Chapter 28
6:15 PM
RK sprinted to the conference room where his bank manager had been waiting.
"Thank you. I appreciate your coming here personally." He said as he signed the papers and took the bag containing money from the manager as it is. He didn't want to waste time counting.
"It's my job sir. Is it an important purchase for which you needed the money urgently?"
"I wouldn't trivialize it by calling it a purchase, but yes it is the most important thing I could ever spend my money on." RK smiled and left the room with the money in his hand. There was no time to be wasted. He could get home in half an hour and he would still have one hour before Tony arrived to explain everything to Madhu, to apologize, to convey how he felt...
RK had asked his driver to take a U turn and wait on the main road across his office instead of park in the basement when he had arrived ten minutes earlier to save time in the evening rush hour. He was sprinting towards the spot and had just left his office gate when he felt a strong blow on the back of his head, causing him to lose balance and fall.
He was being attacked!
His eyes blurred as he tried to stand up. One of his hands went up to the back of his head and he felt the wetness of blood. There were three men holding hockey sticks in their hands. What was happening? Who sent these people? Dipali?
"Who..."he managed to say as he walked to the man in front, shoved him and held his collar, but just then a second hit on his legs shook his balance. The bag of money which he had been holding firmly in the other hand fell down as more blows followed quickly on his back and limbs.
"You don't stand up Sultan dada. This is just punishment for insulting him by not coming earlier today." One of them spoke just as Rishabh felt a bone break in his arm.
"This is cash." Another pointed to the bag that had fallen on his side.
"Great. Let's take it. That's retribution. You asked Sultan dada for a favor and then insulted him by going to his rival and taking money from them instead of us. Now suffer, and never forget this lesson in the future!" The first guy spoke again as they finished beating up RK and saw some people running towards the scene. Shortly thereafter, they all quickly left in their vehicle.
A couple of security guards had seen the incident from the porch of RK's office building and he had run towards the site, but the men were gone by the time he reached. The whole thing had taken less than five minutes, but they were armed and had caught RK by surprise. He was injured, but the worst thing at the moment was that they had taken the money with them!
"I...I am okay..."RK muttered as the security guards and a few other men helped him and carried him inside the building. He was bleeding from his head and a few other places, and his arm was probably fractured as he couldn't lift it, but he didn't care. He gulped a bit of the water his people helped him to, before he stood up with some support. The attack was too sudden for him to react, and albeit shocked, he didn't feel the pain too much right now. Instead, his mind had but one focused thought - I need to get home. I need to get to Madhu.
RK glanced at the clock. It was 635 and he did not have the cash any more. He needed time! He grappled in his pockets looking for his phone, but couldn't find it.
"Phone...my phone..." he muttered.
"Sir it probably fell outside on the road. We will go look but someone might have stolen it..." one of the men answered. "Sir we have called the doctor."
"I don't need the doctor." He yelled and walked towards the elevator that took him to his office. Without the phone, he didn't have Tony's number. There was no way to ask for more time, he just had to put the money together again and get home before 8.
--
"Give me a phone dammit. Call the bank manager. Call the CFO and all the GMs of all of Kundra industries businesses who sit in this office in my office right now." He screamed as he walked towards his office. A lot of his employees had already left for the the day, but the few that were around on the floor had been stunned seeing their boss drenched in blood. RK's angry voice however had them scampering about the floor in a minute.
--
"I want to withdraw another crore right now. I was just robbed and I need the money." he screamed on the landline phone of his office to his manager.
"But sir..the bank's closed for today...tomorrow morning I can..."the manager tried to explain in a trembling the voice.
--
"Sir the police is here." someone spoke and RK threw the phone in frustration at him with his one good hand.
"Who called the police? I don't have time for a complaint."
"Sir the doctor..."
"I don't need a doctor. Where's the CFO and GMs?"
"They're coming sir...conference room.."
--
"How much cash is there in the office right now? All petty cash...all accounts...across businesses..."
"Sir...I..."
"I said how much..."
"Don't know exactly sir..."
