69

-• the final showdown •-

The day of the trial

"All rise," the bailiff announces.

The court audience rises as the Judge walks in, and following the lady, they all settle down again. Taranya tries to reel in her panicked breathing. Her gaze searches the doors for any sign of her husband, but he's still not here. The two separated this morning when he said he has something important to do. So she drove to the court with her brothers. Now she's sitting in the middle of Agastya and Vivaan, Yuvaan on Agastya's left and Ayush next to him. Arush couldn't make it due to the complications at their company.

The journalists are here, ready to get fresh updates on the proceedings of the trial, thus eliminating any chances of recovering their reputation if things go wrong. But it is also their golden opportunity at ensuring Yuvraaj Singh Chauhan's full vindication.

The Chairman sits on the front bench beside his secretary. Having pushed the blame on Yuvraaj, he had very shamelessly shared his disappointment with the public, lying through his teeth that he had no idea something so horrendous was going on behind his back, and if he did, he'd have been the first to put Yuvraaj behind the bars. That his heart breaks for the young man, because they're family, but he won't and can't stand injustice. Taranya had almost barfed out aloud at the screen.

"Vakil sahib, you may begin," the judge allows after she details everyone about the trial.

The prosecutor, Harivansh Sisodiya, nods and gets up from his desk, approaching the defendant's table where Yuvraaj Singh Chauhan sits, with his body broad like a mountain, and face as impassive as the first snow of the upcoming storm. There is no trace of guilt on his face, and rightfully so, but he is yet to prove that.

"How old are you, Mr. Chauhan?"

"39."

"And how old were you when you became the director of Mankind Medicare?"

"19."

"I'm sorry? Did I hear you right? Did you just say 19?" The prosecutor repeats in mock disbelief.

"Yes," Yuvraaj asserts. "It was three years after my mother's death."

"And who filled the gap between those three years?"

"My late father, Vikram Singh Chauhan." Yuvraaj answers.

Taranya releases a deep, shaky sigh at the mention of her father. She wished he was alive right now. He may not have been the ideal father who beats up the bad guys to protect his kids, but he did his best, and he deserved to be their father more than anyone else.

"Well, then, who handled the position before your mother?"

"My grandmother."

"And before her?"

Yuvraaj hesitates.

"Before her?"

"My grandfather."

"How many years does that make?" Mr. Sisodiya raises a probing brow.

Yuvraaj, feeling the weight of the upcoming, finds himself unable to think clearly. "Uhm-"

"Let me help you." Mr. Sisodiya walks up to his desk and picks up a file. "Mankind Medicare was open to the public offering its healthcare services in 1949. Two years after India got independence. Your grandfather was immediately appointed as the director of the Hospital, while Mr. Abhimanyu Singh Rajawat was the chairman. Am I right?" Yuvraaj nods. "Twenty years later your grandfather died in an accident. The position was empty for the next three years. And in the early seventies, your grandmother became the youngest, and first woman director of India's biggest healthcare facility. We good?"

"Yes."

"Your grandmother died when you were fourteen. And then your mother was appointed as the director. She died when you were sixteen, two years later. Then your father became the temporary director before you took the position as soon as you turned nineteen. Correct?"

Yuvraaj nods.

"I anonymously received this data yesterday. It has the records of all the kids that were used for experiments, locations of the orphanages they were trafficked from, along with the information of which parts of their bodies were smuggled illegally. In short, it's just a huge human trafficking racket that uses kids as test subjects for ridiculous, absurd science projects." He submits the file to the court. The Judge receives it and opens the file, her expressions hardening as she goes through the information printed in the tabular form across the hundred pages.

"Atrocious." She whispers, looking at Yuvraaj in disgust.

He lowers his head, ashamed to have kept his silence so long.

"You're telling me your family overlooked the entire functioning of the hospital for over seven decades, and you had absolutely no idea of the horrors going on there!?" The prosecutor's voice rises an octave.

"I never said that." Yuvraaj states calmly.

"Well, the court wants to hear you. What's the story?"

"My grandfather didn't die in an accident. It was a planned murder. He knew what was going on and when he objected to it, he was killed. My grandmother did what she needed to protect Jaigarh and her family. She took up that position and turned a blind eye to those crimes. Then came my mother. She wasn't even mentally stable to be sitting in that position. The last five years before she died, she was depressed, was having manic episodes, and sometimes even lashed out violently on her own kids. She tried to drown me once, almost pushed my younger brother off the hospital terrace, sexually abused my father to conceive again and- and wanted to get rid of my twin brothers because she was angry they were boys when she was told they'd be girls."

Agastya sits horrified hearing the revelation. Taranya's hand latches out of her lap to hold his. He brushes it off and storms out of the court. The siblings glance at each other anxiously before Yuvaan volunteers to go after him.

Yuvraaj looks away from the doors where his brothers disappear through and focuses back on the prosecutor. "And I was only nineteen when I took up the position. I was young. I knew everything that was happening was cruel, inhumane, and I felt guilty every time I had to overlook the horrors they were committing on the third floor but I had no other choice."

