"What!!! There's nothing in the kitchen." exclaimed Riddhima. Vandana nodded sadly.
"And the pantry is empty too." she added miserably. Riddhima was tensed. If there was nothing left in the kitchen then how were they supposed to eat. And how will she arrange for Addy's meals?? She looked over her side and found Addy zoned out on his bed, totally unbothered and unaware about the exhaustion of resources in his own house.
"Don't we have any money left??" she spoke to Vandana in a whisper. Vandana shook her head from side to side.
"No. In the last six months, all the money we had at the house here had finished. We have nothing in our hands now." Vandana whispered remorsefully. Riddhima gasped. There should be some way. I mean they just can't sit here like that and do nothing. Riddhima, firmly, turned towards Vandana.
"Give me the phone. I'll talk to the lawyer." she told her. Vandana at once dialled the number for her and promptly handed her the phone. In the second ring the phone was answered.
"Hello." said the lawyer's sleepy voice. Riddhima cleared her throat.
"Um Good morning. I'm Riddhima." she spoke nervously. As an introvert, you generally don't know how to initiate a conversation. The lawyer immediately coughed. He must've jumped out of the bed as she could hear the sound of thumping of the feet.
"Hi...Hi Riddhima. How are you!!!" he stuttered. Riddhima looked at the sleeping figure of Addy and continued.
"I don't know how to say it better but actually we're having serious financial issues going on in the house right now. I feel awkward to ask but can you by any chance help us arrange some money from Addy's account. We'll be really grateful of you." she said nervously. The lawyer sighed on the phone.
"I'm so sorry Mrs. Aditya but according to the will nobody can have even a single penny out of the Raghuvanshis reserves unless Mr. Aditya, in his right state of mind, signs a cheque for them. And the court knows already that Mr. Aditya is not in his right state of mind. If I somehow arrange some money from the account through any means then the court will come for my neck. I am sorry." he said sadly. Riddhima looked crestfallen.
"Oh!!! It's ok. I'm sorry I disturbed you so early in the morning." she whispered ruefully. Vandana looked at her with pity.
"Mrs. Aditya if you wish I can provide you with some money from my personal account. Just tell me the amount...."
"No. Thank you. I'll manage." and with that she hung up the phone on him. Vandana watched her in confusion.
"Why did you refuse to take his money?? We need money Thakurani." she asked. Riddhima looked at her helplessly.
"Vandana, I could've taken the money but how do you think I could've returned it. I don't want to be in debt of anybody." she told her. Vandana sighed deeply.
"Now what??" she asked softly. Riddhima looked at her for a second before wheeling to her left and marching up to the closet. She opened the closet door and rummaged for something inside.
"My mother gave me nothing except for a bad luck, but this was given to me by my poor grandmother. It was hers. She got it when she came to my grandfather's house as his bride." she said as she showed Vandana a thin, old fashioned gold ring. It had a very small diamond embedded on top.
"I never wanted to part with it but that's my life..... I just don't get what I want. Well, let's see how much this fetches us." she said, placing the ring in Vandana's fleshy palm. Vandana looked up at her in shock.
"You don't have to."
"I have to. I have to.......Just go and pawn it." Riddhima said ruefully, sad that she had to part with her grandmother's ring. But she knew her grandmother won't be upset with her, after all she was doing it for a genuine cause. She has nothing to eat and therefore she needs to sell this. Poor Riddhima had nothing valuable except for this ring.
"God bless you my child. Aditya Baba is so lucky to have a caretaker like you." Vandana whispered as she turned around and walked out of the room. Riddhima held back her tears and started cleaning Addy's room.

Vandana returned an hour later with the money hiding in her bra. She couldn't possibly let Anurag get a whiff of the money she was carrying. He would've snatched the money from her and would've tossed it away in a cheap bar or on a prostitute. Neither she could let Natasha see her with the money. Natasha needed money badly. Her fillers were dissolving on their own, she needed shots of botox, her laser sessions were due, the silicone implants she had in her breats and buttocks had started leaking, she needed new ones in their place and she had to undergo a fat reduction surgery around her tummy area. Natasha's father had gone bankrupt and just so she didn't have to work to support him, she started staying her as she thought she could marry Aditya and be the woman of the house. But bad luck struck again and before she could charm Aditya he turned into Addy. To be honest she couldn't stand that pathetic child (Addy). He irritated her with his silly, childlike tantrums. Now, back to the present. Vandana straight went up to Riddhima in Addy's room. Addy was playing with his toys when Vandana walked in.
"Vandana. I was waiting for you." she said. Vandana smiled and fished out the money from inside her bra. She had kept it inside a small wallet that she always carried with her.
"The jeweller would give not a single more than this....these are 25 thousand rupees." she told her. Riddhima breathed a sigh of relief.
