"Meera"
Myra mumbled when her mind recognised the figure standing in front of her was not her reflection but her own twin sister.
She gaped like a fish, after almost one and half year she was seeing her sister. She remembered the day, when her sister was admitted in the hospital for her delivery. Myra had convinced her sister's senior doctor to be her assistant during the delivery process. She was the one who held just born Neev in her hands post his birth as her sister was unconscious under anaesthesia's effect.
Scene, where Neil had held his just born baby and was kissing Meera's forehead when she was sleeping under medicine's effect replayed in front of her eyes. She had come to wish her sister hope she would be awake. It was a picture perfect family.
And on the next day, when Neev was detected with symptoms of jaundice, she had come to discuss and take baby Neev with her for further tests. She saw Neil was crying bitterly, slumping on the floor holding one letter in his hands.
She could never understand her own sister. Her sister had everything at her feet but still she left everything ruining everyone's life.
Myra could never guess the reasons behind Meera's walk out. She just knew that her sister left her husband and newly born baby for her selfish reasons of freedom, liberty, and the right to live a life on her own terms and conditions.
'How can she leave Neil? He loved her so much.'
'How can she leave her own baby?'
These questions had haunted Myra in initial days, increasing her instinct to protect the little life. She herself did not understand when her desire to love the newly born turned into motherly love for Neev. Her heart used to break into pieces whenever Neil had brought Neev to hospital for his treatment. She used to leave everything to be around little angel forgetting her own world.
When Dev proposed to her to marry his son, the first thought stroke in her mind was Neev. With this marriage she could be around him to look after. She knew Neil's struggle to handle business and newly born, she was one of the witnesses.
Post marriage, Neev became her world, her strength. She had not expected him to accept her as his mother. She loved him unconditionally.
The moment Neev addressed her as his mother, she was on cloud nine. But by each passing day, there was one corner of her mind used to remind her that she was not his biological mother but Meera was. Just a thought, used to pass shudders down her spine with anticipation of Meera's return.
In her subconscious mind she knew Neil's anger over his first wife would be wiped away the moment she would step in their life again. He will snatch Neev from her and give it to his lovely wife.
When Myra and Neil reconcile and started their journey as Neev's parents, this thought became an ulcer which turned into her nightmares.
"What if she returns back I will lose both of them again." She used to shrug this thought convincing herself and prayed to the lord almighty for Meera's forever abscondment. But other parts of her heart used to curse her for being selfish.
Over the last few months, with Neil's unsaid support, his care, his willingness to accept and flourish their relationship gave new hope to her but his reservations to label their relationship with love used to create doubt in her mind, but her heart always used to win over saying, 'Give him some time... He will be yours soon.'
And today, her worst nightmare was standing in front of her... in her own house with her husband.
'Husband, should I still call him my husband?' Myra turned to her side, it was Neil. He had closed his eyes in frustration. Her fingers were still holding his suit jacket. She gaped like a fish but words could not find her vocal chords.
Her body turned lifeless, feeling no strength in her own self, her hands left her hold over his suit. She took a step back gasping and trying to catch some air. She started staring at the floor. Tears started welling up in her eyes.
Even the tiniest distance between them was enough for Neil to come to his senses. He opened his eyes to see lifeless Myra. He knew what must have been going through her mind and heart. Just one look in her eyes, reminded him of his first official meeting with her. Even today, he hated to see her teary eyes. He hated himself for hurting her again.
"Myra, listen to me." he had to break the deadly silence spread across the living room. "I can explain."
Myra raised her eyes to match with his which were filled with regret, guilt yet hope. Even his eyes were filled with tears. Both were staring at each other trying to peep inside their soulmate's heart to find their answers.
"Mumma" Neev was unaware about the turmoil his parents were going through. He was in his home after almost 4-5 days, his toys had captured his attention the moment his father had kept him down.
Today, for the first time Myra did not respond back to her son instantly. She was engulfed in her own miseries, trying to gather herself.
"Ohh my god. Is he our baby Neil?" Meera gasped loudly. She took quick steps towards Neev who was looking at the trio with his big doe eyes.
"You are my Neev." Meera bent down to match with his little figure.
Neev scrunched his eyebrows, he was never comfortable with strangers.
Meera raised her hand to caress his cheeks.
"Mumma" Neev called one more time. But his mother, Myra, had turned the statue over to her place.
'She is his biological mother, and I am just a ... just a... caretaker maybe.' Scene in front of her killed her soul.
"Neil, he is just like you." She tried to pick him up.
