Janani tidied the flowers on her sister's grave,her eyes stinging like mad ,her heart squeezing at the misery inside her.
The misery at the thought of never having a chance of knowing her twin.
She had loved Saanvi and hated the reality that fate didnt give her a chance to bond with her sister.
Born to an unknown father and a drug addict mother the twins had ended up in different adoptive homes.
They had not met until they were adults and Saanvi had tracked Janani down.
Right from the beginning Janani and her parents were captivated by her lively charming twin.
Ofcourse that had gone wrong for all of them,she acknowledged reluctantly ,but it had gone worse for little Advi who would never know his birth mother.
Her eyes rested on the wide awake ten month old baby in the buggy near her and her misty eyes brightened, for little Advi is the sun ,moon and stars in Janani's world now.
He was the most utterly adorable baby in the world and he owns her heart and soul,had done so since the moment her eyes rested upon his one week old self.
"I saw you from the street.Why are you here again??" A worried female voice pressed "I don't understand why you are torturing yourself like this Jan.She is gone and I would say good riddance"
"Please dont say that" Janani urged her best friend Richa who she had known from kindergarten..
"But its the truth and you have to face it.She almost destroyed your family Janani" Richa said bluntly "I know it hurts you to hear me say this,but Jan your twin was rotten to the core"
"If we had more time together,things would have turned out differently " Janani mumbled
"She ripped off your parents ,stole your identity ,snatched your fiance from you and landed you with a baby.What more do you think she could have done" Richa reminded her drily...
"I love Advi and I like taking care of him" Janani argued.
"What about his father ?? What did he tell you??" Richa asked
"That he had come for his son" Janani mumbled miserably at the thought of losing Advi.
"You do know right ,you have to hand him over.He is the baby's father and your twin had crossed him and according to what google says Armaan Verma makes the worst enemy one could have " Richa said and Janani shivered at the sound of that name.
"I know.But I can't hand him over just like that"
"As long as he thinks that you are Saanvi he can't rip Advi off you, but the minute you tell him your are not his mother he will be off with his son before you even blink your eyes" Richa said making a flight motion with her hands.
"What do you mean?? "
"Surrogacy or not, Saanvi is Advi's biological mother, so she does have rights over him" Richa said cooing at the baby in the bug and Janani's brain started wheeling.
"So you mean as long as he thinks I'm Advi's mother I can hold on to him??" Janani asked and Richa frowned at her.
"You are not seriously thinking what I think you are thinking right Jan??" Richa groaned
"Why not??" Janani argued
"Because you dont know what Armaan Verma is capable of"
"You dont either" Janani retorted
"I do now.Google is very informative. He might be sex on legs but not someone you should get involved with in any way Jan." Richa said
"I will think about it" Janani said to comfort Richa but she had made up her decision
It's her name in Advi's birth certificate. It's her name Saanvi had given while applying for the surrogacy.
There is no way Armaan Verma would know there are two of them.
*****
Janani had laid an exhausted Advi on to his little cot and kissed him goodnight.
She was going through the channels on the television without paying any attention to it when she heard the door bell ring.
She sprang up from the couch and raced to the door.
She can't have the sound wake Advi up.
She opened the door and was stunned to see Armaan Verma at her door step.
Didnt he tell he would come by the next day
So what is he doing here at this time of the day.
"Its late" Janani said accusingly.
That morning when he came announcing himself to be Advi's father Janani was stunned to react.
She had no idea about the baby's father.Saanvi refused to share the information as she knew Janani disapproved what Saanvi did to the man.
But one look at Armaan Verma and she knew he was telling the truth.
"We need to talk" came the curt response as his eyes scanned her from head to toe.
She blushed in mortification. She is dressed in her hello kitty pyjamas and wearing her bunny slippers.
Could it be any more worse.
Janani tilted her chin up as if she was neither aware of nor bothered by his scrutiny.
She knew that she needed to get a grip on herself and do it fast as she had no idea of what was about to happen to Advi.
It disturbed her that she is about to do something so dishonest and illegal, pretending to be her sister.
Janani had never done anything dishonest in her life.
But this is for her precious nephew, whom she loves as her own.She reminded herself
Armaan was very still, his entire attention engaged by the strange behaviour of the woman in front of him.
Woman did not stick out their chin at Armaan.They smiled at him, flirted with him ,treated him to covert glances to make themselves more appealing.
Yet Janani Trivedi is challenging him.
Armaan pushed the half open door and walked past her into the living room making her huff at her behaviour.
"I want a DNA test to be done.A doctor would drop by in the morning to collect samples " Armaan said
"How dare you" Janani asked outraged at the insult to her sister's memory.
"It was what you signed for remember?? Mandatory DNA test was a clause in the contract you signed.It is for legal formalities." Armaan retorted.
The reminder of the contract Saanvi had signed in her name doused her anger replacing it with a sudden surge of shame
She was going to lie.
To pretend to be someone she is not.
"So you will agree to this??" He asked looking at her eyes so intensely that Janani forgot to breath
"Yes" Janani muttered looking into his his eyes the colour of liquid chocolate, so similar to Advi's.
Her heart went bang-bang-bang inside her and she felt incredibly dizzy.
"In fact you will agree to all my demands" Armaan told her without skipping a beat while he silently marvelled at the translucent perfection of her caramel coloured eyes
"Because you are not stupid and it would be very stupid to refuse me anything I want"
And he wants her.
He looked at her dressed in the Hello kitty pyjamas and bunny slippers and wondered how he could be turned on by something like that.