Hola guys! Hope you haven't forgotten međ Rather than blabbing away to glory, I'd make it short and cuteđ. This story will be 2-3 parts long. It's definitely PreRish so don't fretâ¤ď¸
Flashbacks are written in italics.
And this part is a conspirational messđ¤
Index
Part 1 - PG 1 (bElow)
Part 2 - PG 3 https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/151123293?tid=5109771
Part 3 - PG 5 https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/151170019?tid=5109771
Part 4 - PG 9 https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/151185184?tid=5109771
Part 1
âDonât make me repeat myself!â He spoke exasperated giving a fed up look in the womanâs direction who stood unmoving and unyielding.
The living hall of Basu badi felt every inch like a courtroom as Rishabh stood two stairs above with his jaw clenched just as tightly as his fingers around the railing.
âFor the last time I am asking you Prerna, WHO.DID.THIS?âRishabh gnashed his teeth, his heart tearing up at the mere thought of what wouldâve happened to his Kuki had he been a split second late.
Prerna stood mum, staring right back into his furious eyes.Her eyes were as impassive as her demeanor.This enraged Rishabh all the more.
âYou will be deemed the culprit if you donât speak up for yourself Prerna! I have faith that you as Kukiâs mother can never be irresponsible enough to put her in any danger and intentionally at thatâŚNever! But You seem to know who the perpetrator is and this silence of yours makes you an accomplice in the act too.â Bajaj roared in the end, âWho exactly are you trying to protect?âHe hissed his burning gaze fleeting to the man standing by his wifeâs side. Her lover. Anurag Basu.
Prerna realized in which direction his doubts were straying to and opened her mouth, âDonât let personal feelings cloud your judgment, Mr Bajajâ Prerna remarked as Bajajâs face scrunched up at her insinuations.
âThis loyalty of yoursâ, he snorted, ânever ceases to amaze me! RegardlessâŚ.who is it,then?â He completed descending the stairs and coming face to face with her.
At that moment, Prernaâs gaze shifted to the mother-daughter duo standing behind his back, sniggering with their mouths curled up in sheer mockery.
Anurag glared Tanviâs way and she just shrugged passing him a condescending smile.
âSo you wonât speak,right?â Rishabh cocked his brow as Anuragâs eyes widened and he turned to Prerna.
âWhy are you quiet,Prerna?! Tell him! Tell Mr. Bajaj that people responsible for Kukiâs condition are his verâ
âI have nothing to say to youâ, Prerna cut off Anurag effectively as Rishabh nodded begrudgingly and took a step back.
âFine then!â He wiped his face almost roughly while nodding hishead furiously. âIn that case, Get the hell out of my house. Aaj se, infact abhi se hamara ye rishta khatm. You are released from this marriage, Prerna Sharma. Disappear from my and Kukiâs life. I will send you the divorce papersâŚ.soâŚ..âRishabh turned away from her, his fists clenched tightly, ââŚ..justâŚ.leaveâ , he finished and rushed up the stairs without another glance.
Prerna sucked in a deep breath as she looked at his retreating back. As her eyes found masi, she just smirked while Tanvi wiggled her fingers at Prerna bidding her Bye.
Prerna turned away sharply, tears stinging and threatening to come out. She canât fall weak now. She canât!
And with that resolution, she hurried out of the house as Anurag chased after her.
~*~*~*~
âWhy the hell didnât you speak up?â Anurag shouted as he caught upto Prerna on the road and whirled her around.
Instantly Prerna turned her face away, wiping the tears at the corner of her eyes.
âAnswer me, god damn it!â He forced her to face him by catching her shoulders and pulled her closer, âWhy did you keep it from Mr. Bajaj? Why? Tell me why Prerna? Whâ
âWHAT DO YOU WANT TO KNOW HUH?â Prerna shouted jerking his hands away, âAre you asking me why I didnât reveal that it was his own Masi who has been trying to harm his daughter? Or that she had been the one responsible for all the accidents that have transpired in the past few days?â Her chest heaved wildly as she closed her eyes.
