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Episode 28
On a quite warm Sunday afternoon, nearly after a week of their engagement, Swara stepped into sanskar’s bedroom with a pile of clothes in her hand. Sanskar has been working from home lately and now he was peacefully sleeping on his cream colored double cot bed. Swara smiled at him and with an intention of not disturbing, she tiptoed to his wardrobe but before reaching it, she tripped and fell on sleeping sanskar.
Sanskar groaned and cursed before opening his eyes.
” is this the way you are going to wake me up?” He asked Swara who was staring into his eyes “ugh! If yes, I will be so dead after marriage” Swara giggled and observed his lips twitching at corners. Suddenly, she was rolled over and effectively pinned into the mattress underneath sanskar.
” I have seen you some where” sanskar whispered huskly, tracing a line over her cheek. Swara gulped in response.
” your eyes..” He breathed. Swara would have acted stubborn but not now..not when everything is too intimate. So she gave in.
” you want to know?” She teased and he nodder like a school kid.
” an year back, Kolkata mall, valentines day?”
Sanskar first frowned and when realization hit him, his eyes widened and he got off Swara. She followed him and sat cross legged beside him.
” that scarf girl was you who dashed me with bouquet of red roses..right?”
” yeah and that’s because I was stalking you but suddenly you got disappeared and in search of you, I instead bumped into you”
Sanskar was now grinning from ear to ear ” so I have you in my life since an year” he teased and both of them laughed.
But suddenly, swara’s smile faded away.
” what happened Swara?” Sanskar asked irritated. Now a days, she was just either over thinking about everything or frequently zooming out.
” vansh…I didn’t understand him sanskar. Laksh said that vansh was his friend’s friend whom he asked to build up a story for me to meet you but the story what vansh has said to me is not false. I have a gut feeling that vansh was here not because of laksh but because of someone else”
Sanskar sighed ” I have a theory for you Swara”
Swara raised her eyebrows making sanskar inhale. ” yeah..I guess that there is some third person involved in this. He must have had some rivalry with both of our families and most probably he might be the murderer too”
Swara knotted her eyebrows “but that person didn’t try to harm me”. Sanskar laughed humorlessly ” Swara…Swara…if you had killed me that night, you would have probably in jail” sanskar stood up ” and I am also confused about the jealousy part of laksh. I mean he grew with me! There’s no point for him to feel that way and I am sure there is some story cooking up back of us without our knowledge even laksh.”
” so he is also a pawn?” Swara prompted. Sanskar shrugged before rubbing his temples.
Swara looked down to the knotted fingers in her lap and started playing with her of her shirt.
” but laksh said that he didn’t meet anyone except vansh” Swara spoke out her thoughts after few minutes of silence.
” an emotion can be sown without a person’s knowledge and surely there was some one who did that.”
Swara sighed and both of them zooned out thinking various possibilities.
Sanskar saw Swara being nervous and biting her lip nearly thrice in 10 seconds. He walked to her and then cupped her face with his hands.
” what is it Swara” his soothing voice didn’t make her situation any better.” Say it” he encouraged. She took a deep breath before blurting out ” iwanttostayawayfromyouuntilthismarriage”
Sanskar sighed but she oberseved his lips curving into smile ” English please”
She smiled with him and that gave her the confidence “I want to stay away from you until this marriage”
“What?” Sanskar breathed, all air leaving his body. He gaped Swara for a good amount of time like she has just said that she wanted a plot on moon. Seeing his expression, Swara started explaining ” its a tradition right…of course I don’t have parents but I do know about everything. And…and don’t worry about me, I’ll be staying in one of your hotels till then and also..”
Sanskar shut her rambling placing his hand to her lips “you.are.not.going.anywhere”
“But..”
” no Swara! You are not going and that’s final”
Swara stomped her foot like a five year old and turned around showing her back to him. Sanskar simply sighed and opened his mouth to give an explation but..
” shoru!!!!”
Swara’s pupils dilated and then her eyes. She immediately ran out of the room to the source of the voice. The long,beautiful corridor which she always loved was now the only distance that’s separating her from the voice and of course its irritating her. By the time she reached the steps, sanskar was behind her with confusion all over his face. Swara opened her mouth once, twice and thrice but nothing came out at the sight of an elderly woman. There she was, a woman in sixties, standing in the great hall with her back to Swara but after these many years too, she didn’t change a single bit. The woman turned to swara with teary eyes. Her stature was the same screaming boldness, her eyes were the same filled with warmth and also her voice was the same with love.
