Chapter 74: Himani

Karishma and Abhimanyu were strolling by the banks of the Yamuna River.

Abhimanyu asked, "Why did we come here?"

Karishma replied, "Look in that direction."

When Abhimanyu looked in the direction she pointed, he saw the setting sun and it looked like it was taking a dip in the river.

Abhimanyu first admired the view and then, looking at Karishma and both of their beauty together, he said, "Indeed, nature's marvel, Karishma."

Looking at Abhimanyu, Karishma said, "Exams are coming in a few days, and after that, both of us will have to go to Dehradun for training. Then there will be very little time to spend like this together."

Abhimanyu said, "First, get selected for the training program. You know, only 10 members can get enrolled in 'The Night Demon' every year."

Karishma asked, "Are you suggesting that I am weak?"

Abhimanyu replied, "I'm not saying you're weak, but there are many talented individuals who are better than you."

Karishma said, "I will show you soon that no one is better than me."

Abhimanyu and Karishma then went to a nearby very famous restaurant, River Bank Food. Though the place wasn't as luxurious, it was a favorite among many.

Upon entering, they found all the seats in the restaurant full, and there wasn't a single table available. Just then, they noticed a couple vacating a table and leaving.

As they approached the table, a boy around their age started cleaning it. When he saw Karishma, he was surprised and said, "Karishma and Abhimanyu?"

Karishma asked, "Are you from our school?"

The boy replied, "I'm Himanshu Sharma, I study Commerce."

Himanshu then asked them to sit at the table and began taking their order. He mentioned that his mother ran the restaurant, and he helped her a bit.

Meanwhile, at the counter, a lady called Himanshu over. After taking their order, Himanshu returned to the counter.

His mother, Himani, asked if Abhimanyu and Karishma were their friends.

Himanshu replied, "No, they study at my school, and both are quite famous. Why would they be friends with me?"

His mother chuckled and said, "Why? Is our restaurant not famous enough? People come from far and wide to eat here."

Himanshu gave his mother a strange look, and she lightly tapped him on the head, saying, "Don't consider yourself any less."

After a while, Himanshu returned to the counter to place their order with the chef.

About ten seconds later, Himanshu came back out and started attending to the other customers.

Abhimanyu and Karishma were engrossed in conversation when a 23-year-old boy arrived with a few men carrying bats and hockey sticks, with a rod in one of their hands.

The boy's name was Nishant Sharma, and as he approached the counter, he greeted, "Hello, Aunty Himani, how are you?"

Himani replied, "I'm good, Nishant beta. How are you?"

Nishant asked about the business of the restaurant.

Just then, Himanshu came out of the kitchen and, upon seeing Nishant, angrily said, "What are you doing here, you scoundrel? Get out!"

Nishant replied, "Hey, talk with some manners. I'm older than you."

Himani intervened, "Himanshu, don't talk to your brother like this."

Himanshu retorted, "When did this guy ever work like a brother? He always wants to grab everything after Dad's death. He and Uncle-Aunt want to snatch it all."

Nishant retorted, "Look, I'm not here to chat nonsense. Mom and Dad said they'll give the final offer of 20 lakhs. Besides, this restaurant is our grandfather's, and we all should have a share in it."

Himanshu was very angry because the restaurant was worth at least 1 crore, and they wanted to take it over for just 20 lakhs.

Himanshu said, "You all have already divided all of Granddad's property among yourselves after Dad's death and left us only this restaurant. When our restaurant started gaining popularity and we began to earn some money, you people came back with a begging bowl, thinking what fortune you might find in this garbage. But when our restaurant started gaining fame and we began to earn a bit, you all came back with a bowl, asking for a share."

Nishant said, "You beggar, who wants this garbage restaurant? We are only interested in the land."

Himanshu couldn't understand why, with so much land in Noida, they still wanted a piece of this small plot.

Nishant said, "If you don't agree, I'll ruin this restaurant."

When Himanshu saw the men behind Nishant, one of them held a bat.

Himanshu warned, "If you do anything, we'll call the police."

Nishant chuckled, "Police", then he looked at goons and order them to throw everyone out."

The goons went to each table, urging everyone to leave peacefully, and they complied. As the didn't wanted to got into trouble.

Nishant laughed, "Do you think I'm scared of the police?"

Himani said, "Look, Nishant, you shouldn't resort to thuggery. Good boys should focus on their studies."

Nishant retorted, "You don't need to preach, you b****. You exploit your beauty and entice people, and when it comes to boys, you drag them to your restaurant. That's how you make money. I don't need your lectures."

Himanshu, enraged, slapped Nishant.

Nishant's cheeks turned red, and in anger, he kicked Himanshu in the stomach, causing him to collide with the counter and clutch his stomach.

Himanshu exclaimed, "How dare you raise your hand against me?"

Suddenly, a man came flying in at high speed, crashing into Nishant's table, causing it to break.

When Nishant looked towards Abhimanyu, he was sitting calmly on a chair, looking at his food on the ground.

Earlier, when Nishant had ordered everyone out, everyone had left except Abhimanyu and Karishma, who were still eating.

