Ch48Only for You, Raksh #2
Rudraksh smiled warmly, taking a step closer to her. "Yes, Mrs. Vardhan. Thank you so much. I honestly had no idea that your brain was this sharp and cunning."
Rivanya chuckled softly, her eyes sparkling with mystery. "Well, there are still a lot of things you do not know about me, Mr. Vardhan..."
Rudraksh smirked, his deep baritone dropping into a teasing murmur. "Then I will slowly find out everything that you are capable of doing..."
While the two were lost in their own conversation, the rest of the Vardhan family rushed over to the defense table, causing Rivanya to quickly step back from Rudraksh.
The entire family showered Rivanya with immense praise, and Vyom simply could not stop himself from complimenting her brilliant performance over and over again.
Pratap and Dadaji had stayed back in the gallery, so Viswraaj immediately walked out into the corridor to call them and share the victorious news.
Devaditya went a step further he completely bent down and touched Rivanya's feet in total reverence, dramatically declaring, "Bhabhisa, you are not a human, you are a literal Goddess!"
Rivanya was happily laughing and enjoying the warmth of her family when Advocate Adyant Malhotra walked up to them, a genuine, respectful smile on his face. "Congratulations, Mrs. Vardhan, on the very first victory of your career."
"I must admit," Adyant Malhotra continued, his voice full of professional admiration, "you defeated a veteran lawyer like me with such incredible ease. From now on, every other lawyer in this country will have to remain very careful around you, Mrs. Vardhan."
Rivanya shook her head humbly. "I have learned everything from watching you, Sir. You are my ultimate idol. I have deeply studied every single case you have won over the past twenty years, and I am just a massive fan of your work."
Adyant looked at her, an unexplainable, profound wave of paternal affection washing over his soul.
Reaching out, he gently placed his hand on Rivanya's head in a quiet, universal blessing.
"Beta, you immensely remind me of someone who was very close to my heart... someone who belonged to me. God bless you. Keep moving forward just like this."
"Thank you, Sir," Rivanya replied softly.
With those final words, Adyant Malhotra turned around and walked out of the courtroom.
Rivanya immediately went back to talking with her family, entirely failing to notice a heartbreaking detail: the exact moment Adyant turned his back to leave, tears welled up in his eyes.
Those were tears of an agonizing grief tears that had been breathlessly waiting for seven long years for someone who never came back.
Adyant walked out into the busy corridor of the courthouse. The moment his personal assistant hurried up to him, Adyant didn't waste a single second. His voice was heavy and urgent as he asked, "Did you find out everything I asked you to investigate about her?"
His assistant, Raghav, immediately handed him a file and nodded. "Yes, Sir. I have gathered the entire layout. This girl, Mrs. Rivanya Vardhan, is officially the eldest daughter of Mr. Naresh Bedi, and she is the maternal niece of Mr. Sandeep Rathore."
The moment the words left Raghav's mouth, the ground beneath Adyant Malhotra's feet completely vanished. A suffocating shock gripped his chest as his mind spun out of control."That is why... that is why Rivanya felt so hauntingly familiar to my soul,"
Adyant thought to himself, his heart shattering into a million pieces. "Rivanya is the daughter of my Katha... she is the literal reflection of her... my Katha's daughter..."
Before he could process the massive revelation, Raghav continued sharing the background details. "And after her marriage, she became Rivanya Rudraksh Vardhan. However, Sir, their marriage was completely forced upon them under terrible circumstances."
Adyant's eyebrows snapped together into a fierce, dangerous scowl. "What do you mean by forced?"
"Sir, Rudraksh Vardhan was originally supposed to marry Naresh Bedi's second daughter, Alisha Bedi, who was born from his second wife," Raghav explained.
"But Alisha ran away from the wedding venue at the very last minute. To save his reputation, Naresh Bedi heavily blackmailed Rivanya and forcibly married her off to Rudraksh instead. That is how the two ended up together."
Hearing this, a violent wave of absolute rage and deep-seated pain crashed over Adyant.
He gripped his hands into tight fists, his heart bleeding for the innocent girl.
"First, that monster destroyed her mother's entire life," Adyant thought, his mind burning with a poisonous hatred for Naresh Bedi.
"And now, his greed wasn't satisfied, so he didn't even spare my Katha's innocent daughter. He bound her to a ruthless, dangerous man like Rudraksh Vardhan... My poor child must have suffered through so much absolute hell in that house..."
