Chapter- 34

The air tensed heavily, thick with an uneasiness no one could understand. Before Ekansh could inquire about the strangers, Ekta had quietly asked him if they could talk inside, leaving him confused. So now they stood in the living room staring at each other; however, his eyes remained fixed on Ekta.

Something felt familiar, like she knew them far more deeply than he dared to admit, still, he wanted to hear it from Ekta herself before jumping to conclusions. But the girl stood there all blank and stiff. He had never seen her this shaken before.

Ekta stared at Suraj silently. There was a gleam in his eyes, the way he looked around the mansion with poorly hidden greed and calculation. Little her had once been too naïve to see through that kind of greed, but today sixteen-year-old her was well aware of the difference between concern and selfishness, one that she was seeing now in her own brother’s eyes. Should she have felt shocked or disgusted? She didn’t know, but disappointment cut deep enough to leave her numb.

“What are you doing here?” She asked, gathering her courage. Her voice shook slightly.

She could feel Ekansh’s gaze, the questions swirling within it. She could sense Eshita and Virendra’s confusion too, but she didn’t dare glance at any of them. Any kind of answer from her would start peeling layers off her past, off her shame, and she hated that feeling more than anything. Being vulnerable was terrifying, but being vulnerable and exposed before people she loved… she couldn’t deal with that.

Suraj scoffed. “Kaafi acchi shaan o shaukat mein reh rahi hai tu.” He mocked coldly. “Waha aisa kya nahi tha jo tujhe yaha mil raha hai?”

Ekta froze. She knew exactly which place he was talking about. Her hands trembled before she quickly clasped them together. Why was she reacting like this even at the mention of that place? She had trained herself to be strong, to be unaffected. She couldn’t show her weak pathetic self, at least not before them.

“Ekta, who are they?” Ekansh asked quietly standing beside her. He tried reaching for her trembling hand but stopped when she stepped back. Every action from her deepened his confusion. The unknown fear, an emotion in Ekta, laced her voice and even reflected in her eyes clearly.

Suraj chuckled with disdain. “Oh, now I get it…” He stepped toward Ekta, a filthy smirk spreading across his face. “Shayad waha se mann bhar gaya toh iske paas aa gayi.” He glanced at Ekansh before looking back at her. “Isne tujhe aisa kya diya jo Sahab nahi de paye?”

Ekta recoiled harshly. Those weren’t just words said casually. The hidden dirty meaning behind them made her flinch back instantly. Tears shimmered in her eyes hearing something so degrading from her own brother. Hearing it from outsiders was easier than hearing something so filthy from your own blood.

Ekansh shielded Ekta immediately, standing before her. His tall broad frame shadowed Suraj by a few good inches. “Whoever you people are, get out of my house before I call security and ask them to throw you out.” His words dripped in warning.

He wanted to talk to Ekta alone without anyone else present, because the strangers’ presence was clearly scaring her and making her uncomfortable, and that was unacceptable to him. The words Suraj uttered didn’t sit right with him. There was something more behind them, something dark and rotten that made his instincts scream violently. But first, he needed to talk to Ekta.

Suraj raised an eyebrow. He looked past Ekansh at his sister. “Tu batana nhi chahegi inhe hum kaun hai? Main kaun hoon?”

Ekta stood silent, holding his gaze as if physically present there while her mind dragged her back into her past all over again.

Suraj walked past Ekansh purposely bumping his shoulder against his.

Eshita fumed, pulling Ekta behind her instantly. Even the man’s presence made her uncomfortable. “Abe oye… tu kaun hai aur kaun nahi, hum nahi jaan na chahte. Just get lost…” She glanced at Ekansh angrily. “Call the security, bhaiya. Or I will throw this man out.”

Suraj glanced at Eshita, his eyes shamelessly traveling from head to toe. “I would love those pretty hands on me, why don’t you...”

Before he could complete the sentence, a brutal punch landed on his jaw. He stumbled back, holding his bleeding lip.

Ekansh grabbed him by the lapels violently. ”Whoever you are, I don’t care,” He growled angrily. ”Lekin meri behen ki taraf dekhne ki koshish bhi mat karna.” Another punch landed straight across Suraj’s face, leaving him stumbling again.

