Friends: This is the crucial part I had in my mind from the time I started writing my FF after CB2 ended. It did not translate on paper the way I had figured it out. But, hope you like my resolution.
Part18: Dev confronts his past
Radhika was sitting on the couch reading a book when Dev entered their room. She was pleasantly surprised to see Dev coming early from work and carrying a huge binder that he put in front of her. "I am so happy that you are home soon or are you going to work from home?.... What is in this binder?", asked Radhika.
Dev smiled, " I took an early break to spend some time with you. This binder has the designs by an architect and an interior designer for our new room. Remember I told you few months ago that we are going to combine this room with Chachu's old room and have space for our baby's crib too. So, I want you to take a look at the layout and color scheme. Make sure that you finalize everything in next two days so that the workers can start the renovation on Saturday. Last time this room was designed according to my preference and this time I want you to use your own choices. You can take Ma's help if you want as she has very good taste. But, don't let Imarti influence you in the dcor because I don't like pink and absolutely do not want to see any pictures of kittens or puppies on my walls."
Radhika was happy to hear about the renovation as Dev had only mentioned it the day Kaam had come to PB. But, he had been so busy with work that she had not wanted to remind him about it. But she asked, "What is the hurry that the work has to start from Saturday only?", asked Radhika.
Dev answered, "It is because we are going for a long vacation from Saturday onwards and I want maximum work to be completed in my absence so that we don't have to live in another room for too long."
Radhika was pleasantly startled, "We are going for a vacation? I thought you have to catch up with a lot of work. Where are we going?"
Dev looked a little regretful, "Radhika, I do have a lot of work to complete. So, we cannot go too far. But I promise you that we will go to Kerala with our balgopal or balgoipka after your delivery. For now I am making it a working vacation and will just drive to few nearby places. Don't bother to ask me about them as I am keeping it a surprise for you."
Radhika smiled because she knew that Dev loved giving her surprise gifts. So, she let it go and instead asked, "I was worried about you yesterday. You sounded so enthusiastic when you called from the office to tell me that you finished something important. Then, you disappeared in your study and did not come back until I fell asleep. Is everything all right?"
Dev assured her, "Radhika, I did complete a major work. But I had to tie some loose ends that took a long time. I will be busy next couple of days but I can make up for some of it today." Then, he took her out for an early dinner and even managed to persuade her to have another of his version of SR that night. Usually, Radhika preferred to do that only during weekends but made an exception that night as she was extremely happy with his surprises.
The next two days flew as Dev got busy with his work and Radhika was busy finalizing all the designs for their room along with making arrangements about house work in her absence. She was also busy making lists for everybody including Imarti who was happy that Radhika was going for a two week vacation . So, she good naturedly took her list from Radhika and once she was in her room promptly crossed out the unimportant tasks. That immediately halved Imarti's work load and brightened her mood.
Dev sent Radhika to bed while he decided to pack their clothes for the trip. Radhika gave in as this reminded her of the Goa trip. She was happy to see glimpses of her old Dev. She woke up around 2:30 in the morning after hearing a lot of noise and a thud. She switched on the table lamp to see Dev messaging his knee.
His whole closet was empty and the couch was full of his clothes. Dev looked at her sheepishly and told her that he had packed her clothes and then had gone to sleep. He had woken up an hour before and remembered that he hadn't packed his own clothes.
Since Radhika didn't want him to be tired during driving, she persuaded him to sleep while she finished his packing. Dev was a sound sleeper and usually the noises and the lights did not bother him much. So, he put a half-hearted protest and then took Radhika's offer. Radhika started lecturing him while she was packing. Dev didn't mind as her lectures usually acted as a lullaby to him and he fell asleep promptly.
Once Radhika finished packing, she decided to rearrange Dev's closet as she hated the mess. By the time she finished, it was close to her puja time and so she decided to forego her sleep and went for puja. Dev came down after her aarti was finished, did a quick pranam to Kanha and took Prasad from Radhika. Ever since Kaam had left their house, Dev had been waking up late and missing the puja.
Soon after breakfast, they left for their trip after getting lot of instructions from Vaishali and Dadima on taking care of Radhika. Dev constantly talked to Radhika while he drove out of Delhi. Radhika was happy to see that he took the highway that went to Uttar Pradesh. She knew that he was going to Vrindavan and she was getting excited to relive their past by walking on ghats and visiting various temples with him. Their last outing had not been a pleasant experience for Radhika as Dev had been in his Abhay avatar that time and had either stared at her constantly or snapped at her when she had tried to converse with him.
After driving for couple of hours, Dev stopped a car at a nice restaurant to take a break. He wanted to make sure that Radhika ate her fruits. He had been really taking good care of her ever since he had found about the baby. Once they started again, Radhika was happy as Vrindavan was only about forty five minutes away. She was getting tired and Dev suggested that she go to sleep and he would wake her up once the destination arrived.
As soon as Dev saw her sleeping soundly, Dev made a quick call. After some time, the familiar sounds of a UP town reached Radhika and she woke up slowly. She looked at Dev who was driving with a serious expression and said, "I was so tired after last night that I did not even realize that we had reached Vrindavan." She looked at the window and was so startled that her gaze flew to Dev, "This is not Vrindavan....this is.....Agra?" Dev nodded but kept on driving until he reached a nice hotel.
He parked his car and then said to Radhika, "Radhika, you need a break. So, I have booked a room here. Let's go there and then I will answer your questions."
