Page 32 of Substitute Bride

“I’m sorry, sir… Mr. Chandel lured me in.

I made the mistake of giving in to temptation.

I haven’t given him any data yet—I was waiting to raise its value.

Just today, he said he’d pay me around 20 crores.

I was just about to go. He doesn’t know anything yet, and now I won’t give him a thing. Please, spare my life.”

Vikrant watches him calmly. The man starts sobbing and begging for mercy, knowing Vikrant is as deadly as he is calm.

He tries to crawl forward to touch Vikrant’s feet, but just then, Vikrant’s phone rings.

The man freezes, understanding that interrupting him could be fatal.

Vikrant answers the call—it’s from the guard keeping Jhankar under surveillance for her safety.

“What happened…?”

“Sir… The rain is getting very heavy. It’s hard to get a taxi or bus. Madam is drenched and struggling, and I can’t help her directly. It would be best if you came immediately.”

Vikrant instantly grasps the situation and begins to leave.

As he walks out, everyone in the room watches him, and the man, relieved, believes his life is spared.

But a sudden bullet pierces his head, killing him instantly.

Everyone turns toward the doorway, where Vikrant stands silently, watching the smoke from his gun.

“When I told you not to make any deals with Chandel, you should’ve remembered. Since you didn’t, it's only fitting that a bullet reminded you.”

He leaves as everyone looks at their dead friend, knowing full well that betraying Vikrant means certain death—and this man knew exactly what he was doing.

Vikrant receives Jhankar’s exact location and heads out quickly.

The rain is pouring, and his men report that Jhankar is stuck under a tree, soaked.

Upon reaching the spot, Vikrant sees her clearly—wearing a white kurta and blue jeans clinging to her due to the rain, clutching her bag to her chest. When a car halts in front of her, she doesn’t realize it's Vikrant. But when he steps out and stares at her, she’s taken aback.

“Vikrant…”

“Come inside…”

Jhankar can’t believe he’s here. She doesn’t understand how he knew her whereabouts. He walks up, removes his suit jacket, wraps it around her shoulders, and pulls it tight, drawing her closer as he buttons it—his eyes locked on hers in anger. Jhankar looks away, uncomfortable, and softly asks,

“How did you know I was here?”

Vikrant grabs her hand and takes her to the car, seating her on the passenger side. He’s drenched within two minutes from the rain. Once inside, Jhankar keeps her eyes on him, noticing the visible anger on his face. When he notices her gaze, he tries to remain silent, but she speaks.

“Can you tell me why you’re so unnecessarily angry with me?”

“You weren’t getting a bus or cab in this weather—couldn’t you have called me?”

“My phone’s off—that’s why I’m stuck here.”

Vikrant grabs her bag and checks the phone—it’s completely dead from the rain. He looks back at Jhankar, who is staring at him. She calmly asks,

“If your investigation is over, will you now tell me how you knew I was here?”

“It was raining, so I went to pick you up from the office. It was empty. I assumed you took a bus. On the way, I saw you here. Do you even realize how exposed your clothes are?”

Jhankar looks away and responds slightly irritated,

“I know exactly what happened—it’s not my fault.

Everything was fine this morning, then the rain started.

I’m uncomfortable because of how people were staring.

.. I couldn’t find a bus, had to walk, and my phone’s dead.

No public phone nearby. And when I tried asking for one, those men started leering.

I waited, hoping the rain would stop or I’d find a cab. ”

Driving, Vikrant clenches the steering wheel in fury and growls,

“Listen carefully—if you need to go anywhere from now on, a car will drop you off and wait outside. Two guards will be with you at all times. If you don’t agree, you’re not stepping out of the mansion.”

“You don’t need to dictate my life. Things like this happen occasionally—you’re making a huge deal out of it.”

“I don’t care if it happens occasionally or not. I’ve said what I said. If you want to go to the office, you’ll follow my rules—or stay home.”

“I don’t need to deal with these typical husband vibes.”

“I don’t care whether you like it or not—I am your husband. So, you’ll have to tolerate these vibes.”

