âªâ« Allah mujhe dard ke kabil bana diya,
Toofan ko hi kashti ka sahil bana diya,
Bechainiya samet ke saare jahan ki,
Jab kuch na ban saka to mera dil bana diya,
O saathi.. tere bina
Raahi ko raah dikhe na...âªâ«
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When they reached the living room, Viaan's steps stopped to see what was causing the commotion. It wasn't really a 'what' instead it was a 'who'.
His mother.
The same mother who disowned his elder brother Armaan when he refused to take up their business and three years later kicked Viaan and Veer out of the house because they also didn't have any interest in their parents' textile business. She only visited for her own reasonsâmotives to be precise.
Viaan didn't know what she was doing here but he knew it couldn't be for a good reason.
"How could you?" his mother said the second her eyes landed on him. "How could you leave Saloni and get married to someone else?"
"He didn't leave her, Saloni ran away from her house. You would've known that if you had taken time from your busy schedule to attend your own son's wedding." Veer countered and Viaan was grateful. He was never good at denying people, especially their mother.
"Even if she left, he was not supposed to get married to that shameless hand-me-down of a woman!" she exclaimed.
Viaan looked at Adira but her face was blank. Her guards were out and up he realized. There was no trace of the woman who was teasing him in their room.
"Adira is my wife and anyone who disrespects her is not allowed in this house." He told her mother. Whatever happened was not anyone's fault and he wasn't going to let anyone disrespect his wife even if it was his mother.
"You are talking back to me! I knew! I knew Armaan was not a good influence on both of you. Veer had already started insulting me and now you are also talking in his language. I should have never let you both leave." His mother exclaimed dramatically.
"Armaan Bhaiya or Veer has nothing has nothing to do with this. And let me remind you, we didn't leave, you kicked us out. It's you, Mom. You've always treated us as your puppets who would do everything you say but things can't always go the way you want. I didn't even want to get married to Saloni."
He could see the anger in his mother's eyes. He could practically feel it as if it was a real person. He thanked god that Sia was not here to witness this.
"You have got a tongue now; you need a lesson for talking back to me." She strode near him and was about to slap him when her hand was stopped mid-air by Adira.
Adira had murder written on her face, her eyes were raging.
"Who are you?" His mother asked; anger still apparent in her tone.
"I'm the hand-me-down you were talking about. Adira Viaan Singhania." She left his mother's hand and stepped toward him. A second later he realized she didn't step toward him, she stepped between him and his mother; shielding him. "Since you are my mother-in-law, you should know something about me. I can do anything and go to any lengths for my family. I have heard things about you and your past so I know how much you love your empire."
His mother's face held a mix of anger, confusion, and fear as Adira continued, "Touch them, disrespect them, say or do anything remotely to hurt them or their feelings and you'd see your precious empire crumbling down."
His mother narrowed her eyes at Adira. "Is that a threat?"
"No, of course not. It's what you have in your near future if you don't stop hurting them and forcing yourself into their lives. But you can take that as a threat if you want." Adira shrugged her shoulder as if she didn't just threaten his mother with the only thing she held dear.
"The people you are protecting; do they even know about your past?" His mother spat venomously.
"That's a family matter and you're clearly not family. I don't feel it is important to tell you anything. You can see yourself out."
His mother recognized the dismissal as well as everyone in the room and stormed right out of the house.
⪡âªâª¢
After everything, Adira apologized for disrespecting the woman who unfortunately was their mother but Armaan assured her that their mother needed that and none of the Singhania men could do it because however bad, she was still their mother.
Adira also said that she would like to clear some things up before they cause any problems in the future. All of them decided that they would discuss everything in the evening.
In the evening, Viaan found himself sitting with his family in the living room. Armaan and Rivaah sat on the shorter side of their L-shaped sofa while Veer, Meera, and he sat on the longer side. Adira had decided to seat herself in one of the two single-seater sofas.
"I have been married before," Adira said and left everyone in the room shocked. If it weren't for the words she said, Viaan would have been amused at how she just dropped a bomb on everyone without sugar-coating anything.
