Ananya walked in, after Inder made his hasty exit, still confused
One ,Inder had never left from her place without meeting Aarav. Not even once
Two ,Janani Trivedi. She definitely thought they are married. The children calls her momma. So what is really going on
As Janani saw Ananya coming in ,she hurried forward
"Ananya. Can we talk??" Janani asked
"Sure" Ananya informed the other teacher that they will be in her office and to call in case of any emergency
"So??" Ananya asked after a few minutes of silence
"I know you have misunderstood something and it was not my intention to deceive you in any way Ananya." Janani began uncomfortably
"Janani. I would never judge you if that's what is worrying you. Living together is pretty common nowadays and I really don't have any rights to judge you" Ananya said
Living together?? Ananya had again misunderstood her
Janani hesitated. She terribly wants to confide in someone. She wish like hell Richa is here with her now.
"Dhruv was not my husband" Ananya said with a forlorn expression on her face and Janani was startled
"What??"
"Dhruv and I were in a relationship for two years when he proposed. Everything was going fine until fate took him away from me. Two weeks after his death I realised I was pregnant. You can understand how society views an unmarried mother in our nation. So I left my hometown. I use Dhruv's surname for me and my baby because I can't have people point a finger at my child and Dhruv would have wanted that. So you see I'm no one to judge you" Ananya said
No one in this city knew about her past. To everyone she is a widowed single mother. And she is earning a living only because of that respect in the society. If people had known about her unmarried state her kindergarten wouldn't have picked up.
The first person to whom she revealed her truth was Inder. And she did that because she didn't want to keep him in the dark.
And once the truth is out she couldn't hold back anymore. She wanted to confide in someone so badly. She had been keeping everything bottled up inside for the last four years. She can't do it anymore.
And she felt a connection with Janani. As if she had known her forever.
"Advi is my twin's baby" Janani confessed
"You have a twin??" Ananya asked in surprise
"I had!!" She said
Janani poured out the entire truth right from the beginning when Saanvi tracked her down ,up until what happened in the morning
"Oh God" Ananya was stunned. How could someone do that to their own sibling. If she had a sister she would have cherished her forever
"My life is so complicated now. When I lied the first time all I ever thought of was holding on to Advi as long as I could. Now my whole life is under threat. I stand to lose four important people in my life" Janani said thinking about Armaan, Aadesh and the kids
Ananya was at loss of words
From what she had heard so far ,Armaan Verma appears to be pretty unpredictable.
He could either be finally thankful Janani is not Saanvi and accept the gift he had been given or he could go beresk at the deception and destroy his own happiness along with the others.
"Don't lose hope Janani. Pray for the best"
*****
At Verma Industries ,Inder made a bee line for Armaan's cabin
"Maan"
"Hey Inder. What a pleasant surprise. When you told me you will drop by sometime soon I thought you would come home. You could have met Janani and the kids too" Armaan said and Inder looked at him in wonder
Janani and the kids. He is talking as if Janani is a part of their family already
And the Janani he saw today could be ,he thought
She looked very different from the cold detached woman he met a year back
"I saw Janani today. That's why I'm here" Inder said and Armaan frowned
"You saw her?? How??"
"She was there at the kindergarten. She is working there now. You know right??"
"Ofcourse I know"
"Well. She seemed different" Inder said and Armaan smiled
"She does. Doesn't she??" He asked with a lazy smile on his face as he relaxed on his chair
"What is happening Maan?? Two years ago I saw a cold detached woman. And we know about her morals through the reports you collected through private investigators" Inder asked still confused with the content smile he saw on Armaan's face
Armaan's lips thinned into a straight line as he heard Inder's comment on her morals
"There's two sides to a coin Inder. You don't know anything about her. So it would be better if you refrain from making such comments" Armaan said coldly and Inder was taken aback
"She stole your child. You forgot??"
"Maybe because she couldn't give up the baby. She adores Advi. As a matter of fact she adores Ava too" Armaan imparted
"And people do change Inder. Having a baby is a life turning event" Armaan added
Inder was still comprehending what he realized from the look on Armaan's face
Armaan Verma is in love!!
