*𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝑨𝒌𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒊 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑽𝒂𝒓𝒖𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒘𝒂𝒋 𝑹𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒐𝒓, 𝒃𝒓𝒖𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒓𝒊𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒅, 𝑽𝒂𝒓𝒖𝒏'𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒕*
"Varun. Akruti." Mrs Bharadwaj rushes towards them.
*𝑴𝒓 𝑩𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒘𝒂𝒋 𝒔𝒐𝒐𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒔 𝑽𝒂𝒓𝒖𝒏 𝒖𝒑 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑴𝒓𝒔 𝑩𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒘𝒂𝒋 𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒔 𝑨𝒌𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒊 𝒖𝒑, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒈𝒐 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝑨𝒌𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒊 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑽𝒂𝒓𝒖𝒏 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒇𝒂, 𝑴𝒓𝒔 𝑩𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒘𝒂𝒋 𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒍𝒚 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎. 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓*
"Bache. Whe4e were you both?" Mrs Bharadwaj asks, her eyes getting slightly teary.
"Maa, some Ranvijay kidnapped Akku, called her his wife Kritika, and wanted to get rid of me." Varun replies.
"WHAT!? Mrs Bharadwaj exclaims.
"Beta, I think it's better if you both rest at the moment. You've just got home. We will inform the police that you're both home safe and also inform Jaya Ji to let her know." Mr Bharadwaj suggests.
*𝑴𝒓 𝑩𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒘𝒂𝒋 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝑨𝒌𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒊 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑽𝒂𝒓𝒖𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝑽𝒂𝒓𝒖𝒏'𝒔 𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝑨𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒆 𝑱𝒂𝒚𝒂'𝒔 𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓*
"Hello. Jaya ji." Mr Bharadwaj greets.
"Hello, Mr Bharadwaj." Auntie Jaya replies.
"I just wanted to let you know Jaya ji, that Akruti and Varun are safe they are both here, at my house." Mr Bharadwaj says.
"Oh, thank God. I will be there soon." Jaya auntie says.
"Very well then, I shall see you soon." Mr Bharadwaj says and hangs up the phone.
*𝑺𝒐𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒆 𝑱𝒂𝒚𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆, 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒈𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝑨𝒌𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒊 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒖𝒑𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆*
"Oh my bachi." Jaya auntie hugs Akruti.
*𝑱𝒂𝒚𝒂 𝒂𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒆 𝒔𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒔 𝒂𝒕 𝑨𝒌𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒊*
"I'm so sorry, bachu." Jaya auntie says.
"Auntie, it's not your fault. I'm okay. Please don't cry." Akruti says, wiping Jaya auntie's tears.
*𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒎*
"Oh my pyaari Akruti, bachu are you okay?" The elderly lady comes and sits beside Akruti, caressing her face.
"Get your filthy hands off me!" Akruti exclaims. "I don't need your fake sympathy. You're the one who is behind all of this Shalini Shekhawat!" Akruti says, pushing off the elderly lady's hand.
"No, dear. Why would I get my own granddaughter kidnapped for?" Shalini's eyes get teary.
"You would. You would because you don't want me to marry Varun. You wanted me to marry that stupid Ranvijay, so you made him believe that I was his dead wife Kritika." Akruti says.
"I-I-I don't even know a Ranvijay." Shalini says hesitantly.
"Stop lying." Akruti says.
"I can't believe you would stoop this low mother. I can't believe my own mother would do this to her own grandchild." Jaya auntie says in pure shock.
"You don't even dare to talk. Look at you. You couldn't even raise Akku properly. How disobedient she has become, she can't even respect her own grandmother's decisions." Shalini says, wiping her tears. "Yes. Yes, I got my own granddaughter kidnapped. Why? Because look at him and look at the person she has chosen, anything I do, I do for the betterment of her and this family. Ranvijay is the right choice." Shalini says with the utmost confidence and boldness.
"I am not disobedient. And if you're on about respect, then by saying all this to my auntie who has bought me up when you decided to leave me, when you blamed me for my parents death and when you called me ominous, is that bloody damn respect? Getting me kidnapped by some crazy lunatic who thinks I'm his dead wife, is that what you call respect? Is trying to get rid of my fiancé respect? If that's what you call respect, then no, I don't respect you!" Akruti says, her eyes filled with frustration and anger.
