Love and Respect

Chap 35 - Shopping - Part 1

Hetal's POV

The next day went Rudra and Moni left for work I took Dadaji's permission and went to the shopping mall to buy gifts for my family as a tone of love and thanks giving and also for Abhi bhai and Isha as Raksha Bandhan festival (festival for brother and sister) was near. I knew that on Raksha Bandhan brothers give gifts to sister but I use to give to Isha and bhai because I used to love spending for them. As they were the only two lovely people in my life who loved me and cared for me before the Oberoi family.

I looked at a shop which had a very nice dress on the mannequin. So I entered the shop and asked for the price. But the salesgirl handed me the same dress from the rack and told me to try it. I refuse first but I liked it so much that, I couldn't resist my self from trying it but when I saw the price which was way too high, I skip the idea of buying it but to my bad luck a big scene got created here.

When I returned the dress the sales girl told me that the dress got torn by me. But the fact was I never torn it. The salesgirl was arguing with me when suddenly I heard the voice of a girl who said.

"She's right. You shouldn't have tried it on when you know that you can't afford it. What a trouble now that you've torn it. You better pay the price. Don't make it too hard for that poor girl. She's been having a rough time. I can lend you some money if you need it. Just pay me back when you have a surplus." She said in a voice dripping with sarcasm. On hearing this, the salesgirl looked at that girl with grateful eyes.

I remained silent, but my face was fuming with anger because it was non-other than Riya Sen in front of me. 

Riya pretended to be helping me out, but it was obvious that she only wanted to embarrass me.

As the number of onlookers increased, the salesgirl became blurted with arrogance. "Hurry up, or you will be sorry." She glared at me and demanded.

The conversation got ugly, and the crowd began persuading me. "Just pay for it. Don't take advantage of that poor girl. It is a big amount of money for her anyway." Some said.

"Have a heart." others echoed.

People around all took the salesgirl's side. I could only squeeze out a bitter smile.

I took a deep breath and decided to speak for myself when the steady voice of a man came from behind.

"Is there any evidence to prove she is guilty?"

The man said those words flatly, but his voice was familiar to me.

I was surprised and stood still with a straight back. I didn't even dare turn my head around to look at him.

Riya and the salesgirl turned their heads to see who the man was.

Third Person's POV

The man, with milky white skin, wore a set of Armani business suit. He looked like a well-dressed gentleman. He had a pair of bright piercing eyes and a calm expression glimmered in them. He also had a handsome, straight face, which made him look more aggressive.

Riya became jealous of Mrs Oberoi again. She wondered how she was so lucky to be helped by others whenever she got into trouble. 

Riya had send her investigators to get a pic of Rudra's wife. As she wanted to see for which woman Rudra had left her.

"Who are you?" Riya asked the man discontentedly. 

Riya believed that Mrs. Oberoi must be a bad woman who always hooked up with other men. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many men who were willing to try their best to help her.

"The evidence is here. And all of us present here are the witnesses." Riya got the people around involved in this matter and they all began to echo her words.

"Right. We saw that this lady tore the dress."

People always did things like these. They never saw things happening but insisted on saying that they saw what happened. Perhaps this was why the false rumors or messages were so easy to spread.

The man behind them got close to them and said to the woman who just spoke, "Did you personally see this lady tear the clothes?"

Before the woman got a chance to say anything, the man continued saying, "Think twice before you tell me anything. If you give false evidence, you will be liable for what you say."

"I..." The woman looked embarrassed and said with hesitation, "I didn't see it personally, but... they all saw what happened here. Since they say it is this lady's fault, I believe it to be true."

"So you mean to say that you didn't see it yourself." The man sneered and continued, "Does anyone of you dare to admit that you personally saw the lady tear the clothes?"

The people around went silent. They didn't dare to speak anything because they feared that they might be held liable for their words.

The salesgirl began to get anxious as she wanted this matter to get end fast.

The manager of the shop came to see what the chaos was going on but when he saw the man she said, "Mr Rathod it's nice to see you here, how can I help you?"

The man said, "I want to check the CCT footage of this showroom to find the truth."

The manager said," Mr. Rathod, I'm so sorry. The surveillance camera of this shop has been out of order for a few days. I haven't had a chance to hire people to repair it, so I..."

Mr. Rathod slightly frowned but Riya grinned while standing there. She said, "It doesn't matter. After all, it is just one dress. I can help the lady pay for it."

When Riya was about to take out her money, Moni suddenly appeared and grasped Riya's hand. "You don't have to pay for it. If my sister-in-law likes this shop, my brother will buy the entire shop for her."

When Mr. Rathod heard the word 'sister-in-law', he slightly clenched his fists.

He wondered whether Hetal got married when he lived abroad these years.

"Moni, why areyou here?" Hetal was surprised to see Moni in the shop. Moni was supposedto go to the venue today where the fashion show will be held. But she was herenow.

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बेहतरीन तोहफ़ा देना हो तो मदद कर देना,
और जिसकी भी करो तुम हद कर देना

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चलता रहूँगा पथ पर,
चलने में माहिर बन जाऊंगा !!
या तो मंजिल मिल जाएगी,
या
अच्छा मुसाफ़िर बन जाऊंगा !!