Maya watched Vikram leave and smirked. Let him take her revenge. When the time was right, he would die. No one – absolutely no one – could think about touching her Rudra and get away with it. Rudra could hate her, and she deserved it, but he was her love and she wouldn’t let anything happen to her love.
*****
The same evening
As Vikram made dinner, he said, “My first target will be that Jogi. You called him brother and he tried to kill you. He deserves to die for that, sweetie.”
Maya gave a noncommittal nod. Vikram came around, held Maya’s hands and apologized, “Please don’t be angry at me. You know I love you. I would never hurt you. I didn’t kill Mummyji. You saw that right? You know I didn’t do it.”
Maya grimaced, but forced herself to make a loving face. She pulled her hands out of his and covered them, “Of course. But baby if you love me, then please let me do her last rites. Don’t rob me of this. Rajeev and her both deserve a proper see-off.”
Vikram had told Maya about Rajeev after she had told him about her revenge. She had lost both her brother and mother in one day, but she was going to keep her anger at bay until her revenge was over. Once Vikram had done all he could for her, she would then kill him. And this was one death she wouldn’t even regret for a second.
Vikram replied, “Okay. After their last rites, then Jogi’s family will conduct his last rites.”
Maya nodded. She hadn’t wanted to kill anyone, but she was already a murderer for having led Rishi to kill himself. After that what was the death of a true culprit?
*****
The next morning
As Maya set fire to the pyres of Nandini and Rajeev, her eyes teared over. 10 years ago, she had been the reason for her father and brother, Manas, dying. And today, she was again the reason for her mother and brother, Rajeev, dying.
As she remembered her father and Manas, the tears began to fall harder. 10 years ago, the affair, MJ, the baby, her murder. She couldn’t forget any of it.
She flinched as Vikram touched her shoulder. She said, “Vikram please leave me alone for a little while. I want to sit here with them.”
Vikram responded, “We’ll both sit here. You need my support sweetie. I can’t leave you alone right now. Here. Sit down.”
Vikram guided Maya to a small rock and forced her to sit down. He sat down beside her and took her hand in his. When she didn’t pull her hand out, he put his arm around her shoulders to comfort her. She cringed inwardly, but let it go as her mind was still on her father and Manas. She hadn’t remembered them in a long time. But today she was remembering the rest of what had happened. The truth of what had happened.
*****
10 years ago
Manvi returned home, with her stuff. MJ had fired her. She couldn’t believe it. She had thought he had been lying or joking up until now. But now she realized he was telling the truth. He didn’t care about her or their to-be baby. He cared only about himself.
She put her stuff down on her bed and ran out of the house before anyone could ask her anything. But Manas had seen her. He came running after her, “Manvi wait! Manvi wait! What happened?”
“Leave me alone Manas!” Manvi yelled out.
But Manas caught up to her and stopped her. He asked, “What happened? Why did they fire you?”
Manvi looked at Manas with tears forming in her eyes. She wanted to tell him the truth. She wanted to tell him everything. About MJ, about their so-called love, about her affair with him, about their child, about his threats, everything. She wanted to share her problems with someone.
And then, before she could stop herself, she spilled out the truth. She told Manas about MJ’s threats and attempts to kill the baby. She told him about confronting MJ and then finding out that she had been fired. As she spoke, Manas’s expression changed from flabbergasted to disgusted to shocked to anger. She hugged Manas and broke down, “I’m scared bhai. I’m scared.”
Manas hugged Manvi and consoled her, “Nothing will happen to you Manvi. Nothing. Mrityunjay Roy can’t get away with this. He will have to do right by you.”
That made Manvi cry more. She finally had someone’s support. Once Manvi had stopped crying, Manas said, “Go back home. Don’t tell Papa or Mummy anything yet. I’ll be back soon.”
“No wait! Where are you going?” Manvi asked, grabbing Manas’s arm.
“To talk to MJ,” Manas said, with a set face.
“No don’t go! He’ll hurt you. Please don’t go!”
Manas loosened Manvi’s grip on his arm and reassured her, “Don’t worry. He won’t be able to do anything to me. He’s going to pay for what he did to you, little sister. No one hurts you and gets away with it. I’ll be back soon. No go home.”
With that Manas disappeared into the light fog that had settled over the city that evening.
*****
Present
Maya wiped her tears. A few hours later, Aamir, Sudhir, and Jogi had come for her. They had shown her Manas’s phone to scare her when the gun hadn’t been enough. She had known. She had known that exact moment what MJ was capable of, but she had still gone with the 3 with the hopes that Manas was fine. But he hadn’t been fine. He had been shot through the head.
A little while later, his body had been thrown off the same cliff that she had been thrown off, except he had disappeared into the small lake that had been a few feet from her. His body was probably still in that lake. She could never make herself go back to that site for Manas’s body.
She was jerked out of her thoughts when Vikram pulled on her arm. She looked at him questioningly. He said, “It’s time to go. If you stay out any longer, someone might see you and the news could travel back to MJ. You need to stay hidden. Let’s go.”
Maya reluctantly stood up, looking at the burning pyres once again. She said, “I want their ashes brought home. I will not complete the rites until my revenge is complete.”
Vikram nodded, not realizing Maya also meant his death in that revenge.
*****
A few days later
Rudra watched MJ and Sudhir chatting and laughing. Over the past few days, he had noticed that the two had begun to get along again. Had Sudhir forgiven Rudra for hurting Ananya since Maya had disappeared? Ananya was still angry at him.
Rudra came downstairs to hear MJ say, “Sudhir, you need to bring Ananya here. She’ll feel better.”
Sudhir refused, “No MJ. I might have forgotten everything, but Ananya refuses to have anything to do with Rudra. She says Rudra broke her heart. It isn’t so easy to forget everything.” He saw Rudra and added, pretending not to notice him, “But I think she’s wrong. Rudra had always loved Maya. He was just getting married to Ananya because he hadn’t realized it. Of course, Maya was the wrong girl for him, but when our heart wants something, it’ll do anything to get it. In that manner, he’s gone after you, MJ.”
MJ understood the sly dig that Sudhir had taken at him, but he didn’t rise to the bait, instead responding, “Ah but that is true of all of us. You more than me Sudhir. You always got what you wanted. And managed not to let anyone find out about it either. Whenever I wanted something, I got it, but everyone found out about it as well.”
Rudra, who hadn’t understood what was going on, asked, “Uncle is there nothing I can do to make it up to Ananya? I want her to forgive me. I never meant to hurt her. It just happened.”
Sudhir stood up and put a reassuring hand on Rudra’s shoulder, “Don’t worry beta. Once she gets over her anger, she’ll understand that you never meant any of it. Just give her some time.” To MJ, he said, “Acha MJ I’ll take your leave. Let’s meet tomorrow at the club. It’s been a long time since we last played pool.”
“That’s because you always lose. I thought you would finally have given it up,” MJ chuckled.
“No. I’ve just gotten better. I won’t be so easy to beat this time,” Sudhir replied.
“Alright, then I’ll see you tomorrow,”MJ agreed. Once Sudhir had left, MJ stood up and asked Rudra, “Are you okay?”
“Yes, why?”
“Aamir said that you had left the house early.”
“Oh, I had woken up, so I left early. But then I remembered that today is a Sunday, so I came back.”
But MJ saw through the lie. Of course, Aamir had also put a GPS on Rudra’s car, but Rudra didn’t need to know that. He stated, “You went to Maya’s building again.”
It was only a statement, but Rudra responded, “I just can’t believe that she would disappear like that. Either she is dead, which means her body should have been found, or she cheated death and is now playing with my feelings by remaining hidden.”
“Beta I went to her building. She isn’t there. Someone else lives in her flat now. She isn’t there. Going back again and again is not going to make her reappear,” MJ said, calmly.
“Dad she has to be somewhere. She has to come back. She just has to.”
“When she comes back, then we can deal with her. For now, forget about her and try to concentrate on Antara. She needs you more than ever now. Maya played a very cruel game with her.”
“No that was fate. Mom lost control of herself,” Rudra said.
MJ had been ready for this. He said,“No Rudra. After I found out about Rishi, I dug deeper into what happened with Antara. Antara herself told me that Maya had convinced her to stand up and become the opposite to what she is to get my attention. And Aamir found those men that Antara had been seen with. They told me that Maya had paid them to take those photos and send them to news channels. It was all Maya. I don’t know why she did that, but it was all her.” He paused and smirked inwardly as Rudra’s face filled with fury. Then he continued, “But don’t get angry at her right now. You can deal with Maya when we find her. For now, go and be with Antara. She needs us more than ever. Especially you.”
Rudra responded, “I’m going to Mom for now, but Maya is mine. She hurt my family and used me. You aren’t going to do anything to her Dad. I will.”
“Okay. When the time comes, you’ll be the one to take revenge,” MJ conceded.
*****
The same day
After tracking Jogi for a few days, Vikram was now ready to deal with Maya’s first culprit. He watched Jogi drop MJ at the front door of his work building and then pull out. As was his routine, Jogi then drove the car back to the Roy mansion from where he took his bike and drove to the local market.
Maya, who was watching from the comfort of her home and was connected with Vikram via Bluetooth, said, “Are you sure you can pull him away?”
“Don’t worry sweetie. I’ve paid a boy to deliver a message to Jogi. Jogi will read that message and go running to the location stated in it. Just watch,” Vikram said, confidentally.
The two watched as a young boy walked up to Jogi, handed him a paper, and then disappeared. Jogi read the paper,looked around for the boy, and then immediately ran to his bike, leaving his purchases behind. Vikram pulled out after Jogi as Maya asked, “What exactly did you send him?”
