Sun Saiyaan
"Never underestimate a person who has been broken. They fear nothing now."
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Chapter 14
Sanskaar looked down at his phone and Adarsh took his phone out of his pocket, seeing Ram's name flashing on his screen.
"I need to take this." Adarsh uttered and Sanskaar nodded at him, he then stood up walking to the side while answering his call.
Adarsh answered his call, "hello?"
"Hello, Adarsh, where are you? I tried so many times I couldn't get to you!"
"I'm out, why?"
"Come fast, it's an emergency, we need you."
Adarsh creased his forehead, "why, what happened?"
"Our stocks have plunged and one of our investor pulled out."
"What!" Adarsh's voice was loud and clear to Sanskaar who stopped speaking on the phone and turned to face a stressed and startled Adarsh.
"A new investor will be here shortly to see if the investment would be worth it or not. We need you to talk to him."
"Okay." Adarsh disconnected the call and hurriedly stood up, Sanskaar disconnected his call and walked over to Adarsh.
"I need to go Sanskaar, it's an emergency." Sanskaar nodded his head, "I'll come with you."
Adarsh looked at him and understood he found out what happened, then nodded. The two start rushing out.
X
Gadodia House.
Shekhar and Swara were sat in the hall for the past hour, while Sharmishta and Parvati were cooking in the kitchen. As soon as they entered Ragini said she wanted to be alone and went straight to her room, they didn't disturb her as they wanted her to come out on her own and neither let Parvati go to her.
Ragini walked out of the storeroom with a trunk in her hand, she was struggling to carry it yet slowly made it to her room. She sighed a relief and put the trunk on her bed. Lucky for her, the storeroom was the door next to her room. She stared at it, it had to be this one, this was the only trunk she found in the storeroom, it has to be her mother's. She swallowed and slowly opened it, staring inside it with affection. It indeed was her mother's, she spotted a lot of things in there that she remembered from her childhood, especially that purple diary she could never read. A smile curled over her lips as she looked through it, finding a picture of her wedding day.
"I'm sorry you had to suffer Maa. But I'm grateful that you were my mother, even if I don't remember you properly, I can still feel the love and warmth you gave me. I never felt that love or warmth ever again after you left." She spoke to the photo, staring only at her mother, completely ignoring her father in the picture.
Tears seeped down her eyes and she found few other photos, grabbing them. One was of Janaki with her family, Ragini creased her forehead slightly and continued blinking with her teary eyes, she wiped her tears to get a clearer look at the photo, it was of Janaki's father, mother, little Janaki and a boy. She dug through the pile of papers inside the trunk, trying to find something she could read or see. She came across another photo, that was hidden under the papers of a grown up Janaki with a boy. The boy was starting to look familiar to Ragini, and she found the wedding picture that was in her hand again, seeing the boy standing behind Janaki.
She swallowed her spit, bewildered and curious. This felt like the first time she was seeing him, yet he felt familiar to her. Never seeing him in her life, she wasn't even sure who he was or what the story is, but somehow she could feel that he might be her Uncle, her mother's brother that she didn't even know existed. She was seeing her grandparents for the first time too, never being introduced to them before. While taking everything out of the trunk, she scattered them on her bed, making it easier for her to see everything all at once. The words on the envelope were the difficult to read, they were written in a different language. She doesn't recognise it.
'I couldn't read Mumma's letters or diary. . . Because she wrote it in a different language.' Ragini remembered why it was always hard for her to read whenever her mum used to write, it was because she never used to write in Hindi. Ragini's heart skipped a beat, she felt like a fake child. She doesn't know anything about her mother's life before she married Shekhar, all she knew was that she was her mother who was married to her father. Ragini opened one of the letter, sighing as it wasn't in Hindi. She couldn't read a single word of it. She could feel that she was missing out on something, something life changing. Now, she had the urge to find out who the boy in the picture is under all cost and what her mother's story was really about.
She opened another letter, seeing the letter written in the same language as before. But, a photo had fallen out of it and her eyes caught it. She dropped the letter and picked the photo up, seeing a grown up Janaki, the teenage version of the boy, their father and her. Her eyes widened and she froze for a second, unable to comprehend what was happening.
