Good morning everyone! Much love to you all. Have a great day ahead!

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Moving on...💃💃💃

"Words in double quotes." - Talking

'Words in single quotes.' - Thoughts

Chapter 45 - Broken Promises

Sanskar still couldn't believe what Ragini just said. He felt angry, sad, heart-broken and betrayed. But most of all... he felt determination fill his heart. He was determined not to give her up. 'No way am I letting our relationship end in this way. I believe in our love and I know I can make you realize that its more important than your promise to your cousins. I have faith in our love.'

"You could have met her later. No need to rush like that." Karan reasoned as he caught up-to him.

"It hurts so much when someone you care for walks away, especially if its the one you believe is your true love. But what hurts the most is when you have no idea why they left." Sanskar let out unconsiously.

Karan gave him an odd look. 'First a singer, and now he's turning into a poet?' Karan poked him on the side. "Are you okay dude? What happened?"

"Nothing Karan. Let's go to class."

#Vice Principal's office#

Ansh and Laksh and were brought to the office of the Vice-Principal by the Vice himself. The Principal, Raj Maheshwari, sat at the chair in the room.

"Here are the two students you wanted to talk to Sir." spoke the Vice.

"Thank you. I need to have a word with these two trouble makers. Could you please lend me your office for some time?"

"Of course Sir."

Once the Vice left, Raj turned to the two. "Alright, speak up Ansh. Why did you text me to call you two here, in the middle of your class?"

"Because Dad, all the records of the teachers appointed are kept here. I need to find everything about Prasanth." explained Ansh.

"Let's start searching all the shelves." Laksh declared and they started their work.

"Prasanth? He's a good man. Are you sure you're doing the right thing by doubting him?" Raj asked, observing them.

"We can't take any chances Sir. Both Swara and Ragini's lives are in danger. Your men may not be able to guard them always."

"They might not need it actually. They have got their cousins for it."

"What?" Both Laksh and Ansh asked in unison.

"Yesterday, my men were attacked. My men didn't know who the attackers were, but said that two of the attackers stay in the same house as the Aroras. My guess is that they were probably Swara and Ragini's cousins whom you talk about. My men also said that they seemed well-trained in combat."

Ansh remembered Nikhil meeting up with Prasanth. 'So my guess is right. There is something that Nikhil and Samay are hiding from us, and it may be something to do with Prasanth. But what?'

Raj got up. "Alright. I'll keep the Vice away for some time. Hope you find what you're looking for. Ciao!"

Laksh watched him go with amusement. "Ciao? Seriously? Who says that now-a-days?"

"Forget that. Let's do our business. I've also got to meet Ragini and solve other matters later." Ansh stated.

"Matters like?"

Ansh sighed. "Samay and Nikhil have made Ragini and Swara promise to stay away from us Maheshwaris."

"Eh? Why so? Poor Sanskar. The guy must be pissed off right now." Laksh snickered, imagining Sanskar's angry face.

"You should be too, since they asked Swara to remain away from you as well."

At once Laksh's smile turned 180°. "What?! How is that relevant? I didn't even do anything!"

"Hugs! One thing at a time. Let's search for now. We'll discuss other matters later."

After sometime...

"Nothing! There isn't anything useful about Prasanth here, other than the fact that he holds a degree in Mathematics. How did this guy manage to get a job!?"

"More importantly, how are we supposed to know if we are right about him or not?"

Lalsh thought about it. Suddenly, an idea struck him. "Maybe we are looking at the facts from a wrong angle. Maybe we should change our view." Seeing Ansh's confused face, he explained. "Look. We have doubts on Prasanth and believe that he wants to harm Ragini. Then why don't we try to look into every incident where Ragini got into trouble, instead of looking into Prasanth's past? I sure we can find something useful."

Ansh nodded in understanding. He thought back to the various incidents, like in the library, the pool, how Akash had told him about Ragini being in danger. Ansh gasped. "That's it! We need to find details on Akash, the short-term teacher remember?"

"Is it Akash Pratap? I had found one file of that name over there." Laksh pointed out.

Ansh moved past him to check the top shelf where Laksh was pointing. He found Akash's phone number on it and dialed.

(Hello? Akash Pratap here.)

"Akash, it's me Ansh. Don't hang up, alright? Listen to me once!"

(I told you not to contact me! Don't you realize what troubles my family could face because of it!?)

"Don't worry. No one knows I'm calling you. You just need to tell me the name of the person who wanted to harm Ragini."

(I... I'm too afraid to reveal it Ansh. What if they find out somehow!? I can't risk my family's lives.)

"Okay okay. Just tell me. Is Prasanth involved in this?"

There was silence on the other end and finally, the line went dead. However, Ansh got his answers. "Laksh, get ready to make some smoke bombs. Let's lay the traps. We got a fish to catch."

#With Swara#

As the bell rang, she got up to leave the class as fast as she could. She had seen Saara stare at her throughout the class. 'No doubt she found out about our promise to Samay and Nikhil. What am I going to answer her when I, myself, have no idea why they did that?!'

She tried to move out the door, only for it to be blocked by Vivek. She moved back and hit someone. She saw Kriti and Saara standing there. "Swara, the truth please. Why is Samay and Nikhil doing this?"

Swara sighed. "I don't know Saara. Trust me. Yesterday, they called Di and told her to get home urgently. Then, they gathered both of us in the living room and straightaway told us to stay away from you Maheshwaris and...and Laksh. " she added in a sad tone.

"That is ridiculous! Why would they do that without a reason? Besides, I thought Nikhil loved Saara, didn't he? Why the hate all of a sudden?" Kriti let out.

"That's what I want to know as well. But they won't say anything!"