Bhairav held his son, stopping him from falling. He glared at Ekta furiously. “Yeh sab kya ho raha hai, Ekta?” his voice rose an octave. “Kaun hai yeh log? Aur tu chup kyun khadi hai? Dekha nahi kaise iss aadmi ne tere bhai par haath uthaya?”

Silence cut through the room like a sharp blade, suffocating everyone present. The truth that hung heavily in the air left the Sehgal family completely shocked.

Their eyes snapped toward Ekta in utter disbelief as Bhairav’s next words echoed through the room like thunder.

“Yeh mera beta hai… aur yeh meri beti.” Bhairav spoke coldly, his eyes fixed on Ekta. “Hum apni beti ko wapas lene aaye hai yaha. Hume aap logo se koi matlab nahi hai. Bas isse lene aaye the.” His words dripped with disgust, as if calling Ekta his daughter was the biggest sin he had ever committed, though no one sensed it except Ekta.

None of them were prepared to hear that the strangers standing before them were Ekta’s real family.

Ekansh snapped out of his shock. Ekta had never once told him about her past, her family, anything. Every question from him was always met with silence. But now he couldn’t ignore the people standing before him. Even if Ekta was still silent, the fear flickering in her eyes gave away that they were speaking the truth. Still, he shoved aside his emotions, locking them away like he always did.

Maybe she never told him because she didn’t trust him enough with her truth. Maybe it was the lack of security she felt within herself. Or maybe she was simply waiting for the day she would return to her real family once she met them, or once they found her.

Fear gripped his heart as he turned her to face him. Her choice mattered to him the most. Her decision. Her yes or no. Nothing beyond that.

Gently he cradled her face, making her look at him. “Is he saying the truth?” His tone softened like cotton candy.

“Tumhe kya lagta hai hum jhooth bol...” Bhairav trailed off, blanching the moment Ekansh’s deadly gaze landed on him. Those eyes alone were enough to zip his mouth shut and force him to look away unwillingly.

Ekta noticed the change in Ekansh’s gaze, the way it melted when he looked back at her. Tears burned at the back of her eyes. She nodded her head as he waited patiently for her answer. There was no way she could avoid the truth staring right back at her face anymore.

“You want to go back with them?” Ekansh asked quietly. Even he didn’t want to help has no right to stop her. Not against her own wish.

Ekta swallowed the lump in her throat. She didn’t have a choice. If her family had reached her even after so many years, then he would reach her too. She couldn’t run away from him forever. He had promised her he would come back. She was terrified he would fulfill his vow. And she didn’t wish to bring her darkness upon Ekansh and his family. They had always protected her, cared for her, she couldn’t ruin their lives too.

Yet desperation clung to her helplessly. Her hand grasped Ekansh’s wrist, the same hand cupping her face, her grip tightening desperately. She wanted to be selfish… just a little more. Before he reached her, she would run away. Away from the Sehgals. Away from Ekansh. But for now, the only safe place for her was the man standing before her.

What if the moment she went away with her family, they threw her back into that hell again? No… she needed time to prepare herself. She needed time to breathe. She needed time to survive.

“Can I stay… please?” She whispered helplessly.

The moment the words left her mouth, regret slammed into her. The hurt flashing through Ekansh’s eyes shattered her heart. Her fears had made her beg, and she ended up hurting the brother who truly loved her like a sister so unconditionally, unlike Suraj. Before she could apologise, he pulled back abruptly, his face closing off completely.

“Eshita… Ekta ko apne room mein leke jaa.” Ekansh ordered coldly.

Eshita immediately held Ekta’s wrist, guiding the girl away. She didn’t care what her brother did with the strangers. She didn’t care what he decided. If Ekta wanted to stay, she could stay. If her brother wanted to protect her, he would. There was no other way around it.

“Tu aisa nahi kar sakti, Ekta!” Suraj yelled angrily. The moment his sister turned away, panic surged through him. He had to drag her away from here. That was the price he had to pay to keep himself alive.

Ekta stopped dead in her tracks.