"I. . . I met them?" She questioned herself, seeing the 3 year old version of her in the picture, being held by her grandfather. She was appalled at how she couldn't remember them at all, and if they existed then, where were they now! Ragini put the letter down on her lap and looked at the floor distraught, "this must be my uncle, Mumma's brother. But, if I met them when I was younger, why don't I know what happened to them or where they are now. Did they not care about me after Mumma passed away? Why haven't I seen them again?" So many questions were starting to bother Ragini and she was going crazy, the letter being in a different language was annoying her the most, she couldn't find out anything like that.
Ragini slammed her fist on the bed, stressed and confused. Her mind was then reminded of the letter, "Dhruva. Mumma mentioned Dhruva." It clicked her now that another name was mentioned in the letter her mother wrote for her, a name she has never heard of before but is meant to know. "Could that be him, my Uncle? Was Mumma referring to him?" She questioned herself and sighed, composing herself and her thoughts. "So Mumma had a brother, his name must've been Dhruva because she mentioned he ran away but she couldn't, and she wanted him to be there for me but he isn't, could he have passed away? And is Nana Ji still alive? Because I only knew that my Nani Ji passed away. But, what about Nana Ji, why wasn't he mentioned?" So many questions but no answer, she felt clueless and frustrated.
The only family Ragini was aware of was Parvati, her Daadaji, Shekhar, her mother and unborn sibling who passed away with her mother, now Swara, Sharmishta, Sanskaar, Sujata and the Maheshwari's. She also had a vague memory of her mother doing death anniversary for her Nani every year, but never for her Nana. Which now meant that he must have been alive.
Her heart began to sink and she continued looking through her mother's stuff, hoping she could find at least one thing that could answer most of her questions.
X
"Papa, can I go speak to her now? It's been an hour I think she should have calmed down now. What I think it is, she's upset at all of us because we didn't stop her unwanted marriage with Sanskaar."
"I think so too, I think she felt like we threw her away because we didn't stop the wedding even though she clearly wasn't happy. I was so stupid to stay still, I should've did something." Shekhar regretted instantly, bumping his own thighs with his fist, frustrated and angry at himself.
"Papa, don't beat yourself. In reality the one at fault is Daadi, she's the one who forced this marriage to happen. I also think that is the reason why Ragini refused to come with us earlier. Because she didn't want to face Daadi, and that's also the reason she ran inside her room as soon as we came in. She wanted to avoid Daadi and us until she composed her thoughts." Swara uttered, guessing the reason why Ragini is avoiding them and comforting Shekhar to make him feel better. Because it was the truth, Parvati was the one who forced this marriage and made it happen, she was the one who ruined Ragini's life, so Ragini had every right to be angry at her.
"I only gave her a good future!" Parvati exclaimed as she walked out of the kitchen, clenching her jaw while glaring at Swara and Shekhar. "I made sure my Laado's dignity and respect was protected, who else would've married her after she was caught in the room with Sanskaar? Besides, she is gone to a good family, a family trustworthy of taking care of her. Aren't you happy she's there with you? Should it only be you in that rich family living a lavish life while my Laado would have had to suffer? You even stole the guy, just like your mother who trapped my innocent son despite him being engaged to Ragini's mum."
Swara was appalled and hurt after hearing Parvati's bitter words, she still doesn't understand why Parvati hated her so much, she was also her granddaughter, she was also her son's daughter so why was it that Parvati never left a chance to humiliate and degrade her.
"Maa!" Shekhar yelled as he stared at Parvati, disappointed and upset by her words. "Please!"
"Like it or not, it's the truth!" Parvati answered back and glared at both of them, "this is the reason why Laado is starting to feel distant. All you ever see is Sharmishta and Swara! Are you even Laado's father? At least pretend to be!" That was enough for Shekhar and he stood up, hurt and agitated, "maa enough! Don't forget that Ragini is my daughter not yours! Who gave you the right to get her married? You ruined her life, her peace and happiness! You forced her to get married to someone who wasn't even a good person, someone evil and selfish that tried to sabotage Swara and Lakshya's happiness. Every time I tried to make decisions for Ragini, you'd always stand in between as if she was yours. You're only her Daadi, don't try to be her mother! You're the main reason why Ragini is suffering!"
