Mahira Khan as Ridhima ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

After Karan left me at the doorsteps of the Singhania mansion, he drove off to god-knows-where.
I on the other hand, was a woman on mission. Nanu's words wouldn't leave me.

Love can melt stones, Karan is still human....
Love can melt stones, Karan is still human....
Love....

Urgh!! So I just had to talk to Ishika before I could, delve more into the love crap.

I found her easily. I asked the house help, where Ishika is and they directed me to her room.
I knocked once and she opened the door.

"Ridhima? Hi, come on in."

I didn't beat around the bush and went head straight to the point.

"Your father knew who the real murderer is, from the very beginning, he threatened to reveal it to everyone if we don't accept the proposal." I tell her earnestly and her expression changes from confused to realisation, as my explanation reached it's end.

She bolts the door and turns to me. Her face an epitome of calm.
"I know" she says and after a beat continues "I also know that dad was the one who gave your dad money to kill my mother."

Okay,
WHAT.
THE.
ACTUAL.
FUCK!!!!!

"What the fuck..." I let my jaw mingle with the kashmere carpet for a while before I get my bearings back.

" why have you not done anything about it? Why would your dad do that? No don't answer that, I know he is a fucking heartless bastard. But why are you still quite about it? Why didn't you tell this to Karan?" I say, my words coming out a mile a minute and my thoughts run faster.

Ishika stays quite for a while and that was not mere seconds for me, they were huge fuckingg hours. This revelation has my blood ringing in my ears. And without looking in the mirror, I can guarantee that my face is red, despite me having a tanned complexion.

No that is not me blushing, damn it! That is my blood pressure skyrocketing!!

"I...umm.... Ridhima promise me you won't tell this to anyone" Ishika pleads, holding my shoulders and looking me in the eyes.

"Of-course, I am going to tell someone! That someone being your brother, then the police." I tell her matter of factly.

"Please Ridhima. You hear me out, and then I will tell you why you can't tell all this to anyone. Not even to Karan Bhai." Her eyes hold a deep desperation. And I can only imagine how she feels, knowing that her own father is the reason her mother is dead. I relent and agree to keep this between me and her.

"I like sketching, designing to be exact. I design clothes and I want to be a fashion designer-" Ishika starts but I interrupt her, "ummm.... How is that relevant to the story you are telling"
Ishika huffs and let's out an exaggerated sigh.
"Do you ever listen, I was about to come to that point"
I smile sheepishly and let her continue. "Sorry, you continue, I won't interrupt now"

"I like designing, so I sketch clothes. I have been doing ever since I was a small kid. My mother liked painting and sketching, I got it from her. So after her death, my step-mother threw out all the canvases and paints and charcoal. But mom's special charcoal stash was kept in dad's office in a drawer at the corner of the shelf." Ishika flops on the bed and I follow her, flopping carelessly and in the midst of it remove my earrings which were heavy and made my earlobes ache.

I had come straight to Ishika's room without changing.

"I remember my mother hiding it there because she loved it and didn't want me to use it otherwise I would ruin the kit, but I saw her keep it there. I would secretly use it and then keep it very neatly back at it's place. But now that I think about it, mummy always knew that I have used her charcoal but never said anything. So after her death, I didn't use the kit, but whenever I was lonely, and missed mom I took the case in which the charcoal pencils were kept, then sat under dad's office table, hugged the case tightly and cried quietly. No one would bother me there. But one day, during my sixteenth year of existence, my dad came into the office, with my step mother and they talked about stuff. They laughed and enjoyed their victory about some deals or shipping. Something I don't remember in detail. And then dad started talking how lucky my step mother is for him." Ishika's bright brown orbs shine as tears collect in them. She closes her eyes, in an attempt to push the tears back but it only squeezes the tears out. My eyes well up with tears at the sight of seeing her cry.

"And says how mummy was a bad luck and how getting her killed didn't get him the property, she inherited from her father. I heard him say how my grandpa is clever, to put his will in such a way that dad didn't get even a single penny out of the inheritance, instead all of it went directly into Karan bhai's care."

Ishika starts sobbing. And I could take it no more so I sat close to her and hugged her while she sobbed.

"I am so sorry Ishika. I can only imagine what it was like for you. I am so sorry." I murmur to her repeatedly.

After a while Ishika's sobs subside and she breaks out of the hug. "He took the name of the man who killed mummy. I didn't know it was your father until I saw him on the wedding day. Anyways so when they both left the room, I sneaked out of there making sure no one saw me but Megha had seen me. And being the childish bïtch she is, she installed cameras in my bathroom, too several videos of me bathing, crying, showering, and using the toilet , showed them to me and blackmailed me with them. At first I didn't care if she put them on Internet, I thought she was bluffing. So I collected evidence, took your father's pictures, went through dad's office's CCTV footage and went to tell Karan Bhai but before I could tell him all this, dad had made him leave the country. And then dad took the evidence I had collected against him and burnt it all in front of me."
Ishika hiccups, her eyes fixed behind me, a terror etched on her face, far greater than any agony I have suffered.

