yun hi tu mere saath rehna

Chapter Thirty Four

Madhav's steps faltered as he made his way through the Rajvansh Villa's front lawn, giving him a pause. He took a moment to steady himself, breathing in deeply. After all, it was not everyday that a person found out that his daughter-in-law had accidentally killed her own mother when she was a child. Madhav was allowed to stumble now, wasn't he? 

It had taken him a few weeks, but he had finally gotten his hands on the police report that had been filed for Aarohi Birla's death. After reading through it, he had realized why it had been buried the way it had by Abhimanyu Birla. The Birla family once commanded the respect of the entire city, but had faded from society in the past few years. When the incident had happened, they definitely had enough pull to hush the entire incident up. Even irrefutable proof in the form of the CCTV footage he had found in the evidence filing for the case was not enough to do a thing. 

Madhav wouldn't say he didn't understand, because he did. Ruhi had barely been any older than 6 or 7 years when she had messed with her mother's car which had led to ending her life. It wasn't really Ruhi's fault. But it very definitely was not Akshara Sharma's fault. It had been an unfortunate accident, but an accident that had been caused by Ruhi, not by Abhira's mother. Yet, for so long, it had been Abhira's mother who had been blamed for it. She lost everything because of it. She'd never gotten justice, but now… Now, Madhav would make sure she did. It was too little, too late, but Madhav would make sure that no one would ever be able to call Akshara Sharma a murderer again.

Determined, he crossed the rest of the distance, stopping at the main door and ringing the doorbell. A moment later, he was greeted by Abir Rajvansh's ever smiling face. It eased his worries instantly. He didn't know what aura this man had, but something about him always made Madhav feel extremely comfortable. 

“Hello, Madhav Ji!” Abir greeted him enthusiastically. “Aaiye na!”

Madhav returned his greeting and stepped inside the house, his eyes instinctively searching for Abhira. Truly, the daughter of his heart. He adored that child more than he ever thought himself capable of loving someone. Maybe, he saw Abhira's presence in his life as a chance to right all the wrongs he'd inadvertently heaped against Armaan. Maybe, he adored her so much because she reminded him of Shivani. He didn't know. What he did know was that Abhira was extremely important to him, just as much as his own children were. When it came to Ruhi, Madhav did like her and he was glad that his son was finally happy in his marriage, but for some reason, he had never been able to connect with Ruhi the way he had with Abhira. 

Ruhi seemed like a nice enough girl when she wasn't trying to pick a fight with Abhira over every trivial issue, but maybe that was the entire problem. Madhav loved Abhira like his own and it rubbed him the wrong way that Ruhi disliked her so much. Perhaps, that was the reason why he treated Ruhi like his daughter-in-law, when he treated Abhira like his daughter. 

“Aapki aankhein jisse dhoond rahi hai, woh yahaan nahi hai,” Abir chuckled softly. “Woh Armaan ke saath kahin bahaar gayi hai.”

Madhav was aware of that. It was precisely why he'd chosen this time to meet Mishti & Abir. He didn't know how to break the news to the kids and needed their guidance. Yet, for some reason, despite knowing she wasn't here, he couldn't help but look for Abhira. 

“Mujhe pata hai,” Madhav laughed. “Lekin ab shayad aadat si pad gayi hai.”

“Kahiye, Madhav Ji… Kaise aana hua?” Abir asked. “Not that aap bina wajah yahaan nahi aa sakte. Aapki beti ka ghar hai. You're always welcome. Lekin, I feel aap aaj mere saath gappe maarne toh nahi hi aaye hain yahaan.”

“Aap se aur Mishti Sa se kuch zaroori baat karni thi,” Madhav stated. “Akele mein.”

“Of course!” Abir immediately realized something was up. “Aap chaliye… Study mein baat kar lete hain. Main Mishti ko bhi bula leta hoon.”