Neil's eyes were fixed on Myra, he could see every passing moment she was losing herself. He took a step to hold her arm but the moment his finger touched her she flinched and stumbled back.
"Myra... please," he mumbled.
"Neev, my baby." Meera picked him up and kissed his cheek.
"Noo" Neev screamed his lungs out. He never loved anybody kissing him apart from his family members. For him, Meera was no one... just a mere stranger.
He started throwing his hands and legs to release himself from her hold.
By his every effort Meera's clutch over his little figure started getting tighter and tighter.
"Mumma" her tight hold started paining him. He raised his hands towards Myra.
"I am your Mumma." Meera could hardly mumble, not audible to anyone.
"Mumma." Tears started rolling over his chubby cheeks.
His tears were Myra's weakness, her son was calling her, she could see he was in pain. At this moment, nothing mattered to her apart from rescuing and comforting her son.
Myra took a fast step and took Neev from Meera's hold.
"He is my son." Myra replied firmly, even Neil flinched with her cold yet authoritative tone for the first time. Her possessiveness for her son reached its peak.
"Myra.." Meera could hardly murmur.
"Mumma" Neev mewled in her chest wrapping his both hands around her neck in a tight clutch.
"Mumma is here, my baby." She caressed his back comforting him but not moving her glare from Meera's astonished face. She turned to leave.
"Myra... I gave him birth.. He is my..."
"Yes, you gave him birth but I gave him my life." Myra started walking out of the living room.
"You cannot take him from me. Neil please stop her... Neil please." Meera took steps towards Neil.
He was amazed to see Myra, till now he had seen her as an innocent, calm, humble wife, selfless mother for the first time he was seeing a wounded lioness who was protecting her baby.
Myra turned to see him at Meera's question with her challenging glare. He could not match his eyes with her furious ones. WIthout a word Myra left towards the stairs to her room holding Neev in her arms.
"Neil can you..." Meera tried to hold his hand which he jerked instantly.
"Stay away from me you bitch." He spatted venomously.
Meera jolted, she had never seen Neil's anger till date. She had never expected him to shout at her disgustingly.
"And get one thing in your brain fitted properly... Myra is Neev's mother. No one else. NO ONE ELSE." He glared at her, if one glare could have killed anyone Meera would have been buried in her grave long back.
He left to follow Myra. He came upstairs, his room's door was open. He entered to see no one inside.
He could hear Neev's whispers from another room. Room where Myra used to live till a few weeks back.
"Myra" He tried to open. For the first time the room was locked from inside.
"Myra please open the door. I need to talk to you." He knocked, but there was no answer from the other side.
"Myra please... please for god sake open the door. Please give me a chance to explain. It's not what you think of." He kept on banging on the door with a hope that she would listen to his plea.
One pair of eyes was looking at him in triumph. Wicked smirk appeared on Meera's face. 'Wow I had never thought this would be working so smoothly.'
It was a morning when Meera stepped inside Neil and Myra's house. She was awestruck looking at the lavish household with glorifying architecture. It was a magnificent bungalow with professionally maintained landscaped. It was a huge, way bigger than the penthouse she had lived in with Neil after her marriage. Her heart filled with instant jealousy over her sister who would be ruling over this house as the owner's wife.
'No worries my dear little sister, soon you will be thrown out of this palace, and I will be the one who will be ruling over this fortune.' She started taking steps downstairs to the guest room. "You were never meant for this... This affluence doesn't suit you. You are not made for this. No worries, I will take care of it."
Neev was playing besides Myra, she was sitting on the floor, lost in her own thoughts.
Today, Neev observed his mother, his little heart understood his mother was disturbed. His big doe eyes saw his mother getting teary often. He walked to her and sat in her lap holding her face in his little palms.
"Mumma" He called out.
"Kissey" He said and kissed her cheeks hoping to cheer up his mother.
Myra kept on staring at his anguished face. 'He is the only one who understood me.' Just a thought filled her eyes with new tears. She clutched his little figure in her embrace crying her heart out.
'Please don't leave me Neev. I won't be able to leave without you.' tears started rolling over her cheeks
"And your Dadda." this time words were out even without her realisation.
"No Dadda Kissey." Neev always rebuked when he had seen his father kissing his mother.
His furious nod, big doe eye and ordering tone brought a small smile on her face.
"Myra please... Please open the door. Please hear me out once." She heard Neil's tired voice from outside. It was almost two hours, Neil was banging on the door with requests to talk to her.
"No Dadda No." His son screamed from inside. Neev knew something had happened between his parents and his father was the culprit of his mother's tears.
