Chapter- 32

Eshita rose to her feet, rushing to her father as soon as Virendra and Ekansh stepped into the house. Vanya had left a few minutes ago when Vikram called her home. However, for some unknown reason, Eshita’s heart was racing like crazy. She was restless and anxious, either because of the fear of things always turning bad or just her stupid overthinking thoughts.

Her arms wrapped around her father as she let herself soak in that warmth, trying to bury her fears deep within her heart. Evrything was finally going back to how they were earlier. She didn’t wish to see any more chaos in her life. Five years of suffering were enough for her family to endure.

Virendra held his daughter closer to his heart, feeling her trembling instantly. “Kya hua?” He asked worriedly, glancing at his son who stood just as confused and concerned as him.

Eshita shook her head against his chest slowly. “What happened there?” She asked, stepping back.

Ekansh turned her to face him. “Dad ne pucha kya hua. Teri aankhon mein aansu kyu hai, Esha?”

Eshita sighed. She was an idiot to think they wouldn’t notice. Of course they would. “I was just worried,” She mumbled quietly. “I tried calling you… aapka phone bhi nahi lag raha tha...”

“I was driving, baacha,” Ekansh informed softly.

Eshita nodded. “I-I want to go on a long vacation with you all.” Her tone lowered an octave. “I am done with all this mess.”

She looked back at her father. “Everything is sorted right? Aapke fingerprints nahi mile na unn logo ko?”

Virendra stiffened. He couldn’t lie to her. She had the right to know, but hearing the distress in her voice made him second-guess his own decision. She wouldn’t take the news well; her longing for peaceful moments wasn’t lost on him. Guilt crawled back into his chest painfully, but he pushed it away, walking inside and letting Ekansh guide her.

Eshita sat anxiously, her eyes shifting from her father to her brother. Both sat still and silent as if trying to find the right words before speaking. She wasn’t getting what they were trying to hide from her.

“Aap dono chup kyu hain?” She asked nervously. “Batayiye na kya hua waha par?”

She shook Ekansh’s hand. “Bhaiya? Is dad’s name cleared from it all?”

Ekansh held her hands in his, giving them a gentle squeeze. “Relax and listen to me calmly, Esha.” His tone softened. “Dad ke fingerprints gun ke fingerprints se match hote hai. He is out on bail and...”

“But how is that possible?” Eshita cut him off, panicked, rising to her feet. “Dad gun gloves pehen kar use karte hai. We know that. If he wanted to kill someone, he wouldn’t go around using his own licensed gun and then leaving it there for the world to see. So why would his fingerprints even be on it? How did this happen?...”

“We will find that out, Esha.” Ekansh tried to calm her down. “Police ne case close nahi kiya. Even if the prime suspect is dad, that doesn’t mean they will stop the investigation. And I will also ask my men to find out...”

“You are not understanding, Bhaiya.” Eshita shook her head agitatedly. “I just don’t want all this drama. Pehle hi itna kuch ho chuka hai. I have had enough of it all. Anyways it was me... The gun was with me... I was the one who drove over...”

“ESHITA!” Virendra’s thunderous voice cut her rumbling like a blade slicing through the air.

Eshita flinched back, so did Ekta who heard Virendra growl for the first time ever. She stood at the back away from the trio, trying to piece together the scattered bits of conversation and understand what actually happened. Virendra was at the police station; she heard a little when the girls were talking earlier, and now the gun, fingerprints, bail, Eshita’s involvement, nothing made sense to her.

She thought to ask Ekansh later, but she didn’t wish to bother him with her unnecessary questions. If he found it fit, he would himself share it with her. She wouldn’t interfere in his family matters till then, except for worrying about whether he was fine or not, and the expression on his face clearly stated he wasn’t.

Ekansh held Eshita’s hand silently. He let his father take over, knowing some things are better to be warned about beforehand.

