At Crossroads-AbhiMaan OS/SS/TS💌

1.2 Strayed

Armaan was thrown out of his house the next morning without a second thought,with his heart broken into a million pieces and his stature trampled upon -each of the family member cursed him for doing what he did that led to their bulbul being taken away from the house she made a home. Their poddar house. The house that shook by the tremors of the vehemently tumultuous relationships between all the family members,rather strangers,was rebuilt & erected strong by the beautiful outcome of Armaan and Abhira's love-Padmakshi whose presence painted the then gloomy poddar house with life.

He deserved their wrath,didn't he? After all what he DID & all what he HID. The abhorrent grey sky wept crocodile tears mocking him while he shed a single one, that summed up for the entirety of his life.

"Dadisa please,just listen to me for once. It might not be what it seems. Bhaiya can never do that with Bhabhi. And what about Padmakshi,do you really think he can do that to our Bulbul? Really?"

Rohit almost sprawled down on the floor at Kaveri's feet,begging her to listen to what he was trying to say. But no,today she'd had enough! The CCTV footages displayed what all her ideal grandson had done, which she herself couldn't believe. But Alas! It was true,afterall, evidences don't lie?Or do they? Apparently not.

"Rohit,I know you love Armaan a lot,we all do. Or I'd say did. But don't you think you need to remove that blindfold of yours and think about your bhabhi as well? And the remarkably miserable state she would be in right now after the not-so-merry news of the twelve years of her marriage being nothing but a farce?" Kajal though gave a mini-lecture to Rohit,herself knew that her adorable boy who always shielded her from her ex-husband's wrath despite being himself petrified of him,offered her a shoulder to cry and the wings to fly could be a sexual infidel,he could never ever be!
But 'men' they say?

"Enough is enough! Rohit please get out my way. Armaan I-I r-regret accepting you in our lives, I regret giving you the surname of P-poddar's,I regret each and every moment spent with you and I r-regret l-loving you as my grandson. You didn't d-deserve any of it!"

Kaveri's voice cracked as she uttered each and every line while stuttering,she had a strong feeling that she would definitely regret saying all of it to Armaan tomorrow,but should she?

Afterall, he had cheated on their Abhira,the daugter-in-law cum favourite daughter of the family,the girl who took the mammoth task of reuniting their family as one, upon herself & eventually succeeded in it. But what did she receive at the end? Betrayal and a scar for life?She didn't deserve any of that!
The others stood there speechless as Kaveri pushed him out of the house and slammed the door on his face.

Everyone seemed to be too moved by his impactful acting afterall.

He knocked the door a small house in the outskirts of the city & was let in by the same woman with whom Abhira had caught him two days back.-Radha and her 3 year old son-Ansh.

With his breathy & wobbly voice barely escaping his throat,he expressed his gratitude while he handed over the thick bundle of notes to her-'Thankyou so much Radha ji. Thankyou for all what you did."

"Saab,why are you thanking me?Me & Ansh's papa owe our lives to you. Who else would've fought our case without even taking a single penny against that scoundrel?
But why did you do all this with your wife? She was broken and the shock had robbed her of speech when she saw us that way. Don't you think her mental health would be so adversely affected by this act which was so real?"

"Short-term sorrow is better than a long-term one perhaps"

"Did you say something saab?"

"I know my Abhira. She would bounce back stronger. For our Bulbul,she will for sure. Thankyou Radha ji,I may take your leave now!"

.

Under the celestial canopy, the memories of a once beautiful promise haunted her,
the night sky of Mussoorie and the scattered diamonds adorning it casted a silent & blinding glow as if giving her a reality check about the same. As she sat on the now secluded bench, the memories of that fateful night in Mussoorie came rushing back. The tender words Armaan had spoken, the warmth of his promises – they were etched into her soul,the very promises that once brought her solace.

"Armaan. You promised to be mine and only mine, under these same stars. How did those vows turn into echoes of deception? Was my love never enough for you? Was I at fault? Then how could you-?"

As Abhira's sobs echoed in the quiet night, a gentle presence approached from behind-a pair of small arms encircled her-

"Mummy," a sweet voice whispered, "why are you sad?"

She wiped away her tears and forced a weak smile,asking Akshu to come & sit with her on the bench. As she laid in Abhira's lap, her mummy gently ran her fingers through her hair, while the kiddo sensing her mother's distress, leaned more into her embrace and looked up,her big innocent blue eyes,the ocean like depth of which provided her mummy a momentary comfort,questioning-"Mummy, did something happen? Why are you so sad?

Unable to contain her emotions any longer, Abhira whispered, "Dadda broke a promise sweetheart. A chotu promise."

"Oh it's just a promise right? I'll scold Dadda when we get back home. He'll then make up to you-you know he loves his Bulbul the most nah,he'll listen to me. Pinky promise."

As Akshu dozed off in her embrace,gently stroking her hair, Abhira couldn't fathom how Armaan could inflict this pain on their precious baby. The pain of knowing that her Dadda whom she loved more than anything in this world could do such thing to her Mummy for whom she was ready to fight the world.
"Why Armaan?Why? Why were we never enough for you? Didn't you think about our Bulbul even for once?"

As she descended the stairs with a pounding heart an uneasy tension hung in the air. To her horror, Abhira found Armaan getting intimate with a woman,definitely not in a friendly way.
"Ar-Armaan, wh-what is this? Who is she?"

"Abhira, it's not what you think-"

"Oh, spare me the drama, Miss Abhira. Your husband and I have something special & real, something you couldn't give him."

"H-how l-long has this been going on Armaan?"

Radha, again smirked & said"Long enough to know he needed something more exciting than your dull & boring life."

"Abhira, it's complicated. I didn't plan for this."

"C-complicated? You have an illegitimate s-son, Armaan! H-how could you?"

"I never meant for things to get this far. It just happened."

"Maybe if you were a better wife, he wouldn't have looked elsewhere,miss Abhira"

In the midst of the chaos,as Padmakshi with a disrupted sleep looked for her mummy,Abhira stood with a surge of protectiveness flooding her. She couldn't see this. Her baby couldn't see her Dadda in that way. She can't snatch her innocence from her,no way! She somehow managed to acquire control over her shivering voice and spoke
"Go upstairs, Padmakshi. This isn't for you to see sweetheart. Mummy is coming in just 10 minutes princess"

Before a sleepy Akshu could go upstairs, Radha made a threatening advance towards her,
"Such a mannerless child you've raised Abhira. Our son is way better than her Armaan. She deserves a tight slap for eavesdropping."

"You dare lay a hand on my daughter!" Abhira's voice cut through the tension, her palm colliding with Radha's cheek in a resounding slap.
Abhira picked her child up and dashed to the room with the pain of heartbreak strangulating her.

"Who was that auntie mummy?She seemed like an angry bird nah"

"I don't know bachcha. I-I don't know!"

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[Last part is left,dunno when I'll write  anddd post it]