The Secrets.
Some people are born evil, some are made and some force the almost nonexistent darkness to surround them as a shield. It's a defense mechanism to hide the good, the vulnerable part inside you. It saves you from any and every threat of being used, being exploited, being deceived. The more Vasudha learns about Danuj, the more she feels his pain, the more she is getting answers to her questions, the more she is seeing through the man who keeps that hard and unbreakable facade only to cover up the broken parts inside him.
"Destroyed you say? Why? How?" She asks Nihal. Nihal looks at Maya, who clears her throat before continuing from where Nihal left.
"Pravakaran ji, he was Devraaj uncle's assistant. Devraaj uncle had immense trust on him. Devansh joined the company at the young age of sixteen. He was a pro at whatever he dealt with. His father built him that way. His intelligence, his calmness and his sense of responsibility turned him into one of the strong pillars of Sachdev Industries within a year. The one person everyone looked forward to, no matter how small the problem might be. He turned into the person all of us started depending on. Who would believe that at the age of being a kid he solved his employee's problems like it wasn't a problem at the first place. He was feared but respected. His aura screamed authority but every single person loved him for the man he had become. He earned every bit of it. He was a true man, he was calm, collected, responsible and extremely compassionate.
Compassion, the only thing that caused his downfall.
Whenever I used to get time Devraaj uncle used to ask me to learn things from D' and I did. He taught me everything without hesitation, whatever I am today is mostly because of him. He was planning to run the company in a joint venture with his younger brother i.e. Ekansh. He once told me that I was doing well and if I kept learning that fast, he would love to choose me as their GM. I was happy. Everything was going really well until he decided to bring Ekansh to office along with him.
They had this stark difference in characteristics that any one, except D', was able to understand that something was totally not right with Ekansh. He had this peculiar attitude of turning into a very decent man infront of D' and being downright insulting to others, at his absence. He was exploitng D's blind trust on him.He had always been cunning and deceitful. I saw that at the very beginning, just like my father did.
The Sachdev Industries earned many friends and well wishers in its long journey, but it also made countless enemies, one amongst them turned out to be Pravakaran ji himself. He had a son, who he so wanted to make the next GM. But when he saw that D' was hell bent in training me into becoming something that he thought would be appropriate for the company, Pravakaran ji felt insulted and took it as a challenge. The fact that Devraaj uncle didn't even offer his son the chance, made him angry and somewhat hostile towards D'. So he did what he felt right. He grew closer to Ekansh and started filling his mind with conceited ideas that were already harboring inside Ekansh's mind, the only thing they needed was the push. And Pravakaran ji did that for him.
The office had one sole person who would've died but kept his loyalty towards Devraaj uncle and D' as strong as steel : Raghu chacha. One fine day when I was just about to leave for office, I saw him standing at the door from the window upstairs, contemplating on something very seriously. My father reached the door and opened it. He was surprised to find Raghu chacha there, nevertheless, he was welcomed inside.
I still remember him sitting infront of my father, his palms joined in a namaste gesture, only, it wasn't a namaste, he was crying and pleading. He said he was frightened about Ekansh's behavior and he suspected that Ekansh and Pravakaran ji was planning something together, something evil, something vile. When my father asked why was he thinking that way, he said that he heard them talking, they were discussing something about a 'No Devraaj, no Devansh, Ekansh will be the only name for the future generations' and also the mention of terms like a 'showdown' and something like a 'no turning back'.
Raghu chacha was shaking like hell. He was frightened and worried. My father on the other hand had a determined look. He called Devraaj uncle immediately, who was out of station.
The words dad uttered still give me goosebumps. He said,
'You were right. Its Pravakaran. Seems like they have made a plan. Your lives are under threat Devraaj. Take Devansh out of the city at the earliest. If you want, you can move to my place at Mussoorie.' I don't know what Devraaj uncle replied but my father then said something like this.
