Bepannaah: Against All Odds || COMPLETED

14. The Confession

"There are still some things we need to talk about", Aditya turned to face her, his eyes solemn. He held her hand in his, and focused his eyes on them, gently rubbing smooth circles on them as he took her to the couch in the front and made her sit on it, before sitting on his knees in front of her. All this while Zoya couldn't help but breath uneven, her heart beating faster at the prospect of another hurdle that was holding her Aditya back.

"You remember the first court verdict, where Pa blamed Yash's character and Pooja's, to bail us out of that mess?", Zoya was taken aback by the question. Of everything, she was certainly not expecting Aditya to bring up Yash and Pooja now, but she nodded gently anyway, meeting his eyes for a flicker of a second before he averted them.

"and also my bi-", he stopped speaking for a second before taking a deep breath in, "the night we found divorce papers, yours signed and my unsigned?", Zoya looked at his face that were not meeting hers, but answered in affirmative. Both of the days he mentioned weren't something she could ever forget anyway.

"Both these situations, your reactions were extreme Zoya. You literally threatened me on the first, ready to break whatever acquaintance we had with each other and the second, you resorted to taking away your life", a drop escaped his eyes and fell on Zoya's hand that he was holding in his, but he didn't notice. Zoya though thought she would almost drown today in the pain his voice was carrying.

"And what was common with both of them? Yash. The man you loved, the man who you trusted more than your Abbu Zoya. He mattered to you even after he betrayed you and even after he was dead. Didn't he?", Aditya raised his eyes this time with a ghost of a smile on his face and Zoya couldn't grasp what was he talking about. So she chose not to reply because she didn't know exactly what he was expecting to hear. Aditya read the dilemma in her eyes and sighed.

"Zoya, Yash and Pooja didn't have just an accident. It was all planned, and the culprit behind all these is ma-, Mrs. Anjana Hooda. She killed Pooja, Yash and their uborn child", Aditya let it out, exhaling deep and very timidly raised his eyes to stare into Zoya's eyes again. He could feel the tears hitting the back of his eyelids again, he could sense the avalanche of sobs threatening to pull him down, so he stood up, facing his back to her, not giving her the chance to react.

"In the eyes of law, my mother is a criminal. She had killed several people, including maa-in-law", Aditya continued, his eyes fixed on the wall.

"I would understand if you would want her to be sentenced Zoya. She probably deserves it too, but I can't do that Zoya. This or that, she is my mother, the women who loves me more than anything in the world, more than her sense of right and wrong. She killed Pooja because she wasn't ready to love me anymore, and Yash and her child had to bear that too. She killed maa-in-law because she loved me too much, and my mother was probably insecure of her. I know, but I can't watch her go to jail Zoya. I can't let her suffer in prison, and I can't face her either, I can't stand knowing that she did everything for me", he fell down on his knees, startling Zoya who quickly came to his rescue, holding his shoulders.

"In a way, I am the reason Zoya. I am the reason behind every mis hap of our lives. I couldn't keep Pooja happy and she went with Yash. My mother in her need to protect me, went out of her way and for the crime of loving me, maa in law lost her life. Do you still want to bind your life to me Zoya? What is the guarantee that I would be able to love you the way you deserve? Hell, will I be able to love even? What if You need to pay the price for loving me too, Zoya-", he was cut off by Zoya who had kept her hand over his mouth, silently weeping all the while.

If the aftermaths of destruction had a face, she was certian it would be him.

" Bohot bolte h aap", she wiped his tears and cupped his face. Aditya raised his hanb to wipe her tears, there was no way he could see her cry, especially for him.

"You might be right Aditya, but from your point of view only", she smiled at him, and he was surprised to hear her say that.

"Yes, I reacted strongly whenever Yash was involved and yes, he still matters to me. But Aditya, I am not in love with him anymore, I am in love with you. And if that timid Zoya could react so strongly for her love, can you imagine how this Zoya will react, for her love, for you? Maybe the exact way your mother did", Aditya was flabbergasted to listen to Zoya. His eyes showed the surprise he felt.

Zoya shook her head. Aditya was honestly a child, the one who saw things only one way. Black or white. He didn't understand grey. Earlier he didn't want to understand and now he is neck down in its complexities that he still couldn't understand.

" I am not justifying what your mother did Aditya, all I am saying is I can see where it's coming from. It's her love for you, and in no world, is being loved a crime but at the same time You can't blame yourself because her reason was she loves you. It was all her call, her conscience. Understand the difference", she talked softly as he listened to her with attention.

"and Yash was anyway not happy with me either. I was responsible for my failed marriage Aditya, not Pooja being available because you didn't love her the way she wanted. Yash could fall in love with any random girl because he had already fallen out of love with me. And you, you did love Pooja Aditya, like I loved Yash. Every human loves differently, and every human needs love differently. If they didn't talk to us about their needs, we can't take the entire blame. There were two failed marriages, your and mine, and all four of us were equally responsible. It had nothing to do with just you or just me. Stop blaming yourself for everything wrong in our lives", Zoya saw tears rolling down his cheeks again, but this time she let him.

Because she realised it was probably the first time someone had told him it wasn't his fault and not the other way around.

"and Aditya, it doesn't matter how many reasons you find to block me out, I will still love you. I love you, and I will always love only you, maybe in a flawed way. Maybe you will also love me in a flawed way, but I promise we will work them out, together. Just let me in Aditya, please?", this time she could not keep the quiver out of her voice. Beneath all the strongness, she was still the same Zoya, the soft and sensitive one. The one who needed to be loved to stand up on her own.

"Don't kill me for this", Aditya looked at her and before Zoya could comprehend, he had held the back of her head and smashed his lips with her. Zoya kissed him back, him pushing her into the wall as they kissed the life out of each other, their tears intermingled. A kiss that sealed their love in that moment.

"I love you Zoya, I really love you", he breathed hard, resting his forhead on hers, and Zoya smiled, a red hue on her cheeks. Finally, he said it back to her.

"I love you too Mr. Hooda, I love you too", she hugged him, resting her head on his heart and felt him holding her close.

In the moment they were content. They knew there still was a lot to figure out, but together, they could do that. Right now, basking in each other's love was more important.