Virendra’s eyes bored into Eshita’s. “Ghar se nikalne se pehle mene tujhe kya kaha tha? You will forget this. You won’t utter those words ever again. Did I say that or not?”

Eshita’s gaze lowered. She knew he did, but that doesn’t mean she could simply delete the truth out of her mind.

“I am waiting for an answer.” Virendra’s voice hardened. “Did I say that or not?”

Eshita flinched slightly. “J-Ji.”

Virendra lifted her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. “Then this is the last time I am saying this.” His voice was stern. “Aaj ke baad mujhe tere muh se yeh sab sunayi nahi dena chaiye. End this matter. Forget it forever. Nothing happened. You made the right decision that day. That’s the end of it.”

“If I ever hear you confess something you shouldn’t...” His eyes hardened. “You won’t like the consequences of it. Take it as a warning or your father’s order, that’s your choice.” Stepping back, he walked away, leaving his ultimatum behind hanging heavily in the air between them.

He hated taking that harsh tone with his daughter, but he couldn’t forget the fact that even walls have ears. One wrong confession from Eshita, said in her innocence or fear, and it could be used against her mercilessly. And he wouldn’t allow that. Precautions are necessary and Eshita needs to know that. He had already been a villain in his daughter’s eyes once; he didn’t mind repeating the past once more. Better him than his son.

Eshita turned around, burying her face in her brother’s warmth. “Why does he have to be so meaine?” Tears shimmered in her eyes instantly. She was just worried about her father. Why did he have to go back to his old strict self? She didn’t like his intimidating side.

Ekansh creased her hair lovingly. “He wasn’t being mean, baacha. He was just trying to stop you from doing something that might get you in trouble.” He pulled back, cradling her face gently. “You are worried for dad, but do you think he will be at peace knowing his daughter confessed something she didn’t do purposely, bearing its punishment or going through some interrogations? Just to save him? The case is much more serious than you are thinking. Let me and dad handle things our way and stay out of it. We can deal with anything, but you getting dragged into this... that’s not acceptable to any of us. Clear?” His tone firmed at the end.

Eshita nodded reluctantly. It was their protectiveness screaming, and she was not a fool to question that. Better safe than sorry.

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Ekansh entered Ekta’s room. It was midnight. After making sure his father had taken his medicines and Eshita was asleep in his room, he came to check on Ekta, knowing she would still be wide awake, and he wasn’t wrong.

As expected, he found her sitting on the balcony staring at the night sky. Her face was devoid of any emotion, not a single trace of relaxation or tiredness, just stiffness and emptiness. He wished Ekta would have asked him what happened earlier. He noticed how she had heard everything, and his hopes shattered when she simply walked away.

He acknowledged that the girl was yet to accept Eshita or even his father as her own family. She looked out for him, worried about him, even fought with him, but she never chose to glance at anyone else. Her walls were built so high that it genuinely frightened him how he would ever make her feel safe without forcing her.

Quietly, he settled down beside her on the artificial grass their mother had insisted on putting in every room balcony. They weren’t real, but the softness and greenery gave just that kind of aesthetic warmth.

His eyes wandered around the small plants spread across the large balcony. That was also one of his mother’s hobby. She loved nature, always adding new plants and somehow connecting herself to them. For her, plants had their own souls, and being surrounded by them made even restlessness slowly quiet down.

And he felt that same calming sense spreading in his chest, silencing the voices in his head, his own mistakes that bit back at him every night. The stars and plants somehow helped him feel his mother’s presence.

“Aap theek ho?” Ekta asked softly, turning to face him, her knees pulled to her chest, her head resting on her folded arms.

The dynamics between the Sehgal family were doing wonders on her already conflicted mind. A father’s fury laced with ferocious protectiveness and a brother’s gentleness balanced with firm understanding. Everything made Ekta question the reality she had once grown up in and later carried as memory.

