Segment # 16
Samarth tossed restlessly on his tiny twin bed, desperately trying to get some well-deserved shut-eye. He was bone tired. First, the shattering news about Shweta and Saikat had come in, and he had held Veronica until she had exhausted her tears. When he had finally gotten her to sleep, Abhay had called her cell. Sam had half a mind to ignore it, then decided he would pick up just to let Abhay absorb the fact that he and Nica were together. But Abhay had some surprising news to deliver. It seemed Shweta and Saikat were still alive but barely. It would be a miracle if either survived. Sam had never believed in them. But the tragedy had happened so far away from home and their only source of information was Abhay! Of all people! He snorted at the twisted irony.
He was barely hanging in there himself but he had to be strong for Nica. She had felt a little hopeful when he had relayed the news and had insisted on going to her Mama’s place. He had dropped her off there & headed back to his tiny apartment to sink his exhausted body and mind into sleep. But sleep remained elusive.
Frustrated, he threw off the sheets and walked into his minuscule kitchen to get himself a glass of water when the doorbell rang. Who could it be at this hour?
He switched on the lights and looked through the peephole doing a silent double-take. Abhinav Naanu! What did he want?
He pulled the door open, letting in the elderly man.
“Naanu! Is everything okay?”
The older man drew a deep breath. “No. It’s not. I need your help. We have to talk.”
Samarth guided him to the living room sofa bringing him a glass of water that he refused. And without preamble, he began speaking.
“Samarth, I need you to come back to work for the Mehtas.”
Samarth froze. The one thing he had vowed he would never do after what Abhay had led Veronica to do. He had experienced first-hand her breakdown after the abortion and it had killed him. He had dropped her home and after making sure she was comfortable, had gone straight to the Mehta’s home, deposited their car keys, the security access key and his badge-pin which bore the Mehta Enterprises logo. He was done.
He had found a job soon as a lab analyst in a small biotech firm. And he had a night job as a bouncer in a high-profile club. His security guard & jiu-jitsu training served him well there. In fact, they had served him well at the Mehtas too. Manav Mehta, Abhay’s father had a lot of cut-throat business rivals, and so Abhinav Naanu had directed him to be a sort of bodyguard for the whole family. Chauffeuring had been just a front. But now he wasn’t protecting anyone in that family. Nope. His loyalties lay with Nica.
He met Abhinav Naanu’s gaze steadily and then shook his head speaking firmly.
“Naanu, I’m grateful for everything you’ve done for my Daadu and my family but I think I have repaid your generosity enough. I cannot any longer. If my debt isn’t cleared, I have a little saved up and am working two jobs. I can...”
Abhinav raised his hand indicating for him to stop.
“You are demeaning my friendship and my affection for you, my boy. Jairaj and I were best friends at school. I gave him a job in Basu Finance not because he was my friend, but because he was damn good at what he did!”
Samarth nodded. He was still uncertain where this was going. And he was so damn tired. Yet he stood in attention and respect because the man before him had always commanded it.
A flash of emotion crossed the old man’s face. “Samarth beta. I’m asking you this as a favor. Abhay needs you to protect him. His life could be in danger.”
Samarth's jaw dropped wide open in shock. Abhay was in danger?!
Abhinav took a brief pause. “I know you’re grieving Shweta & Saikat’s fate and I know it’s a lot to ask of you but please hear me out. The police are investigating and they suspect foul play. Suspicion has fallen on a major druglord - Vikrant Chhada also known as The Panther. He has operations in the Maldives. And he also has links with Jiya, the woman Abhay’s been seeing.”
Samarth reeled and sank heavily on the sofa, his head spinning, trying to absorb all of this.
Abhinav Naanu went on. “Saikat and Jiya were engaged long ago and they broke it off right before the wedding. No one knows what happened. Then Jiya had an intense affair with Chhada. They were together for a year. She called it off and came back to India where she met Abhay.”
Samarth nodded. He had seen this Jiya person with Abhay. His blood ran cold.
“It seems Chhada never got over Jiya and still wants her back. He also found out Saikat and Jiya were involved and now the police think Saikat was deliberately attacked. I’m afraid if that is true then Abhay will be next. The man is ruthless and will stop at nothing to get back the object of his affections & clear any perceived hurdle on that path.”
“I still don’t see how I can help. There are more professional..” began Samarth.
Abhinav cut him short. “I want you. I only trust you. You are damn good at what you do.”
“No. I’m sorry. But no.”
Samarth’s words had an edge of finality to them.
Abhinav was silent for a while and then spoke softly.
“Not even if I tell you you’d be protecting your own brother?”
Samarth let out a staggered breath. He had had enough of shocking revelations and hidden secrets. This was too much for him.
“I don’t…”
“I wasn’t going to say anything. This will probably make you hate me, but it’s best if you knew the truth. My guilt has been gnawing at me and I want to get it off my chest now. Your father, Vishwas and my daughter, Kangana had always been close. Somewhere along the line, they fell in love. They wanted to marry of course. But I was misguided then. I always put profitability over emotions and felt a marriage between prospective business partners would be more beneficial. So I arranged Kangana’s marriage with Manav Mehta, the son of Niranjan Mehta, the business tycoon. She rebelled. Threatened to run away and elope. I was harsh with her. But she wouldn’t listen to reason. So I went and pleaded with Vish and Jairaj. Told them to let her go. That their marriage wouldn’t work and the practical impossibilities of it. I begged Vish to marry elsewhere because that was the only way Kangana would relent. He gave in & married your mother, probably out of obligation too. Kangana was heartbroken and she agreed to marry Manav but she discovered she was pregnant.”