"You could have reported it to the authorities. You could have recorded a video like that courageous seventeen year old kid did and revealed it to the world. You could have thought past protecting your wealth and used your power for the goodwill of those kids. You could have done a lot more, Mr. Chauhan, but you didn't! Not because you had no choice, but because you were equally responsible for it."

"Objection, your honor." Yuvraaj's attorney, Ishaani Kamra gets up. "My client hasn't been convicted of the crimes yet. Please ask the Prosecutor to refrain from using words that could mentally scar him."

"Me saying he's equally responsible for those kids' plight is mentally scarring your client?" The man snorts. "Way to exaggerate, Miss. Kamra."

"Objection sustained. Mr. Sisodiya, innocent until proven guilty. Please refer by that for the rest of the trial." The judge informs.

"Of course, Your Honor." The man displays a shallow smile. "Alright, Mr. Chauhan, you're saying you couldn't have done anything. And while that's hard to believe, because c'mon, you're the Yuvraaj Singh Chauhan. I've heard some ridiculous rumours about how powerful and fearless you are. But okay, after all, at end of the day, we're all just petty humans. We get scared too. So, who were you scared of?"

"Abhimanyu Singh Rajawat."

Half of the court audience gasps at the unexpected revelation.

"The Chairman of Mankind Medicare?"

Yuvraaj nods.

"Are you saying he's behind all of this?"

"Yes." Yuvraaj avers. "He was diagnosed with cancer when he was young. The technology wasn't much developed back then and he was almost on his deathbed. He went to Europe, got better, and returned to India. What we didn't know was that he met a group of scientists there, who claimed they're working on a project that could cure cancer, no matter at what stage it is in. Having almost died from cancer, he found the idea life-saving and brought that crazy atrocity to India. When my grandfather stood against him, he killed him off. Then my grandmother was forced to take the position, because back then we still owed a lot to Rajawats financially. So was my mother, so was my father, and so was I. Rajawats had always been a lot stronger than Chauhans, both financially and politically. We had to abide by them if we didn't want to lose everything. And when my father made the courageous move to reveal their truth, he was killed too."

"Well, that's new." Mr. Sisodiya chuckles. "Let's start with my first witness then. Mr. Rajawat, please," the man prompts.

The old man gets up, and his secretary helps him walk up to the witness booth.

"Mr. Rajawat, how are you holding up? After all the tax evasion charges and the almost postpone of your car launch date?"

Abhimanyu nods. "The court dismissed the charges, as expected. And my grandson is handling the rest."

"Good to know." The prosecutor flashes him a fake smile. "Anyway, coming to the point, what do you have to say about this new accusations on you?"

"The drowning man will clutch even at a straw." The old man says hoarsely, his body hunched forward in the traditional kurta and pants he wore, topping off the outfit with grey solid jacket. "I was bestfriends with Yuvraaj's grandfather, and I was there when the accident happened. Yuvraaj wasn't even born then. He doesn't know what happened. If I had any idea that it could have been a murder, I'd have never let go of the case without a proper investigation. But it was clear as day that the brakes failed and the car swerved off the lane, plunging down the cliff."

"Like my father?" Yuvraaj interrupts angrily.

The Chairman ignores him. "It was Surya's dream project. He had been to Europe for some medical conference and met those scientists there. I have the proof. The black and white video recording of his meet and greet there. When he told me of his plans, I rejected the idea. Unethical Human experimentations? The thought sounded absurd and wrong. There was no way as the Chairman I was going to approve of that. We had a big fight and he drove off in anger. I still regret that day."

"And then what? Why did you keep your silence for so long? Why did you let it happen? Were you scared too?" The prosecutor mocks.

"No. When Lata became the director, I was diagnosed with second stage stomach cancer. I have already submitted my medical reports to the court. I wasn't present for major decisions. She took advantage of that and resumed her husband's dream project. She continued behind my back until her daughter in law replaced her and in the year Nandini committed suicide, I found out the truth. As Yuvraaj himself said, she wasn't mentally stable, and because of that, I personally decided to get involved back in the hospital's management."

"Keep going. We still don't know why you didn't tell anyone the truth for the next two decades." The prosecutor nods.

The Chairman hesitates.

"Mr. Rajawat?"

"I- I was protecting a secret."

"What secret?"

"I was protecting my son."

"Virendra Singh? Who's now in the jail?"

"No."

"The late Mr. Virat Rajawat?"

"No." He whispers tightly. "Shourya."

Gasps echo around.

Taranya's eyes almost pop out of their sockets. Yuvraaj looks on in surprise. He didn't really think the man will reveal his dirty secret to get out of this. But then again, as he said, the drowning man will clutch even at a straw.

"Yuvraaj found out the truth. And he used that to blackmail me. Shourya is my son. I had him with my second son's wife." He says, shocking the audience present in the court. "It was a mistake. I was drunk. And I had no recollection of that night. Shourya's mother usually used to clean my study. I was disgusted by myself the next morning," Tears spring in his eyes. "She was too. I didn't force her, but it was still wrong. And it shouldn't have happened. When she gave birth to my child, the guilt drove her to kill herself." He lowers his head as tears roll out. "I still haven't forgiven myself for that one sin. And I was guilty towards my last son. I wanted to protect him, cherish him, and never let him feel the absence of his mother. I agree I should have stopped Yuvraaj, but as a father I was selfish and loved my child. And I was ashamed of my secret. I was afraid of losing everything if it came out."

