Chapter31

Armaan couldn't think rationally anymore. All his thoughts and emotions were overshadowed
by a powerful rage surging through his veins.
The woman who gave birth to his son had deceived him and his staff from day one and now
she was dead and as such untouchable.
A surrogate mother doesn't have any rights over the child she carries. So the honorary aunt
has even less rights upon him.
So naturally Janani had not owned up to the truth that she isn't the one who birthed little
Advaith.
Armaan scoffed.
How can she tell him that truth, when it is her only way of making a profit out of this situation.
Her best bet was to pretend to he the one who gave birth to Advi, the part of him deeply
ingrained with mistrust poked its head and reminded him.
No! He refuses to believe that.
Didn't he just an hour ago tell Inder that there are two sides to a coin.
And didn't Janani tell him she wanted to talk something important
What if she was going to tell him everything?
He will give her the chance to tell him the truth!!
Inder smiled in relief. So the woman he saw today is the better twin. Not the evil twin he had
known a year ago.
"Good! Now everything is fine. I will leave you to it" Inder said and Armaan nodded forcing a
smile.
He hope everything will be fine.
****
He reached home at the same time Janani and the kids came back.
Advi was asleep nestling trustingly in his momma's chest.
No. Not momma!!
"You are early??" Janani asked as she spotted Armaan
"There was nothing important to do at the office, so I thought I would just come home," he
said stiffly.
Janani covertly looked at Armaan's profile, as they walked in. He looked thunderous. She
was sure that something unpleasant had happened.
His handsome face is frozen into rigidity.
Had he received some bad news at the office? Some business issues? Or something of a
more personal nature?
"You said you wanted to talk?? About something very important??" Armaan asked icily and
Janani involuntarily shivered.
Now is not the time, she thought.
He is already in a foul mood. The truth will only aggravate him. She will have to wait for him
to calm down.
"Oh nothing important" Janani said, adopting a non chalant shrug without looking at him and
failing to see his face darkening in rage.
"I will take him" Armaan told her hoisting the sleepy baby against his shoulder in a blatantly
protective movement that left Janani confused.
They saw Mrs Seth coming down and Armaan settled the baby into her arms and instructed
her to take both the children to the nursery and feed them and put them for their afternoon
nap.
Janani looked on in confusion
"So we were talking??? Armaan prompted again and saw her squirming
"As I said, nothing important, Armaan" she said quietly.
"It sounded very important in the morning" Armaan prompted once more.
"Oh, It's just, I was missing home. I just thought I could go over and pay a visit during the
weekend. Maa would love to meet Ava and they are really missing Advi too" she chuckled
nervously
"You can go if you want. My children stays here" Armaan declared
She has no intention of owning up the truth. She is still keeping up the ruse, Armaan thought
bitterly.
Janani looked up startled at the cold tone
"Oh, but Advi wouldn't stay without me" Janani said in panic
"Why not?? That was the deal we made, remember? You step back and let him get adjusted
to a life without you" Armaan reminded her and took comfort in the stricken look on her face.
"You don't mean that" Janani mumbled helplessly
"Why not?? It's not as if you are his real mother after all" Armaan said coolly and all blood
drained from her face.
"You know??" She asked
"Why? You thought I would never come to know the truth? You must have been revelling in
the success of your plan!" Armaan said in disgust.
"I was going to tell you, Armaan" Janani said trying to appeal to him
"Really?? How convenient??" Armaan said sarcastically
"No. Please believe me. I was going to tell you about it today. Trust me please" she pleaded.
"Enough Janani. I am sick of listening to your lies. You have been lying to me since the
moment we met" he yelled angrily and she flinched.
"Armaan, please try to understand. I was desperate" Janani reached out to touch him only
for him to step back.
"Of course. You were desperate. So what is your price??" He asked coldly
"Price??" Janani asked in confusion
"Yes. The price you fixed for my son. How much were you holding off for" Armaan asked
Janani sucked in a sharp breath.
"I would never do that. I would never try to sell a baby. I know how wrong it is" Janani said
emotionally.
"Yet you kept him away from his father after his mother's death??" Armaan pointed out
"I didn't know who the father was" Janani said in a pleading tone
"I don't want to listen to this anymore. And stay away from my children, Janani" with that he
stormed off into his study.
****
Armaan had had four drinks in succession while he waited for Kamal Mishra to call with
further information.
It had been hours since he had cooped himself up in the study.
His father had been a drinker and it was very rare for Armaan to drink to excess.
Love hurts damn it.
Is it any wonder his father hit the bottle after being betrayed by the woman he loved?
But Armaan is not as irresponsible as his father who would forget about his children in the
wake of his heartbreak.
He pushed away the liquor bottle and stood up.
He is vying for a fight now. He wants to let out his emotions and he is going to do exactly
that.
With that decision firm in his mind he walked towards Janani's room.
Janani's eyes were red and puffy with constant crying for the past few hours.
How could he not listen to her??
She should have talked to him in the morning itself.
Memories assailed her in a painful force. She was filled with regret. Maybe if she had tried
harder, taken a bit more effort with Saanvi, she could have changed things for the better.