'Take him with you. Yes, take him to that debate competition if you want, ask him to be there on behalf of you, that is for not making him suspicious and then move to Uttarakhand at the earliest. Make excuses, do whatever you want. Arrange whatever you have to arrange within the five days of his stay there. I can't take any risk of losing any of you now. And it's the only chance to catch them red handed Devraaj. It's the only chance to show Devansh what Ekansh is capable of. I am gathering the proofs here. Have faith on me. It's the matter of a month. Everything will be settled. Maya will handle the rest here.'
However, as you all know they failed to settle anything. Presumably, Ekansh got a hint of what's going on, he was clever enough to understand that someway or the other Devraaj uncle got to learn about his conspiracy. So when he heard that Devraaj uncle might leave for another meeting he employed a spy behind him with the help of Pravakaran ji's sources. And the rest is history." Maya sighs. Vasudha's eyes remain fixed at the floor. A weird feeling starts building inside of her heart. A feeling close to betrayal. Every single person stiffens with shock, as they all start assuming where this story is leading to.
"The history is what we need to know. Please continue." Abhirup says, looking at Vasudha.
"You want to hear more? But the next part is gruesome I may warn all of you. I still get nightmares and trust me, I wasn't any of the victims. " Nihal responds.
"Please, I hope we all want to know what happened. Please tell us." Ganika requests.
"Fine then." Nihal says sighing and continues.
"As you all know, the news channels were overflowing with the news of the accident that took place at Uttarakhand. Where the all famous, Devraaj Sachdev and his son died, leaving all their fortune to be handled and managed by Ekansh Sachdev, the son who survived, who wasn't present there at Uttarakhand. A seventeen year old kid, who was lamenting the loss of his dead father and brother.
My father was devastated. He took all the blame on himself. He considered himself the sole reason behind their death because he couldn't assume that something this huge could be planned by a seventeen year old teenager. He underestimated Ekansh, infact we all did. They planned it so well and so fast that we couldn't decipher what happened. The men who were given the charge to keep an eye on whatever was happening around, came back empty handed. However, what they told us was the next shock my father had to receive." Nihal's voice starts breaking.
"The looking glasses of their car were broken when they left for the meeting from our hill house. They obviously needed new ones. So they went to the nearest mechanical store available. It's a hill station, you don't find many stores like that, so the broken looking glasses needed to be fixed from that store only. According to the men the mechanic said he needed an hour or so, because he was already involved in another work. He even asked them to take a tour around that area, which was basically one of the best parts of that area.
He assured that by the time they will be back, the car would be ready. Devraaj uncle wasn't ready to leave but Dan convinced him and pulled him towards a tea stall nearby. As the men were ordered to keep their eyes on Dan and his father, they followed them, leaving the car with the mechanic. That's that.
A few minutes after they started their car, did they realize that they were doomed. Unfortunately, the men who were checking on them left them behind for a moment for the sole purpose of not letting Dan become suspicious. According to them they were doing the same thing from the day they arrived, but that particular day everything changed. When after ten minutes they couldn't see their car coming, they took a U-turn, only to witness the destruction. They tried to climb down, but the way the car was turned upside down, the way it filled every nook of the tiny cliff that if they tried to even touch the car it could've been a bigger mess. They couldn't do anything other than watching it till the end. Yes, one of them ran back to the mechanic store, only to find it closed. The man escaped." Nihal says, his eyes becoming glassy.
"We lost our father within a few days. He couldn't handle the loss very well. He had a heart attack, quite a severe one at that. He did die but not before letting us know the secrets." He says, looking out of the window.
"What secret?" Zoya asks. Vasudha remains eerily silent.
"Devraaj uncle assumed things like this long back. He started building a separate office, started moving money to a different bank account under my name, started collecting proofs against them. He was hell bent on saving Dan. I still remember what my father said,
'That kid was a gem Nil, he was everything Devraaj wanted to be, Devraaj was so proud of him. I am so proud of him. But we both were frightened about his extreme compassionate nature. He needed to be shrewder, needed to be cunning just like Ekansh. If only I could save him, I would've taught him how to become that. But I couldn't save them, I couldn't help him. Whatever amount is growing in that bank account donate that to the poor, Devansh would have wanted that. But don't stop here. Fight, fight to unmask them, fight and bring them to their end. They should be destroyed Nil. They should burn in hell for what they did to Devraaj, for what they did to Devansh, my little kid.
