Swasti's pov
Betrayal...has anyone ever felt how that is? No worries, I'll explain either way god has decide to let me explore All negative emotions that exist in this world, hate, ignorance, annoyance, anger, fear, regret( cuz I couldn't meet papa for the last time), anxiety, grief, disgust and now the feeling of BETRAYAL.
You know what is the worst part of Betrayal? That it never comes from ur enemies! It's always the person u trust, the person u love the most who betrays, and today having experience it, I would rather murder someone, but NEVER betray, this feeling is like the worst of all others, it is even worse than death, at least After death u have the sweet memories of the person u loved but betrayal is something that turns sweet memories into nightmares. Family is a place supposed to be our safe heaven, for me it's the place I found my deepest heartache.
Do u want to know the WORST of all? I was betrayed by the person whose death made me mentally unstable! The person whose absence is suffocating me is the same person who broke my trust! It's like the people for whom I would take a bullet, are the same people with the gun in the first place.
If I was betrayed by one single person I would still be able to recover due to the support of the other but how do I recover when my support system itself has destroyed, crushed and buried my trust, where do I go? How should I recover when the 3 people who were the reason why I have a life are the ones who crumbled my life?
This is how betrayal feels like; Imagine you have a person in ur life, who came upto u one day and told u they have committed a murder, u love that person so dearly that u help that person dismiss the dead body and protect that person from all cost, when the police finds out u take the blame on urself and u r prisoned for the rest of ur life, then you find out that the person u did all this for is the one telling the entire world that ur a murderer, even to those who u don't know basically the entire world.
When I put my ears to the door I heard ma's voice
Ma: Stop! R u mad? Is this the right time! If u dare to go tell her anything right now, u will see me dead!(she said whisper-shouting as I gasped in shock and got more curious to listen, who is ma talking about? And to whom is she talking to?)
Person; But she needs to know the truth! How long are you going to hide it from her??? It's been 23 years, and next month it will already turn into 24 years, do U understand, TWENTY four years!!! And today or tomorrow she will find out and wait a minute, look who is talking about "the right time" YOU are the one who wants to talk about property, can u imagine, u called me to talk about property! On the day of ur fucking husband's tehrvi!! u really think so this was the right day?! Did u ever even love papa, cuz right now u look like the most vile woman i kno...( his voice was cut by a loud smack)
Ma; NOT.A.WORD.MORE! GET OUT!( she said emphasizing each word as her voice sounded super angry)
Hearing all this I dropped to the ground, I'm not dumb like those stupid Indian dramas who will not be able to figure out what the fuck was going on! The voice was of no one else but SACHIT BHAI!
Yes the person who was screaming inside at ma was no one but him! And the girl who they were talking about was no one but ME!
He.....he is.....he is the son of.....MAHARAJ ARUN!
He is the heir of Udaipur, he is the first biological child of no one but my own father!! And i had no idea about this from 24 years!
The reason why I'm not referring to Sachit bhai as my real brother now is because I don't even know if the person I call ma is my biological ma! If they can hide that papa also has a son than ofc yeh toh kuch bhi nahi hai. The one person I shared even the smallest detail of my life, kept this huge secret from me!
You know what I'm more hurt about, ma was talking about property! In this time all she could think about was PROPERTY! Itni giri hui insaan meri ma nahi ho sakti, I would now prefer to be called an orphan than to accept her as my MOTHER And on top of that she still doesn't think that I deserve to know the truth! Somewhere In between my crumbled heart I felt proud that at least sachit bhai cared enough about papa and me, but the power of betrayal overpowers everything, at this point as much as I love papa I can't help but get angry on him too!
Afterall as I said the power of betrayal is so strong that it overpowers death too!
Falling on my knees, paralyzed, tears flowed without my knowledge, as my hand flew to my mouth to stop myself from screaming. Staring at the door, that slowly squeaked to reveal Sachit bhai. He looked at me shocked, scared and concerned.