“Baba ki jaan khatre mein hai,” he continued harshly. “Tu achhe se jaanti hai vo kya kya kar sakte hain. Humne kitna kuch saha hai. You know everything. Tujhe dhoondhne mein kitna kuch khoya hai mene. I destroyed everything because of you. Teri wajah se mene maa ko khoya hai. Ab baba ko bhi…”

“Eshita leave!” Ekansh’s voice boomed through the mansion, cutting him off instantly.

Eshita forcefully pulled Ekta upstairs. It was clear Ekta was getting affected; the tears streaming down her face were proof enough. Her disdain for Suraj increased even more. He wasn’t a brother asking his sister to return. He was manipulating her into surrendering. She was yet to understand everything, but one thing was clear ,  she hated Ekta’s family.

Ekansh turned to face Bhairav head-on, his eyes cold and lethal. “Naam kya hai tumhara?”

Before Bhairav could reply, Suraj lifted his hand, stopping his father immediately.

“Jo baat karni hai mujhse karo,” He said arrogantly.

Ekansh let out a humorless chuckle. “Mein bachcho ke muh nahi lagta… specially vo jo bado se baat karne ki tameez bhool chuke ho.” He could guess the boy was barely twenty-one or twenty-two, yet the arrogance he carried was unbearable.

“Par tumhare paas mujhse baat karne ke alawa koi option nahi hai,” Suraj shot back coldly. “Baba se waise bhi koi kaam ki baat hoti nahi hai. Akhir mai jo hoga vo mein he taye krunga aur koi nhi. Inhe beech mai bolne ki koi zarurat nhi hai.”

Ekansh glanced at Bhairav, waiting for the man to react or at least see a flash of anger in his eyes, but he stood there with his back straight and head lowered quietly, as if his son was right to speak to him that way.

Shaking his head he looked back at Suraj, “Toh thik hai, Suraj Thakur…” His voice dangerously calm. “Darwaza uss taraf hai.” He pointed toward the exit. “Ekta tum logo ke saath aana nahi chahti. Faisla ho chukka hai. So get out of my house.”

“Vo faisla lene wali hoti kaun hai?” Suraj gritted out. “Mein jasa khaunga usse wase krna pdega. Bhen hai vo meri..”

“Property nahi!” Ekansh thundered, stepping forward. He held Suraj’s gaze firmly. “Bhen hai… property nahi. Uski khud ki apni pehchan hai. Aur vo itni bhi choti nahi hai ki apne liye kuch decide na kar sake. Uska faisla yaha rehne ka hai toh vo yahi rahegi. Jaisa Ekta chahti hai, wasa he hoga!”

Before Suraj could reply, the guards walked in, surrounding both father and son.

“Show them the way out,” Virendra spoke firmly. “And make sure yeh log mujhe mere ghar ke aas paas bhi nazar nahi aane chaiye.”

The guards complied instantly, moving toward them.

Suraj jerked back as one of the guards grabbed his arm. He glared at Ekansh venomously. “Bas kuch din ki baat hai. Uske baad Ekta ko apni asli jagah aana hi hoga. Mein bhi dekhta hu kaun rokega mujhe.”

Ekansh took a threatening step toward him, fury flashing dangerously in his eyes, but Virendra held his wrist, stopping him immediately. He knew exactly what his son was capable of. However, they knew nothing about Ekta’s family. Her father was dressed in simple village clothes, but the gold watch on Suraj’s wrist, the polished shoes, everything screamed of hidden power and money. He couldn’t let his son attack someone without understanding their background or weakness first.

“Chaliye!” Suraj snapped at his father before walking ahead. Deep inside, he already knew what he had to do. Once he got Ekta where he wanted her… he would make sure Ekansh Sehgal paid for laying his hands on him.

✨✨✨

Ice-cold water cascaded endlessly over Ekta’s shoulders, the droplets sliding down her trembling skin as she stood under the shower. It should have calmed the storm raging inside her, should have washed away the heaviness clawing through her chest, but it did nothing like that. The more she tried to block away the memories, the more they returned with brutal clarity.

She thought she had overcome the past long ago, but no… they were never gone, merely buried deep beneath the ruins of her own miseries, waiting for the right crack to spill out again.

Her gaze lifted, meeting her own reflection in the mirror, water cascading down her face like tears she refused to shed.

