Part VIII
"A King May Be The Most Important Piece On The Chess Board However, The Queen Is The Most Powerful As She Performs More Moves Than Any Other Token"
Riddhima looked around the VR Mansion. Her throat was tight, her eyes blurring from tears as she looked around the bedroom that was once hers. She left the room immediately. Two days back Ishani came home from the hospital. She looked sad alright but not devastated. Riddhima was surprised if it had been her in Ishani’s place, she did not even want to think about that. Maybe Ishani was never attached to the child much. Riddhima wondered if Vansh had not gotten her married to Aangre and had not forced her to keep the baby, maybe she would have aborted the child then and there.
Last night Vansh told Dadi and the rest of the family members everything about her. Well, at least everything that he thought to be true. As expected Dadi got angry with her and demanded she should leave this house. Riddhima refused point-blank stating tomorrow is her last day in this house then they won’t see her again. But she moved out of Dadi’s room and went to one of the guest bedrooms.
Though Ishani looked sad and angry, she was perfectly normal with back to taunting. When Ishani was sad and angry two people were her punching bag, she was one of them and another one was Aangre.
She had her doubts that Aahana, Ishani, Aaryan, and Chachi were conspiring against her. And that was confirmed when last night she smelt something burn. She ran to the place and saw that they were burning her belongings. Vansh stood there watching all of this. Looking at her they smirked and Aahana said
“We are celebrating. Tomorrow Vansh is going to announce our wedding at the party. You are going to sign the divorce papers. If you remember tomorrow is your last day in this mansion. We thought why not celebrate in advance?”
Ishani smirked “I agree. This is like dream come true”
Riddhima looked at her disgusted; it was only three days back that Ishani was fighting with Aahana. God, Ishani was the most despicable person thought Riddhima. She could go to any lengths if it’s about torturing her. Riddhima could never understand Ishani’s unwarranted hatred towards her and now she does not care.
Riddhima investigated the fire. They were all her wedding clothes, some jewelry or a few things that Vansh had gifted her like a red heart-shaped pillow; then she stared at Vansh. He looked serious but as he saw her looking at him, he gave her a cunning smile. Riddhima smiled at him in return and pouted making him narrow his eyes
“Not fair you guys, why didn’t you invite me? Even I would have liked to burn a few things myself. Wait a second” She left leaving everyone flabbergasted
When she returned, she held three things to be precise three dresses and she threw them in fire one by one making sure Vansh got the clear picture of this. The first one was the dress she wore when she got shot for the first time trying to save Vansh. The second one was the dress he gifted her as Vihan on her birthday. And the third one was the yellow saree that he gifted her that night, she took her time while throwing this piece of cloth and smirked at Vansh. Making him livid…
*****
She wandered the home aimlessly; nobody disturbed her. This house was a kaleidoscope of memories for her. Each thing in here brought out memories and emotions with it, some good some bad.
“Sign the divorce papers and leave” It was Vansh.
She turned to him “Not now”
“Riddhiam” he warned “you promised”
“And you promised many things. remember?” she asked sardonically
“But don’t worry, I said I will sign them today and I will do that, but not just now. I will sign them after the party before 12 AM. Give me the papers. Once I sign them, I will return them to you. Happy?”
Vansh threw the papers at her feet and stormed out of there. She noticed he had not signed the papers yet.
She entered her room and called Mishra. “What is the update?”
“Anupriya is on the verge of getting mad. She keeps screaming, I will kill them all and a lot more; She is sure that Kabir is dead now. Your photos helped me a lot. I have managed to move Kabir’s informer, so he can’t contact Kabir. And Since you have changed Kabir’s sim no one from the jail can contact him. They are already planning to give her a shock treatment. Just waiting for Kabir’s permission. Once again how did you take those photos without anyone noticing you? And without a boss, I mean Kabir even doubting your hand in it?”
Riddhma smirked “Well simple, remember Sejal met me at the hospital during the drug test? I had asked her to bring strong sleeping pills. She took the subscription from someone from her contact and gave them to me. I powdered those pills and sprinkled it inside his sandwich”
“When Ishani and Aahana were fighting, I knew no one will look for me. I entered his room. He was already asleep. I pulled him down from the bed. Threw some ketchup on his shirt kept a knife dipped in ketchup beside him and clicked few photos and then one with a typical white bedsheet covering him and changed his sim ”
“You girls are dangerous. Please never ever include me in your bad people list” commented Mishra making her laugh
“Anyways, Vansh is adding extra security and CCTV’s to this place, but I don’t trust him and these people. Can you do something about it?”
“Okay, is that from the same security agency of Aangre’s or from someone else?”