She could have gotten closer to Saanvi and made her a better person.
Janani's conscience scoffed at that thought.
Saanvi never listened to her nor paid any respect to her opinions or advice, particularly in
where Advi had been concerned.
But Advi had crept into his aunt's heart the moment she'd met him because he had been a
most unhappy baby.
"I don't know how to be a mum!" Saanvi had complained, becoming almost hysterical
because her son had been crying and inconsolable.
"You tell me to cuddle him but I don't feel comfortable with that. I am not into such stuff. It's
beyond me" Saanvi had said, with disdain.
Advi had suffered from some childhood illness and Saanvi had not been able to cope with
him or the sleepless nights. Janani had tried to help and had ended up taking over.
She had blamed herself when Saanvi had gone back to Delhi to work, leaving her baby in
Janani's care. She had blamed herself too when her twin had failed to bond with her child
but she had also been aware of Saanvi's chequered past history.
In truth Saanvi had had many troubled relationships in her life and rarely settled anywhere
for any length of time. Running away from difficult situations had been the norm for Saanvi.
Armaan had no compassion, Janani thought wretchedly. Saanvi had done bad things but her
sister had not set out to be a bad person.
And thus hurt paved way to anger.
How could he think that she would sell a baby??
How could he not listen to her?? How could he take her babies away from her? How could
he ask her to stay away from them?
She looked up when she heard the sound of the door opening and saw Armaan Verma
standing in the doorway.
"I loved my sister, and I won't say sorry for that!" Janani told Armaam defiantly.
"But I am sorry I lied to you. I realise that was wrong. In fact, I always knew I was wrong. But
I got too attached to Advi and I was scared of losing him. I know that's no excuse for keeping
you in the dark" Janani said, without giving Armaan a moment to respond.
Armaan opened his mouth to retort only to stop hearing the thin high pitched wail from a
distance.
"Advi is crying" Janani scrambled out of the bed hurriedly.
"Mrs Seth will look after him" Armaan countered. He wants to have this conversation now.
He is desperate to have this conversation now.
"I can't leave him upset. I am sorry, Mr Verma. But he is my priority" she said
unapologetically, choosing to disregard Armaan's disapproval and refusing to look back at
him.
She would be gone from his mansion soon enough, she reflected wretchedly.
There is no way, he would allow her to stay with Advi and Ava, knowing that she had lied to
him and had no real claim to Advi.
So she was not going to sit here and mope around the little time she has left with the kids.
Shanthi Seth was anxiously rocking Advi in her arms. His little face was red with angry tears
running down his cheeks and he was sobbing noisily.
"He doesn't like being rocked when he is upset," Janani said softly.
Armaan spoke up from the doorway, asking Mrs Seth to hand over Advi to Janani
Although conscious about the presence of Armaan, Janani ignored him and concentrated on
his son.
Advi went rigid as he was passed over and then sagged against her, shoving his face into
the curve of her neck and whimpering.
"He has nightmares. He's frightened when he wakes up. He only needs to be soothed"
Janani declared, walking the floor of the elaborately decorated room with Advi cradled in her
arms.
She buried her face in Advi's hair, revelling in the clean baby scent of innocence. With a
heavy sigh she sank down into the couch in the corner of the room.
His son's sobs had subsided almost immediately, Armaan registered without surprise while
he watched the duo. The baby's fingers clutched convulsively at Janani for reassurance.
Advi had missed her. Obviously he had missed her.
"He just wants his mother" Mrs Seth said in a low voice
Mother??
Ofcourse, for all intents and purposes she is his son's mother.
He saw Ava, who had been up listening to her little brother's wailing, had now crawled out of
the bed and was snuggling against Janani on the couch.
Their mother!
Armaan took a deep breath.
What has got over him?? How could he behave like that with Janani?
Hurt and anger is a deadly combination and under the influence of both he had wounded the
one person he never wanted to hurt.
If he had been thinking with a calm mind he would have pieced everything together and
formed the right conclusion.
The evil twin must have taken advantage of Janani. What else might have happened??
But how come she didn't know about her twin's nature???
It was said in the report that Janani is a single child. Did the twins grow up in different
homes??
Is that why Janani failed to realise the true nature of her twin?
The kids fell asleep soon and he helped Janani to tuck them in.
Armaan stared down at his sleeping children, then glanced up again and noticed that Janani
was deliberately avoiding looking at him.
She tried to step past him out in the corridor but he rested a staying hand on her arm.
"Janani. We —"
"I am really hungry" Janani proclaimed in a rush, jerking her arm back out of reach and
addressing his chest.
"Would it be too much trouble for me to have something to eat in my room? Even a sandwich
and a cup of tea would do." Janani said
"Come downstairs to join me for dinner instead" Armaan suggested, falling into step beside
her as she walked down the corridor.
Her facial muscles clenched tight.
"Thanks but no, thanks... I am not in a very sociable mood." She said and bristled past him
to her room.
Armaan took in a shaky breath and rubbed his face with his hands.
Wonderful way of wooing your lady love Armaan.
Great going, his subconscious mind taunted.