Seeing this, one of the goons approached Abhimanyu, saying, "Hey kid, didn't you hear? Get out!"

Abhimanyu replied, "I haven't finished my meal, and I'm not in the habit of leaving food."

The goon knocked Abhimanyu's plate to the ground and said, "There, it's finished. Now, get out!"

Abhimanyu stared at the fallen food.

The goon, irritated, grabbed Abhimanyu's collar and said, "Didn't you hear me?"

Abhimanyu twisted the goon's hand with one hand and delivered a palm strike to his chest with the other, sending the man flying, crashing onto a table near Nishant, which broke.

Abhimanyu, still looking down, stood up from his chair, picked up the fallen food, and, while eating, said, "I told you wasting food isn't a good thing."

Abhimanyu had realized the value of food when, for three days, his grandfather had kept him hungry because his favorite dish wasn't prepared. He had thrown away his plate, and his grandfather had said that until Abhimanyu finished that fallen food, he wouldn't get any more food, nor water, even if he died of hunger.

Abhimanyu was quite stubborn, even at the age of 9, and was quite spoilt. About three hours later, he started feeling hungry. He went to the kitchen to find something to eat from the fridge. That's when his grandfather caught him and said, "Deceiving me isn't that easy," and locked the fridge.

Abhimanyu then went to the living room and lay down on the sofa. Around 2 in the night, his mother, Kiran, woke him up and softly said, "Gullu."

"Gullu" was what his mother called him earlier. He was quite chubby at that time, and his cheeks were always puffed up, like a rasgulla.

When Abhimanyu woke up, he saw his mother had brought food for him in a plate. During dinner, Kiran hadn't said a word to his grandfather, but now she brought food just for Abhimanyu.

Abhimanyu hesitated, "But, Grandfather will punish you."

Kiran replied, "He won't even notice."

Abhimanyu gestured towards the plate on the dining table, "You have it."

Kiran said, "I'll have mine later."

Abhimanyu insisted, "No, it's spoiled. How can you eat this?"

Kiran replied, "You eat it first."

While Kiran was about to feed Abhimanyu, his grandfather, sitting on the sofa, interrupted, "Is this house of no value to anyone anymore?"

Kiran, frightened by her father-in-law's presence, stuttered, "Dad, he..."

Grandfather interrupted, "Until Abhimanyu finishes this meal, he won't eat anything else."

Kiran couldn't say anything.

Grandfather demanded, "Give me that plate."

Reluctantly, Kiran handed over the plate to Abhimanyu's grandfather, who started eating from it right in front of Abhimanyu. After finishing, he said, "Don't try to sneak food again."

The next morning, when Abhimanyu woke up, he felt very hungry. He searched here and there in his room but found nothing. He forgot that there was food on his bed. During breakfast, when Prachi accidentally dropped a piece of vegetable, Abhimanyu quickly picked it up and ate it.

Kiran scolded Abhimanyu, "Your grandfather said not to waste food. He didn't say you could eat food dropped on the floor."

Abhimanyu defended himself, "But that piece was going to waste, and being present, how could I let someone else eat it?"

Kiran glared at Abhimanyu's grandfather in anger.

Abhimanyu's grandfather, looking the other way, thought to himself, "One day, this Abhimanyu will get me in serious trouble."

Abhimanyu's realization of the value of food stemmed not only from his promise to his mother but also from his experiences in the jungle. Being a vegetarian, he had to rely on fruits and vegetables to survive. There were times when he couldn't find any edible plants, and for 13 days, he had to go without food. It was during this time that he felt the spiritual energy within him and had to resort to hunting a rabbit for food. Despite this experience, he continued to prefer vegetarian food.

Since that day, Abhimanyu understood the value of the food and how a human can eat somethin in hunger which the never touched in their life.

Abhimanyu finished eating the food from the floor, Karishma didn't like seeing all this, but she had seen Abhimanyu many times, and knew he despised wasting food.

"Abhimanyu, Himani, and Nishant were very surprised to see all this.

Nishant, jokingly, said, 'Aunty, your food is so popular that people even eat it off the ground.'

The thug who had fallen on the table couldn't get up and angrily said, 'What are you looking at? Beat this guy!'

There were about three other thugs there. One of them tried to hit Abhimanyu with a hockey stick, which Abhimanyu grabbed and swiftly struck the thug's head with. Abhimanyu hit him about four or five times, causing blood to trickle from the thug's head, making him faint. Seeing this, the other two thugs attacked Abhimanyu simultaneously. One of them, whom Karishma had pushed down, Abhimanyu avoided and then delivered a side kick to his left temple, causing him to hit his head on the table Abhimanyu was sitting at, breaking it, and fall to the ground. Karishma had also knocked one down, and Abhimanyu gave another one a kick to the head, making him bleed lightly.

Abhimanyu checked the thugs' pockets and took out all the money from them. Then, he walked over to Nishant and whispered, 'What was that about eating off the ground?' Abhimanyu started checking his pockets, and he found some cash.

Abhimanyu said to him, 'I'm taking this money as payment for the destruction of my food and the property here. Count it, and if there's any left, let me know.'

