Chapter 4: Baba

"Are you sure about this, Aditya? The risk involved is too high," the other person muttered after hearing Aditya's plan.

"I have to be sure as I have no other option," Aditya growled.

"You don't need this, Adi. It's not necessary, even though I hate Raghuveer Chandravanshi, it's a huge decision," he responded.

"I am sure about it. The way my dad loathes me, I want to end this. I want him to understand that I'm worthy, and this would be my sure shot to power," Aditya calmly spoke.

"Fine! As you say," the person nodded.

"You will receive your payment," Aditya responded and hung up the call.

The next morning, 

"Miral! Wake up," Seerat muttered, trying to wake Miral up from her slumber.

"Let me sleep, Di," Miral responded, turning to the other side of the bed.

"Miral! I am leaving," Seerat spoke in a loud tone.

That was enough for Miral to wake up. She immediately got up and looked at her sister.

"Leaving? Where?" Miral asked.

"Home," Seerat responded.

"This is your home too, Di," Miral retorted.

"A home where I'm invited like a guest," Seerat chuckled.

Seerat's voice did have some amount of pain that Miral understood in a moment. She held her elder sister's hand and made her sit beside her.

"Di? Aren't you happy at your wedding?" Miral questioned.

Seerat was surprised at her question and she looked at her.

"What kind of question is that, Mi?" Seerat asked.

"You can tell me, Di," Miral demanded.

"I am the happiest in my married life, Miral. If you want to know," Seerat responded in a confident tone.

Miral looked at Seerat, trying to believe her words.

"Then the sadness in your eyes?" She questioned.

"It's not because of Ranveer, Mi. He is the best man I could ever get. He loves me a lot, takes care of me and does everything for me. I feel lucky to have him by my side. I love him a lot. I have loved him enough to go against Baba for him, and to date, I can go against the world for him," Seerat responded.

The way Seerat spoke, she had honesty in her tone and it explained the love she had for Ranveer.

"I am disappointed at Baba, to be honest," Seerat confessed.

A drop of tear fell from her eyes as she said that.

"Sometimes, I do not get his ideologies. I know he wanted better for me, and that's why he wanted to marry me off to someone from a rich, political family. But he had to understand that I fell in love with Ranveer, and no matter he is not from a political background, he is a great man," Seerat confessed.

Miral nodded, she understood what Seerat was speaking, but she had nothing to speak.

"Just so I can marry a guy, a rich, political background shouldn't be the only thing that should be checked, right?" Seerat questioned.

Miral looked at her, not knowing what to say.

"For a marriage to sustain, for a relationship to work. It's not the political background that matters. Love, respect, understanding, honesty, that's what it takes Miral," She spoke, trying to make her sister understand.

"And Ranveer. He is a great guy. A highly appreciated IPS officer. Someone who values honesty the most. I feel so proud of him, Miral. And he treats me like a goddamn queen, what else can I expect?" Seerat demanded.

Miral didn't have the answers anymore, she just nodded.

"So, yes. I am disappointed in baba, even after seeing me happily living with the guy of my dreams. Being married to him for more than three years, he couldn't accept us. His pride mattered to him more than his daughter and that's where he disappointed me. The only reason why I enter this house is that I love you and Mumma. And the only reason Ranveer accompanies me is that he loves me," Seerat confidently spoke, wiping his tears.

Miral smiled, not knowing what to say anymore. She just pulled her elder sister closer and gave her a tight hug.

"I understand your feelings, Di," she muttered.

She broke the hug and looked at her.

"But I can't understand this feeling named love. I have had my fair share of relationships, but not even for once, I felt like I can go against Baba for that person," she muttered.

Seerat smiled and cupped her cheeks.

"Once when you will truly fall in love with someone, then trust me, Mi, you will be going against the entire world for that person, Baba will just be a pawn in the game of chess. You will be the queen and you will do anything to protect your king's honour," Seerat spoke.

"For me, my king is my Baba," Miral smiled.

"Priorities do change," Seerat smirked and then got up from the bed.

"I have to leave now. Ranveer has to go to work," she spoke.

"Okay!" Miral nodded.

At the breakfast table, 

Raghuveer and Miral and Sakshi(Mrs Chandravanshi) were having breakfast.