“Baba… aap yeh mere liye laye?” She could see her four-year-old excited self picking up the firecrackers her father had just brought.

It was rare in those days to celebrate anything. Even lighting a small diya was considered wasteful under Tej’s control. Her father had returned from the city after selling his crops. It was the first time she was seeing crackers outside stories her brother told her. He had already witnessed many Diwalis before, while she was too little to go near them earlier.

Her smile faded instantly when the sweets and crackers bag was snatched away from her hands. She looked up at her father, tears filling her doe eyes immediately. Did she do something wrong?

“Kitni baar kaha hai tujhe bina puche kisi cheez ko haath mat lagaya kar.” Her father spat harshly. ”Tera yaha kuch nahi hai. Tere bhai ke liye laya hu main yeh sab. Jaa yaha se.”

Her little heart cracked at words that were understandable yet unbearably cruel for a four-year-old child. She stepped forward, wrapping her arms around her father’s waist. Her mother had said her father loved her; he just didn’t know how to show that love the right way. Just like her friend Tani cared for her doll and scolded her during playtime, maybe that was how her father cared too.

“Baba, aap gussa mat kijiye,” She mumbled innocently. “Main toh bas…” her small frame stumbled back as he shoved her away roughly. Before she could fall, her mother caught her, steadying her on her feet.

“Isse kaho mujhse dur rehne ke liye.” She looked up as her father scolded her mother. He sounded angry, but why? Did she truly do something so terrible?

“Ladki hai, ladki ki tarah rahe. Mujhse gale lagne ki ijazat nahi hai isse.”

“Beti hai woh aapki.” Ekta glanced at her mother; her eyes were teary. “Yeh kaise baate kar rahe hai aap? Ladki hai toh isme iski kya galti...”

“CHUP EK DAM!”

Ekta recoiled at the thunderous roar, clutching onto her mother’s pallu she hid completely behind her.

“Maine jitna kaha hai utna karna tumhara kaam hai. Mujhse zyada zubaan ladane ki koshish bhi mat karna. Warna jaha se ayi ho, waha chhod ke aaunga tumhe bhi aur tumhari beti ko bhi.”

Ekta watched as her father walked away with the sweets and firecrackers. Her tiny fingers tugged at her mother’s pallu, grabbing her attention.

“Maa…”

“Tujhe bhook lagi hogi na?” Her mother asked with a smile. “Chal, maine tere liye tere pasand ke dal chawal banaye hai. Tujhe acche lagenge.”

“Ekta!” Ekansh’s voice snapped her out of her memories.

The reflection faded from the mirror, water still echoing loudly in the silent bathroom.

Before she could ask anything that day, her mother had guided her away. Those hot dal chawal served by her mothers hands distracted her little mind immediately.

But today, the grown-up her acknowledged what her younger self couldn’t recognize, the forced smile, helplessness of having nowhere else to go, fear of a husband, biasness of a father, suffocation, humiliation.

She had always wondered what was so wrong in being born a girl. Her mother used to tell her a girl was like a goddess, a beautiful creation of God capable of bringing life into the world, as precious and radiant as the moon itself.

But years later, in that hellhole, she realized the hands that offered prayers to an idol were the same ones that abused her at night in darkness. The people who pretended to worship godess were the same ones who destroyed them without remorse behind closed doors.

“Ekta!” Ekansh called out again, banging harder on the door.

With trembling hands, Ekta turned off the shower, her breathing uneven. It was time now. Time for her to leave from here. To say goodbye and disappear before her ruins destroyed the only good thing left in her life.

Ekansh was her brother in every sense. She loved him, a truth she never dared acknowledge aloud, but now that danger had finally knocked on the door, she couldn’t run away from it anymore.

She loved Ekansh enough to give him up, to walk away from their bond if that was what it took to protect him from the darkness attached to her existence forever.

Ekansh sighed in relief as the door opened after what felt like forever. He was this close to breaking it down and asking Eshita to check what was wrong because Ekta had locked herself inside for too long without answering properly.

However, his relief was short-lived as Ekta stepped out of the washroom drenched, water dripping from her hair, her clothes completely soaked against her trembling body.

