Page 31 of Substitute Bride

VIKRANT'S CALM REVELATION

“I told you that you should stay at home, as there’s no need for you here anyway; there are plenty of people here.”

Vikrant remains silent and quietly settles onto the single sofa in front of Raghunath’s bed, removes his shoes, and lies down carefully.

Jhankar closes her laptop and begins to gaze at him.

Fully aware of her stare, Vikrant lies quietly with his eyes closed and his hands resting on his chest. Jhankar continues to watch him silently, and after setting her laptop aside, she reclines comfortably on the large sofa, her usual sleeping spot in the hospital when they are together.

Vikrant adjusts the single sofa properly and falls asleep on it.

Jhankar’s eyelids grow heavy, but as long as her eyes remain open, she only looks at Vikrant.

She knows well that he must be asleep by now, exhausted from the day, so she suddenly rises and retrieves a duvet from the small bag she brought from home.

She is aware that Vikrant refuses to use hospital blankets or coverlets, no matter how much he might need them.

She approaches him quietly, covers him with the duvet, and turns to return to her place. Then Vikrant speaks.

“Thank you…”

She turns around and looks at him. Vikrant opens his eyes, meets her gaze, and notices the second duvet clearly visible in her bag.

He closes his eyes again and lies back quietly.

Jhankar turns away, closes her eyes tightly, lightly bites her tongue, and quickly returns to the sofa, lying down with her back to him and pulling the duvet over her head.

She had assumed he was asleep, which is why she went to cover him.

Vikrant slowly opens his eyes and smiles at her.

He closes his eyes again and begins to recall an incident from two nights ago.

PAST INCIDENT

Jhankar is sleeping deeply, while Vikrant is working.

He is surprised that Jhankar fell asleep so early today and glances at her two or three times; he knows her reasons to avoid him.

He is in the hospital to talk to her. However, the situation is such that he has many opportunities to talk to her, but he is unable to seize even a single one of those chances to have a conversation.

The way she sleeps, curled up with her legs tucked in, makes him a bit uneasy.

He approaches her and gently touches her forehead, but Jhankar immediately grabs his hand.

“Mom, please cover me.”

Seeing Jhankar in this state, he grows concerned. He is about to call the staff to request a duvet when Jhankar tightly grips his hand.

"It’s cold…” she says in a sleepy voice.

He first adjusts the air conditioning to raise the room’s temperature, suspecting that Jhankar, unaccustomed to prolonged exposure to AC, often feels cold.

Without delay, he removes his jacket and covers her with it, which she clutches tightly in her sleep.

He steps out to instruct his guards to arrange a duvet as quickly as possible.

They also bring hospital blankets, which he glares at angrily, but given the urgency, he has no choice.

When he returns and begins covering Jhankar with the duvet, he tries to retrieve his jacket, but she holds it tightly in her sleep.

Instead of taking it, he carefully covers her legs with the duvet to ensure her comfort.

Returning to his spot, he observes Jhankar, now sleeping peacefully, her face reflecting deep relaxation.

After finishing his work, he tries to rest, knowing that sleeping here is nearly impossible for him.

Still hoping to relax his eyes, he lies down with them closed.

He doesn’t know how long he stayed like that, but in the morning, with the sound of chirping birds, he realizes Jhankar is about to wake.

He opens his eyes and watches her as she comfortably wraps herself in his jacket, smiling as if seeing something delightful in her dreams. Vikrant cannot take his eyes off her when he sees her smile like this.

Jhankar slowly opens her eyes, takes a deep breath, rubs her palms together, and presses them to her eyes twice.

On the third time, she examines her palms closely.

Vikrant observes her intently for the first time.

She then holds his jacket tightly, as if hugging a comforter, and realizes it belongs to someone else.

She lifts it, inspecting the collar closely, her eyes widening as she tries to recognize whose jacket it is.

This makes Vikrant smile. Just as Jhankar is about to look at him, he closes his eyes, knowing she is watching him but pretending to sleep.

Jhankar approaches him quietly, examines him closely, and then covers him with his jacket, saying softly.

“You’re not that bad… But you’re not good either.”

