Page 129 of One Hellish Passion

“Go get changed. I will be here to look after her if she wakes up,” he said.

“I am not going anywhere,” she denied, gazing back at her mother’s dull face.

Ranveer sighed.

“It is hardly a matter of a few minutes. Go change,” he pulled her arm, forcing her to stand.

She pressed her eyes shut and tried to apprehend his reasoning. She also had to inform at Blitz about her emergency walkout from work.

“I didn’t inform Vikram either,” she murmured.

“He is informed,” Ranveer replied. “I asked Laura to do that. Just don’t bother about your work right now. It’s handled.”

She was glad he took care of it. Ranveer Malhotra was like her backup now. What she forgot to handle, he did it for her. It was a sweet gesture anyone had done for her. She glanced one more time at her mother and headed out to change.

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Night

A few hours later, Ranveer returned to Garima’s room. The nurse was injecting medicines into her IV as a supplement for strength. Maya was sitting on the recliner, pulled close to the bed, so that she could be close to her mother. The nurse gave him a curt nod while he made his way to Maya.

“Let’s have dinner,” he informed.

“I am not hungry; you eat.”

“Maya, don’t act like a stubborn child. Your mother will not like it if you skip meals. Come on. The nurse will look after her until we eat.”

She didn’t want to eat, but Ranveer dragged her along to the dining table. He made her sit and served some food on her plate.

“Finish all of this and no argument.”

She moved the plate away. He realized she wouldn’t eat like that.

“Fine, if that’s what you want.” He took the chair next to her and broke a piece of roti to feed her. She stopped him.

“Ranveer, please.”

“Eat.”

She sighed in disappointment. No one had fed her before, with so much care and affection apart from her mother. She opened her mouth and ate the first morsel.

“I will finish the rest.” She drew the plate towards her.

Ranveer made another plate for himself and began his meal.

“What will we tell her when she wakes up?” her voice reflected her worry.

“The truth,” he replied. “She should know what Vivek Bajaj is capable of.”

“You really think it’s him?”

Ranveer shrugged.

“I see a motive why he could do this,” he answered. “You didn’t like him meeting your mother. He also knows Adira has a soft corner for me, and he loves Adira too much to cross any limits for her. He either did this for himself or Adira.”

Maya was hurt. A father could be that biased between his two children? Ranveer read her mind.

“Don’t think about anything right now. This is just a mere guess. The real culprit could be someone else.”

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