Saara balled her hands into fists. "I want to talk to Ragini. Let's go. She has to answer my questions. She must!" Saara marched off, while the others looked on with worry or shock.

#With Ragini#

Ragini moved through the crowd of students in the corridors, deep in thought. Suddenly, she felt someone grab her wrist and pull her away.

"You're not leaving until you explain everything."

"Sanskar...Sanskar let go off my hand! Sanskar, are you even listening to me!?" However, Sanskar paid her no mind and continued pulling her until they were at the courtyard, away from the crowd.

"Ragini, you can't do this to me!"

"Sanskar please. I beg of you! Try to understand! I don't want to do this to you either. Do you know how much it hurts me knowing that I'm hurting your feelings? I only want your happiness and yet...yet I'm the one who's responsible for hurting you the most! I'm so sorry for that."

Sanskar's eyes softened. "Then come back to me. Forget your promise to your cousins. Forget it and accept our love. We'll find a way to convince them. Together!"

"Don't you think I tried? I tried everything! I tried to reason with them, argued with them, shouted at them. I even begged them to listen to me! But they are adament on their decision Sanskar." she cried out.

"Then we'll try together this time. We will convince them. I will convince them of my love for you. Give me a chance!"

"You really think they will listen to you? You really think when I, their own cousin failed, you will succeed in making them understand?" Ragini asked in disbelief. She was getting tired of explaining the same thing over and over again.

"Yes. I believe I can. Because I believe in my love for you! A pity you don't have the same faith in it." Sanskar spoke in anger. 'Why can't she understand my point!?'

"It's not about faith! It's about both your life, as well as theirs! They own their own business with loads of advanced techs and who knows what else they are capable of! I don't want them to hurt you." She looked at him pointedly. "I've also seen how much your family cares for you. They will no doubt harm Samay and Nikhil if something happens to you. That's why...that's why the only way for everyone to remain safe is for us to be separate."

"So you don't have to worry about all of us? Taking the easy way out huh?!" he asked, completely pissed off.

"What if I am?! You all matter to me a lot. And I don't want you hurting each other because...because I'm too weak to choose between you two if ever you fight." Ragini let out, angered herself "Try to put that in your thick skull!" saying that, she moved away.

Sanskar let out a humorless laugh. "So that's it? That's your 'undying love' for me? Or was it just fake all along?"

Ragini turned to look at him in shock, hurt evident in her eyes. "How dare you say that? How dare you doubt me?!"

"What else do you expect me to do? All of a sudden you decide to leave me, never talk to me again without a valid reason, no explanation, no nothing!? Leaving me hanging like I meant shit to you!? You make it look so easy Ragini." Sanskar spoke scathingly.

Ragini came towards him looking extremely pissed and deeply hurt. "I thought you have improved from being an arrogant jerk! I felt worse thinking that I was leaving you, but now I feel more worse knowing that I've done everything...everything! to prove my love to you, and yet you doubt me you jerk?!"

They were both deeply hurt and in pain. Yet, the only way they knew how to express their pain was through anger. Too bad they didn't realize that they were only making things worse.

"Haven't I done the same Ragini? Yet, you chose your family over me."

"You would have done the same if it was your family!"

"It's true that I value my family above everything. But that doesn't mean that I would give you up without a reason. I would try until my last breath to convince them and make them understand. If they have a reason, I would think over it. But otherwise, I would always choose you. I would choose you over and over, without a pause , without a doubt, in a heartbeat, I'll always choose you. Unlike you!"

"Samay and Nikhil have always thought of our well-being. There has to be a valid reason for what they are doing!"

"They aren't even fully your blood. They are only your cousins which could be replaced! Yet, you are giving them priority over me?" both of their anger was overruling their rationality.

"Shut it! Family isn't whose blood you carry. It's about whom you love and care for and they love you back! Don't ever dare to call my cousins replacable. They mean the world to me!"

"And I don't mean anything?" Sanskar snarled back in anger. However, one could see the hurt behind those words.

"Of course you do. You mean the world to me. And if I had meant the same to you, you would try to understand my perspective. I'm not doing this for myself. The situation is su-"

"Situation, eh? So that's it. Now that you've seen how much knee deep danger I'm in, you want to leave me. Should have known that you would do that. That's how you girls are. Selfish and uncaring." Sanskar bit out, too lost in his anger. He should have known that he was crossing the limits.

Ragini turned livid at his accusations. "I'm not a coward Sanskar Maheshwari! I'm not leaving to save myself. Even now I would readily lay down my life for you or Saara or anyone of my friends! It's you who doesn't value people. It's you who is a jerk!"

She moved closer until she was only an inch away from Sanskar. "You should feel lucky that you've got me and your friends. You may have your singing skills, but other than that, you are nothing! You don't know how to behave or value people. In fact, you should feel lucky that I choose to date an arrogant jerk like you. Without all of our help, you are nothing! Now I can see why Saara used to call you a Black Sheep!"

Sanskar froze hearing those words from Ragini's mouth. Even Ragini gasped.

Ragini's eyes widened on what she had just said. "I...I didn't..." she put a hand over her mouth, but the damage was done. 'What have I done? I... I didn't mean to. I'm sorry, Sanskar.'

All emotions disappeared from Sanskar's face and he stepped back with a cold look.

"Sanskar... " Ragini looked down in shame. What could she say to make him feel better, when she herself didn't think she could face herself?

"Alright. I won't trouble you anymore Ragini."

"Sanskar lis-" Ragini grabbed for his hand, but he jerked it back.

Sanskar turned away from her, hiding his unshed tears. "You're right. I think we should break up."

Ragini felt like someone had just slapped her. 'Sanskar... I... How could I have said such things? What have I done?'

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To be continued...

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~ 🌹 Mona 🌹