Four is the new two

Finale

Everyone turned to look at the door. Ridima was standing there with her bags. Alia & Sejal stood up and walked towards her. Jay kept looking from distance.

"I'm sorry guys.. truly." - Ridima touched her ears. Alia was fuming with anger. Sejal hugged Ridima immediately.

"Where the hell did you go? Why can't you keep your phone on? Are you alright?" - Sejal showered her with questions..

"I am alright. I'll tell you everything. Can we go somewhere else?" - Ridima

"Let's go to the terrace." - Sejal.

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Ridima looked at each of them. Everyone was looking at her with a mixture of anger & curiosity. She took a breath.

"Okay. I'm truly sorry for going this way, but I felt I had to do this. I needed to do this, because you all are worth it." - Ridima

"I forgive you. Tell us what happened." - Sejal nudged her.

"Okay. So first of all, I called Suraj. My now ex boyfriend. He is into politics himself. I knew he was member of some party, but I never cared to know which. Last night I found out that Shyam belongs to the ruling party. So I checked Suraj's profile, and turned out he is member of the opposition.

So I called Suraj, and told him I needed help. Although we were not on speaking terms, I knew he would agree to help because he is active member of the opposition party. I told him all the details, skipping the confidential part of course. I told him clearly that this diary belongs to my friends and I can't tell anyone what's inside, but it's very valuable for us and I need it back. He was aware of this Shyam tiwari scenario after the whole social media fiasco. He just didn't know I was involved too. So I asked him, since he was in opposition, can he think of some way to beat this guy without causing much fuss. He agreed to help me and told me that currently, Shyam's position in his party is very weak because of his recent negative publicity allover the social media. His seniors were angry at him for putting the party in bad light. So Suraj was sure Shyam wouldn't get any backup if he got in trouble again. Suraj connected me with a party person in Delhi and chalked out a plan with him.

Next, I texted Shyam on Insta, telling him I'll be doing this exchange on Alia's behalf. Suraj's friend even prepared a suitcase full of money and sent pictures to Shyam for assuring him. They negotiated with him through my account, and brought the price down to 1 lakh. We decided a public place in Hauz Khas for meeting, and I went there with the suitcase. We met in a cafe. I showed the money to Shyam, and took the diary from him. I made him delete the pictures on phone too. Before Shyam could leave from there, 10-15 guys rose from nearby tables and surrounded him. Those were all members of opposition party. They cornered him, took the money back, and threatened to beat him up. He had no backup there, and he knew he wouldn't get any either. So he returned the case. The members made him record a confession that he tried to blackmail us for money. They told him we will use it if he ever contacts us again or posts anything about us. He agreed and left. Now we have his confession to a crime. There's nothing criminal about writing about your personal life in diary though. So unless there's some confession in the diary, you guys should be safe. Shyam on the other hand could get arrested based on his recording.

So guys.. here's the diary, and I promise, I haven't read a single page from here." - Ridima handed the diary to Sejal.

Sejal didn't say anything. She just hugged Ridima for several seconds.. and then Alia followed.

"I know these words can't summarise anything but.. thank you so much Ridima." - Jay said, "None of us could imagine you would go to this length and take such a huge risk for us."