Yuvraaj's mouth falls agape in pure disbelief.

"Then why tell now?"

"Because I've wronged those kids too. They didn't deserve what happened to them. And this is my chance at redemption." He nods firmly.

"Alright," Mr. Sisodiya nods. "Miss. Kamra, will you like to ask a few questions?"

"Of course," the lady dressed in a green saree gets up. "Mr. Chauhan, did you know your signatures were forged to approve the tests needed to perform on the kids for the ACR Model 2.0?" She submits two files to the court. "His original signatures and the forged signatures. I also have a statement of a handwriting expert who noticed the difference in letter proportion between the original and forged signatures. I've submitted a formal request for a cross examination at forensics and we'll receive the results in twenty four hours."

The prosecutor laughs.

"Something funny, Mr. Sisodiya?" Ishaani cocks a brow at him.

"As he said, dubte ko tinke ka sahara. Please go on," the man encourages.

"Mr. Rajawat, as you said you realised what was happening in the hospital during the time Yuvraaj's mother was on the board as the director of the hospital, am I right?"

The Chairman nods.

"And how old was Yuvraaj when he found out your secret?"

"He- uhm, he was- he was-"

"You don't remember?"

"I'm old, Miss....." He trails unsurely.

"Kamra." She affirms.

"Miss. Kamra. I'm a seventy year old man. Forgive me if I don't remember the little details from some decades back." He smiles.

"Well, was it before Yuvraaj became the director or after?"

He thinks for a moment, then answers. "After."

"After? Then why did you let him become a director in the first place? He had nothing against you."

The Chairman blinks. "I- I said I don't remember the details -" he clutches his head. "I'm sorry, I'm old -"

"The Chairman is getting medically treated for dementia stage two, Your Honor. Please allow him a brief minutes of rest." His secretary requests.

The Judge allows with a nod. Yuvraaj's attorney watches in visible disappointment as the man walks back to his place on the bench.

"Your honor, there's no evident proof that my client was behind the unethical human experimentations and organs smuggling. He happened to be in the position of power, but had absolutely no power to make decisions. Yes, one cannot refute the reality of the video the brave seventeen year old recorded. And if we follow her confession, it's true that the hospital management was involved in the crimes. But nothing yet concrete has came forward that'll prove my client's direct involvement. However, I've a surprise witness that'll clear my client of the baseless accusations and bring the true criminal in light. Please allow me to present them in the court." She submits the request to the Judge.

Yuvraaj frowns. He had been discussing this case with Rudra for over a week now. He knew what will happen, how it'll happen, and he knew he'll be permitted a bail on the basis of insufficient evidence. But the whole thing flipped when Abhimanyu admitted to Shourya being his own son and Yuvraaj using that as a means to blackmail him. That's when Yuvraaj grew apprehensive. However, a surprise witness? That was a surprise to him as well.

"Is the prosecutor okay with it?" Miss. Kamra asked as the Judge reviewed the formal application.

"Of course. All I want is the truth, Miss. Kamra. I don't care if your client is not responsible for the crimes. Give me the one who is."

The lady smiles and looks up at the Judge.

"Sure, go ahead."

The attorney looks towards Taranya who sits straight at the unexpected attention. "Shourya?" The woman mouths. Taranya shakes her head softly. She has no idea herself. Her husband had disappeared this morning and isn't even answering his phone anymore. The attorney grows nervous. This is their last chance. Until the date for the next trial comes out, Chauhan Industries will be in ruins.

"I'm sorry to ask this, but are you sure your surprise witness knows they're summoned in the court? Or was it a surprise for them too?" Mr. Sisodiya jabs.

Ishaani flashes him a very pleasant, very fake smile. "They're on their way," she turns around to face the judge. "Just two minutes, Your Honor."

"Well, they better be here before the lunch break. Or the court is adjourned until the next trial."

"No!" Ishaani shakes her head. "I'll just give them a call-" cutting her off, the main doors of the court open, revealing a woman in white.

Yuvraaj turns his head, knocked out of his breath at the sight of his ex-wife. "Sara?"

Dressed in a fitted plain white bodycon, Sara Rajawat walks in. Her open, dark raven hair cascades in waves down her thin shoulders, and no piece of flashy jewelry compliments her delicate features. But that doesn't take the attention from her, no. It in fact, makes her stand out even more. "I'm sorry for coming late," her fluid, assertive tone radiates across the quiet room, gathering attention from everyone present.

"It's okay. Come to the witness box so we can proceed." The prosecutor motions.

"I'm not your witness. He is." She announces, turning to her left and indicating towards the open doors.

In walks Rudra Rana Singh Rawal, and his father, Virat Singh Rajawat.

Boom!

Been holding back for this moment since forever!

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