Part I | Daadi
'A great untruth, my lips have borrowed,
a boundless treasure to line my chest;
the wealth of words are in their sorrow -
and words are all I can bequest.'
- Lang Leav, A Love Story
It had been a while since Annika had spoken.
Shivaay and Annika's wedding had shaken up the entire Oberoi empire.
A wedding of force, chaos, of strayed morals and forgotten teachings, Daadi was disgusted by what her grandson had done, but marvelled at the laws of fate. Her aged eyes were weak for sight, but her heart? That was still as wordly as ever, and in her aged heart, she knew that Shivaay and Annika were meant to be.
But that hadn't stopped the lashing out.
They were all upset - some less than others, but upset all the same. It was a betrayal of sorts, but one that she knew her eldest grandson had done to retain what he valued most. The Oberoi name.
But what was the use of their sustained name, when the family itself was on the verge of breaking?
She had not seen the family in such discord since Roop's deceit fifteen years ago.
The wedding had left every member of the family different in one way or another. Shivaay and Pinky had seemed to embrace the darkest facets of their nature, digging out depths that she neither wanted to witness, nor relive. Their thirst for money and power had only left them poor in her eyes, and it sickened her to think that her teachings had not rubbed off on them enough. Shakti had become more subdued, if that was even possible, but she could tell that the guilt of what his son had done was destroying him - and so he had taken to Annika with compassion and kindness very early on, but even so, he had not accepted her completely either. Her elder son, Tej, had surprised them all, because whether it was for business or out of the goodness of his heart, he had been open to Shivaay and Annika's marriage. On the other hand, Jhanvi spent her days atop the bar in her room, reminded of her own painful marriage when she saw Annika and her struggles.
The children of the family, also, had changed, and this had terrified her the most. Omkara spent most of his days locked up in his studio, becoming colder to Pinky, and almost completely ignoring Shivaay. Rudra and Saumya had toned down, and had taken to hushed whispers and feeble laughter, neither of which echoed theatrically in the Great Hall anymore. Priyanka's stutter had gotten worse too, and Daadi could tell that Annika's plight was tearing her apart, because in some way or another, she blamed herself for bringing Annika into their lives, and simultaneously ruining her best friend's.
Indeed, they had all been impacted greatly and reacted accordingly, and they had every right to.
But out all of the mixed reactions and the shock, anger and ignorance, Annika had suffered the most.
The matriarch of Oberoi Mansion watched as her granddaughter-in-law busied herself in the kitchen, moving around soundlessly as she wiped down benches, and stacked plates. It was a job that the Oberoi's had hired at least twenty staff to do in one day, but she didn't stop her, because any distraction was better than what Annika had experienced.
For a while, she had hoped that Shivaay and Annika would accept each other - and the family too would slowly become normal, but all she prayed for now was Annika's happiness, her freedom, because between Shivaay, Pinky and Tia, she was breaking, slowly but steadily, and it was all Daadi could do to not hate herself.
And then three months later, her prayers seemed to have finally been fulfilled, and God had intervened.
The aftermath of Tia's revelation had left unexpected turmoil in its wake. The wedding had shocked, but finding out that Tia was already married, that too, to a man that she had introduced to them as her brother was another thing in itself. If the situation was not as drastic as it was, she would've almost laughed. The Kapoor's were waist-deep in debt, and had been riding on said marriage to successfully bail them out. As she had watched Shivaay throw a wad of notes in Tia's face and promise to make sure she passed through ten lifetimes before she would ever be in the vicinity of their family again, she thanked the divine for their mediation.
But no one even had the chance to recover anything, because a mere two days, Daksh returned.
Back from Mumbai, ready to get married to the love of his life, only to discover that she was now randomly married to his childhood best friend. Now that, that had been a bloodbath.
At face value, he had taken it well - well, he had cried, yelled, broken a vase or two, but Daksh had stormed out after that.
And then, he decided to kidnap Annika, and promptly send Shivaay chilling videos of her screams, her pleas. And then, the Oberoi family she was so proud of finally resurfaced, and as she witnessed Shivaay's desperate attempts to save her, and Pinky's violent tears, she begged every god she believed in that Annika would finally get to see this side of the people she loved so unconditionally.
But when Annika was finally rescued, she had greeted the family's cries, hugs and affection with a weak smile, and then proceeded to lock herself in the guest room for two days.
Suddenly, everything was going downhill again.
If things had seemed terrible before, it seemed like there was no salvation now.
Something had changed, both on the family's part, but more drastically on Annika's. The Oberoi's had finally realised their mistake, and wanted to welcome their daughter-in-law into their family. But now, she wanted absolutely nothing to do with it.
The divine irony of the situation at hand darkly amused her; when the family had treated her like dirt, Annika had fought for their compassion, their care, their love. And now, when they were desperately trying to give back what they had robbed her of in the first place, she was running away from it all.
Annika was terrified of abandonment, especially from the people that she loved, Daadi knew that much. The more the family opened up, the more Annika closed herself off. The only person who would be able to end this fear would be Shivaay, but he himself, was inside his own pool of guilt, and it would be a feat in itself to drag him out. And in all her worldliness, Daadi knew, yet again, that only Annika would be able to. To become complete again, they would have to heal each other.
Love was an unsought panacea.
But while Shivaay waned in his emotions, Annika was slowly losing herself.
Annika was cold now. Indifferent.
The woman that they had all fallen in love with, was diminishing, leaving behind only a shell of what she once was. Wild, enigmatic and vibrant, Annika had coloured all of their lives; her language, her smile, her resolute determination, her unwavering faith - she was the bright sunflower in their garden of aristocratic roses, brightening anything and everything in her wake.
And so, as they watched Annika live wordlessly over the long weeks, and Shivaay pined for what he had done, the Oberoi's knew that something needed to be done before their own completely destroyed themselves.
And it was all their fault.
They all regretted it, and some did to such an extent that they didn't even know how to approach her. For one, there was no flaw to be caught. Annika was still the ideal daughter-in-law; it was just that she lacked the effervescence that was once her most decisive nature. Her lack of presence was terrifying, even more so than her lack of speech.
It was extremely unnerving, what had happened in the Oberoi Mansion in the past few weeks, and while Daadi knew that every single person in the family was repenting, as the eldest, it was her duty to reform first.
As Annika moved out of the kitchen, Daadi's morning tea in one hand and a plate of sao biscuits in another, she beamed at the young woman.
In turn Annika set down the tea and biscuits, and attempted to hurry away before she had to deliberately ignore her, like she had been doing for the past weeks. But today she couldn't, because Daadi's warm hands found her shaking ones, and pulled her down next to armchair she was sitting in.
"Annika?"
The woman didn't reply, just merely sighed deeply, looking down at the withered hand that was clutching her own, and tightened her grip on it.
"I'm sorry. We all are."
Again, she didn't respond but as Annika walked away, Daadi could almost be completely sure that she looked slightly more at peace. Slowly, but steadily, she would return to the woman she was - but for that, she needed the whole family, especially Shivaay to help rebuild their broken daughter-in-law.
***
The next morning, when Annika came to give Daadi her cup of tea, and watched with a small smile as the older woman expressed sheer elation at the piece of cake on her plate, she whispered in a small voice that didn't go unnoticed.
"I am too."
Edited by Innika - 8 years ago