Adyant Malhotra stood in the crowded corridor, completely consumed by the painful memory of Katha.
He had absolutely no idea that Naresh Bedi was not Rivanya's real father.
Her true biological father was someone else entirely a mysterious, unnamed figure whom everyone in the world knew by reputation, yet no one could truly recognize or identity.
Still trapped in his shock, Adyant kept discussing the files with his assistant as he walked away from the courthouse.
Meanwhile, the Vardhan family was now standing together right outside the main gates.
After a round of happy congratulations, the luxury cars of the elders and younger brothers rolled out one by one, heading back toward the Vardhan Mansion.
Soon, only Vyom, Rudraksh, and Rivanya were left standing on the steps.
Rivanya turned to them, twirling her new car keys around her finger with a bright smile. "Alright then, I will go grab my car from the parking lot. You guys should head back too. And Mr. Vardhan, if you want, I can easily offer you a lift in my new ride. Would you like to come with me?"
Rudraksh was instinctively about to say yes, desperate to be near her, but the exact next second, his sleeping ego woke up.
He suddenly remembered that he was supposed to be deeply upset with her for ignoring him.
Instantly masking his face with a hard, cold, and arrogant expression, he snapped, "I do not travel with people who do not value my presence. I can manage to go back entirely on my own."
Saying this with an attitude, Rudraksh turned on his heel and marched away toward his own vehicle.
Rivanya was left standing completely dumbfounded, staring blankly at his retreating back.
She couldn't understand his sudden mood swing; just a few minutes ago inside the courtroom, he was looking at her with such intense warmth, and now he was throwing tantrums?
She turned around to face Vyom, her eyebrows pulling together in utter confusion. "Vyom Bhaiya, what on earth happened to this crazy friend of yours all of a sudden? His tantrums are honestly worse than a dramatic girl's! Please tell me, why is he so upset with me?"
Vyom burst into a loud, thoroughly delighted laugh, completely enjoying the billionaire's severe emotional distress.
"My dear little sister, your husband is throwing a tantrum simply because you abandoned the Vardhan Mansion to live alone in your apartment for two whole days. And to top it off, you brutally ignored that grand gentleman by not making a single phone call.
That is exactly why your husband is deeply angry with you."
Rivanya immediately slapped her hand against her forehead, letting out a frustrated groan.
"Oh my god, but I did all of that entirely for his sake! I needed to study the layout of this corporate case with absolute silence, and I had to secretly visit multiple locations like the hospital. I knew with absolute certainty that if I had stayed back at the Vardhan Mansion,
he would have swarmed around me everywhere like a shadow, and he would never have permitted me to go out alone at night! That is the only reason I stayed away, Bhaiya."
Vyom offered her a mocking shrug, a wide smirk playing on his lips. "Well, I know that, Rivanya. But that stubborn donkey doesn't understand logic right now. You better go and pacify your husband."
Rivanya let out a playful, dramatic sigh, folding her arms.
"This is just great. Nowadays, boys have completely taken the place of girls when it comes to throwing tantrums! So now I have to be the one to pacify that big hippopotamus? Fine, whatever. He is my husband after all, so I will handle him. I will pacify him somehow."
Vyom chuckled warmly and patted her shoulder. "All the best, Rivanya!"
Both of them shared a hearty laugh before stepping down the marble stairs.
Savoring the sweetness of her historic victory, they slipped into their respective luxury cars and drove out into the afternoon traffic, heading back toward the Vardhan Mansion where a furious husband was waiting to be pacified.
Rivanya when she arrived back at the Vardhan Mansion, she was welcomed with a massive, grand celebration.
Dev had literally brought an entire team of traditional dhol players with him, and everyone was dancing and celebrating the legal victory of Rivanya and Rudraksh.
Vyom and Dev exchanged a mischievous glance across the roaring lawn, and in one swift motion, they ran up and completely lifted a laughing Rivanya up on their shoulders to celebrate her debut success.
Standing at a distance, Rudraksh was watching this entire chaotic celebration.
His intense dark eyes were completely glued to Rivanya's face, tracing the beautiful lines of her vibrant smile.
Deep down, his heart was aching to step forward and join her in that happiness, but his stubborn anger held him firmly in his place.
Within the entire mansion, not a single person possessed the immense courage to pull Rudraksh Vardhan into a dance circle.
He had always been an isolated stranger to his own blood.