"Yes, have you come up with a solution already, have you chosen an option?", Akshara asks Purvi.
"Yes Akshara, I will sign the marriage agreement. But are you sure everything will be fine afterwards, isn't it?", Purvi asks her.
Akshara adds, "I'm glad that you have chosen this option. This is by far the one with which we have more chances of winning the case. Rest assured, I have consulted many advocates before coming up with this option. But who is the other person?"
"It's me.", I tell her.
Akshara stares at me with her mouth wide open.
"Okay", she says after some time, "I'll be back with the papers soon."
Just after Akshara leaves, Ruhi comes into the living room and upon seeing me she rushes into my arms and starts hugging me tightly. I kiss her on the forehead and I find Putvi looking at us and smiling, but as soon as she finds me looking at her, she lowers her head immediately.
"Ruhi, dear listen to me. I am telling you this because I know you are understanding and very mature my child. Tomorrow purvi Maa and I will have to take you to a court."
"A court? Like the ones they show in movies? But why Rajat Uncle? I know people go there to fight, isn't it?"
"No Ruhi, actually people fight between right and wrong there, and tomorrow Purvi maa and Pa... I mean Rajat Uncle have to fight for the right thing. You will have to come with us tomorrow and I am telling you this now so that you don't have to worry at all about it. Just remember that we are doing a good thing."
"Rajat Uncle, as long as you're with us and with maa, I don't have to worry about anything. Thank you for telling me about it. I am proud of you both. I love you", she tells me and Purvi before hugging both of us.
At around 5 in the evening, Akshara arrives with the papers. She asks us twice whether we are sure about it, and both times we only reluctantly nod.
When I pick up the pen after Purvi has signed the papers, I realize the complexity of our action. This paper will make her my official wife. Maybe I had wished for such a thing, but in these circumstances? I do not even believe I am doing such a thing. Would Rajat Kumar have signed any such papers if it wasn't for Purvi or Ruhi? How have these two become so important to me that they feel indispensable to me? I sign the papers, avoiding the thoughts of the future consequences this will bring for the three of us.
Just some time after Akshara has left with the papers, we hear another knock on the door.
"It must be her again," I tell Purvi, "she must have forgotten to tell us something."
But, as soon as I open the door, someone barges in, stumbling. I stand firmly in front of the man and stop him from moving any further.
"Who are you bastard? How dare you stop me?", he asks me.
Purvi asks Ruhi to go inside and asks him, "How dare you enter my house, especially in such a state? Get out of here immediately!"
"I am your husband Purvi, did you forget about it? My daughter is still in this house and I have come to see her and no one has the right to stop me from doing so!", he laughs at Purvi.
I still stand firmly in front of him, "I hope you heard what she said Akshat!", I tell him, "get out of here! She is not your wife nor Ruhi is your daughter. Get out now otherwise I will be forced to throw you out of here!"
Instead, he clenches my jaw tightly with his fingers, "You will throw me out? You?! Who are you? Her bodyguard or her new lover?" and he starts laughing.
My blood boils at his pathetic words, and without thinking I find myself pushing his fingers away from my face and smacking him so tightly on his face that he starts wobbling.
"Not one more word against her or Ruhi!", I add.
At that moment, Ruhi rushes into the room and rushes into Purvi's arms and she starts consoling her.
"See", Akshat starts gesturing towards her, "She has come to meet her father. She is mine. Purvi, bring her here, bring my daughter to me!"
Both Purvi and I raise our heads and glower at him. This time, I grab him by the collar and start pushing him out when Purvi stops me. She asks Ruhi to go inside and approaches us.
She stands close to him, stares at him in his eyes and smiles at him. "She is not yours Akshat. Just a sperm can't make her your child. A child is raised with love and care and I have raised Ruhi with it. Love is non-existent in you. Nor can you ever give it to someone and nor you will ever get it and the man here," she pauses and points towards me, "this man here, is the epitome of love. I'd choose him over a thousand you. Akshat, for your kind information, Rajat is my husband and legally the father of our daughter, he is my family and you are nothing. Nothing."
She smiles widely at him when he continues to stare open-mouthed at her. She takes his shoulder and leads him outside before closing the door on his face.
The confident smile is still on her face as I continue to gawk at this amazing Purvi until Ruhi rushes into our arms. "Rajat Uncle how are you? Are you hurt? Why was he here? Are you fine maa?"
"Yes dear. Both Purvi maa and I are absolutely fine. He is a bad person Ruhi. Don't worry about him now, everything is okay."
"But, I thought he was a good person...why was he here?"
"You know him Ruhi? How? Where did you meet him? Did he try to meet or hurt you?"
"No maa, but I know him. He is the father of my classmate. My friend introduced me to him during the cooking competition. He told me that he is a very big and rich businessman, but why was he here?"
"No Ruhi, you must be mistaken. It cannot be him. He doesn't have a family or a child here!", Purvi tells her.
"I am sure maa. Rajat uncle, you must be knowing Jai right, he was the one teasing me about my father. He was participating just next to us in the competition. Try to remember...", Ruhi tells me.
"I don't remember exactly, but I must be having some pictures from the cooking competition in my mobile, let me check."
I unlock my mobile and scroll through my gallery to find the picture when Purvi screams, " look, it's this", and when we open the picture, it's actually him, standing just next to us in the competition.
"I had no idea", I mumbled. I feel angry at myself about not remembering. All this time, I had known him and I didn't even realize.
"Rajat", I find Purvi starting to breathe heavily. I quickly take her on the sofa. "Rajat... Jai is his son. He was in Mumbai. He had...another family here...another child and I.."
"Purvi, you have to be strong right now. If you think about it from the positive side, if we can confirm this, imagine how strong our case will be! Let me call Akshara", I console her.
Purvi actually gets better after hearing this. She looks at me as I call Akshara and tell her all that has happened. She seems much more surprised and excited than us. She tells me that she will call me back as soon as she finds out more about it.
As we wait for the call, Purvi takes Ruhi in her lap and starts thanking her for how she has managed to help us even unknowingly. She is indeed our angel.
Half an hour later, my mobile rings. It's Akshara, "it's true. He has a child and a wife here already", she tells me.
Hey readers, Here is the next update !
Hope you liked it...