Kalpi tossed and turned in bed..........her mind had no other thoughts but Raghav................she had refused food and water...nothing looked good ... she would rather die..than to marry a stranger........kalpi knew what she had to do........her father was still the same .after all that had happened Vittal Jadhav was still the same hard person , .he would never change ...........Kalpi searched in her drawers for anything that could take her life away............her father had been very careful...................finding nothing....kalpi despaired .....she bit her fingernails ...frantically.....and sobbed . lying on her bed ..............staring at the ceiling...........kalpi did not know when she fell asleep........a sudden sound woke her up.......kalpi saw her father standing at the edge of her bed.. Madhu behind him holding a tray with a red cloth covering it.......Kalpi knew what it was.....wedding jewels and outfit..........."stay away from me"....kalpi lost her mind suddenly and started throwing at her father whatever she could lay her hands on........."let me die'"............she shouted...........Madhu rushed forward and hugged kalpi.......she could not do anything.....she had tried to talk to Vittal to let kalpi go.....Vittal was adamant...........wedding arrangements have been made ........kalpi had no say in it.........."I want you to wear this and put on all the jewels and come and meet the man i have chosen for you....kalpi".............Vittal jadhav gave stern warning and instruction to Madhu to get kalpi ready and bring her downstairs to meet her future husband,...Mishal kanna..........
kalpi hugged Madhu and wept bitterly........where was Raghav Singhania....?....had he abandoned her.......has he been bought over by her father.....'
kalpi shook her head vigourously...No ! Raghav would never do that to her............kalpi reluctantly adorned herself with the diamond jewels her father had placed on the tray....Charmaine was beside kalpi all the while........whispering soothing and comforting words into kalpi's ears...'Kalpi.you are just going to meet him.....not marrying him......'......he has to marry you over my dead body'"........Charmaine gave Kalpi a fierce and protective hug.." i still cannot understand why your father is doing this.... i have not heard from Soham either..i wish he was here with me......kalpi saw the whole of Saphire Palace decked with flowers.......and lights......it was so beautiful...........there were a lot of guests......kalpi moved like a zombie...she could not focus on anything......her little mind was thinking of Raghav.....her eyes searched everwhere..but he was nowhere to be seen.......Kalpi fingered her mother's diamond ring.......it was also on the tray ,,,Madhu had slipped
it on kalpi.s finger..........Kalpi looked at the ring and tears escaped her......this precious ring will bring an end to her misarable life........there was music and dancing ........everyone was having a ball..........but kalpi's emotions were taking a sad turn....she faked smiles as Vittal Introduced her to his business aasociates,........" kalpi. ' come child....meet Mishal kanna....... kalpi refused to shake hands with the young man standing infront of her........"hi....there miss Jadhav.......i am Mishal.........." the man inroduced himself......and admired Kalpi's beauty........he looked at the girl in front of him........but her lovely eyes had no soul in them...they were so dull and lifeless......." come miss Jadhav .....i want to talk to you./'Mishal kanna suddenly but gently held kalpi's arm and let here away to the brightly lit garden.......' hei" watch it man" Charmaine who was close behind warned....." " Miss Jadhav ......i have never seeen a beautiful girl like you..,,,,i have met modern girls but you are so cultured and so lovely...i really like you........but will only marry you if the feeling is mutual........you can take your time........" Mishal Kanna spoke in the gentlest manner , but Charmaine was like a wild cat....My foot...'Charmaine..hissed"' Kalpi is in love ......you just pack your belonging and go back to where you belong"....shoooooo......go away... ..kalpi suddenly lost control of herself and wept openly........Mishal was about to put his arms around her...someone stopped him....." Come kalpi ..i wll take you to your room'''.......'Soham" ...cried Charmaine....Together with Charmaine, Soham gently walked Kalpi to her room....Madhu greeted Soham .but before she could say another word.....Vittal Jadhav entered the room......but Madhu stopped..him......" she had had enough Vittal Jadhav........let her rest.....now all of you please leave kalpi ...... Kalpi put her head on Madhu mami's lap and cried,,,i just want to die Mami........i havent heard from Raghav.....""Shhhhh,,Pacified Madhu' " he will come and get you soon.........i promise you''..... Madhu sang softly till kalpi fell asleep........Madhu placed a cushion under kalpi's head and left the room......a security personnel standing guard at the door......another personnel was placed just below kalpi's window.... just incase kalpi tried to escape through the window.. another personnel was on the roof............the CCTV room was operational......round the clock.....Madhu felt like shooting them all.......how she wished.she could just take kalpi somewhere peaceful and quiet.........it was days since Kalpi had laughed heartily or given a glimmer of a smile......" Where are you Raghav...'? Madhu mami whispered...........Madhu went down to meet Soham.........he himself had no idea about the whereabouts of Raghav......it was like Raghav had vanished into thin air........Soham feared for Raghav,s life .and he was worried for Kalpi.........there has never been a time when raghav had not informed him about anything.....they were close pals.....they had grown together on farmland,,,,,,and now Raghav was missing......Soham contacted his farm workers to send a search party......to find Raghav,,but till date 36 hours have passed without any information about him.......soham simply refused to think the worse,,about Raghav......he was a good man......God would protect him......,,sohamm felt it strongly that Raghav was,,safe.........soham checked on kalpi..she was sleeping ......her eyes were swollen from crying,,Soham fet it tug at his heart... .......to be continued............evelyn .........