"Then go find out. In five minutes. Check retail, check every single business. Any cash on premise right now, including that for regular office expense and for big payments we are supposed to make. Also go check the retail office next door. They usually have cash come from the stores by this time. I want all the money here right now. I don't care for policy and rules."
--
Half an hour later, RK had about 48 lakhs lying in front of him.
"Is that everything?"
"Yes sir. We checked. This includes pantry expenses as well as all store collections. This empties us."
"Fine. First thing tomorrow morning, you withdraw from the back account, each of you, the amount needed to replenish this. I will authorize it right now and the CFO will sign off. Ok. Right now make a voucher transferring amount equivalent to this money to the corporate account, and from there to my account. Here's a signed check from my account to the corporate account, use that to balance the transaction and have money replenished tomorrow." RK pointed to the CFO.
"Is that clear?"
"Yes sir." They answered as they watched, bewildered, RK picking up all the money and limping out of the office.
"Sir the doctor...you're hurt.."someone said from behind, but RK didn't stop. He was already cutting too close and his mind was on closing the deficit.
--
He had 48 lakhs in his hand, another 5 lakhs at home in the vault. That still didn't add up to one crore. But he did have jewelry that he had got removed from the locker in the preceding half hour. It was worth several lakhs and should be enough to satisfy Tony. If it still wasn't, he would throw in the papers of his house. He didn't want to let go of it, but if it came down to it, he was sure Tony was smart enough to see the house was well over a crore. At least something good had come out of carrying around those papers all day, he thought as the car negotiated the Mumbai evening traffic.
He asked the driver for his phone and called his home, but just like it had happened half an hour ago when he had called from the office, nobody picked up.
"Come on Patil kaka...Madhu...where are you? Madhu, please wait for me. I am coming..." he muttered constantly as the phone went unanswered and his heart trembled with dread.
--
Finally, as the car entered his house, he looked at the clock with a tiny bit of relief. 7:45. He had made it before Tony, but he didn't have enough time to convince Madhu.
He leapt out of the car. His driver tried to support him, but RK ran as fast as he could towards the door and rang the doorbell multiple times.
"Rishabh" Patil murmured as he finally opened the door after several minutes and saw RK injured. RK however walked past him into the living room, dropping the bag of money on the floor, and screamed as loud as he could, his eyes on Madhu's door.
"Madhu!"
********************************
"Madhu!"
Rishabh's scream echoed around the house, but there was no answer. His eyes looked expectantly towards the closed door of her room. Any second, she would emerge. Any second, she would run to him and he would be able to hold her in his arms. Any second, he would be able to tell her that she didn't have to leave with Tony, ever. Any second, he would be able to tell her that he loved her!
"What happened to you? All these injuries..."Patil kaka was asking, but Rishabh wasn't paying any attention.
"Madhu! Where are you?" he screamed. "Kaka, where's Madhu? Is she in her room?" Without even waiting for the answer he ran up the stairs and opened Madhu's door, but stilled when he heard Patil's words right behind him.
"She left!"
--
Rishabh froze on his spot and felt his heart sink into a deep abyss. Slowly, he turned to look at Patil, not prepared to believe what he had just heard. How could she have left. It wasn't 8 yet! He had a few minutes! He had made it! He had the money. He had solved all the problems. How could she...she wasn't supposed to leave before 8, dammit!
"She...she said...she had to leave today. She said you knew. A man came. She left with him."
"She left with Tony? She went back there? Why didn't you stop her?" Rishabh screamed, his voice shivering with pain, anger and dread. His eyes scanned the empty room. It looked just the same - it smelt of Madhu, it breathed of Madhu. How could Madhu not be here!
"She said you had brought her for 3 months and you had decided to send her back. She said you had talked yesterday. Why did you do that to that poor girl? Couldn't you have..." Patil answered, his voice having its fair share of anger too.
"Tony was supposed to come at 8! I fixed everything...oh Madhu...Kaka how could you let her leave?" Rishabh rambled, absolutely hysterical as he walked around the room. The wardrobe was open. All of Madhu's clothes were there. She wasn't packing these ones, he remembered. His eyes shot to where her duffel bag containing her things was lying yesterday, but there was only emptiness. The sari...the sari wasn't there in the wardrobe...he thought as a flash of Madhu from the previous night appeared in front of his eyes.