“Shoru!!” Her voice came out a little trembling. Soon, tears started flowing freely from swara’s eyes. There was only a single person in the whole world who would call her shoru. She was the very same person with whom she spent the precious 10 years of childhood by pranking her parents, pulling legs of her grand father, stealing cookies and sharing with her and sleeping beside her listening to the bedtime stories. She was her support, her strength, her powerhouse and also a baggage of wisdom.
The woman opened her hands and in a blink of eye, Swara ran to her and then jumped on her.
” shoru”
“Dida”
Both of them stood for few minutes before parting away. It was still a dream to both of them and so both of them took in few minutes in each other’s presence, before collapsing in dida’s arms.
” I missed you so much dida” Swara hicupped. Dida just kept kissing her hair.
Sanskar cleared his throat somewhere in the background and suddenly Swara felt embarrassed. Giving a sheepish smile, she led the way to sofa where she dida sat beside her.
” are you laksh?” Dida pointed sanskar and that made the couple shock.
“N..no” sanskar managed to smile. Dida’s smile increased 10 times and ignoring the hand given by Sanskar for handshake, she hugged him.
” thank you so much..thankyou” she breathed still crying.
” pleasure is mine mam..ouch!!” He rubbed his upper arm where the hit was landed.
” Dida…call me Dida”
Everyone smiled.
” so how do..” Swara started but was stopped by a excited scream and that’s was definitely from laksh.
” didaaaaa!!” He came running to them and winked Swara before embracing Dida.
” finally” Dida sighed dramatically and both of them laughed.
” close your mouth swara, please they are no mosquitoes in our houses”
Swara immediately closed her mouth. Sensing their confusion, laksh thought of putting them out of misery
” I heard bhai speaking to your Dida and I made an arrangement to bring her before the time he planned”
Sanskar narrowed his eyes playfully and everyone observed a taint of pink at the tip of laksh’s ears.
” I must say that he is really a cute guy. You should have listened to his lame excuses to make me accept to come to India” she turned to laksh “and after landing, he said about you…my surprise!” Dida pinched his cheeks before kissing him.
” that’s too much Dida ” laksh brushed her hands off his cheek and clapped his hands ” now that you both met , I will leave ladies to talk and bhai will help me in kitchen”
Laksh declared before dragging an utterly pale and shocked sanskar. But before leaving to kitchen, laksh turned to Swara who was still staring him with a genuine smile
“By the way, this is your engagement gift” he winked again but this time swara’s eyes filled with tears of happiness.
“So…” Dida started and soon both of them trailed off talking about the emotional stuff.
“Lunch is ready” laksh chirped with sanskar and ramu kaka beside him. Durga prasad who came down paused in his tracks looking Dida.
” hey dad!” Sanskar called ” meet swara’s
Dida”. Durga prasad sighed with a smile “hello, I am laksh’s father. Durga prasad maheswari”
Dida frowned and then a smile came to her lips “I remember you Mr. Maheswari”
” I was actually battling whether I was correct or not”
” whoa..wait a minute dad. You both know each other?” Laksh voiced the confusion of trio.
Durga Prasad laughed “of course she doesn’t know me in person but at..at the time of gadodia’s death, she approached me through telephone.”
The trio nodded before taking places at their respective chairs on dining table.
” so, I have heard that Mr. Bose had died of heart attack?” Durga Prasad asked after taking few bites of roti that was served by ramu kaka. Dida’s expression changed for a second before smiling sadly ” heart attack…his last and only wish was to meet…” She swallowed the lump in the throat ” Swara”
All their heads whipped to dida’s direction with various emotions. Dida wiped the tears from her eyes “after shomi and shekar’s death, we both were devastated but because of few visa problems, we were unable to attend their funeral and when we…we..came here” Dida paused closing her eyes ” Swara was …no where to find”
Swara inhlaed sharply and closed her eyes before tears could fall.
