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The girls had spilled out every little detail that they knew about the incident, without holding anything back and Asha listened to them patiently.
It had been over an hour since Anjali and Prerna were invited into the Raivardhan mansion. And though they were angry, it still didn't prevent them from gawking at the interiors.
Even while they had a little silent tea party with Asha, they were admiring the Raivardhan taste in decors. What broke them out of the trance was the hurried footsteps towards the dining room where they had been seated.
The first one to come into sight was none other than the devil himself, Viaan Raivardhan. He knelt by his mom, holding one of her hands as he placed another hand of his over her cheek, gently.
"Mother, are you alright?" He asked in a ragged voice like he rushed his way to his mother. The girls were surprised to see his tenderness towards Asha, while she looked at her son and asked in a stern voice, "is it true that you had held a girl captive here for three days?"
Viaan composed himself as he turned to narrow his eyes at Anjali and Prerna who sat there not a few feet away from him.
"Viaan... I asked you something," Asha's voice had been as tender as she had been with the girls whenever she interacted with them.
Viaan exhaled in annoyance, yet his voice was gentle and polite, "yes, I did."
Girls were shocked to still hear that tenderness in his tone, they had expected him to yell at them or perhaps even threaten them.
"And did you care to find out what happened to her after you let her go?" Asha had posed another question to her son.
As if on cue, the other Raivardhan brothers skidded to halt from wherever they had been, just to witness the conversation between Asha and Viaan.
"No, I didn't," his blunt honesty let disappointment spread over Asha's features when she heard her son's reply, "I could expect this from Vikrant but not from you, Viaan. Your one impulsive decision ruined four lives..."
Her words caught all the other Raivardhan brothers (except Vikrant) off-guard.
"Four lives?" Aaryan posed the question that had been burning in the heads of all the Raivardhan brothers.
"Yes, four lives. First is the father of the girl, who had spent his entire life dedicated to his family, only to find out that one of his precious daughters went missing for three days. He had an angina attack followed by a heart attack within a span of a week...
"Second is her mother, who lost her hope, her light and died inside when her daughter was judged and criticized because she was missing for three days, before witnessing her daughter's fiance breaking off the engagement.
"Third one is her little sister, who will have a hard time finding herself a suitor because nobody would want to marry a sister of the girl about whom the entire city spread the rumors of being characterless."
Asha got up from her chair and walked towards the glass wall making Viaan stand up as she continued, "the last but not the least, the girl herself. Think what she might have gone through when she was kept hostage here for no reason, when let out, she was categorized as slut for disappearing for three days, blamed and judged for not getting proper marriage proposals, getting her engagement broken and forced to get married to a man more than double of her age."
She turned to look at her sons, "and the irony is that she hasn't muttered a word about you and what you did with her. She kept her silence, enduring all that by herself just because she didn't want to be ungrateful towards your brothers who had helped her. When she couldn't bear it anymore, she shared her pain with these two girls here, yet asked them not to breathe a word about it."
The men silently listened to what she had to say, so Asha continued, "but why do think that these girls are here? Because they were plotting a plan? A scam? No, they are here because that girl over there is dying inside. To keep her family's leftover reputation, to let her parents look into other people's eyes when they talk, to let her sister have a better chance at life than she did, she sacrificed herself and agreed to marry a man who has one of his legs in his grave."
"But tell me, does she deserves it? What sin has she committed to be punished this way? What was her fault that she had to endure all of this? Can you forgive yourselves for making four innocent lives suffer without a cause?" Asha questioned her sons, yet her voice never left the tenderness of a mother.
She walked up to Viaan and placed her hand over his cheek making him look at her, "I know you are a mature adult and capable of making your own decisions. I am not going to force you into doing anything if you don't want to do it. I can only hope that you will mend the damage you have caused."
She smiled at Viaan tenderly, "everyone can leave now, except you, Vikrant."
And as she had dismissed everyone, everyone left, even the girls while Vikrant stayed behind.
When everyone was out of earshot, Asha turned to her son, Vikrant, "I shall respect whatever Viaan decides, and I know he will not let me down. But in case his conscience doesn't work in the favor of the girl, I expect you to marry her."
Vikrant just nodded at his mother's wish, "whatever you want mother."
Asha smiled at Vikrant as she slightly patted his cheek in pride, "now go. I shall not tardy you of whatever task you have."
Vikrant nodded once again before walking out of the room.
What happened in the Raivardhan mansion that day, was kept in the mansion for the time being. Because soon the world was getting a surprise, a big surprise, especially me...
19. UNNEES
