Prerish: A Collection of Tales ✔️

~ Shot - 2 ~

"Anurag Basu, today I will reveal the reason as to why I married this person who says choice should be yours but he chose for myself. And you, and everyone else here, will know what I want in the end. And I promise everyone today, I am going to get what I want. I will not care for others' lives, opinions, what effect it will have on others, or what consequences will arise. Because I have had enough of others deciding and manipulating my life and playing with my heart and self-respect." Prerana's voice, though calm, cut through the tension in the room as she looked at everyone, her eyes holding an unwavering resolve.

"What do you mean, Prerana?" Anurag asked, his voice laced with confusion, a sentiment mirrored on every face in the room.

Prerana's gaze sharpened, fixing on Anurag. "If your memory serves you right, Anurag, we loved each other. But other than your father, Mr. Moloy Basu, no one accepted me as one in the family. Komolika entered our lives. Even though we were married, you chose to marry her on your mother, Mrs. Mohini Basu's words, without thinking what I would go through. Then my father was killed by her, leaving my family without any means to survive. But still, I stood beside you."

Her voice hardened, recounting the painful past. "And once Komolika's truth came out, Mrs. Mohini Basu, for your happiness and insistence, she accepted me as her bahu and started marriage preparations. Then you followed Ronit, who was back of us both, as in his opinion, we both were responsible for his sister's death. And then you followed him to Mr. Bajaj's factory and threatened to kill him. And he was dead in that fire which caught in the factory, and you were accused of killing him, and police arrested you. This is what everyone, and even you, know."

A ripple of unease went through the room. Anurag, still baffled, tried to interject. "We all know about this, Prerana, but why are you digging all this up now? Past is past, forget what had happened. We are going to start everything fresh, right?" His voice held a desperate plea, sensing the ground shifting beneath him.

Prerana's smile was chilling, devoid of warmth. "That night, Mrs. Mohini Basu approached me, saying that whatever and whoever it is, they cannot do anything as only proofs and confession of Mr. Bajaj is the only thing which will prove Anurag innocent. And she wanted me to meet Mr. Bajaj and do whatever it takes to prove her Onu innocent. Her parting words for me that night were: 'Do whatever it takes to prove my son and your love innocent, Prerana. Consequences be damned.'"

Her eyes, now burning with a cold fire, swept over Mohini, then Anurag, then her own mother. "And I did what I had to do to prove my love. I met Mr. Bajaj in his house, and he kept a deal in front of me. You know what it was, Mr. Anurag Basu and Mrs. Veena Sharma?" Her voice was a low, dangerous whisper, drawing everyone in. "He wanted me to marry him, and he would hand over all the proofs which prove Anurag Basu innocent in the Court of Law."

She paused, letting the silence hang heavy, pregnant with the weight of her words. "And all the time, only words I could recall were of Mrs. Basu's. And I agreed to marry him. And on the same night, I married Mr. Bajaj, when he proved Anurag Basu innocent."

Prerana took a step forward, her gaze piercing through Anurag, then Mohini. "Yes, Mr. Anurag Basu, you and your mother were also responsible for the destruction of my life. But did you know this?"

The revelation landed like a bombshell, leaving everyone shell-shocked—her family, the Basus, even Rishab, who watched her with an unreadable expression, his own past unearthing itself.

"Prerana, I didn't know about all this!" Anurag blurted out, his voice laced with feigned shock and a rapid shift in tactic. "If I knew, I would have done anything to get you out of this farce of a marriage. But as they say, it's never too late, now we can marry each other." He took a step towards her, a desperate hope in his eyes.