Comeback

Manya finally reached home, while her mind was conducting a quick run-through of everything she had experienced after returning to India, and also about her old memories which she was rediscovering with alarming frequency. She was so overwhelmed and yet burdened with a newfound clarity, as if something had just snapped, somewhere in her brain. 

*After going through everything again and again for almost two hours while she drove her car through unknown streets, she was sure about one thing. She was obviously upset about Ishaan's lie, but she was not anxious about losing him. Some part of her understood that it was okay for her to let him go, after she had found out that he was an imposter. And yet, there was something that was making her very restless, regarding Arjun- but she hadn't been able to put a label on it yet. Was it friendship? Or was that love? Was that just the fear of losing him, and nothing else?*

She locked her room as soon as entered her house, and crashed onto her bed. Within seconds, she was crying bitterly, as her body was wracked by sobs.

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There was silence for the next few seconds, and after that, two constables ran towards the window from which the bullet had been fired. The other people who had just entered the house stood, stuck to their spots as if it was some James Bond movie, and the shooting sequence was just going to start. 

There was one person who had become numb with shock for a second, but within the next second, he was shouting, "No! You can't die just yet, wake up! Wake up! Tell me who was behind everything...I am telling you this very clearly- I am the only one who can punish you! So just wake up, and tell me who planned the accident, dammit!"

Arjun's outburst stirred everyone else into action. Two police men tried to grab him and carry him away from the mess, but they were not able to detach his hands from Roy's collar. It seemed like the devil inside him had been awakened, and now it was not letting him follow anybody's commands. He stayed crouching near the body, repeating the same things again and again, like a student trying to memorize chemical equations. "Only three Prajapati's are left, and he will not let them live too long...who? Who is the one who wants to harm them…? I really need to increase the security of each member of my family. This time, I will not let anything happen to them...not again."

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"Ahh, those lazy constables, they think they can catch me! In order to catch me, they need to be as fast as me- and not everyone can be Shikhawat Sharma!"

Saying this, the person chuckled to himself as he simply climbed down from the tree where he had been sitting peacefully, continuing his monologue. "But I have to admit, it was fun- after these long years, it was fun to kill a person. And especially someone you really wanted to kill, otherwise what's the point of killing random people- there is no fun in that!" He scoffed. "And I didn't even like to do that- it is not necessary, but some people really do deserve to die, as they are not good for anything. Just like Shekhar- that boy was not important to anybody, nor did he give importance to anything! Nothing was important for him, no family, friends; but he only cared about money." A look of disgust appeared on his face as he recalled his interactions with the guy. "Money was the only thing he was loyal to, and this would have been a good thing for him, if only he had stayed loyal to money, nothing would have happened to him. But no! That person's pride was awakened at the last moment, and he wanted his revenge, for which he was even willing to expose me! Foolish boy," the man shook his head, as if explaining something to a toddler who just didn't understand the philosophy behind things. "Didn't I tell him? Everything is fine by me, till you guys are loyal. Otherwise, I won't hesitate, or even think twice before parcelling you directly to hell!" 

His face took on a sincere expression as he whispered, "I wish you a happy journey, Roy. I had never imagined that you would leave so soon, but I guess you were missing your son too much. I wish I could have been able to tell you myself, that Sagrika was not the reason behind the murder of your son, but I was the one who had planned everything from the very beginning. Not that I had anything against him, it's just that he had the audacity to meddle with things just when everything was going according to my plan! So in any case, he had to die anyway- do you want to hear the story? Nah! I won't tell you the story from such a distance. Let me come near you, and then narrate you the whole story." Saying this, he smiled to himself and headed towards the house.

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Sia knocked on her sister's door, as she had noticed that Manya had arrived home a long  time ago, but hadn't stepped out ever since. When she didn't get any response to her first knock, she knocked again, shouting, "Di, I know you are in there! I have something to show you, please open the door...Please!"

Manya glanced up at the door and wiped her tears quickly. 

*What was she doing- was she out of her mind? How could she cry for such a stupid reason, how could love make her cry?! She had never thought herself to be so weak...she should be ashamed of herself!*

She stood up with a grunt, deciding that she would not be crying for anything anymore. She needed to be her bold and confident self again- she had a family to protect, a business empire to run. The Manya Rahal definitely needed to make a comeback, as the girl who fears nothing and doesn't take orders from anybody!

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