Page 52 of Substitute Bride

THUMPING HEARTS

FEW PAST EVENTS

Jhankar is sitting at the bus stop, and Vikrant is sitting in his car a short distance away.

He’s silently watching her. He takes out his phone and immediately calls her.

As soon as Jhankar sees Vikrant's name on the screen, an unknown emotion begins to stir within her, and tears start to well up in her eyes. But she quickly blinks them back, hiding them deep within, because she cannot let these tears overpower her in any way. A strange, sharp pain pierces Vikrant’s chest as he senses the tears in her eyes, even from afar.

"She is crying because of me…"

He begins to feel overwhelmed with guilt, deeply aware that he has not treated Jhankar as he should have.

And now, the situation she is in—it’s all because of him.

He pulls out another phone—the one he uses to speak to her only in the capacity of her boss—because currently, all he wants is to hear her voice.

He just wants to make sure she’s okay. He knows Jhankar doesn’t want to see him, and this time, he wants to give her the freedom to truly understand feelings.

But he also knows one thing for sure: he can’t live without her anymore.

He won’t be able to hold himself back and might end up forcibly bringing her back into his life. He dials her number.

"Hello…"

"Hello, sir…"

The moment Vikrant hears her voice, he begins to smile in a way that makes it seem like he has just found a priceless treasure.

And he can’t contain the joy of it. He wants to talk endlessly with her, but he also knows very well that right now, he can only talk about work, because he still can’t reveal to her that he is the mysterious CEO.

"Is there any problem at the office?"

"Sir, there’s no problem at the office at the moment."

"Okay. If you face any kind of problem, no matter how small, feel free to call me directly."

"Thank you so much, sir."

The call ends, and he can no longer hear her voice, which leaves him feeling strangely restless. He sits with the phone still to his ear, as if trying to listen to her voice again—but there’s nothing. He knows the call has ended, yet he softly calls out her name.

"Jhankar…"

But there’s no reply. And that silence frightens him in a strange way. He quickly looks out the windshield—Jhankar is no longer there. She has disappeared from his sight. He shouts into the phone again.

"Jhankar…"

PAST EVENT ENDS

Vikrant’s eyes snap open. Jhankar is not beside him. He quickly looks around the room, calling her name.

"Jhankar…"

But she’s not there to answer him. He suddenly jumps out of bed and starts searching the room. Not finding her anywhere, he shouts loudly:

"Jhankar…"

The first place he runs to is the balcony, where the cold wind is blowing fiercely. But she’s not there either. Without wasting a moment, he rushes back inside and is about to run outside when suddenly the bathroom door opens, and Jhankar steps out, wearing one of his oversized T-shirts.

"Vikrant…"

Seeing her in front of him so suddenly, Vikrant smiles with relief and quickly walks over to wrap her tightly in his arms. Jhankar is surprised by how close he comes, but within a second, he lifts her in his arms and carries her back to the bed.

"I thought you had left me."

"I’ve been with you all night, and I haven’t even called my parents yet. They must be so worried. Do you even realize that? I need to go home as soon as possible."

"No. You’re not going anywhere. You’re staying here, with me."

"Vikrant, I need to go to my parents now."

"I already informed them that you’re with me. And now, you’re staying with me."

Jhankar looks at Vikrant, who seems visibly disturbed. She immediately takes his hand and asks.

"What happened? Why did you wake up so startled?"

"I thought you had left me."

"No, I’m right here... With you."

"Ever since you left me behind, my biggest fear has been that you’ll leave me one day like…"

Jhankar hears him and gently smiles, turning her face away. Vikrant immediately holds her face and turns it toward him.

"I mean it, Jhankar. I’m afraid of losing you. Please, never make me feel that way."

Jhankar can see the truth in his eyes. She simply nods her head.

Vikrant lays his head on her lap, wraps his arms tightly around her waist, and hides his face against her stomach.

She gently runs her fingers through his hair.

But her mind is deeply occupied with thoughts.