Radhika agreed but she looked hurt that he would bring her to Agra for a vacation. She went upstairs and after using the restroom turned her attention to Dev who was standing near a window looking more like Abhay to her. She asked him quietly, "Why did you bring me to Agra? Are you going to meet that family? You didn't want me to know beforehand. That's why you deliberately woke me up yesterday night and kept me awake until we were halfway to Agra."
Dev tried to joke, "Radhika, I thought we could do some sightseeing like going to Taj and other places. I lived here for five years, but never did. I am also assuming that you didn't want to go to these places without me."
Radhika just looked at him steadily, "No, all my spare time was spent at the mela site everyday waiting for you to return. But you never did."
Dev winced at Radhika's jab as he knew about this from Birju. He discarded his attempt at humor and turned serious, "Radhika, we are going to visit that family. I hid it from you because I did not want you to get upset before we even reached here. I knew you would recognize that we were going to Agra. So, I wanted you to sleep before I took the road to Agra. I know you are feeling hurt. But we have to come to term with our past."
Radhika disagreed, "I have already put the past behind us. We have a happy life and everything is going smoothly. Why do you want to revisit the painful memories?"
"Radhika, neither of us has put it behind. We have buried the past as usual and that always comes to haunt us back. I don't want it to happen anymore," Dev replied quietly.
"If you have come to terms with my past, why do you change the topic when anybody discusses something from last five years? Why do you not want to celebrate our wedding anniversary and why do you want to avoid places that remind you of my past as Abhay?," asked Dev.
Radhika had no reply to Dev's questions. Dev gently said, "Radhika, I know this is difficult for you. But can you please do it for my sake? Last time I was not in a position to confront my past but today I am."
Radhika reluctantly agreed as it was important to Dev. Dev persuaded her to have milk and some healthy snacks. Then, she went to refresh herself and changed into a nice saree that she usually wore for a RP type functions.
Confronting Dev's past - Surprises for Radhika
The guards quietly opened the gates when Dev's car approached the Yaduvanshi haveli. Dev stopped the car at the gate and looked at Radhika who was looking pensive staring at the house. She said, "Ever since I found you living in this house, I thought of this place as a prison that was keeping you away from me." Dev quietly replied, "Radhika, this house always felt like a prison to me too even when I thought of myself as Abhay and didn't know anything about me or you. I promise you that after this you would never have to come here again."
Dev and Radhika went to the main door where the guard greeted Dev pleasantly and let them in without any protest. Radhika wondered if Dev had already informed Katyani about their upcoming meeting. They went to the living room area where Katyani usually sat in the evenings. Rajjan was sitting on one of the couches looking bored.
Rajjan stood up when Dev came in with Radhika and said mockingly, "Oh...it is you Abhay...I mean Dev babu. Let me call your ex MIL and ex...err..err..Kanika." Then he turned to Radhika and greeted her warmly, "Namaste Radhikaji....I mean.....behenji, " he modified as Dev gave him a withering look.
He then snapped to the servant, "Hey, call Mai and Kanika. Tell them to come quickly as there is a surprise waiting for them." Then, he started himself shouting for Katyani to come down.
After a while, Katyani came down in her usual imperial style looking at Rajjan with disdain, "Rajjan, why are you shouting unnecessarily?"
Rajjan smirked and pointed at Dev, "Mai, you favorite SIL, whom you have been missing for last three months, is here to meet you." Katyani was so surprised to see Dev that she exclaimed, "Daamad....babu, what are you doing here?" She was still so much in denial that she had been oscillating between calling him SIL and Dev ever since they had been thrown out of the PB. She had been blaming Kanika mainly for the whole fiasco.
Dev looked at her mockingly, "I see that your delusion remains intact. I was hoping to see you cured of that by now."
Katyani became angry at Dev's taunt and looking at Radhika said, "So...Dev babu...you have come here to gloat....to show that Radhika won and her child will be a future Rajpurohit....I only lost because of my misfortune of having two dumb kids." Rajjan's smirk disappeared at that statement and he looked at Katyani resentfully.
Dev refrained from commenting on Katyani's first comment and simply said, "Katyani, I did not bring Radhika here to gloat. In fact, I would never ever subject her to your presence again for something so juvenile. I owe you and your family for what you did in last five years and wanted to show Radhika that I always pay my debts."
Katyani's face tightened at Dev calling her Katyani with disdain and asked him angrily, "Ok, so you are here to confront me. Tell me quickly what you want and then leave."
Dev propelled the reluctant Radhika to sit on the couch as he did not want her to get tired and continued, "Katyani, I am also in a hurry and don't want to spend even an extra moment. But, why don't we wait until Kanika also comes and then we can continue."
After a few minutes, the servant returned with Kanika followed by Abhay and more than five months pregnant Vibha. Kanika had a familiar scared expression on her face that she used to get when she would see Katyani in a foul mood. Her face turned pale when she saw Dev and Radhika. Dev was looking at his watch when his cell phone rang. He picked it up, listened to it and closed it without saying a word. He turned to Katyani who was just standing impatiently, "Katyani, your answer is at the door."
Everyone turned to look at the door and almost everyone was surprised to see Birju standing with a police inspector and several policemen. Katyani asked, "Inspector, why are you here with this joker?"
The inspector nodded to the two female constables and they moved forward to shackle Katyani's hands and the inspector said, "Katyani Devi, we have a non-bailable warrant against you for numerous crimes - some of which include possession of illegal weapons, corruption, murder of Mansaram and attempted murder of Radhika Rajpurohit. There are others which will you know in detail at the police station."
