Chapter 56

The month of December passed by with the Bundela family consulting their family doctor, who confirmed the presence of PTSD disease in Vihaan for the past three years. The doctor also informed them that Vihaan was under his treatment and had been taking medicines to cure himself of the disease. Though he was improving drastically over his health in the past few months, an another sudden shock coming from Sanchi triggered the situation for the worse.

Ten days later, Vihaan was brought back home in a little better condition than before. Though his proper treatment was on the run, he started being selective for choosing people around him. He chose to spend most of his time in the workroom and started attending the bureau soon after. His doctor had strictly prohibited his family from reminding him of his disease anytime. He was on medication and required to lead a stress free life, or else the symptoms would keep coming back to him.

Moreover, the return of Sanchi in his life was necessary to completely cure him of the ailment, which was by far one of the most difficult tasks that was yet to be performed by his family. Informing Sanchi about everything would mean disobeying Vihaan's orders to them, who had strictly forbidden his family from letting her know anything about him.

Vihaan's fingers ran over the swirls of a five feet clay structure, the somber yellow paste cladded on his fingers and palms. As he worked his skills in creating a masterpiece of a statue in his workroom, images of the love of his life continued ruining his thoughts. Imparting shape to the portion above the neck wasn't easy, and as he raked his fingers through the outline of the face, he continued whistling to himself.

Protruding chin, dimpled cheeks and narrow forehead, the smooth jawline of the statue looked perfectly carved by his gifted hands. With each passing minute, the half-completed statue was growing into a beautiful sculpture of a young lady. As Vihaan's hands put the last stroke of his skills in bringing life to the sharp eyes of it, he heaved a satisfied sigh.

"You look alive and so near me, hickory!" was all Vihaan could murmur by glancing at the masterpiece he had just created. He moved aside and covered his creativity with a red velvet cloth, doing away with the leftovers of clay. In a couple of minutes, he was out of his workroom and locked the metal door behind him.

As Vihaan walked his way along the corridor to reach his own room to get ready for the bureau, he was stopped by Dheeraj, who came running to him. "Hey little brother, I won't be going to the bureau now. Somebody attacked Shaurya in his room last night and I need to check on him once."

"Is he alright?" Vihaan asked, getting suddenly concerned for his best friend.

"Nothing has happened to him except for some accidental bruises. I'll know more after visiting him."

"Right brother, I'll also be joining you to go to their house. I'll be back in ten minutes and we'll leave together." Vihaan disappeared into his room in a few seconds. The calmness and coldness in his voice were something very new that he had recently developed, which was drastically different for the 'Vihaan' the world had ever known. Sanchi's exit from his life had completely devastated and changed him for the worse and for the better respectively.

As Vihaan was getting ready in his formal attire, wearing his vests and khaki shirt wasn't easy for him. The tattoo of Sanchi's face was glistening above his chest more than before, occupying the outer walls of his heart like a permanent scar which could never be erased.

It took him more than five minutes to button up his shirt as beads of perspiration appeared on his forehead. The heaviness of his eyes and the dullness in his voice were very painful to look at. The absence of Sanchi had emptied every rough attitude he had ever possessed in his cop life.

Running his fingers along the curve of the tattoo, he murmured to himself again, "Do you realize how lonely this room feels without you? Do you know how empty I am without you? There are so many things I do daily, performing my duties as a DCP and as a son, taking care of mom and dad, spending time with my brother and sometimes asking sister-in-law how she is keeping these days. What I don't do is just quarreling with someone. I miss the arguments with you, I miss how you used to tease me for being so rude, I miss being your 'gim-cracks of arro-gance'..."

Vihaan's voice broke before he could complete his sentence. Wiping the moisture in his eyes quickly, he stared at his own reflection before the mirror. "Days are passing by in the same way as usual, but... Life has never been the same again... The alarm clock on my nightstand still wakes me up early in the morning and I religiously wish my second hickory daily... But I miss your sweet voice early in the morning, I miss how you used to stare at me with the cutest expression while nudging me to wake up, I miss our wonderful chats and... I miss you... Only you, hickory!"

