Time And Love-PreRish ff

Chapter One

Time is the ultimate player of this game called life. It always wins, without doubt. Every time. You cannot outrun, outwit or out think it. Time is the ultimate truth. The only other thing is the world as constant and true as time is love. Both are always together as they both can't be seen but only felt. Love needs time to grow and flourish and time without love has no purpose and meaning. His Royal Highness Rishabh Samay Bajaj, Prince of Veergarh, Rajasthan learned this lesson the hard way. Seven years ago he did not have time for love and then his love was nowhere to be found. It was like she and her family just vanished into thin air. At times he thought that she was just figment of his imagination. It was times like these when he was alone sitting in the back seat of his customized Range Rover her memories crept up to tease him. He was on his way to Veergarh to meet his mother, the Queen Mother Kalyani Singh Bajaj and his two brothers and his sister.

It was a very important day for all of them. All of their struggles, hard work and pain were going to pay off today. Today they will reclaim what was rightfully and legally theirs. When his father King Samay Singh Bajaj was killed in a car accident twenty years ago, his cousin had sent hired help to kill them as well. Even though he was just ten years old at that time Rishabh still remembers that day like it happened yesterday. A loyal servant of his father took them away before anyone could find them. His mother, along with four kids, was suddenly homeless and penniless. The next day even before dawn could break that royal servant gave him five tickets to Delhi and all his savings that summed up to five thousand rupees. He explained to his mother to lay low in Delhi and not use any of their royal titles. He had contacted his wife's sister in Delhi and how her family will help them find accommodations. Then he said the most significant words of his life to him, " Don't let the harshness and lies of your uncle define you Kunwar Sa. Work hard and come back to take what is rightfully yours. You are the man of the family now, your mother, brothers, and sisters are your responsibility."

He had taken those words seriously, at times too seriously according to his mother. By the time he was fifteen he had made his first million. And the day he turned eighteen he was the youngest multi-millionaire in India and fifth in the world. Today at the age of twenty-eight he belonged to the top one percent of the world. Apart from India he now has a business in the USA, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, and South America. He then bought every business, property, and estate owned by his uncle. Apparently being a schemer does not necessarily means you have good business sense. Today he will finish this race and buy the last thing left on his list of revenge, their ancestral palace which was being auctioned by the bank as his uncle had mortgaged it to fund his failing business. Rishabh smiled to himself thinking he is only royal in today's day and age who can claim that the only thing he inherited from his ancestors was a bloodline, every privilege that comes with that bloodline he had earned himself.

The car stopped and brought him back to reality. Rishabh shook his head in a way to clear his mind. He did not get where he was today by being absent-minded but there was something about today that made him wistful and to his utter horror, wishful. He got out of the car and made his way to the auction event. He found his mother seated with his sister Ruhi and brothers Adil and Arya in front along with that loyal servant, Samar Singh who was now his head of security. It was an important day for them as well. It was an event full of who's who of Indian royalty, Businessmen, and Investors, from all over the world and everyone stopped and stared at Rishabh for a second when he passed them to get to his family. Everyone knew that it was his day today. But it was not just the palace that was being auctioned, it was also an auction for charity. After covering its cost the bank was going to donate a percentage of profits to charity, as a result, there were other items brought by the bank that these people could bid on. He saw some pieces that he will bid on for his mother and sisters. Then he saw a pair of anklets that would be perfect for her. Now there were two things at this auction that he will walk away with today. The palace and the anklets.

After touching his mother's and Samar Singh Ji's feet he took a seat next to his mother." What?" He asked when he saw Ruhi looking accusingly at him.

"Armani and Ferragamo? Really?" She accused. And he immediately understood the reason for her hostility. Ruhi the youngest in the lot is a successful designer at the age of 25 and was upset that he was not wearing her label.

"You should be upset with Tina. You and Ma were not there, she vetoed the suit I pulled out and picked this one instead," he replied matter of factly.

"You are such a lost cause Bhai Sa," Ruhi told him and made a mental note to thank Tina for making sure her brother did not look like a fashion disaster. The auction began and they got busy with the bidding.

After auction party was in full swing on the beautiful lawns of the palace and Rishabh was the new owner of a palace and a pair of anklets. He went to his mother who was looking at the palace from a corner of the lawn.

"We did it Ma. We for everything that was rightfully ours and more." Rishabh said hugging his mother.

"Yes, we did it." Kalyani sighed." What did your uncle say to you while handing you the papers." She asked coming out of her thoughts.

"Nothing important, same rant and hate about us and father. He and his family are not going to be a problem anymore." Rishabh saw no gain in telling his mother about how his uncle has implied threats at him. His uncle will be dealt with by his security team. "Now tell me what is the other thing on your mind Ma." He asked.

Kalyani smiled. Her son knew her well. "Your father would be so proud of what we have all become. I think his soul will rest from today onwards but somehow I don't feel the contentment I thought I would feel today." She replied.

Rishabh was completely confused by now. He had lived with four females all his life and he was nowhere near to understanding them. "Why Ma? We have waited for this our whole life."

"They should have been here with us today like Samar Singh Ji was. They were a big part of our lives and now..."Kalyani sighed dejectedly, "You have to fix it Rishabh. Whatever you did to hurt her tore our families apart. We would not have survived if it was not for that family and you would not have an education if Aruna Ji has not homeschooled all of you. Find them and fix it Rishabh. Ruhi and I want our best friends back and it is evident that you need her."

"How can you be so sure that it was my fault Ma?" Rishabh asked stunned at his mother's outburst.

"Because she is our mother Bhai Sa and she knows you," Ruhi replied for her mother as she joined them, " I want my best friend at my wedding."

"And when is this wedding?" Kalyani asked Ruhi hopefully. Her daughter was engaged to Ranbir Sahai a self-made man like her brother who owned India's most prestigious talent management company. Ruhi had been putting off setting the wedding date for a year now. Kalyani was getting worried.

"Call your pundit Ji Ma and fix the earliest date, I finally found the venue for my wedding." Ruhi declared looking at the palace.

"Finally Ruhi," Rishabh said, " Your wedding date was becoming a suspense thriller. Wait till I other the two brats. Where are they by the way?"

"They are with Samar Singh Ji. He is showing them around the palace and telling them about their ancestral home." Ruhi replied, "We were lucky. We had no memories of this place."

"I want to see all you tomorrow for dinner. Tell Arya to have his stand-in at the restaurant and Rudra to not make any plans with his friends. We need to go over the wedding details," Kalyani told Ruhi and turned to Rishabh, " And you better get fixing things son."