As Kunal started wrapping up, he saw the file Sakshi had left on his desk. He started browsing through the pages, the FIR, the unnamed chargesheet and so on, when suddenly his eyes stopped on one familiar name: Diwan House.
Sakshi's father worked for Surekha Diwan.
Kunal was astonished, then Sidhi's words from Karjat station, before she married Abhay, came back to him.
"I met Surekha ji in jail and she supported me. I handed over our son to her so she could bring him to you..."
Kunal already knew that Surekha ji had been in jail on murder charges, but if what Sidhi said was true, and if what Sakshi said was true, she didn't seem like a bad person who would kill her daughter-in-law and grandson. But the case papers suggested she had confessed, so maybe she changed later, Kunal was wondering to himself. His mind was running in all sorts of directions when another stray thought suddenly struck Kunal, which surprised as well we pained him ,"...if Surekha Diwan was really a murderer of her daughter-in-law, was Sidhi safe in her home, when she went back?"
Kunal dismissed it, angry at himself, though he didn't understand what he was angry at. Earlier, Sidhi was crying about living with him. Now, when Kunal told her she could stay, she was insistent that she would leave. Sidhi's behavior irked Kunal.
But immediately, he remembered her sad eyes he'd seen this morning before leaving, and something hurt inside him. Confused, Kunal decided to call it a day and went home.
At home, everyone had slept, as usual, but Sidhi wasn't up either. The dinner on the table was still hot, and surely tasted of Sidhi, but Kunal realised he was missing her, sitting next to him, or even watching him silently from afar. Inside the room, he watched as Sidhi slept, looking serene. A wave of emotion arose inside Kunal, a base need to protect and comfort his Sidhi. He covered her with a blanket, and watched her sleep for a long long time that night, trying to make sense of his emotions.
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A couple of days passed. Kunal spent time digging into the details of Sakshi's father's murder, as well as the murder of Abhay's first wife and child, in addition to his other work. The third morning, while Kunal was still getting ready for work, a loud angry voice echoed in their living room.
"Kunal Chopra! Kahan ho tum? How dare you? You useless basta..."
"Thakral!"
Sidhi's retort was even louder and angrier.
"Thakral! How dare you enter my home and insult Kunal like this? Get out"
"Your home! Ha! Since when is this your home? Where is your home Ms Sidhi? You're a criminal. You're a modern day draupadi with two husbands. Women like you have no character and no..."
"Enough Thakral! One more word against Sidhi and I would kill you with my bare hands right here. Why are you even here?" Kunal had emerged from his room. Seema and the others had also come out. Kunal was acutely aware of the whiteness on Sidhi's face that had appeared after listening to Thakral's words.
"Kunal Chopra! How dare you send a notice against Richa? Six cases, you filed six cases against her! How dare you! I will expose you in court. Last time you bothered to fight with me I destroyed your life..."
"Come on Thakral! You yourself know what Richa did to me. She ruined my entire life. She tried to kill my son. And the fake rape case has been pending for ten years because of me, but she had herself confessed in the court of her crimes. She has been living freely for too long, but not anymore. This time even you can't save her"
"I WILL save my daughter. She has done nothing wrong. You think you have become a big shot lawyer just because you've won 2-3 small cases. I will get you fired from your firm today. I will bring you to the road! You will again be drunk and lying on the road, and people will be throwing alms at you." Thakral continued with his nonsensical threats, and was about to turn to leave, when Sidhi stopped him.
"Enough! Don't you dare say another word against my husband!" the intensity in Sidhi's eyes startled Thakral. "Why don't you look at your own house first before blaming others? What have we ever done against you Thakral. You and your children have ruined this house and have taken away all our happiness."
"You killed my son!" Thakral yelled
"I went to jail for the murder of your son. I spent nine years in that prison. But I did NOT kill Rohit. Look into my eyes Thakral and you will see the truth. I DID NOT kill Rohit. Rohit didn't even die in that accident. Rohit was very much alive while that case was on. It was Richa's plan all through to trap me and Kunal, and Rohit supported her. While Kunal was in custody I found Rohit, but before I could present him in court, your daughter murdered him! Richa killed her own brother just to trap us. Your daughter killed your son. I didn't. You don't have to believe me Thakral, but if you look into my eyes, you will know I am saying the truth. I have no reason to lie. You know your daughter better than anybody here. You know her obsession. you know how she has spent the last 10 years trying to get Kunal, trying to break my marriage. You KNOW it, so just look into your heart, and think what kind of a person your daughter is. She killed your son. She tried to kill my son. In her madness, she has only caused destruction, and you know it.
