"I cannot marry you, Sandeep Why don't you understand? The last time I agreed to the demands arising from your love, in a moment of unfortunately devastating weakness, I lost my Adhrit physically. If I were to accept your proposal, I should give up his place in my heart too and I won't accept it," spat Mohini, staging a walkout as she shut the door of her room with a thud after collapsing behind it.
Adhrit and Neysa, who were escorted into the living room by her secretary, happened to witness the exchange between the woman who influenced him more than anyone else in life, directly or indirectly, and the man who sought her presence in his life as much as she had sought Adhrit.
"What does she mean?" whispered Adhrit, involuntarily, unknown to the fact that his whisper was loud enough for Sandeep to hear him.
"Oh, whom do we have? Adhrit Solanki. What brings His Majesty here?" mocked Sandeep, condescension and derision lining his tone in a way which made Adhrit's insides churn. But that feeling was nothing in relation to what he had experienced when he heard Mohini uttering those words.
"Why is she not ready to marry you? She...uh..anniversary..you were there..." Adhrit stuttered, unable to make coherent sentences as he felt his mind reeling with multiple thoughts.
"Oh well, Mr. Solanki, you still don't realize, do you? She never wanted to be in that place. I made her weak by giving her the hope of sanity and showing that I was standing in the same boat of unrequited love as her. Whether it was friendship that forced her to erase my pain or her own pain which guided her, I do not know, but I know that she regretted that moment for every moment which followed, going as far as attempting to suicide by etching your name into her forearm, but how would you know? You didn't even bother calling back despite several calls from our side and knowing that she was admitted in hospital. Neither then nor now, probably I will never understand her love for you but probably so do you," spat Sandeep, causing Adhrit to stumble back as Neysa supported him, knowing well what he was enduring but it was for the same reason that she brought him in the first place.
"But the reports? The news?" wondered Adhrit, raking his fingers through his immaculately set hair, messing it up in the course, much like his mind at the moment.
"Looks like the probability of not understanding, in your case, is inching towards one, Mr. Solanki. It was obviously false, and you never bothered cross checking the facts because you wanted them to be true. In fact, you circulated the news further," lashed Sandeep, furiously, thanking that Mohini's room was soundproof as she could not hear the conversation.
"Why didn't she ever refute? She could have done anything to prove me wrong," retorted Adhrit, his features expressing his frustration.
"Because you never believed her. The producer took advantage of her drunk state and it amounted to date-rape, which was even proved in court. But, you, her own husband, did not believe her but the media which always twists and turns the words. The same media caught you speaking to your friend about her infidelity and published a report, she thought you had no trust in her. Added to that were your constant demands to have children when she had no idea what to do. Whether to disappoint you with the truth or take the risk, and in the end, she chose to pull you to the edge, hoping that you fulfill your wish. Bloody Hero Complex, she has, after all the roles she portrayed! She was truly caught in a limbo; unable to leave the only family left in the world and unable to tolerate the pain she was struck in. It was her consulting physician who advised her that it is better she attends parties to keep her mind away from sorrow rather than losing herself in alcohol and that is why she began going as date to her industry friends but it was strictly platonic because she truly never gave your place to anyone in her life - professional or personal, in mind, heart or soul," revealed Sandeep, tears stinging in his eyes as he reminisced the medical reports analyzed by the physician indicating her depression and damage caused by alcohol.
It took much more than expected for Adhrit to contain the information he had received. Myriads of emotions, several hues of love began splaying themselves across the canvas of his mind, etching themselves deep into his conscience, which had finally awakened.
"I'll convince her for the wedding," announced Adhrit, walking towards the door as he wondered if the door still opened for him, after all those months, and surprisingly his fingerprint was not erased from the database, causing the door to open for him.
"Are you sure that it'll work, Neysa? I did exactly as you told me to do, and timing has been good enough," whispered Sandeep, leaning towards Neysa, carefully ensuring that Adhrit could not hear their conversation.
"I really hope it does, Sandeep. For the peace of everyone. For the happy ending we craved for."
The Room, "Mohini..." called Adhrit, making the woman in question turn around with a surprised expression etched into her pale features.
"Adhrit? What brings you here? Is everything alright? How are you? Neysa? And the kids?" she showered a string of questions upon him as Adhrit shut his eyes in guilt at her concern.
"Everyone is fine. But are you? You don't look fine," he replied, eying the woman who smiled in his success, wept in his loss, stayed up several nights to help his cause and abandoned many favorites to ensure his happiness.
"What about me? I am fine," she retorted, tears filling her eyes involuntarily as she felt the destiny mocking at her, giving her what she needed the most when she had already lost the right.
"I don't think I can even apologize for everything you have went through. Three words cannot make up for the agony you have endured. How could I never think of it in another way!" Adhrit reprimanded himself, his features scrunching up in frustration against his own self, tears falling out of his chocolate orbs and narrowed eyes.
"You have no need to apologize, Adhrit. I could have brought myself out of the agony if I had truly wanted but I wanted to stay, in the hope of love. Something I wanted so badly that I was willing to pay any price for that, be it my love, my sanity or my soul, but I should have known that you cannot receive what is not to be yours. Also, you apologize to your victim, Adhrit, but I am not just your victim but also your culprit, so don't, please," she said, wiping his tears affectionately, with a melancholic smile stretching itself on her chapped lips. The woman in whose warmth he was basking was a stark contrast of the beautiful young woman he had wedded; she was a broken soul who made no efforts to save herself from drowning into the deepest abyss of all - unrequited love.
"Fourteen years of togetherness, isn't it, Mohini? Half of our lives and we still could not make it work. Why did love fail in such a vengeful manner?" demanded Adhrit, reminiscing the times they have spent together, through thick and thin, through silliness and maturity, through anger and delight, through love and through hatred.
"You wanted submission, I wanted attention. You needed to have no burdens of expectations upon your shoulders and I needed a balm to soothe the tempestuous soul of mine, ravaged by the past. You craved accolades and I craved moments of togetherness. We were never meant to last, Adhrit. Fourteen years, you say, wasn't it after fourteen years that Ram found Sita in the form of his wife again and Ayodhya found its darling heir? Maybe ours was meant to go on the path carved by your favorite epic," she explained, cupping his jaw with her shaking palms lovingly, wondering if it would be the last time, she would hold him close to her. How she wished for several such good times to be bestowed upon her, but she knew that her love had found his happiness in another woman, equally loving and worthy of him.
"You say, we are not meant for each other, but will you heed to my request?" he asked, clasping her trembling palms against his jaw with his own.
"Anything you ask of, Adhrit. I will be glad to fulfill at least one of your requests," she replied, smiling at him earnestly.
"Marry Sandeep. You deserve a happily ever after, after everything you have been through. You deserve to have someone to call your own," he requested, wondering if he had enough power over her senses to command them to fall for someone else - how ironic the situation truly was.
"I cannot give your place to anyone, Adhrit. I have been accused of doing it several times over, but I have no intention of doing so," she declared, moving away from him but he was as firm and determined as she was when he held her at her wrist and stopped her.
"You don't stop loving someone to start loving someone else, Mohini. They can hold two different places in your heart. Wouldn't you do it even if it means giving me salvation and peace, which I craved for?" he questioned, effectively putting her into a unique quandary in which the two warring sides belonged to love.
"For your peace, I will trade my soul, Adhrit. I will marry him and give it a chance but don't expect me to be happily married, because I really don't know how it feels like, no offense intended of course," she chuckled, as he placed a chaste kiss at her forehead, which she knew, would be their farewell.