“Ekta…” He held her instinctively as she stumbled forward weakly. “Kya kar rahi hai tu… Why didn’t you change, baccha? Bimaar pad jaayegi…” He trailed off as she suddenly collapsed unconscious in his arms, completely limp.

“Ekta…” He tapped her face panicked, calling out for Eshita immediately. Ekta’s body temperature felt burning hot beneath his hands.

Eshita rushed in hearing the panic in his voice. “Kya hua usse?” She asked as Ekansh laid Ekta carefully on the bed.

“Behosh ho gayi hai.” Ekansh turned off the AC quickly. “Her clothes are wet. Change her clothes i will ask mary to help...”

“Nhi main kar lungi…” Eshita said, walking toward the wardrobe. “Aap iske liye khada bana do tab tak.”

Ekansh left without another word. He had come to talk to Ekta, reassure her, subside her fears, and somehow convince her that everything would be alright, but this was not something he was prepared for. His worry had already been growing with Ekta’s prolonged silence and withdrawn behavior.

Eshita set the clothes and towel aside before sitting behind Ekta. She helped her up gently, removing her T-shirt with the carefulness one would use for a baby.

Her hands froze. Her entire body stilled. Marks marred Ekta’s petite figure brutally. Fading scars spread across her skin like remnants of a nightmare they knew nothing about.

Her fingers brushed unconsciously across one of the scars, a tiny hiss escaping her own lips as if she herself could feel the pain the girl must have gone through while receiving them. Every single seemed old, but all of them carried silent stories of suffering.

“Maa…” Ekta mumbled weakly in her unconscious state.

Eshita pulled back slightly. “Ekta…” she called softly, shaking her a little.

“Maa…” Ekta whimpered again.

Eshita’s eyes misted instantly. She glanced toward her mother’s photograph resting on the side table before quietly beginning to change Ekta’s clothes carefully, making sure not to hurt her even accidentally.

The girl was a mystery, a broken puzzle no one knew how to solve. She had a past, more than just a painful past, and that bothered Eshita deeply. Ekta was sixteen, and she had met Ekansh when she was barely nine or ten. Which meant whatever had happened to her happened before that. Her blood boiled at the realization that someone had inflicted such horrors on a little child.

Putting the wet clothes into the laundry basket, she returned and wrapped the comforter around Ekta completely, covering her trembling frame.

“Maa…” Ekta fidgeted restlessly, her fingers wrapping tightly around Eshita’s hand.

Eshita stopped. She glanced at the hand gripping hers desperately as if terrified she would disappear, then back at Ekta, who flinched even in her unconscious state as though reliving something horrifying.

Quietly, Eshita settled down beside the girl, only to stiffen in surprise as Ekta abruptly turned and buried her face into Eshita’s warmth, snuggling closer instinctively.

Eshita took a deep breath. She didn’t know what to do. She had always been the one comforted by her family; she didn’t know how to become comfort for someone else. That kind of emotional responsibility was unfamiliar to her.

Her gaze shifted toward her mother’s frame again, the soft smile staring right back at her almost reassuringly.

Hesitantly, she patted Ekta’s head lovingly just like her mother used to do. Whenever she used to fall sick or wake up scared after nightmares, her mother’s presence alone used to chase away every ghost haunting her mind.

She did the same with Ekta now, hoping to provide her even a fraction of that same warmth and safety that only a mother’s embrace could give.

Chaandni raat mein gudiya meri so jaa,
Badalon mein chupke chaand tujhe dekh raha,
Mera saaya tere har darr pe pehra,
Meethe sapno ki galiyon mein tu chupke se kho jaa.

Ekansh stopped at the threshold hearing the lullaby. His grip tightened on the glass in his hands. Quietly, he pushed the door slightly open. The scene before him brought back memories he was witnessing after years.

Ekta lay curled up in Eshita’s warmth, the way Eshita sang the same words their mother once used to sing for her while running her fingers gently through Ekta’s hair brought an ache to his chest. It felt like he was revisiting pieces of a life that had once slipped away from their hands.

Closing the door back softly, he walked away, giving the girls space without breaking the precious moment. More than the herbal juice, Ekta needed a mother’s warmth and reassurance, and Eshita was unknowingly offering her exactly that in the gentlest way possible.

✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰

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