SELFISH

CHAPTER 11

Rudra:- Bhaiya! Mere pyare bhaiya. I knew you would solve everything.

Om:- of course, he would. He is the great wall of SSO after all. He would always protect this family.

Daadi:- I knew my billu would never let the hard work of his grandfather be sullen by anyone. He promised to keep this family together always.

As Shivaay was listening to all of them, he felt suffocated. He was listening but not hearing. He could see their mouth moving but his ears seems to have stopped hearing. He could feel them praising him but Anika's word seems to resonating louder in his mind once again. Omru are selfish....U have been stupid Shivaay...this is the reality of your family....they use you as a tool...they use you for their desire....He closes his ears by putting his hands on them & shouts – "Stop it! Stop it!".

Everyone gets startled to see Shivaay shouting. They look towards him. He feels everything gone silent, he open his eyes & remove his hands from his ears. He sees everyone seems shocked by his outburst. He walks towards his room and locks the door. He slides down the door and sit on the floor. He felt tears streaming down his face. He could no longer lie to himself. He tried to ignore but now that someone else pointed out the reality to him no matter how hard he try to look past it, the truth would haunt him.

Pinky who saw Shivaay outburst walks to his room and knocks:- Shivaay! Son open the door. What happened. Is everything alright? Did you find Anika? Talk to me, Shivaay.

Shivaay opens the door. Pinky saw Shivaay dishevelled appearance. She cups his face and ask- "what happened?" Shivaay tries to hold back but he could no longer bear the burden in his heart. He hugs Pinky. Pinky seems startled as to sudden hug of Shivaay. It has been years, since Shivaay last hugged her. She awkwardly hugged him back and smoothes his back. After breaking the hug, she makes Shivaay sit on bed and sat beside him and asks- "what's wrong?".

Shivaay:- Mom, had I been a fool all this time. In keeping the promise I made to daadi, I lost my dream. To keep this family together, I burned so my brothers could live happily. But when this family needed Omru, I needed them, they turned their back and left and now they came back pretending to have never left.

Pinky:- Shivaay, I have tried to make you understand all these things a long time ago. Whenever I tried to show the reality, you would get upset with me, you would ignore your own mother. I had warned you before also, to live for yourself not to sacrifice everything for them. I knew you were our only child had no siblings, you felt alone. I myself was unhappy in this family & your father had always been distant. You needed someone, Om was closest companion you could find and then entered Rudra & Priyanka. I saw you distancing yourself from me so they would not feel jealous of having a mom. I knew one day you would realize that everything you did meant nothing to them but it might be too late. But today (confused) how come you are asking all of a sudden?

Shivaay:- Anika Mom! She was the one who submitted those proofs with the help of that lawyer. She was the one sending those letters. She wanted to show me their selfishness. She is not just Anika, she is ASR. He tells her all about Anika, how, why and for what she came to OM.

Pinky:- (shocked) What? So Anika is not orphan and was so in love with you that she left her family for you? Shivaay, why did you let her go? You love her, you should have brought her home. Even though her action seems a bit extreme but whatever she did, she did it for you. Shivaay now you know the reality of this family, so what are you waiting for?