ThreeThe Kapoors stared at Anika's face, there own expressions vacant and blank, when the ghoonghat of the bride was taken off off her face. There was only one thing that had led to Tia not being the bride on the day of the weddings.
Of course not, that would be rubbish. The jumbled thoughts of Mrs. Kapoor were audible enough through her mumbling to catch the attention of Pinky who had made sure her husband had pushed the servants and press out of the room.
"Whats are you saying Mrs. Kapoor?" she looked at her, her face puffy from anger and surprise she had just received.
"Tia bhaag gai. Bagair kisi explanations ke. Bagair kisi reason ke. Sirf aik note choor ke" Shivaay's voice boomed through the anomisty that had filled up insode the room. "Yahi batana chaa rahi hoon gi?!" he mocked Mrs. Kapoor's blank expression.
Pinky's attention shifted from Anika's face towards Shivaay. It appeared as if the dynamics had changed drastically with the words that echoed in the empty room. Tej appeared as if he would burst out laughing while Jhanvi's expression of somberness stuck. Rudra wanted to say something out loud in regards to the universe working against 'SHITIA' but Om's heavy hand on his arm was enough to stop him off from uttering anything.
Shakti looked genuinely troubled to see the hesitancy of embracing a decision as such on his son's face while Pinky couldn't believe that in a moment of humiliation, her son chose to buy the girl who had unintentionally helped the family through the worst obstacles in recent days instead of telling any member of the family about the debacle.
She refused to accept that her son would stoop so low. He was her son. He prided himself with the lineage his father provided and the wealth brought in through days of hard work but her son, the proof of her upbringing in contrast to Jethani ji's neglectful upbringing couldn't result in something so disastrous.
"Mein Anika ko kal hi divorce de dunga. Lawyers se baat already ho chuki hai." he added seeing the contrasting flaming faces in front of him.
"Tia?" Mrs. Kapoor mumbled a bit louder then before catching Dadi's attention while Om continued ramparting Shivaay with the worst decision he has taken of his life. Dadi looked at Anika's face, her eyes lit with fury and her jaw trembling with restraint of lashing out while looking at Mrs. Kapoor.
"Kahan gai Tia, Mrs. Kapoor? Aisa mujhe laag raha hai ke aap ko pata hai!"
"Tia, woh.. Tia." she mumbled until she found herself scanning the furious faces of half of the room's occupants. There didn't seem any more reason to lie. Perhaps omitting few truths could be a better option but other then that, nothing seemed reasonable in her mind as something she can use to delay the prospect of Shivaay looking into there past history.
"Tia, kisi aur ko pasand karti thi par mein ne usse force kya tha ke woh Shivaay ke saath apna relationship aage barhai. Mein ne usse practical decision lene ke leye force kiya par uss ne akhir mein apne dil ki sun le." she uttered hesitantly, almost pleadingly.
"AUR YEH Usse pehle batana sahi nahi laga?" Shivaay's mocking tone reemerged from the chaos ensuing.
"Billu, tu Anika ko divorce nahi de raha hai. Media ko bula aur Anika ko apni biwi ke naam se introduce kar wa do." Dadi cut in, in between with her hands going up at Om's and Shivaay's face. It was taking mere seconds for words to unravel out of everyone's mouth besides her own two sons.
She looked at Tej's amused expression and Shakti's guilt of perhaps never trying to be a proper father for his son.
In between it all, what struck her was the behavior of Someya who stood behind Priyanka with an expression of guilt but brushing aside the changing colors of Someya's face, Dadi circled her arms around Anika from the side and pulled her attention towards Shivaay.
"Daadi, jab tak Tia mere haath nahi aati, mein koi statement nahi doonga kisi ko bhi.", he uttered with finality.
"Aur yeh shaadi aik contract pe hui hai pehle. Mujhe mera bhai chaiye aur uss ki hifaazat chaiye. Shaadi nahi." Anika spoke, wriggling herself out of Dadi's clutches around her. She stood in this room since past hour, taking in insults on her character by the people she had come to regard as her family. Her shoulders were pinched back and she had begin taking off the jewelry that was never meant for her, handing it one by one to Pinky aunty.
"Yeh aik din ki shaadi hai. Na aap ko mein pasand hoon, na mujhe aap. Mujhe mera bhai meri ankoon ke samne chaiye agle aik ghante mein. Nahi toh hangama mujhe bhi karna aata hai.", she threatened.