” of course, Mr. Gadodia had to listen a lot from us” she chuckled bitterly “but shoru was no where to find. We searched the whole Kolkata like mad people but the answer was always no. So we appointee few agents here, in India and also filed a case about her parents death but ..but…” Sadness replaced her voice horror just like her eyes ” I..I got..a call….saying that if we won’t withdraw the case, he’d …he’d.. Kill…Swara”
“And who was that?” Swara asked hoping in her mind that the theory she built should be right but sanskar was also eager to prove that his father was right
“He didn’t say his name but after nearly two years, we got to know that it was….Mr. Ram Prasad maheswari”
Everyone at the table except Dida and Swara became pale and gaped her in shock and utter disbelief.
Swara saw sanskar’s knuckles turning white which were fisted.
After few more hours, Dida left the place saying that she had lot of business meetings back in London as her husband died but she will surely come back before fifteen days of their marriage. Swara blushed and gave a good bye kiss before turning her steps to sanskar’s room with a motto ‘its now or never’.
When Swara entered the room, sanskar was pacing, hardly controlling his rage. When he saw Swara, that broke
” that was nonsense” he yelled.
” what?” Swara yelled back
” whatever your Dida said was an utter nonsense Swara”
Swara crossed her arms “oh! I don’t understand you sanskar, when the whole world…okay not the world but most of the theories are against your father then how are you still believing in his innocence?”
” because I am his son. I KNOW HIM”
“YOU KNOW NOTHING! NOTHING!” Tears of anger started forming in her eyes ” YOU are his son and because of that love you are not allowing any negative thought to enter in you. That’s common for any child but open your eyes sanskar. Just look at the things in front of you ”
” I am not in the illusion that my father is a super hero because he is always a hero who wouldn’t even think anything that way” sanskar ran a hand through his hair. Swara laughed, she literally laughed for a few seconds ” oh my god sanskar! Shall I continue the topic of theories that we started morning?”her tone became cold ” You said there was a third person but I say that its your father. ”
Sanskar frowned in disbelief but she continued “he was the one who killed my parents then threatened dida but when he sensed that this topic would be a threat to him, he faked falling from steps and then being in coma too” sanskar opened his mouth to protest but Swara stopped him “no..listen to ME. After these many years, he wanted to kill me because I might be a trouble to him and so he introduced vansh into laksh’s life and then mine provoking to kill you so that I would end up in jail for lifetime and I was so close to that if ragini wouldn’t have rescued you.”
” but why would my father risk my life?” Sanskar whispered. Swara chuckled sarcastically
” is this what you learnt about business being in it? Sanskar, we both found few papers concerned to illegal business and obviously my dad would have found that which resulted his death and now Mr. Ram prasad maheswari is thinking to quit his drama and so I would be obviously a threat. Business is what your father’s first priority so there won’t be much loss if he looses you over business”
Swara took a deep and determined breath after explaining.
” this is sh*t” murmured shakily before slamming the door behind him. Swara inhaled and grabbed her brand new 12,499 hand bag from the desk before leaving the manison. There were days where she used to bargain a lot at footpath shops of Mumbai but being with Sanskar has changed her life completely. When she reached the parking lot, she saw few paparazzi waiting outside the gate. Swara rolled her eyes before getting into her car. There was not even a single person of media before they engagement.. Seriously! Why are everyone so intrested in other lives than theirs?
After some more minutes of driving, she reached the same hospital where Sanskar brought her for the first to meet his father. Swara made her way directly to fifth floor.
” how may I help you?” The floor receptionist asked politely. Taking a deep breath once again, Swara spoke “I am here to meet the doctor who is allotted for Mr. Maheswari”
The other girl nodded and after few seconds of waiting, the doctor stepped out of the elevator
” I want few details about msheswari’s health” Swara stated poliety.
” and why should I say to you?”
Swara asked an perfectly plucked eyebrow ” because I am fiance to his son”
The doctor tried to smile before leading her to ram prasad’s room. At times like this, Swara always felt happy for sanskar’s status.
” what’s there to say mam..he was in coma from 12 years”
” okay..so you were the only one who was treating him?”
The doctor shook his head “I was appointed to this case an year ago. Before there was another senior doctor but he got transferred to one of our branches in south” he explained
“Oh! So you keep the record of his reports right?”
The doctor frowned in confusion yet nodded his eyes
” are you sure he is in coma..i mean can a person do manipulations?
” sorry to ask this way mam but why are you asking this question?”
Swara smiled nervously before shaking her head.
