Enough | in progress | AbhiGya FF by mina

Enough
A KKB FF by -mina-

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 (p6) | Chapter 3 (p11) | Chapter 4 (p13) | Chapter 5 (p16)
Chapter 6 (p19) | Chapter 7 (p24)

When Pragya first caught sight of Abhi pulling Puneet down the stairs, she was alarmed and confused. As she tried to get between them while Abhi kept screaming and hitting her cousin, she had felt fear and doubt starting to overwhelm her. But now, listening to Aaliya posturing endlessly from her pretend position of moral superiority, Pragya was starting to feel furious.

Aaliya had turned to Mama-Mami and was taunting their parenting. "Aur aap log, aisi sanskaar diye hai apne beta ko? To respect his female relatives, but to mistreat other women?"

Excuse me, Pragya thought incredulously. Who is she to talk about anyone's sanskaar? Pragya thought about how Aaliya had manipulated Abhi into marrying her, and about how she was forcing Purab to honour their engagement even after he had been honest about not loving her. She remembered all the incidents of Aaliya talking with sarcasm and superiority to everyone from the media to policemen to sales clerks and even individuals like Suresh. How dare this Aaliya ki baachi talk as if she knows anything about moral behaviour! She is equally disrespectful to her brother, her fiance, or any man off the street, always wanting to use them for her own ends!

Aaliya was now turning her poison tongue on Daadi. "Aur Daadi, aap! You don't have anything to say today?" Her voice took on a mocking tone as she imitated what Daadi had said at earlier times to stop her and Abhi from speaking nonsense.

Yeh ladki kitni badtameez hai! Unbelievable, Pragya thought as her frustration mounted. Daadi did not deserve to be talked to like that, and Aaliya was undermining her own claims about having proper values by so openly disrespecting her own grandmother in front of everyone.

"Hamesha in middle class logo ki sanskaaro ko lekar lecture dehte raheti hain na, aap? Daadi, aap itni bholli hai ki aapko khud ko nazaar nahin aata ki yeh double standard waale log kaise hote hai."

Oh, that's rich! Ms. Queen of Lies and Manipulation, talking of double standards? Even within her mind, Pragya was starting to lose all sense of restraint when it came to Aaliya. With each moment that passed, she was less and less able to think of the girl with any degree of respect, even if she was her husband's sister.

"First they get people like you on their side, and then they make fools out of you. They abuse your trust."

Pragya could almost laugh at the perfect dramatic irony of Aaliya saying such a thing. Daadi ki bhollepaan ko khud itne faida utha tha hai, isse liye she can imagine everyone else doing so. How Daadi raised such a spoiled and selfish person, I will never understand.

Finally Aaliya stopped haranguing Daadi. She looked around the room with the perfect timing of a soap opera villain and declared, "I don't know about the rest of you, but I will not let him go so easily!" She grabbed Taanu and continued her naatak, saying with all the appearance of a modest girl enraged by her friend's victimization, "No one can misbehave like this with my best friend. Bhai, call the police. And then, lay a charge of molestation on this Puneet! When the police arrive, Taanu will tell them that he touched her inappropriately while they danced." Aaliya's voice held a disgusting note of triumph.

That was one step too far. In an instant, Pragya imagined all the implications of what would happen to her young brother if this went forward. She could not let his life be destroyed, no matter the cost. All this time, she had borne Abhi's tortures, Tanu's taunts, and Aaliya's schemes for the sake of her mother. She had even allowed her sister to give up the love of her life just to maintain the fiction of her and Abhi's marriage. But there was a limit to tolerance, and now Pragya found that she could not let these malicious, fraudulent, black-hearted people get away with even one more dishonorable act.

"Nahin. Enough. Bahut ho gaya." Pragya felt all eyes in the room turn on her. She took Puneet's hand in her own and gave it a reassuring squeeze. She stared at Aaliya and Tanu and continued, "That dance happened in front of all our eyes, and we saw that nothing like molestation happened."

Pragya could see that Aaliya wanted to interrupt her, but she kept on talking. She met Tanu's eyes and let her own face show all of her rage and contempt as she said, "Instead, your so-called best friend, a grown woman, was shamelessly wrapping herself all over my young cousin." Pragya took a deep breath, embracing what she knew would be her last moment of inner balance before she let out the truth. "She practically molested him, and that too, only to make your brother jealous!"

The tension in the room suddenly changed, becoming sharper and heavier as the weight of her words hit everyone. Before anyone could jump in to redirect the discussion, Pragya turned to Abhi and unleashed all her pent up anger and frustration. "Yes, why did you stop, Mr. Abhi Mehra? Why don't you tell everyone who she really is?" She shook her head at his mute, shocked face. "I'll tell everyone for you, then. Super model Tanu is your girlfriend, she has been in your life since before you ever thought of marriage, and now you are overreacting due to jealousy of a young boy!"