Shivaay looked seethingly at Anika's posture. Her voice wasn't pleading. It was icy and challenging. Just as it had been on the day she had cashed in his cheque for his own wedding.
"Dhamki de rahi ho tum? Tum jaisi larki, mujhe dhamki do gi!" he blurted meaningly, taking a step towards Anika to be only held back by Daadi coming in middle and Om holding Shivaay back with his own steely tone.
"Kyun? Aagr mujh jaisi larki duniye ke samne bilawaja ka badnaam ho sakti hai toh woh kuch aur nahi kar sakti? Bhuleya ga nahi ke police records ke mutabaq, aik raat aap mere saath guzar chuke hain. Mere ghar pe khud aa ke." she argued back, with brashness and assertiveness that had long diminished from there interactions.
"ANIKA!" Pinky howled.
"Yeh tum kiya keh rahi ho?" Tej bolted upright from behind. "Tum Oberoi Groups ka naam kharab nahi kar sakti ho!" All of his hard work couldn't be thrown away like that because of a pride-war between his nephew and his wedding planner. In no way was a girl as small as Anika going to ruin the repuatation of entire Oberoi group in mere seconds.
"Shivaay, yeh larki yahan jaise rehna chahe, waise reh sakti hai." he added on looking at Anika, observing the folds of her face but not understanding himself in what he was seeking in her.
"Billu, pehre koi mazak nahi hote. Tu ne iss ka haath thama hai, aur tu isse nahi chore ga. Tujhe meri kasam Billu." Dadi pleaded, making him question himself and pushng him to dive in his own created black hole.
"yeh shaadi aik contract hai. Mera bhai do, aur mein yahaan se chali. Iss ke baad, mera iss har ke kisi insaan se koi wasta nahi hoga." Anika gritted at Shivaay.
"Pehle Tia ka pata laga ne do." he gritted back at her.
"Anika, beta shaadi koi mazak thori na hai. Tum dono ne bhagwan aur agni ke samne vachan keye hain." Dadi turned to face Anika, not understanding why a girl who was clearly infauated by her grandson was no longer looking at the positives of this wedding.
"Haan Anika. Dekho aab shaadi toh hogai hai. Aik din ki shaadi kiya hoti hai. Mera beta koi dobara tohri shaadi kare ga. Jab tak Shivaay koi raasta nahi nikalta sab kuch theek karne ke leye, jab tak tum iss ghar ki bahu ho." Pinky added on.
"Mujhe iss ghar se kuch nahi chaiye. Mujhe toh in se shaadi bhi nahi karni thi. Agar mere bhai ki jaan ka sawaal na hota, toh mein apne aap ko manap ke aag me daal deti." she yelled.
"Mein iss ghar mein teen mahine guzar chuki hoon aur in teen mahinoon mein mujhe iss ghar se aisa kuch nahi mila hai jis ke leye mein apne aap ko apni nazar mein beechoon." she screamed. , "Abhi kuch deer pehle toh aap keh rahi thi ke mera koi character nahi hai?"
The screaming and chaos presented with an amazing opputunity for the Kapoors to easily slip out from the rooms. Tia was no where to be found and Anika, the sassy wedding planner with the street vocabulary was the Oberoi daughter-in-law. Mrs. Kapoor wiped off the sweat beads and escaped quietly, her exit only noticed by the eagle eyes of youngest Oberoi brother, Rudra.
What happened next and weather Anika decided to stay was unknown to her. For all she knew, the losses of Kapoor Interprises were now going to result in bankruptcy with whatever she had left, she planned to escape away from the hell that'll ensue nationally for her business and her reputation in the elite circles.
Her legs took large strides until she was carefully seated in her car and rushed past the paparazzi frenzy awaiting at the doors of Oberoi mansion. She took a sigh of relief, her anger bubbling at the mess that her duaghter had left up for her and her brain recalling the steeliness of the girl who had was hellbent on moving away from the mansion in mere 24 hours. She concluded, that once there is nothing to lose, she herself might find herself with nerves of Anika but it would be unreasonable to place yourself in a situation where there was never anything more to lose then your own self.
Mrs. Kapoor was unknown that the glimpse of hell she saw was the beginning of a downward spiral of Oberoi group, as they would eventually once again come to the fact of deciding who was going to be the heir of the massive business.
Edited by areeba_blossom - 9 years ago
Health and Fitness
Mahadev And Sons
Writers Corner: Books, Stories & Poems