Vihaan buttoned the last bead of his shirt with great difficulty and wrapped his backpack around his shoulders. "Why did you have to leave, Sanchi? Just because you wanted to have a successful career to yourself? Did you not trust me that I could have helped you with it? You thought we had nothing between us in this marriage when you were becoming my EVERYTHING. How can I live my entire life without you?"

As he shut the door of his room behind him with a thud, he stopped on his tracks again. "Travelling to the bureau without you on the backseat of my Royal Enfield is again very difficult. Having non-spicy lunch at the bureau without you teasing me is very very difficult. Looking after every case at the bureau without receiving your analyses is much more difficult. Was it so necessary to leave me incomplete, Sanchi?"

Vihaan reached the railings of the staircase and found Dheeraj waiting for him downstairs in the hallway. Quietly tapping his finger next to his heart from above the cotton material, he whispered, "But do you know why I am tolerating each and every pain without complaints? So that my family doesn't accuse you... So that you don't come to know what you have done to me... So that you don't have to cry for making me suffer... So that your happiness is not marred because of me... And all of it is just because I LOVE YOU and forever will, that also without complaints!"

*****

"Vanya!" Nidhi exclaimed with joy as soon as Sanchi moved out of the kitchen. Arjun was standing in front of her and her eyes went wide when she saw him glaring at her.

"Meet Arjun, he's my to-be fiancé and would-be husband very soon. He is a CBI officer and very brave kind of," Nidhi said, wrapping her arm around him.

Sanchi was not at all ready to face a situation so grave like this. Trying hard to keep nervousness away, she passed a weak smile. "Nice to me-et you, Ar-jun."

"Call him brother-in-law, alright?" Nidhi instructed in her chirpy voice, keeping the wide smile on her face intact.

Arjun rubbed the back of his neck before responding, "Nice to meet you too, San... Ms. Vanya..."

"You can just call her Vanya, she isn't that special," Nidhi interrupted, "Anyways, I'll go and see where my parents are. They need to meet you and fix the date of our marriage."

As Nidhi left Arjun to himself, Sanchi moved her legs as if she wanted to flee away as soon as possible. But Arjun's dense voice stopped her. "So you have been hiding here!"

"No. This is my hou-se, I don't need to hide he-re." Sanchi denied, looking elsewhere but Arjun.

"I was in the habit of hearing 'I don't have a house' for months now. From where did this ownership take birth all of a sudden?"

"It happ-ened all of a sud-den. How are you?" Sanchi tried to deviate the topic but Arjun wouldn't agree.

"Oh I'm good. I hope you are keeping good too." Arjun crossed his arms. "How are your parents? I hope they are treating you like a princess here."

Sanchi shrugged her shoulders. There was no denying of the fact that it was only Arjun who knew how evil her parents were, especially her own mother. "I said I'm good he-re."

"No you are not." Arjun remarked sternly, looking straight into her eyes. "What do you think Nidhi won't share anything with me even after being truly in love with me?"

"She di..did?"

"She did... She told me what all have been taking place in this house after you returned."

Sanchi shook her head. "Ple-ase don't tell any-one about it, to Viren-dra Sir and espe-cially Vihaan...I mean he does-n't know how bad my par-ents are and..."

"If you know how much they think of you, especially Vihaan Sir who can fight against the whole world to protect you from the evil, why the hell did you leave him? I thought you loved him because of your open end conversations with me."

"I had cer-tain restrict-ions and... How is he? I haven't spo-ken to him in days and...how is his fam-ily? How is Vidya?"

"You are not even on talking terms with Vidya!" Arjun's jaws fell open.

"No I... She's su-per mad at me for lea-ving like that. I didn't ev-en meet her for once..."

"Everyone is alright and no one misses you in the Bundela mansion," Arjun repeated in a strong and sharp voice.

"I kn-ew it." Sanchi's held drooped lower and she looked away, trying to control the escape of tears from her eyes.

"That's what you wanted, right?" Arjun asked again. "You did as you liked and you can't expect them to feel sad about your departure. They really don't have time for it."

Sanchi nodded her head as she looked up at the stairs of the house. Nidhi was walking down the stairs in quick steps while Sanchi whispered, "She sho-uldn't come to kn-ow that we kn-ow each other."