Sachit; Swasti!(He called me kneeling down to give support as even ma came running listening to my name and looked completely shocked and scared and ofc concerned is no where to be found in her eyes)
Ma; Swasti...tu...tumne jo sun...suna..ai..aisa kuch nah...(She said scared and nervously as I cut her off)
Swasti; SHUT UP MA!(I said screamed in the loudest voice I can, i was really really really pissed off)
Is she even a mother? Which mother would not care about what condition her daughter is in? Oh sorry I don't even know if she IS my mother! After all this she has the guts to tell me this is not TRUE????
I swear on god, I'm a badass bitch I agree, but that's only in my office and today the anger I have is worse than the boss swasti, today this anger has no limits...
Swasti; SHUT UP MA! One more word aur mujhse bura ajj koi nahi hoga!(I said looking at her with red bloodshot eyes as she looked super shocked)And u...leave me!Now!(I told looking at Sachit bhai, in a low but dangerous voice)
By now everyone had come including some helpers, who were dismissed by Buaji, hold on...BUAJI ofc how could I forget?! Itne saalo se sachit bhai has been my buaji's son so ofc inn sab mein woh bhi toh shaamil honge!
I got up as sachit bhai left me, I angrily put ma phone on her hand, and started to walk away as they all begged that I give them a chance to explain but nope, jo sun na tha woh maine sun liya, I don't want to stay any more long here to look at the faces of people that have been hiding such a huge thing from me from all these years. But I was stopped by someone, I turned to see Vihaan
Swasti; Vihaan leave me!(I said looking at his hand that was holding kept hand, he pulled me close instead)
Vihaan: A wise woman once told me if u misunderstand, it's alright, but u should listen to the entire thing first(He whispered to me, copy pasting my own dialogue to me) Swasti, we both know where my misunderstanding led both of us to, don't repeat the mistake I did, I don't know what has happened but if they r requesting u give them a chance to explain then I think u should give a chance, After that it's ur own choice( He said whispering,looking right in my eyes,leaving my hand, he is right, for the first time in decades ofc!)
I looked at him then at everyone else behind with hopeful eyes, except Ashika and Anshika, they both looked confused, seems like the explaining is not going to be only for me...
I sighed and walked to them still with red bloodshot eyes
Swasti; One chance....one chance is all that u have!(I told looking at each one of these culprits, because no matter what they have to explain one thing I know is they have still betrayed me by not telling me the truth)
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Sitting down comfortably in a circle in the living room, uncle(fufaji) broke the silence
Uncle; Before we start to tell u anything, please don't interrupt and please dear, please try to think from our point of view as well!( he said in a soft voice with requesting eyes as I nodded)
Ma; Swasti, u have never heard of how me and papa got married right?And u have also never heard of ur maternal gramdparents, haina?(I nodded confused, ma or papa have never told me how they got married and I don't see anything special because in a royal family there is nothing to see, a royal marries a royal, what could be so special?: And about my grandparents, I have seen a picture of them and ma but whenever I tried to talk to her about it, her mood would get dull so I stopped talking about them assuming, like any other kid would, that they r no more) Let me tell u why mine and ur papa's marriage was so special(she said smiling going into flashback) I'm not born into the royal family, ur father and I had a LOVE marriage.(She said as i gasped, cuz a love marriage in a royal family is close to impossible) My father was a normal small grocery store owner, I was the brightest student from our town and was a a topper in all over India, so the government took the responsibility of any financial requirement in my further studies, that's how I got into the biggest university of India in the 19s- University of Delhi, the place where I met ur father for the first time( she said a sweet smile on her face remembering papas memory)
It was love at first-sight, the moment my eyes fell on ur father and his on mine, we knew we fell for each other..phir Kya hona tha, we started our relationship and were called those perfect "college-sweethearts", everything was perfect, just like some fairytale, but none of us thought of what next, we were too busy in our small little bubble we created around us that this question never created space in our mind, until......until his graduation, he was 2 years ahead of me and both of our hearts crushed, he had to come back here and handle the the business and he also had responsibilities to take care of being a Yuvraj while I had to complete my studies and take care of the responsibilities that awaited me back at home. But not even once did the thought of break-up come in our mind, we were too much in love to even dream about it in a nightmare!