Abhinav raised his tired eyes and looked at Samarth, who was completely wrecked by now.
“The child was Vishwas’s. She kept it quiet on my advice. She delivered twins. Manav was away in Australia when Kangana gave birth. Vish’s wife, Prerna - your mother - couldn’t get pregnant because of a medical issue. To assuage my own guilt and as a way of making amends, I gave away one child to Vish and Prerna. You, Samarth.”
He stopped, casting his eyes to the floor. “You were the collateral damage in my twisted schemes. The only consolation - or so I told myself - was that you’d be growing up in your own father’s home. But you had to see struggle while Abhay grew up in comfort. Jairaj & I tried to keep you boys together growing up and hoped you'd be best friends.. but... " He shrugged.
"I did not support Jairaj in his last days as a means to extract a favor or for you to feel obliged. No. That was just a way to make it okay. To seek redemption. To make amends. You didn’t owe me anything, beta,” His voice softened. “It was I who owed you everything.”
Samarth had no idea what to do with this information. He could not process the fact that he and Abhay were brothers. Twins! It seemed… impossible.
“So Abhay is not a Mehta?” he spoke, the words faltering. “We are both .. Varmas?”
“Yes. But Manav does not know. And neither should he. Please don’t tell him. Only Kangana & I and now you know the truth. Even your mother didn't know. Jairaj did not want her loving you any less thinking you were the product of her husband’s love affair.”
Samarth was silent. He had no idea what to say. This was huge. Enormous. And the thing is that nothing would change for him. Or for anyone. Except Abhinav Naanu - his own naanu! - was asking him to protect Abhay, his brother, who had destroyed the love of his life. Samarth had never felt so torn.
“Naanu,” he began softly. “I’m sorry, I cannot…”
“All I’m asking is for you to go to Maldives. Abhay cannot return, he has to stay back while the police are investigating. With this Chhada-Jiya thing, I fear for his safety. I have no one else that I trust. Please, Samarth.”
Samarth was about to refuse again when his phone rang
“Nica, is everything okay?”
“Sam, Mama & Mami are going to Maldives. With Saikat’s parents. I’m going too.”
Samarth paused as he took in Nica’s words. Then he turned to the old man resolutely.
“Okay, I’ll go to Maldives. I’ll protect your grandson.”
________________________
Summary
There's a lot of information in this one so I'll just summarize it here.
Abhinav Basu and Jairaj Varma were friends since childhood days. Abhinav was from a rich family & Jairaj was probably middle-class. After they graduated, Abhinav gave Jairaj a job in his company, Basu Finance. Jairaj had a son, Vishwas and Abhinav had a daughter, Kangana. They grew up together and fell in love & wanted to marry. Abhinav wanted his business to expand and thought an alliance with Manav Mehta of Mehta Enterprises would be more profitable. He convinced Vishwas and Jairaj to let Kangana go & Vishwas married Prerna. Heartbroken, Kangana agreed to marry Manav. However, she was already pregnant at the time of marriage (probably not too far ahead so it's easy for Manav to accept the child was his). Manav was away when Kangana gave birth to twins. Prerna had some medical issues that prevented her from giving birth & Abhinav, already feeling guilt at what he had done, and knowing that Vishwas was their true father, gave one of the twins (Samarth) to the Varma family. Only Vishwas, Jairaj, Kangana and Abhinav knew. Prerna was probably told some lies that he was the baby of a relative or something. Jairaj & Vishwas are now dead. So the only people that know are Kangana, Abhinav and now Samarth.
Samarth has trained in jiu-jitsu at some point (this is retconned info) and was only using chauffering as a front. His real job was to protect the Mehta family. He gave up that job the day Veronica got her abortion. Now he has a new job (s) as mentioned.
Jiya and Saikat were about to marry (as per Simi's segment). Saikat broke it off. Then Jiya had a short and intense affair with Vikrant Chadda aka The Panther, a dangerous druglord (details of this haven't been revealed so it's up to you all). She dumped him and decided to entice Abhay (refer Simi's segment as to her motivations; she wanted Veronica to pay for destroying hers and Saikat's relationship).
Now there is some doubt that Shweta and Saikat's accident may have been planned and that Chhada was responsible. He operates from the Maldives and he saw an opportunity to take out a man that Jiya was in love with (he is somewhat unhinged and also ruthless being a druglord and all). Abhinav is afraid that Abhay will meet the same fate because Jiya is now with him. So he hires Samarth to protect him. Samarth refuses at first but after realizing that Veronica is going there, he agrees.
That's it. If anything else is not clear, please let me know!
T, you can go ahead with the next segment and, and Simi, you can do the one after T. If Bee returns in between, we'll let her take her spot.
Edited by LizzieBennet - 2 years ago
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