"Vandana quickly go and replenish the stocks with this money. Addy's hungry since morning." she told her. Vandana nodded happily and quickly walked outside the room to fetch the groceries. Once Vandana was out, Riddhima began thinking about their financial situation. 25 thousand won't last more than a month, at that was just an assumption since there were chances that they could run out even before the month end. So, how would she manage everything after that. They needed money. Thankfully they had a house, clothes but food..... food was something they had no means of. Addy's company or companies produced fruit and fruit juices. They made various types of jams and fruit drinks. They were actually the leading fruit producers in India. But.... the company is owned by Aditya Raghuvanshi and what we have now is Addy. The Indian Constitution doesn't recognises any Addy as the owner of Raghuvanshi group of companies but they recognised a refined, 42 year old, macho, handsome man called Aditya Raghuvanshi as the companies' owner. The problem was money, and how to get it. Suddenly an idea came into her head. Quickly she ran downstairs as Addy watched her in confusion. Though he bothered less and resumed playing. She reached the foyer and sat in front of the landline phone. She punched the keys and the phone started ringing.
"Hello." appeared Mrs. Rautela's voice.
"Hello Aunty it's Riddhima here. How are you??" she whispered. Mrs. Rautela gasped loudly.
"Riddhima my child. How are you?? Is everything ok there??" she asked in her motherly voice. Riddhima smiled.
"Aunty I'll tell you everything but first of all tell me is Uncle around." asked she.
"Yes."
"Put him on I wanna talk to him." she requested. Mrs. Rautela quickly asked Mr
Rautela to come and talk to her.
"Hello Riddhima my child. How are you??" he asked happily.
"Uncle I am fine. Uncle you asked me last month if I was willing to give online tuitions. I am ready to teach online." she told him. Mr. Rautela sensed something wasn't right.
"Riddhima what's the matter??" he asked firmly. Riddhima couldn't hide it from him any longer. She told him everything. Mr. Rautela heard her like a loving, attentive father.
"Riddhima why didn't you tell us?? I'll send you money tomorrow. Don't worry."
"No uncle. Please. For how long will I keep on asking you for money. Besides I am educated and I have no problem in giving online tuitions. I am actually free here all day long, I have plenty of time to work. I can like teaching so...." she told him. Mr. Rautela sighed deeply. He knew Riddhima would deny any kind of financial help from him as she was a strong girl who wanted to stand up on her own. Just to not put her in more uncomfortable situation, he didn't pressurize her more.
"You have a laptop??" he asked.
"I think we have one of Addy's. He doesn't need it so I can work with it. He won't say anything." she told him.
"Very well. I'll ask the kids to join the classes from tomorrow. And don't talk about the fees. I'll just fix it on my own. Because I know you would simply take any amount they'll give you quietly. I won't let that happen. I'll talk to them in my own way. You just keep your laptop ready." he told her. Riddhima smiled and nodded.

In the night Riddhima sat on Addy's bed with his laptop. She had already wiped off the dust on it. Addy quickly came out of the bathroom, ran up to the bed and sat next to her excitedly.
"You know how to use it??" he asked excitedly. Riddhima smiled and nodded.
"Vandana please just sit here. I think I want your help." she told Vandana who was leaving the room. Vandana stayed behind. When she opened his laptop, thankfully there was no password, she saw Addy's picture on the wallpaper. It wasn't Addy but Aditya since he was dressed up in a tuxedo and was staring at the screen with his cold eyes. Riddhima could feel her feet turning cold. Her eyes went up to the man beside her. How alike but so different were they from each other. The guy on the screen was the guy nobody would want to mess with, and the guy next to her was simply a child, full of innocence and life.
"Is this me??" Addy asked, confused but happy. Riddhima didn't know how to explain. Suddenly Addy slapped his hand on his brow.
"Riddhima my head pains." he moaned, clutching his head. Riddhima kept the laptop aside.
"I think he just gets a little uncomfortable when he sees things from his past." Vandana said as she took Addy's hand and made him sit on the couch.
"Don't worry, it happens sometimes." Vandana told her. Riddhima looked at Addy.
"Addy just take some sleep please." she asked him. Addy quietly nodded and laid on the couch like a child. Riddhima resumed working on the laptop. Vandana had pulled the chair close to Riddhima.
"What's more!!" Riddhima whispered as she started going through the files on his laptop. Most of the files were his office files. There was no Album, no games nothing. But yeah, the search history actually showed the books he must've viewed online. All were Non-fiction. Perhaps he wasn't a big fiction fan. As she was going through his files in one folder, she came across a movie and.....it was an Adult movie. Her eyes shot open wide like saucers. She looked at Addy's sleeping figure, and did I mention he had his thumb in his mouth. She couldn't believe that this child over here, at one time watched adult movies. But let's be real, the movie was just half watched and it was actually inside a folder that read 'Boring: Never watching Again'. Perhaps he didn't enjoy the movie. Perhaps somebody else had suggested him this movie and he, as he wasn't a watcher of Adult movies, didn't like it and left it half unwatched. However, other than that there was nothing unpleasant or questionable in his laptop. She shut the laptop and went to the cupboard to keep the laptop safe inside. However inside the cupboard she came across a folder. Inside were some photographs.
"Vandana have you seen this before." she asked as she started going through the pictures. They were Aditya's photographs. And in none of the photographs he looked like a sweet, lovable guy. He looked like a demon, dressed up in Armani. In one of the photographs he was bare from above and was staring coldly in the front. Riddhima had chills at the sight of him shirtless.
"Vandana. If Addy somehow gains back his memory, then I'm out. Just don't ask me why." she told her, as looked at the creepy Aditya smirking at her in the picture.
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