Everything was going smoothly. Smoothly as she had planned, planned to keep a distance between her and Abhimanyu. She used to come to work after his shift must have started, leave before his shift ends, got herself to work at a nearby child care facility to keep her free hours not free anymore, taking and suggesting to take as many sessions as possible. A perfect execution of her plan, that was doing no good to any of them.
Not until today as she was rushing towards 'Birla Mansion' to support the man who has always treated her in the most elegant manner and today he needed her, today she left behind her reasons of keeping a bay with him, not today.
She took slow and calculated steps at the entrance stairs of the Birla house and as she stepped in she met with a furious Manjari Birla.
"How dare you Akshara? How could you give those papers to Neil?", the angry mother asked.
"I..did...What do you mean aunty I am not getting it.", the confused Akira questioned.
"Aunty she is always like this, she just wanted to take revenge from all of us, she did all this to bring shame on your family. She and her blant reasons aunty, but don't worry Neil will be okay.", Aarohi said with a cunning smile while rubbing Manjari's back.
And it hit Akira, just hours it made to the headline of every news channel that Neil Birla was not an adopted but an illegitimate child of Harshvardhan Birla. With hours of conflicting with her own thoughts of whether she should go to meet Abhimanyu or not considering it a family matter but concluded on she atleast should be a good friend and stand with him in tough times.
Little did she know that the entire blame was shifted on her head when she was clueless.
"I can't believe you did all these just because things were not in your favour. I don't know why you did this but I am not going to listen any of your stupid excuses.", Manjari yelled at her.
"Maa atleast let her expl--", Abhimanyu tried to defend but was cut off by Aarohi.
"I don't know what magic she has done on Abhimanyu but let us leave that topic for now. I just told her to collect the DNA file, but she went through it. And you know aunty when I found out that what Neil's DNA stated, which to be precise she only told me, then I almost begged her to hide the file from Neil but she did the just opposite and gave the file to him only.", Aarohi manipulated in her very truthful sounding voice.
"What are you saying Aarohi? You only told me to give the file to Neil.", Akira confessed.
"See aunty. I told you she is again going to put this up on me."
"Akira is not lying, you also told me to collect the file from Akira as Harsh sir was asking for it.", came the voice of Neil Birla standing by the door and Aarohi started seeing a crack in her plan.
She didn't thought Neil would return this early after she emotionally brainwashed him, saying he should disappear for a while so that the Birlas realise his worth and also to punish them.
Abhimanyu clapped sarcastically.
"I always used to think of the lengths you can go; today you proved you don't have a specific measurement of that, you can go beyond imagination Aarohi Goenka.
You were the one to collect the file and then handed it to her and then even asked Neil to take it from her.", before Aarohi could say any other nonsense, he roared,
"Don't you dare turn the tables. Stay. Out. Of. My. Family."
"I have no words to describe your stupidness Aarohi, you played with someone's life just to take revenge on me and the Birlas, the revenge of I don't know what naive thing in the world.", Akira rolled her eyes in disbelief of her sister's doing.
"I don't care who told me what. Its the truth that I am a Birla, a Birla no one knew about, a Birla who was never accepted, a Birla who was given love out of pity, a Birla, a disgrace Birla.", Neil spoke in an broken voice before storming towards his room ignoring the calls of his big brother to wait and give them a chance to explain.
Aarohi breathed a sigh of relief as for now the focus was shifted from her and a winning smile was on her face that atleast half of her plan succeeded, the truth of reputed Birlas were out infront of the world, the media were questioning them just the way she was questioned eight months back. She was partially satisfied.
Abhimanyu took a step towards Neil's room but a hand wrapped around his wrist stopped him.
"Abhimanyu, give him some time, he won't listen to you.", Akira said.
"But right now he needs me."
"No. Right now he just needs a person who'll hear his side of story and you aren't that person for now, he'll just see you as someone who is there to justify his mother. Let me hear him out.", she tried to explain.
"This matter is so sensitive.", he feared.
"I know, but you'll have to trust me, trust me as a friend, as a therapist, as a well-wisher."
"I trust you.", his eyes were pleading a request to help his brother.
Giving a squeeze of affirmation to his hands, she moved towards Neil's room.
<>
"Throw this glass with your full force if you want to.", she said holding a glass a water for Neil who was sitting on the floor.
"What are you doing here? I don't want to listen anything.", Neil said looking up.
"Well, I am not here to say anything but to listen to you.", as she sat next to him.
"I just don't know how to say all that is going inside me."