'Her over possessive son.' Hearing his son, a small smile spread over his lips. Thought reminded him about Myra's over protective nature for their son.
"Myra... it's been two hours you are inside with Neev. He would be hungry. It's time for his afternoon snack." He closed his eyes in regret to strike her on her weakest point.
And he was right. His statement hit her hard.
'He is right. Neev had brunch at Mom's place and after that he had not eaten anything.' She tried to search for some food in the room, in his diaper bag but there was nothing.
For Myra, nothing was more important than Neev, even her anger, her anguish, her self respect... After all, she was his mother.
Door opening sound alerted Neil, he saw Myra in front of him. Just one look at her tired, teary face stabbed thousands of needles in his heart.
"Myra please listen." He tried to block her way.
"Neev is hungry." She tried to find her way out, not even looking at him.
"I have asked Julia, she is preparing his snacks." He spoke with determination.
Hearing him out, Myra tried to close the door which she could not as Neil's hold over the door was too strong for her.
"Myra, please listen to me. I beg of you." This time he pleaded with tears.
"Is she still there?" Myra asked without meeting her eyes with his.
"Yes." His faint reply. "Please let me explain."
"Ask her to leave first." she crossed her hands, turning her face to the other side.
"I... I... I can't."
Myra for the first time stared at him with teary eyes. "Then are you here to ask me to leave?"
"Myra, what are you talking about?" Her question was the most unexpected for him.
"Since your beloved wife is back you would want me to leave now." She stammered to voice out her worst nightmare. Her heart thudded with anticipation of his answer.
"Mrs. Myra Neil Singhania... is my wife. And my wife would never ever leave me or her house." He held her hand to pull her slightly but announced with surety.
His words left Myra in a flabbergasted state, she had not expected him to be so intent.
"Do you trust me Myra?" He asked when she could not flicker her eyes from his face.
His question brought her senses back.
She turned her back to escape from his question.
He took a step inside her room and holding her arm he made her settle down on a nearby couch.
"No Dadda No." Neev saw his father inside, he was furious over his father to make his mother cry her heart out. "You Go." He showed his finger to his father.
"May I come in?" Julia asked from the door, she was holding a snack bowl for Neev.
"Julia, can you please take him to nursery?" Neil asked. Of Course he needed some time with his wife all alone for a convincing session.
Julia ignored him but kept her eyes on Myra. Her temper over Neil had risen to its peak seeing Meera inside their home.
Myra nodded her head. She convinced Neev to go with Julia and both left for his nursery room.
After their departure, Neil closed the door and then settled on the couch beside Myra.
"I am doing this for us. For you and Neev." His statement added more to her already confused mind.
"I know we never talked about her but I guess this is the time for you to know everything." He held her palm.
"I was never into any relationships over my college or university years. I joined business the next day after my post-grad. I never had time for these things. Mom was behind me for marriage. I don't know how much you know about her brother but..." Neil confessed.
"I know Mom told me long back." she intervened. She had decided to hear him out before coming to any conclusion.
"With those experiences she turned cold and dominating. She wanted me to settle down with a girl of her choice...her standards. Meera met her at one of the business parties. They both got along. One fine evening, I was informed that few guests were coming home for dinner. It was Meera, Ashok and his third wife." It was for the first time for Myra to know about the past.
This all was new to Myra, she had never had a chance to know about Neil and Meera's married life story.
"Mom forced me for Meera, and I accepted... I was hooked instantly." He replied with honesty. He had decided to not hide anything from Myra.
"We got married in a very simple court marriage. For me it was going great but for Meera it was different. We had issues... And I considered them as normal couple issues or immaturity of Meera in most of the cases. I thought to give her time to adjust with the new changes in our life. But over the months things started worsening. There were few misunderstandings between me and Niren. He stopped visiting home. Mom and Dad started complaining about Meera's attitude...She turned rude and disrespectful towards them. But, I considered it as her childish behaviour and tried to protect her." His helplessness was clearly noticeable from his tone.
"I had lost a few important deals and there were business issues as well. It was going in the worst condition, we had major financing setbacks. And I was trying to balance between Meera, Mom and Dad and business. Everything was taking a real toll on me but I was content as I hoped one day everything will settle down." He has lost in his memory line of horrendous days of his life.
"I got to know Meera was pregnant when she had scheduled her abortion appointment." Myra gasped heavily. Her heart was engulfed with instant fear of losing her baby.
