Shreekant took Amna back to Disha's house and informed her of everything while he went back to the Police headquarters. After interrogating Parimal for around two hours Manoj sat along with Shreekant in his cabin to share some new pieces of information.
Manoj showed the video footage of Yadav's confession, "Whatever he told is true... Just the name of the Sir he mentioned, has changed. Parimal had paid a huge sum of money for his treatment and since then he became his loyal dog. About taking Miss. Biswas to Belgaum... Parimal's call records suggest he was in Belgaum itself for some official work but he couldn't make it to the old factory, as mentioned by Yadav. Yadav went to the construction site a day after the incident to check if they had left any pieces of evidence behind that could put them in problem but he could not complete his search because the watchman came inside unexpectedly.
"Another thing... he lied about the Pen drive. That Pendrive is still with Parimal, but they were indeed unable to open it. Parimal had kept it with himself with the hope that someday he will hack into the details and know about people who were working with Anna Mhatre. But the programming of the password was difficult to break into. Anna Mhatre probably swallowed the Pendrive when she was alone in that small room for a couple of minutes."
Taking a small pause he continued again, "To blackmail your father, any time in future, he had kept the twenty-five-year-old evidence collected by the Dasgupta couple regarding Study 94 in a bank locker. One of the men who worked for him during that time caused the accident deliberately and then took away the evidence. He saw the woman very badly injured and was sure that she will bleed to death. My officers will be bringing that evidence within a few hours. I have already talked to the bank authorities"
"What about the man who tried to shoot Amna at the orphanage?"
Manoj smiled a little, "He is one of the maintenance workers for Mhatre Niwas, his name was Vanraj. He was hired by Parimal for keeping an eye over you and Miss. Biswas after the news was telecasted. Yadav and Parimal contacted each other via internet calls. Our work is mostly done, the Narcotics team will soon be taking over and the case will go for Fast Track Judgement by Supreme Court as told to me by the Special Economics crimes Unit Leader"
Just as the conversation was going on, Kritika knocked on the door and almost immediately spoke, "Sir, I have got the original pen drive. It was in Parimal Roy's bedroom locker. His son tried to stop us but all he got was a couple of thrashes from me"
Shreekant gawked intently at the packet while Manoj continued, "The ER head will be arrested under bribery charges as well as for manipulation of critical evidence. The Forensic Doctor, Dr Rathore was not bribed... He was intimated badly and all he did was out of fear. We will see what to do with him later. But there are chances that they are losing their jobs as well as medical licenses."
As he finished his conversation with Shreekant, Kritika informed, "I have told the cyber team to access the password. I tried inserting the Pendrive in our systems, but the data is in a highly protected environment. It's a four-digit password..."
Manoj replied to her in a normal baritone, "Mrs Anna was a smart lady. She would have kept the password related to something about which only she knew"
As soon as Shreekant heard those words, something popped into his mind, "Sir, I think I know the password"
Kritika immediately blurted, "Mr Shreekant, please don't make guesses. We can lose the data in that Pendrive. That data was not only from Keerthana, it also had the information Amol gave to Anna Mhatre"
He spoke confidently, "Nowadays my instincts are not wrong. Let me try once"
Kritika and Manoj reluctantly agreed and gave him a laptop. Kritika inserted the pen drive and immediately a popup with a timer of one minute emerged on the screen. Shreekant quickly typed the password and alas it opened. All three of them were elated and then went through the details of the pen drive.
Shreekant stayed the whole night in the Police headquarters itself, finishing a lot of formalities and legal matters.
7:00 AM, 11th April, Disha's Home
The desperate sounds of the doorbell made Disha hurriedly open it. "Shreekant Sir? What happened? Everything okay at the Police headquarters..."
"Everything is fine, Where is Amna?" Even without waiting for Disha to answer, he barged into the house calling Amna! Amna! in an ear-splitting manner.
Amna came along with Sarita running to the hall, "What happened? Why are you screaming so early in the morning?"
He held her wrist and pulled out her palm giving her a Pen drive while she looked at him in utter confusion, "Do you want to know what was in that Pen drive Anna swallowed that day?"
"Evidence against ROYMHA," she said in a slow manner trying to guess.
"Yes, you are right...That Pen drive did have some evidence against ROYMHA but apart from that it also had something else...Take a look at it, I got the data copied from the original Pendrive into this one, is there a laptop here?"
