Part-15
"I hear much of people's calling out to punish the guilty, but very few are concerned to clear the innocent."
Daniel Defoe
Gopi was welcomed by everyone in MM. Prabal liked Parag a lot but he was scared of Kokila and would try to run away from her at the earliest opportunity. He would, however enquire about his "dad"...this irritated Ahem, he felt stabbed everytime that kid called Anand dad. Ahem was trying to make him call him dad but it seemed fruitless so far. Ahem was not the one to give up and persevered.
Gopi asked Prabal to call Ahem Papa instead of Dad and she told Ahem that the kid would soon forget Anand. This way he would forget the man he called "dad".
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The plan worked on Prabal, but not on Gopi. Anand's words still haunted her. Did he or didn't he? A corner of her heart told her that he was too dignified to do it...but then didn't Ahem do it to Gopi too? Who knows how many skeletons are in Anand's closet. Gopi wanted to go to Bihar and investigate the truth, Ahem flatly told no. He raised concern over Anand's henchmen or rivals creating trouble for her. Gopi had to give in to Ahem's demand. She stayed quiet...but not for long.
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The change was brought about by an email sent to her by a woman called Asma Jabeen - Anand's lawyer. Apparently Anand had requested her to contact Gopi. A few emails and a call later, Gopi found out the real story. Yes, Anand did hide things from her, but none of them were shameful ones. Anand was youngest of the three children of a wealthy landlord and led a pleasant life...until... the henchmen of a rival group abducted his sister Soumyata and killed her.
This incident caused indescribable pain to the whole family. Those were the dark days of one-upmanship, vendetta and private armies. His brother Suveer killed the mastermind and obtained vengeance. This started a gory story... a blood feud had started and very soon Suveer became its victim. Anand's parents forced him to leave their town...he had to flee to save his life...and he fled. Rivals took opportunity of his flight and slapped a false case on him. The girl's drug- addict uncle was given a good sum and he forced the girl into lying. The girl fearing for her life complied with her uncle...but she and her uncle were found murdered in their house after a few days, they were killed so that the truth may never come out again.
Anand respected women and he wasn't the demon he was made out to be. Gopi cried for some time but then a steely resolve to save Anand overcame her.
Ahem didn't like the fact that Gopi now knew the truth. He was the one who tipped off police after unearthing this bit of information about Anand's past.
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Edited by feviewer - 13 years ago