23. Blossoming Spring Days

Rahul's POV

I don’t remember how long I had blacked out. Someone sprinkled water on my face and I tried hard to open my eyes. I regained consciousness to the sound of somebody wailing. It took me a second to realize what had happened. I was lying on Rithick's lap and my family members were all sitting around me with tears. Riya held my  hand tightly. Tears were falling on my face which I immediately recognized were not mine.

Oh my God! Rithick was crying. I regained my composure from the initial shock that Nethra

was missing. I was now fully conscious and relatively calm. I got up and tried to console everyone, particularly Rithick. My Rithick was crying and I couldn’t bear it.

“Don't cry, Rithick," I said. He simply said,

“Nethra”, and then hugged me. I consoled him and the others standing there. I was sure

Nethra was around here somewhere. Why was everyone crying for that? Why was everyone murmuring? I had no doubt in my mind to believe that Nethra would just disappear on the day of our wedding. I was very clear and sure about that. It was only then I gave a second thought to my surroundings.

All our friends and relatives who attended the wedding were either standing and staring at me or gossiping among themselves. Some of them were scurrying around searching for Nethra. The rumours that were generated that day against Nethra haunted me even today.

I made up my mind. I gathered my family around and consoled them again. This time I stressed the fact that Nethra’s love for me was pure as mine was for her. I also told them that if Nethra was missing, she must be in some trouble and nothing else more and I showed them the text message I received from her that morning. They all seemed to relax a bit.

Rithick also pulled himself up and seemed a little calmer. I told them that the first thing we had to do was to search the hotel again. So, all of us along with Riya and Nethra’s friends decided to comb through the hotel again. We dispersed in different directions and searched for Nethra everywhere. While I was searching for Nethra, it felt rather odd that Nethra’s father, Manoj was nowhere to be found.

We all came back after searching the whole hotel empty-handed.

“Where is Manoj uncle?” I asked.

“He suddenly fell ill. We took him to the hospital. He had high blood pressure because of extreme stress,” my dad informed.

“Sanjay uncle is with Manoj in the hospital.”

Now I was totally puzzled. I had a weird sensation that something was fishy.

Meanwhile, the news of the run-away bride spread like wild fire and caught the media's attention. As it was, there were numerous reporters who came to cover the wedding. But now the wedding had turned into a disaster. Now more number of reporters had gathered to fish for some more juicy gossips. The press wanted to talk to Sanjay and Manoj uncle but since they were not available at the moment to give them a statement, the reporters were disappointed.

My dad took charge and politely asked the reporters to give us space and allow us to deal with the situation. The next thing we did was to respectfully send all the VIPs and their families home with an apology. The crowd started thinning. Next, we targeted our relatives and friends. We tried our best to explain the situation to them. Some of them understood and exited the wedding hall gracefully. Other just jeered at us and left. Anyway, the crowd situation was resolved and we were all tired and worn out.

Even though I was emotionally brave about the situation, I could not help but feel scared. I was scared of Nethra. I was scared that something awful had happened to her.

I tried her mobile again.  "My dear Nethra… where are you? What happened to you? Talk to me...”

I got a switched off message for the millionth time. I felt something die inside of me that day. I did not know for how long I could go without seeing her or at least hearing her voice.

Sanjay uncle and Manoj uncle just returned home from the hospital.  Manoj uncle was just informed of his missing daughter. He took the news very badly and collapsed on the spot. We gave him some water to drink. It was a pitiable sight. I immediately held his hand and assured him that we would find Nethra at the earliest. Sanjay uncle then said that we should go to the police. Manoj uncle immediately denied it saying that our family’s respect was at stake. I could not understand that because the evening papers had already published the news about the run-away bride and the interrupted wedding.

Sanjay uncle must also have found Manoj uncle’s behaviour rather odd because he immediately took my dad with him outside and started to discuss something. I went out to meet them.

“We should file a missing person’s case," my father was saying.

“Let's do it secretly. Since I’m in the force I’ll see to it that nothing reaches the press anymore. Enough damage has already been done to our family's name. But you have to convince Manoj about it." informed my Dad.... Sanjay uncle agreed and my dad set out to perform the legal procedures.

Later, my dad informed everyone that a case had been filed and he had been assigned as the lead detective. He promised everyone that he would find his daughter-in-law as soon as possible.

I felt a tiny ray of hope shimmering in the horizon. It was almost dawn and nobody had slept a wink. My dad forced everyone to go and take rest and that he would take care of everything. He then took me aside and gave me a tight hug. He breathed into my ears, saying, “I will bring back the love of your life. I promise.”

I couldn’t control my tears and just broke down. I just simply hugged him back. “I love you, dad. You are the best.”

I heard banging at my door. I could barely open my eyes. I glanced at the clock. It was 6 AM. My head hurt. I hadn’t been asleep even for two hours. As the banging on my door increased so did the pounding in my head. I opened the door reluctantly to see Rithick standing as if he had seen a ghost. I instantly reached complete wakefulness. “Whatever happened, Rithick?”

Now my eyes were bloodshot with beads of perspiration running down my face. I had a feeling he knew the answer before he spoke.

“Nethra...” he started.

Before he could complete, Sanjay uncle came running saying that it was nothing and that I should not be bothered. Now I was angry.

I shouted, “Please tell me what’s going on.”

“We have received information regarding an accident involving a girl in bridal attire. They want us to go to the morgue to identify the body," my dad said.

“No! That’s not Nethra. She cannot be dead.” I was screaming on top of my voice.

