KHWAB : A Distant Dream

Chapter-3

It has come to my notice that there is some confusion regarding the names. Anika is Ruhanika's shorter version.
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Pune
It's was already evening and Anika had no idea about Mr Kapoor's condition. She had completely forgotten about him as she was lost in the world of ACTOR. She was so engrossed in reading that she didn't even realise that her phone was ringing.

After a few minutes the ringing of phone registered to her. She quickly closed the book and went out to pick up her phone. She cursed herself when she realised that she had 3 missed call from Shivi. She took a deep breath mentally preparing herself for the verbal lashing she knew she was about to receive and called her back.

The moment her call was received, Anika heard a loud voice, 'WHERE THE BLAZES WERE YOU MS RUHANIKA MALHOTRA!!!. I HAVE BEEN CALLING..... and her shouting was cut short as Vansh snatched the phone from her. 'GOD, woman stop shouting.' Vansh mumbled.

Anika chuckled at him and asked, 'Has she calmed down? Or is she still raging like a mad bull on loose?' It was Vansh's turn to laugh. Knowing Shivi, Anika spoke before she could start again, ' Achcha sorry na, vo .... I was reading ACTOR.... U know na how I am..'
'Haan haan, pata hai.....you get so engrossed in your books that you forget about the real world.... Anyways I called you to ask about your father. Did he agree??' Shivi asked hopefully.

'He didn't come Shivi.' Anika said a bit sadly. 'What will you do know?' Vansh asked, before Shivi could say anything. ' I'll just inform him later. There's nothing much anyone of us can do right now. Anyways, Uncle kahan hai?' Anika said changing the topic as she did not want to talk about him.

'Dad case handle kar rahe hain... high profile case hai....Kisi Ranvijay Kapoor ka accident hua hai. Koi VIP hai aur abhi news leak nahi hui hai.' Shivi said, and shrugged of. Anika was stunned listening to the news. Although her friends knew about her situation, she had never told them her father's name. Seeing Anika quiet, Vansh asked, 'Kya hua Anika?'

Anika quickly composed herself and said, 'Nothing much, bus jara sa head ache ho raha hai... I think I need to sleep.' Anika said to him yawning. Vansh just nodded his head and they cut the call.

Anika was not sure why she lied to her friends, and went to bed. She was still trying to process the news that Mr Kapoor had an accident and that he was a VIP person. She knew her father was rich but didn't knew that he was an important figure. Thinking all this she went to sleep.

Little did she knew that the next morning was going to throw her head first into chaos.
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HOSPITAL IN MUMBAI

It had been more than 11 hours and Mr Kapoor was yet to open his eyes. It was close to midnight and everyone was present at the hospital. They all were waiting outside the ward.

Rudra and Aarav were discussing some technical details and Maan and Arhaan were sitting with Gayatri, when the doctor came to check on Mr Kapoor. All of them silently watched the doctor entering the ward. Anvi and Avyansh had also come but Gayatri persuaded them to go home just an hour back as they both looked tired.

A few minutes later the doctor came out and told the family, 'Congratulations, the patient is awake. But unki halat bahut najuk hai. Kuch bhi ho sakta hai. Vo, aap sabh ko andar bula rahe hain.' Saying this he left.

They all got up and entered the room. Gayatri was about to go in when she saw Rudra standing outside. She glared at him and he also reluctantly followed.

Inside the ward, Mr Kapoor was propped up on the bed and was covered in bandages. 'Abh aap kaisa feel kar rahe hain, bade papa? Aur yeh sabh kese hua.?' Maan asked concerned. 'Main thik hun Maan, bus halka sa pain hai. Main gadi chala raha tha aur samne se truck ne takkar mar di.' He said softly. His eyes turned towards the door when he saw Gayatri and Rudra coming in.

As soon as he saw Gayatri, he spoke, 'Gayatri hum sabh ko sach batana chahte hain.' He spoke in a tired voice. Listening to him Gayatri was shocked and then asked, 'Jabh itne saalon se chup rahe to abh kyun vo sach sabh ke samne lana chahte hain aap?' There was a hint of anger in her tone. She knew that none of her son's would be handle the truth. They would be hurt and may even hate him.

