Parivaar

Chapter 18: Lost

I thought I should mention this as I have been feeling this way for a long time. There has been immense amount of people reading my stories, adding it to their libraries and all, but none of you make an effort to go ahead than that. You guys don't comment, don't react or even give a vote to a particular question. I see so many authors having such wonderful time with their readers in comments and all, and here I am with no one like that. I am grateful to those 10 people, who no matter when I post, where I post, how I post, give me a like and a comment for my story or even an opinion. Anyways, happy reading. This is a long chapter. 1200 words.

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Rudra and Anjali had returned from their blissful holiday that they didn't know they deserved so much. There was a gut feeling that something inevitable was coming their way. Rudra's dad had asked them to come to Mumbai directly, making them change their landing from Delhi to Mumbai. Rudra had asked what the issue was, but his father denied and said they could talk about this once they are back. Rudra and Anjali could only obey what he said and didn't pester them further. Their flight had landed back in the wee hours of early morning. They got to rest until they were woken up to assemble for the brunch arranged for everyone.

They got ready and headed downstairs. Ved joined them as he also woke up after waiting for his two favorite persons. Ved's mother saw them arriving together and a frown drew on her face. "Ved, is this a time to wake up?" She chided, looking at Anjali and everyone around frowned at her question. Everyone knew that he had been waiting for his bhaiya bhabhi to arrive safely. Only when his dad persuaded him to stay back and welcome them here, he obliged dishearteningly. Ved couldn't understand why his mother was suddenly so annoyed with this, when she knew everything. In fact, she herself was the one who asked him to rest until he was called. He just muttered a 'Sorry ma' and sat on his chair at the dining table. The brunch was an awkwardly quiet affair with only sounds of cutlery clinking heard. The feeling of their something inevitable accentuated as time progressed. As they were done, they assembled in the hall, waiting for his dad to speak. Rudra looked at his dad expectantly, asking him what the issue was.

"Anjali, who deals with your bank accounts?" He asked, making Anjali, Ved, and Rudra widen their eyes in shock.

Quickly composing herself, Anjali replied, "It is mostly me dad, no one else has a control over it. Rudra knows all the details but what happened. Why are you asking this dad?" She asked, as she looked between Rudra and her father-in-law.

"Rudra, are you aware of the 30 crore robbery that has occurred in our company?" His question was now directed to Rudra, making him wonder where he was headed and what went wrong in these two weeks.

"There has been a transfer of 30 crore from our company's primary account to bhabhi's. Why did that happen?" Dev asked, his question directed to Anjali. Anjali quickly opened her bank account via her mobile, but she did not find anything. She showed her account details to Rudra who had a similar expression on his face.

"There is no such record here. Her bank account shows no credit for such an amount." Rudr defended, showing her phone to his dad and Dev. "And where is all this coming from Dev? What is wrong with your tone of addressing her?" He asked. Anjali placed her hand on his lap, calming him down before he could say something. Her gesture wasn't unseen by Dev nor the rest of the family members.

"The account number 32569831467 is yours right bhabhi?" Dev asked, reading it from her phone. Anjali thought for a while and then nodded.

"That account was deactivated long ago. I had issues with that bank service so I discontinued it a long time ago." Anjali said, her doubts escalating with time. Rudra and Anjali had an idea by now that she was framed for something. They needed to know how and why.

"It got activated just the night you guys left for the Netherlands. Until then it was inactive." This was Rudr's chacha, Dev's father.

"But it wasn't me who made any such changes." Anjali said, working her brain hard trying to figure out if she had any idea of this. She had changed her contact numbers and addresses after deactivating her account. She had a business account now and that one was her personal one.  

"There is enough proof for everything here." Dev's dad forwarded all the papers to them, where her signature was on the papers requesting for activation. Constant transfer of funds from the company's main account to hers. Rudra looked at the papers and found nothing fake except the entire fiasco. Anjali was framed well and whoever wanted to target her had successfully achieved this.

"Dad, though everything looks legal and correct, everything seems wrong. She was with me, she was with us. She didn't do this." Rudra defended her while Anjali was trying to register what had happened here.

"I think she has finally achieved what she had come here for. Trapping everyone here with her perfect 'bahu' character, she made you fall in love with her and finally robbed everything right under our nose." Dev's mother spoke for the first time. Her accusations were a low blow on Anjali and her character. Rudra tightened his fists, getting angry at the accusations thrown at his wife. Anjali held his forearm tightly and shook her head in a no. She didn't want to create any rift in between the family members, especially due to her.

"Sheela, what are you saying? Are you making any sense? What has gotten into you?" Rudra's dadi shouted at Dev's mother, furious at her outrageous thought. "Don't forget that it was Pratap who got her rishta for Rudra. She just obeyed her grandfather's wishes."

"That is what I was wondering too, why did she have to involve her grandfather to get Rudra? Even he is no more today to see what she has done to us and this family." Sheela spoke, paying no heed to her mother-in-law's words. Ved who was silent all along got up and spoke.

"Ma, this is beyond everything. Stop before saying something you regret. Bhabhi would not have even dreamed of this at all." He defended strongly making Dev chuckle humorlessly at his statement.

"So you have trapped him also now, in your charms?" Dev asked, his tone nothing but disrespectful towards her. But before he could utter any other word, Ved punched him hard on his face, making everyone gasp at his act. Ved was the most silent and the most rational one out of the four siblings and never has he ever raised his voice, not to forget his hand. But an accusation like this was something beyond disrespect for Anjali and he knew that Dev had crossed that line today. It was late when Dev realized that but the mistake was already done. His words were sinister to his own ears when his mind replayed them, but it was already too late. Those words had made their impact.

"She is our bhabhi. Our bhaiya's wife. The only position she is placed after being a sister-in-law is the position of a mother. So she is the closest mother-like figure after our mother. If you ever utter something like this or even think like this, forget that you have a brother. Bhabhi-bhai, I am sor–" Ved turned around to apologize to his bhaiya and bhabhi but they were nowhere to be found. The entire family's attention was also now diverted from the brothers, but they were shocked to see Rudra and Anjali missing.

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Author's Note

I had exams and I felt strangely disturbed. But here I am back in form and ready to post again. This is for yesterday's update. 

Thank you for being patient. 

Luv <<<3.