"I will get it...wait for a minute" Disha brought her laptop and everyone gathered around it to see it. She found a folder named 23rd Feb.
"This date...It was one of the days when Anna went to Bangalore right!" And clicked on the folder to see the content. She found photos and videos of hers taken while she was working at the ER, eating at the hospital's canteen, one photo in which she was sleeping in the hospital lobby. She saw another video that made her remember something regarding that recording...
23rd Feb, Savitri Hospital
Amna saw a woman with huge black spectacles and a green dress and a scarf clicking photos at the ER and she strode towards her angrily, "Madam...what are you doing? This is the ER...Patients are coming and going and you are busy clicking selfies here? Please budge to that corner and do whatever you want" She irritatingly snapped at her.
The woman's eyes gleamed with a strange sort of gleefulness and she mumbled in a soft tone looking at the name tag of the girl standing in front of her, "I am sorry... Dr Amna Biswas"
Their interaction was interrupted as a nurse called for Amna and she got distracted while replying to her. Seconds later as she turned her face again, she found the woman to have dispersed into the crowd.
Sarita saw the same and placed her hand on Amna's shoulder, "So, she did go to meet you although I asked her not to" and then narrated the day when Anna came to meet her after finding the whereabouts of her estranged sister.
"Sarita aunty, I have finally found my little sister...She is..." she exclaimed in a very elated manner
Sarita frowned at her and interrupted, "So what will you do now? Go and meet her? Put her life into danger too? Drag her also in your perilous journey? She is leading a happy and contented life...Don't try to complicate it" She warned Anna in a grave and harsh tone
"I will never put her life in danger or drag her into my plans...That's not my intention at all. At least I got adopted by really loving parents, got married to such an amazing man who loves me so much but she had to struggle much more than me. She had to spend her life in an orphanage and even now that I am here... Her sister is here... I know that I can't tell her anything", she explained this to Sarita as beads of tears start cornering her eyes.
Wiping her tears softly, "But I promise myself, I will solve all the problems very soon and put the person behind the bars who are responsible for this condition. Then I will meet her and tell her everything but for now, I want to see her just once... It's okay if that's from a faraway distance" She mumbled while declaring this.
After hearing Sarita, Shreekant spoke, "The password to her pen drive was your name, a m n a . Perhaps the main reason behind protecting the Pendrive was not the evidence... She didn't want those people to reach you at any cost. Maybe she was afraid that if they found the Pendrive, that could either blackmail or torture her to make her say the password, and if by mistake she..."
Amna completed his sentence, "If they made her say the password, they would reach me"
He nodded, "But fate had other plans, even after her doing that, Yadav did reach you, because of the hardcopy of the online bio-data of yours, available on the hospital website. Anna had probably forgotten about that hardcopy."
"She was trying to guard me despite herself being in such a huge danger" Amna started weeping uncontrollably realizing the very fact that her sister was trying to protect her since her last breath.
Her black eyes looked as if an ocean was imprisoned inside small glass marbles. As moments passed by, the smooth spheres appeared to be broken... the ocean had started to flow, little water droplets streamed down her rosy cheeks.
Her pitiful condition made Sarita and Disha look at her with an etching heart and a lot of despair. Her cries were troubling Shreekant who equally squeezed her shoulder. A lone tear trickled down his cheek seeing her pain while kept on comforting her by his silence.
*************************
20th April, Mumbai
Nine days had passed since the huge revelations and everyone involved regarding the case gave their testimonies. Shreekant, Amna, and Disha were particularly very busy making sure that everything is wrapped up in the rightful legal way. Shreekant shared the whole story with Aruna, Saket, and Mishka, and all were appalled by the entire thing. They even met Anant when he was in custody and hearing him all guilt-ridden changed a lot of feelings, especially Aruna's.
But following the truth being out in media the Mhatre Group faced a lot of allegations and backlash even from the general public. A huge amount of compensation was to be paid and a lot of paperwork fell on Shreekant, Saket, and Mishka. ROYMHA's stocks were down and the whole Mhatre Group was in a big crisis. To make sure the company recovers Shreekant, Saket and Mishka came up with some plans.
