39. The Truth Unravels
AS THE MASQUERADE dance began, Aarav started searching for Shreya. His heart was beating so badly that he doubted if anyone else could hear it. He was about to ask Shweta if she had seen Shreya but he was interrupted by Parul.
"Shweta, I want to talk to you", Parul said seriously.
"Yeah sure", Shweta said smiling.
"Not here somewhere else and I want to talk with Manish also", Parul said.
Shweta was confused as to what Parul wanted to talk but she nodded anyways as she excused herself to find Manish.
Aarav looked at his mother in law curiously. First of all, he didn't want anyone of them in the party but this was all for his Shreya and their baby.
"Auntie, what is so important that you want to talk to Mom and Dad alone?", Aarav asked curiously.
"It's not just them, son. I want to talk to your entire family", Parul said.
"And what do you exactly want to talk?", Aarav asked curiously.
"You will know about it just wait", Parul said.
Manish, Shweta, Prem and Neela walked towards Parul and Aarav.
"What was so important that you wanted to talk Parul?", Manish asked.
"Shreya is pregnant", Parul said.
"What?", Prem asked.
"Our daughter is pregnant, Prem", Parul said emphasizing each word.
"We know", Neela said simply.
"And you didn't bother to inform us?", Prem asked perplexed.
"Prem, this was the exact surprise we were talking about", Shweta explained.
"Shweta, it's not us who are surprised it's you are going to be surprised", Parul said nonchalantly.
"What do you mean?", Aarav asked skeptically.
"Wow! She didn't even tell you? My daughter is really good at hiding things, isn't she Prem?", Parul said laughing.
Aarav didn't like the way Parul was talking or where this talk was heading. He knew that his mother in law was upto no good. Was Shreya really their daughter? Never in his life had he seen parents like Parul and Prem who constantly were willing to kill their own child's happiness.
"Mom, stop it! What are you trying to do? And why are you doing all this? Haven't you caused enough havoc in my sister's life?", Shaurya said as his eyes blazed with fury.
"Don't you fucking defend her!", Parul said angrily.
"What happened to "I want to apologize to my daughter", Mom?", Shaurya mocked.
"I am your mother, Shaurya! Don't you forget that", Parul warned.
"And she is your daughter! The daughter you gave birth to! The daughter who did everything for your love! The daughter who distanced herself from her siblings for you! The daughter who you nearly killed! The daughter who is now pregnant with a child growing in her womb!", Shaurya yelled as he lost control over his anger.
The hall which was filled with music few seconds ago was nothing but silent now. The lights were turned on and the guests had turned their attention to the family. Aanchal, Neil, Forum, Samar, Jai, Diksha and the Parmar family rushed towards Manish and the others in order to stop the commotion.
"That child in her womb is nothing but misfortune! If she gives birth to it she will die! Do you understand Shaurya!!?? SHE WILL DIE!", Parul yelled as everyone stood stunned.
Aarav couldn't believe that his mother in law had chosen tonight to announce Shreya's pregnancy complication. He had promised Shreya that he won't let his family know about it and his mother in law had just announced it without thinking about its consequences.
"It's her life, Mom! The child is not yours! He or she is her and Aarav's child. It's their decision whether they want to keep it or not. Who the hell are you to meddle in between them?", Shaurya yelled.
"I AM HER MOTHER! I still have the right to decide what is good for her and what is bad for her", Parul screamed.
Aanchal and Forum looked at Prem who was silently standing not uttering a single word. It felt like he was extremely shocked with Shreya's pregnancy complication news but then again everyone was stunned with the piece of the information. The unusual thing was instead of Prem it was Parul who was creating drama tonight. The thing which could have been discussed with the family was now nothing but a gossip topic for everyone.
All the guests had started whispering amongst themselves. Aanchal wanted to yell at them and tell them to mind their own fucking business but right now handling the situation was important instead of creating new problems. She knew inviting the Chauhan's was a bad idea but this was all for Shreya's happiness. Suddenly, she realised Shreya was nowhere to be seen neither was Saloni and Rishabh.
The sound of clapping echoed in the entire hall as Saloni made an appearance.
"That was a very nice speech, Mom! No wait! It wasn't a speech they were just few lines which you might have heard in some daily soap", Saloni said.
"SALONI!"
"Don't you dare yell at me, Mom! Daughter? Mother? Do you even understand the meaning of these words?", Saloni asked.
"Mind your language, Saloni! And if I am looking out for my daughter, where am I wrong? I have given her birth..."
"No you haven't!", Saloni said glaring at Parul.
Parul's face paled in response.
"Is Shreya really your daughter?", Saloni asked as she continued glaring at Parul.
Everyone was speechless. Aarav looked at Parul and then at Prem. Both the husband and wife had the similar expression of that seeing a ghost. If Saloni was right and if there was any truth behind her words, all Aarav wished was Shreya shouldn't be anywhere in the hall.
"What... what are you talking? Don't... don't talk any... anything... rubbish", Parul stuttered.
Saloni laughed bitterly.
"I am talking rubbish? Then why are your faces so pale, Mom and Dad? Why are you stuttering, Mom?", Saloni asked.
"No.. we.. we are not..."
"Is she telling the truth, Mom?", Shaurya asked.
"No son, she... she is lying", Parul defended herself.
"Oh is that true? Because I have a proof to prove myself but do you have any proof Mom?", Saloni asked.