The legal tiff for rights over basu badi had extended indefinitely as the bajaj family found themselves starting their fourth month in the ancestral property. But she was worried. In the past few days, the incidents that had happened were very strange. Almost as if someone was plotting againstâ
No idea!
She jogged her memory back to the day when a chandelier had fallen on Mr. Bajaj during Kukiâs birthday party. The rope holding the chandelier in place had been cut, intentionally, she had realized as she had inspected later.And then two days later, Kuki had almost gotten scalded as she had gone to wash her face in the bathroom because the geyser had been left on. At the last moment, she had pulled Kuki away as water had criss crossed with intense steam as it had trickled out of the faucet and into the washbasin.
âI found it very strange. I clearly remembered turning the geyser off and Kuki wasnât tall enough to fiddle with the buttons. So how?â Prerna recalled as Anurag looked on
And then the next day! The porridge she had specifically prepared for Kuki had been found laden with almost an inhumane quantity of chilly powder.She had come to know of it only when she had walked into the kitchen to see Debu da drowning bottles after bottles of water.
âAre you fine Debu da?â She enquired.
âArre didi mir-chhi l-lag gaya!â The man had stammered fanning his tongue.
âKese?â She asked baffled. People in basu badi had a rather high tolerance for spicy food and Debu da was not an exception.
âArre, humneâŚwo-o jo aapne da..daliya banaya tha na Kuki baby ke liye, bas wo thoda sa chakkhaâŚsocha ki meetha hoga parr..â Debu da had droned off as her eyes widened in disbelief and she tasted the porridge to get blister on her tongue with just a minimum amount!
âLater, I even cross examined with Peter if he had done something with the porridge but he had refused citing that he had strict instructions not to do anything of his own volitionâ
âI had brushed it off as an honest mistake on my partâ, Prerna continued, âbutâ
âBut?!â Anurag repeated after her as he joined Prerna on the bench she was sitting on.
It was early morning and as she took the first step to descend down the stairs, her feet slipped and she barely survived the fall by supporting her weight against the wall.Nonetheless, she had skipped a series of stairs and had ending up hurting her lower waist.
And the cause for the slip!The very oil she had used to oil Kukiâs hair the night before, she recognized by the smell! That very oil was spilled on the top of stairs in ample amount and thus that very moment she wobbled her way back to her room and pulled open the dressing drawer to realize that the bottle that had been more than half had barely a drop or two left in it!
Impossible! She clearly remembered that bottle wasâ
âPrerna, I am leaving!â Rishabh shouted out to her as she rushed to warn him about the oil.
âWait up Mr Bajaj! Itâs slippery over there!â Her warning stopped him in the nick of time as his feet paused mid-air and he noticed the slick stains of oil spread over a series of stairs.
âYou should get it cleaned, Mrs Bajaj! Almost everyone uses stairs,masiâŚKuki and even the basus! Someone can get hurt!â He chided her and left
But she heard what he had muttered under his breath, âIf I wouldnât have forgotten this merger file in the room, I wouldâve definitely broken a bone or twoâ
And she realized that actually Mr. Bajaj would have slipped had he not taken a U-turn halfway through the corridor.
âThe timing had been ridiculously impeccable! Almost as ifâ
Prerna massaged her temples frustrated and snuck a glance at Anurag only to realize that he was very much attentive
âHowever the water went over head on that day!â
She was rushing down the stairs to hand him over his watch when a lone pot slipped off the outer ledge of balcony and would have squashed her brains out had Rishabh not pushed her away in the nick of time. It was puzzling to think why was there a pot on the outer ledge when there had never been one in the past?
âAll these accidents that were way too accurately pulled off to be called the same made me ridiculously doubtful. Someone was trying to harm Kuki and me. And Mr. Bajajâ.
âAnd you suspected us. Maa and Nivi di.â Anurag remarked in an icy voice
Prerna turned to him and smiled sadly, âToo much trust often spells doomâ. He had spouted these exact words with eyes so forlorn that he couldâve peacefully withered away if not for his daughter.
She carried out a thorough investigation on Mohini and Nivedita. They were clean. That had only left her with Anurag. She knew that he would never stoop so low and yet she couldnât just blindly trust him because she had responsibilities to bear.