A shareholders meeting was arranged where most of the board members were busy shouting and blaming each other. Shreekant, Saket, and Mishka entered the meeting together and Shreekant began to speak into the mic, "Mhatre group was started by the efforts of my grandfather Yashwant Mhatre and it's my and my sibling's responsibility to protect it and bring back the lost dignity. We know that the events had have occurred in the last few days have made you all apprehensive but we will try our best to revive the company to its original state"
Shreekant gestured Saket to come near the mic, "Both Shreekant and I are withdrawing our names for the Chairman's position" As soon as he spoke this the members again started chatting among themselves, "According to my father's legal will, he had decided to give the company to that one person, who would be the best amongst us. With Daksh, Shreekant, and I out of the picture, the only person who remains is Mishka Mhatre. Both Shreekant and I nominate her name for the Chairman's position"
One of the men spoke snorting his nose in disgust, "The woman who couldn't save her marriage and is undergoing a divorce will save the company. If she couldn't change her husband for good, how will she change the company's condition" Few others agreed and some even laughed.
Shreekant was about to say something but Mishka stopped him and went near the mic and spoke professionally, "I know what you people think about me... But even then, I will be standing for the Chairman's position... Sorry Chairwoman's position. I know you people have no trust over the fact, that such a young girl can manage such a huge title. But I trust myself and equally respect your decision, after all, you are our major shareholders. I will be acting as the interim Chairwoman for six months and if in these six months the company's condition doesn't improve, I will resign"
Some members were slightly compelled while others were not, so Mishka announced again, "We will do a small voting, and then reach the conclusion. Do you all agree to this?"
All of them agreed and the voting began. Nine were for Mishka and eleven against her. Shreekant spoke again, "We both are also shareholders. Saket and I give the vote for Mishka. So, now it's eleven and eleven." Saket turned his head towards the gentleman in one far corner who had still not voted, "Mr Veer Singhania, please give your vote..."
The man turned his head and glanced at Saket, "I didn't cast my vote because I thought it's common sense. But unfortunately, eleven great people here are nothing but utter idiots." He smirked and continued, "These eleven distinguished people think that women are rehabilitation centres for damaged and useless men. But my thinking is different if Mishka Mhatre has that amount of courage to stand for herself in such a dignified manner despite your ridiculous comments and laughs, I think she will stand for her company in all moments, both ups and downs"
He gave a nefarious glare at the person who had spoken rubbish about Mishka, "My vote is for Mishka Mhatre" Shreekant and Saket exchanged gleeful glances at each other.
Clutching the pen between her forefinger and thumb, Mishka nervously made her first sign with trembling fingers as the Chairwomen of Mhatre Group, Mishka Mhatre. She used her original name, the identity given to her by her parents.
The company's legal head took the papers in his hand and declared at the top of his voice to all the board members, "So, from now till the next six months official Chairwoman of Mhatre Group is Miss Mishka Mhatre. After six months of judging the improvement and success Mhatre Group does under her authority, the board members will have to give their decision again"
Mishka was respiring heavily. Despite standing inside the fully AC room, she was sweating while Shreekant and Saket hurried up to her to mark the celebratory gesture for their dear sister.
The hearts of the trio was fluttering with joy. While Mishka could not decide what made her happier, being the Chairwoman or how her brothers stood up for her in front of all the board members. The adversity had a beautiful silver lining, they had got each other's support and had forgotten all their misunderstandings.
The same day in the evening Shreekant came to Disha's house to meet Amna. He rang the bell and patiently waited outside. The door creaked open and Amna saw him standing quietly with his mind pondering over a tension that was unknown to her.
"Hi! What are you doing here?" She asked with curiosity yet happiness all over her face.
"I wanted to tell you something important," He said in a low-pitched yet serious tone.
"Important! The thing is Sarita Aunty is sleeping... I will come out, wait..." She then came out of the house near the veranda while he was still decked up with stress all over his face.
Breaking the silence he turned towards her and said, "I was really worried about Mhatre Group's future, we are under huge debts and the company is under a lot of pressure...So I, Saket, and Mishka have taken some important decisions." She looked at him in confusion.
"Mishka will become the acting Chairwoman of Mhatre Group and take care of everything in India while I and Saket will go to London to convince the foreign investors and shareholders but reviving the company will take a long time...Maybe two or three years, so I am going to London for quite a long time." He announced it in an unusually louder voice in a single go
"You are going to London?" She asked in a trembling voice freezing herself then and there.
"Yes," he said in a casual yet compassionate tone.
