"We are steering away from the main topic. I think,"

"Yes, and to continue, let me tell you that my plans for getting Raka arrested were done with the permission and help of my seniors or else I would not have taken up such a serious mission by myself. Even comm. Seth was let into the secret once he arrived in Chalhat. Only he and his team knew about the plan to capture the rogue,"

"He could have hurt the women and the family here in the palace. He had his men stationed here in the palace," Bandu butt in with anger.

"He didn't want the women, but only you. His men were all picked from the palace. It was his mistaken assumption that his men were holding the family ransom,"

"Why was I not told about the plan?"

"You would have tried to kill Raka in your anger and would not have succeeded, on the other hand, he would have killed you or incapacitated you. You would have refused to climb the mountain and that would have spoiled our plans, as he would have grown suspicious,"

"Yes, you are right. I had once attempted to strangle him, but his cronies came to his aid. I would have surely spoilt your plans. Then how and where did you arrest him?"

"He took off to his headquarters with the police trailing him. They arrested him there with all his men and even allies. He never suspected till the end. The police even unearthed his secret underground attic, where most of his wealth was hidden in cash, jewelry, and many antic pieces, stolen worldwide. He is destroyed now,"

"Now, what do you say, Maan? Do you believe him, now that you know his story?"

"Yes I believe him, so I apologize for my behavior earlier. But you should understand why?"

"Yes, I know Maan, why you acted that way and so I too have no grudges against you,"

"But are you sure the prison walls are strong enough to keep that monster inside?"

"It will keep him in, he has no friends outside now, we made sure of that,"

"So we can now reopen all the cases against him," comm. Seth said.

"Yes, but it will be difficult to prove Mr. Janardhan Rajput's death as there were no witnesses,"

"Anyways he will be hanged only once for the many murders he committed. That is the justice to many souls who died at his hands,"

"But I wanted to kill him myself...with my own hands, for what he did to my family," Bandu growled in anger.

"Even I wanted to kill him and I even got a chance, but that would have been too easy for him. I wanted him to live his death and know what it meant to be helpless, I want him to face the people affected by his acts of heartless killing. He should know that he cannot escape justice by the lord almighty"

"Yes, he is a heartless monster with a human face and body. He should be hanged" Comm. Seth put in. Bandu was lost in his thoughts.

"Ravi, I wanted to know something"

"What's that sir?"

"How did they manage to enter the palace?"

"They were already in the palace, sir. Raka's main source of income was defrauding people of their estate and money, their target this time was Raja Saheb and they were slowly draining him of his wealth through Ramesh and Dr. Mathur. But the arrival of Raja Saheb's family put their plans on hold and also Nayantara's return felt dangerous since she was sure to notice things out of place,"

"But why were they killed?"

"Dr. Mathur was found out when separate doctors examined Raja Saheb and gave the verdict that he was fit and fine. If the police happened to apprehend Dr. Mathur alive, the secret would have been revealed...a great deal...I mean...so he had to be silenced. The same action was meted out with the other two,"

"They even tried to pass on the blame to me," Bandu said.

"Yes, but you found out about the secret door in time or else you would surely have been behind bars by now,"

"That's right and all thanks to Maan's mother for her help,"

"This whole plan would have gone smoothly for Dr. Mathur, had they not found out about him. There would have been a fake marriage and both of them would have slowly scooped up the palace wealth and in the end Raja Saheb and Nayantara would have been killed in such a way that it would have appeared as a suicide. The reason would have been that they went bankrupt,"

There was a knock on the door, but before the men could react, the next instant the door opened to present to three ladies at the entrance. The men were surprised to see mother flanked by Sukhi and Sakhi on either side supporting her by her arms.

"Mother!" Bandu exclaimed as he came with a chair for her to sit on, "Why are you here?"

"I was worried...you told me all those things about Ravi. I was worried...you know. It's been a while since you came down here and I could not wait in the room with my restless heart,"

"Everything is fine now, mother. Ravi is Raka's son, but he does not mirror his father's image or intentions. He is your friend...Champ's son," Bandu said those last words softly and immediately his mother's eyes brimmed with tears, that didn't stop there. She sobbed into her hands and Bandu held her in a hug and after a moment helped her to be seated.

Ravi in the meantime was equally stunned hearing his mother's name. It was a new revelation for him that both their mothers knew each other and wanted to know more. He quietly rose from his seat and came towards mother and waited for her to calm down.

Everyone stood around worried and waited for her to calm down. Finally, when she calmed down, she mopped her face clear and looked up at Ravi with a renewed feeling of love. She held out her hand and he came forward to capture it with his. He was equally holding back his tears, blinking his eyes several times, and smiled at mother, who got up from her chair to caress his face with her wrinkled soft hands.

"Yes, you have kind eyes," she commented, "She was a very brave woman. She was the one who helped me get out of the burning house and escape. She was the one who alerted Mr. Janardhan Rajput for help. if she hadn't been there, I and Sukhi would not have been alive today. But...but...I don't know what happened to her," mother said looking at Ravi, "Where is she, Ravi?"

Ravi was at a loss of words and did not know how to give her the sad news of his mother's brutal death.

"I am afraid...she...died,"

"How...how did she die?" came the next obvious question.

"He...he...killed her...stabbed her to death in front of...of me," he said and saw her eyes go wide in horror, only tears dropped down on its own accord as she sat back on the chair clasping his hand in a tight grip.

"He deserves to be hanged for this...that monster of a man,"

"He will be...he has been arrested and now brought here in Ratapur. He will be tried here and justice will be served,"

"God has been kind to all of us and brought us together again. Ravi, from now on I am your mother, son. You are Maan's sibling for me,"

"You have always made me feel that way mother,"

"I think we should all move away from the room and go upstairs as Raja Saheb too will be inquisitive and might come down in search for us," comm. Seth said and stood up.

The group then made a move to go up to the hall where comm. Seth and Ravi took their leave to go back to their respective duties.