She sticks out her tongue, makes a slight sound, and heads to the washroom. When Vikrant hears the door close, he opens his eyes, glances at the washroom door, smiles faintly, and then closes his eyes again, lying back quietly.

PAST INCIDENT ENDS

Jhankar is hastily preparing for her first day at the office, determined to avoid any delays.

At the same time, she is aware that Vikrant is in the room, someone she wants to avoid at all costs.

Vikrant, who can sense her avoidance very well, keeps looking at her repeatedly while continuing his work.

Knowing that Jhankar will never tell him anything, he speaks up.

“Looks like you’ve finally got a job. Would you like to tell me where you’re going?”

Jhankar, not wanting to argue with him and knowing this isn't something she needs to hide, responds while continuing her work without looking at him.

“I’ve got a job at V International, and from there, I’ll go straight to my father’s place. I’m staying there tonight…. Already asked Sharda Maa.”

Vikrant continues looking at her, knowing full well that she hasn’t looked at him even once.

Still, he slightly nods. Meanwhile, Jhankar checks the time—before leaving, she wants to spend some time with Sharda, who is ill and appreciates having someone around.

Without delay, she leaves the room. Vikrant, watching her closely, murmurs while resting his arm on his knee,

“Nobody can avoid me…”

As Jhankar starts pushing Sharda’s wheelchair toward the dining hall, Sharda begins to complain.

“I can walk just fine, but you and Vikrant don’t want me to walk at all.”

“Do you think I don’t know how much you take advantage of our absence?

Not only do you roam around the house, but you also start doing chores in the kitchen, even though the doctor has clearly said you need rest. Still, you don’t listen to us.

That’s why when we’re around, we don’t want you to even lift your arms to walk. ”

Sharda laughs and glances at Vikrant, who is already at the dining table and listening to their conversation. Ravindra, noticing that Jhankar is dressed formally, asks her,

“Why are you wearing formal clothes today?”

“I’ve got a job. From today, I’ll be going to the office and then to the hospital to see my father, since he’s getting discharged tomorrow.”

Hearing this, Ravindra immediately looks at Vikrant, who begins eating as soon as Sharda arrives. Sharda’s eyes shift to Ravindra, who is clearly surprised and visibly angry. He slides his breakfast plate aside and says,

“I have a meeting with a political party today, so I’ll have breakfast there.”

Vikrant pauses for a moment but then resumes eating. Ravindra leaves, and the remaining three continue their breakfast peacefully. Afterward, Vikrant takes Sharda to her room and says to Jhankar,

“I’m going that way, so I’ll drop you at the office.”

Before Jhankar can respond, he enters Sharda’s room with her. Sharda keeps staring at Vikrant, prompting him to say,

“You know Papa very well. He didn’t want Jhankar to work, which is why he used his influence everywhere to block her opportunities. But finally, she’s got a job at V International.”

“But that’s your company—and even Ravindra doesn’t know this.”

“I can’t say anything in this matter, but I honestly don’t think I should stop Jhankar from doing what she wants. If she wants to work, then she should.”

Sharda smiles broadly at his reply, which makes Vikrant uncomfortable—his words to her contradict his actual thoughts. He quickly leaves, and Jhankar, still standing in the hall, says upon seeing him,

“I’ll go on my own. I don’t need your help. If someone sees me getting out of an expensive car, it’ll create a certain image—which is why I need a job.”

Without waiting for a response, Jhankar leaves, and Vikrant watches her go before calling his security and instructing,

“Wherever Jhankar goes and whatever condition she’s in, I want to know everything.”

~~~~

Vikrant has a gun pointed at a man’s head, who sits before him with folded hands, trying to save his life. He can feel death looming, knowing that if Vikrant himself has come, his death is certain.

“Speak up…”

Hearing Vikrant’s voice, the man begins trembling and shuts his eyes, then starts speaking rapidly.

“Chandel sir promised me no harm would come to me today, and that if you’re spending money to protect them, he’d match it. So I’ve been collecting information for him.”

As he displays a pen drive, a nearby guard grabs it, plugs it into a laptop, and shows the contents to Vikrant.

The drive contains Sonakshi’s current address, a picture of her with Vyom, her pregnancy reports, the place where Vyom started working a week ago, and his forged identity documents used abroad.