Her Broken Dream [√]

Chapter 24 :" Unexpected Ally"

Pradeep Mehra was known as a ruthless lawyer just like his father, it has been just a year since he turned professional but he held on to his name by the sheer ruthlessness he exhibited in court. He used every weakness to his advantage, if the opposite client had an affair, he exploited in court for his client benefits,if they had been financially weaker, he used it to prove them unfit to raise their kids, and so forth.          

And so he didn't hesitate when he tore apart at Gauri Khanna, on the paper she was all wrong. A girl who married a man 15 years her senior and a woman who married again when it was hardly three months since her first husband died and add to that the child wasn't even her first husband.      

 In Paper, Gauri was a gold digger or so he assumed but from the minute he saw her, his self held conviction didn't hold true. The tears in her eyes were sincere but he couldn't waver from his stance because losing wasn't an option, so he pursued relentlessly until the judge asked the son to step forward.                 

Until that moment he didn't know Rahul, Gauri's son can't speak. He turned to his client to ask him why he was kept out of the loop because in truth he couldn't understand a word the little child spoke and had to rely on the translator who translated for both the judge and him                 

And he had been able to ignore Gauri's tears but the earnest affectionate words from Rahul about his stepfather was another matter, there were no rehearsed lines as far as he could see because the little kid was genuinely happy with his step dad.              

" He reads me bedtime stories every night but he can't speak as well as mom yet. He is learning mom told me and that he will be able to speak as well as her soon.  He plays with me, he is my friend and he takes care of mom just like dad used to, I miss dad and mommy misses him too but Arnav uncle makes mom smile more than before, and he has a huge family, I like my new grandparents and they have parents too that makes them my great grandparents mom told me, I have aunt as well and then I met mom friend who is a doctor she let me play with her and I even used the instrument that makes noise and she didn't say anything, she can speak as well as mom.  Also .." and so it went the little kid talked without stopping to catch his breath like normal humans because his way of communicating was done with hands that he didn't realize the need to take a pause, the translator looked puzzled at his pace first until Rahul mother asked him to slow down a little.

The look of confusion on his face tugged Pradeep's cold heart but he did slow down and moved his hands slower this time but his message remained the same, he liked his new family.   

 Then the judge asked the next question that made Pradeep sweat a little in nervousness. He asked Rahul how he feels about his client Vinoth, this time the little kid didn't say much but enough to destroy any of the hopes he had left about this case.        

" He used to visit dad when he was sick and they argued all the time, and he doesn't talk to me, mom said not everyone can speak my language but Arnav uncle learned it and so his entire family but he never learned so I never talked with him or played with him " with few simple sentence Pradeep case was at risk, he should give up clearly he knew who got more rights to the kid and who could keep the kid happy.        

" You are my son and I have a reputation in courts, never back down until the judgment and strike the clients weak spots toll the end, if you kept repeating it over and over again it will be the only thing the judge will have on his mind " his father advise made him waver, he never liked it if he lost a case and Pradeep didn't want to start now.

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 Arnav could barely breathe as he heard Rahul speak about him, with each hand movement the little one held his heart in his tiny fists, it had been so easy to love Gauri child at first but looking at him now, he realized it was no longer about Gauri, it about the little one trust and love for him.