Siddharth, Aarushi, Vedanti, Mugdha, Nivi, Sameeksha, Yudhveer and Bandana entered the police station.
"Sir???? Sumedh Mudgalkar, Amit Pandit aur Rohan Mehra kaha hai???" Vedanti pleaded the inspector to tell her.
"Veda...?" She heard Sumedh's voice. She looked in the direction of the voice and found all three of them behind the bars. Her mouth hung open. She gaped at the inspector.
"Yeh possible kaise hai???? Amit Pandit is CM of the state. How dare you all? Aap CM ko aise mistreat kaise kar sakte hai?" Mugdha asked with a horrified look.
"Aur nahi toh kya! Abhi yeh log sirf custody mein hai...inpar laga aarop abhi siddh nahi hua hai!" Vedanti exclaimed.
"Yes, you're right, Veda. Inspector aapko inke saath interrogation karna chahiye...aur aap ho ki unhe salaakho ke peeche daal diya..." Nivi said.
"Toh aap log hume sikhayenge ki karyawahi kaise karni hai humein?" The inspector challenged. Vedanti got pissed.
"Moo...Call karo Senior Inspector Vasant Rao ko. Abhi issi waqt." Vedanti gritted her teeth. The inspector seemed to not care.
"Haan ruko. Karti hun." Mugdha eyed the inspector.
Aarushi just remained calm. She just gazed intently at the man infront of her. She noticed his eyes.
"Nivi!" Aarushi whisper-yelled at Nivi.
"Haan?" Nivi replied.
"Inspector ki aankhon ko dekh...kaisi stormy types hai...as if he is under some influence..." Aarushi informed. Nivi looked at the man's eyes.
"Haan yaar, tum sahi keh rahi ho..." Nivi said.
"Umm...mujhe toh kuch solid gadbad lag rahi hai..." Sameeksha said. Mugdha was pacing back and forth conversing with the Senior Inspector.
Sid and Yudhveer went to the three of them.
"Fikar mar karo ji...hum tum teeno ko bahar nikal ke hi rahenge!" Yudhveer said happily. Everyone gave him a weird look.
"Yeh itna khush kyun hai?" Rohan asked with a twisted face.
"Mein khush hun..?" Yudhveer stupidly asked.
"Nahi. Tum aansuo ki nadiya baha rahe ho apne naino mein se." Sumedh sarcastically pointed out.
"Sathiya gaya hai..." Sid mumbled.
"Kya...?" Yudhveer asked.
"Kuch nahi bhai! Tu shanti rakh na!" Amit 'requested' Yudhveer to keep quiet.
Mugdha came back to everyone surrounding the Inspector's table.
She nodded looking at the girls.
"Woh aa rahe hai.." Mugdha informed glaring at the Inspector.
"Good." Aarushi exhaled and went to sit down somewhere. Bandana and Sameeksha followed her. Vedanti, Mugdha and Nivi went to their husbands in the cell.
"Tu theek aahes na?(you're okay, right?)" Vedanti asked Sumedh with tears in her eyes. Sumedh looked at his teary-eyed wife.
"Mau...Ro mat..." Sumedh cooed stroking her face lightly through the bars. "Ho, mein theek hun..."
Vedanti smiled at him through her tears.
"Amit!" Mugdha cried. "Kaise hua yeh sab??" She asked.
"Moo...woh hua yun ki..." He narrated the entire incident to her.
"Uski itni himmat!" Nivi hissed.
"Nivi...shaant hi jao..we'll do something...everything will be okay..." Rohan tried to calm her down.
Meanwhile, Aarushi and Sid were sittting on a bench waiting for the Senior Inspector. Aarushi felt her mark burning. She got irritated.
"Sid...ek minute mere saath chalo na gaadi tak..." Aarushi got up and pulled Sid to his feet.
"Kya hya???" Sid questioned.
"Chalo toh sahi..." She started dragging him.
"Arrey, par Senior Inspector aa rahe hain na..." Sid said.
"Haan tab tak hum wapas aa jayenge. Don't worry." She took him to their car. The both sat on the back seat. The windows were tinted black so no one outside could see what was inside the car.
Aarushi removed her jacket. Sid widened his eyes.
"Kya kar rahi ho tum?!" Sid exclaimed.
"Arrey, chup! Koi free show nahi de rahi tumhe...mera mark bahut burn ho raha hai...can you please check it?" Aarushi asked. Sid nodded.
"Turn ho..." he instructed. Aarushi turned so now her back was facing him. Her top was a little low at the back. She moved her hair aside. The mark was completely visible to Sid now.
But no.
Something was wrong.
"Aarushi!" Sid shouted in shock.
"Kya hua???" Aarushi asked.
"Tu-Tumhara mark...Y-YEH badal kaise gaya?!" He exclaimed. Aarushi frowned.
"Badal gaya matlab?" She asked furrowing her brows.
"Aaru, it's a completely new design...pehle kuch aur tha..." Sid said. "Ruko Mein tumhe dikhata hun..." Sid pulled out his phone from his pocket. He switched on the camera and clicked a picture. He showed the picture to Aarushi. She gasped.
"What the hell?!" She yelled in astonishment. Suddenly, she cringed in pain.