So don't believe me if you don't want to, and you can go defend her in court as much as you want to, but don't you ever, EVER, step into this house again and say anything against my husband or my family!"
Thakral was flabbergasted. Speechless, he left Chopra House. Something tugged at his heart. The intensity in Sidhi's eyes and words burnt him inside. Something told him Sidhi wasn't lying. He knew his daughter, he knew what kind of a self-destructive maniac she had become in the last ten years. He recalled what happened with Vineet, how he'd tried to stop her and Rohit...if Sidhi was right...
Back at Chopra House, Sidhi was sitting in her room, still reeling under the after-effects of the confrontation with Thakral. Everyone in the house had stood there, staring as Sidhi had lashed out at him. She didn't know why she had said so many things to Thakral. But she just couldn't bear Thakral speaking rubbish about Kunal. Thakral had questioned her character, like she knew many people outside did, maybe people in her home did too. That had hurt immensely, but what had hurt more was Thakral questioning Kunal's worth.
Kunal stood at the door of their room and saw Sidhi looking very upset. She'd literally jumped at Thakral when he spoke against him. Even Kunal had been taken aback at her reaction.
"Aye! I don't need you to fight my battles!"
Sidhi looked up. Kunal was talking in an akdoo tone, but he wasn't angry at her. Sidhi knew she had spoken too much, and stood up to face away.
"I don't need you to fight my battles either. You had no business jumping in when Thakral called me...called me.." Sidhi hesitated.
"Thakral was talking crap and I have every business stopping him saying such nonsense against my..against any woman. Especially a woman in my home"
"How many people will you stop? When you don't trust me and doubt my character, the world obviously wouldn't. So don't pretend to care."
Kunal was enraged. He grabbed Sidhi by the shoulder and looked straight in her eyes.
"I care."
Sidhi pushed him back, freeing herself. "But you don't trust, and you don't love. You were willing to hand me over back to that monster Abhay Diwan like I am some broken goods. Leave me Kunal Chopra. Our lives are separate now."
Sidhi stormed out of the room, leaving Kunal hurt. He wanted to stop her and tell her he loved her and trusted her, but something in him stopped him. He just couldn't. The images of Sidhi with Abhay, marrying him, loving him, paralysed Kunal. He wanted to believe her. He wanted to believe the woman who just referred to him as "my husband" in front of an outsider really truly regarded him as her husband, and herself as his wife. He wanted to believe that Sidhi was hers alone. But the nagging doubt, the lack of evidence, the reminders from his brain about all the past betrayals...Kunal just couldn't move past those.
"If we can't love each other beyond doubt, if we can't trust each other to the fullest and stand by each other's side despite all odds, I don't want to be with you."
"Our lives are separate now."
Sidhi's words echoed in Kunal's mind. Maybe, maybe, she was right. Maybe they didn't have a life together afterall.
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(Late afternoon, Sessions Court)
Kunal was walking out of the courtoom, discussing the case he had just won with some associates, when he saw a familiar face in the opposite wing of the courthouse.
Sidhi!
What was Sidhi doing in the court?
As Kunal saw Sidhi walk out and away towards the road, he wondered to himself what Sidhi was doing in the Family Court...was she..was she...here preparing for their divorce. Or their sons' custody? Kunal's mind was flooded with a lot of unpleasant possibilities.
He was about to call out to Sidhi, but he realized she was already getting in the auto.
Kunal wanted to think positively - maybe Sidhi was here for some legal consulting work like she was doing the previous week. But Sidhi's face from the morning was in front of Kunal's eyes. She had turned pale when Thakral called her characterless. Hadn't he himself, in the recent past, insulted Sidhi in more or less similar words?
"As per your wife, you can take her right now for all I care."
""you have no rights whatsoever to yell at me about my wife - if I hit her, or if I love her. Or where all did I touch her!"
Sidhi had made abundantly clear she wasn't going to just stay with Kunal unless he had full faith in her. One more time in Kunal's life, the fear of losing Sidhi had gripped his heart.
Precap:
"I just...I just called to say sorry Kunal"
"What? You're saying sorry"
"Yes. You were right. And you were right to do what you did."
"I just...I just called to say sorry Kunal"
"What? You're saying sorry!!!"
"Yes. You were right. And you were right to do what you did."
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