"Dad, I'm really bored at home. I want to start working, dedicating myself to the company as well as practicing the skill I have. Why didn't you ask me to join the company?" Zoya asked Narendra Prasadh that morning at the family dining table.Narendra Prasadh took a sip of his black coffee and put the cup back on the saucer. He looked his eldest daughter straight in the eye. Looks like she really bored at home, without doing any thing productive."Maybe I should look for a job at another company, if you don't give me a position. I'll just apply at the Central Bank then. There is a job vacancy there," Zoya said more like a threat.Narendra smiled hearing that."I sent you to the best campus in the world, how can someone else take advantage of your intelligence? No way!""Then why until now you make me unemployed?""So you feel unemployed now, My Dear?""Exactly! That is what I feel right now!""Don't worry, there's no way I won't give you an honorable position in the Vishaya Group. I'm
Zoya jumped onto the bed. Suddenly the bed shook. She did not accept his father's decision. Dharavi? Why go there? Even though her father had explained why she was sent there, Zoya still didn't accept it. This was a really crazy idea, it didn't make any sense. If it's to galvanize her sense she don't have to go to Dharavi. Asked her to stay there for three months would be like living in hell. She never thought whether she could survive or not. Why bother if only perceive life of the lower classes? After all, she had a high level of sympathy and empathy for the poor. At school, she often involved in social actions. Even while studying in Boston, she also participated in charity activities. She thought her father's idea was too ridiculous. How dare to galvanize his daughter in such a way? Moreover, she was a girl. Sending her to Dharavi could clearly threaten her safety especially if people knew she was Narendra Prasadh's daughter. She can be a target for extortion and even kidnapping
Praveen stared sorrowfully at the small river where his mother's ashes dispersed. It's been ten days since she died and only memories remain in his head. All the memories with his mother from childhood to leaving her three months ago swirled in his head. Like the fragments of a mosaic that broken up and he tried to put them back together, into a whole picture.He knew, the remnants of the ashes that he dispersed, had no trace at all. Only the brownish-colored of water flow not far from he stood.He wanted to say goodbye to his mother because tomorrow he would return to Mumbai. Memorial event had been held and went well. As a child he had fulfilled his responsibilities. Nothing else was left.Praveen also wanted to overcome the sadness he felt. He wanted to be a new person, a better new man. He wished to throw away the dream of becoming a Bollywood star, and live the live according to reality. Never mind to bury that dream here, no need to be realized in Mumbai there.In front of the
The river was shallow, but due to a lot of mud at the bottom the water surface was as high as Ranjana's neck. She seemed to be gasping for air to keep her head above the water but the mud seemed to swallow her feet.Praveen was already in the water alone with Ranjana. He swiftly tried to grab Ranjana's big arm, but he couldn't because it was too big to hold. Finally he grabbed her wrist."Let go! Let go of me! I'd rather die than not be able to marry you!""What are you doing? Don't be a fool to end your life in such a ridiculous way!" Praveen shouted with difficulty dragging Ranjana. But the huge body didn't move at all. Ranjana continued to struggle and the muddy water splashed down her head and Praveen's head.With all his strength Praveen dragged her out and she struggled even more trying to get out of Praveen's grip and desperately threw herself into the water and made her drowning. Praveen was panic. He tried to lift her up, but the body was so heavy. It's like lifting a hippo
"Hey, why do you look like a drowned rat? Did you fall into the river or something?" asked Auntie Neha seeing Praveen coming home bedraggled. Praveen ignored her, just went to the room to get a towel and change of clothes.In the living room the spinster auntie still waiting for him. Ten minutes passed, her nephew had not yet come out of the bathroom behind the house. Actually this afternoon he had taken a shower but the incident earlier, he had to take a bath again."Praveen, I want to talk to you," she said when Praveen had come out of the bathroom.Praveen stopped his steps and looked back at his aunt with a surprised look."Auntie, what do you want to talk about?""Someone was here looking for you this afternoon. A woman named Ranjana. I said you were out.""I've met her," Praveen replied curtly."So then she looked for you all the way to the riverside field?""Yes.""Who's she? Is she your lover?" Aunt Neha asked for an explanation."My lover?" Praveen raised his eyebrows."She
Praveen was out of station with his backpack. The backpack felt heavy on his back because of clothes he was carrying. He brought a lot because he didn't know when he would come back here again. He stepped out of the station while carrying a bag of food containing his meals.In front of the station was quite crowded that afternoon. There were many private vehicles parked carelessly mixed with street vendors selling various food and other necessities. There were also many beggars who raised their hands asking for begging to passers-by.For some reason his eyes fell on an old man in shabby clothes sitting cross-legged on the sidewalk across the street. Although sitting cross-legged but still holding a stick in a standing position. The turban he was wearing also looked shabby. His beard and mustache were left long and unkempt.He was silent when Praveen approached him. Praveen only realized when he looked closely at his white eyeballs. He was blind. What a pity, a blind old man had to beg