Still, she would rather not spoil this beautiful moment with words, so she smiles and says something to distract him.

"So, you’re a secret CEO too? Which means there’s still a lot left to learn about you. You’re the CEO of Dhanraj Industries, a mafia, a kidnapper—and now also a secret CEO of V Internationals?"

Vikrant looks at her and begins to explain:

"When my grandfather started the company, he never thought he’d be able to take it very far.

But working with my father, they took it to great heights.

My father dreamed of making the company a household name.

At one point, he decided to enter politics.

For a long time, he managed both the business and politics.

But gradually, it became difficult to juggle both.

So, he handed the reins of the business over to me to focus entirely on politics.

That’s when I found out that along with the business, I had also inherited the mafia legacy.

I never chose to be a mafia. It was passed down to me.

And my father always believed I would manage everything perfectly.

But there were things I wasn’t happy about.

Sure, I received all of it, but I wanted to build something of my own.

I wanted to test myself—to see if I could succeed without the inherited empire.

That’s why I started my own company. Slowly, that company earned a name for itself.

It’s still doing very well today—and it will do even better in the future, especially now that its new CEO is going to take it to even greater heights. "

Jhankar looks at him. He immediately reaches out, wrapping one arm behind her neck, gently pulling her towards him, and softly brushing his lips against hers as he says,

“But I want to know whether this new CEO will spare some of her important time to meet me, or will I need to schedule an appointment?”

Jhankar is stunned by his words, as if she’s trying to calculate the meaning behind every one of them. She quickly places a hand on his lips, gently pushing him back, and says,

“What nonsense are you talking about? I didn’t understand anything.”

Vikrant laughs at her reaction, quickly sits down in front of her, takes both her hands in his, and says,

“There’s nothing confusing about it. It’s simple—I own this company, and I want my wife to run it. What’s so difficult to understand about that? … Because I have a lot to handle.”

“First of all, that’s not going to happen.

But more importantly, explain this—what are you going to tell the whole city?

That this secret CEO suddenly handed over the company to this random girl?

What’s the reason behind that? Are you going to let people think she got the position because of some affair? ”

Vikrant, still seated and smiling calmly, replies:

“To get any position, no one needs to have an affair with anyone. It’s simple. I don’t owe the world any explanations. And if they still want one, I have one ready—that the girl who exposed the corruption of some people was rewarded with a promotion to this seat.”

“A CEO hands over the company; are you feeling not to fall somewhere? Vikrant, first of all, I absolutely do not want you to do any of this. And honestly, if I start talking to you about this right now, you’ll get upset.

So I’d rather not discuss this matter. It’s better if we just drop this topic. ”

Jhankar gets up to leave, but Vikrant holds her hand and gently makes her sit down again. Since he’s eager to understand everything, she starts speaking again:

“Look, I understand very well that your father’s thinking is extremely backward.

He didn’t want me to step out of the house to work.

But that doesn’t mean he should create unnecessary problems. On one hand, he refuses to accept me as his daughter-in-law, and on the other, he’s creating trouble for a random girl?

That’s just not right. Tell me, do you think anything about this is okay?

You can say what you want, but the fact that I’m in this company because of your mercy—I really don’t like that. ”

“Jhankar, you can choose to interpret this however you want. I know my father is both right and wrong. The truth is, he sensed that I liked you. Maybe that’s why he didn’t want you to work somewhere else but rather stay close to me and look after me.

Maybe that was his version of love. And yes, he did wrong; I accept that.

But he may have had his reasons. Still, I won’t justify it.

All I know is—I really like you, and I’m willing to do anything for you.

And honestly, I can’t bear to see you struggling.

You need to understand—if I can provide you with comfort and support, why should you have to suffer unnecessarily?

Yes, I know you’re self-independent and capable of doing everything on your own.

But if I want to do something for you, let me.

Besides that, I’ll never stop you from anything or cause you any trouble.

Just give me a little space, a little right, to help you when you need it. ”