Everyone including Radhika was stunned at this. Radhika turned to look at Dev with disbelief as she had not imagined anything like this in her wildest dreams. Dev was looking satisfied. Katyani gathered her wits and then shouted to Rajjan, "Rajjan, what are you doing sitting here? Call the DSP: he knows me very well and he will straighten out this inspector in no time. Also, call Hanuman Singh at his house. The idiot had to be sick today."
The police inspector smiled, "Katyani Devi, it is no use calling the DSP. Do you think I would come here without his approval? He is the one who also asked me to take Hanuman Singh in custody before arresting you. In fact, when Hanuman Singh made that sick call to you in the morning, he was doing so from the police station. Also, your guards have given us their guns and some have run away from the spot. In fact, some of my men are searching this house at this minute as we have a search warrant."
Katyani was now shaking with anger as she could not believe that this was happening to her. She continued to make threats while the female constable shackled her hands. The inspector ignored Katyani and said to Dev, "Dev babu..the SP called our DSP and told us that you have a special request and we should cooperate with you as you have helped us the most with the investigation."
Dev thanked the inspector and said, "Inspector, can you give us all privacy for half an hour or so?"
The inspector told one of the female constables to let Katyani sit on one of the chair and shackle her one hand to the arm of a chair so that she does not escape. Then, he asked few to stand guard at the door and told one of them to call him back when Dev was done.
After the inspector left, Dev turned to the angry Katyani and said, "Katyani, you seemed to be quite surprised. Do not worry. I am here to answer all your questions."
Suddenly Rajjan chipped in, "Mai, I told you never to trust the outsiders. Yet you trusted Hanuman Singh and Dev more than me. See what they did to you today."
Katyani shouted, "Rajjan, you be quiet. You are right that I should not have given Dev so much information. But Hanuman is family as his daughter is married to Vibha's brother. He would not betray me otherwise his daughter would have to pay the heavy price. Right now he is in police custody and may confess to something under torture. But, he will recant in the court and in any case soon be out after I get hold of my people in the police force."
Then she addressed Dev, "Dev....I did so much for you in last five years and treated you better than Rajjan..yet you did this to me. You were lucky that Abhay showed up at the right time for you. Otherwise you would be married to my Kanika."
Dev answered, "As far as the treatment is concerned, you did not treat me nicely out of the goodness of your heart. You considered me a pawn through which you could build your business and reputation in this area. But I could have forgiven you and your family for all you did to me if it hadn't been for your actions at PB. You really thought you could take me away from Radhika. You consider yourself smart and yet made such a mistake. Right now, I would have got your arrested if you hadn't tried to kill Radhika. Nobody can try to harm Radhika in my presence without paying a price."
Katyani answered in her usual arrogant voice, "I did not know that you were not Abhay for last five years. If this dumb Kanika had told me earlier, I would have made you marry her even before Radhika came back in your life."
Dev smiled, "Katyani, your problem is that you associate goodness with dumbness. I agree that I was nave before I encountered your family, but the last five years of living with your and dealing with your business taught me a lot."
"As far as marrying Kanika is concerned, that would have never happened. Remember Radhika lived in this city during the same period. If you had tried your shenanigans earlier, Radhika would have sensed it and would have found me earlier. Her faith and devotion would never be broken. Her Kanha does sometimes take his time in resolving issues, but he comes through for us in the end."
"Now as far as finding Abhay is concerned, why do you think Abhay contacted Kanika after five years? You were so lost in your grandiose schemes that you and Kanika didn't even think about how Abhay could have gotten the number for Kanika's mobile. He knew about it because I gave it to him."
Everyone including Rajjan and Radhika were astounded to hear that. They looked at Abhay who nodded and said, "Mataramji, Dev babu is right. I would have never contacted Kanika if Dev hadn't persuaded me to do so. You see, Kanika did not love me. I was just a novelty for her because a lot of her classmates found me cute. I was from a lower middle class family who had come to study in Mathura from a small village. I was an Engineering student. I wanted to finish my education and get a good job to help my family."
"Kanika and I were not even in the same college. But, one of my friends used to hang out with one of her classmates. That's how I met Kanika. When she showed interest in her, I was flattered by the interest of a rich girl from a Thakur family and started thinking about having a nice life with her. My friends warned me about her and her family, but I was blinded by her "charm". Anyway, she soon got tired of me and broke up with me."
Abhay turned to Rajjan who was listening to all this with fascination, "You know when you asked me to meet you in that street during the night, my friends warned me but I didn't listen. You were outraged that somebody like me was planning to get married to Kanika. You started beating me up and when I tried to tell you that Kanika had broken up with me, you did not listen and instead stabbed me in your hot-tempered way."
"Luckily, I had very loyal friends who had come with me and were waiting at the corner in case something happened. They picked me up when you panicked and ran away from the spot. They took me to a private doctor and fortunately, my wound was not fatal and I recovered. But, my eyes had opened up by that time. Previously, I was heartbroken when Kanika had broken up with me and was trying to persuade her to give me another chance. I guess that's why Kanika approached you as she just wanted to get rid of a nuisance in her life. She perhaps did not realize or care that you would try to kill me."
Rajjan had by now become familiar with the duplicity of Kanika. He shook his head at Kanika, "Chutki, you were a clever person and you really played with me. When you came and started talking marrying this low caste guy, I thought that I could stop your marriage and get some credit from Mai. That's why I didn't believe Abhay . I thought he was just lying to protect himself."
