Hello People 🤗
First of all a very Happy Diwali to everyone 🤗
Secondly, the credit for the plot of this story and the title goes to WaqtZaya aka Ankie 😳 I’ve just framed it for her 😛
Since it’s a long OS, I am positing in two parts 😛
Happy Reading 🤗
~~~~~~~~
The entire Basu Bari was decorated beautifully on Rishabh’s instructions, after all it was Prerna and Anurag’s wedding today. He did all this with a heavy heart, it was for her happiness, he kept reminding himself. Once he was sure that everything was ready he walked to their.. her room to check if she needed anything.
It was difficult for Rishabh to take each step closer in her direction, he knew that it would probably be the last time he would see her. His heart skipped a beat when he reached the door and saw her dressed in a Red Lehenga. His eyes teared up as a small smile formed on his face, the scene in front of his eyes was making him go through an emotional turmoil. His daughter was helping her mother get ready for her wedding with the love of her life! He composed himself and knocked on the door, Prerna and Kukki turned to him. He gave them a forced smile and walked inside, Kukki ran to her father and he picked her up in his arms, but all this while he couldn’t tear his eyes from Prerna.
‘You are looking very pretty!’
He complimented her and earned a shy smile in return
‘Thanks, all this is Kukki’s choice!! She has an excellent taste.’
Prerna smiled and caressed her daughter’s hair making Kukki smile at her, but Rishabh was having a hard time controlling himself. He feared that his tears would start following any minute.
‘Urm.. actually I just wanted to check if you need anything? The rituals will start soon. So do you want me to get you something to eat before that? I mean it’s going to be at least a few hours before you get time to eat anything once the rituals will start and aapko iss haal main zyada waqt tak bina kuch khaye nahi rehna chahiye .. so…’
Rishabh blabbered and Prerna was touched by his concern for her. She just gave him a positive nod as an answer because words were failing her, Rishabh left Kukki with Prerna and went to arrange some food for her. In a few hours time she would become someone else’s wife but yet Rishabh was worried for her.
——
Prerna walked down the stairs with a smile on her face, today was going to be the best day of her life!
Everyone in the room kept looking at the beautiful bride who was being escorted by her little daughter. Rishabh let out a heavy sigh to avoid his tears, he walked up to them and stretched his hand for Prerna. She hesitantly caught it, Rishabh walked her till the Mandap where Anurag was already seated.
‘I wish you a happy life!!’
Rishabh merely whispered to Prerna and left her hand as they read the mandap, the priest asked her to sit next to Anurag and she did but for some reason she couldn’t stop herself from turning back and looking at Rishabh who was walking out of the house. She wanted to get up and stop him but the priest had already started reciting the mantras.
——
They were half way through the wedding when suddenly Mohini roared
‘Stop this wedding right now’
The entire lot of guests and her family looked at her in shock as she walked to the mandap. She caught Prerna’s hand and almost dragged her from there.
‘I will not let you get married to my son when you are already pregnant with someone else’s child’
Mohini glared at Prerna as she spoke while the latter looked at her in shock, Anurag walked up to them
‘Maa what are you saying??’
‘I am saying the truth Anurag!! Read this.’
She handed him Prerna’s pregnancy reports, Anurag was shocked when he saw that the reports were positive.
‘Anurag listen to me!! It’s true that I am pregnant but…’
Before Prerna could complete her sentence she had earned a tight slap, and it was Nivedita who had slapped her
‘How dare you Prerna? How could even think of getting married to my brother after all this?? When we came to know why you married Mr. Baja we all were feeling guilty for misunderstanding you but now.. why is that everytime we start liking you a little you do something that we hate you more!! How could you cheat on my brother like this??’
Nivedita questioned her and Prerna tried to answer but before she could Mohini spoke again
‘You know Prerna, it was only for my son and his happiness that I agreed to accept you as my daughter in law even after all this. But you always manage to prove me that you will never be the right girl for him …’
‘Kaki Maa it’s nothing like that… trust me..’
She went to Anurag and caught his hand
‘Please listen to me once… please .. read those reports properly Anurag… just once, check my term of pregnancy.. it’s your child Anurag.. believe me!! I am not pregnant with anyone else’s child but yours!!’