There was fifteen thousand rupees at the counter. After counting it, Himani said, 'This is too much, beta.'

Abhimanyu replied, 'It's okay, keep it. It's not like it came from my pocket.' With that, he turned and started to leave, placing his hand on Karishma's shoulder as he walked away.

Nishant, shocked by the humiliation, quickly left. The other thugs struggled to get up and also left.

Himani asked Himanshu, 'I don't understand this boy's character. Is he a troublemaker or a scholar?'

Himanshu replied, 'I haven't seen Abhimanyu fight, but I've heard he's good at martial arts. He's definitely a scholar, but I've never seen him study in school. However, he always tops his class. Besides, there's a girl named Karishma who is also from the Student Council and is a talented student. Compared to them, I am nothing.'

Himani, tapping him on the head again, said, 'Who said you have to be like them? You are special in yourself. After your father left us and we lost everything, leaving us alone, you took charge and made this business successful. When your father passed away, we were left with nothing, and even our home was taken away. All we got was this restaurant, which was already quite famous locally, but you made it famous at the state level.'

Himanshu replied, 'Yes, but what's the use? As soon as they see our success, all our relatives come and pester us for this restaurant.'

On the other hand, Nishant left the restaurant and called someone on the phone, saying, 'Dad, how could you send goons with me? A 17-year-old boy beat them up single-handedly.'

Nishant's dad, surprised, asked, 'Did Himanshu beat them up?'

Nishant replied, 'No, dad, it was some suspicious guy. One of those men dropped his food on the ground first, picked it up, and ate it, then gave the rest of them a good thrashing. He humiliated me. I need to get back at him.'

Nishant's dad said, 'Alright, find out who he is and send me the details. I'll take care of it.'

Nishant replied, 'Thanks, dad, but what about Aunt Himani and Himanshu?'

Nishant's dad said, 'What can we do? Sooner or later, we'll have to give them that land, because its value is going to increase in a few days.'

Nishant told the thugs, "Find out about that boy and search for who he is."

Nishant then went to a club where some of his friends were partying.

Entering a cabin, Nishant said, "Congrats, Chirag Bhai, on getting engaged."

Chirag replied, "What congratulations? It's just a name engagement for us; she doesn't even talk to me."

One of Chirag's friends said, "Chirag Bhai, it's the job of girls to throw tantrums. They scream and yell, but one day, the beauty will agree."

Seeing Nishant's expression, Chirag asked, "What's wrong with you? You seem irritated."

Nishant replied, "Brother, Papa gave me a small task, but some weird guy intervened and messed up my mind."

Curious, Chirag asked, "What happened?"

Nishant recounted the whole story to him.

Chirag said, "Then you should act quickly because this news will soon spread even to the high-class circles."

Nishant agreed, but just then, he received a message on his phone.

Opening it, Nishant found details about Abhimanyu: his name, age (17 years old), and school (Agrasen School). There was no other information about him.

Nishant forwarded these details to his dad with a smile.

Chirag asked, "Why are you smiling?"

Nishant replied, "I got the details of that weird guy."

Chirag dismissed it, saying, "Who cares about such insignificant people?"

Nishant insisted, "But we have to find and crush that bug."

Ignoring it, Chirag asked Nishant for advice on how to impress his fiancée.

Nishant was surprised, "Aren't you good with girls? Why are you asking me?"

Chirag explained that while he had no trouble charming gold diggers, this girl was different, and he needed to work hard to impress her.

One of Chirag's friends chimed in, "But why are you bothering so much? She's going to be yours anyway."

Chirag disagreed, saying, "You won't understand. I like her, and besides, there's family pressure. The Mishra and Raijada families have joined hands with Lion Empire, and with their Amritjal project, they've become powerful in Delhi. Plus, they have Tripathi's support. We have to marry because of the business."

Nishant inquired about the wedding date.

Chirag replied, "It's this Saturday."

Surprised, Nishant asked, "So soon?"

Chirag didn't respond.

Another guy suggested, "Then today should be your bachelor party."

Chirag agreed, "Absolutely, today is the day for all the brothers to have fun."

Nishant suggested having it at a farmhouse.

Chirag confirmed, "Yes, that's our spot."

Nishant offered to invite some girls.

Chirag declined, saying, "They're all old news. I've arranged for some fresh ones at the farmhouse. Sheela took care of it, and I've already made the first booking."

Nishant said, "Brother, then it'll be fun."

Excited after hearing this, his other friends, after a bit of drinking, headed to Chirag's farmhouse.

After a while, everyone reached Chirag's farmhouse and started their party. Some new girls had arrived, and everyone was dancing with them. Eventually, they began getting intimate. From a distance, a girl was recording everything through the window.

After some time, that girl moved away from the farmhouse and said, "Mr. Lokesh Chirag Aggarwal, I knew you would reveal your true colors soon, but I didn't expect it to happen so quickly. The engagement was just the day before yesterday. Well, now, with this, my sister's marriage is surely going to break."

That girl was none other than Kashmira's cousin sister, Riya Mathur, who was not at all happy with this relationship. Therefore, she was looking for evidence to break this relationship, and today, she finally found it.

Riya then left from there.