“I’m back bhaiyya. Come to the Bridge Hotel in the next 30 minutes. Manvi,” Vikram responded.
“You thought this would work?”
“Jogi is a low level employee. He knows his position. MJ will do anything to save Rudra. He will even put on an act to save Aamir and Sudhir. But Jogi is nothing to him. And plus there was no threat in the note. Manvi is simply calling him to the location.”
Maya was impressed. She had thought Vikram was just a psycho, but he had brains. She regretted not trusting him earlier. Maybe he would have been able to help her. But she hadn’t been ready to trust anyone, especially because she had woken up in a strange house with an unknown man sitting beside her.
She brushed the feeling aside and concentrated on what was happening onscreen. Vikram and Jogi had arrived at Bridge Hotel. It was quiet. The hotel was abandoned and falling apart.
Jogi watched as Vikram walked to him. He demanded, “Are you the one who called me here pretending to be Manvi? What do you want?”
“Are you stupid? Why would someone call you here and why would you come running? Come on. Use your brain. Why? Or did your master not teach you to use your brain?” Vikram mocked.
Then Vikram revealed his gun. Jogi stepped back instinctively. Vikram noticed and chuckled, “Yes, yes. Absolutely. Stepping back will save you. It’ll protect you from the bullet. Go ahead. Try running as well.”
“Why do you want to kill me?” Jogi asked, swallowing, and realizing there was no use. He had been stupid to come running here. He should have ignored the note, but he had thought that he might be able to capture Manvi and present her to MJ and Rudra. Then he would have become more important in their eyes.
“Manvi sends her regards and reminds her so-called brother that it was his duty to protect her, not throw her to the wolves and especially not to kill her child,” Vikram responded. Then, without waiting, he shot Jogi through the head.
Maya watched Jogi fall back, dead. She hadn’t wanted to kill anyone, but Jogi deserved this. So did a few others and she was going to let Vikram take revenge on her behalf from them. Then she would destroy Vikram just before he got to MJ. MJ was hers and hers alone. No one else had any right to destroy MJ. Vikram would die once Sudhir and Aamir were taken out.
Vikram was speaking to her, “Sweetie are you there?”
“Yes sorry. I was just remembering what Jogi had done to me,” Maya said, with fake sadness.
“Well one more person is gone from your list. Next will be Sudhir. Don’t worry. You will get your revenge soon.”
“Yes. Thank you Vikram.”
“Don’t say thank you Maya. It makes me sound like a stranger and I’m not a stranger. I’m yours. Your husband. Your first love,” Vikram reminded Maya, getting into his car.
Vikram was not her first love and never would be, but she forced herself to agree, “Of course.”
*****
That evening
MJ watched Jogi’s body being loaded onto a gurney and being taken away. Aamir said, “Police are saying that it looks like a drug deal went wrong. They’ve found money drenched in blood inside Jogi’s upper pocket and there are drug traces on the ground like a bag was ripped in a fight. This hotel is also known to the police for various illegal activities.”
Vikram had left the evidence to ensure that Jogi’s murder was chalked up to another gang related matter and investigated as such.
MJ knew better though. He shook his head, “No Aamir. This is Maya’s work. She is still out there taking revenge. Jogi had also tried to kill her. Now she killed him.”
“But MJ the evidence,” Aamir objected.
“It’s planted. She did exactly what I would have done if I wanted a murder to go cold. She chose this location. She called Jogi here on some fake pretense. She killed him and then planted the evidence. Find her Aamir. Find her.”
Then with a last look at Jogi’s body, MJ got into the car. Aamir also got in and drove away from the site.
*****
The next day
Maya shook her head, “No Vikram. Killing everyone is not enough for my revenge. I want them to suffer like I did. You cannot kill Sudhir. Destroy him. Ruin his business. Take away everything he loves. Leave him alone. That will be true revenge.”
“Whatever you want baby,” Vikram assured. “Anything for my Mrs.” He cupped her face in his hands and asked, “Do you trust me?”
“I do,” Maya said. “Do you?”
“I do. I trust you more than I trust my life.”
Maya scoffed internally at the filmy line. But she continued, “Then please do this my way. Sudhir doesn’t know you. He doesn’t know you are with me. You can get into his life easily. Enter his life as a potential business deal and ruin him. Ruin him like he ruined me.”
“Okay. Just for you. I’ll do it this way. But after he’s ruined, can I kill him? I won’t be happy until everyone who has hurt you is dead.”
“No Vikram. Please. Be happy in my happiness. Isn’t that what love is about?” Maya refused. She didn’t want Sudhir to die. Her revenge would be seeing him suffer everyday like she had suffered. Her revenge would be seeing everyone leave him alone, even his daughter.
“It is. If ruining him completely makes you happy, then it’ll make me happy. I won’t kill him.”
*****
The same day
Rudra tripped over the chair leg. As he grabbed the table to break his fall, two files fell to the ground. He picked them up and then started gathering the papers. He stopped though, as his eyes fell on the name. Maya Jaisingh. It was the story that Maya had written and was ready for publishing. After she had disappeared, the story hadn’t been published, put on hold by Ananya.
He ran his finger over the name. Maya Jaisingh. He recalled the tender moments between them. Then his mind filled with Rishi’s message. He threw the papers in the air angrily. It had all been a lie! Maya had done nothing more than use Rishi and then him! And the sad part was that Rishi never found out. Until death he kept believing that Maya was his true love.
Ananya, who had been walking by, saw Rudra throw the papers in the air angrily. She paused and then turned away but couldn’t make herself leave. Instead, she pushed open the door to Rudra’s office and asked, “Rudra, are you okay?”
Rudra looked up at Ananya. He replied, “How can I be okay when my best friend is angry at me and the person I loved turned out to be fake? She used me Anu. She used Rishi. She even used Mom. And I don’t get why!” Rudra stood up and slammed his palm on the table, “WHY?!! What have we done to her? Why did she do this? Why did she kill Rishi? Why did she make a joke out my love? Why did she hurt Mom? Why Anu?”
Antara said, “Rudra I had tried to warn you that Maya wasn’t right. But you didn’t listen. Now you’re trying to make sense of something that doesn’t have any reasoning. Maya was mental. She was crazy. And I’m glad she’s gone.” Then Antara saw the papers on the ground and realized what they were. She added, “We need to decide what to do with this story. We already announced it and marketed it. What are we going to do now? Publish it or pull it? And if we pull it, what are we going to say?”
Rudra pulled himself together and looked at the papers. He said, “If we pull it, then that’ll be a lot of bad publicity and this story brought us several new authors. But I can’t bring myself to say publish it. How can I publish it when it’s by her?”
“Rudra you need to separate personal and professional. This is important for our business. It is important for Ruan Publications. Publish it. You can deal with Maya and your problems with her some other way. Don’t hurt our business.”
Rudra looked at Ananya and said, “You’ve changed a lot. I don’t even recognize my Anu anymore. I’m sorry. This happened because of me.”
“Leave it Rudra. Whatever happened has happened. You can’t change it,” Ananya responded. Then she bent and picked up the strewn papers. She added, “I’ll put these together and send it to the printing press. Then we can announce the launch. Let Uncle know. He’s our new investor and he needs to be there for the book launch.”
With that Ananya left Rudra’s office. Rudra pulled out a chair and sat down. He was still in a quandary. He wanted to know why. It wouldn’t make a difference, but still there had to be a reason behind why Maya had played with Rishi and then with him. There had to be a reason behind why she had killed Rishi and hurt his mother. There was always a reason for everything. There had to be one here as well.
*****
A week later
Vikram did have to hand it to Maya. Her plan had been brilliant. In just a week, Sudhir had signed on Vikram’s business, V&M Garments, as a 30% supplier to his clothing business. Now Vikram’s business was sending 30% of the supplies needed to make the uniforms that Sudhir’s clothing business made. And today Sudhir was taking Vikram out to lunch.
Of course, there was no such business as V&M Garments, and neither was anything being sent. But Sudhir didn’t know that. As far as he was aware, based on the background check that the 2-month-old supply manager had done, V&M Garments was a well-known name in northern India and was now looking to spread its business to other parts of India. As far as Sudhir was aware, V&M Garments had sent its first shipment of materials. As far as Sudhir was aware. It was a big problem when most people in a business relied on what someone else said and what some document said. But for Vikram it was a good thing.
Vikram also knew though, that he was just replacing Rajeev. The work that Rajeev was going to do to take revenge was now being done by him. That’s why there had already been a supply manager in place to approve Vikram’s fake company. That’s why it had been easy to hand Vikram all the details on a company that did not exist. That’s why all the work on Sudhir’s weaknesses was already completed. That’s why this lunch meeting was so quickly set up. Rajeev had done all the groundwork. He had prepared for this plan for several months and because he was dead, Vikram was taking his place. Not that Vikram minded. It would prove to Maya that he loved her more than anyone could. For that simple reason he would do anything.
Vikram looked up as Sudhir made his way to their table. Vikram stood up when Sudhir had drawn closer and held out a hand. Sudhir shook hands with him and then the two sat down. Sudhir said, warmly, “It is so nice to meet you Mr. Vikram Makrand.”
Vikram paused and then recalling that this was fake name, he responded in kind, “It is so nice to meet you as well, Mr. Sudhir Dutt.”
“I must say when I first found out that I was having a shortage in clothing material, I had planned to go to our current suppliers for more material. If Sushil hadn’t suggested adding another supplier, we would never have added you as a supplier.”
“Well I must thank Sushil then. I hadn’t expected that I would get a chance to work with someone as big as you in my debut in Mumbai.”