Parvati was stunned by Shekhar's outburst, getting angry, offended and defensive, "I tried to be her mother because you killed her mother!" Parvati yelled on the top of her lungs, shocking Swara who had tears in her eyes. Sharmishta ran out of the kitchen after hearing their argument, Shekhar's mouth closed as he blinked at Parvati, he could feel his heart dropping and Parvati continued, "you're the reason why Ragini is motherless and why my unborn grandchild had to die! Yet you stand here claiming I ruined her life, if she had her mother with her she would've been happier so in this case, you took her happiness away from her!" Parvati lashed out the bitter truth that was kept hidden for years, now revealing it out of her anger towards Shekhar, who remained silent and disheartened.
Hearing the commotion outside her room, Ragini stopped at the entrance to the hall, frightened by Parvati's anger and devastated hearing what she was saying. Tears seeped down her eyes and she flapped her shaken gazes at Parvati and Shekhar, gulping in fear. She certainly did not see this heart-breaking revelation to be coming. She was told her mother's death was an accident and that's what she believed all her life, they said that she fell down the stairs after losing her balance and because of the impact, her mother and her unborn sibling couldn't make it. Her hands started to shiver and she leaned against the wall.
Seeing her son silent, she grit her teeth "now why are you quiet? First you shouted and disrespected me for raising your daughter! I was there for her when you weren't, all you have been doing the entire time was drinking in guilt. It was a hard habit I made you leave, but still that wouldn't change anything. How dare you be ungrateful to me! I had to lie to everyone that it was an accident, but the reality was she died because you pushed her down the stairs! After meeting your beloved Sharmishta!"
Swara's mouth dropped and she widened her eyes in shock, she felt a knot in her stomach while Sharmishta gasped. Shekhar closed his eyes, ashamed and upset while Ragini fell to the floor, startled by what she just heard, her heart dropped and everything around her was slowly starting to blur.
"Maa!" Sharmishta exclaimed and walked towards Shekhar. "It was an accident, he didn't kill her! Please stop this."
"You shut up. This was all your fault, you had to come into my son's life and influence him! I tried my best to get rid of you and I managed to after getting him married to someone else. I was so glad you left us, but then you couldn't stand their happiness so you came back to create a havoc in their lives! You brought back your illegitimate child, how do we even know if she is Shekhar's. She could be anyone's!" Sharmishta's tears seeped down her eyes and she stumbled back, staring at Parvati with disgust. It felt as if someone had repeatedly stabbed her with a knife.
Swara was disgraced by Parvati who questioned her mother's character and dignity once again, feeling angered and heartbroken.
"Maa ENOUGH!" Shekhar roared as loud as he could, erupting like a volcano would've, charging towards her. She jumped hearing his voice. "ENOUGH! HOW DARE YOU!" He shouted on the top of his lungs and held her by the shoulders as tight as he could, hurting her.
"LEAVE ME!" Parvati retaliated with the same energy and anger, slapping him across the face. "Did I raise you only to be disrespectful to me for a woman? Now you're going to hit your mother for them?"
"YOU CROSSED ALL THE LIMITS TODAY!" Shekhar shouted in a loud and clear tone, clenching his jaws. "SWARA IS MY DAUGHTER. SHE IS MY BLOOD! SHARMISHTA IS MY WIFE NOW, DON'T YOU DARE DISRESPECT AND DEGRADE HER LIKE THIS! AND YOU'RE THE REASON WHY JANAKI WAS SUFFERING. YOU KNEW WE DIDN'T LIKE EACH OTHER BUT STILL FORCED US TO GET MARRIED!"
Parvati managed to free herself from his grip but fell onto the floor on her knees, wincing in pain, Ragini stared at them after hearing Parvati fall, and saw her on the floor, she looked at Shekhar again, sensing his anger and tears fell from her eyes continuously.
