Aarya - The Way We Once Were

Chapter 22

"Why do you hate me so much? When all I ever wanted was your love"

Aarti wiped her tears and suddenly got up. She opened the door and walked out of her apartment, like a living corpse. She just kept walking, unsure of what's next to come.

"Maybe death is better than feeling like this"

She suddenly stopped walking as she stared at the shore.

Yash stormed right into his mom's office, demanding everyone in the conference room leave. Gaitre became worried as she saw a fuming Yash glaring at her.

"What is this madness? Why did you send everyone away?"

She looked at him.

"I'll be the one asking questions here, not you"

Gaitre was stunned by his insolence.

"Why did you do it?"

He asked bluntly.

"Do what? What are you talking about?"

She fumbled with her words and Yash knew right there that she's guilty.

"How could you sell me out to the press?"

He yelled and Gaitre was astonished. She wondered how did Yash find out that she was the one responsible for everything.

"Yash, it's not what you think"

She tried touching him but he gently pushed her hand away.

"I can't believe that my own mother would betray me like this"

Yash could not even look her in the eyes anymore.

"I did what I had to do, Yash. I did this to protect you"

She finally blurted out as she quietly sobbed.

"Protect?"

Yash scoffed.

"You destroyed an innocent girl's reputation without a single thought. Do you not understand how serious this is? Do you not see how you ruined Aarti's life?"

He finally faced her and Gaitre saw disappointment in his eyes.

"I only called the press because you were too blinded by her. You neglected your fiancé for her"

She tried to gaslight him.

"Remember your fiancé? Did you even think about her feelings in all this?"

The moment she said that, Yash was instantly overwhelmed with guilt. In the mist of everything, not once did he think about Arpita's feelings or how she must be dealing with the article news.

"Don't you dare change the subject and bring Arpita into this"

He finally snapped as he realized what his mom was trying to do.

"Don't stand here and pretend like you did this from the kindness of your heart. You knew exactly what you were doing when you got the press involved"

Yash glared at her.

"Did you think about Arpita's feelings then?"

He looked her dead in the eyes and Gaitre felt a gulp down her throat.

"Nope, you did not care about her feelings. So don't you dare try to turn this on me"

He was furious.

"Now thanks to you, the entire world believes that both Aarti and I are cheaters"

He turned to face the woman standing in front of him.

"Believe me, I did this for you. Aarti is not a good woman"

Gaitre wiped her tears and looked at her son.

"Oh, and you're so great? You know mom, growing up I used to idolize you so much. I watched you show kindness to everyone and I thought to myself, my mom is the greatest"

He said while she looked on.

"How could I not see that my mom was flawed, just like everyone else? Why did you pretend to be someone you're not?"

His voice almost broke as he said that.

"I'm still your mother. I'm still the same, Yash. I only did all this so that Aarti would go away from your life. I couldn't watch her break your heart once again"

She pleaded with a broken Yash.

"So you decided it was okay to insult our characters? Did you not once think about my company and what that rumor was going to do with my business?"

Gaitre sobbed more as she realized what she had done to Yash career.

"I will fix this"

She held his hand once more.

"No, you stay out of my life and my business from today. I don't need you to fix anything, you hear me"

His voice was firm.

"You've already done enough"

He walked away as Gaitre called his name from behind.

"Yash, please don't leave. You have to hear me out"

She yelled but he did not look back. Gaitre stood there as she couldn't control her tears any longer. She admitted that her approach was wrong but she never meant to hurt Yash.

"How can I convince you that Aarti is not right for you? I've done so much in my power to end your relationship; then why are you so worried about her again? Why do you care so much about her, Yash? I know you only agreed to marry Arpita because of me, but I hoped with time you'll see that she's the perfect woman for you"

Gaitre wiped her tears as she recalled how she slyly replaced Arpita in Yash life, without him even realizing that she was the mastermind.

"Yash can never find out about any of this"

She paused for a moment as she knew that Yash will end all ties with her if he finds out the truth.

"I've done it once; I'll do it again. I'll make him hate Aarti once again"

A smile appeared on Gaitre face as an idea approached devious mind.

Yash sat in his car, distraught. He was still processing what just happened with his mom. He couldn't understand why she was so against Aarti when she never showed any sign of hatred in the past. His phone began to ring, Arpita was calling him. He muted the call, as he did not have any answers for her. Yash knew that he had to talk to her soon, he need to clear everything up with her, after all they are getting married in a few months. His phone rang again, this time it was Mansi calling. He quickly picked up.

"She's gone"

Mansi's voice reached his ear.

"What do you mean gone?"

Yash eyes widen.

"Aarti is not in her room"

Mansi said in between sobs and Yash began to panic.