The doctor kept saying about the details of ram prasad’s health from fourteen years and the medicines or therapies they have been using but somewhere deep inside, Swara knew that there was something wrong with the whole case of ram prasad being in coma.
” are there any drugs that would either create illusion or send a person into temporary coma?” As soon as the words came out, Swara grew pale understanding what she has done.
Doctor gaped her as she grew additional limbs before shaking his head “as far as I know…that’s impossible and if it comes to maheswari, there is no response from his side of the body. We are now planning to call few experts from southern america”
Swara simply nodded.
” thankyou so much doctor. Now I have got to know about my father in law’s health and this way, I made a visit too. Can I be with him for few minutes?”
Swara made her best puppy dog face and immediately he accepted. Swara crossed her arms and studied the pale, lean figure lying on bed in front of her with all wires connected to various parts. Of course there was no wrong with him but still his body posture was screaming something..danger! Helplessness!! She was out of clues. Sighing, she walked out of the room but what she failed to notice was the slight movement of ram prasad’s left hand fingers.
As swara was approaching the reception, she saw a familiar figure talking to the receptionist.
” what are you doing here? ” ragini turned to Swara with a mischevious smile.
” I actually had a day off and found that hospital is the only place to hangout”
Swara narrowed her eyes and ragini threw her hands up in defence
” I am here for a case, I mean about kamala bai’s death.”
Swara frowned but before ragini can ask any question, she already stepped in the elevator.
The rest of the day, Swara didn’t made an attempt to come out her room. There were many things running inside her mind and mostly about Sanskar. The look of hurt in his face has started to haunt her now and it became difficult to sleep. So, she thought to spend the other half of night by reading a book that she started sometime when she came to the manison. Its then she realised that it was in sanskar’s room and gave up the idea. Walking along the corridors, she stopped before ram prasad’s room. She herself doesn’t know why she came there but a moment distracted her and she saw the lights if the room were on. Hesitatingly, she stepped inside the room. There was Sanskar, sitting on the slightly dusty floor, leaning against the wall with eyes closed. He had some worn out book in his hand. As she approached, he opened his eyes to see her and it was the moment she saw how broken and hurt he was but unlike few hours ago there was also a later of guilt in them.
” you were correct Swara” sanskar’s cracked voice echoed in the room. She leaned beside him.
” no Sanskar…”
” you were right” he smiled but that didn’t reach his eyes ” I thought I know my father better but no! Business is something which makes a person cold hearted bastard.”
Swara shook her head, her own guilt pulling her down.
” the thought of having everything under our control and also to be at the top of world makes anyone insane. Hell! I was also the same till now, never thought about anyone except my business. I used to and still hate getting betrayed but I should have also considered the situations which put them to betray me. I am heartless business man just like any other” he sighed and lowered his head to the book in his hands.
He was the who always used to say the same word ‘heartless business man’ but this confrontation nearly choked Swara.
” you are nothing like that Sanskar. If anyone hurts you, you should give them back the same. There is no need to be good always”
Sanskar gulped looking at the book “my father was never a hero..you are right! I will give him what he gave to me.”
” what are you talking Sanskar…it sounds scaring” she panicked
” I was so angry at myself and you when you said that I never think in other way about my father. In thought of proving you wrong, I came here but…look” he gave the book to her and her face was epitome of shock as she reached the end of page
” as I said, this room was never cleaned, I mean none of the files, books and papers were not touched after papa stepped out but perhaps destiny wanted this…to show ugliest side of my father.” He chuckled sadly and the pain of his eyes was breaking her heart.
” Sanskar no!” She almost sobbed.
” its true Swara…my father was the one who killed your parents”
A/N: Hello everyone! Cliffhanger and I know that my writing in this chapter sucks. Actually I had a project work to submit and so I got busy the days I said I would update. Of course I received appreciation for that.
I love mg every reader and comment or here for supporting me like hell. Due to my hectic schedule, I am unable to reply everyone in person and I am feeling extremely guilty for that.
But again, I am sorry for this wait but hey, I got four days vacation and guess what! I will try my best to type all episodes in my pc so that I can give you all regular updates..
Happy reading but don’t forget to drop your views down in comment box guys because that’s the only way I get to know how successful I am in getting this story into your brains!!
He he…love you all guys…see you seen in comment box.
Next update: Monday night