She begged him and asked him to read the reports once, but Anurag just looked at her. He didn’t even open the envelope, only the test result that was printed on it was enough to shock him. Mohini walked to them and grabbed Prerna by her arms
‘Enough.. stay away from my son! Don’t you dare try and get him trapped in your word web. I will not let you ruin his life by trying to name this child as his.’
Prerna looked at Shivani and Veena, she freed her arm from Mohini's grip and walked to them
‘Maa.. Shivi.. you know me na.. you guys say them na.. tell everyone that I am not lying.. I can’t lie about such a huge thing… you believe me right??’
She looked at her family with hope in her eyes but it was shattered the next minute when her mother spoke
‘How can I ask others to trust you when I can’t believe you myself Prerna??’
Prerna looked at her mother in shock
‘Maa..’
‘Haan Prerna.. you lied to us about why you married Mr. Bajaj, if you could lie then, why can’t you lie now??’
Her mother’s words had hit Prerna hard, she agreed that she was at fault when she hid the truth about Rishabh and Her’s marriage but she did that only to protect everyone else and not hurt them. She knew that her family and Anurag would get mad when the truth would be revealed to everyone. But they were now holding it against her, they refused to believe her this time when she was saying the truth because she had lied to them then.
‘Please don’t say this Maa.. you know I hid the truth only because I didn’t want to hurt you..’
‘Then why did you hide your pregnancy too Prerna?? Why didn’t you tell us earlier?!’
‘Because if I would have told everyone earlier that I am pregnant with Anurag’s child, Anurag would have done something stupid to separate me from Mr. Bajaj and I was scared that Mr. Bajaj would try to hurt him again!! That’s why I didn’t tell anyone about it!’
Prerna said in her defence, she hoped that everyone would understand her point of view.
‘Wow.. what a great story Prerna!!!’
Mohini said sarcastically as she clapped her hands
‘Just stop saying again and again that you did all this for Anu’s sake!! Because I won’t believe you, if you really loved him and this child is his, then why did you even marry Bajaj in the first place?’
Prerna didn’t know what to say, she did what she was right at that time! Why wasn’t anyone getting her point?? She looked at Anurag expectantly. She walked up to him once again
‘Anurag.. why are you silent? Say something na.. everyone is accusing me of cheating on you but you know me na? You love me! You know main kabhi aisa nahi kar sakti.. tumhe kabhi dhoka nahi de sakti main.. yakeen karo mera Anurag yeh tumhara hi baccha hai.. bas ek bar reports open karke ache se read kar lo bas ek baar..’
She caught his hand but he jerked it, shocking Prerna and everyone else in the room. He looked at her angrily
‘Don’t touch me.. mujhe chune ka haq Kho chuki ho tum… aur na hi mujhe tumhari koi baat suni hai’
‘Anurag..yeh Tum kya bol rahe ho??’
‘Sach bol raha hun.. nahi sunna hai mujhe kuch bhi.. I don’t give a damn about what’s written in those reports. Because the truth is that you are pregnant.. and that too with someone else’s child.. because I have never touched you..’
Prerna looked at him in disbelief. How could he say that? Did he not remember the night that they spent in the jungle?
‘Anurag..’
‘Kya Anurag?? Abh aur kya bacha hai bolne ko Prerna.. aisi kya kami thi mere pyaar main ki tumne mujhe cheat kiya?? And chalo, ek baar ko usske liye tumhe maaf bhi kar dun, but how can you still claim to love me even after all this? Mazak bana diya hai tumne mera aur mere pyaar ka aaj!!’
Saying so he walked back from her, he took off his shera. Prerna was shattered listening to his words. He was the only person she thought who would believe her but he was accusing her of cheating on him. Mohini smirked at her son’s words.
‘Anurag please don’t say all this.. please.. bas ek baar meri baat ka yakeen kar lo.. ek mauka do mujhe.. I sacrificed everything for you, yet you are questioning me! You can’t do this to me..’
She pleaded with him once again
‘Sunne ko baki hi kya hai Prerna?? Itne waqt tak tumhe wapas pane ke liye na jane kya kya kiya hai maine.. I put my own life on stake Damn it!! And this is what you do to me?! Aur vo Bajaj… mahan bane chale the na tumhe mere pass wapas bhej ke, does he even know about your pregnancy? Or just like us you have kept him in the dark as well?’
‘Why are you saying all this Anurag?? Kya hogaya hai tumhe?? Iss tarah kyun baat kar rahe ho mujh se?’
