CHAPTER 19
Prakram enters the inner room immediately, while Aashi remains by Avishka's side, smiling continuously. Avishka knows very well that whenever she commits a mistake, she tries to convince the other person by smiling at them, but Avishka is very angry with her because if she has done this even out of mischief, then it is a big deal. That's why Avishka quickly changes her clothes without engaging in conversation.
"Avu…"
"I don't want to talk to you; please wear your clothes quietly. Pay close attention to the fact that I will never listen to you again. You are a bad girl. Who didn't listen to anyone? Who jumps in a swimming pool like this?"
Avishka is angry with her; this hurts her a lot because she only knows that everyone in the house often talks about her mother's absence, and many of her cousins also have a mother. She doesn't have any mothers, which is why she doesn't feel good. Like her other cousins, she yearned for a mother who would love her unconditionally, just like her father did. When Roma assured her that by doing this, she would receive a mother, she was overjoyed. She has not made any mistakes, so why is Avishka frustrated with her? But now, she is her mother, and a mother does not experience anger; they merely love their children, whom she frequently encounters. Avishka changes her clothes and takes a dryer to dry her hair, but by then Digvijay and Sandhya have also reached there.
"Aashi…"
As soon as both of them arrive, they immediately take her in their arms and begin to love her deeply. However, Aashi is deeply saddened by Avishka's anger towards her, raising the possibility that she may not love her as much as her cousins' mothers do for her cousins. Sandhya checks on her and scolds her too.
"How are you? What were you doing near the swimming pool? Who does such a thing? You have become so mischievous day by day. I'll tell Avishka to scold you even more and not love you at all.”
As soon as she says this, Aashi starts feeling Avishka's anger and resentment even more, due to which she immediately starts crying because she will not love her like a mother. Prakram, who was changing his clothes, suddenly becomes alert after hearing his daughter's crying. He suspects that she might have been hurt somewhere, but he had no idea before, so he assumes she must have felt pain while changing her clothes. He immediately throws his shirt away and comes outside.
"Aashi…"
When Aashi sees her father approaching, she instinctively extends her arms towards him. She believes her mother is upset with her, but not her father, and she begins to cry uncontrollably. Prakram immediately takes her from his mother, and he starts seeing her in a surprising way.
"What happened? Why is she crying like this? Is she injured, or is she in pain somewhere?"
"No, I just told this to Avishka to scold her a lot.”
Prakram immediately turns to Avishka, a father who, just moments ago, saw his daughter drowning and is barely able to keep his composure. Seeing his daughter cry like this, he suddenly fills with anger. Avishka also gets sad at her crying like this. She was immediately moving her hand towards Aashi. He suddenly pulls it away from her and yells at her loudly.
"There is no reason for her to assert her rights over my daughter. No one has the right to scold my daughter. How dare you make her cry?"
Avishka gets scared when he shouts so loudly and turns back. Aashi starts crying even more when her father scolds her like this, and she tells Avishka while crying.
"I am sorry... I will not do any mischief. I will not jump again."
Prakram starts looking at Avishka. He guesses that maybe she might be saying something to Aashi about jumping into the swimming pool, which she considers scolding, and starts crying. In this instance, she was correct, but he was also extremely upset, which led to his impulsive response. Aashi wants to come near Avishka at any cost, so she spreads her arms and starts jumping on her, but Avishka understands her, quickly moving away as she is drenched in water.
"My clothes are wet; I'll embrace you up later."
Sandhya's focus shifts to Avishka's drenched clothes, while Prakram embraces his daughter. Aashi, having heard Avishka's words, has become somewhat silent and is hugging her father, but she expresses this to him in a tearful voice.
"Avu is sweet... Why do you scold her?"
"Okay, I am sorry... But the mischief you have done is also wrong. Don't ever jump in water.”
"I am sorry."
"Papa loves you, darling. Don't do this again."
"I jumped into the pool because..."
Before she can continue, Armaan enters and begins whispering something in Prakram's ears, causing Aashi to become completely silent. She then turns her attention to Avishka, who is engaged in a conversation with her grandmother. Seeing Avishka very upset, Sandhya immediately comes to her, looks at her son, and consoles Avishka.
"Don't feel bad about his scolding; he is too possessive for his daughter... Ever since she was born, he has kept scolding everyone in this manner. His daughter should not suffer even the slightest problems."
“I understand, mam."
"Mam, I have instructed you not to call me that; I am still Sandhya aunty for you; you work for me; this does not imply that you should start calling me mam. I know you will not have clothes with you; I brought spare sarees with me; my blouse will definitely not fit you; it will be very loose; we will adjust with the help of pins; but for now, it will be fine to manage the work for some time at least. You won't have to remain wet."
