YEH TERI GALIYAN (Avinash Mishra and Marlene Favela)

Chapter eleven

'Ive deleted the videos. Now please, let me take her to the hospital now before she dies on us. You can take all this money too,' Shaan says to the men that were following the young woman he was with. They smile happily and walk away from his car. Disregarding the fact that because of them tow people almost lost their lives. Shaan then quickly takes the opportunity to quickly drive the unconscious lady to the nearest hospital.

As soon as he gets her admitted there, the doctor takes her to his charge. His flight is in a few hours. It's almost 1 a.m and his flight is at
5 a.m. He has to leave the hospital and head back to his penthouse immediately if he dies t want to miss his flight. But first he stops by at the lady he saved's room.
She's lying in the hospital bed, looking warmer and safer than before, and definitely more sane. He smiles to himself before heading for the door. He had left her phone at the reception. They managed to get to her mother.

The journey on  the plane takes longer than exepected, but anyways. After been driven from the airport, he stands right infront of his old house. Memories of the past creep in. How he was mistreated by his own family. Accused of trying to abuse his own cousin, Madhu. How she trapped him with the help of his own mother. Maybe the saying was true and trustworthy. A caterpillar for the butterfly, metal for the pot, and a step-mother for the step-mother.
The memories bring tears to his eyes, but what could he do? Some things aren't meant to be. All he can do is wait and watch what new drama he'll be accused of this time. It's not like he wants to be here. But his father, Neil, was diagnosed with lung cancer. His days are numbered, and he wants his whole family in one place. See, there's his family, then there's Shaan.

Shaan takes a deep breath before rolling his suitcase towards the huge mansion. It's just as he remembers. Yet, it feels like he has been gone for ages. The air still smells the same, like fresh flowers. And the paint never gets old. He greets the unfamiliar security guard at the gate  after he lets him in. The walk towards the main door is a journey. He remembers the first time he came here. And how that time was more memorable than any other time he walked through those doors. Oh, no, the time he left has to be more memorable. If only Ragani hadn't left him.

The main door is usually opened. No one except his father knew he was coming back home. He sees everyone minding their own business. He recognizes Madhu and Ranveer as they sit silently watching the huge screen tv. They look so much bigger and fresher than he remembered. Grandmother Tanu isn't too far from them, sitting in her favorite rocking chair and enjoying her favorite juice as she knits whatever it is she knits. Her wrinkles have deepened. Yet, she still mages to look the same way she dod the very day he first saw her.
He doesn't see Nevideta or Neil anywhere. Or his lovely aunty, Chanda, as he often tries to convince himself she is.
'She's lovely, she just has a different way of expressing it,' he often said to himself. He doesn't know what his next moves ought to be. But he takes a step in anyways, heading directly for Grandmother Tanu, the eldest. He stands right infront of her hoping to get her blessings. She stares at him blankly, not sure how she should react. Meanwhile, Ranveer and Madhu do the same. The lump in Shaan's thoat is greater than can be.
'Bless me, please, grandmother,' he says. She looks down for a second, signalling to him that she still hasn't forgiven him for all the problems he brought to the family. Especially not for 'apparently' trying to abuse his own family member.
'No, Grandmother. Don't hold your blessing back from my cousin. He doesn't deserve it.' Ranveer stands up. Madhu tries to hold him back, knowing exactly what he's up to. But he pulls his arm away from her.
'I've been quite for long enough. Madhu is my sister, and I love her. But Shaan is equally a member of this family. Shaan always gave me advise, and if I'm what I am today, then Shaan deserves the credit. I don't have a father, but I'm pretty sure I know how it feels like to have a one,' he says. Chanda appears holding a tray of food.
'Ranveer! How dare you sympathize with the person that tried to rape your si...' Chanda scolds him.
'No, Mother. We both know that's not true. Madhu set him up and that's the truth,' Ranveer says.
'Ranveer! You...'
'Ranveer is right. I...'
'So, you set Shaan up?' Grandmother Tanu asks Madhu, standing up and fiercely approaching her. Madhu trembles, feeling her grandmother's eyes bore into her skin.
'Why would you do that?' Grandmother Tanu asks her in disappointment, but she remains in silent fear.
'I'm asking you something!'
'She was asked to...' Ranveer starts, attempting to spill out the fact that Nevideta and Chanda put together that scene.
'It doesn't matter anymore, Grandmother. It's in the past,' Shaan cuts him off. He already knows what he's about to say, but he isn't sure that he will be bare to hear the truth again. And maybe a larger part of him did that in order to save his aunt and mother.

'No, Shaan. It's not fair. Everyone has to hear the truth,' Ranveer says. He had found out when he read Madhu's diary a few years ago and confronted her about it. He immediately called Shaan and let him know. Shaan had to plead with him not to say anything about it to anyone.
'The past is in the past, Ranveer. Why can't you just let bygones be bygones?' Shaan scolds Ranveer.
'Because of people like you. I'm not going to let you endure anymore suffering,' Ranveer answers back.
'I don't understand anything. What is going on here?' Grandmother Tanu asks.
'I can answer that. Aunt Nevideta and Chanda Mama plotted against Shaan. Simply because they want Rhidoy, Madhu and I to be the sole heirs of this family's fortune. They used Madhu to frame him,' Ranveer says. Shaan sighs as Grandmother Tanu is shocked. Realizing that she was never really there for Shaan from the beginning, but he didn't deserve to be treated like that anyways. She turns to Shaan.
'My grandson,' she cries, pulling him into her arms. 'I shouldn't have doubted your innocence. From a very young age you had always been righteous. My son was right about you. You...'
'Grandma, please. Don't apologize to me. It doesn't matter anymore.'
'Of course it matters.' She turns towards Chanda, grabbing her hair and pulling her towards the door. She then pushes her so that she lands on the floor.
'You're a shameless daughter-in-law. To think that I was the one that brought you into this house. Get out of here and don't come back,' Grandmother Tanu barks at a weeping Chanda. Nevideta watches everything from afar.
'Nevedita! Nevedita! Where is she? Where is that shameless woman? A sorry excuse of a mother!' Grandmother Tanu searches for Nevedita.
'Grandma, please. I'm begging you. Let bygones be bygones. Don't kick them out of the house. Please. I've never asked you for anything. But today I'm only asking for this, please forgive them?' Shaan cries at grandmother Tanu's feet. She slowly bends down and gets him up. Wiping away his tears with her hand.
'You truly are a Mazumdar. You're just like my late husband. Always setting himself aside for the happiness of others.' She turns to Chanda.
'You are very lucky, Chanda. Thank your stars that this fell upon a person like my grandson. Otherwise the whole country would have known what kind of shameless woman you are. And you, Nevedita, are even worse. Hiding behind that pole won't save you from yourself,' she says. She had noticed her hiding.