So we continued long-distance, the next year after his graduation, our relationship became abit bumpy as ur Buaji's marriage got fixed to someone in America meaning ur fufaji( she smiled looking at them as now Buaji continued)
Buaji; Me and bhai sa used to be very close, I was smaller than him but in royal families, the brother cannot get married until the sister in the house gets married, it was time that bhai sa becomes the Maharaj and takes over but for that he needs to be married and he can't get married until I get married so kardiye Baba Saab ne hamare hath peele, so that year bhai sa and I were both very emotional, that is when I found out about Bhabhi sa, Initially I did not accept it and was to tell baba everything but seeing bhai sa's love for bhabhi sa I couldn't, that's when I invited bhabhi sa to stay with us until the end of the wedding saying she is my close friend, that way they could both meet as they didn't meet from a year. That's when ma'sa caught them together,she didn't waste a minute and told baba saab, upon finding out about bhabhi sa's background, he immediately threw her out of the palace, it was the day of my wedding so they didn't argue much, I mean there was no time, but the next day bhai sa had a huge argument with our parents,the strictly refused to accept Bhabhi sa as the daughter-in-law of this house..
Ma; The other side, I tried to explain the situation to my parents but they refused to accept our relationship, instead they were so disappointed and angry on me that they locked me up in my room and decided to get me married as soon as possible
Fufaji; I heard Kalpana talk to Bhai sa and I immediately jumped into help, me and kalpana weren't in love back then, after all it was an arranged marriage, but as per the vows I had taken it was my duty to help to keep her happy, so we both advised bhai sa that they run away, me and kalpana were flying to Bali for our honeymoon that day and it was the perfect opportunity, I could easily buy 2 tickets for them and they could fly with us there and we could figure out something, so we went on to ask bhai sa whether they want to do this or not, he was ready but we had no contact with bhabhi sa, and we were running out of time, we didn't know if bhabhi sa would agree to run away or not and our flight time was getting closer and closer moreover I had to buy the tickets.
Buaji; Bhai sa took chance and packed his luggage and ran away, he had no idea where exactly bhabhi sa lived and he had to do something before our parents find out about his absence or else it would become impossible for them to live the city itself leave alone country! Luckily there is a rasam that the bride should go back to her house to collect her remaining luggage etc, so we wasted some time with baba Saab and Ma sa, and then when we started talking about the argument bhai sa and they had, I grabbed the opportunity and acted that I now supported our parents by lying abit that I supported bhai sa initially cuz i didn't know her background and cuz of my love for bhai sa I agreed to call bhabhi sa home calling her my close friend and said I could try talk to Bhai sa as he would listen to me, they agreed as they knew we r close, I entered bhai sa's room and wasted some time there, After sometime I got out and told them that he agreed but he needs sometime and would appreciate if he is left alone, they agreed cuz what more would they ask for when the main problem is solved? The situation at home was under-control but about Bhabhi sa?
Ma; He found out about my house location from one of my college friend and came to my house, but he heard the shoutings and the taunts my parents were throwing on me from downstairs and understood the situation, he went at the backside of the room where he saw me by the window and I saw him, It was shocking but I was happy as well cuz I was feeling like my life was ruined that moment but seeing him my mood immediately lightened up, he found a way to climb up to my window and told me about the situation, I freaked out that point, I wanted to complete my studies but I couldn't live with Arvind, but if I don't run away I'd have to get married to a complete stranger! I would rather run away with the person I love than get married to someone completely unknown to me, to someone who I have no idea about will even be able to keep me happy, moreover i couldn't even imagine getting married to someone who is not arun, studies was left far behind, I didn't think twice, I packed my bag and ran away with arun (I left a bitter chuckle when ma paused, ma in fact everyone present looked at me confused, I mean the atmosphere is super emotional, ma even has tears in her eyes and here I am chuckling, but I couldn't help!)