"What.. what proof?", Prem asked.
Shaurya narrowed his eyes at Prem who had chosen to speak for the first time. For some odd reason, Shaurya could feel that Saloni wasn't lying and his parents were hiding something from the world. But if they were lying, why were they lying? And if Shreya wasn't his sister than who was she? Too many questions were swirling in his mind. He glanced at Aarav who was standing with a pained expression on his face.
"Ohh Dad, you finally decided to speak! Anyways, I have the proof but it's at home. The hospital in which Shravan and Shaurya were born clearly states that Mom had given birth to twins and not triplets. The twins were boys. If Mom gave birth to twins then how was Shreya born, Maa?"
"Stop it, Saloni! That has nothing to do here", Parul said.
"And do you know what the most interesting thing is somehow Mom's sister who we never knew existed also gave birth the same day, in the same hospital to a little baby girl", Saloni said loudly.
"Saloni, please stop", Parul begged.
"Why Mom? Why should I stop now? When you didn't stop to announce Di's pregnancy complications then why should I stop?", Saloni asked furiously.
"Don't do this to her... If... if she finds out everything will be over", Parul sobbed as she fell on her knees.
"Everything was over the day you separated her from us, Mom", Saloni whispered softly.
"She is like my own daughter", Parul said crying.
"There is a big difference between like and actual, Mom. You and Dad have hurt her alot and it's about time everyone knows the truth", Saloni said wiping her own tears.
"What truth?", Aarav asked.
"Shreya Di, is my Aunt's daughter. My Aunt was emotionally instable after her husband left her. Mom and Dad took Di away from her because Di wasn't safe with her and they sent her to a mental asylum. Mom had given birth to non-identical twins so the problem of Di not looking like them was not something they needed to answer", Saloni said.
"And.. and how did you find this out?", Shaurya asked.
"Niharika Auntie had come home four weeks ago. She was telling Mom about Gauri Auntie's health and she even asked if Mom had told Di about Gauri Auntie being her biological mother. Then after that I texted Niharika Auntie from Mom's phone and got the mental asylum's address. From there I got to know that Auntie's husband was responsible for her mental state", Saloni said.
"What about her husband? I mean Shreya's Dad?", Aanchal asked.
"Gauri and Raj never married each other. She is an illegitimate child. Raj doesn't know anything about Shreya but if he finds out then he would take her away", Parul said.
"Take her away in the sense?", Aarav asked.
"I.. I can't.."
"Parul tell them... We have done enough of damage to Shreya. They need to know the truth", Prem said his voice filled with anguish.
"Raj belongs to a rich Punjabi family and the only son and child of his parents while Gauri is my youngest sister. We all loved her the most. It was during her college that she met Raj and they fell in love. After few years, when Gauri told Mom and Dad about Raj they were beyond infuriated. Even Raj's family didn't agree for their relationship. Raj was willing to go against his family but Gauri asked him to wait and be patient. She wanted everyone's blessings for their marriage. Raj went to London for some business when Gauri figured out she was pregnant. She knew Mom and Dad would never let her give birth to the baby so she shifted to Mumbai with us and decided to keep her pregnancy a secret till Raj's arrival"
"Raj met with an accident in London and lost his memory. He forgot that Gauri existed in his life. His family took advantage of this situation and married him to Akansha. The news of Raj's marriage took a huge toll on Gauri. When Gauri gave birth to Shreya, her mental state became worst. So I and Prem adopted her legally and asked the doctors to tell everyone that I gave birth to triplets because if Mom and Dad or Raj's family would know about Shreya they would have killed her. After a year of the twins and Shreya's birth, Mom and Dad had a sudden demise. A year after that, Raj came to Mumbai in search of Gauri since he had recovered from his memory loss but we told him that Gauri died giving birth to his child. We lied to him because it was the only way to keep her safe. After that he and Akansha were divorced and since then he is single"
"This justifies you adopting her but why did you ill treat her?", Manish asked.
"I lost my own child because of her. I lost my Shravan because of her. If we had never adopted her, Shravan would have been alive today. SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN DEAD TODAY!", Parul sobbed.
"You know what Parul? It was never her fault. It was an accident. How could you blame a 7 year old for something she had no control over? You were suppose to give her happiness not sorrows! Her entire life she begged you both to love her but what did you do? Kill her hopes to that extent that she couldn't believe in love anymore!", Shweta said angrily.
"Will you ever tell her about her parents?", Neela asked.
"No... We have no idea what she will do if she comes to know that her entire life was a lie", Prem said.
"What about Raj Uncle? Will you ever tell him about her?", Aarav asked.
"We need to inform him. We can't keep him away from her life anymore. The guilt of keep a father away from his daughter already eats us alive and we can't live with the guilt anymore", Parul said.
"What is her father's full name?", Shaurya asked.
"Rajeev Kapoor, The C.E.O. of RK group of Industries"
"You can't be serious! He is like the biggest business tycoon", Samar said unbelievingly.
"And he is filthy rich!", Forum exclaimed.
"And he happens to be my best friend", Manish whispered softly but it was loud enough to knock the air out of everyone.
____________
How many of you guys missed Shreya?
Please keep showering your love on #Aarya❤ and even me😂😂 if that's possible. I hope I am living upto your expectations and I am not disappointing you guys!
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Love ya,
Hugs and Kisses,
See you soon,
-R.