"RIOTS? What are you talking about?" Anirudh almost screamed in fear on the telephone call with the Hotel Receptionist.

"Yes Sir. There have been riots around the hotel and thus, we've been asked to lock all the guests in their respective rooms." The receptionist on the phone told him.

"I... I don't care! I WANT TO TAKE TO MY WIFE AT ANY COST! WHERE IS SHE?" Anirudh was panicked as he shouted on the phone.
"WHERE IS MRS. BONDITA ROY CHOWDHARY, MISS?! WILL YOU LET ME KNOW?" He asked.

"Sir, please calm down! Your wife is absolutely safe in our hotel. If you want we can call her down." The lady just sighed as Anirudh wasn't ready to listen to any of her words.

"Yes please! And make sure she's safe! Otherwise make some arrangements for a telephone line in her room! I'd like that better." He rolled his eyes, his heart already racing in fear.

"Sir, she's here!" The receptionist handed the phone to Bondita after a while.

"Hello?, Pati Babu?" Bondita whispered into the phone nervously.

"B... Bondita! Are you fine?" He asked immediately.
"Th... These Riots?? Tell me you're safe, right?"

"Yes, Pati Babu! I'm absolutely safe in the hotel. You don't need to worry....." She spoke.

"Ofcourse I need to worry!" Anirudh snapped at her.
"Who'll worry if I won't?" He asked, litte tears glossing his eyes.

"Pati Babu! Please don't worry!" Bondita just sighed with a smile.
"I'm relieved now that I heard your voice. I'm not even scared now!" She smiled.

"Were you... scared too?" He asked with some sadness in his voice.
"I'm so sorry, I am not there Shona!" He felt so helpless yet again.

"Pati Babu, please! Stop this! You're always there for me! Everytime!!" She told him with a frown.
"And I'm completely safe under your love!" She told him.

"I... Shall I try to contact some of my commisioner friends there? They'll send you back to Tulsipur safely!" He suggested.

"No, Pati Babu! No matter how much I want to come back, I don't want to run away from this. I'll face this because this has given me a sense of power and realisation that a lot is still needed to be done for the country and it's people!" She breathed lightly.
"I'll stay here, discuss a few more things with the senior barristers and return once the workshop is over!" She added.

"But.... are you sure?" He still asked.

"Absolutely! And you know what gave me this confidence? Your love, Pati Babu! I know, that until you're there with Rudhi, I don't need to worry about anything! I'm completely relieved about the whole family and especially Puchki! The only person I'm worried about is you! You'll need me and I promise I'll cone back very soon to my Pati Babu!" She spoke with a smile, making Anirudh sigh with a light smile now.

"I... I miss you!" He spoke like a little kid.

"I miss you more!" She whispered.

"I love you, My Bondita Roy Chowdhary!" He smiled, making her heart flutter in absolute happiness and love.

"I love you so much, My Anirudh Roy Chowdhary!" She also replied, giggling into the phone as he smiled, his heart fluttering upon hearing her giggle.

"Take care of yourself! My arms are aching to hold you again!" He whispered into the phone.

"I'm coming to you soon, Pati Babu's arms!" She giggled before they both hung up the phone wishing each other a good night.

.......

The next day, in the evening, when Rudhi was downstairs to have her lunch, she looked around suddenly wondering where was Vansh.

"Dida! Where's Vansh and Kakima?" She asked her grandmother who was feeding her.

"Rudhi, you're not well right? So Vansh could've got this infection from you if he stayed here. That's why, your Kaki took him to his Nanaji's place." Shubra Maa informed.

"Oh! So he's with his Nana Nani?" She asked with an excitement on her face.
"I also want to meet my Nana Nani!" She pouted.

"Once you get well and your Maa comes back, you can go and meet your Nana Nani, okay?" Shubra Maa replied.

"Okay!" She smiled, eating another bite from her Dida's hand.
"I'm full now, Dida!" She said with a bite still in her mouth.

"Okay, just a last bite." Shubra Maa smiled at her, touching her forehead with love.

That was when Bihari Babu came running to the dining room.

"Badi Malkin! There is someone on the door." He informed.

"Who's it, Bihari?' She asked.

"I think, he's Mallika Malkin's Father." Bihari Babu suggested and went away to bring water for the guest.

"Rudhi, you go and wash your hands and then go to your room and sleep, okay?" Shubra Maa instructed before going out to the drawing room.
"Bihari you go and inform Anirudh's Baba and Lochan Da." She said on her way.

"Nomoskar Samdhi Ji!" She joined her hands greeting Mallika's Father.

"Namaste Samdhan Ji! I hope you all are doing well." Mr. Sahni asked with a smile.

Mallika had been informed already and she too came running down the stairs.

"Bauji!" She gleamed in happiness and went to him.

"Mallika!" Mr. Sahni instantly stood up and hugged his daughter.

Mallika was shook for a millisecond. Her Dad never hugged her like that! She hugged him and looked up at him and could clearly see immense love and pain in his eyes.

"H.. How're you, Bauji?" She asked sitting down with him while Shubra Maa smiled seeing them.

"I'm good, my child!" He caressed her hair with love.
"A... Anirudh Babu wrote me a letter!" He turned to Shubra Maa, informing.

"Oh! Let me just call him!" Shubra Maa smiled and gestured Bihari to go and call Anirudh.

As Anirudh came and touched Mr. Sahni's feet, the old man who was of a larger frame, stood up and hugged Anirudh.

