Chapter 3

‘These two know each other? Now that’s interesting’, Kanchan thought.

“Mohtarma, havan chodke aise mat uthiye, ab sagun hoga. Aap dono apne apne styan grehen kijiye.”

“Shaurya, please do as the pandit says.”

“Wait a minute Di, what is this girl doing here? No no no, I don’t want to here the answer.” Shaurya exclaimed dramatically. Tell me you are not the person who is going growing my child inside you.”

Anokhi gulped visibly fidgeting with her dupatta. ‘Hey mata rani, aapne yeh kaisa mazak mere saath kiya?’ she thought.

“Tell me Anokhi, that you are not that person.”

“Meye…meye who.”

“Yeh kya bakri ki tarha meye meye kar rahi ho?”

“Shaurya, she is the one who is carrying your child.”

Shaurya laughed out loud, “Oh my god Di, you didn’t get a single person in this world apart from this woman?” Shaurya looked at Anokhi in disgust.

“Shaurya, behave yourself.” Kanchan scolded him.

“What do you mean apart from this woman Mr Sabharwal?”

Shaurya advanced towards Anokhi making her step back nervously. “What I mean woman just gets out of my house if you want to be alive. I am not accepting you, Miss Anokhi Bhalla. So, get the hell out of here before I call the security.”

“Kanchan Ji, yeh aapke bhai hai?” Anokhi pointed towards Shaurya. “Iska matlab I am carrying his child?” she nervously looked down touching her flat abdomen.”

Anokhi composed herself before continuing, “Iss ka matlab aap jaan bujke mujhe trap kiya. You knew it very well because you are the one who drafted the contract. You are after me since college days so I won't be surprised if you planned all these.”

“Oh Miss Anokhi Nakchadi Bhalla. Tum Miss Queen Victoria nahi ho. What do you think of yourself? The duffer you are, you didn’t read the contract, did you? The name of the person was blank and it was handwritten by my sister. And I feel it’s the other way round. You middle-class girl is doing this for money. Aapna sokh pura karne ke liye you are lending your womb. Or is it to trap high-class people and later play your victim card? I know these types very well. I want this baby to be adopted right now. I don’t want you as their mother. Do.You.Get.It?” he punctuated this last words through his gritted teeth.

“That is not possible now Shaurya. She is already three months pregnant. It is going to be harmful to her and she may die.”

“Yeh jiye ya mare I don’t care Di. All I care about is getting this baby aborded right now.”

“How can someone be so cruel. You are asking me to kill the baby. Your baby. You know what, to hell with your money and contract. I am going to raise this child, whether you want it or not. I want this baby with every fibre of my being.” Anokhi halved.

“How very convenient of you Miss Bhalla. The title gold digger suits you, you know. You want to have the kid so that you can claim my properties.” Shaurya grabbed her hand and started dragging her out of the house.

Anokhi started shouting, “No no don’t harm this baby.”

Kanchan touched Anokhi’s shoulder making her come out of the trance. “Aap thik ho Anokhi.”

Anokhi looked at Kanchan, her breathing ragged. She looked at the hand which Shaurya held. ‘Oh god, that was a dream.’

Shaurya smirked looking at Anokhi’s state and urged her to give ahuti in the havan.

“Puja samparna huya.” The pandit informed Kanchan.

Anokhi retreated her hand from Shaurya’s and stood up. “Anokhi, this is my baby brother”, she said touching her brother’s cheeks fondly, “and the father of the child. Shaurya, this is…”

“Anokhi Bhalla.” He folded his arms looking mischievously towards Anokhi.

“You guys know each other from before?”

“Yes, Di. I know this girl too well you know.”

“Arrey waah yeh to bohot achhi baat hai. Sukar hai mera kaam thoda kam ho gaya. That’s good.”

‘Khak good hai… it's bad very very bad.’ Anokhi’s thoughts came out louder than expected.

Shaurya whispered, “your thoughts should be inside your mind you know and it shouldn’t come out.”

Anokhi looked at Shaurya nervously. I was already panicked because Shaurya Sabharwal was a monster and he can ask her to abort this baby.

“You have met after a long time so I think you guys need to catch up on events. Aaplog dono baate karo I will arrange for some snacks.”

“So, Miss Bhalla, look at you. Standing right in front of me and my house.”

Anokhi gulped while fidgeting with her dupatta. “I think the puja is completed and it's time for me to leave.”

“Why are you in so much hurry? I want to talk to you.”

‘Mar gai Anokhi. But I am going to fight for this baby. I will not let him kill the child. No way I am going to agree to get aborted.”

“Kahiye kya kehna hai.”

“Not here. In my room.” Shaurya grabbed her hand and pulled her along with him.