Was it all even real? Not the love, she wasn’t anyone to judge that. But could a father truly be so fiercely protective of his daughter, ready to stand against the world for her even if it meant protecting her from her own kindness? Could a brother be so calm and understanding, yet beneath that softness carry a dangerous side ready to burn the world down for his baby sister?

Ekta wished she was living in a delusion or at least a different world, a world unlike the one she came from. A world where girls were considered lesser than boys. Where girls were meant only to do household chores, grow up till a marriageable age, and then be sent off to another house while the same miserable cycle continued endlessly.

If she compared her life with Eshita’s, Ekta knew the girl was everything she herself wished to be. Eshita was bold, unapologetic, and fearless. For the world she was The cold ruthless Eshita Seghal but for her brother, and father she was just their little girl respectful, kind and silly in her own way. She had her flaws too, but she wore them like a crown rather than hiding behind excuses. And most importantly, Eshita had support and unconditional love from both her father and brother.

It was that love which, despite everything, made the girl ready to let go and start over again. Virendra was a strict father, but he also had that terrifying side where he would probably ask his daughter to kill anyone who dared cross her boundaries without caring about society’s rules made for girls.

And Ekansh, was the kind of gentle brother who knew when to be firm, pulling his sister back when she crossed limits, and when to give her silent support and freedom to become the best version of herself.

For Ekta, it felt like a new fairy tale she never read of where the princess wasn’t asked to wait for a prince or grow up as a damsel in distress. She was taught to fight when needed and be a woman on her own terms without compromising on her dignity or dreams.

Her analysis of the Sehgal family had changed a lot, from judging them for their power and privileged life to understanding them beyond the surface, beyond their flaws and brokenness.

And as usual, at the end of her own monologue, one question remained. Like the selfish person she believed herself to be, she questioned the one thing that was impossible in reality. What would her life have been like if she had been born into a family like theirs?

Ekansh nudged her slightly, noticing her staring at him, lost in her own world. “Kaha kho gayi?”

Ekta shook her head before turning around and lying down, resting her head on his lap. She was already selfish; gathering the crumbs of comfort he offered so easily wouldn’t make much of a bigger difference.

Ekansh looked at her, taken aback, before his hands creased through her hair in soothing motions just like he did for Eshita. Ekta rarely initiated such gestures. Otherwise, she preferred distance; even hugs were something she had only started months back.

When she had tried making cookies for the first time, wanting to do something new, he had helped her while keeping a hawk-like gaze on her so she wouldn’t hurt herself. When the first batch came out perfectly without any disaster, her excitement had gone over the clouds and she had jumped on him like a little kitten squealing happily.

So every time she initiated small affectionate gestures, it was on him to understand what was going on inside her closed-off mind, because she herself would never share her thoughts.

“Tujhe kuch puchna hai?” He asked carefully, hoping she would take the hint.

Ekta snapped out of her thoughts and looked at him. “Haan… abhi toh pucha na maine. Aap theek ho?”

Ekansh nodded. “I am fine, Ekta. I was asking… tujhe kuch aur puchna hai? Kya hua? Or…” He trailed off as Ekta shook her head.

“Aap kuch batana chahte hai toh aapki marzi, bhaiya.” Her voice was unusually calm. “Otherwise I don’t have any questions.”

She looked away, unable to meet his gaze. It wasn’t like she wasn’t interested. She wanted to ask what happened, understand, and join the pieces of what she overheard, but she wasn’t in a position to worry about others. The lesser she knew about people’s problems, the better it was.

Attachments begin when you start worrying for people, when you start caring for them, then comes a bond, a relationship, and relationships need trust, honesty, and purity. She had neither of them.

So the best option was to know nothing and simply stay beside him silently. She cared about Ekansh, that’s it. One day her impurities would touch him too, and before that day arrived, she would finish everything once and for all. For now, she wanted to live inside her selfish little bubble.

