FF - The Tycoon's Revenge - PXIX/Pg12

Part 1 - Page 1   ; ; ; ; ;

Part 2 - Page 2

Part 3 - Page 2

Part 4 - Page 3

Part 5 - Page 3

Part 6 - Page 3

Part 7 - Page 4

Part 8 - Page 5

Part 9 - Page 5

Part 10 - Page 6

Part 11 - Page 6

Part 12 - Page 6

Part 13 - Page 7

Part 14 - Page 7

Part 15 - Page 8

Part 16 - Page 9

Part 17 - Page 10

Part 18 - Page 11

Part 19 - Page 12

I had started to pen this ff about 2 weeks ago. Here is the first part. More should come in a couple of days.

He had been in the seventh heaven. He and his wife had decided to expand their family. His Baba had made dramatic progress after being stuck by a debilitating stroke. Sukriti after a disastrous romance, and an almost elopement had finally settled down and was very content in the choice of her life partner – Saket. Life could not have been better and he could not have asked for more. It seemed that all the stars were finally aligned and nothing could go wrong. When Massi had told him during Janmashtami, Prachi ki nazar utaar, he had just laughed off. But somebody did cast a huge evil eye and that too by someone so close to him. He still could not come to terms with it.

A month after Dussera, November 20, 2007. That fateful evening, 5 years ago, when he fell hook, sink and liner to Ayesha's machinations. Even Shakespeare had one Othello, one King Lear or one Hamlet in each of his tragedies. How in the name of god did he end up assuming all the characteristics of the tragedy kings in that one evening. Milind prodded broodingly over his powerpoint presentation. Five years later he still could not come up with a reasonable explanation and neither could he unearth the whereabouts of missing wife and Hritik. These past years, work had been his only solace, but today even his grinding work schedule would not numb the pain. Memories were dogging him and he just could not shirk them. He resigned himself to relive those memories that only brought pain and anguish.

5 years ago, October 2007

Sukriti's marriage had been on the 15^th of October. Alaap his erstwhile brother-in-law had created an upheaval – almost bringing the marriage to a grinding halt. Hardly did the orphanage matron cleared Sukriti's name and the marriage rituals had been completed, he was being targeted and belittled by his new 'Sambdhan'. His anger had been further fuelled by inane comparisons between himself and his wife made by the Sambdhan's high society maams. He felt himself being stripped in front his collegeaus, business associates and his staff. His friends and buddies from the chawl were being put down by all those snooty relatives of the groom. And Ayesha could not just fan the flames enough. Then she had led him to witness Prachi and Neev in an embrace, which had snapped him completely. Only he knew the kind of control he had exerted on himself, while he dragged Prachi into the secluded garden for a confrontation.

But somehow the gods were still smiling in his favor. The confrontation in the garden had led to nothing but bliss in her arms. That night had been the beginning of his marital life. Behind the closed doors he had found his jeevan sanghini, his ardhangini. He had found his other half. His wife was a beautiful discovery - not only physically, but the ease with which she could vibe with him mentally without a word being spoken was incredible and amazing. Her ability to adapt to his needs in a business setting (which was nothing surprising – being Inder Shah's daughter, she would have been used to such events) or for that matter effortlessly being comfortable in his chawl circle had intrigued him. His only relationship with Ayesha had been a tumultuous one with highs and lows. But Prachi had a calming effect in his life. But the bliss was short lived and to mar that happiness had been Ayesha's suicide attempt. He still was clueless on what had triggered such a reaction. In the hospital, he had explained to Ayesha of his intention to stick to his marriage vows and had advised her of the same. But at that time, he had no idea of Ayesha's need to resurrect their dead relationship neither did he think of the Ayesha's determination to achieve her goal which was getting him back. She had been totally blinkered in her quest for revenge with no thoughts to the consequences of her actions.

Her plans to insult Prachi during Hritik's first birthday had only backfired. But her intentions were not thwarted. He had been warned by Neev for Prachi's safety. But he had decided to overlook Neev's warning and trust his childhood friend Ayesha.