âI couldnât bring myself to believe you!â Prerna chuckled mirthlessly as she hid her face in her palms.
âYou are searching at the wrong place, Prerna!â Anurag remarked stepping into his room as Prerna jumped away from his wardrobe almost scared.
âW-What do you mean?â She stammered
âYahi ki iss ghar main sirf hum basus hi nhi rehte hain!â He chuckled.
âAnurag youâ
âCome with me!â Cutting her off, he pulled her to the storeroom in the back where monitors connecting to surveillance cameras were installed.
âThis video is of three days backâ, He pointed to a familiar tall woman stepping out of Prernaâs room looking around warily.
Few minutes later, Anurag was seen going in as Prerna glared his way.
âI was there to ransack your room, I acceptâ, Anurag brushed her off, âThe minute I was about to switch on the lights, I located wire insulation lying on the floor. There were no naked wires around my room, I fully recalled. And surprisingly enough, the lone screw sticking out of the board caught my fancy. I had to inspect it. Curiosity. Live wire was naked. And wet. I was toast if I wouldâve been even a bit negligent.You wouldâve been toast. Or your husbandâ
And therefore, she and Anurag went through all the videos to realize that whenever an accident happened, Tanvi was always in the vicinity. They needed solid proofs though for the main scene of mishap was always in the blind spot and so were her condemnable actions.
Keeping a close watch on Tanvi finally paid off. Two days later, Prerna caught her red handed as she was mixing some powder in Kukiâs medicines. It would have set off allergic reactions. Prerna confronted her and dragged her to masi simply because she didnât want masi to bow her head down in front of Mr. Bajaj for her daughterâs deeds.
âI couldnât believe it. I couldnâtâ Prerna murmured livid.
âHow can you do this Tanvi? Kya maine tumhe ye sanskar diye hain? Tumhari himmat kese hui ye sab karne ki?!â Masi shouted shaking Tanvi by her shoulders.
Prerna could only shake her head in disgust.
âToh main aur kya karti mom!â Tanvi jerked her mother away and turned to spew venom at Prerna, âIsne mujhse mera Pyaar cheen Liya. Isne mujhse mera Rishabh cheen liya!â She sobbed as Prernaâs face was colored stumped.
âI had thought that after taking Dad from us, god had finally decided to bestow his benevolence on me after Menka had walked out of Rishabhâs life. Four long years, I worked, I craved and I dreamed of being together with Rishabh and Kuki. But one day he simply walked into the house with her by his side and announced her his wife!â Tanvi spat wiping away her tears as she reached Prerna in quick long strides.
âYe toh Rishabh se pyaar bhi nhi karti. Itâs just a contract marriage. Kuki needs parents. Jab ye Rishabh ki wife nhi ban sakti toh Kuki ko ek stable aur normal family kese de paaegi?â Tanvi accused as Prerna flinched but still stood her ground.
âTum isse pyaar kehti ho? What sort of love is this that allows you to bring harm upon the people you proclaim to love?â Prerna took a step towards her, her eyes blazing.
âTchh!â Tanvi bit her lips and glared back at Prerna.
âExactly Tanvi, how can you be so foolish? How can you be so stupid to get caught even in your fabricated story?â Masi smirked as Prernaâs eyes widened in disbelief.
âYe aapâ
âWhy donât you come out, Mr.Basu? Iâm quite sure your phone is corrupted by now. So why donât you join us on the stage?â Masi turned to the door as Anurag appeared from the shadows and dumped his phone aside. The video he was making had been corrupted.
âHow can you do this? Kyun?â Prerna asked as she realized that those warm words had been nothing but a cloak to hide her true intentions.
âPaisa, Prerna. Money is all there is. Nhi? You married Rishabh for money. Your mother works for money. Mohini basu scorns you for money. Mr. Basu is wasting himself after money. What else there is?â
âMain Mr. Bajaj ko sab bata dungi!â Prerna warned pointing her forefinger.
âShauk se!â Masi chuckled as Prerna stomped out of the room.
Part 2 - PG 3
https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/151123293?tid=5109771
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