Aaliya found her voice, interrupting in a firm tone, "Kya, what bakwaas is this? You cannot make up stories about Bhai just to -"

"NO." Pragya said forcefully. "Enough. I've had enough. It's time that everyone knew the full truth, because from this day forward no one from my family will be involved in your insane dramas anymore."

"Pragya - Pragya, what are you saying?" Sarla asked in a faltering voice. She was clinging to her mother in law, clearly needing support just to keep standing.

Oh, ma, Pragya thought with a pang of regret. I wish I didn't have to do this to you. It was going to be hard to watch her mother fall apart again, but she had already decided it was time for the truth. It was time to finish this madness once and for all.

"Ma, Abhi did not marry me because our kundalis match or because Daadi chose me for him. He married me because Aaliya convinced him she needed revenge. Aaliya wants to marry Purab at any cost, and that includes manipulating her brother into a fake marriage, even when she fully knew that he had a relationship with Tanu."

"No," Daadi protested. "No, my Abhi can't do this," she said in a pleading tone.

Funny that she's not saying that her Aaliya can't plot this, Pragya thought wryly. She opened her mouth to answer, but then an unexpected voice joined the conversation.

"Yes, he can." Purab stepped forward. He glared at Aaliya with disgust, and frowned at Abhi in disappoinment. "I am sorry, Daadi. I have been supporting all these lies, because I love Bhai, and Aaliya was once my friend. But Pragya Di is right. It's time everyone knew the truth."

Pragya suddenly felt a hundred times lighter. Everything was still going to be a disaster, but at least she wouldn't be standing alone with the truth.

"What - what truth?" Abhi asked quietly. He was staring at Purab, focussing on him as if there was no one else in the room.

Purab approached Bulbul. He took her hand and pulled her forward, even though she tried to stay back with Purvi.

Pragya watched with approval and relief as Purab finally defended his love in front of everyone.

Purab met Abhi's eyes and said slowly, "The truth is that I love Bulbul. I never meant to betray Aaliya, and I have never done anything that would dishonour our engagement, but my heart chose its own path."

"IT WAS BULBUL?!" Aaliya exploded. "You can't be serious. I saw you with my own eyes, I heard this - this behenji say that she agreed to marry you!" She pointed at Pragya, but her eyes were set on Purab.

"She said she agreed that I could marry her sister. That's your problem, Aaliya, you hear what you want to hear. You never let me tell you the truth, and instead of dealing with the issues between us, you dragged Bhai and Di into this mistake of a marriage. When will you learn that you can't always get what you want!"

"I don't - I don't understand any of this. Bulbul, tu ne kya kiya? Ek baar phir, tu ne --" Sarla was barely able to speak. Her voice was choked with tears, and fear and confusion were evident in her tone. Suddenly, she clutched her hand to her chest. "Yeh saab - kya -" Sarla's sentence trailed off as she suddenly fainted.

"MA!" Bulbul and Pragya both ran forward, helping their Daadi hold up the unconscious Sarla.

"Oh, God. Di, I don't have Ma's medicine, we left it at home," Bulbul started to explain.

Pragya checked her mother's pulse and all her other worries vanished from her mind. "It doesn't matter Bulbul. This time we have to take her to the hospital."

Aaliya scoffed loudly. "What drama is this? These people are just trying to -"

"Enough, Aaliya," Daadi ordered. Her own voice was faint, and her face had gone grey. But she spoke with enough firmness that Aaliya had to listen.

Purab had joined Pragya and Bulbul in supporting Sarla, and they started to move toward the door with Purvi and Daadi Arora behind them. Mamaji's family quickly joined them.

As they neared the door, Akaash hurried up to them and said, "Bhabhi, we can take one of our cars -"

"That's not necessary," Pragya said without looking at him. She was focussed on her mother now, but she still wanted to create distance between herself and Abhi's family. She did not plan to return to this house, no matter what happened with her mother at the hospital or after.

"We'll take my car," Purab agreed.

The Mehras were simply left to watch as Pragya's family and Purab left their mansion.

When they were gone, Daadi let out a sob. "Meri ghar ki lakshmi ne chala gaya," she moaned. "Yeh saab kya hua? Kyun hua?" Daadi's cousins took her to a couch and tried to soothe her, but Daadi was beyond listening. "Abhi!" she cried. "Abhi, yeh tune kya kiya?" she repeated over and over again.

Abhi was standing as if frozen in his spot. He stared at Daadi helplessly, suddenly feeling wave after wave of guilt and regret crash over him as he began to understand just how wrong he had been about Pragya.

thats all i can say!

Like WOW

Another superb OS from you. I love your Pragya... 😊

Loved how she thought enough is enough. And Akaash offering his car was a nice subtle touch. Unexpected kindness from an unexpected source, exactly true to the transformation he is currently undergoing. Great going. Loved it..keep writing and please PM me when you write next.

Love

Kshithi