After talking business for a few more minutes, Sudhir turned the conversation to more personal discussions. He was pleasantly surprised to discover that Vikram was knowledgeable about horse race betting. Sudhir said, enthusiastically, “We must go to the next horse race together.”
“I feel that we should go directly to the source instead.”
“Meaning?”
“A horse stable, of course. To see the racing horses ourselves.”
Rajeev had befriended a horse racer and stable owner and had introduced Maya to him. Through Maya, Vikram had been introduced to the stable owner and had been given an open invitation to visit the stable whenever.
“You know a stable owner? I’ve been trying to befriend them for the longest time, but without any success,” Sudhir said, incredulously.
“Oh yes. I was introduced to a stable owner not too long ago. And he gave me an open invitation to see his stable and horses at any time. Even if he isn’t there. I seem to have that impact on people. They immediately warm up to me.”
“Well I don’t doubt that even for a minute. I’m in.”
Maya, who had been listening to the entire conversation, smirked. Sudhir had taken the bait hook, line, and sinker. She turned to tell Rajeev the next step. Her heart sank when she realized her folly. She hadn’t thought she would have let someone into her life so soon again, but Rajeev had become important to her without her even realizing it. She promised herself that Vikram would pay for Rajeev’s death soon.
Then she picked up the phone and called the stable owner, Frankie. Rajeev hadn’t just befriended Frankie. He had saved Frankie from ruin. Now Frankie owed them a favour. And that favour would be the downfall of Sudhir.
*****
That evening
Ananya yelled, “Dad you know how I feel about your betting on horses! Stop it already! You’ve lost enough money on horses! Now you want to bet on another horse and that too based on what a man you just met is telling you! How can you trust that Vikram so quickly?”
“Ananya stop yelling. I’m your father. And I told you. What I do with my money is my business. You have your own business, your own life, and your own money. Concentrate on that,” Sudhir said, calmly, though his voice was icy cold.
“Dad you’re going to put over 30 lakhs on a horse because somebody told you that the horse will win you money. If the horse loses, you’ll be out 30 lakhs. What will you do then?”
“What’s 30 lakhs to me?”
Then Sudhir walked away, closing the conversation once and for all. Ananya fumed. She couldn’t believe that her father could be so careless to believe someone after just one meeting. She had done that. She had believed Maya after just one meeting and then look what had come of that.
*****
2 days later
Vikram looked around again for Sudhir. He couldn’t believe that Sudhir would bail on him like this at the last moment. This was very irresponsible of him and Vikram was sure to make it known.
Then, as if on cue, Sudhir appeared. He came up the stairs and apologized, “Sorry I got held up in traffic. Is the betting over?”
“No, it’s just started. Quickly. Come and place your bet. Thunderbolt is a hot favourite today. You could make up to 10 times your money.”
“Actually, I’ve been thinking. I don’t think I want to put all my money on Thunderbolt,” Sudhir said, hesitantly. He knew that Ananya was right, but he just hadn’t wanted to tell her.
Vikram said, understandingly, “Of course. You don’t know me well enough yet. You aren’t sure if you can trust me or not.”
“I don’t mean to hurt your feelings and I hope this doesn’t affect our business,” Sudhir said, quickly.
“No, of course not. I understand completely. When you accepted immediately, I was worried that I might have been doing business with the wrong person. But now I’m safe. You might make rash decisions, but you do think about them before the actual action has to happen. Good to know. I would still suggest put at least a third of your money on Thunderbolt. And then put the rest on whichever horse you want.”
Maya chuckled and then turned to the jockeys. She held up a big bundle of money and said, “You all can earn this today. Lose to Thunderbolt. And this plus everything I make is yours.”
She had been ready. She had known that Sudhir could do only one of two moves: either put all his money on Thunderbolt or put only some of his money on Thunderbolt. Now she just had to make Thunderbolt win so that Sudhir would trust Vikram completely.
The jockeys each took the money from Maya and then got on their horses. As decided, they each fell back slowly until Thunderbolt won by a narrow margin, beating out Sudhir’s other choice, High Noon.
Maya didn’t wait after that, quickly leaving the stadium. But as she left, she knocked into Ananya who had been running in. Fortunately, Maya was covering her face with a scarf and Ananya only saw the eyes. Maya apologized, “Sorry,” and then quickly ran out to her car.
Ananya stopped, though. She watched Maya get into her car and drive off. She said, inquisitively, “Maya? But she is missing. It can’t be her. Why would she be here? No, it had to be someone else. But those eyes. Why would Maya have come here? No, it wasn’t her. If she is in Mumbai still, she wouldn’t waste her time at a stadium. It was probably someone else.”
Ananya turned back to the stadium. But when she found out that Sudhir won, Ananya’s doubts renewed. Sudhir rarely won on horses and today, based on one person’s supposed theory, Sudhir had won so much money. That was too good to be true. Someone was manipulating the game and Sudhir. Her mind wandered back to the woman she had collided into. It had to be Maya. There was no one else who could do something like that.
She looked at Sudhir, who was still excited about his big win. It made no sense to tell him. He would just tell MJ and then MJ would again question her and dismiss her like he had earlier when she had brought the sketch to his attention. He had accepted Maya as his daughter-in-law after a few problematic days. No, it was no use telling him. But Rudra hated Maya. And he was searching for Maya. This would be important information for him. She would tell him about her suspicions.
*****
The next morning
Rudra repeated what Ananya had told him. “Yesterday uncle went to a racecourse. He bet on a horse based on what a new supplier of his told him. That horse won, which is rare for uncle because he does not win often. You were going in to tell him to stop and you collided into a woman wearing a scarf. Based on her eyes, you think she could be Maya. And also based on uncle winning, you think she could be Maya. Right?”
“Yes. Look Rudra I know it sounds like a stretch but—”
“No Anu. I trust you and your instinct. If you think it’s Maya, then it could be her. But why would she go after uncle? What’s her motive exactly?”
“I don’t know Rudra. I don’t know. Maybe she’s angry because I tried to separate the two of you earlier. She might be taking revenge against me through Dad. But it has to be her,” Ananya said, agitated.
Rudra put a calming hand on Ananya’s shoulder. “Relax Anu. I won’t let her do anything to you or uncle. I will not let Maya hurt you.”
He helped Ananya sit down and then sat down beside her. He said, “Calm down. I need my smart Anu right now. We need to think about what Maya is planning and stop her before she can do anything.”
Ananya nodded, took a deep breath, and said, “She is using someone to make Dad win money. Could this new supplier, Vikram, be involved in this?”
“That would mean that she has superpowers. Because uncle’s company could have selected anyone to be a new supplier. How would she have known that this Vikram would have selected? But she could have paid someone to make this horse win. Did uncle only bet on that one horse?”
“No. He told me afterwards that he had bet 10 lakhs on Thunderbolt and 20 on High Noon. High Noon is his favourite, but he wins one in 5 races. Dad won 50 lakhs on Thunderbolt but lost the 20 on High Noon.”
“So, he didn’t actually make any money then. But if he had put all his money on Thunderbolt then he could have gotten back 150 lakhs or 1.5 crore,” Rudra’s eyebrows shot up as he said that number. “What would Maya gain from making him win that amount?”
Both fell silent, thinking about that question. Then Ananya remembered the announcement she had heard as she and Sudhir had been leaving the stadium. “There’s another race, a race for a few select members only in a week. Dad will surely go to that if he is one of the members. And given he won on Thunderbolt, he’ll put all his money on Thunderbolt. He was saying it himself. This is the first time he’s won so big. On High Noon at most he gets his money doubled. He was planning on even borrowing some money from the bank.”
“If Maya can pay someone to make Thunderbolt win, then she can pay someone to make Thunderbolt lose. And if uncle borrows money from the bank and loses that, then he’ll have a big debt to pay. But even then, it’s not like he’ll put his entire fortune on this horse.”
“He might not. But what if he does?”
“That’s a big if Anu. Uncle is not that stupid or desperate. He might end up in debt, but he won’t go bankrupt. Is it possible the horses have nothing to do with this at all?”
“But then what else could it be? Maya was at that stadium and Dad won on a horse. There has to be a connection between the two.”
“No. Maya was at the stadium. She could have been there to meet someone to plan something else. Uncle winning could just be a coincidence.”
“Rudra you’re doubting me!”
“No, I’m not. I believe you. Maya was there. But it is possible that she wasn’t there for the race, but to meet someone. Maybe uncle’s win was nothing more than a coincidence and she’s planning something else. It most likely has to do with you and uncle because Dad or I have never gone to that racecourse, so why would she be planning something there for us? But maybe her plan has nothing to do with the horses and the betting. It could be something else completely.”
“What though?”
“That’s what we need to uncover. Anu keep an eye on uncle. If anything seems out of the ordinary, tell me. In the meantime, I’m going to talk to Aamir uncle. I know Dad. He must have told Aamir uncle to find Maya and I want to find out what he knows.”
*****
That afternoon
Vikram looked through the documents dubiously. “Are you sure this will work?”
“You helped him money. He would have won more if he had listened to you. He’ll trust you. Just do it a good time,” Maya reassured Vikram. “Trust me.”
“I trust you. You don’t need to say that. It’s just that I doubt the efficacy of these documents.”
“They’re legal documents. There’s nothing to doubt in them. He just needs to sign them, without reading them. He is coming to that race, right?”
“Of course he is. He said he would never miss it. But he isn’t sure if he would count in that special membership. He asked me if I could get him in somehow.”
