Tara felt pushed and landed on the couch with a flinch. She turned to see who pushed her and she saw Dr.Bhandari’s angry face. ‘You’re blaming me? Your uncle? How dare you?’ he shouted and Tara stood up. ‘How dare you to molest me in childhood and ruin me? And Maya mausi, how dare you to torture me? How dare you separate my twin sister from me? How dare you to take revenge for someone who’s alive but was declared as dead? How?’ Tara shot back at them. Roma came to her. ‘One minute, one minute, hold on, repeat what you said.’
‘Mom, doctor chachu raped me in my childhood, whenever you went out of country, she tortured me, when one day I was running from her tortures, I accidentally killed a child, that child was actually Maya mausi and Prithvi’s illegitimate daughter who was declared as dead but today I found out she’s alive, mom ask this blo*dy b*t*h that why she separated me from my sister? Why she tried to murder Shanaya di? Why mom?’ Tara said on the verge of crying and Roma turned and shot an angry glare to Dr.Bhandari and Maya. ‘You blo*dy idiots, damn it!’
She went to them and slapped them. ‘How dare you trouble my daughter?’ Roma said. ‘You ask your daughter that how many murders she has done and burdened Aarohi with her crimes,’ Maya replied. ‘Oh just shut up! My daughter isn’t a criminal, Aarohi is a criminal,’ Roma said and Tara looked down sadly as to how she’s blinded by her fake innocence. Deep got angry. ‘No, mummy ji open your eyes, Tara had done those murders and she took advantage of Aarohi being her lookalike,’ Deep said and Ishita sighed. ‘Oh? So now you’re taking Aarohi’s side? You love her and not Tara, right?’
‘What are you saying?’ Deep replied looking here and there. ‘Then why can’t you meet your eyes with me and tell me you love Tara? I know I m not your mother but your mother in law but I have done your upbringing, and I hope you won’t lie to me,’ Roma said and he got speechless. Ishita hit her elbow lightly on his arm to stop him from telling the truth. ‘Tell them Deep, who do you actually love? Me or Aarohi?’ Tara asked unsure. Deep looked at Ishita and she nodded in negative.
‘I love Tara,’ he said forcefully. ‘No! You love Aarohi! And mom if you would’ve told me about my twin sister, neither would I have done so wrong with her or neither would I have burdened her with my crimes,’ Tara blurted out the truth unknowingly. Roma turned to her realizing the truth and clapped sarcastically. ‘Wow! Now you’re calling your lookalike a twin sister of yours, not only this but even lying to your mother, OK I accept its a truth, but swear on me, I know you won’t swear on something that’s a lie,’ Roma said tearfully.
Roma took her hand and kept it on her own head. ‘Yes mom, whatever I said is truth, I m a criminal, and its all because of my past, if Maya mausi and Doctor chachu wouldn’t have done this, I could’ve become a good person just like my twin sister,’ Tara said and Roma yanked her hand away and sat in the temple. ‘Hey Bhagwan! What happened by me? I burdened an innocent girl with my daughter’s crimes, forgive me, please,’ Roma was all teary eyed while saying this. Tara said next to her. ‘Mom, don’t worry, I m good now.’
‘Enough! Enough of your lies!’ Roma said. ‘You don’t tell me anything that’s why all this happened, why mom? Why you didn’t tell me I have a twin sister? Whenever I used to go out, you used to tell me that be careful by all the strangers, then why didn’t you tell that I have to be careful from these monsters too? Hmm? Why didn’t you say this?’ Tara said crying hurtfully and stood up going to Doctor chachu. ‘You made my screams muffled, that screams are still inside me, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!’ Tara screamed loudly and Doctor chachu went away. She went to Maya and held her hand. ‘Soft hands, but they’re only used in murdering people and you have bad intentions,’ she said and twisted her hands. She held her face tightly. ‘Beautiful eyes, but bad gaze, soft lips, but used at bad places, you have a daughter, but you use her to torture someone else’s daughter, wow!’ Tara said clapping sarcastically.
