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Hearing this, Jhankar was slightly taken aback. There were some things she couldn’t fully comprehend. She asked him directly,

“You love aunty... and even now you claim you could never forget your love for her. But your son—your own son—hates hismother. He believes what she did to you was wrong, even though he knew his mother loved him deeply. Why didn’t you ever tell your son that his hatred was unjust?”

“Because I am selfish…”

“I don’t understand…”

“When I realized Sonia was going to leave me, I tried so hard to stop her. I pleaded, begged—I did everything in my power to keep her. But she had made up her mind. She was determined to leave me. Vikrant is my son, and she wasn’t even willing to take him with her. And then she left… she left this world. She had already taken her path long ago. I tried so hard to hate her—to truly hate her—but I had loved her so much that I could never bring myself to do it. Even now, I try to hate her, just a little... but the more I try to hate her, the more I end up loving her. And so... when Vikrant was angry at her, when he didn’t grieve her loss, when I saw the hatred in his eyes for his mother—it made me selfish. Because if I couldn’t hate her... at least her own son could. Call it madness, call it anything you like, but this is the truth. I couldn’t punish Sonia. But seeing Vikrant’s hatred for her... it felt like she was receiving punishment through him. And that gave me satisfaction.”

Jhankar listened to him in stunned silence. Seeing her reaction, Ravindra smiled, stepped closer to her, gently placed a hand on her head, and said softly,

“There are some things you don’t need to understand. This is life—not everything is in our control. Just like I can’t stop loving her, the anger I carry for her doesn’t lessen either. That’s why I never tried to stop Vikrant from hating her. Now you should go rest—it’s getting cold. And if you fall sick, the one who’ll suffer the most will be my son. Go take care of yourself.”

Jhankar was beginning to understand how strong emotions can push a person to do wrong things. She knew that Ravindra was deeply mistaken, but she also understood that it wasn't in her hands to correct or change him. However, what she did not want—at any cost—was for Vikrant to continue hating his mother without reason. So she decided to focus solely on that thought. She gave Ravindra a gentle smile and walked away.

Jhankar was trying to understand Ravindra’s words, but she was also confused. All this left her restless, unable to sleep. Vikrant wasn’t home either, which was starting to worry her. He had been gone for quite some time now, and she had a strong feeling that his absence wasn’t due to any business work—it was definitely related to the mafia. Her heart raced, prompting her to pick up her phone and call him.

Vikrant sat calmly, staring ahead. In front of him hung four men—suspended, skinned, their flesh peeled from their bodies. As he had promised, he rubbed salt into their wounds every time they regained consciousness, causing excruciating pain. By now, they were beyond screaming; he couldn’t hear a single sound from them anymore. So he looked over at one of his men. Without needing instructions, they immediately picked up thick pipes and stood in front of the hanging men. In an instant, water burst forth from the pipes with immense pressure, striking their exposed bodies like blades. The force was unbearable; screams erupted again as they jolted back into consciousness. With no skin on their bodies, the water felt like fire. They were desperate for death, begging for it for the past two days, but death wasn’t coming. Every moment of being alive was now their punishment.

Suddenly, Vikrant’s phone rang. He glanced at his men, who promptly stuffed cloth into the victims’ mouths. He smiled and answered the call. It was Jhankar.

“Yes, love…”

“You sound romantic…”

Jhankar’s surprise was evident in her tone the moment she heard his voice, making Vikrant chuckle.

“I honestly didn’t know you could sound this romantic,” she added, amused.

“You really don’t know how deeply I’ve fallen in love with you… or what I’m willing to do for it.”

“I want to know. And for that, you’ll have to come home.”

Vikrant looked ahead, satisfied with his men’s work. He also knew that without his command, they wouldn’t kill those four. Meanwhile, all of Australia was searching for Viren Chandel—it would all come together soon. Standing up from his place, he replied,

“Just make sure you don’t get scared when I come home and show you just how much I love you.”

“You’re trying to scare me for no reason. If you think I’ll get scared—then come home and try. Let’s see how scary you really are.”

Vikrant burst out laughing and responded:

“Hurting you, scaring you, or causing you pain, those are the last things I’d ever want to do.”

Jhankar fell silent. Their breaths now seemed to speak more than their words. Feeling her breath through the phone, Vikrant got into his car and said softly,

“I love you…”

“And I love you too…”

The moment Jhankar said it, Vikrant, who was about to start the car, froze for a second. A wide smile spread across his face. Jhankar, meanwhile, suddenly regretted blurting it out. She had planned to tell him in a special way, something unique and heartfelt—but now it had just slipped out. She was angry at herself and had no idea how she would face him now. Without saying another word, she cut the call.

Vikrant immediately started driving, his face glowing with joy, his smile growing wider every second. He rolled down both the car windows and, speeding down the road, shouted with all his might:

“Woooo She loves meee!”

Back in her room, Jhankar paced from corner to corner. She had no idea how to correct her mistake. She had wanted to propose to him in the most beautiful, memorable way, to make him feel truly special. But now she had just blurted it out, ruining everything. She had planned everything perfectly—but now it all felt meaningless. Looking at the door, she muttered to herself:

“Vikrant’s definitely going to try to make me say it again… and what do I do? Why do I always end up messing up my own plans?”