Prerna cried in front of him, she couldn’t bare this harsh treatment that she was getting from everyone, especially Anurag.
‘Then how else should I speak to you and what else do you want to hear?! You have ridiculed my love for you, again and again!! I was naive to not see your true face back then, but now I know who you really are.. you are nothing else but an opportunist, jab mujhse dil bhar gaya toh Bajaj ke paas chali gai aur shayad uske saath rehke bhi tumhare armaan pure nahi hue the jo mere paas wapas laut aai…’
Anurag almost yelled towards the end, he was disgusted with Prerna right now. In fact, almost everyone present in the room only gave her disgusted looks!!
‘Enough Mr. Basu!!’
At once, all the eyes in the room turned towards the entrance, Rishabh stood there on the threshold of the house. He was fuming in anger, his fist was tightly clenched as he walked towards Anurag and Prerna. He stood in the middle of them and glared at Anurag. If looks could kill, Anurag would have been lying dead on the floor due to the fire and rage that were splitting in Rishabh’s eyes.
‘I warned you, if you do anything to hurt Prerna. I’ll come back in your life. Mujhe gaye ghante bhi nahi hue ki aap already unhe ill treat kar rahe hain?! Yehi hai unke liye aapka pyaar??’
Rishabh asked him angrily but Anurag laughed at his words
‘And see you are back!! Aur aap sahi time pe wapas aaye hain.. aapke liye ek good news hai.. your wife is Pregnant.. aur aap Baap bane wale hain!!’
‘What??!’
‘Oh, even you didn’t know about this!! So I was right, Prerna has kept you in the dark just like us!’
Anurag spoke nonchalantly but Rishabh was surprised to listen to his words. He had come back because Kukki’s medical file was with Prerna and Rishabh had forgotten to take it from her, when he had entered the house he only heard the last few words that Anurag had said to Prerna, but now he understood what this entire chaos was about. He rubbed his forehead to calm himself before he tried to clear the misunderstanding
‘Anurag.. what are you saying? You are accusing Prerna of cheating on you. How can you do this to her?? She loves you..’
‘And yet she slept with you.. she is pregnant with your child Mr. Bajaj…all this while, I was trying to get her back in my life, but you.. you snatched her from me!! Hamesha ke liye door kar diya mujhe meri Prerna se..’
Anurag spoke angrily, he kept glaring Rishabh and Prerna simultaneously
‘Le jaiye isse.. and don’t worry, this time I won’t try to win her back!! She can be yours forever now!!’
Saying so Anurag walked out of the house, Mohini and Nivedita shot one disgusted glance at Rishabh and Prerna, they too went back to their rooms. One by one all the guests started leaving the house. Rishabh looked at Sharma family and walked to them. As soon as he stopped in front of Veena, she folded her hands in front of him
‘Aapse vinti karte hain, le jaiye isse yahan se.. jise pehle ki hum apna aapa Kho de aur kuch galat keh baithe usse..’
Veena didn’t even look at Prerna as she spoke, Rishabh wanted to say something but he knew that right now Veena was angry at Prerna, no matter what he said it wouldn’t make a difference to her, so he just nodded his head and Veena left with rest of her kids.
Rishabh and Prerna now stood alone in the hall, the place was so lively a few minutes ago but right now the silence that had filled it was deading. He took slow and cautious steps towards Prerna who stood rooted to her spot. She looked like she had been turned into a statue.
‘Prerna..’
He called her out softly but she didn’t respond to him, Rishabh placed his hand on her shoulder with hesitation and she slowly turned to her
‘Are you okay?’
Rishabh asked her, he knew it was a stupid question to ask her right now, obviously she wasn’t okay. The man with whom she wanted to spend the rest of her life with, had not only accused her but had also degraded her.
When Rishabh didn’t get any response from her once again, he just wrapped his right arm around her shoulders and started guiding her outside the house but Prerna kept looking back towards the mandap in which she was seated a while ago as Anurag’s bride. Suddenly she felt her knees give up and darkness had engulfed her, Rishabh lifted her in his arms effortless and walked to his car, he laid her in the backseat first and then took her head in his lap, he ordered his driver to take them to their nearest hospital as soon as he could.
——
While the doctor attended Prerna, Rishabh made a few calls. First and foremost he called his Masi and updated her about the entire situation. He asked her to leave for London with Kukki and Tanvi, she assured him that everything would be fine
‘Take care of her Rishabh.. aur agar ho sake toh usse apne saath hi le aao!’