Shaurya entered the room and pinned her against the wall. His eyes sparkled adoring her chubby face. “So Miss Anokhi Bhalla…” Anokhi looked everywhere except Shaurya.

“Look at where the destiny has brought you.” Shaurya closed the gap between them further. “You were so proud of yourself. Aren't you the girl who rejects THE SHAURYA SABHARWAL in the collage?” Shaurya tilted his face without breaking eye contact. “Haath mat lagana, yehi bola than a tumne?” Shaurya put his hands on the wall and leaned. “Meine to tumko chuya tak nahi, yet you are pregnant with my child. Na chante huye bhi I have marked you forever.”

Anokhi looked at his eyes and blinked several times. Her mouth moved to form words and she ended up saying which she didn’t want. “I will cancel the contract and abort this child.”

“Tsk Tsk, stupid woman. That’s why one should read the contract before signing.” Shaurya slid his hand to grab her waist simultaneously blowing her locks away from her face. “You can't do that. You know why?” he paused to enjoy her mixed emotions. Her lips parted in shock when Shaurya touched her waist. But she was too baffled to resist. “If either of us breaks the contract, the said party has to pay double the amount.”

“Why would you do it?”

“Well, I was against this IVF thing from the very start. What if the woman runs away with the money halfway? I don’t trust anybody. But now I am even happier that I put that clause into place. So now you are stuck with me for the next 7 months my dear.”

Shaurya was about to kiss her cheeks when she jerked away pushing Shaurya.

“Don’t even try to touch me. I am sure it is not written in the contract.”

“Every man is entitled to touch his pregnant woman. That was what the father of the baby does to the mother right? But you know what? You are the last person on this earth whom I want to touch. Shaurya pushed Anokhi further against the wall. You are just carrying the baby because you have lent your womb for money.” Both of them stood silently looking at each other, Shaurya’s bitter words slowly sinking inside her heart causing it to bleed. Anokhi felt overwhelmed as nausea rolled in.”

She closed her mouth with her hand before asking Shaurya where the bathroom is. She didn’t waste a second. She ran towards the bathroom and emptied her stomach on the water closet.

Shaurya leaned against the bathroom door and watched Anokhi. ‘Poor thing’ he thought. Nausea is one of the signs of pregnancy he recollected. “Welcome to the world of hell, Miss Bhalla. Ab agey agey dekho hota hai kya. I am going to make your life miserable baby.”

“Just leave me alone Shaurya,” Anokhi said getting up from the floor as she walked towards the washbasin.

“This is my house Anokhi. And I make the rules, not you. One more thing, our past should remain between us. Don’t even try to tell Di about our equation. My sister what's this baby and I am doing it for her. I love her more than anything in life and if you unintentionally hurt her I am going to hurt your dad. Remember that.”

Anokhi’s eyes burned as the tears formed. ‘Ek insaan aur kitna hurt kar sakta hai kisiko.’ She thought. She was lost in her thoughts as she was coming down the stairs. The whole incident was so overwhelming that she didn’t know when she blacked out. Luckily, Shaurya was there to catch her or else she would have fallen from the stairs.

Kanchan panicked immediately.

***

Kanchan and Shaurya took her to the hospital. Shauya waited outside the door and Kanchan went inside.

Kanchan came out of the room as the doctors prepared Anokhi for USG.

“Don’t you want to see your child Shaurya?”

“I am not interested Di.”

Kanchan forcefully held her brother’s hand and tugged him along with her inside the doctor’s chamber.

“Oh hello, Mr Sabharwal. It's so good to see you here.”

Shaurya exchanged a fake smile as his eyes went to the monitor. Black and White images danced in front of him. He didn’t understand a thing. The nurse held Anokhi to move her dress up. Good, she is conscious now, he thought. He adverted his eyes when the nurse exposed her belly he didn’t know why. Then he gathers himself and looked at the monitor. The doctor placed the joystick on her belly and started rolling. The entire room filled with something that sounded like a racing heart-beat. It was too fast. Tiny images flicked on the monitor which Shaurya had no clue about.

“Can you see your baby Mr Sabharwal?” the doctor asked.

Honestly apart from few dots, Shaurya didn’t understand head or tail.

“Can you see that spot?” the doctor pointed towards the monitor. “That’s your baby”.

Shaurya peeked to see. He can indeed see a vague image of something but that doesn’t look human.

“Doctor, is the heartbeat? If it is why is it sounding so fast and overlapped? Is the baby okay?” Kanchan asked the doctor panicking.

The doctor didn’t answer at first because she was busy checking Anokhi. “Anokhi, can you hold your breath a bit longer? I need to check something.”

And there it was two tiny images. “Congratulations Mr Sabharwal, Mrs Sharma. Anokhi has conceived twins.”

The moment the doctor announced twins, Anokhi looked at Shaurya. His eyes met hers.