Kanika tried to defend herself but nobody paid attention as everyone's attention was diverted to Abhay's story. Abhay continued, "The principle of my college was a good guy and he quietly arranged for my transfer to another university. Rajjan, you were so scared of everything that you laid low for couple of months. Meanwhile, my friends had spread the rumors that I was missing from the program and had probably quit. "
"Rajjan became complacent when no one came to investigate anything. He made some inquiries of his own and found that I hadn't returned to my village. He decided that my parents were too poor and common to find out about his crimes. So, he decided to go back to Agra. Meanwhile I got my degree and then eventually did my masters and was working on a job in Delhi for last few months. When Dev babu called me, I was initially reluctant to get involved with this family again. But, then Dev persuaded me to help him for Deepu's sake."
Dev nodded and took over, "When I came to know about the truth of Abhay, I was relieved. Deepu was the only innocent person from this family whom I did not want to hurt. It was out of question for him to stay at PB. Radhika had suffered enough because of me. I did not want her to assume a responsibility of someone who would remind her of those lost five years. So, it was good to find that Deepu biological father was alive and was a good person and could give him love. Also since Abhay was in Delhi at that time, I could easily meet with him and include him in my plans."
Abhay now addressed Kanika, "Kanika, do you really think I am so stupid to fall for your tricks again? Even now when I came here, I never saw you interested in Deepu. In fact, you were not even interested in me. All you were interested in was finding out another guy like Dev. I only stayed here so that I can bond with Deepu. Since my job was fairly new, I could not stay here for long. So after Dev assured me of another job in another city through his connection, I stayed here to become myself acquainted with my son. Since you never cared to find anything about me, I used my job as an excuse to leave this place every week and to take Deepu with me. I used that time to allow my son to bond with my family and also to work with a psychiatrist who would help me with the transition."
Abhay continued, "Mataramji was in no hurry for the marriage as I was below her standards. Kanika, you were also not interested for the same reason. I for one never wanted to marry you. So, the delay in the wedding gave me enough time to put my name on his birth certificate and for him to become attached to me."
Rajjan was amused to hear the entire story whereas Kanika and Katyani were seething. Radhika was reeling with the news that Dev knew about Katyani and Kanika's truth before the wedding. But, her mind was thinking of pasts events that were not making any sense with the revelation.
Apparently, Katyani felt the same way and interrupted Abhay, "Dev, this is not possible. If you knew about everything before, what was the need for going all through those ceremonies with Kanika? Why did you not expose everything?"
Dev smiled, "Katyani, I was wondering when you would ask that question. Let me start from the scratch. Unfortunately, it was only few days before the RP ceremony of Arjun before Radhika found out my whereabouts. I did not believe her initially even though I was attracted to her from the first moment. I went to Delhi to help her despite my firm belief that I was Abhay."
"But, the tests taken by Mahant made me think about the possibility about being Dev. Also, all the time lines of my memory loss and Dev's disappearance matched. I could have done the investigation quietly, but unfortunately you showed up at the ceremony. I returned to Agra and was emotionally manipulated by Kanika to take her with me. I had no choice as I did not want anybody to be suspicious. "
"Katyani, I kept quiet because initially I was not sure of your role in it. Since you had treated me like a "son", I did not want to hurt you. I gathered all the proofs such as having a DNA test and my wedding photos with Radhika, and school certificates that would help me prove my identity."
"As for you question, why did I not expose you earlier once I became sure of everything? Well, there were two reasons for that. The first was that the chief mahant had already stated in the ceremony that it was important for me to have my memory back to continue to be a Rajpurohit and just being Dev was not sufficient. Another reason was that I had lived with Kanika for five years. So, I knew that I would be asked to prove that I never had any relationship with her."
"Katyani, you and Kanika are not the first ones to try this scheme. If you had spent some time and effort in finding out about my past as a Rajpurohit rather than indulging in petty schemes, you would have realized that there was another pair who tried that before."
"By continuing to keep you in dark, I gathered enough information from the family and muths to pass the memory test if needed. But, nobody was going to believe that I never ever touched Kanika. So, finding Abhay proved to be really useful. I took him to the chief mahant and other religious heads and they believed his story. But, the chief mahant still wanted Kanika to testify in front of them. Even though the mahant assured me that they would take my word over Kanika considering the proofs they had from Abhay, I knew about your vindictiveness by that time and was sure that you would get together with my chacha and create doubts in their minds."
"So, I asked Abhay to call Kanika who was already becoming unsure about me. Unfortunately, I did not anticipate you finding out and Rajjan kidnapping Abhay. Once Abhay disappeared, I felt extremely worried and in desperation called the police commissioner of Delhi and UP."
"Katyani, my family is very influential too and have contacts which they never misused. That's when I found out that you were already being investigated for several crimes. They assured me that they would help me, but wanted my cooperation in return. I was familiar with all the accounts even though I never knew about your shady deals. I had heard rumors in the past but had discounted them out of my immense loyalty to you. I gave them copies of various projects as I had access to the office. Birju is the one who assisted me and went to Agra several times on my behalf. That's the reason I pretended to be your puppet. You had become so arrogant about your control over me that you did not even realize that I never was submissive in last five years and that you had hid several things from me. The more I behaved like your puppet, the more convinced you became of my loyalty. That brought your downfall."
Katyani digested all the information and then asked, "No, you are still lying. If you were pretending, how come you almost married Kanika and why would you show yourself to be drawn to Radhika on various occasions?"