The journey back to Mumbai felt so long because Praveen was not calm. He felt troubled. This was all because of the prophecy of an old man named Thakur in Chandrapur. He would get difficulties and troubled days. He tried to dismiss the prophecy, but the oldman's prophecy kept ringing. He knew, it was just a prediction, not necessarily turn into a reality. It could be that the oldman was wrong in predicting his fate, or it could be that he was not a good fortune teller. If he really was a good fortune teller, of course he wouldn't act like a beggar who spent his days in front of the station. He could have had a better life because many people came to him asking for fortune-telling.Ah, why do I keep thinking about it? He thought. So far he didn't really believe what people say, he believed more in himself. When he had lofty dreams of becoming a movie star and people around him laughed at him, he didn't care and kept going to Mumbai for auditions here and there.Until the early hours o
Praveen stepped unsteadily. He didn't expect to be like this, being an expelled at Uncle Mahindra's house. But he admitted, it was his fault. What Auntie Jana said was true. It's only natural she was angry. Anyone will be offended if they were not considered. Ah, why did he forget to tell them at that time? After receiving the news, he immediately decided to go to Chandrapure without thinking.He did feel nervous at the time. To the extent that he also forgot about the audition he participated in. Passed or not, he felt no longer important. All he could think about was how he could go back to Chandrapur and saw his mother for the last time. And that was too late.Now he doesn't know where to go. He had no friends or relatives in Mumbai. Of the twenty million inhabitants of Mumbai, he only knew Uncle Mahindra's family.Praveen didn't want to beg the woman to stay. It was no for him to beg like a beggar. He already knew Auntie Jana didn't like him staying there even if it was just a pla
Zoya and Praveen had landed in Bali three hours ago and now they had checked in at a resort in the Seminyak region. Zoya had made a reservation before so they didn't have to bother booking a hotel.Praveen didn't expect to go this far. This was the first time in his life he saw the outside world directly. It never even crossed his mind to be on this island of the gods. Not for leisure pursuit but to get married!No! He didn't feel tired after a long journey, in fact when he set foot in Ngurah Rai Airport his chest was still beating fast. Since leaving India, he felt like he entered a new world.Uncertain? Alienated? No! He didn't feel lost as long as Zoya was by his side. She gave him energy and determination so strong that he was a man who could overcome all obstacles.He had passed the biggest obstacle perfectly, taking away the lover he loved so much to escape from the one-sided match made by her parents.Coming out of the airport he was already fascinated by the pleasant atmospher
“What’s wrong? What are you guys talking about in there?” Sunil asked curiously.Stupid kid!If there were no other people around, Amaneesh would have slapped him. But he held back his anger so as not to raise further suspicion.“Come on, go home! I want to talk to you at home!”“Just tell me here now. I want to know!” Sunil said curiously.Amaneesh shook his head. He saw several of his subordinates standing looking at him in surprise.“You guys go back to the office now! We’ll talk later!”His subordinates took a respectful position,“Yes, sir!” said them.Sunil couldn’t accept it, he just walked briskly into Narendra’s room and opened the door,“What are you talking about with my father, Mr. Narendra?!” he asked loudly.Narendra was sitting on the sofa realizing the mistake he had made. Seeing Sunil act like that, his disgust surfaced again, he really didn’t want to see the young man’s face again.“Just ask your father! From now on I don’t want to see anymore! Get out of my room now
Rajesh Kumar was cheered. He quickly got up and half ran out to his car. In less than half an hour he was at the cafe that Narendra usually visited.Apparently Rajesh had arrived first. Narendra was not there yet. He immediately took a seat in the corner of the cafe and ordered a drink.Not long, finally Narendra appeared alone. He entered with brisk steps and sat across from Rajesh.“How are you, sir! Long time no see!” he said, starting the conversation.Narendra ignored him and went straight to the point.“Why did you tell me this now? Why?”“Because this is the best time to reveal everything!”“No! It’s too late!”“Not for me!”“Where did you get that evidence?” asked Narendra.Rajesh then explained in as much detail as possible.Narendra Prasadh listened with an angry expression. How could a police officer do something bad to get his personal desires and the police officer was… his future son-in-law? Truly, he had been deceived!“Your daughter has found a suitable man as her life
