Recap: Prachi leaves Milind. Everyone is shocked. Milind is distraught, and he kicks Ayesha out of the house.Part 29:
Neev walked into the Shah-Mishra Mansion. It was quiet. "Everything had changed so much in six months", he thought.
It had been six whole months since Prachi had left the house, and everything had changed in the house. Neev remembered how Milind had thrown Ayesha out of the house and he remembered how hard Milind had tried to find Prachi. He had posted her picture in every newspaper, put out flyers, and contacted the best detectives and police officers to search for her. Still, to no avail. During this time, Neev had truly realized how much Milind loved Prachi. Milind had left no stone unturned in finding Prachi. He had stopped going to the office and barely ate; he had just one thing on his mind, and that was Prachi.
Even the whole family, who had initially been angered with Milind, realized that Prachi was Milind's life. They could see the regret in his eyes for letting her go. They could see that he was going through hell. Everyone could sense how much Milind needed Prachi. To make matters worse, everyone in the family was also worried about Prachi. Where was she? How was she doing?
Two weeks passed without any word on her whereabouts. Suddenly, the search stopped, and this was because of what happened on Sukriti's birthday.
Neev closed his eyes and recalled that day. Despite not knowing where Prachi was, Premlatha had insisted that Sukriti's birthday be celebrated in the house. The event was supposed to be small; just a gathering of the family and some of Sukriti's friends. Neev remembered that it was him, who had even convinced Milind to attend, hoping that the family function would help take Milind's mind away from thoughts of Prachi. But thanks to Alaap, the small party had quickly become a grand one, as hundreds of other guests also arrived.
During the party, Alaap's plan was revealed, as in front of the hundreds of guests, he had revealed a huge and shameful secret. During Sukriti's birthday party, Alaap took the stage and announced that Sukriti was a characterless woman raised in a chawl. Although Neev had tried to take Alaap off the stage, as a broken Milind looked on from the floor, nothing could stop Alaap. He went on to reveal that Sukriti had a child with a married man. He went on to shock the entire room by bringing out Rithwick, who he announced was Sukriti's child, with him. He laughed and gloated, and informed the audience that Sukriti had tried to "trap" Alaap into marriage, and when her plan failed, she realized she was pregnant. Then, unbeknownst to her own family, she delivered her illegitimate child and left him in an orphanage. Alaap had gone on to let everyone know that Sukriti's stupid family had no idea how scheming she was. He told everyone that even when his sister Prachi found out the truth, Sukriti was able to silence her from revealing it to anyone. He then praised his own intelligence for unraveling the truth.
Mishra Ji, who was also present at the party, was visibly embarrassed and angry. Reacting immediately, he had thrown his daughter out of the house, and told Sukriti that she was dead to him.
It was this moment, Neev recalled, that changed Milind. No longer was he the doting husband who had been trying to find his wife. No longer was he the Milind who would sacrifice anything for his family. It was all over.
From this moment on, Milind turned stone-cold. Neev recalled how Milind had watched everything occur, and had not said a word, because he felt guilty for Prachi leaving, and did not want to hurt Alaap because of this regret. However, Milind's guilt quickly turned into anger as he found out about Sukriti's child, and then Milind's face simply went pale when Alaap revealed that even Prachi had known this secret. Now, Milind Mishra was consumed with rage, against his sister and against Prachi. It was at this moment that Milind Mishra resolved to never love anyone again, since all love brought was pain and betrayal.
Neev remembered how Milind had simply watched Mishra Ji kick Sukriti out of the house, and then simply walked out of the house and drove to his office, to catch up on some work.
Now, six months later, the whole aura of the house was completely different. Prachi was gone. Ayesha had been kicked out. Sukriti also had been kicked out. A smug Alaap had voluntarily left the house with Suyesha to Agra to start a business venture with Saket, however, Neev knew they would be back soon. Mishra Ji, shamed and hurt, had left to live in Haridwar with his brother. Although, Milind, Premlatha, Bobby, Soumya, and Dadi were still living there, Milind was hardly ever home, since he spent 20 out of the 24 hours in his office, or was gone on business trips. He hardly ever, on purpose, interacted with the rest of the house members, opting rather, to spend his time engrossed in his company matters.
During this time, there was only one person that Milind really talked to, and that, surprisingly, was Neev. Despite the tragedies of the last six months, one good thing had occurred, and that was a friendship between Neev and Milind. It wasn't a friendly, joking type of friendship, but rather, one of trust. Neev knew that Milind could be trusted, and Milind had equal confidence in trusting Neev. Despite the new cut-throat Milind that had emerged in the last six months, Neev still believed that Milind was a trustworthy man, and as a result, had created a strong bond with him. Still, despite this friendship, Neev knew that Milind was turning into an unhealthy type of person. No longer did he care for people or people's emotions. Milind did not care if he trampled on others in order to meet his business goals. He treated everyone in the office like meager employees, and all of his workers feared him. Although women clearly noticed Milind's looks, he never really treated them with any respect, or paid much heed to them. Milind only had one goal in his life now, and that was to be the have one of the world's most powerful businesses, regardless of the consequences. This quest for power, Neev knew, had taken a toll on Milind's morals, personality, and his heart.
Standing in the Shah-Mishra mansion, Neev say Premlatha coming towards him. Neev smiled and hugged her. "Namaste. Aap kaisey hai?" he asked, as he hugged her.
"Main teekh hu, Neev. Tum batao?" she inquired.
"Prachi ka koi pata laga aap ko?" he asked.
"Nahin, Neev. Uske bus har haftey ek cheque aatey hai hamaray liyai. Lekin, us cheque say humko kuch pata nahin lagta ke vo kaha hai," she explained. Neev was surprised that Prachi was still sending cheques home every week to her family. He knew that this meant she was financially secure, wherever she was. But still, he wanted to find her, and he knew Prachi's mother also wanted to see her daughter. Even though Milind had stopped looking for his wife, Neev had still, unknown to Milind, continued looking for Prachi. Still, he did not know where she was.
"Don't worry Auntie. I am sure we will find her," assured Neev. This brought a smile to Premlatha's face.
"Neev, beta, ayo kuch khalo," she said.
"Nahin ma ji, I actually came to see if Milind was at home. Is he here?"
"Nahin beta. Woh to office jaldi chala giya."
"Okay phir. I'll meet him in his office. Bye ma, I really have to go, now," Neev said as he hugged Premlatha again. She smiled and waved him goodbye as he sped off to meet Milind.
***
There it is :) I hope you all like it. Dramatic shifts have definitely occurred in this FF.
Please do leave your comments and thoughts.
And to all the Michi fans: remember, this IS a Michi FF…so it will definitely get juicier!
Edited by canadianbeauty - 17 years ago