"Something doesn't add up Armaan"
"It doesn't matters. Past is called past for a reason. Now is what matters" Armaan said
"You are in love" Inder said in an almost accusing tone
"Being in love is not a crime" Armaan was immediately on defensive mode
Inder gaped at him
"But you..."
"And look who is talking. You yourself are in love. Aren't you?" Armaan asked smirking
"But I always knew I would fall in love when I meet the right woman" Inder argued
"Well! I didn't think there could be right woman for me until I met the one" Armaan said
"Wait a second. Why were even you there in the kindergarten??" Armaan asked and Inder gave him a sheepish look
"I went over to meet Ananya"
"Ananya Mittal?? You mean you are in love with Ananya Mittal??"
"Yes" Inder said and Armaan laughed out loud making him frown
"What is so funny??"
"You are the superman???" Armaan asked amused at the turn of events
"Yeah..kind of" Inder said rubbing the back of his neck
"Great! And I'm the spiderman" Armaan said and explained the toddler rivalry he witnessed today making Inder chuckle
"Back to the topic Armaan. About Janani...-" Armaan cut him off in between
"Your Ananya happens to like Janani very much. So it would be better for your love life to not talk ill about Janani" Armaan warned smugly
"Listen Armaan. What you said is true. Janani looked really different. Not at all like the woman I met a year ago. And yes ,people do change . I understand. What I don't understand is why she didn't recognize me" Inder asked making Armaan puzzled
"She didn't?? How could she not?? You accompanied her for all her check ups" Armaan frowned confused at that information
"Exactly. That's my point. There is something that doesnt add up.Please check into it once again."
"Did she have some accident or something. Maybe a memory loss??" Armaan asked
"Memory loss and she forgot only me. How is that possible??"
"Selective Amnesia happens right " Armaan argued his point
"Selective amnesia doesn't means she selectively forgets a person. Maybe a selective time period. And this is not some bad soap opera" Inder said frustrated
"Okay okay. I will ask Kamal Mishra to check into it. It doesnt hurts to know if she got into any accident of sorts" Armaan said and immediately called Kamal Mishra, his legal advisor to do the necessary
The next hour passed by both the friends catching up on the recent events of their life
Armaan's phone buzzed and he saw it was a call from Kamal Mishra.
So fast?? Armaam wondered
"I have the worst possible news for you. We’ve all been conned" Kamal Mishra announced with rare drama the instant the call connected. "Janani Trivedi is not the mother of your child—"
Armaan froze
"That's not possible" he declared
"I haven’t got all the details yet and I won’t waste your time with speculation but I believe that the mother of your child was one of an identical set of twins. She died in an accident a couple of months ago" the lawyer explained curtly.
Armaan was frowning darkly. "Which would mean—"
"That, at best, Janani Trivedi is an aunt to the boy and a con artist" Kamal Mishra framed drily. "I have a top-flight set of investigators digging into this right now and I expect to have the whole story for you by this evening at the latest."
"Why is it that this never came into attention of any of your top flight investigators before??" Armaan asked
"We have only been trying to locate the woman. Now that you have asked to check about any accidents this came into light" Kamal Mishra informed
"How sure are you about these facts??" Armaan prompted having a mental image of all the interactions between Janani and Advi
Not Advi's mother?? How could that be possible??
His brain ,usually so fast to adapt to new scenarios was struggling to find solid ground after this blow to his heart
"Take it from me—she’s definitely not the woman who gave birth to the boy. I now have that woman’s real name along with a copy of her death certificate. She called herself Saanvi Sharma. Matters are complicated by the fact that from the very beginning of your dealings with Saanvi, your son’s real mother was using Janani Trivedi's identity to hide behind."
"But why? You believe this was a conspiracy from the start?"
"Who can tell? With one of them dead it’s doubtful that the full truth will ever be known" Kamal Mishra pointed out cynically.
The phone fell off his trembling fingers when reality sunk in
He had been deceived by the woman he is in love with