Swasti; I know I'm asked not to interrupt, but I'm sorry I just can't control( I said giving a bitter chuckle) ma, honestly, look who's talking, did u just say how could u get married to a complete stranger? Cuz c'mon ma, be for real, if the thought of marrying a stranger was so scary for u than what about ur daughter? In this 20s kahi par likha hai that whichever "stranger" u get married to is 100% guaranteed to keep u happy? I mean if there is some such rule in this 20s which u and papa read and decided to get me married to Vihaan who btw was a STRANGER to ME....infact still is,(I muttered this to myself that no one heard except Vihaan) then perfect, I'm very proud of u and papa( I said sarcastically letting out a bitter laugh as I saw her eyes turn guilty)
I mean if she didn't want to marry a stranger that gave no guarantee that she will be happy with whoever that person may be, then how could she expect infact GET, ME married to a stranger? Isn't this funny?
Ma; Swas..( She tried to give an excuse but I cut her off)
Swasti;A..a..aaa don't Ma!Don't bring an excuse cuz that's the last thing I would want to hear! So please..continue.......where were we?..... Ohh yeah u choosing to run away with papa and blah blah blah.......yeah so continue( I said acting to put back a serious and interesting face which ofc everyone saw was fake)
At this point I Remember this one line from the song Super freaky girl, "One thing about me, I'm the baddest alive" I swear on god this should be at the background right now, cuz honestly yes the story of ma and papa is emotional I agree but I'm not emotional anymore, I just can't bring myself to be emotional with the woman sitting Infront of me, I know the way I acted and talked to ma right now and the things I have said is very rude, but c'mon for how long am I supposed to act like she is the perfect mother I've always want, I will agree that she is a great woman I know, that day I spent with her talking about papa's memories was literally the only real time when I felt like she isn't just a great woman but she is also my ma, someone I genuinely would call ma...
But after listening to her and sachit bhai's conversation, I have started to grow this hatred towards her that I can't stop, with everything she is saying it's just making this seed of hatred to grow as Imstarting to realise that she has never been a ma to me, she has never done something that a mother would do for her daughter. As I said, she is a truly amazing HUMAN but as per the relationship I share with her of a mother and a daughter, she has miserably FAILED... it's not that she failed today as a mother, it's just me truly ACCEPTING it today that she has failed as my MOTHER.
Buaji; Swasti that's not how u talk to ur mothe..( She stopped when fufaji hold her hand and refused that she doesn't speak further as ma broke down into tears, well good cuz today I have left all my manners in a trash can, they should be glad I'm still calling her ma)
Ma; I..I'm sor...sorr( She spoke between her tears looking at me with guilty eyes as I cut her off again)
Swasti; Oh please Ma!...Continue with the story or do u want me to remind that this is the ONLY chance u have to explain urself?( I said in a bored tone like a badass cruel bitch, i doubt even Cinderella's stepmother could be this cruel)
She looked at me hurt but I could care less, she rubbed her tears and continued sobbing abit
Ma; We reached directly at the airport and informed ur Buaji and fufaji about it on the way itself, we all met at the airport and flew to Bali with the mindset of starting a new life, they were many things we had to worry about, many questions left unasked, unanswered but still, me and arun felt complete, with no fear of the world, just peace surrounding the both of us, we reached Bali and found some hotel for me and arun to stay in, that is when we decided to talk about the reality, where would we be going now? Where do we stay? What next?
Buaji; But before that, baba Saab found out that Me and sanjay helped them to run away and since then he broke all the ties with me and bhai sa.