“Navratri aane wali hai.” Ekansh murmured, changing the topic. He would keep her in the loop as she was part of his family, but not now. She wasn’t ready, and he refused to force his words into her system.

Ekta nodded. “I know. Aap log celebrate karte the? I-I mean pehle?” She asked hesitantly. With her, he didn’t, due to obvious reasons. Her intention wasn’t to scratch on his old scars.

Ekansh smiled, easing her tension. “Maa karti thi. She was a staunch devotee, always giving her whole heart in her prayers. Bhog prepare karne se leke mala banane tak sab kuch. Aur Esha humesha yaha se waha ghumti thi. Madam ke liye kanjak pooja was the biggest day in the whole year. Main aur papa uski seva jo karte the.” He chuckled softly. “Not that we minded, but that brat knew how to make me and dad grovel even if we dared make her wait for anything. And mom used to side with her precious daughter.”

He glanced up at the stars. “Maa ke jaane ke baad…” His voice shook with emotions. “Iss baar itne saalo baad hum sab saath hain… I know Esha would want to celebrate Navratri.”

Ekta didn’t know whether Ekansh’s happy memories filled her with yearning and warmth or only deepened the wounds inside her by reopening doors she had buried years ago.

“Maa bhi aisi hi thi.” The words tumbled out before she realized. “Navratri mein mata ke mandir jaana, bhog chadhana… jo jo woh kar sakti thi woh sab karna. In fact mata ki chunni bhi wahi apne haathon se banati thi. She used to say goddesses are not just worshipped, they are felt. They were nine forms with their own strength and emotions.”

A soft smile bloomed on her lips. “Aapko pata hai? Maine ek baar laddoo chura liya tha bhog ki thaal se. Ab main bhi kya karti… maa ke haath ke laddoo hote hi itne acche the. Par bina pooja ke khana mana tha. She saw it and kept me away from them like I was an ant sticking to her sweets. So not fair!” She pouted sadly.

Ekansh blinked in shock. That was also a first. Ekta had never spoken about her parents, her life, her past, or even a single memory, good or bad. It had always remained buried in silence. It had been seven or eight years, and this was the first time she had shared a moment so close to her heart. Questions rose to the tip of his tongue, but the sparkle shining in her eyes forced him to swallow them down.

“Iss baar Esha laddoo banane wali hai.” He quickly continued the conversation before she realized and closed off again. “You can have as many as you want.”

Ekta looked at him, startled. “She knows how to make laddoos?”

The girl didn’t even know how to use a microwave. Ekta doubted if Eshita could make edible laddoo at all.

“No.” Ekansh answered, chuckling helplessly. “She can’t even boil an egg. But yes, she has the confidence that she can conquer the world with sheer stubbornness. Dekhna, she will do everything perfectly, the decorations, arrangements, and even the pooja preparations. Par laddoo… I can’t guarantee that. No one can.”

Ekta sat up with a start. “Di!” She exclaimed in shock.

Ekansh turned his head instantly. “Nhi Eshu, I was just...” He trailed off, realizing there was no one there.

Ekta burst into loud laughter. The look on Ekansh’s face was worth every second. The man could be all icy cold or whatever the recent articles called him, the son of Virendra Sehgal, a ruthless businessman feared by half the city. But in front of his little sister, he was a completely scaredy pup.

Ekansh glared at the brat. “Tu toh gayi ab…”

Ekta shrieked as he tickled her mercilessly, their laughter echoing in the air, the tense heaviness around them slowly faded away.

The stars shone brighter. The clouds parted slightly, the moon peeking through the darkness quietly. Life was filled with fleeting moments; not every happiness lasted forever, and time tested every bond eventually. The question was, would the bond being forged between the siblings survive the storm ahead, or break beneath the weight of truths yet to come?

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Your thoughts on Ekta’s monologue?

Your thoughts on  Ekansh and Ekta?

What do you think, what turn will the story take now?

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Next Update: Wednesday!

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