"Anirudh Babu! You've opened my eyes for all the good! Your letter touched my heart and made me realise that I was so wrong all my life!" He broke the hug and held Anirudh's shoulders.
"My whole life, I kept thinking that providing all the facilities and expensive stuff to my daughter was enough to show my love! I always thought that she would love to have all these things and thus I kept working so hard, ignoring her most of the time." He added, with grief in his eyes.

"Bauji!" Mallika looked at him with surprise as tears formed in her eyes too.

"No, my child don't stop me today. Only after Anirudh Babu wrote to me did I realise, how much I have missed upon you and your life!" He touched her cheek.
"I remember it all! I couldn't come to drop you to school on your very first day, because I was busy in some meeting! I couldn't join you for your art competition in the 10th grade because I was busy setting up a new company in Italy! I didn't even come to your graduation ceremony because I was attending a royal party with my colleagues!" He spoke, his eyes glossed in tears.

"Mr. Sahni! You don't need to be sorry about all of it. Mallika missed you on all these times, but I'm sure she always knew her Bauji loved her!" Anirudh smiled at him.

"Ofcourse! But now I'm here to take her along with me!" He sniffed back a tear.
"Please don't deny Samdhan Ji!' He turned to Shubra Maa.

"I.... O..- Ofcourse, why not!" Shubra Maa just said.

"Come Mallika! I'll take you and Damaad Ji with me! You'll stay with me in Italy for sometime. I'd already talked to Trilochan Ji and Damaad Ji! He'll be setting up another company for his father's business in Italy, expanding their work." He informed.

"B....Bauji! How can we come with you for such a long time?' Mallika asked with shock.

"I'll tell!" That was when Batuk entered. He had returned from his business trip just then.

"Batuk!" Shubra Maa gleamed happily.

"Maa!" He hugged her and then turned to Mr. Sahni and Mallika.

"Mallika, Bauji had written to me that he wants to take us to Italy. We didn't inform you because this was supposed to be a surprise. Which it still is!" He smiled at his wife.

"But, how all of a sudden?" She was still confused.

"Gudiya, don't you want to come with your Bauji for sometime now?' Mr. Sahni asked her, wrapping his arm around Mallika.

Mallika looked at him with complete shock now. He called her Gudiya? Her Bauji used to call her this when she was a young girl and then he suddenly stopped calling her Gudiya as she grew up.

"G.. Gudiya?" She asked, tears streaming down her cheeks now.
"Bauji!" She just cried and hugged him tightly, continuing to cry out loud.

Her sobs were muffled against her Bauji's coat as Mallika cried loudly. Mr. Sahni wrapped his arms around her, hugging his daughter even tighter. Everyone in the hall could just look at them with love and smile in awe.

"Come on, Mallika! Let's go with him okay?" Batuk held her shoulders, as she broke the hug and wiped her tears with a smile.

"Maa?" She turned to look at Shubra Maa and her mother in law just nodded happily.

"Okay Bauji, we'll leave tomorrow! You please have some rest until then!" Batuk smiled at Mr. Sahni as he showed him the way to the guest room so he could freshen up.

"Damaad Ji!" Mr. Sahni stopped outside the guest room door.
"I'm really thankful to you that you let me do this for my daughter. I'm so thankful, I married my Gudiya to such a man and in such a family. I'll never forget how big of a beneficence you and your Brother have done upon me!" He said with a smile, joining his hands in gratitude towards Batuk.

"Bauji please! Don't so this, I'm your son too!" Batuk held his hands and smiled.
"Mallika is your daughter and you've all the rights to keep her with you until you wish!" Batuk said.

"God bless you my child!" Mr. Sahni blessed him and went inside the room to freshen up.

.......

"Dada!" Mallika knocked Anirudh's study door while he was busy writing a few letters.

"Mallika!" He looked up with a smile.
"Come inside!" He told, keeping down his pen and standing up.

"Anirudh Dada!" Mallika just said as she ran to him and hugged him tightly.
"Thankyou so much Dada! Thankyou!" She spoke with tears in her eyes.

"It's okay, Mallika! You're my sister and you're no less than my Mishti to me!" He replied, patting her head lovingly.

"B... But Dada," She parted him and look up with a smile.
"H.. How did you get to know all of this? How did you know that I missed my Baba?" She asked with confusion.

"Your words, Mallika. Whenever you talked about him, there was always a sense of longing in your words." Anirudh told.
"Even the times when you saw me and Mishti together, you would look like you've longed for this love. And... You must know this by now... Reading people's minds isn't a tough job for a barrister!" He raised his eyebrows with a smirk and then chuckled, touching Mallika's head with love.

"Go on! Spend time with you Bauji now!" He said.
"And... This is also to make the adoption process easier. You both can come back after a year or two with a child, claiming it's your own." He pressed his lips in a small smile.

"Thankyou so much Dada! I... I don't know how do I thank you enough?" She jist smiled at him with admiration.

"Hmm!..." Anirudh thought for a second and then with a child-like smile said, "Make me a good glass of your special Lassi!"

"I'll just get it!" She laughed and went away to make him a lassi.

Anirudh just smiled with happiness before getting back to his work.

........

Precap: The return of Bondita and Raghav.

That's all for this part!❤️ Don't forget to vote!!❤️

What do you think about Anidita's phone call?

What are your thoughts upon Mallika and her Father's bonding!

Anything that stood put to you?

Please share your views and thoughts in comments!❤️

Love,
Author!❤️

.......