Roma realized what had she done and wiped her tears. ‘Enough beta please, I promise all this won’t happen again, you’ve lost your sister forever, sorry beta but how you got to know that she’s your sister only?’ Roma asked hugging her. ‘I had a DNA test done to know it,’ Tara told her. ‘OK, tomorrow we will do shanti pooja for her, I hope she’s fine wherever she is,’ Roma said and Tara smiled. ‘Also that I will call pundit jee tomorrow to fix your remarriage date,’ Roma told her and Tara looked at her shockingly. ‘You go, sleep,’ Roma said and Tara went.
I know mom, that you miss Aarohi a lot, and Deep also misses her a lot, but don’t worry, I will bring her to this house very soon and this marriage will be of ArDeep and not DeeRa. DeeRa will have to be finished forever. Tara thought to herself and went.
Deep came to Aarohi with Tara in the police hospital where she was there as Tara. She stood up and hugged him tight. He hugged her back kissing her hair. They broke the hug after a short time and she kissed his cheek and he kissed her forehead and encircled his arms around her waist and she kept smiling looking in his eyes. ‘There’s a good news, Tara have agreed to divorce me and she wants us to get married,’ he told her and she smiled.
‘Really? Yes! Yes! Yes!’ she said jumping in joy and hugged Tara. ‘All set with you?’ she asked. ‘Perfect, I told mom everything, and this also that you’re her daughter but not that you’re alive,’ Tara said and Aarohi got sad. ‘She must be in so much pain, Tara we should tell her soon,’ Aarohi said breaking the hug. ‘No, not now, so much is left, I took my revenge but yours is still left,’ Tara said. ‘That means sending you and Deep to jail, but I will take revenge,’ Aarohi said. ‘I told mummy ji that I love Tara, but its all a lie.’
‘Oh OK, are you sure na Tara?’ Aarohi asked her. ‘Yes, pakka sure,’ Tara said. ‘OK thank you and sorry for taking your love away from you,’ Aarohi said holding her ears and Tara signed it’s OK. So Tara and Aarohi exchanged their clothes and Aarohi went with Deep.
Vo din door nahi jiska mujhe kab se intezaar tha Deep, har kisi ko apnay kiye ki saza bhugatni parrti hai, maine toh kuchh nahi kiya tha, bas ek pyaar hi toh kiya tha tumse, vohi pyaar jisme jeene marrne ki kasmein khaayi thi, or is pyaar se mujhe nafrat hai or is pyaar ne vo kiya hai mere saath, jissay sun kar dunia waalo’n ka bharosa uth jayega pyaar se aaj k baad. Aarohi thought smirking to herself while walking out of police hospital.
Next day, Roma did pooja along with everyone else, it was Shanti Pooja for Aarohi. The pooja was finished and pundit came for fixing the remarriage date of Aarohi and Deep. Their Kundlis were given to Pundit and the date was fixed of few days later. The days passed by very soon and the day came for their remarriage.
Aarohi stood in front of the idol. ‘I don’t know if I should take revenge or love Deep like I used to do, what conflict have you given me? On one side is my innocent family who tolerated so many tears for me, and on one side is Deep, God please show me a way,’ she said and went touching its feet. She was feeling as if she’s captured somewhere in darkness. She went out of the house and took Tara’s car and drove off, she drove for sometime to relax her mind. She saw some kids selling flower bracelets in sunlight.
She stopped the car and stepped down and went to them. ‘Listen kids?’ she called smilingly. ‘Jee madam, how much you want?’ asked a boy from the four kids, he had a very tanned skin. ‘First tell, where are your parents and why do you do this work? You should go to school at this age,’ she asked. ‘Its a compulsion,’ said another boy who was a little healthy. ‘Yes didi, if we won’t do this, how will we live?’ said the third boy who was very thin and stammered a lot. ‘And we don’t even have our parents,’ said the girl from their team.
Aarohi hugged the four kids lovingly all at once. ‘Don’t worry, I will take all your flower bracelets and then you shouldn’t be seen here for at least some weeks,’ she said and opened the back door of the car and kept all their flower bracelets there and gave them Rs.5000. ‘But didi, they all are of just 1500 or so,’ said the tanned kid. ‘No problem, keep it, what’s the name of all of you?’ she asked them. ‘My name Chawani,’ said the boy with tanned skin. She chuckled.