“Aangre’s”
“Good, then I already have placed one person there. I will tell him to add extra security cameras and microphones around the house. No one will know the location except you”
“Good cause I have already removed the microphone from Vansh’s study and Ahana and Kabir’s room. I can’t risk them getting found in today’s activities. I have all the proof I need now let us end this today.” She said with determination
“Oh, and by the way thanks for removing the CCTV footage of the letter which the servant gave to Ahana.”
*****
VR Mansion looked stunning today. All the ladies were decked in shiny clothes, makeup, and jewelry. All men in the finest suit and coat. The theme of the party was black and white. Vansh stood in a corner with Aangre but his eyes occasionally swept across the room looking for the missing person. Everyone was present, even Kabir was there, so where is Riddhima?
*****
“I still think you should wear something else” Sejal frowned at her. Look at these people, they are here in the finest clothes.
“Sejal, my attire is not my concern at present, can you please go down and act like one of the event managing people. I don’t want them to recognize you. Who told you to come here? This was not in the plan.” Riddhima hissed
“I am sorry. It is my fault that I want to be with my best friend, I want to protect her from these leeches” Sejal looked angry “Look, I am staying well hidden from Aaryan and Chachi. I have my mask on. I just want to be with you. These people are mental what if they try to kill you?”
They heard footsteps “Go” Riddhima whispered
*****
Vansh froze as he saw Riddhima descending the stairs. She was wearing a churidar, the same dress she wore when he saw her for the very first time at goa party, no vermilion, no mangalsutra. She looked like the same girl he saw that day. People looked at her because she looked odd one out here. Aangre kept a hand on his shoulder making him break out of his reverie. Vansh clenched his fist and gritted his teeth.
Riddhima looked around her gaze once settling on Sejal to make sure she was okay and turned her eyes and clashed with Vansh. He looked furious. He stormed over to Ahana and asked her for a dance.
Riddhima looked down, she held a pen drive where all the proofs were present. Everything from Kabir’s confession to VR and his family’s inhuman behavior. Once Vansh announced their divorce and his and Ahana’s marriage, she was going to play this before everyone and then leave the house. This was her simple plan to humiliate the VR family and punish Kabir for his wrongdoings and leave the house to never turn back. She had already kept signed divorce papers in his room. So why did she feel restless like something is not right?
Everyone clapped and she was brought back to the present. Vansh and Ahana’s dance came to an end.
Vansh grabbed the mike and cleared his throat and looked at Riddhima pointedly. I have a piece of very good news to share with you, he started. Riddhima looked around her, Kabir was there, everyone was present so why did she feel like this? Is it because of Vansh’s marriage announcement? Or is it because of nervousness?
Once again, everyone clapped. Riddhima looked around bewildered. He announced already. She didn’t even hear anything. She needs to stay focused.
Sejal came in her line of vision and hissed “What are you doing, now is the time. Finish this”
“Yes,” Riddhima gathered her thoughts and started walking. Her phone rang. She frowned as she looked at the number. It was Mishra. She did not save his number on this phone fearing if Vansh decides to check this phone again. Why is he calling her on this phone? He never does that. And then she realized, her phone on which Mishra contacted her…she forgot that in her room. She answered the phone
“Hello Riddhima, Anupriya ran away. It’s been half an hour. They were taking her to the hospital. She injured her hand and fainted. I think she was acting. Kabir? Is he still there? Are you listening?”
“What?” She asked shocked and looked around, she saw Kabir speak with someone and hurried out
“He left just now” she stammered
“Okay, listen, this is very serious, keep a weapon on you and Sejal. Inform Vansh. She killed an on-duty officer. She has a fully loaded gun on her.” He paused “I am getting a call from Kabir. I am on the way.”
“No” Riddhima stopped him
“Riddhima, I am not leaving you both in that house”
“Listen, Vansh and Aangre are here. We have security. You stay with Kabir. I don’t want you to leave him unsupervised. Don’t know what more he will plan. Act like you are with him till there is no other option left” Mishra agreed reluctantly
Riddhima changed her route and reached Vansh. “I want to speak to you. It’s urgent”
Vansh looked at her curiously. Her face was ashen. She looked a little shaken. “What?”
Suddenly lights dimmed and the projector started making both turns to screen.
Vansh frowned “This is for Vansh and Ahana” words were displayed on the screen. Riddhima looked in confusion which shortly after turned to shock. The picture displayed on the screen was of Ahana with Kabir, then Vansh, and then Sunny.
People started talking amongst them. Ahana felt utterly humiliated.
Aangre took the hold of the situation and announced that the party was over. One by one everyone left and then Vansh thundered “Who did this?”
“Who else Bhai, only one person is present here who is not happy with yours and Ahana’s wedding news” Aryan was first to break the silence
Vansh turned to Riddhima “did you do this?” he bit out
“No” Riddhima denied outright but she knew it was of no use no one here will believe her, and that was not important at present.