“Well this will get him in then. Convince him Vikram. You’re good at that. You can talk people into anything. You taught me that. Talk him into signing these papers then.”
Vikram nodded, “Okay. I’ll do that.”
*****
The next day
Maya pulled out behind Aamir. She had to put on a disguise for this part of her plan. If Rajeev had still been around, he would have done this or found someone to do this, but now she wouldn’t rely on anyone else. She couldn’t let anyone into her life. Not after what had happened.
Vikram’s last task would be to kill Aamir. Here she was 100% certain. Aamir had to die. To give MJ the biggest wound possible, Aamir had to die. But she didn’t want him to die without knowing. She was going to be there when Vikram pulled the trigger. She would show herself at the last moment. Aamir had to know why he was dying.
She stopped a few cars back as Aamir pulled into a decrepit building. She waited and watched him return. She didn’t even need to see it to know that Aamir had gotten a gun. The bulge in his pocket was visible from even this distance.
She pulled out again after he had pulled out.
*****
The same day
Aamir handed MJ the gun. MJ looked it and threw it on the table in frustration, “Aamir I don’t need a gun. I need to know where Maya is. It’s been over 10 days since Jogi’s body was found and what have we done? Nothing. That woman is out there and we’re sitting around doing nothing. FIND HER!”
“MJ relax. I’ve got my best men on this. They will find her.”
“Don’t tell me to relax. And your best men still haven’t found her. She’s one girl. How hard can she be to find? Did you check her building again?”
“I’ve got two men keeping an eye on it all the time. If they even see a hint of her, they’ll let me know. But she hasn’t been seen yet. How can someone hide for 10 days and not come out even once.”
“Aamir do I have to remind you that we're talking about Maya? Not Manvi. Manvi was an ant. But Maya is deadly. She isn’t just a spider, she’s a Black Widow. Look at what she did to Rishi. And then she tried to kill Rudra. And she destroyed Antara. I don’t care for her, but any attack on my family is an attack on me. What did you find out about that Vikram Jaisingh?”
“He’s a doctor. He married 9 years ago and then disappeared. It appears he might have been abroad, maybe Australia, maybe Singapore. Wherever he was, he returned about 2 months ago and after staying in a hotel for a few weeks, he moved into that flat. He appears clean.”
“Clean? His name Aamir. His name is Vikram Jaisingh. Does that appear clean to you? He isn’t clean. No, he’s involved in this. Maya Jaisingh. Vikram Jaisingh. They’re in this together. Who did he marry?”
“The marriage register’s office can’t find the name. They just have a record for Vikram Jaisingh’s marital status. But the actual certificate and registration documents have gone missing.”
“Aamir, you’re still calling him clean after that?”
“MJ, their files go missing all the time. But I’ve already sent a man to Vikram’s old house to find out who he married. I’ll have the name and photos soon.”
Then, as if on cue, Aamir’s phone pinged. He looked at his phone and said, “The photos are here. This is the woman Vikram married.”
Aamir held up the phone to show MJ the photos. The photos weren’t of Maya, but someone else. Vikram had had the photos switched out with fakes after he had joined hands with Maya in her revenge. He would do anything to keep Maya safe. Even break into a government building and steal a file.
MJ looked unsatisfied. “Vikram is involved somehow. Find Maya. And bring Vikram to me. I’ll ask him in my own style.”
*****
The same day
After their lunch was served, Sudhir asked Vikram, “Vikram has the list been released?”
“Not yet. But I may be able to get you on that list,” Vikram lied. This was the moment to get Sudhir to sign the documents.
“How?”
“I have it in good faith from a board member that I am on that list already. And I was told that if I can get one more member to join the fundraising team, then I will be able to get my choice of name added to the list if that person isn’t on the list.”
“Then put in that fundraising team and you can get me added,” Sudhir said, eagerly.
“I can do that. I was going to meet my old friend, Jai, after lunch and get him to sign the documents that would add him to the fundraising team, but I can just get you to sign those documents instead. I’ll deal with fixing the name afterwards.”
“You would do that?”
“Of course, I would. You’re a good man Sudhir. And I’m liking working with you and your company. I can do this much for you.”
Vikram bent and pulled the documents out of his briefcase. He put them on the table, lined up the three signatory pages and turned them to Sudhir. He pointed them out, “Just sign here, here, and here. And initial and date here. I’ll handle the rest.”
Vikram waited with bated breath as Sudhir looked at Vikram, then at the papers, and then at the pen. If Sudhir asked to read the papers, then Vikram was finished. He could only hope for some miracle to save him. But Maya was sure this would work, and he trusted Maya. Sudhir picked up the pen, “What are these documents?”
“They are legal documents stipulating that you will be a fundraising team member, which means that from time to time you will have to attend charity events at the stadium and donate. It’s not a lot of events or donations. I’ve had to donate something like 10 lakhs over the past few months. You end up making more than that back on one race,” Vikram lied.
Sudhir nodded, “Makes sense.”
Then, without reading the papers, he signed and initialed as directed. Vikram quickly put the papers away before Sudhir could change his mind about reading them. He said, “Perfect. I’ll get these put in today and then have you added to the list if you aren’t already on it."
*****
The next morning
Maya flipped through the papers and then handed them over to the lawyer. She said, “These are the signed documents, witnessed by someone other than me. How soon can this change be registered?”
The lawyer looked through the documents and said, “Give me two days. The changes will be registered within 48 hours. I’ll also need your signature on these documents.”
The lawyer handed over a small pile of papers to Maya. Maya took them and after carefully reading through them, signed them under her name. It was almost time for her to come back in front of MJ. She scoffed at MJ’s stupidity. He had put two men to watch over her building, waiting for her to show her face. The idiots would sit there day and night, on 12-hour shifts, staring up at her flat. But they never saw her. How could they? She had seen them before they had seen her, and she had always been careful.
The lawyer checked the documents Maya had signed and nodded, “Okay this is all good. I’ll have these registered today and within 48 hours the changes should show. I’ll let you know as soon as they do.”
*****
The next afternoon
Aamir called out, “MJ!”
He was sounding excited, which was very rare for him. MJ, who was in the kitchen, came out and asked, “What Aamir?”
“MJ we might have found Maya.”
“Where?” MJ asked, immediately shedding the apron and rolling his sleeves down.
“Pune. I’m heading over there right now.”
“Aamir, if it’s her, bring her back to me in one piece. She’s my target now,” MJ said, coolly.
“No Dad. She’s my target. Uncle you will bring her back to me,” Rudra said, from behind Aamir.
Aamir looked at MJ, who gave a subtle nod. Aamir agreed, “Okay Rudra. I’ll bring her back for you. I’m going there now, and I’ll let you know what I find.”
Aamir nodded and left the house. MJ turned to Rudra, who said, “I knew you were looking for her Dad. You wouldn’t just let her go like that. She killed your son. But she hurt me more than you. I’m going to be her death, not you.”
“Like father, like son. Fine. But let me at least take out some of my anger on her. The final bullet will be yours. She killed my son and tried to hurt my other son,” MJ negotiated.
“But why Dad?”
MJ frowned, “Why what?”
“Why did she do that? What problem does she have with us that she killed Rishi, hurt Mom, and tried to kill you? How have we wronged her?”
MJ was surprised. It was the first time Rudra had asked that question. He had accepted everything MJ had said at face value to this point. And now he was questioning the motive. He couldn’t let Rudra find out. It would turn Rudra against him. Aamir would just have to kill Maya the moment he found her. MJ shrugged, “I don’t know. Maybe she was an employee in one of my companies. Maybe she was laid off or fired or was part of one of the companies that I’ve sold over these years. She could just have a problem with rich people. Maybe we passed her in the street and looked at her in the wrong way. I don’t know. I just knew that there was something wrong with her and then I found that video in Rishi’s room.”
“I can’t believe I was so stupid. You, Ananya, Mom, even Aamir uncle warned me or tried to. In your own way, you tried to save me, but I was so blinded by love, I just never understood,” Rudra said, regrettably.
“Don’t blame yourself Rudra. Love does that to us. And don’t worry. Once Maya is found and brought back, you can ask her yourself why she did this. Then we’ll both know what her reason was.”
Rudra nodded and then he went upstairs. As soon as he left, MJ called Aamir, “Aamir, kill her. The moment you find her, kill her.”
“But MJ, Rudra—”
“I’ll handle Rudra. If Maya comes back here, then Rudra will want to know why, and he cannot know why. Kill her and make it look like an accident. I’ll handle Rudra.”
Then he hung up. He looked upstairs to Rudra’s room and apologized under his breath, “Sorry Rudra. But I got you back with much difficulty. I can’t let Maya come between us again.”
*****
That evening
MJ screamed in anger. Maya had fooled him again. Aamir had just called. The woman they had found in Pune wasn’t Maya. She had been paid to rent a flat under the name Maya Jaisingh and live in it for a few days. Maya had known she was being tracked and had used that to her advantage. She would pay. The day she was found, she would pay. No one beat Mrityunjay Roy. No one.
MJ picked up the family portrait that Rudra had forced them to take after Maya had entered the family. He scowled at Maya, “Manvi Singh. How long will you keep getting away from me? The day I find you, you’re dead. You killed my son. You tried to separate my other son from you. You didn’t die 10 years ago. But you will die this time.”
*****
That same evening
Ananya watched Sudhir. She knew that something was up. There was something definitely up. Sudhir was in a happy mood since the phone call. He had been speaking to that Vikram again. She knew that Rudra didn’t think Vikram had anything to do with this, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that he was involved with all this. And he had just laid another trap for Sudhir.