Ma; On the other side I tried call my parents, when they did pick up and i told them, I ran away with Arun and we r getting married, they considered me dead since then, since that day, hey never talked to me, I never met my parents ever again, till today! (She said breaking down, okay now this is very emotional but ofc I'm not gonna show)
Buaji; We all decided they would fly with us to america, get married there and start a new life, luckily my in-laws were very kind, they supported bhai sa and bhabhi sa even when they barely knew me being a newly bride, unfortunately they passed away 5 months after our marriage as the already had slot of health issues.... But bhai sa refused to get married without the blessings of our parents, he believed that whether late, but they would accept their relationship, bhabhi sa supported his decision and they both started to work to in America and start a new life in the wait of our parents that one day, they will come, they will accept their relationship, a year later, I got pregnant but also bhabhi sa got pregnant, infact she was pregnant a week earlier!
When I was on my sixth month, sanjay encouraged I call my parents and tell them about this news, when I did tell them about this news, they got so emotional they immediately forgave me and decided to visit us soon after the delivery to meet their grandchild! But Fate had something else for us.....i....I got...into an acciden.....accident and we lo.....lost the baby( Buaji said breaking down as this time not only me and even Ashika and anshika looked completely taken aback)
Fufaji too got tears in his eyes as he comforted buaji, once they were okay ma spoke further
Ma; And I gave birth to sachit, that was the month arvind's parents came to america, we couldn't tell them about the mi....miscarriage, they would feel betrayed and would not believe so me and arun decided to do something that felt completly right at the moment, we gave sachit to ur Buaji and fufaji as their child!( If I never did yoga in my life, I would definitely die of a heart attack right now!) We couldn't see anything wrong in it, they would come meet the grandchild and go...nothing seemed wrong or problematic! It was like the least we could do to repay the favour they have on us.
Fufaji; When they came they became so happy looking at Sachit, and being all emotional they asked us about Bhai sa and bhabhi sa and when we told them they r still here waiting for their blessings so they get married, they became so proud and happy on how much respect bhai sa and bhabhi sa have for them that they immediately accepted bhabhi sa as the daughter-in-law of the Singh family, but that meant they would have to go to India leaving sachit with us, everything was finally perfect, if we revealed the truth everything would get crumbled up again! And we couldn't afford that, me and kalpana convinced Bhai sa and bhabhi sa that we will take proper care of sachit and that ofc no doubt they could meet sachit anytime.We decided to wait for the right time to reveal the truth, but it never came, things changed,kalpana got pregnant once again with Ashika and anshika when ur grandmother passed away and two years later bhabhi sa got pregnant with u and just a month later ur grandfather passed away.
Ma;Things were no longer the same, sachit had grown up to be more connected to ur Buaji and fufaji than me and arvind which is natural, even though he called me and arvind ma and papa, emotionally his ma and papa was ur Buaji and fufaji and it didn't feel right to separate him from them, when he was 15 we told him the entire truth as to y he calls me ma and arvind papa ofc which he did change once we made the decision he will be staying with ur Buaji and fufaji, meanwhile u too grew up considering him as ur first cousin not ur real brother and after that none of the time felt right to reveal this to u, there was always something going on either good or bad that we just couldn't tell u at the right time and as u grew older together with u our fear grew, we didn't want u to hate me, hate ur papa, hate us!
Just one word- WOW!
Swasti; U were right ma, cuz right now the person I hate the most in my life is YOU!..................( I said with hatred and anger running through each vein in my body)
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HIIIIII
Can u imagine I wrote this chapter in ONE day, it's like the longest chapter and I have written it in one single day! Actually it's because I've been waiting for this part since the beginning of the book itself😂😂😂Don't ask me why, it's just some weird satisfaction I have for this plot twist, I thot of this plot twist from the moment I typed the word sachit😂 since then I waited day and night for this moment! I know I'm weird!
So how was the plot twist?????
How is this new badass side of Swasti???
Do comment, byeee!!!
Stay tuned,
Thank you,
Radhika.