Dev smiled, "Well, I was not pretending at that time and almost exposed my plans. It has always been hard for me to resist showing feelings for Radhika. So, I lost my focus on many occasions and ended up being with Radhika in each ceremony. Luckily, you interrupted it as my memory coming back and became increasingly desperate. But, still it cost me as I had to agree to marry Kanika and sign that paper as Dev Rajpurohit. If you had studied my history, you would have known that I would break any promise that keeps me apart from Radhika and that I would never ever marry another woman. Once I had even broken my promise to Radhika when she had made me agree to marry another woman. If I wouldn't do it for Radhika's sake, would I do it for somebody like you?"
"I miscalculated the day of the wedding. I had heard from the police just before the wedding that they had found Abhay's location and would be bringing him to the wedding venue. Unfortunately, Radhika and Rajjan got him out before they reached him. They tried to call me but I had already come out to the stage and could not hear my cell phone in all the noise. So, I waited for Abhay to show up but nothing happened."
"In desperation, I picked up the garland as I did not want Kanika to pick it up first and put it on me. If you had paid attention, you would have seen that. In North Indian weddings, the girl always puts the garland first. I was trying to slow down the action as much as possible. Despite knowing that this does not make me married to Kanika, I did not even want that. So, I was going to stop anyway when the news came about Radhika being trapped in the fire."
Dev's face tightened in anger when he continued, "Well, my miscalculation almost cost me my Radhika. If I had told the truth earlier, Radhika would not have been desperate to get Abhay and that fire wouldn't have happened. Anyway, the burning turned out to be a blessing in the end as my entire memory returned."
"I wanted to send you to jail right away, but one of the policemen who were present at the scene stopped me and reminded me of the investigation. Why do you think that the news about the fire came so quickly and Abhay was able to get out of your men's clutches? There were few policemen present at the scene in religious clothes who found out about everything. While several of them went to free Abhay from your men, one of them ran to the stage to inform about the fire."
"The police and I had already gone over the entire plan with the chief mahant the day before and he was aware that Kanika was in ghungat. That's why he did not raise any objection once everything was in open. Once Kanika saw Abhay, she told Mahant the whole truth about our relationship out of her own self-interest. You assumed that it was Rajjan's men who had freed Abhay and him despite Rajjan's denials. I let you go and you just assumed that I was too good to punish you for your crimes. You underestimated me at your own peril. I helped with the investigation in the last three months. They had arrest warrant for you few days ago, but I persuaded them to wait until Saturday as I did not want you to be able to approach the court before Monday anyway."
Katyani was speechless, but then said, "Dev, so you won this round. But you forget that I have ruled in this city for decades and know a lot of influential people. I will be out in no time and then I will come after you."
"Katyani, you assume that I did not think of that? You see, I have no fight with anybody here. You are not the only corrupt person in this town. But you forgot the basic rule among thieves. You became too arrogant and too greedy and hence made many enemies. Did you really think you could get away with a cold blooded murder of Mansaram? He also belonged to an influential family. Similarly, you made too many enemies who started taking over your territory in your absence when you concentrated on getting the wealth of Purohit family. Even after you returned, you were wallowing so much in your defeat that you never paid attention to your business. On top of that, you kept Rajjan out of the business out of your anger about his role in keeping Abhay alive."
Rajjan interjected, "Mai, Dev babu is right. If you had trusted me, this would have never happened. I only brought out Abhay as a last resort because I had a feeling that Dev babu was pretending to be Abhay. But you did not want to listen to me at all."
Dev continued as if had Rajjan had not interrupted, "Katyani, I know this is one of the most corrupt states in India and the police force also have several people on your payroll. But, their loyalty is to their bribes and not to any specific individual. I am no crusader who is here to root out the corruption in this town or city. I am a Rajpurohit and all I want is to do my job with honesty and integrity and bring reforms in my field. Those people who bowed in front of you will be now saluting new masters. Their interests are not threatened by your arrest. I have made it clear that I have no desire to interfere in anybody else's business as my enmity was only with you and I wanted to make sure that a person who made my family suffer is punished. That I have accomplished today."
When Dev called the female constable at the door to take away Katyani, Katyani said, "Rajjan, you were right about trusting an outsider over you. I am sure that I would be out soon regardless of what Dev is saying. But until then, talk to the lawyer and I will sign a power of attorney for you to take care of the business in my absence. But make sure that you meet with me regularly and follow my instructions. Also, send the lawyer to the police station."
Rajjan nodded and tried to hide his happiness from Katyani and others. Once Katyani left, Dev turned to Kanika who was now looking genuinely scared, "Kanika, you are the main culprit in taking away five years of my life. I always used to feel revulsion for you and would feel guilty as you were Deepu's mother. But, once I realized the truth, it took me a lot of will power not to throw you out of the PB."
Kanika protested and tried to proclaim her innocence by saying that she did all this because she was scared of her mother. Dev cut her rudely, "Kanika, I don't have time to waste in listening to your lies. You were nasty to Radhika and constantly accused her of trying to steal your husband knowing fully well that you were the one who had done it. It would give me immense satisfaction in sending you to a jail which I can do very well as I have all the proofs. I have got the statements from the doctor and policemen who helped you and Rajjan in your crimes."
"You had no concern that Abhay was probably dead because of you. I always wondered why you did not go for the abortion rather than going through all those hassles. I can only deduce that you lied low for a little while until you were sure that Abhay's incident won't be a problem and hence did not realize or care that you were pregnant. I found out that you did go to the doctor eventually for aborting the child, but was told of some potential risks. So, you backed down and instead blackmailed Rajjan in helping you."
Rajjan and Vibha were looking disgusted with Kanika whereas Radhika's head was spinning from all the revelations. She was just sitting quietly on the couch hearing everything.