‘Chawani?’ she said. ‘Yes, and I am Chintu,’ said the thin boy. ‘I m Ranger,’ said the healthy boy. ‘And I m Meera, but they call me metre, as I run very fast,’ she said and she giggled. ‘You all are so good, take care, we’ll meet again,’ Aarohi said and went back to Raichand Mansion as her mind was now relaxed. Deep greeted her. ‘Where were you?’ he asked. ‘Just went to relax my mind,’ she said and went to take bath. She immersed herself in the bathtub thinking about her life sadly, her past and her present.
She was so lost, she didn’t notice the water had gone in her nose and that she was drowning. It was more than one hour now so Deep knocked on the washroom door. ‘Aarohi are you OK?’ he asked worriedly. No response. ‘Aarohi please say something, you’re scaring me,’ he said. No response again. He broke the door and went inside, he saw her immersed in the bathtub and got her out of it, she was unconscious and he took her to bed. He rubbed her feet and hands. ‘Kuchh nahi hoga, kuchh bhi nahi hoga Aarohi, please wake up.’
He pumped out all the water from her stomach and she woke up with a jolt. He hugged her. ‘You scared me, how can you do this?’ he asked. ‘I can do everything, if I can scare a person like you, then I can scare everyone,’ she said and he broke the hug. ‘Shut up! I was worried and you’re joking around?’ he asked. ‘Not every time I will get emotional, what do you think? Only you can play such games with me? No, I can also do this,’ she said in a weak voice. ‘OK fine, you win, happy?’
She nodded smiling at him and they shared a hug.
What the hell was I doing? I was taking my own life? What would’ve happened if I would’ve died? Oh God Aarohi, get some sense into yourself. A tiny voice inside her scolded her.
She thanked God for saving her. Later at night, Aarohi comes to the hospital in her bridal attire where her brother is kept. She went in that ward and looked at her brother who was sleeping. She held his hand between her palms. ‘Bhaiya, look at me,’ she said and he opened his eyes looking at her.
‘Today I m here in front of you in this bridal attire and I m even going to marry Deep, but bhaiya, all this is fake, this marriage is fake bhaiya, I m doing this to give them punishment of their deeds, I have reached till here because of the love you gave me, the power you gave me, and most probably the power God gave me, bhaiya please don’t be angry at me, your sister won’t let you down, your sister will win by flying colors, you see, how I will show all of them their real places,’ she said.
‘You sure you want to do this? Look if he didn’t love you then he wouldn’t have saved me, Riddhi and Niku, if you want revenge then don’t take it from Deep, take only from Maya and others,’ he replied. ‘I want to know if he’s truthful or a lier, I will get to know it today only, bye bhaiya, bless me,’ she replied and he kept his hand over her head. ‘Thank you bhaiya, I love you,’ she said kissing his forehead.
Then she went to the house in which Riddhi and Niku were there. They were shocked on her attire. ‘Bhabhi, I m here in front of you in this attire but I promise everything is a lie, that seven vows which I first took were to love him but these seven vows which I m going to take is for his deterioration,’ Aarohi said. ‘If he didn’t love you, why he saved us? I just want to say, be careful, if something happens to you, I won’t be able to live,’ Riddhi said and she hugged her. ‘Relax bhabhi, when your love is with me, I won’t lose, just bless me and everything is fine,’ she said and touched her feet, she blessed her. Aarohi sat down and looked at Niku. He was sad. ‘Niku, baby don’t be sad, bua will not leave you, bua is always there for you, I will come soon,’ she said and kissed him. She went away bidding bye. Ishita was getting ready in her room and as usual she had problem in adjusting her saree.
Raman came and helped her. He sat down and she closed her eyes as his hand touched her skin. They were done and she opened her eyes. ‘Come let’s go, we’re done,’ he said. ‘What about others? Are they ready?’ she asked coming out of her trance. ‘How will I know?’ he asked and she went out sighing. She checked on everyone and saw Pihu wasn’t yet ready. ‘Pihu,’ she called and went to her. ‘Why aren’t you ready?’ she asked. Pihu sat quietly. ‘Come I will make you ready,’ she sat taking her by her hand.