"She won't." Arjun muttered softly. "But just tell me one thing. Where do you hide and keep all your pains piled up together? Your face seems like you are not affected by anything but your eyes are the mirror to your heart, showing me how much shattered you are!"

*****

"I was hit on the head..." Shaurya narrated the story of his attack to an anxious Dheeraj and a worried Vihaan, who were attentively listening to him. "I was preparing to sleep for the night when someone sneaked into my room and attacked me from behind. I couldn't recognise the person in the dark and it escaped before I could catch a hold of it. The person's intentions was most probably to kill me but I was aware too. Vihaan had already given me a licensed gun for self-protection and that's the reason the attacker failed in it's attempt. I could only get hold of the person's hat that it had worn over it's head, the brim of which had hidden it's face."

"I had also set up secret spy cameras at the entrance and the exit of your house. Can we check the footages?" Vihaan asked to which Shaurya nodded his head.

After thoroughly examining the CCTV footages, Vihaan and Dheeraj could only conclude that there hadn't any unusual activity taken place the previous night.

"This is the job of an insider. I don't find anyone entering or leaving the house from either gateways. Can we take a look at the hat of the attacker?" Vihaan asked Shaurya and the latter handed the hat over to him.

Observing carefully, Vihaan commented, "This might be an important evidence which can help us to reach to the attacker. I'm sending it to the forensics for investigation."

Vidya patted Shaurya's cheeks. "Are you alright, bro? Why didn't you tell any of us that someone is trying to kill you since many days?"

"I couldn't bother you all for my life," Shaurya said, hugging his sister. "Where is Vay? She is not the one to stay back at home even after knowing that I was attacked."

The Trivedi family was still unaware of Sanchi's departure from Vihaan's life and Vidya hadn't wanted to inform them about it, especially to Shaurya. Dheeraj realised Vihaan tensing beside him and he squeezed his younger brother's wrist in consolation.

"Shaurya, I owe you something," Vihaan said, moving out of Dheeraj's grip. "Your sister moved to Gwalior after we divorced each other. I'm your culprit bro, for not being able to keep your sister happy. Remember, your hands and my limbs!"

Vihaan's genuine apology ridiculed Shaurya. "You must be joking, right?"

"He is not joking, Shay. Vanya has really left the city forever." Vidya confirmed and Shaurya straightened himself up in poor amazement.

"This is more of a shocking news than the attack on me. Why the hell did it happen, Vihaan? You are not the one who can hurt her and she is also not the one who can hurt you." Shaurya held Vihaan by the collar. "Tell me the real truth. What compelled her to return there, to the house she left years ago?"

"Shay, control yourself," Vidya interrupted. "Nobody is at fault this time. Everything took place under odd circumstances."

Shaurya's anger subsided when he heard the entire story from Vidya and willingly embraced Vihaan. "I'm sorry bro but I want you to bring her back when you are so much in love with her. I don't think she will ever deny your love if she comes to know about it."

"I have so many things to share with her but she didn't give me a chance. I fell seriously ill and now when I want to improve on my health, her memories are not allowing me. What am I supposed to do?" Vihaan said, separating from Shaurya.

"As far as I have known Vay, she won't ever fall in love with anyone else if it's not you. I've observed the way she looked at you at times and I used to think you both were in love. I didn't know the truth of your marriage at all. If you permit, I'll talk to her right away." Shaurya assured Vihaan.

"No, I don't want her to know about my feelings in such a way. I want to share it myself but I need a proper reason to meet her face-to-face. I have a lot to speak to her." Vihaan sat on the bed with a thud.

"Gwalior!" Dheeraj exclaimed all of a sudden. "Travel to Gwalior, Vihaan. Meet her then and there."

"We don't know why she has gone there. Simply arriving at her house and claiming her all of a sudden will not be right. This might aggravate the situation," Vidya told them. "We need to plan something bigger to find out why she returned to Gwalior, when she is the one who had left the house so many years ago. If we find things are normal and Vanya did it deliberately only for her own career's sake, Vihaan can freely claim his accusations on her."

