Your fabricated lie

4 - Sassy

12 years ago, the day she moved out of her house to pursue her passion, she didn't know she would be getting a little taste of her own medicine.

When she was done taking the oath, Devansh moved closer and muttered, "So, Ms. Anusree… How does it feel to be – "

"Ask me questions, you idiot," she said, which was loud enough to catch the last bencher's attention too. Yet, no one raised an objection. Poor fellow got scared to the extent where he had to check his notes to proceed with the questions.

Devansh was aggressively turning pages front and back in search of the list of questions he prepared. Anu rolled her eyes over to the corner of the court room and sighed heavily.

"Yes, I did love him," she confessed out of nowhere leaving everyone at shock. Devansh was probably shocked too. She did know he was going to ask about this. "Oh, wait, it's not 'I did love him'. Because I still think I do," she further added.

The only one who was not comfortable hearing that was Gautham and Rajesh was basically unconscious.

Tears rolled in Aditya's eyes. Somewhere, in the middle of a toxic life, that cold heart was dying to hear that. 'I still love him' was the only thing he heard and hereon thereafter, his brain refused to work further. "I don't mind dying right now," he let his thoughts take the form of words and yes, Rajesh heard it. Rajesh is finally getting a hang of the situation.

On the other side, her sassiness was on the accelerator. "We went to the same music school. He was very, very handsome that my weak heart fell in love at the very first sight," her sarcasm was seen in her voice too. "I confessed my love to him the next morning and got brutally rejected at 9 a.m. in the morning - Poor me found it so hard to get over him. So, I left my music and moved out of town".

She continued, "Now talking about this extramarital affair that I am not aware of – please don't say things that makes me want to sob. After listening to what you have just said, my heart hurts for not having the affair with him, Mr. Devansh… How do you think my lone self will sleep tonight after hearing these spectacular things that I have always wished for?" Devansh stared at her with his mouth falling open. He never heard anyone defending themselves this gracefully.

Anu was giving him enough time to speak but the nerd was too stunned to speak. Assuming his next question, she carried on with her statement. "For the sake of butterflies I am having in my stomach, let us assume that we did have an affair – I still find it reasonable to do things that we are not supposed to because, you know - Everything is fair in war and love," she said, narrowing her eyes with an evil stare. After a short pause, "Anything else?" She questioned him when it had to be him who questions.

Devansh, a nerd who is half Indian and half Korean, was just following his higher officials orders. According to the orders, the only left pin to point out was about her child. Looking at the blank page, "Your son… um…" Originally he was asked to claim Vikram as Anu and Aditya's son but he couldn't put it that way.

Anu took over again as she understood what he is upto. "Oh, right. My son and my childhood crush share the same name but they are not related," after a quick gap to find a perfect counter, she said, "You see, unfortunately we, I mean, me and Adi neither have a kid nor an affair as of now but I am actually looking forward to it. Someday, maybe". At this point, she is not aware if she was being sarcastic or being honest. In the name of interrogation, she told Aditya all those things that she always wanted to.

"Anything else?" She asked and not only Devansh, no one in the court had courage to ask questions though they had many. Noticing Devansh's tiny little nod out of embarrassment, "Well, then I will leave it here hoping someday all these rumors and your false allegations come true," she said.

Anu stepped down from the witness box and walked towards Devansh. "Do pray for this senior to have a cute little family, junior," she whispered quietly, patting his shoulder.

After a long time, the court session was fun. Her grandfather had fun and Lavanya was proud of her friend. Once again, there was no progress in the session. It ended exactly where it started.

The only good thing that happened in the court hearing was Anu having another fan. After completion of the hearing Devansh and Gautham met her. He bowed politely and apologized to her. "I genuinely apologize on behalf of my law firm, Ma'am".

"Are you indirectly telling me it was your company's plan?"

"No, I am trying to tell you that I am a good guy," he defended himself when there was no need to. She gave him a suspicious look.

"Ma'am, I want you to believe me. I – "

"Aren't you the CEO's son?" She asked to which the reply was a little nod. "Then why should I believe you?" She asked.

"It was my dad's plan but I swear, he is also a good guy. It is just that we both were more focused on defeating you rather than winning this case - Though our approach was wrong our intention wasn't. We never wanted to defame you. I ask for your understanding," Devansh showed another angle - the professional one and this time Anu was surprised.

"I want to believe you but something still seems suspicious – " before she could complete he bowed again and apologized a couple of times, catching the attention of the public.

Anu looked around and felt a bit uncomfortable. She asked him to rise up. Her first doubt after he woke up was about his elegance. "How come you bow this gracefully? Like a prince! I don't see people doing that".

"Oh that one. My Korean ethnicity I guess," he was not sure if he should answer that.

"Wait, are you Korean?"

Nodding awkwardly for getting all the attention, he said, "Half. I am half Korean and half Indian".

Devansh was finding a moment to change the topic. Before Anu would pose another question, he continued with his left out discussion. "So Ma'am, can you train me?"

Memories of Karthik flashed like a movie in front of her. Before she gets too deep into it, she chose to answer his question. "Due to my personal reasons, I have stopped training young lawyers. Instead you can learn under your father's guidance then come back to me. We could work together".

"Really?!" He was excited. Anu bobbed, agreeing to his request. In no time, they became good friends. Despite the conversation they had a few minutes ago, despite the blame game they played and despite the fact that he is the son of their rival law firm's CEO, she treated her junior well. There were many factors as to why she would do such but prime one was she got hundred percent positive vibes from him.

Before leaving she remembered the way Devansh treated Gautham. She can't let him do that. She said, "I would definitely work with you but on one condition".

"Go ahead, Ma'am".

"Treat this guy with at most respect he deserves," she pointed at Gautham who opened his water bottle to quench his thirst.

Devansh didn't take much time to agree on it. "Sure Ma'am. But who is he? Are you guys related?"

"Hmm. He is my brother," she said and Gautham spit water as shock, surprise and trauma hit him at once. Worst that happened was, Devansh's left cheek became the victim of this scenario. He shut his eyes tightly while his face was being wiped by Gautham. "Ma'am, I don't think you are siblings," he guessed after reading the atmosphere.

"Whoa! You are a fast learner!" Anu implied the way he got it right. Everyone who wants to learn from her or who learnt from her is very good at scanning the environment. "I am looking forward to working with you, Devansh. See you soon," she said and turned back making her way to the car.

While getting in, she saw a tree in human form at a distance. Turns out it is Aditya. Noticing that he's walking towards her, she got into the car and left as soon as possible. This behavior is not because she is angry but because she is embarrassed.

She can't get herself to think about all those things she said. She banged her head a couple of times on the way back home.

Fu*k! I have never been this embarrassed in my life! She thought