Devraaj told me about this secret basement behind the palace. There should be a switch somewhere below the windowsills, I can't properly remember. Find that out, he has recorded something that might help you prove what truly happened. Don't stop fighting Nil. They deserve justice.'
That's what my father's last wish was. But I stopped. I stopped fighting. Because some three to four days after my father passed away, I received a phone call. A call from someone named Ojas Kashyap, who said that Devansh Sachdev was alive, but now he had a different name. He called himself Danuj D' and if I wanted to see him I needed to go to this hospital and search for that name.
When I asked him who he was he told me he was Dwarka ji's son. Dwarka ji was Devraaj uncle's driver, who was deadly sick and was admitted to a hospital. I knew about that because my father kept praising Dan because of how he was taking every single responsibility of Dwarka ji's treatment and his son's education and god knew what else. Who would've known Dwarka ji's son will turn out to be our savior.
The man was broken after he got to know about the accident while he was on the way, following Ekansh Sachdev. Because just a few days before the accident took place he was given a responsibility, a responsibility to protect Devansh Sachdev, to track the assumed younger brother who had a tendency of hurting his brother. How would he know that the 'hurting' he assumed was nothing close to what he saw infront of his eyes. He was honest, strong and ready to protect the man who saved his family with every bit of him. But he was powerless against a huge troop of goons. Mostly because he could never see something like that coming, even in his nightmares. But he tried, as much as he could." Nihal says.
"What goons? Where was Ekansh going while the accident took place?" Vasudha asks after a long pause.
"He was going to Uttarakhand, he was going to the spot, while the rescue mission was going on. It would have been better if Ojas told you himself about what he witnessed. But as he isn't here, I am telling you the information we got to know from him but never Dan. No, Dan never told us about that incident, not even today." Nihal begins, as everyone straightens their backs.
"According to Ojas the rescue team was finding it really hard to turn the car around, partly because the car was broken into two parts from the very middle of it. It took them some three hours to move and turn around one part, underneath which they found the distorted body of Devraaj uncle, the other part was yet to be turned around, and it was extremely risky for the men themselves, because that part was hanging out of the cliff and they had no idea where could Dan's b-body might be stuck. There was a high chance for them to fall off the the cliff as well as loosing every chance of recovering Dan. Hence they decided to do that when the sun light was available. So that mission of rescuing Dan, who they already considered dead, had to be postponed to the morning.
But what they also didn't know was that the man underneath was born to make history. He was fighting to stay alive. He was fighting to know the truth, he was fighting with himself to prove his father wrong. The father that said to stay away from his little brother, the father whose last words were that it was a trap, that it was preplanned. The father who was his world, his everything and who died infront of his eyes. He always thought it was his inability that he couldn't save him. Hence, someway or the other he tried, he pulled himself out of that iron cage. He wanted to leave, he wanted to know the truth. The lower part of his body lost every possible sensation. He couldn't feel it anymore. But he dragged himself out of it and sat up resting his back on a stone. According to Dan he was under extreme pain and he dozed off, he couldn't remember anything, but he assumed that he fell from the cliff but then was rescued by some old priest, who gave him some basic treatment." Nihal says releasing a deep breath.
"But that's not the truth, isn't it?" Vasudha asks panting, looking at Nihal, as her lips tremble slightly. Nihal sees it, the pain, extreme pain, the hurt. She is sweating profusely.
"Partially true but as you assumed not the entire truth Vasudha. Not the entire truth. And that's where Ojas's version gets in. As I said he was following Ekansh. Ekansh met up with some men, who seemed local and dangerous. Pravakaran ji was with him, sitting inside the car. He saw them move towards the jungle rihht pbeside the cliff. Something that the rescue team failed to utilize. They took him to the cliff. Ojas followed them as stealthily as possible. He knew he was not enough against all of these men, but he knew he will try even if that meant sacrificing his life. But you know what, Dan never gave him the chance." Nihal says, shaking his head, disappointment evident in his teary eyes.
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Love, Puja. 🍁