On listening to the fact that he was going to London her eyes started gleaming with tears slightly cornering her eyes and rigorous pain was gagging her throat but she was strong enough not to let them come out in front of him and brought a fake smile when her heart was getting torn into a thousand pieces. Tears were already pricking his eyes and she couldn't allow him to see her crying and ask the reason for it also she slightly turned her face saying that something went into her eyes.
The fact that he loved someone else was known to her long back but her innocent heart couldn't bear the agony and fact that he would leave soon. Even though someone else resided in his heart at least he was there with her all this time. There were so many things she wanted to say to him but she knew her words will create more confusion and problems than they would solve. With fisting the fingers of her palm she asked, "When will you come back to India?"
"I don't know...The crisis that has erupted in Mhatre Group can even take a longer time to subside but I think it will take at least two years for us to revive the company, this time properly and legally" He explained it in a very casual manner not realizing that his words were hurting the person deeply standing next to him.
She sealed her lips and buried her emotions in a corner of her heart and gently asked, "When are you going?"
"Tomorrow morning...11:30 AM" he replied promptly.
She knew that he was leaving soon but this was too soon. Every word of his was like tiny imaginary blades that stabbed her heart where he resided. She feared that she could get carried away by her emotions and immediately said extending her hand in a warm gesture, "I wish you all the very best in your mission"
He brushed his palm against hers and smiled a little while she continued, "It's too late now...I must go inside. I need to pack some of my things as I am also leaving for Bangalore soon. Back to my old life."
He nodded, "Ahh...it's late, so this is perhaps our last meeting before I go. Ahh... I mean all these days we were together in almost everything. I will tell Disha to make the necessary arrangements for you while I am away. Hmm...I will stay in touch with you. Take your care properly and if you have any problem just tell Disha, I will instruct her on everything. I will not be here to help you. Thank you for staying along with me, all these days"
She arched a small fake smile and nodded gently before finally waving her hand saying goodbye to him as he sat in his car. With a heavy heart, she had prepared to take leave from him. She quickly went inside the house closing the door immediately.
Just as he was about to start the engine, he felt as if she wanted to tell him something so he lowered the window of his car and rolled his eyes over the door. He found the door already closed and then drove away. Both of them finally had ultimately departed in opposite directions.
As she closed the door and went to her room, she sat down on the floor and started crying like a baby. Her tears had begun trickling down her cheeks realizing that the first man whom she ever loved belonged to someone else and that someone else was none other than her dear sister who died protecting her life...who died with the last wish of having a proper conversation with her like a sister...like a family.
She felt that by falling in love with that man she had betrayed her sister and her tears kept on flowing till she finally dozed off on the cold floor of the lonely house while her mind was filled with lots of memories... Good and bad After all, it was her first love and first heartbreak with a man whom she was never supposed to meet until destiny had played its weird intervention.
Shreekant went back to Mhatre Niwas and saw Disha in the living room working with some papers. He went near her and informed her, "You already know that I and Saket are going to London, right?"
She nodded, "Sir, I just came to know about it a few hours ago"
"I have a small request for you..." She looked at him trying to guess his next line.
"Please take care of Amna. She will be leaving for Bangalore soon. Make sure that she joins the hospital back without any problem. In case, she has any sort of trouble please take care of her. I will not be here and I don't want her to be in any difficulty in my absence"
After Disha assured him, he went back to his room to pack his things. As he opened his cupboard, he took out Anna's perfume and trailed its smell through his nose. A tiny tear trickled down and he thought to himself, "I am taking a small part of your presence with me. It will help me survive. I sometimes wonder how painful those sixteen days must have been for you... Your husband was struggling with agony and guilt... Your sister was struggling with her life at that hospital and those people who were responsible for everything were living happily without a single line on their foreheads"
"But don't worry, I have taken care of everything, just tell me or show me, how will take care of myself. Please help me survive. Please help me endure the pain. I miss you a lot..."
The day, 21st April 2020, the morning after Shreekant broke the news of his going away, Amna didn't realize when she fell asleep on the floor of the guestroom and again wondered about him, "So, he is going... It's not like he is going forever, he said he will come back but then why I don't want him to go, I want to tell him everything, all this is becoming very heavy for my heart to bear"
As she was thinking about all this, a sudden thought came to her mind, "How could I only think about myself? You will be alone in London for God knows how many years? Anna has just died, what if he falls under depression? What if he forgets living and attaches himself only to pain? What if he doesn't ever smile again? What if he becomes a different person?"
