Meenakshi gawked at the person sitting on the couch, with her eyes almost coming out from their sockets and her mouth left open.
"Yes Meenakshi, you heard right. I am your father and my late wife Jaya was your mother!
He glanced at Meenakshi, who was gaping at him like he was some kind of alien. But he continued.
"Your mother and I were a happy couple, just like others. We had everything in our lives to be blessed with, starting from luxury to happiness. We loved each other madly and shared a deep bond. I adored her than anything and was starting to feel that I can't get any, luckier until your mother became pregnant and made my happiness upswing.
But some people never let you stay that way. The night of her delivery, all my happiness was crumbled and replaced by the dreads of darkness. The doctors reported that she miscarried and can never be a mother again. All my hopes were shattered into pieces, but I stayed strong because I had to handle your mother. But fate had other plans. The moment I told her about everything, she started denying the fact that she miscarried. She said she saw you in front of her eyes and that I was lying to her. I thought maybe her miscarriage has deeply affected her mental state, so I didn't believe her words and forcefully took her home."Anirudh closed his eyes, tears pickling out of them.
"Trust me, I regret every second for not believing her. She was dying each day and all I could do was give her mental treatments from various physicians. She was very firm with her belief that you are alive and will come back to her, but I never understood her. Since I was reluctant, she spoke to others for help but no one believed. Our small talks would turn into huge fights, making each day more miserable. But it all ended the day your mother decided to leave me for life."His words reflected his pain, as they got jumbled with his sobs.
"She-she c-committed suicide, hanging herself to the ceiling fan!"He broke down into heavy tears and cupped his face with his palms. . Meenakshi wanted to hug him, but all she could do was sit there and stare at him like a ghost.
"I felt my world would end then and there. I was completely hopeless and a wave of guilt engulfed me. I was the reason she died, I killed her!
Months passed with sleepless nights and I turned more into a hopeless dead man. I started drinking, smoking, and also went to the extent of taking drugs. But nothing helped. Ten years passed like that. I tried to attempt suicide several times but failed each time. I was punished to live with my guilt and the sorrow that I owned. And I accepted it. I decided to give my whole life to the betterment of people and left no stone unturned. I used my knowledge and never let my instincts run on the profit of my company. I helped thousands with my inventions and with that, the burden of guilt started lifting from my chest. But still, it couldn't fill the gap in my heart. I still sought peace and solace but got none.
Then, one day my biggest business rival revealed to me the truth that he paid the doctors of that hospital to which she was admitted, to fake the news of miscarriage. He wanted to sell one of my inventions to the Russian mafia, but I declined his proposal. So he planned to destroy my life the very day.
You were alive and Jaya gave you birth. So she knew that you were alive and taken somewhere. But I didn't believe her and that was my biggest fault. He also told me that he gave you to his sister who was suffering from a bad mental depression due to the tortures of her husband, who was more of a demon. Her husband made her drop their child, three times! So he thought that giving you to her will improve her mental state and regain her hope. But, due to her ill fate, she soon died leaving you behind to that devil of a man!
Believe me Meenakshi, the moment I knew all of this I started searching for you. But it was too late. By the time I found that demon, he already escaped and I got the news that you are in Malaysia. So I searched you there and was shocked to the core to find you to be the wife of one of the most deadly mafias, Dhruv!"
Meenakshi twitched at hearing his name as it brought a lot of memories back into her mind. Anirudh saw that and continued
"As a guilty father, I couldn't gather the strength to face you. I was worried about how to tell you all of this and ask for your forgiveness, which I don't deserve. So I thought to keep an eye on you. My heart bled when I saw you depressed living with that person. But I was also taken aback, noticing your love for him. I decided to help you by guiding you.
You remember the necklace and the letter? That day, I paid one of his men, what was his name? Ah! Vijay. I paid him to make you eat the pasta."
Meenakshi widened her eyes on hearing his name. She considered him as her brother and now she had to hear this.
"He followed my orders and made you eat it. As expected, you passed out, outside the mansion gates making my plan successful. I took you to one of the hospitals and placed that blue box and the letter with it. I knew that it would give you some strength to fight.
I decided that I will never come in front of you and just try to make you happy from a far distance, like an invisible support. Because my heart was too heavy with my guilt.
But my decision changed when I saw your condition on his birthday. I understood that you were not happy with him and he was breaking you more, each day. I was getting worried that you might also fall into the darkness and I won't be able to do anything to save you. But fate was on my side when the blast happened and you reached the nearby hospital carrying him. I got the news from my men and immediately rushed to the hospital. I found you there, lying unconscious on the hospital bed.
Just then and there I decided to take you away from his dark world and hence paid the doctors of that hospital to fake your death in front of them and replace your body with an identical doll, for in case any suspicion arises.
The doctors saved you because your injuries were minor and the bullet didn't go very deep inside your belly. So I took you with me and brought you to Bombay, away from the eyes of his men. I already know that he won't care, so things turned out to be quite easier for me.
Also in between, I searched for that devil who made your life so miserable but can't trace him till now."
Anirudh now shifted his gaze to Meenakshi, who sat there, on the bed like a statue her cheeks gone wet with tears that fell from her eyes like waterfalls.
" I know, all of this is too much to take in but this is the truth. I don't even have the guts to ask for forgiveness because my sins are too big to be forgiven. I know, I am the sole reason for your pain and misery. But believe me, Maya, after losing you and your mother my whole life turned into a living hell. Every single day, I suffered in pain and tried every possible means to get out of it, but I couldn't."
He walked towards the bed and sat near Meenakshi. Holding both of her hands and placing them on his forehead he cried.
"A man like me doesn't deserve to live. But Meenakshi, as I see you sitting in front of my eyes I know that I can die peacefully now. I have signed all my property papers to state you as my future heiress. Take them Meenakshi and start a new life! This is your old man's last wish!"He wept under her soft palms. He was done with his life and only wanted to see his grown-up daughter live a happy life. Only Meenakshi's happiness was capable of healing the large gap in his heart, so he decided to give her all of his property and achievements. Even he made her the owner of his company, so that his princess whom he was separated from so many years ago, can lead her life like a queen.
"Always stay happy my child."
He kept crying until something warm covered him from his back and he saw that it was Meenakshi. She was crying too. She hugged him tightly and lifted his face, wiping his tears out. She pecked a soft kiss on his forehead and patted his back.
"Dad!"
Anirudh's eyes softened as he heard that one word from his daughter for which his ears pleaded to hear, from ages.
"Meenakshi!"He hugged her back and started weeping like a child.
"I have a father! Finally, I feel like I have someone to call my own! You don't have to apologize, because it was not your fault. We both suffered. But now I have you! I have got what I always prayed for. I don't care about what happened before, I now just want to stay in your arms and enjoy the feeling of having a family. My own family!"
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