"See. Do you see this? Do you see the child you have raised?" Shalini says, her face full of anger.
"Yes. Yes, I see the child I have raised, and she is absolutely right in her place to say whatever she has just said." Jaya auntie says, defending Akruti.
"There is no value for me being here. Trust me, this is not over Jaya. Mr Bharadwaj, you can have your share back, but do not think this is over. This is only the beginning of many things to come." Shalini says, warning everybody.
*𝑨𝒌𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒊 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑱𝒂𝒚𝒂 𝒂𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂 𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒇*
"Finally, she is gone." Jaya auntie says, brushing Akruti's hair to the side.
"She is gone, but he isn't." Akruti says, panicking.
"He?" Jaya auntie questions.
"Ranvijay." Akruti says.
"Ranvijay. Who's Ranvijay?" Jaya auntie asks.
"The guy who kidnapped me. He will likely still be looking for me and Varun." Akruti says, tears fall out of her eyes.
*𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒂 𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒉 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒓*
"KRITIKA!" A loud voice shouts.
"A-Auntie. T-That's him." Akruti says, her voice trembling.
*𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝑨𝒌𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒊 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑱𝒂𝒚𝒂 𝒓𝒖𝒏 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒔, 𝑹𝒂𝒏𝒗𝒊𝒋𝒂𝒚 𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒔 𝑽𝒂𝒓𝒖𝒏'𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒓*
"There is no Kritika here, Ranvijay. So, get your filthy hands off me." Varun says.
*𝑹𝒂𝒏𝒗𝒊𝒋𝒂𝒚 𝒈𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒑𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒕 𝑽𝒂𝒓𝒖𝒏 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝑽𝒂𝒓𝒖𝒏'𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒂 𝒑𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒏 𝑹𝒂𝒏𝒗𝒊𝒋𝒂𝒚'𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆, 𝑴𝒓𝒔 𝑩𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒘𝒂𝒋 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒔𝒐𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝑹𝒂𝒏𝒗𝒊𝒋𝒂𝒚*
"Varun, this is not over. I will get my Kritika back." Ranvijay says whilst the police drag him out of the house.
THE NEXT DAY
EVENING
*𝑽𝒂𝒓𝒖𝒏 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒃𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅, 𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒎 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝑨𝒌𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒊 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈*
"God, I am so lucky to have you in my life. I don't know what I'd do without you." Varun whispers.
"Me too." Akruti whispers back as a small grin appears on her face, her eyes still shut.
"You were awake this whole time?" Varun asks, his face flushes red.
"Mmh." Akruti replies.
*𝑨𝒌𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒊 𝒔𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒚 𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒖𝒑 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝑽𝒂𝒓𝒖𝒏'𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒌 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔*
"How did I get so lucky?" Varun asks.
"I am equally as lucky, Aru. If I didn't have you to sav–" Akruti says, but quickly gets cut off as Varun places his finger on top of her lips.
"I will always be there for you, no matter what." Varun says, reassuring her.
*𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒖𝒈*
"Ahm." Someone steps into the room.
*𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒍𝒚 𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒈, 𝒂𝒔 𝑴𝒓𝒔 𝑩𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒘𝒂𝒋 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎*
"Tum dono ka ho gaya ho toh.... kuch sagai aur shaadi ke baat karein?" Mrs Bharadwaj says.
(If you two are done.... shall we talk about the engagement and wedding?)
"Mom, mujhe nahi lagta ki abhi sahi waqt hai, chahta toh mein bhi hoon yeh jaldi se ho jaye par yeh sab se recover honeke liye bhi time chahiye." Varun says.
(Mom, I don't think this is the right time to discuss this, even though I want to do all of this quickly, but we need to recover from this.)
"Par sagai toh ho sakti hai na, mujhe pata hai ki shaadi mein bohot effort chahiye par sagai mein hum close family hoge." Mrs Bharadwaj explains.
(But you can do the engagement, no? I know the wedding will take a lot of effort, but the engagement will only have close family.)
*𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒕 𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓*
"Theek hai maa. Sagai ki tyaari ki baat hum sab kar lete hai." Akruti says.
(Ok, maa. We will talk about the arrangements for the engagement.)