My mother came to my side immediately and said, “Yes dear, we know that. We just want to make sure.”

“You need not come with us," she added.

But I had made up my mind. I was going. I knew it was not Nethra.

We reached the morgue and were taken to the body. I could sense the fear in all of them as we entered the room. But I was strangely calm. Nevertheless, I couldn’t be brave enough to lift the sheets and see her face. Ultimately, my dad did it for us. He lifted his head from the corpse and denied that it was Nethra. It was only then that I realized I was holding my breath. I was so relieved. I heaved a sigh of relief and so did my family.

We had a busy day after that. My dad plunged headlong into the case. He started to collect witnesses and evidence to support the case. Rithick and I also did our parts by visiting each and every one of Nethra’s acquaintances. We were looking for the smallest of clues.

Dad discussed with Sanjay uncle every step he took towards the case and every move he wished to make for the sake of the case. I hadn’t seen my dad so resolved until that time.

“I am very close to the villain of this game. I will tear his mask soon,” dad had said that day. It only boosted our confidence level and I was particularly happy that I would be reuniting with Nethra soon.

Later, dad visited Nethra’s father and reassured him that Nethra would be found and that the culprit responsible for the kidnap would be put behind bars.

Two days later, the most bizarre incident of my life took place. Cops had surrounded Manoj uncle’s house. He was being arrested. Our entire household was under great shock. We were more confused than anything else. Only my dad seemed to know what was going on. Even Sanjay uncle was taken aback when he heard the news.

We all bombarded dad with questions regarding the arrest, but he replied that he couldn’t discuss the details of the case with us at the moment. He asked all of us to meet him in the court the following day at 10 AM. He said that we could get answers to all our questions there.

News reporters and other press officials swarmed our house asking numerous questions. They had caught a whiff of the case and somehow knew that dad was the lead investigator.

“There is a talk that you secretly handled this case. Is it true?” one of the reporters asked.

“Did Manoj kidnap his own daughter?” another piped in.

“Will it affect the partnership between Sanjay and Manoj?” another reporter questioned.

There were many more questions. But my dad delicately answered some and left those that were sensitive. He told them that they could get the answers to all their questions the next day after producing Manoj in the court.

The reporters now swarmed around Sanjay asking similar questions.

“Whom are you going to support? Your brother Rudra or your best friend and partner, Manoj.” One of the reporters was hopping up and down trying to catch his attention.

Sanjay uncle stopped a moment and turned to the reporter who asked this question, "I believe in truth, honesty and loyalty. I don’t want to pick any side nor lose either of them. I only want justice to be served for all,” His voice was thick by the time he finished saying those words.

The same reporter asked, “What will be your next step if the court declares Manoj as a criminal? Will you save him by masking the truth to retain the same position in the business market, or will you break your partnership?”

Sanjay uncle replied with resolve, “If he is declared as criminal, I will withdraw the partnership and handover all the shares and equities to him. As I told you earlier I am a believer of honesty whether it is business or a relationship.”

Another reporter asked, “If you break your partnership, will it not affect your ranking in the Global business ventures?”

“Of course, it will affect the ranking but it doesn’t matter to me. I have risen up to this level not just by Manoj’s efforts. I believe that even if I fall down, I will rise again.”

Sanjay uncle’s interview was the flash news in all the TV channels.

The most awaited and dreadful day came. We were all present in the courtroom an hour before the hearing. Manoj was brought in by the cops to the court. He was spitting venom and breathing fire at everyone. We shuddered at his demeanour. It seemed like he was hiding something.

The proceedings began with the swearing on the Bagavat Geetha by Manoj. The lawyer who represented us began with the opening statement.

“My Lord, the person who is standing here is the great businessman, Mr. Manoj Roy. He was arrested and booked for two sections. Abduction under section 362 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 for kidnapping his own daughter and section 420 for cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property, (forgery in partnership with the business tycoon, Mr Sanjay).”

We were sitting with our mouths wide open in shock and surprise at what had started unfolding. Sanjay uncle sat rooted to his seat unable to believe what was happening. He had innocently and blindly believed in Manoj uncle. It was the most disheartening situation we had ever been. Sanjay uncle who was always the strongest seemed to have crumbled down. I knew that his heart broke to see that his best friend had been cheating him. None of us could come out of our initial shock.

The opposite lawyer objected the case and proceeded, “It was a completely fake news, My Lord. To bring down the position of Manoj in business field, this drama was created. Mr. Sanjay is jealous over the growth of Manoj. To depart the partnership, he and Mr. Ruthra narrated the drama and they are playing accordingly. To make this act successful, they have chosen Nethra, who was the victim in this play. They promised that they would marry her to Rahul and now they had hide Nethra somewhere So, severe punishments should be given to those behind this role play.”

“Objection overruled,” proceeded our side lawyer.

“Manoj played a crucial act and betrayed innocent people. Mr. Rudra, Senior Detective officer collected all the proofs regarding this case. My Lord, you should verify the case seriously and regarding punishment should be given to the offender.”

The judge ordered, “Submit all the collected proofs within two days of the next meeting. Now the court is adjourned.”

Manoj was wrist-locked and was taken by the cops. He stared at my dad. He was about to tell something seriously. I could see the fire in his eyes. I had a new hope that I would meet my Nethra soon.

Rithick hugged me and patted my shoulder. “Dont worry, Rahul, Uncle will find Nethra soon.” His comfort and words made me feel better.

Flashback continues...