Rectifying mistakes and redressing lives
Mahi pov:
I watched in silence as a single tear rolled down her moon kissed cheeks. She looked beautiful, but I could see the cracks in her armor. The chinks that I could never have even imagined existed. She sat silently gazing at the stars and I could empathize. It was like I knew exactly how she felt but there was nothing I could do to comfort her. And my heart wanted to. It longed to. We had both been hurt by the same person, unknowingly. He had been chosen over me, just by the twist of fate. And he had abandoned her, just because fate hadn't been kind to her.
How could he?
Anika had hounded him pestered him and ruthlessly followed him till he finally gave in and spilled his truth. She had done this all by herself because she wanted to protect her husband from anything and everything that befell him. He admired her courage. For all she knew he could have been someone who could have seriously hurt her. He could see how much she cared for him. It was plainly apparent in her tenacious and tireless determination in finding out the truth behind the man who had taken her husband's place. So he had gave in. He had confessed the reason to his actions and she had stood in shock.
I had turned away as I spoke to her, unwilling to see someone care about a man who looked just like me.
"I understand that you are worried about him Anika. But I need you to know that I will never hurt him. That I will never enter your lives again. But for that I want you to leave me be. To never come back to meet me again." I did not want to see her again. She represented and reminded me of the life I would never have. And the life I would always want.
I remember my surprise as her fingers wrapped around my wrist and she slowly me towards her. It was probably the first time someone had touched me without ill will.
"Please Mahi" she had whispered, and had looked at me with such conviction that I couldn't turn away, "I need to know. I need to know why. I need to know you can never harm him again. And for that I need to know the whole story"
I had taken a deep breath in before uttering the words that would change all our lives forever.
"I cannot hurt him Anika. Because when you hurt your twin" I say pausing for the words to sink in, "it hurts you here" I complete thumping my chest lightly with her fingers still wrapped around my wrist. I had watched grimly as her nerveless fingers dropped suddenly.
"Hard to believe? Well that's up to you." I instinctively knew I wouldn't be able to take it if she called me a liar. I wanted this woman to think I was good person, because she was a good person. I continued before she could say anything else. "30 years ago, Mr.Oberoi had met my mother for the first time since the last day of their college. They had fallen in love when they were young. And over the four years the love had gradually..well depleted. But when they had met Mr.Oberoi had been fighting with his mother who wanted him to get married and settle down. He had poured out his heart to my mother and they had well... spent the night together" I say blushing slightly while watching the color in her cheeks rise simultaneously.
"He told her the next day that the whole thing had been a mistake. And he was getting married that day and my mother had been devastated. He had left before she could complete a sentence. He had married...Mrs.Oberoi while my mom watched without him noticing. When my mother's parents came to know about her pregnancy they washed their hands of her. She spent the next few months searching for a stable home. No one would let her stay for long when they realized she was unmarried and with child. At the end of 9 months she was admitted at the same hospital that Pinky aunty was. Pinky aunty had wanted a son. Someone who would inherit the Oberoi empire. She had told Mr.Oberoi that if she didn't give birth to a son it would destroy her because Omkara was already born. She had given birth to a daughter. When Mr.Oberoi was walking around the hospital gathering the courage to tell this to his wife he had come across my mother. He had been shocked, but Oberois are known for their...quick thinking. He had exchanged his daughter for Shivaay and paid my mother to never contact him again. Mom had taken the money knowing she needed it to raise two children alone. She had not turned back again, knowing she would never get the respect she deserved. She had told everyone that Mr.Oberoi's daughter was her niece because she didn't want her to suffer being called a...bas***d." As Anika flinches at the word, I smile sadly.
"But over the years mother grew bitter. The taunts hurt too much. She hated Mr.Oberoi and I was a part of him. So she learnt to hate me. She hated Shivaay because he had the life that was rightfully hers."
A tear rolled down my cheek as I remember the love Shivaay has always had.
"Mahi, I am sorry...I didn't.."
I cut her off, "I wonder Anika, day in and day out, what if Mr.Oberoi had picked me instead. How had he decided which baby to pick up? How could he choose between both his sons so easily?"
I had cried out, not trying to contain the tears. For once I had wept without constraint. And she had held my hands as I was not alone for the first time in forever.
And the worst day in our lives had not even started yet.
I walked towards her sinking into the ground beside her. I watched from the periphery of my eyes as she wiped her tears and turned towards me. She smiled weakly and I tried to return it back.
"Mahi...where is she?"
I instinctively know she is talking about Preeti.
"She met with an accident last year. We didn't have the money to treat her. Mother had tried to contact Mr.Oberoi, but she hadn't been able to reach him in time. She had lost the child she had raised. And she finally wanted revenge. That's why she wanted to hurt Priyanka. A taste of their own medicine."
Anika gasped and turned her head upwards again gazing back at the stars.
"To much wrong has happened Mahi."
Tomorrow I would set everything right. Tomorrow I would knock some sense into my brother. Even if it meant telling him the truth.
How would he turn away from Anika if he knew the truth about his heritage? A bas***d.
I pulled out my mouth organ and began to play it. A new tune. For today it was filled with hope. Today I had made a new friend.
Mrs. Shivaay Singh Oberoi.
Though she prefers the name Anika, I smile at the afterthought.
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