Oct 28, 2007

A week after Dussera, he had been rudely interrupted by Ayesha during a meeting. He was in the process of diversifying into the health industry. He was very firmly entrenched in the hotel industry and was in need of another challenge. When Mr. Vakil – his CFO and right hand suggested diversification, his curiosity had been instantly aroused. His entrepreneurial mind had started working in the top gear. Both of them pursued different financial models and business plans to check out for possible acquisitions or joint ventures. And that day he had lined up 3 business meetings with prospective business partners.

Ayesha had pulled him out of the meeting, and dragged him to the hospital where he witnessed Prachi and Neev departing the hospital with the baby. After giving Ayesha a earful, he left Ayesha high and dry in the hospital corridor and drove off to join Mr. Vakil for the next meeting. He had forgotten the matter, but 2 days later, on Nov 1, he was handed a DNA report by Ayesha that confirmed Prachi being the biological mother of Hritik. He had realized the extent of Ayeshas maliciouness and her need to malign Prachi's character. But the day's revelations had only made him more confused.

A few days later, around Nov 10, Ayesha produced a gagged Kamini in his office. A visibly frightened Kamini had broken down and confessed that she was indeed Prachi's classmate, but was not Hritik's mother. But used as a means to get the baby into the Shah Mansion. He could not fathom Prachi's need to lie to him.

10 days later on Nov 20, Ayesha again turned up and he meekly let her lead him to the Church of All Saints and its Mother Mary Orphanage in Badlapur close to Karjat. She led him to the father and without either him or the Father being aware of it, made the Father confess that Hritik was indeed Prachi's son. The day had taken a downward slump and it became harder to concentrate on work on hand. He left for home early. On reaching home he found Hritik and Prachi fast asleep in the bedroom. Hritik was in his cradle. He glanced at the sleeping baby trying to find some similarity between Prachi and Neev. On closer inspection he found the kid looked more like him and his family. Both he and his sister had dark chocolate brown eyes with long lashes. Cursing his wayward thoughts, he soundlessly headed straight into the bathroom to have a hot shower to calm his restlessness. 20 minutes under the steaming spray, relaxed him. Stepping out, he had just crawled under the cozy razai and pulled his wife into his arms and fell fast asleep. 2 hours later, he woke up refreshed to find his wife with a steaming mug of tea and a plateful of Chawl Massi's patent Poha. To this day he cursed his tongue – but the question had been popped to Prachi over the rim of the cup about her whereabouts 2 days ago. And Prachi ended up telling him of her visit to the shopping mall which he knew was a lie. The calm had been violently disrupted and all the doubts came back with a vengeance. He sited an excuse of work of an urgent nature and had driven off to Band Stand. His phone had buzzed more than a dozen times and the ringtone indicated the caller to be his wife. Ignoring the numerous calls, he pulled out the DNA report from his inner jacket pocket and stared at his wife named as the biological mother of Hritik. He sat morosely at the seashore watching the sun go down. To him that evening, the setting sun was the death of his dreams. In fact the in a span of 3 short hours, he ended up labeling his wife deceitful, unfaithful and immoral. He came back home in a very turmoiled state. Refusing to meet Prachi's questing eyes, he sat at the dinner table. Prachi had made his favorite - methi ke pakode, which Neev ended up complementing and relishing. And an ever ready Ayesha had just needed an excuse to capitalize on.

What do they say, when you are looking for something bad and nasty, you will find it.

His mental bent of mind continued its downward trend, and the doubts that had been dormant were now, just waiting to brim over. The seeds of doubt had found fertile ground in his mind and the within no time, the insecure Milind was back in full form. Ayesha being the ever shrewd operator had then very successfully manipulated him like a puppet. Despite Prachi's efforts, Milind would not look at Prachi. He raced up to their room, opened the drinks cabinet that had been locked since the end of August. In the next hour, he had made significant inroads, but was nowhere close to being inebriated. He was very angry but coldly sober by the time Prachi came into the room. A very concerned Prachi stepped in to find Milind nursing a drink and touched his shoulder.

He could remember the hurt in Prachi's eyes when he pushed her hand away as though she was contaminated. And then the next 30 minutes it had been showtime. He threw at her the DNA Report, Kamini's confession and her dishonesty. Throughout the tirade, Prachi stood still silently with only twin rivers of tears rolling down her cheeks. Her silence only cemented Milind's suspicions that she was guilty. He continued to vent at her. At some point, during that evening, in his chaotic mind, Prachi became the one target on whom he could vent all his frustrations. Very coldly he told her get out his life. He said that he was going away on a 2 day business trip to Delhi and by the time he got back, he expected her to be gone with her baby. After delivering his ultimatum, he had pulled out his overnight travel bag, dumped some clothes and taken off to his chawl.

