Love Happens

12

"You can't get me arrested because the law declared you dead. If you expose me, I won't be the only person who'll go to jail. Changing your identity is a big crime. I will have myself bailed, but who will get you out?" He spoke without an ounce of worry because he knew she would not sell herself just to get justice.

"Shraddha is dead; you're correct. She will never return. But Ananya is here. She witnessed everything that happened to Shraddha, and she'll also not rest until she has all her culprits in jail. What I don't understand is why you shot her. What did she do?"

"I've never liked you from day one. It remains the same. Nothing will change between us. Father may think you're his daughter, but you'll never be my sister."

"Oh, as if I'm dying to be." She rolled her eyes in irritation. All of them—the two families—were full of themselves. They think highly of themselves; they think the world revolves only around them, and everyone is desperate to be close to them.

"You are. If not, pride won't let you live in this house. Your mother..."

"Don't utter her name. You helped Riya sell my house, didn't you?"

"I did it happily. What will you do? Changing your appearance won't change who you are inside. You're a girl from Ladnun. You can never compare yourself with people who live in the city. Your mind...."

"Our next meeting will be at the station when you're behind bars. I will not give a reply now, but I will give a reply when you are inside a cell and I'm outside. I'll tell you to stop undermining those who weren't originally residents of a city."

"You can't do anything. Lawyers wait for my call to come defend..."

"This just tells me you're so used to going to jail." she mumbled under her breath and sighed. "Don't be scared, brother. I won't change your lawyer like someone did to me years ago. I will let them try their best to get you out." Her hand, which now rested on his shoulder, moved slowly towards the back of his head. Her eyes were struck on his face, which visited hollows of worry and returned to the moment. They locked gazes, and as both of them had never had a conversation in the past together, he wondered how her mind operated. He wondered if she was aware he asked Mr. Kapoor for help to change Anand's lawyer that day because he wanted her in jail.

"Now tell me why you shot me." Her hand clasped his head, jerking it to the side. "How did your daughter die? Instead of reacting like Riya when you saw me, blaming me, you chose not to confront me. There are a lot of questions on my mind. You were aware you were not the father."

"I will slice your mouth if you utter another word." He seized her hand and twisted it, pulling her closer to him. She gulped her pain, as she preferred to suffer in silence rather than express her vulnerability to her enemy. His sudden outburst infused many suspicions in her mind.

"Who do you think you are to speak to me like that? How can you accuse a father of killing his own daughter? How can you think you can talk to me in whatever tone you please, and I will just hear without retaliating? Do you want to know why I wanted you to stay in jail? I wanted you to stay there because I found out you were my sister. But, after I learned Anand got you bailed out, I shot you because there's no place for both of us in the world."

"You and I are still breathing in the same world you believe can't contain both of us." She moved a little closer, and he never saw such zeal in any woman he looked at in the past. "Listen to me carefully, Ranbir. I will investigate how your daughter died. If I find out you had a hand in killing an innocent child, I will make sure you suffer for it."

"Haven't you ever heard people say not to dig into the past as it only hurts the present?"

"You can't tell me what to do."

"Sir, your file." Their conversation was shortened by the voice of the servant who went to get the file from his father's study. He let go of her, yet their eye contact never broke. He looked at her with disdain, as she wasn't even worthy of being in his presence, but today she was among his family. He developed a certain new level of dislike for her.

"I'm going for a stroll tonight. I was threatened last night that I could be killed when I step out. The way you look at me, I know if I let you, you will strangle me to death. I'm giving you the opportunity to. I'm throwing myself into the fire."

"You won't get burned now." He got up and left while she smiled, shrugging at herself.

"I have to find a lot. Who was in my room last night? How did Riya's daughter die? Who changed the lawyer Anand sent that day? Who wanted to frame me, and why?" She knew just where to get all of her answers. It was with the eldest of the family, Mr. Kapoor, and she would visit him again even if his family were against it to have her answers. She had the weapon that would make him talk.