where it all begun.

The watch has a history of greatness, Ishaani. This was my fathers, and now this is yours. Oh yes, she'd lived up to the legacy of the watch, the legacy her father knew she was written for. There were several milestones that she'd achieved in these four years, but the London monopoly would be her first legacy if gone right, making her India's leading diamond tycoon.

The legacy of her father that she was on the way of re-writing and completing.

She sighed as she slowly undressed and slipped on a black nightgown, her skin glowing in the light, heightened by the light reflecting from the chain around her neck. Pulling the chain out so that it was completely in view, her eyes fell upon the band that was now a pendant upon the chain. The ring was the symbol of what she had to save, what she had to win back. The ring on her finger was a weakness, but the moment the cool band fell upon the exact spot where her heart beat, it became her strength. Always Together. RI.

She'd given him eighteen promises upon those rings, most of which she fulfilled at the some point or the other. The only ones she'd strayed away from... It was time to fulfill them, to live up to them. How madly she'd always been in love with him... the whole world saw it except herself. Had her friendship blinded her so much that she turned blind towards the love she had for him?

No, it was not friendship.

It was Chirag.

But if her love and friendship were that strong, how could it fall so weak that she didn't have a clue about what hit her?

She stared at her reflection and gasped. The coquette Ishaani had been unmasked once again in the freak show, the cold, empty eyes staring back at her in self-loathing. There was no smile upon her face, only the curse of life's bitterness and cruelty. What wouldn't she give to go back to being her twenty-one year old innocent self who was protected from the inhuman world by her two saviours.

Every mistake comes at a heavy price, Ishaani. The weight of guilt and living with that mistake saps one out of their life.

Her father's words. She'd thought that he was over-exaggerating when he'd first said them to her when she was nineteen. But it was only when she realized the weight of the guilt did she know how correct her father had been. She was dead; she could no longer love. She took off the chain from around her neck and set it beside her father's watch, turning her gaze away from the mirror.

She sat back upon the chair of the bureau, the diary staring back at her innocently along with a pair of eyes. She pulled out the protruding photo, Ranveer's eighteen-year old self smiling at her like he didn't care about the world at all as long as she was with him. The smile that gave her the will to live, the smile that made her believe that there was something worth living for. It was a picture of them sober on the day of Holi.

How could he love her so much? She was not worth loving... She didn't deserve him at all. She deserved to live a life of solitude, loneliness and pain. Yes, that should be her punishment for the rest of her life. What right did she have to call him back to her after throwing him out from her life? And yet, he'd complied. Why? Maybe he hated her... Yes, that was it. Maybe he was coming back to tell her how much he hated her.

Some things never change.

If Ranveer truly hated her, he would never have dedicated Caffeinated Love in the first place. But that was her assumption that he'd written it. What if he hadn't? What if it was all a co-incidence? Nothing in our lives are a co-incidence. Everything is in relation to everything else. - Ben Sullivan, Chapter 11. But did that mean that he still loved her?

Some things never remain the same.

Damn it, no, he didn't! Not after what you did to him! He would never hurt her the way she hurt him because... he was Ranveer.

But was he really?

She'd killed him that night. What if it was RV coming to meet Miss Parekh? Where would she find her Ranveer? But it was folly, perhaps. Ranveer Vaghela and Ishaani Parekh both died the same night and all that remained were two shells - bitter, cold and dead. All that remained were two masters of the art of manipulation - one natural by birth, one experienced with life. But no! The kind of love he had for her... that was rare. It never died! Then why was the human in her making her nauseous with the mental tussle?

"You're being foolish, woman!"

"NO! He loves me... he has to! I'd die if he hates me!"

"Speaks the coward who killed him! You deserve to die!"

"No... No... Please, no! Have mercy... please..."

"What you sow, so shall you reap..."

If only she had the scalpel! Love or hate wouldn't have mattered - only pain and blood would have. Ishaani turned back and hid the photo between the pages of the diary, now exhausted. She was madly, terribly and hopelessly in love with him. But it was too late for that. Practicality dawned upon her as she smiled bitterly at the diary.

Gone were the days when she was whole and innocent. Gone were the days when she could love like there was no tomorrow. Gone were the days were she could trust her loved ones with her life - hell, she couldn't even trust herself anymore. She was damaged goods - unwanted, unloved and rejected, just like she felt when she was seventeen. Shoving the book containing the now-intolerable memories of her seventeen-year old self with extreme prejudice, only one sentence rang in her mind in a series of echoing taunts, the words booming inside her skull in Ranveer's now-sneering voice.

The art of manipulation is perhaps the most complex yet simple source of destruction.

That was it. Blood, it was going to be.

Constructive criticism will be more than welcome and sorry for any typos. :D :D

Next chapter:
Interlude 13