The 2 day business trip had rolled into a fortnight long business trip. Even though his personal life had taken such a down turn, on work front, things could not have worked out better which was some solace. Mr. Vakil was empathetic to his mentor and friend's disturbed state of mind. But was blissfully unaware of the details. Even he knew, nothing phased Milind Mishra in the business arena. During toughest of times, Milind always rose from the ashes like the proverbial Phoenix. The 2 day business trip in Delhi had rolled into an extended business trip with intense negotiations. The result had been the emergence of a joint-venture between the Mishra Group & Hillron Enterprises – a US based company that made hospital beds and bed accessories. The visiting contingent from the US comprised of the CFO – Dan Weatherington, Yash Phadke, Director R & D, Magnus Olofson, Director of Manufacturing & Operations, Daniel Darcy, Chief Designer & Estaban Carrera, Director Marketing. Successful negotiations led to the Joint Venture coming into existence as early as Spring of 2008. The Mishra Group now had made its foray in the health/manufacturing industry. The JV would set up a manufacturing unit Khopoli, the industrial zone.

Khopoli, Maharashtra, India

Milind had invested in land in Khopoli when the land was available at minimal price. Now over the years its value had appreciated and his land now stood in the developed industrial zone. It had all the amenities and infrastructure facilities. During the course of the meetings and discussions in Delhi, Vakil suggested a quick visit to the future plant site. Surprisingly the delegates had agreed and Macy, Milind's Exec Asst. scrambled to charter a jet to fly out the contingent.

Dec 1, 2007

As the legal teams from both the companies got around to ironing out the detail, Milind and Vakil hosted a grand and elaborate dinner on a successful conclusion of the extended conference. They agreed that the the second contingent of delegates that was the core manufacturing and technical team, were due to visit in the 2nd week of December. Over the business dinner, Mr. Weathington, Mr. Vakils' counterpart in the American firm, confirmed the team's arrival around Dec 7th and the ever efficient Macy agreed to chip in with the necessary arrangements.

As the evening progressed, Mr. Vakil offered Mr. Weatherington a tour of Mumbai nagari. Mr. Weatherington declined since he had seen much of Mumbai during his prior visits. Vakil indeed was quite amazed at Weatherington's adaptability. Dan went on to say that he would rather visit the tribal consulates located near Khandala & Monkey Hill on the Expressway and also the famed Ekal Vidyalaya. In fact Vakil's mouth had dropped open at the mention of Ekal Vidyalaya. Vakil ended up arranging for a car and chauffer at Dan's disposal for the rest of his stay. Dan also volunteered how his church had various projects in Nigeria Africa and in Maharashtra, India. He said that his first visit was infact with his church group in a village close to Karjat. The project had been to dig wells for drinking water. He fondly remembered eating Batata Vada. Milind instinctively asked him to come home since Prachi's Batata Vadas were finger-licking good.

Mention of Prachi, propelled Milind into in his own world. He remembered the night when Ayesha hit Prachi with the Dandya. After that incident, he and Prachi stayed in their room. They had watched the stars from their balcony, feasting on the Batata Wada's that she had made that afternoon. Instead of drinking the masala milk, he gulped down 2 cokes, claiming that coke accentuated the spicyness of the Wadas on your tongue. The peel of his cell phone brought him back to reality. He excused himself from the party to take the call since the caller was his Baba.

