Adhrit stumbled back and rested his back against the wall. He had not expected her to react in the way she did. He had expected her to understand his feelings. He almost felt angry at her for not realizing his reasons and decoding his actions, but his guilt stopped him.
She was his friend from twelve years; someone who loved him through the years without any expectations, except his happiness and his well-being. Her love overwhelmed him from the moment he had come to know of it, but he had managed to make her furious at him. He felt torn between his dreams and his concern for his dear friend.
He was unable to remove her from his mind since the morning. She was etched unto the canvas of his mind. The mere memory of the night and the way her eyes twinkled with amour, dilated and darkened his eyes and made his heart swell with myriads of feelings. He did not understand what had gotten into him.
His childhood dream drove him so far and he was willing to take it further. The thoughts to divorce Mohini were hovering over his brain since the moment he saw that tormenting vision and the divorce being Neysa's condition made him reach his decision faster.
Before he could call Vivek and ask him to draw an appointment with a divorce lawyer, Vivek barged inside the cabin and he looked furious to say the least.
"How dare you hurt Neysa so badly, Adhrit? I did not know that your thinking could stoop so low that you could ask for a mother to be separated from her child forever, when your own wife refuses to have children because it would ruin her figure. Neysa is not a professional surrogate to completely forget her child after giving birth, Adhrit. She is a person who loved children enough to take up pediatrics and you want her to sign a legally binding contract that she would never see her own child? That is just disgusting, Adhrit. You better apologize to her at the earliest. She is completely broken," spat Vivek, throwing daggers at Adhrit with his intense gaze.
For reasons unbeknownst to him, he felt a surge of possessiveness surge through him as he realized that Adhrit had confided in their mutual friend and he had been the one to console her. He concluded that her love was tantalizing his senses and was making him possessive about her.
"I know I was completely wrong, Vivek. It's all due to Mohini. I will surely go and apologize to her but before that I want to do something which she had asked me to do. She asked me to divorce Mohini and I will," he declared, making the other man drop his jaw in surprise.
Vivek could not believe that Adhrit had finally seen sense and had decided to divorce Mohini. The means did not matter and neither did the consequences; only the strong decision Adhrit had taken after ages mattered. Vivek could see a ray of hope for Neysa, whose love for Adhrit would surely make her look beyond his flaws and forgive him. He also wondered if the future held anything special for the two scarred by the same tumultuous yet blissful emotion- love.
Just then, he realized that he had numerous calls from Mohini and her friend Sandeep requesting to meet Adhrit as soon as possible. Mohini seemed broken when she had called him up at night, seeking details of her husband but Vivek, just like her, was unknown of the happenings and could not help her in any manner. The desperate tone of Sandeep in the morning when he had called several times over made suspicion creep into Vivek's mind but how could he let Adhrit take a step back towards Mohini when he was finally taking the path needed for him?
Vivek decided, in that tumultuous moment, that he would hide the truth. The perfect revenge for the woman who hid so much of her life from her husband, he thought, unknown to her condition.
"I am glad that you are finally on the right path, Adhrit. I always regretted that I could not make you see sense and help you realize that Mohini was never the one for you. I wonder how you never knew that Neysa loved you. It had been so obvious for everyone who observed her actions towards you. But anyways, I am happy that you will finally be able to walk out of that depressing marriage and hopefully Neysa will find her happiness for herself. She always used to find happiness in yours and this time, maybe, she will finally find her solace," mused Vivek, with a reminiscent smile playing on his lips as he patted Adhrit's shoulder assuringly and walked out to book an appointment with a divorce lawyer.
Evening, Neysa's Apartment.
Neysa pulled herself to answer the doorbell with a great effort. Her usual therapy for depression, the smiling innocent faces of her patients, was unable to erase her sorrow or lighten the burden on her heart. She wondered how long it would take her to get back to her former self and if she will ever be able to become the Neysa she was before.
The sight which greeted her upon the opening of the door, surprised her, shocked her but also bestowed the peace she was searching for, the whole day. She internally mocked at herself for giving one man the power to make her or break her completely - Adhrit Solanki.
"May I come in?" he asked, leaning against the doorframe and waiting for her permission.
She moved aside, giving her silent approval, and walked into the living room. She knew that he had followed her and had shut the door behind him. The feel of having him in her abode made her mind go back to the previous day and displayed the candid moments of intimacy on the canvas of her heart.
"What do you want, Adhrit? There is nothing you can do to convince me to sign that damned contract!" she exclaimed, turning to face him. She noticed that his eyes held remorse and he looked very dull and pale. She felt concern flooding her thoughts, but she reminded herself that she was supposed to be angry with him.
"I am sincerely sorry, Neysa. I should not have done that. I shouldn't have let my insecurity cloud my ability to distinguish between the right and the wrong. I have realized my mistake and that clause is gone and any clause which you deem to be unfit will be immediately removed. It is a promise, Nisha," he vowed earnestly.
Listening to his fond nickname for her after their tussle and their night of passion made her feel at peace. But she had set her priorities onto stone. Her self-respect came before her love and compelled her to place her next question,
"But why should I sign this contract anyways? How can I trust you when you do not trust me that I will not claim additional rights over the child? Tell me, Adhrit."
It hurt him to listen to her question. It greatly anguished him to note that he had planted the seed of distrust in the mind of a person who loved him unconditionally for twelve long years.
"Will you not trust me even after seeing these documents, Nisha?" he asked, forwarding an envelope towards her.
"What is this?" she questioned, taking the envelope and alternating her sharp gaze between it and the man in front of her.
"Divorce papers with my signature. I am divorcing Mohini."
"Adhrit....Adhrit..."
Nothing hurts more than seeing the person you love in pain, especially in the pain of another's love. The way Mohini was subconsciously muttering her love's name was etching itself onto the canvas of Sandeep's heart in the most painful manner. He could not help but let the waves of guilt etch it deeper as he held himself accountable for the happenings of the last night.
Had he never propositioned her, goaded her into believing that it was the cure of her heartache, she would have never betrayed the man whose name was embedded deep into her mind, heart and soul.
He felt regretful of using her vulnerable moment and her weakness against her, and possibly distancing her love from her forever. A part of him could not help but feel good about it because it could mean that Mohini and himself had a chance together. He cursed himself for thinking selfishly in that dark moment of her life but he, a human, was nothing but a puppet of emotions.
"Sandeep..." she muttered, opening her eyes for the first time after the whole fiasco.
"Mohini...." Sandeep jumped to his feet as he signed for the nurse present to call the doctor on duty immediately as Preetika had returned to her home after her son demanded her presence by protesting and giving up on food.
"Adhrit, did he come? Where is he?" she questioned, hope glistening in her eyes and her voice trembling with love.
There he was, in another quandary, whether to tell the truth and give her a shock or to hide it and add to her hopes and expectations, only for them to be broken at a later point of time; a harsh reality or slowly poisoning facade, which one would he choose?