Pihu stood up and hugged her. ‘Ishimaa, Simmi bua tortures me, she always beats me, whenever you go to Tara aunty, take me also,’ she said and Ishita hugged her. ‘Don’t worry, Simmi won’t do anything. Come,’ Ishita said taking her and made her ready. ‘Wow, my Pihu is a princess,’ she said twirling her around and she laughed. ‘Haha, love you baby,’ Ishita said kissing her forehead. ‘Love you too,’ Pihu said. ‘Ishimaa, how is Aarohi aunty?’ she asked. ‘Fine. And the person who has Pihu’s blessings, how can he be sick?’ Ishita said and they smiled and went away.
Everyone were ready so they settled in the car and went. Deep was already in the mandap and Aarohi was in the room waiting to be called. Finally she was called downstairs and she went with Roma. She sat in the mandap and did all the rituals. Roma tied their knots. Then they stood up and took rounds. They took the first vow. ‘Our love becomes stronger as you walk as one with me, together we will share all our responsibilities of our home, food and children and may they live long,’ Deep vowed. ‘Dear husband, I commit to you that together we will share our responsibilities of the home, food and children. I promise to discharge all my share of responsibilities for the sake of our family’s welfare,’ Aarohi vowed.
I promise to fulfill my responsibility of taking revenge and get justice for me and my family, Aarohi said in heart taking an anti vow.
They took the second vow. ‘My beloved, as you walk with me on this second step, may the creator bless you always. I love you and you alone as my wife. I pledge to fill your heart with strength and courage. May God protect our family, lodge and children,’ he vowed. ‘My husband, at all times I will fill your heart with happiness and strength. In your happiness I shall rejoice. May God bless you and our honorable lodge,’ she vowed.
I promise to make you feel my pain and give you happiness at first but later you will get the fruit of your deeds, she took an anti vow in her heart.
‘My beloved, as you have taken this third step with me, our wealth and prosperity will grow. May the lord bless us. May we educate our children well and may they live long,’ he took the third vow. ‘My husband, I love you with single minded devotion. I vow to treat all other men as my brothers. My devotion to you is pure and you are my true joy. This is my commitment and pledge to you,’ she too vowed.
I vow to take revenge of my brother who’s blood was shed unpityingly and who is on bed rest and can’t walk for now, she took an anti vow.
‘My beloved, I am blessed that you have walked four steps with me. May the creator bless you. You have brought favour and sacredness in my life,’ he vowed the fourth time. ‘My dear husband, in all acts of righteousness, in material prosperity, in every form of enjoyment and divine acts of sacrifice, worship and charity I promise to always participate and be with you,’ she too vowed.
I will do the right thing which is revenge, I have chosen it over love, I will sacrifice my every happiness for the sake of my family, the people who love me on earth. She took an anti vow.
‘O my beloved, you have walked five steps with me. May the creator bless us. May He make us prosperous,’ he vowed the fifth vow. ‘O my husband, I will share in both your joys and sorrows. Your love will make me very happy,’ she too vowed getting teary eyed.
I won’t ever believe in the word love, all your joys and sorrows are none of my business and all my joys and sorrows are none of your business. She took the fifth anti vow.
‘O my beloved, by walking these six steps with me, you have filled my heart with happiness. May I fill your heart with joy and peace time and time again. May the Creator bless you always,’ he vowed the sixth vow while taking rounds with her. ‘O my husband, the creator blesses you. I shall fill your heart with joy and peace. I promise to always be with you,’ she too vowed.
By marrying me, you have fulfilled your wish and I will also fulfill my wish of revenge and justice by being with you. She again took an anti vow.
‘My beloved goddess, as you have walked seven steps with me, our love and friendship have become inseparable and strong. We’re spiritually united by God. You’re mine completely and I offer myself in totality to you. May our marriage last forever,’ he vowed the last while taking the last round. ‘My husband, by the creator’s law and the spirits of our noble ancestors, I have become your wife. I made all my promises to you with a pure heart and the spirits bear witness to that. I will never deceive you, nor will I let you down. I will be yours forever,’ she too vowed and sat down with him.
To take my revenge and justice for my family, I will have to deceive you, I will also have to let you down just like you did as Aarohi is a stone who can’t love anyone else besides her family, we two are like the coasts of the sea which can be together but can never be close to each other. She took her last anti vow