The call was a short one, since Milind promised Baba he would call back after he got done with the meeting. Milind rejoined his party table. Conversation lingered and Milind became a bystander than an active participant. The wheels in his head were churning. A slight turn of his head, he indicated to Vakil for closure. Vakil who was keenly tuned to his boss's expressions caught on and in the next 30 minutes the dinner had concluded on a successful note. Vakil and the visiting delegates retired for the evening at Mahendra Eugine's VIP guest house in Khopoli, while Milind decided to drive back home. Driving always helped him to clear his mind. On route he punched in Baba's contact number. The blue tooth was on the ear that enabled him to keep both hands on the steering wheel. Baba picked up on the second ring and sounded very chirpy and upbeat considering the time was closing in on 11.00 pm. He was thoroughly pleased on being informed that Baba was in the pinkest of health and could not have felt any better. The trip and the change of scenery had brought him in touch with his ex-army buddy - Col. Shekhwat. Both had been catching up 3 decades of news and were heading to Gadwal for a week at Shekhawat's hill station retreat. Baba said that the Col. was not going to take no for an answer and he was more than happy to take up his friend's offer. But he did feel home-sick particularly during the festive season. He had shopped for one and all and was waiting to get home to share his purchases with all. Baba went to confirm his ETA on Dec 8th on a Saturday which almost coincided with the date of the delegation's visit. Baba also reiterated that his dear friend would accompany him to Mumbai for a short stay with all of them. Baba's eminent arrival put Milind in a quandary. He terminated that call with Baba and called home at the Shah Mansion fully expecting his cheating wife to answer the phone.

Shah Mansion, Mumbai, 12.00

Ganu Kaka hurried down the corridor from his room to the hall where the phone was perched. When Prachi betiya was at home, he had been spared of this phone duty. With betiya being out of town with Milind, he was became the locum telephone calls receiver at night. But he was glad that betiya had taught him to how to receive calls and groomed his bedside manners. On closer inspection, the caller ID displayed Milindsaab's number. He gingerly picked it up and nervously added a 'hello'.

As expected, Milindsaab curtly said, Prachimemsaab ko dena.

(Give it to Prachi)

Ganu Kaka thought that his sleep addled brain had heard incorrectly. How did one answer that? He himself had driven betiya and Hritik to the domestic airport 10 days ago so that both could join Milind at Delhi. A perplexed Ganu Kaka held onto the receiver frozen not knowing how to react?

Bracing himself, he questioned further, "Saab sunayi nahi diya, kissse baat karni hai.

(Sir, I could not hear properly, who did you say you wanted to talk to?)

A bored Milind said, "Ganu Kaka apne pee kar rakhi hai kya, Memsaab se baat karao.

(Ganukaka are you drunk, I asked for Prachi)

A visibly shaken Ganu Kaka informed Milind that he had driven Prachi & Hritik to the airport 10 days ago. And that was the last he had seen Prachi betiya.

Milind abruptly cut off the phone. He knew he had told Prachi to get out of his life, but never in his imagination did he think that his wife would carry out his instructions to the T. He told himself to calm down and reach home to find a reasonable explanation from his Mother-in-law. It was way past midnight and it would take him a good 45 minutes to reach home. But the roads were squeaky clean, which helped Milind make it home in record time. The easier part had been the drive. He had no idea what awaited him. Bone weary, he locked his car, lobbed the keys to the watchman and let himself inside the house.

At home in the Shah Mansion, Ganu Kaka could not make out as to what had transpired. He went into the kitchen fetched himself a glass of water to calm his nerves. Never in his life did he dream such a situation, let alone it transpiring into reality. He pinched himself a few times to make sure that it was all a bad dream. Looking at the magnitude of the situation on hand, the next course of action was to wake up Badi Malkin(henceforth known as BM/Dadi) and Premlata Ben (henceforth known as PB/Ma). He wound his way up the grand staircase, and knocked on Badi Malkin's (Dadi's) room. A few knocks, BM/Dadi did not open the door, but the door across the hall opened and PB/Ma came out groggy eyed. Looking at Ganu Kaka's (hereinafter referred to as GKaka) expression changed PB's composure. She was instantly alert of something amiss and braced herself for the calamity that was going to fall on them. Meanwhile BM/Dadi opened the door to her room. Gkaka went to narrate the whole incident. Not knowing what course of action to follow, the three went down and awaited Milind's arrival. A good hour later, the main door opened and in stepped Milind.

Your comments are welcome, thoughts for directions can be PMed

11/06/07 : I have edited to accomodate and adjust the timeline. Added a few more lines to story. Will try to get to it asap. My thought processes is running at mile a minute and the fingers are finding it hard to keep up. Anyways enjoy. As suggested comments, thoughts are welcome

Will surely return to read and comment! 😊

Edited:

👏👏 A wonderful chapter one! You do write well, akhilash!👏

As for chapter two, too many/long Hindi lines for me to follow. But please don't mind me. Interesting FF😊

Excellent start Akhilash 😊 Am glad Milsi didnt vent out his frustration on Prachi in public, and instead blasted her privately...poor Milsi 😭

Pls continue.

