Arush's POV
"Its the best." Ambar said looking at me. "How are you?" I asked her while putting her down. I looked at her carefully and there were dark circles under her eyes. She is restless I can see. "I am alright. I thought it would be the worst birthday ever." She said to me.
"I am so sorry. I am so sorry." I said to her. She just looked at me and closed her eyes. She released a sigh. "I want to talk with you about that." She said by pointing her finger at me. She then looks on the other side of my shoulder. "Tejas!" She yells. She hugs him normally because he is lean as stick. He too hugs her back. She holds Tejas's hand. "Kanwal Daadi he is Tejas." The old woman greets us. "Arush, Tejas she is Arman's mother."
"The last time I saw Arush you were a toddler. Chubby like a bear and now look at you, you resemble you father when he was of your age." She said. She kept her hand on my head. "How are your parents?" She asked.
"They are trying to cope up." I said to her. Ambar looked up at me.
"Speaking of parents Arush, come with me." She says. I looked at her. She holds Tejas's hand and walks to a room which is upstairs. As we enter the room she locks it from inside. "How are Mom and Dad?" She asked.
"As I said earlier. It would not have happened Ambar if I would have reached on time. I mean we were supposed to return by morning but I got so late." I said to her. I feel so sorry.
"Your only fault is you did not told anyone about that whore monger." She said roughly.
"Whoa! Ambar. Go easy on Anna." Tejas said.
"Arush. There is only one thing that I can say to you now that whatever happened, happened with me. Let me grow up, give me some time and you did a good job by thrashing that pig." I and Tejas both looked at her. She smiled a little and then we all bursted in laughter.
"Why didn't Saami Anna came?" She asked.
"Saami Anna is handling all the mess. Right now he is very busy." Tejas said. Ambar shakes her head and then looks down. "Even Lisa gave you a gift." I said. "She visited us. She wanted to buy you a gift of your liking so she came to take you for shopping. We told her and she has promised that she won't even tell her to her parents about what happened."
"Well that's the reason that she is my best friend. She is more practical then a bunch of clowns living in this place." Tejas chuckled at that.
"We are tired." Tejas said.
"You guys go and sleep on the bed. Its still 6.30 I'll sleep at the couch." We slept on her bed. Damn it is so soft. She took the duvet and covered herself up and slept on the couch. We rested for a couple of hours. Tejas woke me up. He then woke her up. "Let me sleep Tejas. I have not slept properly." She says. "Wake up we will give you presents." He said. Some one then knocks the door. I open the door to see that Arman's mother was standing outside. "Did you rested well?" She asked.
"Yes." I replied.
"The room beside this one is for you both. You can go and freshen up there. Tell me what will you have in breakfast. Will you have french toast Arush. Ambar told me that you like them very much." She said. I looked at her. In 2 days she bonded with the old lady. First time she bonded with an old lady. Progress. "Any thing will do." I told her. French toast it is then. We left the room and Arman's mother went to wake her up. We cleaned ourselves up. I hurried and took a shower first. I had to meet that kidnapper and still be respectful. When Tejas was in the bathroom I left the room to meet him. he was sitting in the living area so I went downstairs.
"Mr. Ranayal." I called him.
"Yes Arush do you need something son?"
"No. Can we talk somewhere alone?" I asked him.
"Sure. Come with me."
I followed him to a room which seems to be his office. He closed the doors. "What did you wanted to say?"
I removed a little box and a envelope from my bag. "Mom said that I should give it to you." I said and handed him those things. I left the room immediately.
Arman's POV
Arush left the room in hurry. I just kept looking at him. I shake the box to check what is in there and it was like sound of two small things colliding with each other. I opened the box to see that there is a ring which has been cut into two pieces. It looked so familiar but I couldn't recall. I opened the envelope and read the letter.
