SarAlia - A unique tale of love - Story9monthski closure

PROLOGUE

Alia's POV :

Hi. I am Alia Shroff - a young, independent woman from Mumbai and, most importantly, a single mother. 

I achieved all my dreams as per my life plan - Harvard at 22, marriage at 24, a startup at 26, and motherhood at 30.  I attained all my goals smoothly, except for motherhood. That time of my life was the best as well as the worst! Confused?! Don't worry! I will explain everything.

Married for six years, Veer and I were childless, as I wanted my gifting company - DDS, to reach great heights before having a baby. And DDS eventually became a successful startup, and I was considered an inspirational young female entrepreneur in the country. Now that my business was set, I wished to start a family with Veer. 

However, I was oblivious to the inferiority complex Veer had developed due to his professional failure and my success. His jealousy and insecurities pushed him closer to Nitya, with whom he was having an affair behind my back. I wouldn't have known about it if Rabia, my best friend, hadn't become suspicious of Veer.

My heart broke. It shattered further when Veer pinned the blame of our broken marriage solely on me and labelled our relationship as "mechanical" and devoid of real emotions. So, eventually, I divorced him and planned to become a single mother through IVF.

Now began the main challenge - finding the perfect IVF donor. I wanted a smart, good-looking, classy, sophisticated, Ivy League graduate with a good family background to father my child. Rahul, my oldest employee and close confidante, found the perfect donor too. However, the donor backed out at the last minute as his girlfriend objected. Rahul didn't wish to forgo the money I gave for this work, and hence, unknowing to me, he set up Sarangdhar as my donor.

Sarangdhar was a talented junior writer at DDS and the complete opposite of my perfect donor. Rahul had fooled him into donating, and by the time I got to know the truth, it was too late. The insemination was done. I was already pregnant with twins!

Sarangdhar started interfering in my single motherhood dreams and was adamant about co-parenting. I referred him to one of my contacts so that he resigns from DDS. But he didn't resign. Plus, his carelessness led to people insulting my unborn kids, which enraged me. So, I manipulated him to accompany me to his hometown to get rid of him by making a deal with his father.

However, Sarangdhar's love and care moved me, and I fell for him. Moreover, I had a memorable stay with his family, especially his mom, at Mathura. When we returned to Mumbai, we were happily engaged and eager to marry each other soon.

But, my pregnancy wasn't meant to be smooth, as a couple of days after returning from Mathura, I met with an accident. Thankfully, my babies survived, but my pregnancy became high-risk. Moreover, Sarangdhar got kidnapped by his father's enemy, but by god's grace, I was able to save him.

Our wedding date was nearing. Many bad omens plagued our pre-marriage rituals. But, I was confident of our true love and thought I had the perfect life partner. But I was wrong! Instead, we had a bitter separation. I lost my company and my baby girl. And Sarangdhar deserted me and our son Agastya. 

Six years have passed. In these six years, I have not seen him nor wished to see him in the future. Mom got cancer and is in the US for treatment. I severed ties with my dad for reasons best known to me. And now, I am just an employee at DDS. No regrets! No blame game! Whatever happened was my destiny, and now my world revolves only around my cute Aggu.

Sarangdhar's POV:

I am Sarangdhar Pandey from Mathura. Inspired by Ms Alia Shroff's interview on national TV, I went to Mumbai to become a writer six years back. I wanted to break away from the shackles of my tyrannical father, who was forcing me to join the family's silver business. 

My elder sister, Kusum, who had impeccable business acumen, wasn't allowed to join the business because she was a woman. My other sister, Kumkum, irrespective of being married, wasn't allowed to stay with her husband, as my father picked up a fight with her father-in-law. And Amma was always suppressed by Bapu's misogynistic attitude.

Determined to give the women in my family their rights and to carve a distinct identity for myself, I ran away from Mathura. I worked with DDS as a junior writer. Unknowingly, I started falling for my boss Alia, even though she never considered me an ideal match. 

I may have always been a one-sided lover if Rahul's ploy of making me her accidental IVF donor hadn't worked. Our babies brought us closer, and eventually, Alia proposed to me in Mathura. We were excited to become life partners. In fact, we had a priestless fairy-tale wedding at the hospital where I was recovering post my kidnapping fiasco.

But, a few days before our wedding, something happened that made me question our marriage decision. And later, we broke off on a bitter note. I lost my son, and my daughter, Sayuri, was born with a heart defect. And all this happened only due to Alia. Moreover, she disowned Sayuri.

Now, I am a successful children's comic writer, who once loved Alia immensely, but now hates her twice as profoundly.  I can forgive her for what she did to me, but not for what she did to my Choti. She is dead for my daughter and me. Sounds strange, right? But that's the harsh truth.

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After reading Sarangdhar and Alia's respective POVs, do you think the star-crossed lovers can reunite forever? Do you wonder what or who caused them to separate? What transformed their love into pain and hatred? Some external forces, their opposite personalities, or inner demons? And what about their kids who were devoid of one parent's love? Let's find out all the answers in the chapters ahead.