“Look this is not important. I want to tell you...” She started
“I told you Riddhima, don’t cross me. Didn’t I? You will pay for this.” Ahana screamed at her. She snatched the gun from Aangre and pointed it at Riddhima
"Ahana drop the gun” Vansh stood before Riddhima shielding her from Ahana
“I will not” she refused and was about to shoot when Vansh pointed his gun at Ahana
“I said drop the gun”
“So, I was right you love her. Then she needs to die. You will move Vansh or else she dies” Ahana grabbed Ishani and kept a gun at her head
“Bhai” Ishani cried out
“Don’t you dare Ahana. Riddhima will sign divorce papers and will leave right now” Vansh warned her “drop the gun”
“But will she? Will she leave your head and heart Vansh” Ahana screamed, “Move or your sister dies.”
“Vansh move” Riddhima calmly touched his back. “I have already taken two bullets and survived. If Bappa wants I will survive this as well”
“No” Vansh warned her and pushed her back “Stay where you are. Aangre”
“Don’t if anyone comes near, I will kill her” She dragged Ishani away from all “Look bit*h, your brother is ready to choose Riddhima over you” Ahana laughed
“I think you should drop the gun, or I will kill you” Everyone looked shocked at this new entrant who put the knife on Ahana’s neck
“Who is this?” Ahana was scared
“Do as I say” she pressed the knife a little harder
“Okay, okay wait” Ahana dropped her gun. Ishani moved away from her. Aangre immediately picked up the gun and pointed at Ahana.
“Good girl” she pushed Ahana aside making her fall and removed her mask as Riddhima called her “Sejal”
“Sejal?” Vansh looked at Riddhima who nodded and then turned to look at the girl.
“Well, I can’t say it is good to be back. Because it is not” Sejal said glaring at Aaryan and Chachi. They paled
“Sejal” Riddhima screamed as she saw Ahana pick a vase to hit her. They heard a gunshot and Vase fell from Ahana’s hand. She dropped to the floor. Sejal screamed and jumped away.
“No one moves or your dearest grandmother dies” Anupriya stood at a little distance from the main door. Dadi sitting near her feet and crying silently. She shot Ahana directly at the side of her left head.
“She had to die. And you all will die. You killed my son” Anupriya looked crazed. “Drop your guns.” She gestured at Aangre and Vansh.
“What do you want? Leave her or else you will regret the day you decided to step foot in VR Mansion” Vansh threatened
“Do you think I am afraid of you? I have nothing to lose. You killed my son”
“Kabir is alive, nothing has happened to him” this time Riddhima stepped out of Vansh’s reach
“Don’t lie. I have seen the photos”
“They were photoshopped. If you want you can wait. He will come here.”
“Why will I believe you? You told me that Vansh had told you to kill Kabir and you were going to do that”
Vansh looked at Riddima shocked she ignored him. “Drop your guns” Anupriya screamed again pushing Dadi a little.
“Stop” Both Vansh and Angre dropped their guns.
“Good, now push them here with your feet. And all of you sit down. No one moves. If Kabir is alive then he will come here. I will wait for some time. If not, then I will kill you all. If anyone moves, this oldy here will be the first to die. Kabir will decide what to do with you” They did what she wanted
Vansh and Riddhima were sitting beside each other, Sejal was little behind her. Riddhima sat tensely held Sejal’s hand in reassurance.
“Where are all the servants” Aaryan suddenly questioned
Anupriya laughed “I killed them all. There were 6 of them. 2 ran away” making everyone horrified
They sat quietly for some time before Riddhima suddenly stood up.
“What are you doing?” Vansh and Anuprya said together
“Well since no one is going anywhere and I am getting bored, let’s just clear a few of my questions which only you can answer”
“Don’t act smart Riddhima. I will kill her” Anupriya warned
“Then do it” Riddhima challenged and jerked her hand out of Vansh hand when he went to pull her down with him
Anupriya narrowed her eyes
“Wow, you must have hurt her bad for her to say something like this” Anupriya asked Vansh gleefully
“Yes, he did. Now answer my questions. I am not asking you anything else. I am here no one is moving. You can answer me till Kabir arrives”
“Let me guess you want to ask why I and Kabir used you?” Anupriya asked sarcastically
“Not quite. I want to know why you did what you did with Uma Raisinghania” Vansh tensed
Anupriya laughed “Isn’t that obvious, dumbhead. I wanted to be Mrs. Raisinghania. I wanted to hold that power. Ajay never looked at me twice. He loved his wife. I used to work with Ajay and Rudra. I used to visit this home frequently, I befriended kids, and spent time with them. But Ajay did not look at me. Uma befriended me. She was too good. One should never be this good. It destroys you. Look what happened to you. Uma was exactly like you. Then I devised a plan. I started planting doubt in Ajay’s head that his wife was having an affair. It was difficult to convince but I did manage to do that”
“Who helped?” Riddhima asked making Anupriya confused so Riddhima elaborated her question “Someone from the family must have helped you. From what I have seen of this family, they love to conspire against each other”
This time Anupriya’s eyes gleamed and she said “You are very clever. And you are right I had inside help. Should I tell them Chanchal?” Anupriya turned to Chanchal and raised her brows.