"What was I supposed to do?" Patil kaka meanwhile continued "I thought you had come around. I thought you had understood she was a good girl and you knew how she was forced into prostitution against her will. I was so happy when I saw how she has helped you come out of your pain. But when she said that you had decided to send her back...that you didn't care anymore...what was I supposed to do? I didn't think you could be so heartless Rishabh. Couldn't you have just set her free, if you didn't want her yourself?"
"I want her. I want her. I can't live without her kaka! I did not want to let her go. I was trapped...Dipali..the cases...but I fixed it. I fixed everything. I brought the money. Tony was supposed to come at 8, how did he come early? Why didn't you call me?" Rishabh screamed, now tears flowing through his eyes. His feet led him to Madhu's desk. There were no books, but he saw something he recognised. A butterfly shaped pendant. He picked it up. He remembered making her wear it after he got it repaired. He remembered the sparkle - the mix of unrestrained joy and pain he had seen in her eyes.
He knew what it meant. Madhu hadn't left her pendant...she had left a piece of herself behind! She had left Madhu behind as she became Mitasha. For good?
"They couldn't have gone far. I will go after them. I will not let anything happen to her. I will bring her back right now." Rishabh muttered as he fisted the pendant in his hand and ran towards the door, but Patil stopped him.
"She left in the morning, Rishabh. She left at 10 AM. She said she had called the man earlier because she wanted to leave while you weren't at home. She said...she said...it would be easier for you this way. She said you wouldn't be able to see her go." Patil choked with pain and regret, stunned at seeing RK's condition and the import of the events of the day. He had been angry at Rishabh all day for being so callous and inconsiderate of Madhu's feelings.Why did he have to send her back to that dark world - this was cruel! But now, he realized it had been a big blunder. Oh if only he hadn't listened to Madhu...
"Morning? But I called you at 12. You told me she was sleeping." RK asked.
"She...she..."
"She told you to lie." Rishabh's voice broke as he realized what Madhu had done. He knew Madhu knew from the previous night that he didn't want her to go. In fact, he was counting on that knowledge. He was relying on her to have enough faith in him that he wouldn't really let her go, or at least he would try everything in his power. He had hoped and believed all day that the previous night had given Madhu enough faith and conviction to wait for Rishabh, at least until the last possible moment. But it was all wrong! She had left, instead, not wanting to make the moment of separation hard on him. She had accepted a fate that she totally didn't deserve. A wave of panic and regret swept RK. Madhu had been with Tony all day.
10 hours! Had he already sold her to someone else?
"Damn it, why didn't I wake her up and tell her that I was going to be back before I left this morning? I should have...shit...Madhu!" he cursed aloud as rapid images of what could be happening to Madhu choked his brain.
"I need to get her back. I am going to Tony's" he muttered as he shoved those horrifying images away. He leapt towards the door, but stumbled a bit as the pain in his leg intensified.
"Go, but just wait two minutes." Patil kaka held his arm. "You are bleeding too much. Let me at least bandage it."
"Kaka..."
"Just two minutes. If you lose too much blood, you would faint. Then you go and bring back Madhu, ok." Patil forced him to sit.
"I need my Madhu, kaka. I need my Madhu. I need her to be safe."
"Why Madhu...why didn't you wait for me..." his heart pled in despair, but apparently it wasn't enough for his destiny to be kind to him. He had tried everything, won against all odds, and yet...he had lost everything.
Was there ever going to be an end to Rishabh's plight? Was Madhu going to be lost in darkness forever, or would he be able to save her?
Destiny, thou playeth too unfair.
*Second update in two days because...umm for one, I didn't feel like prolonging the suspense too much, and second, most of you anticipated this chapter anyway.
Sorry, it couldn't have been another way. All of you told her to leave!
But hold on, if you can?🤓
-Tk*
Edited by teekay - 10 years ago
Kumkum Bhagya
Anupamaa