As soon as Jhankar hears his words, she begins to look at him closely.

However, the intense anger on Vikrant's face prevents her from looking at him for long.

She quietly starts looking out of her window.

She is wearing Vikrant's jacket properly, but despite that, she still feels extremely uncomfortable remembering the way the people standing on the road had looked at her.

Both of them soon reach the mansion, and upon arrival at the house, the first thing Vikrant does is step out and scream loudly after looking around.

“Leave everyone….”

Jhankar, who was exiting the car, jumps up from her spot upon hearing his loud voice.

However, she quickly realizes that all the people had completely lowered their eyes and vanished from the scene upon Vikrant's command.

Jhankar quickly goes inside the mansion without turning back.

Vikrant, taking a deep breath in anger, calls his men and tells them,

“I want the eyes of all those people tonight—those whose eyes made Jhankar uncomfortable while she was standing there.”

After his order, everybody vanishes quickly.

He glances ahead only to find no one there.

He takes slow steps inside and heads toward his room, only to find that Jhankar is not there.

She must be changing her clothes in the bathroom at the moment.

Remembering how Jhankar was trying to hide herself and the nervous look in her eyes because two or three boys were staring at her, his anger doesn't subside. He says, taking a deep breath,

“Some mistakes are simply unforgivable.”

Late at night, Jhankar is continuously sneezing, but she is not ready to put her file down.

Vikrant has seen her many times working like this.

He has given her medicine, but due to being wet in the rain for a long time, the medicine isn’t working, and her eyes are watering continuously along with a severe headache.

“I have called the doctor; he must be coming soon.”

“Who calls the doctor for such a small thing?”

Stopping her work, Jhankar answers Vikrant and immediately sneezes three to four times in a row, causing Vikrant to look at her and comment,

"Why? When you go on a long drive, do you call the doctor to accompany you?”

“What… I’m very surprised to think that you also say such one-liners; your face and your one-liners don’t suit each other… Stop, please…”

Vikrant resumes his work and waits for the doctor, but Jhankar, feeling increasingly unwell, closes her file and says as she lies on the bed,

“If your doctor comes and disturbs me, I will snatch his injection and inject it into him instead. So tell your doctor there’s no need to come here; I’m sleeping.”

“Maa is also very worried about you; she wanted to meet you, but I refused because you’re sneezing a lot. Your germs could attack her too… And today you sleep on the bed.”

Hearing this, Jhankar, who was preparing to sleep, looks at him and mutters softly,

“If germs can attack so fiercely, then this man won’t sleep in the room today—he’ll run away from this room.”

Jhankar ignores him completely and goes to sleep with a blanket over her head on the bed because she is in dire need of comfort.

Vikrant begins observing her intently when his phone vibrates.

A slight smile appears on his face as he takes out his phone and quickly checks WhatsApp.

His men had gouged out the eyes of all the men who had made Jhankar uncomfortable while she stood in the rain and sent him their photo. Looking at it, he says softly,

“Good job…”

Jhankar is asleep, and Vikrant, after completing his work, walks toward the bed and looks at her sleeping peacefully.

He touches her forehead very gently to check for fever but doesn’t feel any.

That's why he quietly lies down under the duvet, his eyes fixed solely on Jhankar.

Then Sharda calls. While lying down on the sofa, he picks up the call and looks at Jhankar.

“Yes, Maa…”

“I was worried about Jhankar’s health. Is she okay? Does she have a fever? I don’t know how long the poor girl stayed drenched in the rain.”

“No, she doesn’t have a fever. I called the doctor, but she’s asleep, and I don’t want to disturb her.”

Jhankar is getting disturbed in her sleep by the sounds around her. She keeps tossing and turning, and Vikrant continues watching her. Sharda says,

“Well, that’s good. At least she doesn’t have a fever.

If she’s resting, even better. You take care of yourself too.

If you start having problems—germs, a cold, or anything—you’ll start troubling her all night.

You should move to another room and ensure she sleeps comfortably. Okay, I’m hanging up now; you rest.”

“Hmmm…”