Reserved for comments after reading... Title caught my eye!

Cheers,

dc

👏 This was really so good....I particularly liked it coz it is moving along the storyline of the show itself....Keep going....

Waiting for the next parts.

Good going 👏 👏 👏 . Keep it up and gives us some more. We sure do not want to swallow what they are giving us at the show.

oooooooooh...this FF is goooooood.... 👏 👏 update asap....
Arshia

Akhilash,very well written. 👏 👏 Reading your FF was like a welcome relief after watching that stupid crap on TV.Why can't the destructives look at this and implement it on the show sigh!Continue soon dear.Once again well written. 👏 👏

madhu.

Part II

Milind could feel 3 pairs of anxious eyes zeroing on him. How was he going to tell PL/Maa and BM/Dadi about Prachi's deception? He felt the questions emanating from all three. What was with this family? Not a work spoken – but he felt very defensive. He could have handled someone like his new Samdhan or Ayesha, but the silent query was killing him. He tried relaxing by walking up and down the length of the hall with the 3 still waiting for his words. He knew there would be no good time. The matter had to come out. Very haltingly he narrated what had transpired between Prachi and him that night on Nov 20. He was expecting a barrage of insults, condemnations and even physical assault. But nothing - no recriminations, no comebacks, no judgement, absolutely nothing !!!. Except for the wounded look in PL/Maa's eyes. That was so intense that Milind again was a loss as to how to deal with it. BM/Dadi reacted by springing from the couch and walked to the phone and started punching out numbers. A very calm and composed PM/Maa told BM/Dadi to put down the phone as she knew her daughter would not have gone to any of their relatives. She went on to confirm that wherever her daughter and the child were, they were very safe. She turned to Milind and said, "I guess you are justified in your actions, but if I know my daughter, I can write it and give it to you that she is not the mother of that child. My confidence in my child is rock solid. I cannot ask you to trust me on this, but eventually the facts will come out.

The immense confidence in PL/Maa's voice was like showing a red rag to a bull. Milind raged about Prachi's dishonesty, reciting the the mall incidence. He pulled out the DNA reports, the birth records copies all indicating Prachi as the mother of the Hritik. PL/Maa just said that she did not need all this tangible evidence to know her daughter. In the meanwhile, BM/Dadi slumped down on the couch lamenting where her granddaughter had disappeared and they have come to know of it only 10 days later when any trace of her would have turned cold. She turned to Milind and said that it was OK if he did not want to stay with his wife, but they did want their child back. Milind was tired and he could feel fatigue in his bones. He abruptly excused himself and raced up to his room his sanctuary to lick his wounds in private.

He entered their room, which had an eerie silence. The room was as usual spotlessly clean, but had a musky smell. The odor could be accredited to closed windows and lack of fresh air circulation. Moving straight to the bank of windows, he flung open the windows to let fresh air in. The fresh air came rushing inside the room and the gentle wind chimed the wind chimes that was hung on the doorway. He walked back into the room and sat on the bed, forcefully stepped out of the shoes, yanked and tugged hard at his delicate silk socks. The force exerted was a little too hard and Milind heard the fabric rip. Damn Prachi – this is how she ripped his heart. Fool that he was, he pretty much handed it over to her on a giant platter. Suddenly, the cynic in him questioned his getting all poetic at such a juncture and he looked up to see the bathroom door in his line of vision. On the outside of the bathroom door hung a freshly laundered pair of PJ's. He charged towards it, yanked it from the door hanger and threw it across the room. The PJ's landed softly on the floor near the bed. He was old enough to get his own pair of PJ's and the last thing he wanted was be pacified by such sati-savitri gestures. He yanked open the wardrobe doors, almost ripping out the solid wooden doors, ran through all his night clothes and somehow ended up settling with the discarded PJ set on the floor. Well he said to himself – tomorrow promised to be a long day and he had to rest. He lay down on the massive double bed and mused. After a very long time, he felt alone and lonely. The last time he felt this alone and abandoned was when his mother had passed away. He never had time to express his grief, since he had to take care of his kid sister and also support his Baba. But tonight he felt very very lonely and hurt with no shoulder to cry on. Sleep eluded him. A part of him was worried about Prachee. It had been 10 days and no one knew anything about her. Well he would call Khurana early in the morning and start tracing his credit card purchases for the last 10 days. After all, his wife was carrying his no limit debit card. The card could give him clues to her wanderings. And of course he would call Inspector Paranjape his friend from the chawl put a trace out for Prachi.

