Omkara kept the phone down as his mother disconnected the call.
He was relieved to hear Jahnvi's voice, talking to him after so long, not to mention sounding more confident than she had sounded in years. He remembered that brief phase last year, when his parents relationship seemed to improve after Mr. Oberoi and Chhote Papa were discharged and acquitted from the false charges against them, about a girl's suicide. Until their relationship came tumbling down again, with Svetlana's fake accident and entry into the house. To hear that Svetlana had finally left the Oberoi mansion, after three months, was a huge worry off his chest. To add to this feeling of relief, was the fact that it was Jahnvi who threw her out. His mother, on her own, took the reins of her life back in hand.
Of course, knowing Mr. Oberoi, he would not give up so easily. But Omkara won't give up either. He had signed that contract, he would join the family business, give up his art, and do what his father desired for the rest of his life, if that meant his father would never leave his mother. Jahnvi sounded better but he knew that his mother valued her marriage too much. She would crumble if Mr. Oberoi left her. Omkara won't left that happen.
Omkara thought it was a strange coincidence that his mother and himself, had both met a stranger yesterday, who conveyed essentially the same message to both of them: to be hopeful, to not give in to darkness.
Was destiny signaling something to him?
******************************************
"I was hoping to see you here today". said Jahnvi, with a smile, as she saw Gauri entering the temple in the morning.
Gauri was tired from the exertions of the play last night, and the nightmare later ensured that she didn't sleep well. But seeing Jahnvi again, she instantly pasted a smile on her face, and greeted her brightly.
"Namaste auntyji! How are you today?" asked Gauri
"I am better than before. Are you free? I wanted to talk to you, but I don't want to eat into your work time." asked Jahnvi
"Work doesn't start until another half an hour. Lets sit by the pillars?" asked Gauri.
Jahnvi nodded her head, and they both sat down. Jahnvi told her all that transpired after her talk with Gauri. Jahnvi tried to thank her for her help, but Gauri cut her off.
"Arey, humne kaa kiya? Jo kiya, aapne kiya." (Arey, what did I do? Whatever happened, you did.) said Gauri, encouragingly.
"I'm glad I met you yesterday." said Jahnvi. But suddenly she sighed and smiled sadly.
"Kaa huya auntyji? Abhi toh aap khuss lag rahi thi, ab achanak kaa huya?"(What happened auntyji? You were looking happy just now, but now suddenly you don't?) asked Gauri concerned.
"I was thinking I managed to throw that woman out of my house. My son might manage to stand up to his father's expectations. My husband would be forced then, to stay with me and not separate. But at what cost? My son would not be able to pursue his dreams, and what guarantee is there that my husband will not stray? He may stick it out with me our entire lives, but who knows what he does outside home?" Jahnvi despaired.
"Then you know what to do" said Gauri.
"What do you mean?" Jahnvi asked.
"Your son sacrificed everything so that your marriage stays intact. That's because he thinks you will not be able to survive another shocker from your husband, that you will not be able to survive if your marriage breaks down. The only way out of this messy situation, is if you prove to your son, your husband and your family, that you are not weak, that you are your own person, that your self-respect and self-worth are more important than trying to keep up a marriage which exists only in name. If your husband is never going to truly commit to this marriage then what's the point of all this?" asked Gauri. She felt that she had overstepped her limits as a stranger, but she said what needed to be said.
Gauri believed staunchly in the sanctity and devotion of the marital bond, but she also believed equally strongly that a bond cannot be imposed on the other person. If the other person does not want to accept you, and moreover, insults your devotion to the relationship, then there's no point in trying to work the relationship.
One of Gauri's co-workers met her at that point, and asked her for some help at work. Gauri excused herself, and nodded her head at Jahnvi before leaving.
Jahnvi saw Gauri leaving for work, and yet didn't see her. Her mind was ruminating on what Gauri said. If anything, Gauri's words had left her with a lot to contemplate about.