Mr Kapoor looked into her eyes and understood what she was thinking. He gave her a sad smile and said, 'Mere paas waqt jyada nahi...' he was cut short by Maan. 'Bade papa, aap kaise batten kar rahe hain.... Aur kaunse sach ki baat ho rahi hai yahan Badi maa?' Gayatri took a deep breath and said, 'Wahi sach jo hume 7 saal phele pata chala aur phichle 18 saaloon se chipa hai'.

' Ek min... yeh aap kya bol rahi hain badi maa, 18 saal ka sach, 7 saal phele pata chala?' asked an confused Aarav. ' I'll tell you', said Mr Kapoor and closed his eyes for a moment.All the eyes turned to him.

'Aaj se 19 saal phele, Delhi ke ek night club main, mai ek ladki se mila tha.... Jane anjane mai hi sahi, ham dono ko pyar ho gaya. Apoorva, mere bare main jyada kuch nahi janti thi, aur dekhte hi dekhte hume ek saal pura ho gaya aur Apoorva chahti thi ki main usse propose karun. Iss waqt main usse sabh sach batana chahta tha, lekin main kuch bata usse phele hi usse sabh kuch pata chal gaya.' Ranvijay spoke in a low voice and avoided looking at anyone.

Rudra snorted listening to him and was about to say something when Gayatri stopped him with a warning glare. While Maan, Avi and Aru were in shock. 'Aapka ek saal tak affair chalta raha. Apne badi maa ko dokha diya. Aap... kaise..?' Asked a shocked Avi. Maan turned to look at Gayatri, 'Aapko pata tha, isliye aap dono ke beech tanav tha..... aur ... aur Rudra.. tujhe bhi pata tha na...isliye tune inse muh pher liya tha....Oh God.' Maan said in a hurt voice and took a step back.

Gayatri just nodded her head and before anyone else could say anything else she spoke up, 'Abhi baat puri nahi hui hai. Let him speak.' The last line came out sternly. All four of them looked confused but they nodded.

Ranvijay took a deep breath and continued, 'Jabh usse sach pata chala, Apoorva was horrified. Maine usse bahut manane ki koshish ki par vo nahi mani and broke things off. She didn't wanted to break my family... but Gayatri found out and asked to speak to her. When they met, Apoorva was shocked to know that Gayatri was my wife.' He said in a shaky voice. There was a sheen of tears in his eyes and he gave Gayatri a pleading look.

Gayatri looked at him for a moment and then picked up the story from there, 'Apoorva was devastated when she met me. She and I were best friends in college, but we lost contact afterwards. She soon left saying that she will break all contacts with him. And she did. Overnight, she disappeared from Delhi and broke all contacts, leaving no trail behind. We both decided to keep the matter under wraps, kyunki tabh situations hi kuch aise the.' she said in a soft voice and sighed.

Taking a deep breath she continued, 'Par kehte hai na Past has a weird way of coming back... wahi hua.. saath saal phele Apoorva ka vapas call aya. She was on her death bed and had called to tell him the secret that she had hidden for the past 10 yrs.' Gayatri said in a distanced voice and stoped.

'Aisa kya raaz tha.?' Rudra who was silent until now asked in a whisper afraid of the answer he might receive. He remembered the conversation he had accidentally overheard 7 years ago, and had found out about the affair. 

Mr Kapoor took a deep breath, looked at Gayatri with tear stained eyes. 'I have a daughter.' He said in a shaky voice.
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Well, that was quite a truth bomb on the Kapoor brothers.

To clear the confusion if it may arise Rudra was aware of his father's affair but not about Ruhanika and Gayatri was aware about both the things.

Let's see how they deal with this truth.. especially Rudra... that he has a sister.

Ooh and Ruhanika was always aware of the truth but not the real identity of them all.

So, how was the chapter???
Hope you liked it.
Do comment and vote for god's sake.

Guys
My uni exams are starting from Tuesday. I'll try to upload another chapter before that. I won't be able to upload frequently after that till May 20.