Ananya stepped outside and called Rudra, who picked up on the third ring, “Hi Anu. What’s up?”
“Hi Rudra. Rudra, I’m concerned.”
“Concerned? About what?”
“Dad is all happy about something and it has to do with something Vikram said. I don’t know why I still feel that this Vikram is connected with everything in some way.”
“Tell me exactly what uncle said.”
“Well he asked if he was on the list. He must have gotten a confirmation because he thanked Vikram and said that he would see Vikram in 3 days at the race. Vikram managed to get Dad onto the list at that exclusive race. That was the extent of their conversation.” Rudra was silent. After a few moments, Ananya asked, “Rudra are you there?”
“I am Anu. I’m just trying to understand what Maya is doing. If Vikram is involved with her what is she planning? How will she hurt uncle? How much is uncle betting?”
“He said another 30 lakhs. He’s just going to use the money he won last time and put it on the same horse that Vikram puts it on.”
“30 lakhs is not much for uncle. What else could she do there?”
Ananya had an inane fear, “Rudra what if she’s planning to kill Dad?”
“Why would she kill uncle?”
“I don’t know. Why did she kill Rishi?”
“That’s what I want to know. Why. That question is bothering me. Everything has to have a reason, no matter how insane. But if you think that she is after uncle, then stop him from going.”
“He’ll never listen to me. The money is too tempting for him.”
“Let me talk to Dad. Dad could talk to uncle and stop him from going.”
“What if that doesn’t work?”
“Anu, Dad can convince anyone of anything.”
“Still Rudra. You should have a back-up plan in case that doesn’t work.”
“Then I’ll go to the stadium myself and stay with uncle the entire time. Let Maya try to attack him then. If her love for me wasn’t a lie, then she would never be able to hurt me.” There was some rustling on the line and then Rudra said, “Anu I’ll talk to you later. Mom needs me. Bye.”
*****
The next day
Maya and Vikram went over the plan again. Vikram nodded, “And you’re sure that the lawyer has completed all the formalities.”
“Yes. He called me and confirmed that the transfer has happened. In 2 days, you will hand me Sudhir’s defeat. Remember your part. Sudhir has to be fully and utterly destroyed.”
“Rudra will be there.”
“Let him be there. He’s there to protect Sudhir and it’s too late for that. In the meantime, I’ll deal with Aamir. MJ will get two gifts from me today.”
“No Maya. If you go after Aamir and he survives, then MJ will know where you are.”
“That’s exactly what I want Vikram. Don’t worry. After the game, come to the cliff. I’ll be there with or without Aamir.”
Vikram nodded. “Okay. But take care of yourself sweetie. I want my Maya back in one piece.”
“I’ll be fine. You taught me well,” Maya smiled.
*****
That afternoon
Aamir knocked on MJ’s door and then came in. MJ looked up and waited. Aamir said, “We have a lead on Maya.”
“Like the last one?” MJ said, sarcastically.
“No, this time she was actually seen by one of my men. He said that she was in Andheri West. She had been getting a gun.”
“A gun? Hmm. That could be her.”
“Yes, but he lost her.”
“WHAT? Where?”
“He was following her, and she crossed a rail track just as the training crossing light came down. By the time the train passed, and the light lifted, she was gone. He went back to the gun supplier who gave her number. It was for a throwaway cell phone, but we’re going to find out where it was sold from and see if she bought others.”
“Okay. This is the first good news in a few weeks. Find her quickly.”
*****
Two days later
Maya waited until Vikram had left and then she dressed. She hid the gun, looked at herself in the mirror, and smirked. Today, MJ was going to suffer two losses. And one was going to come at her hand.
She left the flat, this time with no disguise. She wanted to be seen. It was important for her plan. As expected, the man watching her house immediately called someone and got on his bike.
She then got into her car and began to drive. She looked in her rearview mirror and was pleased to see the man following her.
*****
The same time
Sudhir watched the race with anticipation. It was the last round. Thunderbolt had to win. He had put 30 lakhs on it. Meanwhile Vikram was watching Sudhir. Today Sudhir was going to lose. Not just the 30 lakhs, but everything. That had been Maya’s move. The papers that Sudhir had signed, had sold his entire business and house to Maya for the price of 2 rupees. Do kodi. Maya’s sense of humour was marvelous.
He was surprised that Rudra hadn’t questioned him. They had already met at Maya’s house and now he was just sitting there, calmly. But Vikram understood why. Rudra probably thought he was about to kill Sudhir and Rudra was here to protect Sudhir. But Rudra didn’t know that the plan was just destruction, not death. Sudhir had placed 30 lakhs on a horse that was going to lose and had given away his business and house. He was going to be a pauper in less than a minute.
Sudhir said, “Oh I can’t wait. This is going to be good. I’m going to win a lot of money. I can just feel it. Come on Thunderbolt!”
Vikram smirked, but agreed, “Of course you are.”
Then Vikram watched as the finish line neared. Thunderbolt and High Noon were neck-to-neck and then High Noon pulled ahead at the last second, winning the race. Sudhir stared at the result in disbelief. “No. How can that be?” He turned to Vikram and demanded, “Vikram you said that Thunderbolt could never lose! What is this?!!”
Vikram shrugged. “Thunderbolt is new here. The races I used to watch in Delhi, Thunderbolt always won. But High Noon is a Mumbai racehorse. I never saw him Delhi. And everyone has their bad days. Thunderbolt has his today.”
Rudra said, consolingly, “That’s okay uncle. It’s only one race. You’ll make the money back in no time. And maybe this is a sign that you should stop betting on horses. Dad has always told you that it’s a bad habit. You could lose everything within a minute.”
Underneath the table, Vikram sent a message to a man that Maya had hired. He was going to call Sudhir and drop the second bomb on him. Almost immediately, Sudhir’s phone rang. He picked it up, “Hello…WHAT?!!…Who are you and how do you know?!!…Hello!”
Rudra asked, concerned, “What happened?”
Sudhir looked at Rudra in shock. He managed to say, “I lost everything. My business and house. Gone. For 2 rupees. Maya destroyed me.”
“What? How do you know it’s Maya? What 2 rupees? What are you saying?”
Neither of them noticed as Vikram stood up and left the premises. His job was done. Now he had to go find Maya and save her from Aamir.
*****
The same time
Aamir screeched to a halt and got out of his car. He said, confidentally, “Well Manvi, we meet again.”
Maya turned her head in acknowledgement and replied, “Maya. Maya Jaisingh.”
“Yes. Maya. We knew you would surface eventually. You couldn’t stay hidden forever.”
Maya turned around to face Aamir. “But did I really surface accidentally, or did I do it on purpose to bring you here?”
“Even if you did it on purpose to bring me here, it doesn’t matter. You’re dead now.”
“Really Aamir. Are you sure I’m the one that’s going to die? Or is it your turn?”
With that Maya pulled out her gun and pointed it at Aamir. But Aamir was just as fast, drawing his gun and pointing it at Maya. “Maya, you’re losing your touch. There’s no more surprise in your plans.”
“Aamir how do you even know what my plans are? You’re here. You think that was my only plan?” Maya scoffed.
Both looked at the new car that arrived on site. It was Vikram. He came out with his gun drawn. It was pointed at Aamir. He reported, “Sudhir is finished Maya. And now it’s Aamir’s turn.”
Maya nodded at Vikram and said, “Yes that it is. And then only MJ will be left.”
“No. Then there will be MJ and Rudra left,” Vikram reminded.
“No Vikram. Only MJ is left. No one touches Rudra. No one but me,” Maya responded. Then she turned her attention back to Aamir, cocked the gun, and said, “Bye bye. Say hi to Jogi for me.”
*****
That evening
Ananya pushed Rudra to the door. “Go away Rudra. It’s over. I’m pulling out of Ruan Publications. Uncle said he’ll take me out. I’m taking Dad and leaving.”
“But Anu listen to me. We can fight and get everything back. Maya cheated and got everything. We can prove that in court and get everything back.”
“No Rudra. Dad will never be able to do that. Look at him. He’s been completely shocked into silence. He has no words left. He’s been sitting like that ever since you brought him back. I can’t put him through a court case, which he could just as easily lose. We’re leaving. I don’t know why Maya did this, but she ruined me and Dad for some reason. When you find out, maybe you can tell me, maybe I’ll answer your call. Maybe.”
“Anu if Dad can buy you out, then you can stay with us. He’ll help uncle come out of shock. Then we’ll work together to get back at Maya. Please Anu. I’ve already lost enough. I can’t lose my best friend now as well,” Rudra begged, as his voice broke.
But Ananya’s mind was made up. “We have 24 hours to leave. Uncle will give me the cash for my shares tomorrow morning. We’ll be gone after that. Bye Rudra.”
Then she pushed Rudra out and closed the door on his face. Rudra knocked on the door, “Anu please open the door.”
But there was no response from the other side. Rudra walked slowly back to his car, where MJ was waiting for him. MJ didn’t say anything. He simply put his arm around Rudra’s shoulder. Rudra sat there in shock, not responding to MJ’s comforting hand. As they neared their house, Rudra simply said, “She’s leaving and nothing I said will stop her.”
“I had tried as well. Ananya is not going to budge. She needs to leave from the city that took everything from Sudhir. And I don’t blame her. But she promised to remain in touch with me. The day Maya dies, we’ll tell Ananya. Then maybe Sudhir will come out of shock and Ananya will return.”
The two got out of the car as Rudra said, desolately, “I hope so. I’m losing everyone close to me.”
From behind them, “Oh but I’m back. You haven’t lost me.”