"Di left," Miral muttered while munching on the bread.

"Okay," Raghuveer responded.

"You should have at least asked her to stay till breakfast," she demanded.

"Why would I?" Raghuveer looked at her.

"Oh come on baba, she is your daughter and it's been more than three years, Ranveer jiju is a great guy, and you know that too," Miral scoffed.

"I have never provided any restrictions on you two. You two have always done whatever you wanted. All I ever wanted was that you two should get married to a powerful political family we could form allies with. I would never accept my daughters marrying someone who isn't from a political family or is from my opponents," Raghuveer spoke in a firm and loud tone.

Raghuveer's tone was loud enough to quiet Miral and she didn't say anything else. She quickly ate her breakfast and got up.

"I have got work to do," she muttered and then walked out of the house.

She got into her car and drove towards the outskirts of the city. As she reached there, Naveen was already present. She got out of the car and walked toward him.

"Have you brought what I asked you to bring?" Miral asked.

"Yeah!" Naveen replied.

And then, he took out a few packets of white powder from his bag and handed them over to Miral. She took those packets and checked them, by touching them and sniffing a bit of them.

"Damn! These are some high-quality drugs," she smirked.

"Yes! I make sure that there's never a compromise in quality," Naveen proudly boasted.

"Good job, Nav," she responded, patting his back.

"Just a pat?" Naveen winked.

Miral smiled, and then leaned close to him, while Naveen held her waist. She pressed her lips against him for a short while and then took a few steps back.

"You know you can go all out," Naveen responded, wiping his lips.

"I know," she chuckled.

She then handed the packets back to Naveen and looked at him.

"Make sure these packets reach the university hostels safely, and the payment should not be delayed at any cost," Miral spoke.

"You want to do this now?" He asked, surprised.

"Yeah," she nonchalantly replied.

"Miral. This is a crucial time. Your dad would be taking the oath the day after tomorrow. Any misshapen, and it would cost him his career, are you sure about this?" Naveen asked in a concerned tone.

"I have been playing this game for years, Nav. There's no chance of any mishaps, so don't worry. Just do as I say. I want to remain stress-free at Baba's oath-taking ceremony," she spoke with a confident smile.

Naveen looked at her and then nodded. He couldn't say anything as she looked confident, but he did feel that something was going to go wrong. He was having a certain unsettling feeling about it.

"Okay! Now let's get back to other work," Miral muttered and got into her car.

It was 11:30 at night when Miral got out of her car, holding a beer bottle and entered the house.

Sakshi was in the living room and she noticed Miral.

She quickly walked towards her and held her hand.

"Miral? You're drunk? Again?" She questioned in an irritated voice.

"Mumma! Chill. I just had a pint. It doesn't affect me, I am still in my senses," Miral replied.

"Why do you drink so much?" Sakshi spoke in an irritated tone.

"When I am at work. I am okay, but the rest of the time, I do need something to cope up with my sadness, and it's okay, Mumma," Miral reasoned.

Sakshi rolled her eyes, unable to say anything. She didn't like Miral's drinking habit, but she couldn't say anything more to her, because no matter how drunk Miral used to get, she was very capable of handling herself in every situation.

"Where is baba?" Miral asked.

"Oh! He is out, for some work," Sakshi responded.

"Work? What kind of work? And why wasn't I informed? All I know is that Baba has zero work pressure at this time," Miral spoke in a confused tone.

"Yeah. But today afternoon, your baba received a call and he left saying it's something important and he will be late to return," Sakshi responded.

"Isn't baba seeing someone else behind your back?" Miral teased.

"I don't know about your baba, but you're for sure getting a slap in your cheek if you say any more rubbish," Sakshi responded in an irritated tone.

Miral chuckled.

That's when Miral's phone rang, it was an unknown number. She quickly picked up the phone.

"Hello?" She spoke.

"Is this Miral Chandravanshi?" The speaker asked.

"Yes? Who is this?" Miral asked.

"I am sorry to inform you, but Raghuveer Chandravanshi has met with a deadly accident minutes ago, and by looking at him, it feels like he wouldn't make it."

Just a statement and Miral's world was shattered at once.