Arman as you may have seen the ring first and you may have recognized it that this was a gift from you to Raina. When Raina went into labor the doctors took a decision there which was right on their part to perform a c-section. But they saw that her fingers are swollen and it was getting late. The nurse tried to pull the ring out but it only caused more pain to her so they decided to cut the ring out. After the surgery when Ambar was born Raina died in an hour. I kept this ring with me and decided never to show it to Ambar because this ring always reminded me of what you did and what happened. I've always tried to save her from truth because I knew that truth will not bring any joy to her. Now you've again did the same thing. You didn't even cared for her whom you say is your daughter. Remember Arman that what you took away from us is precious. You didn't had and you will never have anything or anyone ,more precious then her. I swear to god if anything happens to her because of you no one can stop me from killing you. Her life should be long, prosperous and happy and should not show any signs of sorrow which reflected on her mother's life. Your only job is to make sure that nothing bad happens to her.
I kept the letter aside and stared at the ring. It had lost its shine. The ring looked so faded and the diamond in it was now just a stone for me. She wore it until her last day.
Arush's POV
I came back to our room and Tejas was out by now. He was ready by now. We then went back in Ambar's room. Arman's mother was still in the room trying to fold Ambar's shirts sleeve. She had taken the shower by now and was wearing her favorite loose shirt and I totally forgot about her dress. "Ambar we brought your birthday dress along do you want to wear it now?" Because every time she'll wear it in morning and spend her day in her 'birthday dress'.
"It's dress Arush." She said while fixing her shirt's sleeves. "I'll wear it in evening and besides whats the point. My plans for my birthday are ruined by that catcher of perverts. What will I do today?" I looked at Arman's mother and she just gave a smile at me and left the room.
"At least see who is in your room Ambar." Tejas said.
"Lets go eat I am famished." She said and walked out. We followed her. We came down and went in the dining room. The table is big and the amount of people I have seen in this house its not useful. Then we saw a little girl coming down she sat next to Ambar's grand mother. Even thinking of that is weird. "Ambar who is she?" I asked her.
"Arman's niece her name is Ridhima. Don't worry Arush even decent people live here."
"Who are they?" The girl asked.
"Ridhima he is Arush my brother." She said pointing at me.
"Ain't you angry on Mom and Dad." I asked her. She stopped from peeling the orange. "Arush, is this the time to talk about this. Have some breakfast first. Seems to me that you haven't ate anything since last evening."
"Don't change the topic. Aren't you angry on us. We promised you that we'll protect you and then we failed. Ain't you angry on Mom."
"What happens to you in between?" She said in frustration. "No I am not angry with Mom."
"Why?"
"Because she kept me alive." Alright that silenced me. "Arush Mom saved my life. She saved me from a life full of struggles. Mom and Dad saved me from being an orphan. I owe my life to her. Arush I can't imagine any other women who can be a better mother than her."
She looked at me in the eyes. "We turned out good because of them. They did one mistake and we both find it hard to forget because we have not seen them doing mistakes. We're not used to it."
"Will you trust her further Ambar?" I asked her and she removed her hand from my shoulder.
"Arush you are my brother and I love you a lot but you need to understand that we should not speak in front of other people against our family. Eat before I loose my mind."
Arman's POV
I heard what she said and now I realize that what ever I may do Ambar will never stop loving them. I sat next to Ridhima. "Happy Birthday Ambar." I wished her. She just nod her head. I saw her smile today for the first time, every time I saw her she looked serious. But suddenly she started to laugh slowly. Arush and Tejas looked at her with wide eyes. Even mother gave me a weird look. "What are you thinking?" Tejas asked.
"If to be serious I kind of feel bad about Vijay."
"Why?" Both Tejas and Arush said in union.
"Because I think he was feeling great that day. I guess even happy. For one minute he was on top of the world the other minute some guards were on top of him slamming his face in god knows what?" First I tried to hide my smile but then I saw that the boys, Ambar and my mother were laughing too.
"Hey stop it Ambar he even got thrashed by me." Arush said.
"I know." Ambar said. "It was not just my bad day. I was just transferred but he was caught in not his best time, insulted and thrashed twice."