Chapter 31: Chapter 31

Rage began to overshadow Armaan's rational mind as the different thoughts began to filter into his thoughts

His son's mother 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. So the honorary aunt has even less

So naturally Janani had not owned up to the truth

After all, her only way of making profit through Advi was by pretending to be his birth mother ,the part of him deeply ingrained with mistrust poked its head and reminded him

No...he refuse 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 relieved. 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 office ,so I thought I would just come home" he said stiffly

Although Janani was trying hard not to stare at Armaam when they walked in, she is convinced that something unpleasant had happened

His handsome face is frozen into rigidity

Had he received bad news? Some business setback? 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 failed to see his face darkening in rage

"I'll 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

"It sounded very important in the morning"

"Oh.Its 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?? Its not as if you are his real mother after all" Armaan said coolly and all blood drained from her face

"You know??" She asked

"My first question should be who are you?? But then that would make me a liar too as I very well know who you are"

"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

"Quit with the lies Janani. Lies only make me angry. And you have been lying to me since the moment we met" he yelled angrily and she flinched

"Armaan, please try to understand" Janani reached out to touch him only for him to step back

"So what is your price??" He asked

"Price??"

"Yes. Price for my son. How much were you holding off for"

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"

"Yet you kept him away from his father after his mother's death??"

"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" 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 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.

Her mind drifted back inexorably to her sister and powerful regret filled her because she kept on thinking that if she had only had a little more time with Saanvi she could have got closer to her and somehow changed things for the better.

On another, more rational level, though, she was painfully aware that Saanvi had never listened to her and had neither respected her opinion nor sought her advice, particularly 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. He’s making me feel bad!"

Advi had suffered from colic 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. That was wrong. I got too attached to Advi and I was frightened of losing him but I do appreciate that ,that doesn’t excuse me not immediately telling you that his mother had passed away."

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

"I can’t leave him upset" she called apologetically over her shoulder, sensing Armaan's disapproval and refusing to look back at him.

She would be gone from his mansion soon enough, she reflected wretchedly. He was hardly likely to allow her to stay now that he knew 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 scarlet with tears and he was sobbing noisily.

"He doesn't like being rocked when he is upset" Janani said in an apologetic voice

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 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 intends 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 in a deep breath

What had 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 grew 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’m 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."

"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’m 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