She started sobbing and closed her eyes, giving in to her emotions. At this point, she just didn't know what to do anymore. All these revelations today were heart wrenching for her. All she could do is just cry. Her emotions seemed as if they were drowning in a whirlpool. Out of all, what really pierced her heart was that her father was responsible for her mother's death. She felt sorry for her mother, her heart was breaking repeatedly for herself and her mother. Her mother deserved better.
Shekhar turned his head to the side and so did Parvati, they were surprised to see Ragini. Swara's and Sharmishta stared at Ragini, feeling emotional and sorry for her.
Shekhar sighed in frustration and touched his head, while Parvati stood up with great difficulty. Shekhar's worst nightmare had come true, but what was worse is that Ragini heard the half truth, but how can he tell her his side of the story when he convinced himself that he was the reason Janaki died. His heart was breaking, he was frightened and weak. He didn't know what to do anymore. He began to panic.
"Laado." Before Parvati could take a step forward, Ragini put her hand up, signalling her to stop. She stood up with the support of the door while crying and stared at all of them with pure pain and tears.
Words didn't slip out of her mouth, as much as she tried she couldn't get anything out. She was shivering and shaking. Every time she wanted to speak, the only sound coming out was of her cry. She felt frustrated and ran towards her room.
"Laado!" Parvati shouted to stop Ragini, following her behind so that she could clear everything.
Shekhar didn't have the courage to follow, but Sharmishta and Swara did.
X X X
Maheshwari Ltd.
Inside one of the meeting rooms, Durga Prasad and Ram were sat opposite a figure dressed in a white Louis Vuitton suit with his expensive shades in front of him on the table. He was glancing around at the design of their meeting room while Durga Prasad and Ram nervously blinked at him, impatiently waiting for Adarsh.
Soon the door opened and not only Adarsh, but Sanskaar walked in too. Durga Prasad and Ram were surprised to see Sanskaar, but before they could say anything, that figure interrupted.
"Okay, let's start now." He seemed impatient and straightened his posture, "I have to attend another meeting this afternoon. So please, let's hurry now." He cleared his throat and blinked at Durga Prasad and Ram, who nodded at him.
Adarsh took a seat next to Ram while Sanskaar closed the door behind him. Durga Prasad and Ram were clueless to why Sanskaar was even here as this meeting wasn't relevant to him.
"Let me quickly do the introduction, I'm sure all of you must've heard of me. My name is Sahil Mehta, the co-owner of SM's. I'm a software developer with a knowledge of the financial markets, I'm more of an investor. This is Sanskaar Maheshwari, my business partner and the co-owner of SM's. He's the one man army of our financial department, half the reason behind our flourishing profit, he's more of an expert when it comes to trading on the markets. Both of us founded this company together and have been successfully running it for all these years. We also recently launched our bot that trades for us." He introduced himself and Sanskaar, startling Durga Prasad, Ram and Adarsh with his confession.
Ram and Durga Prasad flapped their shocked gazes at Sanskaar who took a seat next to Sahil, sitting opposite to them.
"I heard about the crisis you're facing and the reason why we're both here is to see if this company will be worth investing in or not. I've looked into the estimated gain, it's not that high. This will be a risky investment." Sahil explained and shook his head, emphasising on the word 'risky', not 100% sure about this project.
Ram and Durga Prasad were quiet, not sure what to say to that, their only hope right now was Adarsh, who decided to reply "from the past years this company has made new achievements which have benefited our revenue. We are sure that after overcoming this crisis we will expand on the opportunities and increase our profits."
"Even if you increase the profits it won't reach the level it should, you have the potential but I don't see it working." Sahil uttered, disheartening them and then looked at Sanskaar, "what do you think?"
"I need to see the reports." Sanskaar replied to Sahil, who rolled his eyes at him, "did you check your email?" Sanskaar shook his head as a response and Sahil stared at him.
"I sent you all the cons of investing into this company, so we don't need to see the report. It just wouldn't work. I don't see the maximum profit gain on this investment, it's plunged to bottom 80. It'll take at least 2 years to even get our initial investment back."