*************************************
Svetlana was worried that the game was slipping out of her hand. First, her fool of a sister gave up the game and exposed herself and their mother, seeing that idiot husband of hers, Dushyant/Robin. Love made people so blind. Apparently not just Tia, but even Shivaay and Annika were stupid. They let her go without any qualms; they were actually sorry for her. But Shivaay did get her mother arrested. Svetlana was just glad that neither Tia nor their mother gave up her identity, that she and Tia were sisters. Their mother was betting on her, Svetlana.
Svetlana as the eldest sister of the three, knew her job. Tia was a weakling; she didn't understand their mother and Svetlana's desire for revenge. Tej and Shakti Oberoi easily wiped their hands off any responsibility for her father's death.
Svetlana and Tia's father, was the chief researcher at Oberoi chemicals. He had a bright career and much repute, but apparently he was also greedy and had siphoned off money from the accounts of the factory. Oberoi group of industries was just establishing itself that time, and they were struggling with funds. When the two brothers, Tej and Shakti, found out about her father scamming them, they fired him and exposed him publicly. This meant that Mr. Kapoor, Svetlana and Tia's father, could not get a job in any other company. Out of despair, he burnt himself to death in the Oberoi chemical factory where he worked. His suicide would have brought a lot of bad press to the Oberoi industries, but the brothers used their influence to shut down the bad press.
Mrs. Kapoor had brought up her daughters on a daily diet of revenge against the Oberois for ruining their family and indirectly causing their father's suicide. While Svetlana had digested it gladly, Tia wanted to get out of this game of revenge and live her own life. Especially, she didn't think how getting revenge against the current generation of Oberoi scion, Shivaay and Omkara, was right in any way.
Svetlana twirled her fingers in a familiar gesture. Now it was all up to her. But her plan to gain access to the Oberoi fortune and company wouldn't succeed if she didn't marry Tej. All was going according to plan, except suddenly the mother and son stood up against her out of nowhere.
First, Omkara signs that stupid contract with Tej, and then Jahnvi, of all people, throws her out of the mansion. Tej had tried to placate her ever since, that Om won't last in the business, and Jahnvi's spirit would evaporate just as quickly as it rose. But Svetlana knew better.
Tej never hid the fact that he wanted his sons to rival Shivaay and head the business. To that end, he was ready to do anything, and Omkara signing that damn contract, was all he could hope for. If Om survives the business in the next six months, then Tej would give up on divorcing Jahnvi. The one thing that worked in Svetlana's favor was that Jahnvi was a weak woman who wouldn't stand up for her rights, but even that seemed to change.
No, Svetlana could not let her plan go awry. Tej was going to meet her today, with loads of expensive presents but she wanted the Oberoi fortune, and she would get it.
It was time to kickstart the contingency plans.
************************************************
Soumya was catching up on some classes she had missed last month and making copious notes from her friend's notebook, in the college cafeteria.
As she picked up the sandwich she had ordered, to take a bite, she saw her friend, Geet, rushing to her. Geet was good-hearted girl but a notorious gossip lover. Soumya could guess that she would be bringing her some new gossip in college.
"Calm down, sit and catch your breadth, before you launch into the latest news in college." said Soumya, smiling as Geet reached her table. Geet followed her advice and sat down. After a moment, she spoke up.
"Soumya, girl, you wouldn't believe it!" she exclaimed.
"What now? Has the Principal suspended someone or someone from our college eloped or the police arrested someone?" Soumya chuckled.
"No friend, bigger than that." Geet said, her eyes round.
"What could be bigger than all this?" Soumya asked, getting back to her notes, and taking a sip of her coke.
"Rudy went to the library today." said Geet dramatically.
Soumya spat the coke from her mouth.
P.S. Svetlana and Tia's background was covered from the Dec-Feb 2016 episodes of IB . It's all canon. Don't ask me why they changed their background a year later to the Kalyani Mills disaster. HS probably got amnesia or something lol.