"Initially, I did not believe you when you tried to convince me in the hospital that I was your husband despite all the medications that doctor was giving me. So, you brought those two policemen who told me that I was the one who was driving the car that killed my parents. They even showed me a police report which showed that I was under investigation for driving under the influence and that was the cause of the car crash. It created enough doubts and guilt in my mind that I never investigated anything properly. I believed the few fake proofs you brought in front of me. Out of guilt, I avoided going to the college or the old places where you said I had lived. I never thought that a woman could go to such lengths to destroy so many lives for her own selfish reasons. Once Deepu was born, I started believing more and more my fake life. So eventually you and Rajjan were successful in erasing my doubts."
"But now I know the entire truth. Now, the doctor and other of your cohorts are ready to testify against you and I can easily send you to the jail. But, I am refraining from doing that for Deepu and Abhay's sake. In return, you would agree to give full custody to Abhay who is planning to leave this house shortly. Birju has brought a lawyer with him and couple of servants here can serve as witnesses for that purpose."
Kanika agreed as she had no particular love for Deepu who had by now got attached to Abhay anyway. So, Birju brought the lawyer who was waiting outside and Kanika signed the papers on the spot to save her skin.
Once that was done, Abhay said, "Kanika, I never had any intention of marrying you. I only came here for the sake of Deepu. In fact, I found someone very nice when I was doing my masters. We were planning to get married when all of this happened. She was shocked and this created problems for us. But, now she is also coming to terms with it and has already met Deepu several times. We will shortly get married once Deepu is fully adjusted in our family. Obviously, once he grows up it would be his choice to keep relations with you."
Dev then said to Kanika, "Kanika, I promised that I would not file a case against you. But, I forgot to mention that the doctor and other relevant people have already been arrested for malpractice and misusing their ranks. So, they will be exposing your role in order to save their skin. Your fate is in their hands. Also, if their lawyers call me to testify against you, I will gladly do so. I have not forgotten that you were the one who asked Rajjan to kidnap Radhika and did not care about anything happening to her."
Radhika was startled to know that Dev knew about her kidnapping too. While Rajjan looked scared, Kanika was frustrated and then ran out of the room in tears. Abhay turned to Dev and thanked him for taking care of Deepu and his interests. Dev had put Abhay in contact with several people in other states and Abhay had been able to land a good job with a prestigious firm in the south. So, he was planning to relocate his new family to another state in order to start a new beginning. He had already packed his and Deepu's stuff and had made travel arrangements to leave that place in couple of hours.
Once Abhay left the room, Dev turned to Rajjan and said to him coldly, "Rajjan, I have some scores to settle with you too. I could have forgiven you a lot thinking that you were also a pawn in Kanika's hands. But I will not forgive what you did to Radhika. If Radhika wasn't here, I would beat you blue and black right now."
Radhika looked alarmed and said, "No, there is no need to do that. He helped me a lot in exposing Kanika and Katyani's truth. I think he has changed and I have forgiven him."
Rajjan also pleaded and said, "Dev babu....I know I made a huge mistake. I should have never listened to Kanika. But, I think of Radhikaji as my sister now and even call her behenji. I even sit on the floor in front of her and from now on would not look at anything but her feet if she comes in front of me. Remember I helped you against my own Mai."
Dev said, "Rajjan, it is true that your information provided a lot of help in arresting Katyani. You are the one who told me about Mansaram's murder. But I would have never taken your help if I had known that time about Radhika's kidnapping. I have a lot of proofs against you too. For now, I am letting you go. But, if you ever try to harm Radhika or threaten my family again, I will not spare you. I can always let Katyani know that her own son cooperated with me and the police in exposing her."
Rajjan promised to stay away from Radhika and PF for life and he meant it. He had actually become fond of Radhika and had actually started respecting her a lot. He had realized that Kanika had used him for her own purposes. Also, he was happy to get rid of Katyani and to manage his new little empire. He wanted to remain in Katyani's good books until he got the power, but had no intention of letting Katyani come out of the jail. He had already established contacts with majority of Katyani's business associates who had switched their loyalties instantly.
He gave his usual smirk to Dev and said, "Dev babu.. I am out of here for now. I have to admit that I underestimated you. You took my help and I never knew that Abhay was your mole in our house. I won't say that it was a pleasure knowing you. If I had known you were going to be so much trouble, I would have never brought you back with us."
Then he went out whistling a happy tune. Radhika got off the couch and Dev put his arm around her shoulder to escort her out of the room.
One more truth emerges
Dev , Radhika and Birju are going down the corridor towards the front door when Vibha called them from the back in her soft mousy voice, "Dev babu....Radhikaji....please stop."
They stopped while Vibha slowly caught up with them and said, "I want to apologize to you both for what my husband did to Radhikaji. Please forgive him as he is now truly repentant for his conduct."
Radhika smiled at her and told her that she had forgiven Rajjan a long time ago. As they started to leave, Vibha asked hesitatingly, "Radhikaji...do you mind....if I talk to Dev babu....alone? I...have something....to ask him."
Dev looked at Vibha's face and told Birju, "Birju, take Radhika back to my car and stay with her until I return. Don't let her go out of your sight and call me immediately if there is a problem. I should be out shortly."
Then, he followed Vibha to a secluded room that was not too far from the corridor. Vibha closed the door and turned towards Dev saying in her soft squeaky voice, "Dev babu...I am really grateful....that you agreed to talk to me privately."