‘Ji Masi, you guys travel safely, we will be there as soon as we can!’
He then called his advocate Mr. Mehra and asked him about the divorce papers
‘Sorry sir, since it was a weekend court bandh tha, main kal sab se pehle Unn papers ko court main submit kar dunga..’
‘No need Mr. Mehra.. Prerna and I aren’t getting divorced now. In fact just shred those papers’
Rishabh sent a silent prayer to god, he was relieved that Prerna was still his wife. He sat on a bench right outside the Prerna’s room, he was impatiently waiting for the doctor to come and update him. After a few minutes when he saw the doctor come out the room he started questioning about Prerna.
‘Mr. Bajaj, please come with me!’
Once they were inside his cabin the doctor asked Rishabh to sit and then gave him a calmly updated him about Prerna’s condition
‘Your wife is physically fine Mr. Bajaj, but seems like she has been through a really stressful situation which has affected mental health.I am sure that you are aware about her pregnancy, she is in her initial stage and in seems like the stress has taken a toll on her!’
‘What do you mean? Tell me clearly what’s wrong with my wife!!’
Rishabh almost lost his cool on the doctor but the latter still replied to him calmly
‘There is nothing wrong with her Mr. Bajaj, but she is in a trauma right now. Her vitals are stable, your baby is healthy, but your wife’s behaviour has changed. The problem is that she isn’t responding to well, when I asked her certain questions she either gave me blank looks or she just nodded her head. She wasn’t vocal at all. It’s advisable for pregnant ladies to avoid stress as much as they can but like I said, unfortunately your wife has been through a lot of stress. You need to take extra care of her from now on, if possible please try to distract her from all this stress as soon as you can. You can take her somewhere else if you wish but Mr. Bajaj, you will have to be very patient while dealing with her from now on. Right now she is very fragile and she needs extra love and care from you! We will keep her under observation tonight and tomorrow morning you can take her home’
Rishabh just listened to the doctor’s words patiently this time and thanked him, after the doctor had prescribed some medicines for Prerna, Rishabh walked back to her room.
As soon as he laid his eyes on her, his eyes started tearing up. Prerna lay there on the bed with a blank face, her eyes were open and she kept looking at the ceiling. It was supposed to be the best day of her life today but here she was in a hospital bed. She spotted Rishabh and slowly tried getting up, he rushed to her to help her. He made her sit comfortably on the bed and was about to pull the chair for himself when Prerna stopped him
‘Sit next to me, please’
She spoke in a low voice but that was loud enough for Rishabh to hear it, he just obeyed her words. Once he sat next to her Prerna placed her head on his shoulder, her action surprised Rishabh but he kept mumb. They sat in the position silently for a few minutes
‘He refused to accept my child, he accused me of cheating on him, he left me .. Maa didn’t believe me either. They all questioned me and my child…’
Prerna said softly, Rishabh shut his eyes as she spoke. Her pain was evident in her voice, he took a deep breath to compose himself before he spoke
‘Prerna..’
She looked at him with tears in her eyes
‘Why?! I only thought of everyone else’s happiness and yet I am the one being questioned and blamed. I sacrificed my happiness for his freedom and this is what I get in return??! Why did he do this to me?? Why?’
She started sobbing loudly and clutched the collar of his shirt in her fist. Rishabh felt helpless right now. He wanted to share her pain but there was nothing that he could do would make her feel better.
‘That’s because he was angry. You know that people don’t realise their mistakes when they are angry right? Just because everyone else blamed you that does not mean that you should blame yourself too. You have done nothing wrong Prerna, nothing wrong. And I know it too, I am sorry for leaving you alone there, but I promise that I'll never leave you again.’
Once again Prerna looked at him
‘Promise?!’
She asked him innocently and he nodded his head in assurance. She rested her head on his shoulder once again and closed her eyes. Rishabh’s words had consoled her a bit, he kept soothing her hair until she fell asleep. He freed his collar from her grip and made her lie comfortably. He pulled the chair closer to the bed seated there, he caught her hand in his
‘I’ll never let you get hurt again Prerna. I vow to take care of you and our child, from this minute no harm will come your way. And even if it does, I will be the one facing it before you have to face it!’
Rishabh made a silent promise to her and kept caressing her face.
——
All things Korean