He needed someone to talk to and wanted someone to just be there for him. He thought of talking to Ayesha. But he decided to hold off until the next morning since the Ayesha had gone to spend some time with her mom at the Jamnaben Shah Sanetorium for Women in Pune.

The next morning, Shah Mansion abuzz with activity. The vendors came in and out delivering milk, followed by the vegetable and fruit vendors. Gkaka who usually was referred to as Majorsaab amongst all the help, was very quiet and looked lost in his world. Gkaka's sprightly gait peppered with his Gujrati mutterings was a common source of entertainment to all, but today, he walking like a wagabond. Chhaaya the maid who always ran into tiffs with him, was unable to get a single word out off him. The morning doodhwala bhaiyya expecting a tirade about the thinness of the milk, was astounded to find the milk vessel at the doorstep. By 8.30 am the Lakshmi the Bhaajeewali was at the back door near the kitchen, but was unable to get a single syllable out off him. The fruit vendor went a step ahead and sold Gkaka all rotten mangoes at premium price. Infact Narayan rejoiced his luck for once having gotten a better deal at the Shah residence.

The matriarchs - PL/Maa & BM/Dadi decided not to inform anyone in the house, but keep the news to themselves and carried on with their chores. At 9.00 am Suyesha strolled in with whisky and sat at the table for breakfast. Soumya chimed in a few seconds later. A quick glance at the table had her complaining to Gkaka, Kem Gkaka, aaj pan idli ane wada sambar nathi" (Gkaka, no Idli & Sambar for breakfast ?????)

Any other day, Soumya would have gotten back a stinging retort, but today Gkaka apologized. Soumya was taken aback. Gkaka and apologizing – that was news. She looked at her Maa, but today neither Maa nor Daadi were looking at her. That set Soumya in her own pondering mode.

A few minutes later, Alaap sauntered down as he carried on conversation on his cell phone. Gkaka came through the kitchen and put down a basket full of toast on the table. Alaap reached over and uncovered the towel covering the toasted bread slices. The sight of blackened toast sent his temper soaring skywards.
Mom, is Gkaka ko nikaal do tum. Buddha Satiya gaya hai. Muft ki roti todta hai, ek bread bhi toast karna nahi aata. Dekho, har ek toast jala kar rakh diya hai. Buddhe ko sar par chada kar rakha hai.

Mom, why dont you fire Gkaka ? Old man is going senile. Cant even toast a slice of bread. Look at all the the toast, each and every one of them is burnt. All of you have pampered him"

Rakhoonga, main jo uska pagaar deta hoon, (I will pamper him, I am the one who pays his salary) said Milind, as he stepped down the stairs. He did not pause at the table, but walked out to his car.

Not knowing what had hit him, Alaap just zipped his lip and sat down.
Suyesha who liked Gkaka very much rose to defend him, "Aee Pagal, chup ho ja na. Dikhta nahin kya, Gkaka ki tabiyat teekh nah. Chaliya Gkaka mere saath, main aapki help kar deti hoon. " (Hey Stupid, keep quiet. Cant you see Gkaka is not feeling well. Come on Gkaka, come along, I will help you")

PL/Maa looked up and wondered – we all think Suyesh is pagal, apparently she seemed to be the most sensible of the whole lot.

Neev coming down the other staircase, noticed Milind walk away without a glance at any at the table occupants. As Milind's path crossed with Neev, he could seem him glowering at him with pure hate and rage. If looks could kill, Neev thought, he would have breathed his last. Exasperatedly, he sat down the table to think what had set off that reaction. He did not have to think hard. Ayesha – his lovely wife must have set off another drama cycle. Neev did not have to wait long. The lady walked in with 2 suited gentlemen – who looked like lawyers. The younger one stepped further and handed over a thick envelope and said, "Mr. Neev Shergill, you are being served with the divorce notice. Here are the documents for your perusal and the court date has been set on March 10, 08."