"No, I'm okay."
"Look, you have just come from the hospital, and this way you will fall ill, and you know that Aashi stays with you the whole day, and she will not leave.”
Avishka immediately looks towards Prakram and Aashi. Prakram is talking to Armaan, and while Aashi is continuously smiling and looking at her, she also answers her smile with a smile, due to which Aashi starts smiling even more. She doesn't want to make herself sick at all for Aashi's sake, so she nods her head lightly. When both of them start going inside, Aashi immediately looks at her and starts shouting.
“Avu… Avu…”
Prakram glances at his daughter, then turns his gaze to Avishka, who is staring at them with her dupatta tucked up, and their eyes meet at the same moment. Aashi is completely safe in Prakram's arms, while Avishka is in front of him. When he sees her suddenly, it is as if he experiences a completely different kind of feeling, a strange kind of stirring in his heart, and suddenly a few waves start bothering him.
Avishka immediately turns her face down, as Prakram is still standing shirtless in front of her. He also recognizes his strange reaction and settles Aashi on the bed. He enters the room with the intention of retrieving his shirt. There inside, he sees that Sandhya is showing her saree, seeing which Prakram takes a look at Avishka and then at the saree and immediately comes out. Aashi smiles as she converses with Armaan, and upon witnessing her smile, Prakram begins to forget all his troubles. and she says this lovingly to Aashi.
"Aashi, we should go down; everyone will be waiting for the birthday girl."
“Avu…”
“She will come with Grandma; you will come with me, as everybody is waiting for us.”
He immediately picks her up in his arms and walks outside. Aashi does not feel like leaving her Avishka at all, but she cannot say anything in front of her father right now. Now Prakram is not at all ready to leave Aashi; he is keeping her with him well, but Aashi's eyes are searching for Aviksha again and again. She told your father.
"I am hungry... Where is Avu?"
Upon hearing her words, Prakram immediately looks towards Sandhya, who is present, but Avishka is not there. He approaches her and asks her to search for Avishka.
"Where is that girl?
“Who…Avi… She probably doesn't like the crowd of so many people, so she told me at home that she doesn't want to come to the party, but Aashi would bother us a lot, so I brought her here forcefully, but she said that she will not be present at the party but will sit somewhere alone.”
After listening to her, Prakram nods his head, glances around, and says to Sandhya:
"Aashi is hungry."
"She is not going to eat with me. Tell someone to go to the garden with her food. Leave her with Avi; she will handle her."
"I'm not going to leave Aashi alone at all; I'll go to the garden; she'll feed her, and then I'll bring her back."
Sandhya also nods her head. Prakram immediately orders food for Aashi and heads toward the garden. Avishka is having a headache because she is feeling a little cold due to getting completely wet, and here she is completely alone, so she immediately removes the saree from her head and unties her hair, combing her hair with her fingers. She begins attempting to dry her hair, which brings her a great sense of relief.
Her attention is not at all towards the back from where Prakram brings Aashi while looking at her; she is in a saree, and suddenly his eyes get stuck on her hair as it is very long, which she is combing nicely with her fingers. Aashi gets very excited to see her in front of her and suddenly calls her.
"Avu…"
When Avishka suddenly turns around and sees Prakram standing in front of her, she immediately covers her face with the saree and stands in front of him. Prakram finds himself unable to utter a word, but Aashi promptly informs her.
"I am hungry."
Aviksha is able to see with great difficulty through her saree that someone is coming with food; she immediately takes her in her arms from Prakram, who is spell-bound to look at her, and she, sitting on the seat kept there, starts feeding Aashi very well. He knows that she has covered her head and hidden her face, but he doesn't know why he feels like he wants to see her. Her long hair is covered with a saree, but since it is longer than her hands, he is able to see her hair very comfortably. Aashi soon eats the food, and Prakram also has to go inside as soon as there is a guest there, so he picks up Aashi and immediately goes inside, but he immediately tells Aashi.
"Aashi Avishka is older than you, so you should not call her by name."
"I don't call her Avu."
"Yes, call her Aunty...'
"Aunty, but she is Mumma."
Prakram's feet stopped suddenly. Prakram glances carefully at Aashi, who promptly informs him.
"From now on, Avu is Aashi's mom, because Avu has saved Aashi, which means she loves Aashi the most, and the one who loves me the most will be worthy of becoming my mom.”
After hearing this, Prakram becomes extremely angry, fully aware that this is not the young girl's thoughts, but rather the thoughts of someone else. He immediately turns towards Avishka, who is standing very far away from him. And her back is towards them; she is sitting quietly on a chair, covering herself, he says angrily to himself.
"So this was a well-thought-out plan of yours... You put my daughter's life at risk. You have to pay for this.”