Dev smiled mockingly and said, "Vibhaji....you can now drop your act.....Radhika is not here anymore and there are just two of us."
Vibha mocked back, "Well...you can also stop calling me Vibhaji. Don't you think we should be now on the first name basis after our partnership, Dev?" Her voice was not squeaky anymore and her person had transformed from a shy scared person to that of a confident strong woman.
Dev nodded his head and said, "Aren't you worried about talking so openly to me? What if Rajjan comes back and hears our conversation?"
Vibha looked unworried, "He is out for the night celebrating his good fortune. He won't be back before the morning. Also, I have already asked all the servants to leave this area. In any case, most of the servants are now loyal to me as I have been slowly replacing her servants in last few years. So, they will inform me if either Kanika or Rajjan approaches. I have people assigned to keep an eye on both of them."
Dev shook his head in amazement and said, "Vibha, you fooled us all. Before you approached me couple of months ago about convincing Rajjan to help me in bringing down Katyani's fall, I had always pictured you as a shy weak woman. How did you manage it all?"
Vibha answered, "Well, it is not that surprising. You have been to my wedding and have seen my family. My father is another version of Katyani. However, he may be a crook but loves his children a lot unlike her. Anyway, nobody from a proper family would marry their daughter to a gunda like Rajjan. Not that my father knew about Rajjan's character that well. Mai did a good job of hiding it from us."
"I acted so shy and sweet because I realized that Katyani would be threatened by a strong and clever daughter-in-law. But, it took me a while to realize that Rajjan also needed a strong woman in his life to guide him. After all, he was used to Katyani from the childhood. As far as Kanika is concerned, I knew right from the beginning that she is not as dumb as she seemed. I was always surprised that a person like you could fall for her even for a short time. If I had been married to Rajjan before you were brought in this house, I would have figured out everything sooner."
Dev asked Vibha curiously, "How did you manage to make everything go in your favor. I thought Rajjan didn't particularly care for you?"
Vibha smiled, "It is true that in the beginning he didn't care for me. But, I knew it would change if his and Kanika's interests clash with each other. Katyani always underestimated her kids and trusted outsiders like you and me because in her arrogance she thought she could control us. So, Kanika and Rajjan relied on each other to counter Katyani's power. Once Rajjan realized that Kanika's interests were threatening his existence, he stopped confiding in her and turned to me especially after he knew I was having his child. I was almost two months pregnant when we went for that havan to have a child in the temple where Katyani found your fake parents. I hid the truth about my pregnancy from her because that was the only way Rajjan could expose Kanika to her without being exposed. Of course, Katyani thought that I was dumb enough not to realize it at that time. Not that Katyani cares that much about the gender, but finding out that I would be having a son strengthened my standing in Rajjan's eyes."
"When Radhika first came that day and claimed you to be her husband, I immediately knew that something was fishy. I started believing her when I saw you reacting so strongly to insults against her and scolding Rajjan so publicly. I had never seen you so angry in three years on anything in three years that I had been in this house. I called my father and two brothers and started investigating. I have always kept my eyes and ears open in this house and one day overheard Kanika and Rajjan's conversation about the real Abhay."
Vibha continued smilingly, "Why do you think it was so easy for you to find Abhay in few days when he managed to hide himself for five years? I had already found his whereabouts in Katyani's absence and made him accessible to your investigative agency. When Rajjan schemed to bring your fake parents to Katyani, Katyani relied on Hanuman Singh and Rajjan to destroy the proofs. Well, Rajjan was not willing to do that and that's why he lied to Katyani that the fake parents were missing. I made sure that all the proofs were available to your people. That's why you found out the truth before Katyani could temper with any evidence."
"As far as Hanuman Singh is concerned, he was extremely loyal to Katyani in the beginning. So, I made sure that his only daughter gets married to one of my brothers to switch his loyalty. So, for last one year or so, he has been more loyal to my family. My father was always interested in taking away some of the projects from Katyani. That's why he agreed to these alliances. Anyway, Hanuman Singh has been working more for me that Katyani in last few months. I did not disclose this to you earlier as I want Katyani to think that Hanuman is loyal to her and wouldn't testify against her eventually even if he may confess to everything under police torture."
"It was my men who found about Radhika's kidnapping as I had asked them to keep an eye on Radhika. I informed Hanuman and he convinced Katyani that she needed to rescue the kidnapped girl in order to maintain her reputation. Unfortunately, the weather became too bad that day and they could not help her in Chandanpur. But, she is quite resourceful and managed well without my help."
Dev controlled his anger that was retriggered after again hearing about Rajjan's misdeed, "Vibha, why did you not tell me this earlier? Also, why did you let Abhay be kidnapped and not do something about it?"
Vibha sighed, "I did not tell you because you would not have trusted me over Katyani. After all, you did not trust Radhika in the beginning either. As far as Abhay's kidnapping was concerned, that was a little bit miscalculation on my part. I was happy when Katyani and Rajjan wanted me to stay in Agra as it made it easier for me to do my work without any chance of being exposed. I knew that Rajjan had kidnapped Abhay but would make him available as a last resort. But, then Katyani found about it and intercepted Rajjan, Abhay and Radhika at the door. My men were the ones who rescued Abhay and Rajjan from Katyani's clutches. But, I did miscalculate about Katyani's desperation and stupidity in trying to kill Radhika. I am very sorry for that."