Being a doctor herself, she knew the harsh measures people take when they lose someone, "I just can't let you go like this, I need to talk to you before you leave"
Opening the door of her room hastily, she walked in quick succession with her bag, to see Disha getting ready to go for work. She asked clumsily, "Disha, can you take me to Mhatre Niwas right now? I need to meet Shreekant before he finally leaves for London"
Seeing Amna's worried expression, "Sure, I am also going there, Saket sir called me urgently but is everything okay?"
She nodded but her facial expressions were saying a different story while Disha continued, "Come quickly, then... I will take you in my scooty"
Carefully wearing the helmet, they scampered through the lanes and reached quickly as it was early morning. Hastily entering the gates of Mhatre Niwas as Disha entered her employee code, they finally reached the entrance of the gigantic mansion.
Just as Disha was about to go in and inform Shreekant about Amna's arrival, a familiar voice interrupted her from behind, "Disha, did you prepare the papers?"
She turned back, "Saket sir, I have already done it..."
Noticing Amna with her glanced up he spoke, "Miss. Biswas, do you have some work here? Did you come to meet Shreekant by any chance?"
She shook her head in affirmation while he said in a sad tone, "Ohh, you are late by just ten minutes...Shreekant is not here, he already left"
"Left...", she took a look at the watch she was wearing, "But it's just 7:20 AM, his flight was at 11:30 AM, right?
"Well, the thing is we both have some issue with our passport and he has gone to the passport office to sort it out. He won't be coming back, he will go to the airport directly from there while I will take his and my luggage and reach the airport in another half an hour or so, is there something urgent?"
Pensive lines appeared on Amna's forehead, and she fisted her palms tightly. Seeing that Disha commented, "Are you okay? What happened?"
"Mr Saket Mhatre, can you do a small favour for me, in another half an hour or so I will bring you something, please make sure that Shreekant gets it." He nodded, "Sure... I am here only with Disha, but please be a little quick"
"Okay", she turned at Disha and asked, "Can you give me a piece of paper and pen?" Disha handed her one page from her notepad while she hurried to the bench near the garden area and began writing her heart out.
After around twenty minutes or so she went to them again, "Please make sure that he gets this, I will be very grateful to you and another thing, while being in London don't leave Shreekant alone for long periods, and if possible take care of him. Thank you again, Mr Saket"
She humbly nodded while Disha interrupted, "Amna, I have booked an evening flight for you to Bangalore, be ready okay. How will you go back from here?"
"Okay, I will be ready... I will take an auto from the main lane" Her voice sounded kinda low and Disha could sense it and kept on blankly staring at her back as she walked away towards the main gate.
Saket budged Disha and asked, "Now what are you thinking?"
"Nothing sir, yesterday Shreekant sir came to me asking me to take care of Amna after he leaves and now she asked you to look after Shreekant sir... A strange bond has developed between the two in such a short time" Both gently smiled.
A/N:
satyameva jayate nānṛtaṃ (Truth alone triumphs; not falsehood)
satyena panthā vitato devayānaḥ (Through truth, the divine path is spread out)
yenākramantyṛṣayo hyāptakāmā (by which the sages whose desires have been completely fulfilled)
yatra tat satyasya paramaṃ nidhānam (reach to where is that supreme treasure of Truth)
Satyameva Jayate/"Truth alone triumphs" is a part of the mantra from the Hindu scripture Mundaka Upanishad. Following the independence of India, it was adopted as the national motto of India on 26th January 1950, the day India became a republic. It is inscribed in the Devanagari script at the base of the Lion Capital of Ashoka and forms an integral part of the Indian national emblem. The emblem and the words "Satyameva Jayate" are inscribed on one side of all and national documents.
*****************
The quest has finally ended with the culprit being caught, but was it a happy ending? Shreekant had married the girl he loved but lost her finally in the hands of the harsh destiny. The same destiny made Amna and Shreekant meet, and she fell for him but could never tell her feelings knowing the repercussions of her confession. Further, the timing was so unfavourable for either of them.
So, there are some bonus chapters after the epilogue which will be a little light-hearted melodrama with some silly problems... Stay tuned.
Do read the epilogue... It very special 😍😍😍😍