“I don’t know what you are saying” Chanchal denied the claims as everyone looked at her shocked including her Son and Husband
Riddhima could feel Vansh breathing heavily. She knew he was going to do something crazy in anger. She silently pressed his shoulder. He looked at her. His eyes filled with unparalleled rage . She shook her head
“Okay, so Chachi helped you create a rift between Uma and Ajay Raisinghania. But she did not help you to kill her right? How did you do it?” Riddhima asked her next question
“You are right, Chanchal wanted to rule this household but that was not possible as long as Uma was present here. I made a deal with her. She planted doubts in Ajay’s head. Uma and Ajay started fighting frequently. Ajay started spending long hours at the office. I tried that time to go near him. Uma saw me and Ajay, I was consoling him. They had a big fight. She blamed me and left.”
“But they patched up. I don’t know-how. Ajay moved me to another department. Chanchal backed out of this plan leaving me all alone. I knew I had to take the drastic step and Chanchal was too much of a loser to do that. I planned everything. I forged Uma’s handwriting and wrote a note that she loves another and can’t continue this relationship anymore. I hired people who kidnapped Uma, sedated her, made her sit in the car, and threw kerosene, pushed the car from the hill. She died” It looked like Anupriya wanted to say everything and she was enjoying it a lot
“You bi**h” Ishani screamed. she was crying
“I will kill you” Vansh stood up
“Don’t, Dadi” Riddhima stopped him
“Then you must have used your connection with Raisinghania children to take entry in this house. And if I am not wrong Dadi must have made Ajay Raisinghania ready for a second marriage. You entered this home. Everyone was angry at Uma because everyone thought she ran away. But then Vansh’s father got to know the truth, right? What did you do to him?”
“How do you know this?” Anupriya was shocked this time
“I saw his medical file in Dadi’s room. I saw the medications, they looked fishy. I actually Sejal got them checked by a psychiatrist. They were the medications for hallucinations.” Riddhima informed her
“Yes, He overheard me speaking with one of the kidnappers who was asking for more money. Before he could say a word, I hit him hard on the head, made him unconscious, and told the same people to kidnap him”
“But you could not kill him. You must have needed his signature on property papers.” Riddhima concluded
“Yes, I got to know that he had already transferred all the property in Vansh’s name. I kept him at a place away from everyone and told everyone that we are going out for a few days. I kept feeding him those medications through food or saline when he refused food. I brought him back after 15 days and told everyone that he was unwell. We got him checked. He used to shout nonsense most of the time. The doctor declared him mentally ill. But he started fighting not eating food. There was almost a time when he looked completely sane. He was going to tell Vansh that night. I knew I couldn't risk it anymore. I killed him and made it look like he died in a car accident.
Vansh slumped down shocked, Riddhima could hear silent sobs from everyone around. She ignored everyone just kept her hand on Vansh’s shoulder and kept asking
“Why did you need me? Everyone here believed you. You could have gotten your property, maybe you could have killed Vansh like you killed his parents. Why me?”
“I can’t risk so many deaths on my hand Riddhima. There was an ongoing investigation of Ajay’s death. But since Kabir joined CBI. He has been misleading the team. Vansh was very aloof and dangerous and unpredictable. We placed Ragini in his life, but she could not complete the mission. And then one day Kabir saw you…”
Anupriya went on and on about her plans, how she and Kabir did, what they did leaving everyone shocked. Riddhima was thinking of a way out. The story was about to finish but Kabir was not here yet. What if she kills someone? And even if Kabir enters so what, he won’t help them. Her only hope was Mishra.
She felt a hand on her. She looked down Vansh placed his hand on hers, which was placed on his shoulder, his eyes were filled with tears, there were many emotions on his face. Shock, anger, regret. She gulped and looked ahead, the truth she wanted him to know was before him today
Someone touched her leg from behind, Sejal was looking at her frantically. Both had only one thought, story was about to end now what?
And then it clicked. Riddhima silently removed her sandals and shook Vansh and slipped them towards him, he looked confused for a moment before. He understood. He silently picked her shoe and aimed it at the Anupriya one after another.
Anupriya felt a heel hit her face and hand. “Ahh…” she gave a painful cry and dropped the gun. Riddhima and Aangre took Dadi aside. Vansh was quick to move, this time he pointed a gun at Anupriya. He looked down at her. Fire in his eyes…
*****
Note:
I just hope we get to see something good today and Riddhima does not forgive Vansh easily.
This is the biggest update I have written till now. But I want to finish this story, and I think I explain a lot in stories 😆
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