"Anyway, you know the story after that. When we returned from Delhi, Katyani was devastated at the failure of her schemes. She started blaming Kanika for everything and was actually softening a little bit towards Rajjan as she thought that she had underestimated his intelligence. I also started myself asserting more to Rajjan and he has started realizing that I am a strong person who has best interests at heart. So, he now trusts my judgments. I am not Katyani who pulled his strings so hard that he rebelled. I allow him his little affairs and his small celebrations at the perceived victory."
"Dev, I know that you are very angry at him and want to punish him for what he did to Radhika. As I told you couple of days ago on the phone, he is truly repentant about that as he now respects Radhika a lot. Also, he will be punished all his life as my family and I would now dominate him and his business. Katyani would be going to the jail for a long time and I would make sure that the power gets transferred to me. You have already punished Kanika. You have already provided justice to you and Radhika which was so important to you. So, please let bygones be bygones."
Dev finally agreed and said, "Vibha, thanks for all your help. Now, I need to go as Radhika is waiting for me."
Vibha stopped him and gave him an envelope, "These are photos of you with Kanika and Deepu taken in last five years at few events. I know you don't want to take them with you. I have kept a small havan kund on that table for you to burn them."
Dev browsed through them and took out few that were just of him and Deepu and gave them back to Vibha, "Vibha, give these to Abhay. He is the one who can make the best judgment about these. It is his decision to destroy them or give them to Deepu."
He then burned the rest and turned to go when Vibha stopped him for the final time, "Dev, I have one more thing to tell you. Katyani knew about Rajjan and Radhika's plan that day because she coerced it out of me. I told her the bare minimum but it was sufficient for her as she posted her guards at the entrance to intercept them when they arrived.
"I had to confess because she knew that I was the one who told your family about Rajjan and Radhika's plans. I later on figured out that Amma must have told her about this. I had seen that woman gloating at Radhika's misfortune and heard her taunting Radhika about it before the wedding. So, I became sure that she is the one who tattled to Katyani. Later on, Katyani confirmed it as she was comforting herself that at least Radhika has an enemy in her own family."
"I am telling you this because like you and Radhika a lot and I don't want you to be unaware of your enemies. Besides, it was my mistake that caused Radhika to suffer in that fire. Later on, I found out all the damage that Amma had done to you both in the past. I just want you to be careful of her. She may show repentance in the short run, but she would always try to hurt Radhika or you in the long run. Her hatred for Radhika is too deep and people like that don't change."
Dev was shocked but not too surprised to hear this. He thanked Vibha for this information, "Vibha, thank you for all your help. I wouldn't have been able to punish these people in this manner without your help. Without your help, Katyani would have come out in few days and all the evidence against her would have disappeared. Now, that the interest of various crooks is safe, there are strong chances that Katyani would pay for her crimes. So, I owe you a lot."
Vibha disagreed, "Dev, you don't owe me at all. We are even now. However unintentional it was, you and Radhika acted as a catalyst that finally helped me gain the upper hand in this house. I and Rajjan are not ambitious like Katyani. We are happy to have a control over a small territory. I assure you that you would never be disturbed by this family anymore. In fact, there are so many cases against Katyani that Radhika's attempted murder would be at the bottom of the list for the prosecutors. So, you may not even have to come here to testify." Dev then left the house with no intention of ever coming back.
Meanwhile Radhika and Birju were waiting impatiently for Dev outside in the car. Birju had tried to engage Radhika in a small talk, but had fallen quiet after seeing her preoccupied. Radhika was confused about everything that had happened in last couple of hours. She wasn't sure that she believed Dev completely. She was thinking about all the hurtful things he as Abhay had said to her during his stay at PB and did not believe that he would have said those things if he knew he was Dev. Also, she wasn't sure how she felt about this new ruthless Dev who hid so much from her and could go to such length to avenge her.
Radhika got out of her thoughts when she saw Dev finally approaching the car. Birju asked him, "Dev Bhaiya, what did Vibha want?" Birju knew about Vibha's role as she had approached Dev through him.
Dev looked at Radhika and said, "Birju, I will tell you everything later on. For now, take this room card and stay in the hotel I booked for us. I want you to stay here for another day in case something else needs to be done. I and Radhika will now be starting our vacation and I don't want to really deal with this anymore. So, I will contact you on your phone from time to time, but don't disturb us unless it is important. Also, call the family and give them the details. They would be worried if they don't hear from one of us soon."
Dev then started the car and looked at Radhika's questioning glance, "Radhika, I know you have a lot of questions and I will answer them shortly. For now, I need to run a final errand and hope you would have no objection in coming with me."
Radhika nodded warily and Dev drove to the famous Mankameshwar mandir that was the oldest Shiv temple in Agra. They did some puja and then Dev took out a pouch from his pocket and emptied the contents in Pujari's plate. It contained the "Om" locket and other jewelry that he used to wear as Abhay. He turned to Radhika and said, "I did not want to insult these symbols by throwing them away. But, now I am finally free of everything that was associated with that family. I would like to have a new beginning with you from now onwards."
Radhika was happy to hear that and finally they drove away from the temple and all the bad memories.
Precap: Dev answers Radhika's questions and a new journey starts.
Author's Note: This part does not tie all the loose ends as I did not realize that I would need to add backstories for Abhay and Vibha. I tried to keep it short, but wasn't successful.
I had this part in my mind for a long time and it turned out to be anticlimactic when I was writing it. The track was ruined so much that it turned out to be somewhat monotonous and melodramatic like C/D Bollywood movies. I hope that you like my treatment so far. The next part would be just between Dev and Radhika and it should hopefully tie all the loose ends from the Abhay track.
Edited by why3 - 14 years ago
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
