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“Daadi kept a condition before Maa to either change that thought of marrying Dev Malik or leave me forever with Daadi before she steps as a Malik bride.”
His voice strained.
“She chose Maliks over me.”
He sipped the soft drink and loosened his tie. He was suffocating. And it started suffocating her to see him in this state. She pulled her chair closer to his, without leaving their handhold.
“I didn’t hate her for that decision, Maya. I might have been angry with her, but not for long. She was my mother, after all. My life. The reason for my existence in this world. If she was happy with the Maliks, I was happy for her.”
Maya was proud of his thoughts. It took a big heart to forgive the person you love the most, even though they have hurt you beyond repair.
Chapter 43
Sand Dunes Beach Resort
Ranveer composed himself.
“My mother married Dev Malik, and I stayed with Daadi. She became my mentor, trying to give me all the love that I should have technically received from my parents. Maa used to come to see me every month. She had lost her charm. I was too young to read what was going on in her mind. Then Dhruv was born. But that never changed Maa’s love for me. She kept bringing Dhruv to meet me too. Initially, I was distant from that kid, but he won my attention soon enough.”
Maya already knew Dhruv and Ranveer shared the same mother, whereas Kunal was Dev Malik’s first wife’s son. That’s why Ranveer had so much fondness for Dhruv and not Kunal.
“After Maa’s marriage to the Maliks, Daadi made her resign from the company’s director role and appointed a passive director who could run the business until I could take over. The Maliks were still Malhotra Group’s clients. Daadi was afraid that the Maliks would make Maa sign the company’s ownership in their name. Hence, she took that decision wisely. Dev Malik obviously wasn’t happy when Maa was made to resign, so he kept playing his tricks to ensure we kept suffering losses in some way or the other. He kept badmouthing Malhotra group to the other clients, stole our client’s confidence, and made them shift their business to Maliks. He did a lot that ruined Malhotra group’s reputation. After I was ready to take over the business, I joined the company. When I became the CEO of Malhotra Group, I took some serious measures and ended all our ties with Maliks and the other clients who were in Malik’s favor. I wanted to cleanse their evilness from my business. Obviously, this didn’t go well with the Maliks again. Within one year of me taking the position, they lost their prestigious clients too and suffered losses. Maa was sandwiched between this cold fight between me and them. But I know she was happy for me. I had fulfilled her dream, my father’s dream.”
Maya smiled as Ranveer narrated everything. It felt like this was unfolding before her eyes. Ranveer Malhotra, a young 7-year-old boy whose mother had left him for her remarriage, had grown into a successful and powerful business magnate. It was a tremendous achievement, one not possible for everyone but those with the passion to work against all odds. So, Ranveer and Dhruv had an 8-year age difference between them? The first time she had met Dhruv, she hadn't noticed this significant gap, perhaps because Ranveer Malhotra, nearing his 30s, still looked young and charismatic. She closely admired him. He might have seemed tough from the outside, but his heart was soft, tender, waiting for true love. He had been living a very private life because there was nothing good enough about it to make it public. So far whatever he narrated didn’t make him look like an attention seeker nor a brooding and hot-tempered man.
“And one day suddenly, I got the news of Maa’s accident.”
His hands shivered reminiscing the incidents of that horrible day. Maya pressed her palm into his. He looked at her, but that softness in his expressions was gone. His eyes turned red and moist.
“Maa fell down the stairs at the Malik house. She was hospitalized. I didn’t know what to do. She was in coma for almost a week. Everyone had lost hope of her survival but me. I wanted her to wake up and come back to life. I didn’t want her to die, not yet.”
Tears rolled down Maya’s cheeks as she saw a lone tear escape his eye too.
“She woke up one night and tried to talk to me…”
“Ranve…er…”
“Maa,” the 25-year-old Ranveer quickly rushed from the couch to the bed where his mother was. “Maa, are you okay? I will go call the doctor.”
She gripped his hand.
“Don’t go away, Ranveer,” she was making a lot of efforts to talk. Her face was pale, and there was no energy left in her body despite all the medication she was given. Her breathing unsteadied.
“Maa.”
“Ranveer… Dhruv… Look… look after him.”
“I will, Maa. We both will look after him. You will be fine.”
“Devv.. devv.. tried to… he...” her breathing intensified again. Ranveer screamed for the doctors to come and check upon her. He moved behind when the doctor started diagnosing her, but it didn’t work. Nothing worked. She had passed away. He lost his mother.
Ranveer shoved Maya's arm away and walked to the other side of the table, turning his back to hide the emotions welling up inside him. She had never seen him so vulnerable before. She understood the grief he must have felt that day when he lost his mother. No child should have to endure a parent's death - it shatters you. The pain lingers for years. He was still grieving her loss deeply.
Maya didn't want to cause him more anguish by pressing for details. As she approached, tears streamed down his face. Her heart ached at his raw sorrow. Unthinkingly, she wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him close. Her fingers stroked his hair soothingly as he clung to her petite frame, drawing comfort from her embrace.
He had needed someone to hold him like this when his mother passed away, but there was no one then. He met Daadi the next day during the final rites. Though Dev Malik insisted on fulfilling those final rites, Ranveer didn't let him - no one but him had the right.
Maya clung to him further. She longed to heal his battered spirit. Her soft words of solace, her touch imparted him strength. For now, she was his anchor in the storm of grief, a beacon guiding him back from the dark shadows of his tragic past.