Rudra and MJ whirled around to see Maya standing there. She stepped forward and hugged Rudra, “Rudra.” Rudra didn’t return the hug, pushing her away. She seemed unfazed as she bent down and touched MJ’s feet, “Papa.” MJ also stepped back. She stood up and asked, “Oh is this how you welcome your daughter-in-law back? Tut tut. Fine. I’ll just let myself into the house.”
Rudra grabbed Maya’s arm, pulled her back, and demanded, “What are you doing here?”
“Rudra, you’re my husband. That means that I belong here. You can’t drive me out. Right Aamir?” Maya said, pulling out of Rudra’s grip.
Aamir came over and agreed, “Yes, of course.”
“Good, then I’ll see you all inside,” Maya nodded and walked into the house with her suitcase.
Rudra demanded, “Aamir uncle what is this? How could you bring her back as my wife?!!”
MJ also looked at Aamir questioningly. Aamir said, “I’m sorry. I had no choice. I found her and followed her, and I had her cornered. But then she showed some fake evidence against MJ. She has already given it to her lawyer and if anything happens to her the evidence will be given to the police.”
“What type of evidence?” MJ demanded.
“Vikram is dead. He was killed with your gun and the gun has your fingerprints on it. The police are investigating his death as we speak, but they don’t have the gun. She does. She also has one of those men who I had placed outside her house. He’s confessed, on video, that he was sent by you to watch her flat and tell you when Vikram left. It’s enough to get you arrested as a suspect,” Aamir replied. “I had no choice after that. Until I can’t get rid of the threats and prove that Vikram died by someone else’s hand, you’ll have to handle her.”
MJ stepped forward and said, in a low,angry voice, “No one can arrest Mrityunjay Roy. And not on such flimsy evidence. And who is this Vikram?”
“Vikram Jaisingh. The new owner of Maya’s flat,” Aamir replied.
“He’s dead? Start from the beginning Aamir,” MJ asked, confused.
“I had a man go to a building near Maya’s old one. Maya had rented a new flat there and this time I wanted someone else to check before I went. He confirmed that it was Maya and he followed Maya, while I also went there. Maya stopped at that same cliff. It was like she knew I was coming. She was waiting for me, with a gun. Then she was joined by this Vikram, who also pointed a gun at me. I thought I was gone, but then she turned and shot Vikram through the head.”
“Through the head?” MJ interrupted.
“Yes. Through the head.”
“I told you she murdered Jogi as well. That’s exactly how Jogi died. Continue.”
“Well after she shot Vikram, she turned to me and said that she should kill me, but she needs me to get back here. Then she showed me that evidence and said that it would be enough to tie down Mrityunjay Roy for a few days and not to underestimate her.”
“So now what? We must keep her in this house because Dad might go to jail? Can’t we do anything to stop her?” Rudra asked, incredulously.
“You need to get the evidence from her. Get that and then we can throw her out or kill her. Because she won’t have anything threaten us with,” Aamir responded. “I brought her back for that very reason. Here she’s all alone. Out there she had support.”
“Did she tell you what she did and why?” Rudra asked.
“She bragged about destroying Sudhir and killing Jogi, but she didn’t say why,” Aamir responded, exchanging a glance with MJ.
MJ gave a subtle nod. He had understood. Maya had done both because of what had happened to her. That meant only he and Aamir were left. He would deal with Maya now. Openly. Rudra was on his side and wouldn’t say anything. MJ said, “Don’t worry Rudra. We’ll find out why she did everything and deal with her. But let me deal with this in my way. She has hurt too many people around me.”
“Fine. But she doesn’t die. Not until she fixes who she wronged. She has to give the business and house back to Sudhir uncle. She has to destroy the fake evidence she has against you. She has to clear Mom’s name. She has to confess to the two murders in front of police. Then she will die,” Rudra bargained.
“She will. She’ll do all of this. Now go inside. Let me talk to Aamir about business,” MJ said.
Rudra looked between MJ and Aamir as if trying to be sure that they weren’t lying. Seemingly satisfied, he went inside. MJ turned to Aamir and demanded, “Now what’s the real truth?”
“That’s the truth MJ. Everything. The only part I left out was Maya promising that she was back to destroy you for good for what you did to her.”
“Aamir what’s the real deal with this Vikram Jaisingh?”
“He was that new supplier Vikram Makrand for Sudhir’s business. He was working with Maya to destroy Sudhir and they succeeded. Maya didn’t tell me anything else about Vikram, but I’ve sent a man to her old flat to find more details. Given their names, you were right. They were in on this together.”
MJ didn’t respond. Instead a smirk filled his face. He said, “Maya played a big game with me. Now it’s my turn. She will regret having returned for a third time in my life. She should have remained dead the second time around.”
Inside Rudra had gone into his bedroom to find Maya pulling her stuff out of the suitcase and setting it up. He said, “You can’t stay here. Get out.”
“Oh Rudra. I’m your wife. You can’t kick me out of your room,” Maya said, lovingly.
“No! You aren’t my wife! I never had a wife. You used me! You played with my feelings! You killed Rishi and then you came into my life! Get out!” Rudra yelled.
He grabbed Maya roughly by the arm and threw her out of his room. Then he threw her suitcase out and slammed the door in her face. Maya’s smile faltered a little, but then she calmly picked up her suitcase and moved into the next room over. She would win Rudra back and she would tell him the full truth. MJ had won him over by lying to him. But now he would know the full truth and make the decision himself.
*****
The next morning
Maya came downstairs. Rudra immediately stood up from the dining table and said, “Dad I’m going to Ananya’s house to talk to her. Now that we know what happened, she has to know that uncle’s business and house will be back soon.”
“No. Sudhir Dutt will never get anything back. Because it’s not under my name any longer. I’m not stupid. I wouldn’t have told Aamir what I did if I hadn’t done something else already. The business and house were transferred to my name. Sold to me for 2 rupees. Kehte hain naa. Do kodi ki aukaat. Right Papa? That’s what I did to Sudhir Dutt. But then I turned around and sold it to someone else. Sudhir Dutt will never get any of it back now. It’s gone,” Maya countered. Then she chuckled and looked at MJ.
Rudra looked at MJ as well, who said, “Go Rudra. I’ll deal with her.”
Rudra nodded and left. Then MJ got up, grabbed Maya by the neck, and pulled her in. He snarled, “I can do anything I want to you now. Rudra won’t stop me. You proved me right. You are worthless. That’s why you had to do all this. You weren’t getting my attention any other way, so you disappeared, attacked from behind, and are now back.”
Maya smirked, reached up, and twisted MJ’s hand off her neck. Then she grabbed his collar and asked, “You told Rudra only what I did. What if I tell him what you did?”
MJ smirked. He pulled Maya’s hand off his collar, fixed it, and then motioned to the door, “Please go after him and tell him everything. See what he says.”
Then MJ sat down and finished his breakfast calmly as Maya stared at him. As he stood up to leave, Maya said, “He might not believe me, but he will believe it when you say it.”
“And I’ll never say anything.”
“Are you sure?” Maya stood up and covered the distance to MJ. Standing only a few inches from his face, she reminded him, “I’m not Manvi Singh. You can’t fool me. And I’m not as easily defeated. You will tell Rudra the truth. And you won’t even realize it until he hears it all. That’s Maya’s promise to you.” Then she stepped back and said, brightly, “Have a good day at work, Papa.”
*****
That afternoon
Rudra looked up when his door opened. Seeing Maya, he scowled and said, “Get out.”
“That’s not how you talk to your wife,” Maya chided.
“You’re nobody to me. Get out.”
“I am your investor,” Maya reminded.
“No. You aren’t my investor either,” Rudra refuted. He turned around, picked up a file, and threw it across the table. Maya stopped it before it fell. “Your check and the cancellation notice are in there. You no longer have any shares in Ruan Publications.” Rudra paused and then repeated, “Ruan Publications. Thanks to you the AN of Ruan is gone. She’s leaving and nothing I said could stop her.” He stood up, grabbed Maya, and threw her out of his office, “Stay away from me and my life. You might have returned because legally you are married to me, but I don’t want you in my life and I’ll throw you out legally soon as well. Now get out!”
“But Rudra listen to me—”
“I don’t want to hear anything!”
“Not even why I’m doing all this?” Maya asked, well aware that the office staff had begun to gather.
That stopped Rudra. For all his anger, he still wanted to know the reason. Why had Maya done everything? Maya continued, “I can tell you. You may not believe me, but I’ll give you my reasons and then you can hear them again from someone you trust.”
Rudra had a good idea of what Maya was going to say. MJ had told him. But he also saw the office staff gathering and he didn’t want to put on a show. He nodded, “Fine. We’ll talk it out.”
Maya came back inside, but before she could say anything, Rudra said, “Don’t bother saying anything. I already know what you were going to say. You’re going to put the entire blame on Dad. Maybe make up some story of how he killed your family. After all everyone you’re hurting has something to do with Dad. I’m not stupid. I was blinded by love fora little while. That’s all.”
“Then why did you bring me back inside?”
“I don’t want to put on a show. What happens with you will be made public, but at the right time. Now, you’re going to stand up, we’re going to hug like a husband and wife should and you’re going to walk out of here. It’s going to look like we had a fight, which has been resolved.”
Maya smiled. She could see the pain with which Rudra was saying that, but she was happy that at least for a few seconds they would be back to normal, even if it was a show. And Maya’s main reason for coming here had been fulfilled as well. She knew Rudra wasn’t an idiot, but she also knew that he couldn’t come up with the reasoning on his own. That example had come from MJ. MJ had fed Rudra a fake story. Well now MJ would tell Rudra the real story.