"I was disturbed but still I thought to understand her perspective. 'May be she is not ready for it and I should not force her for this big step of our life.' But later she accepted it." Even today he was clueless for her sudden change of decision.
"Neev was a premature baby... Meera had a c-section. The day, when I went to pick both of them up, my son was all alone in that room crying his heart out. I thought Meera would be in the washroom or went for a doctor's visit or just something but she will return back. And then I found one letter. She had clearly said she is leaving as she finds her freedom to live a life on her terms as her right." Myra thought he would cry but he was normal, he was just narrating facts of his life without any emotions.
"I could not digest that fact... so I asked my security chief to find her. They found one footage from the hospital corridor where... she... she was kissing and making out with some random guy. I could not see his face but her face was clearly visible." He shrugged his shoulders casually.
"What?" This was news for Myra. She had never expected Neil would have been betrayed in such a way by her own sister.
"Later we found out the business deals or projects which we lost after my marriage were also the result of Meera's betrayal. She was the mole who leaked confidential information." His every statement was a new blow to Myra's mindset.
"This is insane."
"This whole marriage was just a facade to ruin Singhania's Business empire."
"But why will someone do that?"
"I don't know."
"Does our family have any enemies?" she asked with a thudded heart.
"I don't know Myra. I am not sure who is the mastermind behind this game. I need to find him or her. And the only way to reach out to him is Meera. I am 100% sure, she or Ashok Sehgal are not the ones who can plan this. There is much more to all this chaos."
"Why don't you ask her? I mean you can use your influential status." She asked for an alternative.
"She won't budge. I wanted to discuss these things with you. I was about to come to Mom's house to explain all this but you barged in and.... Myra, I will never ever think to hurt you anyway." He caressed her cheeks with the back of his fingers.
"But where did you meet her?"
"I was in LA, I was dying to come back to you and Neev. But I got a call from the security chief that he had found Meera. Over a few months even I had forgotten that I had asked him to find her out." He replied instantly.
"I believe this is also her planned move. She had planned it in such a way that my security team would locate her easily. She was in Las Vegas."
"When I went to meet her I asked her about the mastermind. She gave me an ultimatum; she would voice out his name only when I will allow her to stay in this house for one month till her surgery." His thoughtful statement.
"Surgery?"
"She is saying she has some clots in the brain which needs a surgery and chances of success are 50%." His voice turned speculative.
"Ohh my god. This is scary." Myra's sisterly heart grappled with grief.
"I don't know if she is telling the truth or not but whatever reports she gave to me I had a word with doctors. They said she is telling the truth but I don't believe she can fabricate reports as well. My security team will find out the truth but as of now I am concerned for your and Neev's safety."
"The mastermind knows you and Neev are my weakness, I had to reach out to him before he made his move to safeguard my two precious possessions."
"Myra, please trust me."
Myra nodded her head in agreement. But her face was a clear picture of her turmoil.
"Say it out Myra. What's in your heart?" he asked genuinely.
"It... It scares me when I think about the fact that she was the love of your life once upon a time and I ... I ... you and I are... still not..."
"You and I are made for each other." Myra could see honesty as well as surety in his determined eyes.
He continued holding her hands in his, "And at this point of time, I can surely differentiate between pure love and obsession. Meera was my obsession which I got rid of when you stepped in my life as my soulmate."
His honest words brought a small smile to her face.
"She means nothing to me. You and Neev are my world." He pulled her closer and kissed her forehead.
"I... I can't lose you or Neev. You both... I won't be able .... I won't be able to live without any one of you." She cried, feeling his lips over her forehead. She shook her head, weeping badly.
"Neil, I won't be able to take it this time ... I will... I will... di.." He did not let her finish but smashed his lips with hers.
Myra was stunned with his sudden move. She turned frozen in a moment, and he kept on nibbling her lips. He moved his one hand behind her neck and titled his face to push his tongue inside her mouth. With another hand he cupped her face and kept on cressing her cheeks with his thumb. His advances resulted in Myra's response and it turned into a passionate kiss.
It was not like the first kiss they had shared in the kitchen. This time it was different, it was demanding, it had crave and years of yearning for each other.
When it became difficult for both of them to breathe, they broke the kiss. Myra had closed her eyes still but she was panting heavily. Neil again kissed on her forehead.
"Dare you say that again." She opened her eyes and passed a quick glance at him before settling her eyes on the floor.
"I will shut you just like this. No matter where we are and with whom we are." His eyes were not leaving her face which was turning cherry red by his every word.
"And your bodyguard son also won't be of any help for you." He gave a quick peck on her lips with a wink.
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