"Then just say gibberish, just say it out. You are silent for many hours, don't bottle up Neil, just let go, vent it out.", she placed her hand on his shoulder.
"How can she do that to me? All my life I have struggled with my identity, I have struggled to make a place in this home when all time this place was really my house, this identity was not a granted one but my own.", he chocked on his own words.
"True that. How can she not tell the world that you are an illegitimate child of her husband's cheating.", she reprimanded.
"What do you mean? She did all this to save his husband's name, that's it.", he spoke bitterly.
"I won't say it is not a part of the truth. But why in the whole world a woman, your birth mother found Manjari aunty the safest one to tell that she is bearing a child, a child of her husband. She could have told your father, atleast he should had been aware, but he is not Neil."
"What are you trying to point out?", Neil asked confused.
"I am not saying that whatever happened, should have happened. But let just take 5 minutes to think from Manjari aunty's point of view. She adopted you, brought you in this house, treated you like her own child; how difficult it must have been for her to see you somedays and remember her husband's disloyalty, still she didn't disclosed it to him knowing well what his reputation and image helds for him and knowing that you could tarnish it he could have taken some steps, steps from which she wouldn't be able to save you. I am not justifying anything, she could have told you after you were grown up but nothing could have ever prepared her for that day."
Neil heard everything very silently, trying to figure out things.
"Maybe if she would have told then my life would have been better.", he finally confessed.
"Neil, Neil, Neil. Trust me, these two words 'Kaash aur Sayad', 'I wish and maybe', these two words play a lot with our life. It's a personal experience, I'll share some other day."
"No, please tell me. Honestly, maybe it'll make me feel better that I am not the only one. Also, sometimes even a therapist needs a therapist.", he chuckled dryly.
"Some other day--"
"I insist."
Taking a deep breathe, she prepared herself for a roller coaster ride of emotions through the past, if all of it make him and her better then let it be.
"I know exactly what you are feeling Neil, I felt the same years ago, years ago when I was 10.
I was ten when I found out about my real mother, about my Naira mumma, and all I felt was betrayal, betrayal from a woman I called mother, betrayal from my father, betrayal from my brother, betrayal from my entire family.
I felt like a culprit for not knowing about her, for giving her place to someone else.
I was so mad at everyone, until Sirat maa told me about Naira mumma, I felt another pang of pain knowing that I don't have any memory of her, atleast one memory that I could cherish.
I saw a peice of Sirat maa's heart breaking apart when her daughter asked who her real mother was, still I asked her. Maybe I shouldn't have done that to her, I wish I never did that to her, but I did.
I stopped talking to my father, I was not ready to hear his apology, even when he was in another country.
And I lost my chance to ever talk to him. Maybe I wouldn't have been that mad that he became frantic to come back India, I wish I wasn't that mad.
His flight crashed Neil, we never got another chance to see him, all because he was on his way to ask for his princess's forgiveness even in such worse weather conditions, when everyone asked him not to board this flight, still he did, he did for me.
Maybe I shouldn't have followed Aarohi to the temple, I wish Sirat maa never came down the stairs to save me. Everything could have been so better, she wouldn't have died, I wouldn't have lost my sister.
There are so many Maybes and I wished in my life that I can't even count.
Maybe I shouldn't have left my home for three years.
I wish I should have never came back.
Maybe I should have left after I was asked to leave again.
And to top it all.
Maybe I shouldn't have met your brother, I just wish I never entangled his life so much.
I wish I never went to Pune again and--", she confessed everything until she bit on her own tongue.
There were two other people standing by the door, listening to her.
Abhimanyu and Manjari Birla.
Abhimanyu could only sense her pain, he couldn't even imagine how she went through all this, it was like all those emotions were lava which now she was solidifying into hard Rocks. No he can't let her convert herself into a rock.
Giving Neil some space to ponder upon his thoughts with a advice to seek complete truth about everything and everyone, from Manjari to his birth mother, she came out.
Coming out she found out Manjari folding her hands infront of her, shaking her head in a No she let down this mother's hand.
Before he could say anything, she saw behind him from over his shoulders someone standing on the main entrance door.
"Mumma?", she said in utter confusion.
Just then Manjari turned around on her heel to see a person that made her face even more paler then before.
"Avni Rathore.", Manjari spoke in horror.
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A/N
It's unedited, please forgive for any mistakes.
And I know it's a very late update, but can't help, the schedule has gotten very hectic, still I'll try my best to make up time to finish this story.
Thank you for all the love till now.
Do drop your likes and comments to boost up my motivation. :p
Xoxo.