Maya hugged Rudra tightly, who made every attempt not to touch her. He pulled away and said, “Now get out.”
*****
A few days later
After spending a few days, going back and forth with MJ, Maya finally had it. Today was the day that MJ would tell Rudra the truth himself. She walked into MJ’s home office with authority. Aamir was showing MJ a presentation. Both stopped and MJ sighed, as if tired of Maya, and asked, “Again? Aren’t you tired yet? You come to me everyday. Try to rile me up and fail.”
“I came here for a different reason today,” Maya responded.
“What’s that?”
“To tell you that I’m pregnant. I just found out.”
“WHAT?!” MJ stood up, outraged. “It’s not a Roy child!”
Maya smirked, shaking her head, “No it isn’t. But before you can prove that, I’ll prove that it is. 10 years ago, you might have killed my child before I could tell anyone. But this time you won’t be able to do that. The media is on their way. Someone from the nursing home leaked the news that Mrs. Maya Rudra Roy is pregnant, and they are coming here to celebrate the news with you.”
MJ snarled, “You bitch. You did this on purpose.”
“Of course, I did. I’ve learnt from Manvi’s mistakes. Manvi’s first mistake. Trusting you. Manvi’s second mistake. Having an affair with a married man. Manvi’s third mistake. Telling that married man’s wife about the child. Manvi’s fourth mistake. Not telling anyone else about the child. Anyone in power. Manvi’s final mistake. Trying to threaten that rich, powerful, arrogant married man with the police. I’ve learnt from all of those. I’m not Manvi anymore. I’m Maya. You killed Manvi. But Maya is going to kill you.”
MJ scoffed, “You learnt from Manvi, when you should really have learnt from that rich, powerful, arrogant married man, as in me. You think that by calling the media here and making it public, you’re safe.” He leaned forward, “Even pregnant women have accidents. Even pregnant women can lose their child. And even a pregnant woman’s baby’s loss can be made public to garner sympathy.”
Maya smiled conspiratorially. “I thought you would say that. Thank you.” She held up a camera. “Caught you. Now if anything happens to my baby, even if it looks like an accident, this will be enough to prove that it isn’t. Just like I murdered Vikram, but there is enough proof to make it look like you did it. You’re right. I should have learnt from you. And I did.” The smirk fell off her face, “I learnt how to deceive people from you. I learnt how to use my family to destroy a young girl and her family from you. I learnt how to deceive my own family from you. I learnt how to murder someone from you. And look at where that’s brought me. Rudra hates me. My family is all dead. And I’m a murderer.”
MJ sat down again and shrugged, “Well obviously you went wrong somewhere. Because look at me. I’m still untouched. Rudra doesn’t know the truth. He thinks that you killed Rishi. But he doesn’t know why and even if you tell him why, he’ll never believe you.”
“That’s because you lied to him. You told him that I would tell him a story about how you killed my family. But the day he learns what you did, he’ll hate you. Because I did everything because of what you did to me!” Maya exclaimed. Inwardly, she smirked.
“What did I do? I just had a small affair with a naive, innocent girl. Unfortunately, she became a bit too clingy for me, so I dumped her. That’s all,” MJ said, casually.
“Dumped her? You had me beaten until my baby died. Then you had me thrown off a cliff! That wasn’t a simple affair! You played with my emotions. You killed my brother. You killed my father. You sent my mother to a mental asylum and had electric shocks given to her until she forgot everything! She died not remembering her real child, Manvi. She died thinking she was Nandini Jaisingh!”
“That isn’t on me, Maya. I just protected myself.”
“No! You and your family committed crimes! You, Aamir, Sudhir, Jogi, Antara, Diya. All of you! You destroyed me!” Maya yelled.
“Your stubbornness destroyed you. I had told you that it was just a passing affair for me. But you were insistent on having that baby that I didn’t want. Then when Diya tried to abort the baby for you, you came running back to me. You sent Manas here to try to tell my family the truth. Antara and Maa always knew the truth about me. What were you going to tell them that was new? Your stubbornness led you to your destruction. All I regret is not finishing you once and for all with my own hands. I should have killed you myself before throwing you off that cliff. But that’s okay. The mistake I made, Rudra will fix. He hates you. And I just need to get the evidence off you, then he’ll kill you.”
“No he won’t. Not after what he just heard,” Rudra said, from the doorway.
Maya leaned back and smirked. MJ had fallen right into her trap. It had taken her a while, but she had managed to convince Rudra to come with her and he would hear the truth from MJ’s own mouth. And he had done exactly that, telling Rudra everything. Now Rudra just had to put what Maya and MJ had said together to come up with the full story.
MJ looked up at Rudra in disbelief. He had been played. He had said everything himself and now there was no turning back. For the first time, MJ had no ideas, no smart moves, nothing. He had nowhere to hide. He looked at Maya’s smirk and realized that Maya had been playing him. She had goaded him to the point where he had said everything from his own mouth. Just as she had promised.
Rudra stared at MJ and then said, “Maya was right. You used me. You lied to me and made it sound like she was mental to save yourself and keep me near you.”
“Beta listen to me—” MJ started, standing up.
“NO!” Rudra interrupted, exploding. “YOU LISTEN TO ME MR. MRITYUNJAY ROY! YOU DISGUST ME! YOU DESTROYED A YOUNG WOMAN’S LIFE! AND THEN ALL OF YOU COVERED IT UP! AND WHEN THAT WOMAN RETURNED TO TAKE REVENGE FROM YOU, YOU WERE SO SELF-CENTERED THAT YOU TRIED TO USE YOUR OWN SON TO FURTHER YOUR CAUSE!!!”
After a brief silence as MJ sat down, stunned, Maya started, “Rudra, I’m sorry for what—”
“No. You’re not. You used me as well. What had Rishi ever done to you that you killed me? What had I ever done to you that you lied to me and tried to use me like that? No. You’re not sorry either. You came here to take revenge and you became exactly like the man you were taking revenge from. You committed murder as well. You destroyed an innocent girl’s life along with destroying Sudhir uncle’s life. You disgust me as well,” Rudra interrupted, in an icy tone.
Maya wasn’t surprised. She had expected that. She had known that the truth would set Rudra free from both her and MJ. She had known that she had ruined any chance at a happy life. It had all been a myth. A happy facade for a little while. But it didn’t change her love for Rudra or that she was truly sorry for killing Rishi. She may not have cut his wrist, but she had made him do that. She apologized, “No Rudra. I’m not as bad as MJ. I know that I used Rishi. I made him cut his wrist. I let him die. And I regret it every second. I never wanted to do any of that. I had wanted to get through this without shedding any innocent blood. I didn’t want to hurt Ananya either. But sometimes the children have to suffer due to their parents’ crimes. I really love you and I mean it. I’m sorry. I can’t bring Rishi back. I can’t change what happened to Ananya. But I will repent. Once my revenge is complete, I will repent everyday, every hour, every minute, every second. Maybe, it’ll lessen the burden of what I did.”
Rudra looked at Maya and knew she was sincere in her apology. But it wouldn’t make everything well. Still he nodded in acknowledgement. Then to MJ he said, “What happened to Mom, what happened to Rishi, what happened to Dadi, what happened to Ananya, it was all because of you. You tried controlling everything and, in the process, you lost control on yourself.” He stopped, looked away to gather his thoughts, and then looked back at MJ. His mind was made up. “I’m leaving. I’m taking Mom and leaving this house and your name behind. Ruan Publications is yours now. I’ll start afresh. Somewhere far away from here where this Roy name won’t burden me with guilt and shame. Where I can breathe freely. Don’t bother searching for me or Mom. Even if you find us, you’ll never be able to bring us back. I will kill Mom and myself before coming back here. Goodbye Mr. Mrityunjay Roy.” To Maya he said, “You’ll get the divorce papers soon. Please sign them. I don’t want you in my life anymore.”
Maya nodded just before Rudra turned and left the room. Then she turned to MJ and smirked, “So, what did I say? You’re finished Mrityunjay Roy. You tried to kill me. You killed my child. You killed my brother and father. You took everything away from me. Well now you’re all alone. Rishi is dead. Diya has been locked away and she’ll never want to see your face again. Antara is ruined. Rudra is leaving you. You’re all alone. Now enjoy your money and so-called power. Everything dear to you is gone. You’re finished. You have everything and yet you have nothing. My revenge is complete. I was going to kill you. But I think it’s more fitting that the media kill you. They are here. I wasn’t lying. They’re going to see Rudra and Antara leaving this house. And then I’ll give them an interview telling them what happened. You’re finished.” She leaned forward and said, “This will teach you to mess with a woman’s feelings.”
Then Maya stood up and left. MJ was still stunned. He had lost. Maya had won so easily. All it took was Rudra hearing the truth. And now he was finished. He had lost both of his sons. In trying to protect them, he had lost them both.
Aamir, who had stood quietly the entire time, finally spoke, “MJ. You have to do something. Stand up. MJ, you are the strongest one here. You can’t let Rudra leave like that. You can’t let Maya win.”
MJ looked up at Aamir and shook his head, “No Aamir. Rudra won’t stop no matter what.” But then he stood up and pulled himself together, “But Maya. She won’t be able to say anything to the media.”
With that he stalked out after Maya.
*****
Same evening
After the media left, Rudra said, “I’m going on a drive. Aamir uncle, will you come with me?”
“Of course,” Aamir agreed.
Once both had left, MJ turned to Maya, grabbed her by the neck, and dragged her into the house. He pushed her up against the wall and snarled, “You’re lucky that Rudra didn’t leave in front of them, else I would have killed you before you even stepped outside.”