I remain silent, listening to every word, giving ger my undivided attention , my eyes never leaving her face, and my hands were in hers as she narrated it to me.

"He then took me to a place....that place....there was......there was a man, in a room, with a...g...girl, I was too young , okay I was sixteen but I didn't know what happened w..hen two people had....he was......they were on a bed, naked." Ishika was shaking like a leaf on a windy day. Her words coming out incoherent and I was afraid I already knew where she was going with this. I wanted to stop her but I also wanted her to get this out of her system. So I remained quite and squeezed her hand to let her know I was there for her.

"Naked,they were......uh.....then dad knocked on the open door and the man got up, he was....naked....dad told him he brought someone for him, then pushed me towards the man!" Ishika then started sobbing again and couldn't get a word out. Her words made my throat lodged up and I couldn't swallow the lump In my throat down, we sobbed as we hugged each other.

"Oh god! I am so sorry Ishika. I am so sorry. Please don't cry that man or your father will never hurt you again. I won't let that happen. Please stop crying." I reassured, hugging her tightly to myself.

"Did he ....rape-" I start but Ishika shakes her head and breaks the hug and looks at me.
"He didn't. But he...." Ishika says "he touched me, in places. He threw me on the bed, in which he was doing the unthinkable wth that woman and l..l...laid on top of me. He was naked. But before he could remove my clothes dad stopped him. Then he took me back home and said if I try to tell anything about him to Karan Bhai, he will sell me to that man." Ishika finishes.

Looking at the crying, broken and scared girl in front of me, I realised that I have never loathed a person more than Gautam Singhania.

"Why didn't you tell Karan anything about it? He would never have let anything happen to you." I ask Ishika.

"I did try but they somehow made created situations where I could never tell Karan Bhai about it. The man.....he was always there in functions and parties. He was even in the wedding. I am so trapped. These three years have been torture for me. Karan Bhai is not supposed to know about it, please." Says Ishika.

"What am I not supposed to know?" I turn my neck so fast, I think I cracked it. And Ishika too looks at the door, which is now open and Karan is standing in the doorway.

"Uh..."

"Yeah..."

"What are you hiding Isha? And didn't I ask you to not talk to this thing" my jaw drops on the floor at his offensive word targeted at me.
"Excuse me! The thing you are talking about is right here and she was asking me to not tell you about our friendship, we are best friends. You are such an asś after all, you won't understand us." I throw at him.

But he ignores me and says to Ishika "Isha, I am going get freshen up, we'll have lunch together in your room, the maid is bringing the food here." Karan says to her, Ishika smiles and tells him to hurry up and he leaves.

" I won't tell him anything but I told your Nanu about Gautam and she said we need to expose him in front of Karan. And she told me I had to make Karan believe me, and something about love melting stones and Karan being human. She asked me to talk to you" I tell her and she smiles and says "what she means is that, if Karan is not trying in this wedding, you should try to keep the relationship going, you shower him with the love a wife is supposed give her husband and he will come around."

"But, how can I try being a wife who is in love with her husband, when I am not in love with him?" I ask her confused. It is funny how I am a married woman and I am taking advice from a single girl.

"You treat him like your husband, you take care of him-"
There is a knock on the door followed by the voice of a main saying that the food is here. Ishika asks the maid to set the food on the coffee table in front of the sofa.

"There are only two plates, please bring one more set of utensils." Ishika says, and when the maid nods before leaving, she thanks her.

"I don't think it is a good idea." I tell her.

"What?"

"This- me having lunch with you siblings. Karan won't like it."

"Karan Bhai would also not like you when you start doing your wife duties and pay him attention and shower him with love. But you have to do it anyway." Ishika says.

And I agree reluctantly.
After a while another knock, on the door interrupts us and it is the same maid, who brought us food. This time she has brought the extra set of utensils, Ishika asked for.

"Karan will not like this." I remind her, again.

"He'd have to deal with it." Ishika tells me.

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Thank you for reading.
I am really sorry for putting that condition of 100votes up. I upload these chapters because I like writing. But sometimes the votes and comments encourage me to write, and I just wanted that extra motivation.

Readers, please note that the model in the picture is my casting for Ridhima.

I am still unable to decide the casting for Karan and other characters.
I will be extremely thankful to the readers if they could suggest me Celebrities, youtubers, models etc. For my characters.