"Aarushi??? Kya hua?" Siddharth asked her.
"Pata nahi...dard ho raha hai..." She closed her eyes and leaned back. Sid stared at her intently.
A few minutes later, she opened her eyes and wore her jacket.
"Chalo, wapas chalte hain..." Aarushi mumbled and got out of the car. Sid followed her actions.
"Aaru...your mark.." Sid started saying.
"Chodho yaar...baadmein dekhenge...pehle in logon ko bahar nikalna hai..." Aarushi said wearing her glares. Sid sighed.
************
Devaki woke up with severe headache. The sun's rays were penetrating inside the room through narrow creaks between two curtains.
She sat up on the bed and grabbed her head.
"Ahh.." She groaned.
Randhir came inside the room. He breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thankgod, tum uth gayi...mein abhi tumhe uthane aane hi wala tha..." Randhir said. He was casually dressed in a pair of denims and a white V-neck t-shirt. Devaki squinted at him.
"Kyun?" Devaki asked. "Aur mein soyi kaise?"
"Arrey...tunhe yaad nahi...? Woh jo tunhare saath Amit, Rohan aur Sumedh ne zabardasti ki uske baad tum itna royi...rote rote tum so gayi...iss wajah se FIR darj nahi kara paye hum...but it's okay...tum tayyar ho jao aur naashta kar lo...phir hum police station jaakar unke khilaaf FIR likhwa denge..." Randhir said giving Devaki some paracetamol and a glass of water. She took it from him and thanked him. She could not understand anything that Randhir said.
Randhir noticed that Devaki's eyes had changed somehow. They seemed softer rather than the fierce determined ones that he was seeing for the past month. She looked a little insecure which Randhir could not understand why. She looked so lost.
"Kya hua??" Randhir asked her. She remained silent. "Acha chodho...tum jao naha lo tab tak mein kisi se bulva kar tumhare liye tumhare favourite kanda poha banva deta hun..." Randhir tried to cheer her up. Devaki beamed at him when she heard 'kanda poha'.
"Batata bhi!" Devaki chirped. "Uske bina mein nahi khaungi!"
Randhir smiled. "Haan baba...jao ab naha kar aao."
"Tum bhi chalo na.." Devaki begged.
"Kahan?" He asked raising his eyebrows.
"Mere saath...nahane..." Devaki batted her eyelashes infront of him. Randhir let out a chuckle.
"Abhi nahi...abhi mujhe kaam hai...but maybe raat ko...jab sab so jayenge..." Randhir winked. Devaki laughed.
"Acha mein nahakar aati hun..." She got up and entered the washroom.
************
"Inspector Devraj Shinde! Aapse aisi bhool kaise ho sakti hai? You're one of our most trusted men!" Senior Inspector Vasant Tukaram Rao yelled at the inspector in the police station. Amit, Sumedh and Rohan had been removed from the cell at Vasant Rao's command. They were standing next to everyone with their wives.
Devraj Shinde hung his head low in shame. He looked up after a while. Bandana noticed his eyes.
"Iski aankhen badal gayi!" Bandana observed and nudged Sam. Yudhveer also poked Sam to ask what they were discussing. Sam told Yudhveer what Bandana told her. All three of them nodded in agreement.
"Sorry, Sir. Pata nahi mein kya soch raha tha! Aap mujhe jaante hai...mein aisi galti kabhi nahi kar sakta hun...pata nahi mera dimag kahan tha..." Devraj apologised. Mugdha and Vedanti were about to open their mouths to protest but Aarushi and Nivi signalled them to keep quiet.
Vasant Rao turned to Amit, Sumedh and Rohan.
"We are really sorry for the inconvenience, CM sir. Aisi galti dubara nahi hogi..." Vasant Rao apologised while joining his hands infront of Amit. Amit touched his hands.
"Arrey? Aapki koi galti nahi hai...aap kyun maafi maang rahe ho?" Amit said.
Vasant Rao nodded.
"Par sir, Aapse abhi bhi interrogation hogi...aap par rape case ka aarop laga hai...people will be strict..." Vasant informed Amit.
"Haan mein jaanta hun.." Amit said.
"Guys, bahar humare khilaf bahut riots ho rahi hai..." Aarushi informed reading something on her phone.
"Haan...aap teeno ko-Amit ji, Sumedj ji aur Aarushi ji, ko shayad underground jaana pade..." Vasant said. Amit grabbed his head.
"Haan, theek hai...We will consult our party members..." Amit said.
Suddenly, Randhir forcefully dragged Devaki inside the police station. She was trying to protest but he wasn't listening. Everyone stared at him. He saw Rohan, Amit and Sumedh free and anger filled his eyes.
"Inspector, hun FIR darj karane aaye Hain...inke khilaaf.." He growled pointing towards Rohan, Amit and Sumedh. Devaki looked scared. She was not understanding anything.
"Randhir..." She started to say but Randhir cut her off.
"Nahi Devaki...daro mat...sach bolo..." Randhir encouraged her.
"Boliye Mrs. Devaki Singh..." The inspector said. Devaki started sweating alot. She gulped down the saliva which was stuck in her throat.
"Mu-Mujhe koi FIR darj nahi karwani..." Devaki said adamantly.