Two investigators came to see Mr. Amaneesh that night. They brought very important news.“We have checked the immigration data at the airport and got the names we are looking for, Sir! It turns out that Miss Zoya and Praveen Jayachandran took a flight abroad. They managed to escape to Singapore!” said a police officer named Sukhdev excitedly. His other colleague nodded in agreement.“That’s right! They left at 4:10 in the morning, and this data has been matched with the airline passenger manifest!”“They fled abroad?” said Amaneesh as if in disbelief. He did not know whether this was good or bad news because if this was true, their pursuit would be more difficult unless they asked for help from Interpol.But was it possible, considering that they were not criminals or perpetrators of crimes that harmed the country?Nothing is impossible. He could have used his authority as the Mumbai police chief.“What else did you get?”“That’s it. I think this is a very important clue, so I reporte
There were no significant results of the investigation even though Amaneesh had ordered many of his personnel. Some were ordered to Dharavi, some to modeling agencies, and advertising agencies and more to guard the borders.But none of them yielded results.Towards evening, Mrs. Fateema was even more shocked to see Sunil and his men arrive at her house. They interrogated her again, even though previously in Doorna she had been visited by the police asking about Praveen's whereabouts. Of course she did not know where he was. Since Zoya's identity was revealed, he had never been there again. What shocked her the most how Sunil knew where she lives?"Don't try to hide something from me, Mrs. Fateema!" said Sunil intimidatingly."Why would I hide him whereabouts, Sir! I have no idea at all. Since Ashita, I mean... Miss Zoya is no longer in Doorna, he has also never come again! Especially since he started to become famous!"“You don’t know where he lives?”“I don’t know exactly! But he sa
The wedding ceremony that was planned to take place this morning really ended in a mess, even though the hotel had made good preparations. The hall had been neatly arranged, both the stage and the arrangement of chairs and tables for the guests. Decorations full of flowers were already available. So was the catering.But all that was in vain because the bride ran away.Approaching 10 o'clock, the hall was actually quiet. Guests who did not know and had already come were not allowed to enter the building. The hotel was closed to guests.Of course, many guests were shocked, not expecting the party to be canceled. Not a few were disappointed because they had already come.In connection with being closed, Narendra's family could not hide their shame.This was the first time in his life he felt humiliated, not by someone else, but by his own child.Was there a wrong decision that made his daughter choose to run away rather than follow his wishes?But what was wrong? Isn't it his duty as a
Zoya ran away?Sunil felt a wave of anger hit his chest. His suspicions and worries had been answered!Zoya must have been taken away by that Dharavi man. It turned out that the man had really tricked him, taking the girl he loved right on their wedding day.He really couldn't accept this reality. This was a big slap in the face for him. Never in his life had he been humiliated like this!Sunil was really shaken. The girl had betrayed him, right on their wedding day.Sunil quickly changed into his uniform. He didn't care even though he was on leave. He and his men would hunt them down to the ends of the earth.***"I hope you can calm down! I'll talk to Narendra later! I'll handle this case myself!" Amaneesh said to Sunil as they were on their way to the hotel."No! Let me handle this case! Zoya is my future wife! I should have intervened directly."“This is a blow to our family, humiliated on our wedding day, insulting my honor as a police chief!” said Mr. Amaneesh.What would people
Danishka finally woke up after being forced by Narendra. Of course she was surprised to see her parents right in front of her along with several hotel staff."What's wrong? Why are you staring at me like that?" she asked while rubbing her eyes. She stretched for a moment like a cat. From her expression it was clear that she was fighting drowsiness."What's wrong with you? Why did you sleep so soundly that you didn't know that your sister ran away?" Narendra said, scolding Danishka."Ran away? No way! You must be joking. I slept beside her last night!""No! She ran away while you were asleep!"Of course she didn't believe it. She tried to remember what happened last night. There was nothing weird . Her sister's attitude seemed normal. But when she tried to remember more details, she shuddered. Didn't she suddenly feel sleepy after drinking the soft drink?Could it be that the glass had been laced with sleeping pills?Oh, no!Danishka screamed as she covered her mouth with both hands.“
There was a loud knock on the hotel room door that morning“Zoya! Danishka! Have you woken up yet?” Mrs. Pratyusha’s voice was heard calling. She wondered why her two daughters were not yet ready for today’s wedding ceremony even though the makeup artist had come to make up the bride.There was no answer from inside. The room looked quiet as if there were no occupants.She began to get restless and knocked harder on the door.Still no response.“Did they fall asleep?” asked the MUA.“Last night they did sleep a bit late watching the sangeet performance. But it didn’t go past midnight,” answered Mrs. Pratyusha, taking out her phone to call Zoya. But it turned out the call didn’t connect. It seemed like Zoya had turned off her phone.She tried calling twice but the result was still the same. She grumbled a little, but didn’t think about anything else. She just thought that her daughter had really fallen asleep.Finally she tried calling Danishka’s number. Although the dial tone was hear