When none of them said anything, Adira took it as an invitation to go on. "I was 21 when my uncleâSaloni's dadâgot me married. At 22 I got pregnant. After a few months, I was widowed. After a month I had a miscarriage and my in-laws kicked me out saying that my unborn baby and I killed their son."
Both Rivaah and Meera let out a gasp when she mentioned miscarriage. But Adira's face was again blank, he couldn't see a single emotion in her eyes as if she was dead inside and somehow he knew there was more; more to her story and more to her. Adira was a businesswoman and she was calculative, he knew that she had intentionally kept her story short; not indulging in the details of it.
"That's why your mother said I was a hand-me-down and if you think that I'm not a good fit for your family then I can... leave."
Armaan walked up to her and put his hand on her head. "You are strong Adira and give one hell of a threat." That earned him a chuckle from everyone. Then he said seriously, "Anyone has to be a fool if they didn't want you as their family, and we," he looked back at us with a smile then back at her, "are definitely not fools."
"You are family Adira. You are a Singhania now and we stick with each other no matter what." Rivaah Bhabhi said lovingly.
Adira finally smiled. At all of them.
⪡âªâª¢
In the security of their room, he asked her again but she didn't say anything and avoided his question by disappearing in the bathroom.
He could sense that this was a sore topic and he didn't want her to feel uncomfortable so he just moved to the sofa to put blankets on it.
Adira came out and wordlessly went to bed.
"Viaan?"
"Yes? Do you want something? Hot water bag? Chocolaâ"
"No, I want something else." She seemed hesitant for some reason.
"Tell me. I will get you whatever you want."
"Can you hold me?" it was an invitation; a step toward him. She was letting her guard down so he could see the vulnerability and he could see how uncomfortable that was for her but she still wanted him to know that she trusted him.
He instantly left his blankets to walk toward her. Both of them got into the bed and he held herâfirst hesitantly but then he went all in and pulled her to himself. Her back was against his front, both their hands around her stomach as he held her in a spooning position.
After some time, she started talking unexpectedly. He wasn't expecting her to but he still caressed the back of her hand, letting her know that he was listening.
"His name was Rohitâthe man my uncle got me married to. I didn't want to get married but I didn't have a say. Rohit was good with me and we had formed a friendship but I couldn't get myself to fall in love with him." Viaan shouldn't but still felt something like relief.
"What about your in-laws? Did they treat you right?" he asked.
"For most parts, yes but they sometimes used to comment about me being an orphan. After a year, when I got pregnant, everyone was happy. My in-laws also stopped saying things but after a few months, Rohit got into an accident. It was raining, and visibility was next to none but he had a thing for speed and he crashed into a tree. His parents blamed me and the unborn baby. Due to exhaustion, excessive crying, and stress I had a miscarriage after a month. His parents said that they didn't want to do anything with me. That I was a bad omen and kicked me out." Viaan felt anger toward those people but didn't say anything.
"When I went back to my uncle, he didn't take me in and told me that I was not welcome there. My parents had left some funds for me before their demise. I invested, completed my studies and simultaneously established a small start-up business to finance my expenses. With time I got recognition and now, my small business is a big well known IT company."
He didn't know what to say to her so he said the only thing he knew she would accept. "Your parents must be proud."
"I hope they are."
She had endured a lot and faced a lot of things when she was very young. He knew his wife was a strong woman but he didn't know how deep her strength went. Listening to her, he had respect for the girl she was and for the woman she had become.
She turned around in his embrace, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "Would you still see me the same?"
Her question caught him off guard. She had thought that he would judge her so he decided to answer her with the truth. "No, I can't see you the same Adira. I respected you before but now? Now I admire you. You're stronger than I thought and I hope you would keep protecting me from everyone like you did from my mother."
That last bit earned him a chuckle which turned into a laugh and soon tears started to flow. She started crying and he let her.
He knew she was crying for the girl who was orphaned, the girl who got married against her wishes, the girl who lost her husband and her unborn child. She was crying because she didn't have anyone to call hers.
As she cried and slept in his arms, he promised himself that he would try and ease her pain from now on. Give her the family, love, and care she deserves.
Maybe they were two broken souls but he believed that broken can be beautiful too.