"So here we three are with you, Vihaan. Your love for her can't be wasted just like that. Though we don't know whether she loves you or has anyone else in her life, yet we need to take the risk of letting her know. Acceptance or rejection comes later, boy. Cheer up!" Dheeraj muttered, shaking his head in unison with the others, only to bring a satisfactory smile to Vihaan's lips after ages.

*****

Sanchi congratulated Nidhi and Arjun the moment Jwala and Kunwar agreed to their marriage proposal. As soon as Sanchi left for her room, Nidhi pulled Arjun into a big tight hug. Kissing him on his cheeks lightly, she whispered against his earlobe, "I love you more than ever."

Arjun tightened his hold on her waist, intertwining his fingers with hers. "I told you I will marry you if you could cancel your engagement. You did more than that."

"I know and it was all because I love you. Don't ever underestimate my love for you. I know I am rude at times, sometimes very bitchy, but my feelings for you are always genuine. I have chosen to spend my entire life with you."

Arjun pulled out of her grip and cupped her chin. "I don't have any more restrictions today to confess that I love you too."

Nidhi's face lit up in glee when he confessed his love for her. Her joy knew no bounds as she cocooned herself to his chest. "I wish our marriage date gets fixed as early as possible. It's becoming difficult to live without you now."

"I also can't wait for the D-day to arrive so that I can fetch you with me to cure you of your rude ailments forever." Arjun laughed to which Nidhi smacked his shoulder.

"I will willingly go with you wherever you are going to take me." Nidhi assured him. "On a serious note, where are we going to stay? As far as I know, you are far away from your family and live in the government quarters. Won't your family be attending our marriage ceremony?"

"I knew you would be having this thing in your mind. I wonder why your parents didn't enquire about it," Arjun said frowning his forehead. The remembrance of his own family always worried him.

Nidhi opened her mouth to speak. "My parents told me that they won't interfere in the matters of my marriage again. I am free to take my decision. Being my parents, they will be just fulfilling the rituals during the ceremony and that's it."

"So are you really ready to marry a guy who doesn't live with his family anymore? Will you be able to spend the entire life in government quarters knowing that your husband's family is rich and aristocratic?" Arjun interrogated with confusion.

"I already know you are rich and have a well to-do family. But your passion and duty being a cop wouldn't allow you to return to them. Even though visiting your family will always remain among one of my wishes, I can still spend my entire life taking care of only you." Nidhi's reply was full of confidence.

"Let me clarify one thing, Nidhi." Arjun widened his eyes. "I really trust you that you have fallen in love with me and not for the rich family I belong to. Becoming a cop and serving the country has always been my dream. After I've achieved it, there's no backing off."

"I really don't care if your family is rich or not. You earn enough to sustain the both of us. I'll be proud for being the wife to one of the bravest officers in Madhya Pradesh." Nidhi chuckled with pride.

Arjun started narrating the story of his family. "My great grandparents owned acres of lands and we are one of the greatest and powerful families in Omkareshwar. I being the eldest son, my parents had always hoped that I should follow family's traditions after my father. When I expressed my wish of becoming a cop and work for the society, they denied strictly. I had no other choice but leave my house forever."

"Don't they contact you at all? Who is looking after your family business now?" Nidhi asked in astonishment.

"My father is still looking after the business and my younger brother will take the charge after him. I am in contact with my brother but very rarely."

"That's bad when you have a family and you can't talk to them at all." Nidhi rubbed his wrist to comfort him. "But you don't seem like you belong from such a powerful family!"

"I know because I don't go by my past and show off my originality to others. I don't use my aristocratic surname anymore, except for the middle one." Arjun confessed hesitantly.

"You use only the middle one, as if?"

"It's offensive in our native place to use the middle surname but we people living in the cities do use them." Arjun sucked in a deep breath. "I have dropped my last name before I returned to the city. I hadn't wanted anyone to keep running after me for belonging from such a family. I want people to like me the way I am."

"What! You have never told me this, Arjun."

"Nidhi, I'm sorry. I thought I should tell you the truth before we got married." Arjun apologized politely. "I wanted someone to love the original me and not by my real identity. As I said, I trust you and your