Sanskaar blinked at him suspiciously, "if you were here solely based on the investment plan, then you wouldn't have called me here. I already know what you're going to say. I'll do it. Just speed it up."
A smirk curled over Sahil's lips and Sanskaar sighed, knowing Sahil so well. Both of them graduated from the same University, Sahil in computer science and Sanskaar in accountants. They met through a mutual friend on the last year of University and became close since then. He knew what he was needed for as soon as Sahil called him but what shocked him more was that their clients were his family. But, he knows he can handle the situation and make it better for them so he's not stressing at all.
Adarsh, Durga Prasad and Ram were merely confused, unable to understand the two.
"Okay, so I'll present a deal. With this we will not only gain our initial investment back in a year but also gain a lot more profit." Sahil uttered as he looked at Durga Prasad, Adarsh and Ram, continuing "so this is Sanskaar, as I mentioned before, my co-partner, he handles all the trading and investment projects in the financial market, his expertise is, in simple words, trading money to make money, so he throws money into the stock, forex etc markets to make us profit. So now alongside investing into the company we want to invest your money too, so that you gain profit."
Adarsh was pleased to hear that and Durga Prasad and Ram were stunned as they blinked at Sanskaar, feeling slightly proud and grateful for their kind gesture.
"That's great. But, what do you want in return? Cause it sounds too good to be true." Adarsh asked, knowing nothing in this world comes for free, he just knows there's a price for their kindness.
"I just have a slight doubt. . ." Sahil voiced out, looking at Adarsh. "This just clicked me now, your the Maheshwari's and San's surname is Maheshwari too, so are you guys related?" He looked at Sanskaar too, waiting for a response and Sanskaar nodded his head at him and so did Adarsh.
Sahil sighed disappointedly, "I was hoping you'd say no but oh well. I won't go too harsh since you're family now, cause you're related to San, but we can't go too easy either otherwise we'll lose on profit. So I simply want 25% of the profit while you guys keep 75%." Sanskaar didn't interfere, it was a good deal that they get to keep 25% of the profit while the company gets to keep 75%, and despite being the co-owner of the company, he always followed what Sahil decides because Sahil knows what he needs to do to grow the company, all Sanskaar likes doing is growing the numbers while Sahil grows the investments and the name.
Durga Prasad and Ram look at Adarsh in surprise, waiting for him to respond and he looked at them, signing them what they think with his eyes.
They were interrupted after Sanskaar's phone starts to ring, he slides it out of his pocket and looks at the caller ID. He creased his forehead reading Ragini's name and instantly answered it.
"Excuse me." He immediately excused himself from the meeting and rushed outside the room, "hello, Ragini?" He was standing in front of the door after it closed. He was left concerned and confused after hearing Ragini crying, to this extent that words failed to come out of her mouth.
No matter how hard she tried to say something, nothing apart from painful sobs released from her mouth. He felt worry pinching him and he instantly disconnected the call, starting to run. Countless of thoughts were running in his mind and he had no clear answer, 'why was she crying? Did they do or say something to her? What must've happened? She sounded so much in pain.' His heart was beating faster out of nervousness and he swallowed, 'did they find out that she supported me with my plans?' That was the only reasonable reason he could think of, and he felt horrible. He knew how it felt to be the bad guy in his family, constantly blamed and taunted, it was painful even though he accepted his mistakes but with Ragini, she was still overcoming the revenge phase slowly, taking her time to realise Lakshya was never meant to be her's. He was terrified to imagine Ragini being cornered all alone for doing something he instigated and planned, he was the one to drag her so he surely did not want her to be alone.
T o B e C o n t i n u e d
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✨❤️ THANK YOU FOR READING! ❤️✨
Surprise! I'm back again with another chapter! So I started playing a bit less, that's why I wrote this update faster than usual. The next chapter is half complete. I really hope all of you enjoyed reading this chapter, let me know what you think of it in the comments and don't forget to give it a like by pressing the star!
I know you guys must be waiting for the RagSan falling in love phase, I do apologise for the delay. But it's coming, I promise it's coming. Please bare with me. Thank you for being patient.
And signing off for today,
H 😘🫶🏼✨