Neysa excused herself from Shipra's call and dialed another number, belonging to the man who would surely be aware of every step of the man in question- Vivek Nagar.
"Hello Ritha! You remembered me after so long? What's up?" spoke the affectionate voice from the other end of the phone. He had, in their intertwined past, tried to gain her affections but had backed off after learning her clear disinterest in him but that did not stop him from being a close friend to her after years.
"Vivek, I am afraid this is not the time for pleasantries. I will surely tell you the details soon enough but for now, please tell me where your boss and dear friend is? Where is Adhrit? I need to meet him urgently," she spoke hurriedly, making him aware of her anxiety.
"Give me a minute," said Vivek, who also happened to be the personal assistant of Adhrit and started looking up his schedule to ascertain where he could be.
Few moments of waiting felt like eons as Neysa waited for Adhrit's location. She could not tolerate his blow on her self-respect, and she swore to make him go back about the prospects he had in his mind.
"Ritha, it seems he would be arriving at the office in another ten minutes according to the pre-planned schedule. He did not inform me regarding any changes so if you want to meet him, you can come here in another ten minutes. I will make sure that he meets you first," assured Vivek, wondering if Neysa's need to meet him had anything to do with the meeting Adhrit had requested with his lawyer earlier that morning.
"I will be there, Vivek. Please make sure that I meet him as soon as possible. I will also have to reach my clinic after that," she explained. Before seeing the contract papers, she wanted to take the day off, but she knew that she needed distraction from the blackhole she was being sucked into.
"I will take care of it. I will also look forward to knowing what happened. See you soon, Ritha," he greeted, before Neysa disconnected the call. She glanced at herself in the mirror to see if she was looking decent enough to go to Adhrit 's office. She decided against it and quickly changed into a simple ankle-length ivory dress with intricate embroidery. She splashed some perfume over herself and picked up the car keys as she resolved to change the contract, no matter what it takes.
She drove over to Adhrit's office, choosing the fastest route she could, to prevent any delay. She handed over her car to the valet and walked inside after completing the necessary formalities.
She could feel the stares of the employees boring into her, but she couldn't care less as she had much more important issues to deal with than some curious people who could mind their own business. She walked over to the lift, following the directions written for the same, and pressed the button with '31' printed as instructed by Vivek.
The journey in the lift seemed like excruciatingly long as she felt anger bubble through her for Adhrit's actions. Trusting whom could she leave her child forever with Adhrit? Mohini? She was aware of the fact that Adhrit Solanki just did not have enough strength in himself to divorce his wife but that does not mean that she would completely forget her child and never even look at her child or him.
The lift pinged, notifying her that her destination had arrived. Vivek was waiting for her in the lobby and a smile graced his lips as she entered his line of sight.
"Ritha! Glad to see you. Adhrit is in his cabin. This way," he said, guiding her to Adhrit's cabin immediately.
He stopped in front of Adhrit 's cabin while Neysa barged inside the cabin, shredding every bit of professionalism and etiquette she had learned over the years.
"Adhrit Solanki! What is the meaning of this contract?" she spat, as she banged the contract papers onto his desk. Her eyes stung with furious tears while she trembled to control herself from physically hurting her love.
To say that Adhrit was shocked would be an understatement. The impact of her force compelled him to stand up on his feet and eye the woman who could burn him down if gaze could ignite.
"It is a valid contract,Nisha . I have kept my end of the bargain and you agreed to be the surrogate in return. I heard that the child has an invisible and unbreakable bond with the biological mother, I don't want to lose my son or daughter because they are more attached to you than me. I am sorry, Nisha. This is my insecurity speaking. I had seen the dream of having children and pampering them with all the love of the world fourteen long years back. That dream was denied in the most shattering way possible and I was forced to choose this route. I have felt the pain of the dream breaking once, I don't want to lose my children in reality. I lost the love of my life to so many men but I don't want my progeny to drift away from me towards you," he answered, his tone humble and pleading while his eyes appeared tired of the fight he had put up with himself to draft the contract.
He internally mocked himself that his attachment, his desire and his obsession with children had matched upto the Dasharatha, who made him want to become a father. And he knew that his obsession was higher than his concern for Neysa.
"Fourteen long years, Adhrit? If your fourteen years count, then my love of twelve years should also count. Is this the price I pay for loving unconditionally? Never being able to look at my child or the man whom I have loved enough to give away twelve prime years of my life in his memory? Great reward I get, Adhrit. I am fine with it, but I have a condition to agree to your contract," she lashed, donning the mask of nonchalance over the writhing pain of love.
Guilt like never before flooded his heart. Her justifiable questions compelled him to question his sanity and humanity for placing such a condition in front of her. All for what? His insecurity? But his insolent heart forced him to ask her of the condition she seeks.
"What is your condition?"
"Divorce Mohini and I will sign this contract," she declared, looking straight through his eyes, daring him to shout at her.
"What's wrong with you, Neysa? How is my divorce with Mohini related to this?" he questioned, crossing over his desk to stand in front of her.
"It is only fair that you lose the love of your life when I lose mine, Adhrit. Why? The very idea of divorcing the wife who placed fame and social status above your love seems to be repulsive to you?" she mocked, her face set into an embodiment of wrath as she held his collar and pulled him to look into her eyes.
The silence she received as an answer encouraged her to continue further, "You cannot divorce your wife, but you expect me to never even look at the child whom I am supposed to carry for nine months and deliver? Do you have any idea how much of an emotional attachment motherhood is? Especially when the child shares half of the genes from the man whom you loved for half of your life. You won't understand, Adhrit. You never will," she spat, hitting her fist against his chest as he hung his head in shame and remorse.
"Here goes your contract papers and proposition. I cannot trust any proposition from your side when you have removed any basis for me to trust you," she exclaimed as she tore the contract papers into pieces and threw it to the side.
Sparing one last look at Adhrit, she walked out of his cabin, not allowing him to utter a word.
"Test results came," said Preetika, sighing deeply as she looked at the breaking news which was being read by Sandeep.
"Everything's fine right?" he questioned, concerned, lacing his tone as he grabbed the results from her hands to have a look at him, overlooking the fact that Preetika was a practicing clinician herself.
"Yeah, she's stable but she must be treated for loss of electrolytes. Thankfully, she did not end up with a septic shock or else..."
Words betrayed her as she thought of the fate which awaited her if her words had turned true. Over the years as Mohini's consulting physician, she had grown to love her as a sister and the mere thought of losing her was burning her heart with an uncurable ache.
"All for that idiot who does not even call back to the numerous calls. I called up his assistant, Vijay or Vivek. He said that he will connect me to Adhrit immediately but that never happened. The line was just disconnected. Rascal! I just don't know why Mohini ended up in love with him and doesn't want to give up on him!" exclaimed Sandeep, banging the papers against the wall in frustration.
"There's no coming back in love, Sandeep. I think you know that better than me, after all, you have loved and faced the pain of unrequited love from the same woman," she said, placing a consoling palm on his back with assurance lining her tone.
She fervently prayed that all the parties involved get peace and solace that they truly deserve but she wondered if an answer to this heartwrenching puzzle of love existed, that could placate everyone involved.