Rudra had announced that he was selling Ruan Publications to MJ and taking a sabbatical. After a few questions about the nursing home call which had been declared a hoax by Maya, the media had left.
Maya chuckled, “You always liked powerplay. I know why.” Then she pushed MJ off her and said, “Rudra went for a drive. Aamir isn’t around either. And your other two bodyguards, Jogi and Sudhir, are no longer around. How about we end this once and for all where you tried to end me the first time? A fitting end to your tyranny.”
“I don’t need bodyguards. I can deal with you on my own.”
Maya threw her head back and laughed. “Oh my, my. Don’t make me laugh MJ. If you have handled me on your own then those henchmen wouldn’t have had to beat me for you. You could have done it yourself.”
MJ stalked off and then returned a few minutes later with a gun. He grabbed Maya by the arm, threw her in his car, and drove off.
As he drove, Maya laid back calmly and casually as if she were going on a long drive with her lover. She had made up her mind. Today, either she would die, or she would kill MJ. It was the final round. There would be no more cat-and-mouse game.
As MJ drove to the cliff, his phone rang. It was Aamir. “Yes Aamir…It’s the final battle. We’re going to that cliff…Then go home.” He threw the phone in the backseat and said, “Get rid of your phone. I don’t want any more disturbances. This is between you and me now.”
Maya gave a wry look to MJ and said, “I left my phone at home. I had already decided that I don’t need anyone to help me or save me or stop me. You obviously didn’t think of that. That’s why you brought your phone and even answered that call.”
MJ scowled, but didn’t reply. He was almost at the destination. He was not going to get baited to stop the car at this point. The rest of the drive went by in silence.
Once they got to their destination, Maya took in a deep breath as if reminiscing happy memories. She got out and said, “Remember this place MJ. You had beaten me to an inch of my life not too far from here. Then you had driven me out here and thrown me from here. Did you really think I would die?” She leaned to look at the height of the fall. She scoffed, “It’s only 20 feet or so. You really thought throwing me from here would kill me?”
MJ didn’t take the bait this time. Instead he pulled out his gun and pointed it at Maya’s back, “Stop wasting time. I’m here to kill you. Not chat about the past.”
Maya turned around, empty-handed. “But I have all the time in the world to talk about the past.” She walked up to MJ and kissed him on his cheek, “Remember this. The getaways, the sly looks, the gift-giving. I really thought you loved me. I was so naive.” She returned to the edge and looked down at the small lake. It wasn’t more than 10 feet wide. “Manas is still down there. I could never make myself go down there again and retrieve his body. Even though the lake is so small. It’s not even a lake. It’s more like a pond. Lake. Memories can be so deceiving sometimes.” Maya shook her head at her own memory. Then she turned around again. This time she was holding her gun as well. But she still had it pointed to the ground. “MJ you claim that you don’t want to talk about the past. Yet you still haven’t shot me. You could easily have shot me in this much time. What’s stopping you?”
MJ shook his head, wryly. “What? Aren’t you even going to try? Scared that like last time we’ll fire at each other and someone will carry you off?”
MJ was referring to a few weeks ago when Vikram had kidnapped Maya. Maya chuckled, “Yes but you know how I dealt with that person. I used him and then I killed him. In fact, he died right here. Weird place. Everyone comes here to die. Except I didn’t die, but you will. I guess this place loves me.”
MJ chuckled and fired a shot, “We’ll see about that.”
But MJ had fired into the air a few feet away from Maya. Maya clucked disapprovingly, “MJ what has happened to your shooting abilities? Even a blind person could hit me.”
“Don’t worry. You’ll get hit as well.”
At that moment, a car screeched to a halt behind MJ’s car. It was Rudra and Aamir. Rudra jumped out and yelled, “Don’t do this!”
“Why not Rudra? Do you still love her?” MJ asked.
Rudra looked at Maya. He did still love her, but his love for Rishi was greater. He said, “I don’t want to see anyone else die.”
“Then close your eyes. This is the end,” MJ said.
Rudra stepped in front of MJ’s gun. “Then shoot me first. Because I’m tired of all of this. Shoot me so I can rest peacefully.”
MJ looked at Aamir who pulled Rudra out of the way. Now Maya raised her gun. Rudra tried to break free from Aamir’s grip as MJ and Maya smirked at each other and then fired. Just as they fired, Rudra got loose and jumped in front of the bullets. He got hit by MJ’s bullet as Maya’s bullet found its mark. MJ and Rudra fell to the ground. MJ had been hit in the shoulder, but Rudra had been hit in the heart or near it.
MJ crawled forward, as Maya ran to Rudra, and whispered, in a broken voice, “Rudra?”
Rudra opened his eyes. “Thank you Dad. Now I can finally rest in peace.” With that he closed his eyes and passed out.
Maya immediately put pressure on Rudra’s wound. She wouldn’t let Rudra die. Rudra could hate her all her life, but she wouldn’t let him die. She looked up at Aamir and asked, “Did you call for an ambulance?”
“They’re almost here. I had called them in advance just in case.”
MJ frowned in confusion. Something finally dawned on him. He looked at Maya and asked, “You had Aamir at gunpoint that day. You could have killed him and Vikram both. Why didn’t you?” Then he looked at Aamir, “And why didn’t you shoot her the moment she turned her attention on Vikram?”
Maya smiled. “He finally woke up.”
“What do you mean?” MJ demanded and then winced. He had put too much pressure on his arm.
“Aamir is with me,” Maya said, her attention back on Rudra.
“Aamir? After everything I did for you?” MJ asked, incredulously.
“That’s just it MJ. You did a lot for me. But you took a lot more. I was tired. What you did with Manvi was the last straw for me. I couldn’t take it anymore. I was going to leave you when I came back here and realized that Manvi had survived. I found her almost two years later with Rajeev. I’ve been helping her ever since. Though, I couldn’t always help her. I couldn’t let you suspect me. I’m sorry Manvi,” Aamir responded.
Maya shook it away. “You did what you could.” Then she picked up her gun, “But there’s still one thing left for me to do.”
Aamir nodded, “I know. I did try to kill you.”
“No. It’s not with you. It’s with him,” Maya said, motioning to MJ. Then she shot MJ point blank through the heart.
MJ fell back, stunned. As the life drained from his eyes, Maya whispered, “And that’s checkmate. I told you I would win in the end. Goodbye MJ. Goodbye.”
By the time the ambulance arrived, MJ was gone. But Rudra was still breathing. He was quickly loaded in the ambulance while, Maya got into Rudra’s car and followed the ambulance to the hospital. Aamir stayed back to talk to the police.
*****
Early the next morning
The doctor came out of the operation theatre and said, “He’s out of danger. He was lucky. The bullet didn’t do any major damage.”
Maya took a deep breath of relief. Rudra had been in surgery for over 4 hours. And now he was going to be okay. It would take time for the inner wounds to heal, the ones that she and MJ had inflicted, but at least he would survive.
She turned to Aamir and asked, “What happened with the police?”
“I told them that MJ had gone mad and was going to kill you. Rudra got in the way and accidentally got shot, then you and MJ fought for the gun and he was shot in self-defense. The cartridge cases seem to support my testimony, but they may still want to talk to you.”
“Thank you.”
“I’m sorry Manvi. I truly am. I was involved every step of the way in harming you. It was only after I threw you over that edge that I realized what I was doing. If I had realized it earlier, I might have been able to save you and your family.”
“No. You would have been killed as well. MJ was ruthless. He wouldn’t have let you live. You would have lying at the bottom like Manas.”
She looked back at the operation theatre as the doors opened and Rudra was wheeled out. Maya looked at Rudra longingly. Then she said, “I’m leaving. Before he even wakes up, it is best I leave his life. I have to repent. For everything I did. Especially for Rishi. But if Rudra ever wants to talk to me or wants me to come back, then he just has to call this number.” She gave Aamir a small sheet. “I’d already had the divorce papers drawn up. The lawyer will visit Rudra in the next day or two. I’ve already signed them. Don’t let him leave. The Roy business is not bad and it won’t turn him bad.”
Then, Maya walked down to Rudra’s room, looked in at him once, and then left the hospital.
*****
Some time later
Rudra came downstairs as Antara called out, “Rudra!”
“Yes Mom.” Then he saw who was standing with Antara. “Dadi?” His eyes filled with tears of joy and he hugged Dadi tightly. Dadi hugged him back. “Dadi I thought you would never come back.”
“I had to. Antara told me that my grandson was planning on leaving everything. I couldn’t let him do that. I came back for him,” Dadi said.
“But Dadi how can I stay? After everything this business represents.”
“It represents its leader. When Mrityunjay led the business, it represented him. Now when you lead it, it’ll represent you. Use it to do good.”
For the past few weeks, Antara and Aamir had both been trying to convince Rudra not to leave the business and the house. MJ was gone. Rudra didn’t have to leave as well. Rudra finally nodded, “Okay. I won’t leave. But only if you stay here Dadi.”
“I’m never going to leave you again, beta.”
Rudra hugged Dadi again and then hugged Antara. Together the 3 would heal.
*****
A few months later
“Aamir uncle?” Rudra asked, tentatively.
“Yes Rudra,” Aamir asked.
“Do you have the number?”
Aamir looked up, then reached into his pocket, and pulled out the small sheet. The one he had gotten a few months ago in the hospital. He handed it to Rudra, who looked it thoughtfully.
THE END OF BEYHADH 2
Edited by Minionite - 3 years ago
DO NOT COPY THIS POST AS THIS IS EXCLUSIVE TO INDIA FORUMS
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