Neev thought that his day could not have started in a better way. He was more than happy to receive the papers and was happy to sign over his consent for mutual separation. He ripped open the envelope and read the contents. He almost laughed out loud at his wife's claims and wanted to tell her that in no way this time he was going to let her get away this time and win. He intended to win this war once and for all and get on with his life.

Ayesha smirked at him and said,
"Abhi dekh shaane, main teri kaissi waat lagati hoon. Tere saare khaandan ko sadak par laoongi. Shaane apni to aish kar li, aur doosron par apne baache ko thopne ko tereko sharm kaisse re nahi aayee. Ab tu and tere Prachee ka main kya haal karti hoon dekh. Aur who budhiya teri maa and tera baap apne ko bahut shaane samajthe hain na – tum sabko sadak par nahi laya to main Amrita ki ladki nahin. Ab dekh sabkuch – tera ghar, teri gaadi, sab kuch kaissi cheenti hoon dekh. Tera sukh chain to maine cheena hi jis din tere se shaadi manayee. Ab teree so called izzat ka falooda banati hoon. Kya dekh raha hai. Bol kuch bolne ka hai to. Sunne ke liye apne paas bahut time hai. "

"Well didnt you have your fun, now watch I do to you. I bring you and your entire family on to the streets. You had a good time, and the product of your fun, you wanted to palm off on someone else. Arent you ashamed of yourself. Now wait and watch what I do to you and your precious Prachee. Your pretentious mom and dad think that they are very smart - dont they ??? I promise I will make you pay. Watch how I will grab from you your house, your car and everything that is precious to you, I will take it all from you piece by piece. The day I married you, I made sure that you were anything but happy, now by the time I am done with you, your precious self respect will be dragged and by down in the dumps. ...... What nothing to say ? Dont give me those looks. I have lots of time on hand and can give you a patient hearing"

Neev exercised iron control over his expressions. All he wanted to do was lash out and explain his side to all the aspersions caste on his character. But experience had taught him otherwise and very bitter lessons. He had to play his cards close to his chest. He heard Ayesha's monologue silently without a single word. Calmly he said to her, "Thanks Maalkin, see you in court on ......mmmmm...... what ??? When was it..... OK ... March 10, 08. See you next year."

Having delivered his single liner, he forced himself to remain calm and eat the breakfast served on his plate. The eggs curdled his stomach and he was sure, he was going to embarrass himself right here at the dining table. One glance at PL/Maa and BM/Daadi hinted him of their turmoiled state of minds. He excused himself and went to his room. Systematically, he brought out his belongings and loaded his car to move to his old bachelor's pad. An hour later after having cleaned his room, made a cursory glance to ensure that the room was devoid of his belongings. He walked down the stairs in the hall where Maa and Daadi were sitting. Despite his best efforts to keep distance, he ended up hugging Maa and Daadi and broke down. Neev thought in his mind, " What the heck, I cannot do this with my mom, since she never understands. I can be vulnerable here and I will show the soon to be Ex-Mrs. Shergill, what stuff Neev Shergill is made up of."

In the next hour, he was up to speed as to what had concurred. What a mess he thought. But what would one expect from Ayesha and her twisted brain. But Neev was very grateful to Maa and Daadi because at no point of time did they blame him. The immense trust placed by these two ladies, humbled Neev and that very instant, Neev matured in seconds. He did not want to make tall promises to anyone, but vowed to himself to come out of this stinking mess, squeaky clean and also clear out his friend's name.

He drove to Nanapeth to his kholi. The kholi was a tiny loft that his grandfather owned. This is where his grandfather Dinanath Shergill started after fleeing from Lahore during partition. Despite his grandfather having attained lofty heights in the hotel industry, Daadaji & Beeji never moved to the Shergill house. He remembered his grandfather gifting the loft to him on his 20th birthday. Mom had tried her level best persuading him to sell it off, but somehow, he hadn't let her push him on this matter. Neev sat on the chaarpai, the single piece of furniture in the room. He eased his shoes and rested his back against the wall. He needed a plan. Who did he know. Of course Pawan, Pawan Shankar.

hey, akhilash, good going , will be waiting for the next part.