CHAPTER 23
Prakram is looking at everyone angrily, and they are very scared because, apart from Avishka, the two nannies are standing in front of him, and their faces are bent downward, and neither of them has the courage to look at him even once. Sandhya is well aware that Prakram's anger is so intense at this moment that he could potentially kill both of them, and he harbors no remorse for doing so. That's why Sandhya immediately intervenes and says:
"I was the one who told these two to go to sleep quickly.”
You instructed both of them to sleep comfortably, knowing full well that Avishka is capable of providing excellent care for Aashi. When someone knocked on their door, were they so intoxicated that neither of them got up? .... Aren't they also my child's nannies, just like Avishka?
"Sometimes you get tired; you also have to understand this; now Aashi is absolutely fine.”
Padma did not know at all that Prakram could get so angry, so she told everything to Prakram, but now she is regretting her words, due to which she too is very upset because of Prakram's anger. He gets up from the couch and lets out a loud scream.
"Armaan…"
Armaan immediately comes running there and stands in front of him. He is fully aware of the situation, which is why he promptly informs the two nannies and everyone else involved.
"The agency that brought these two nannies to us has canceled its license, preventing any of the nannies from that agency from working anywhere, leading to their apparent unemployment."
"Good work…"
Prakram immediately leaves without any delay, and Armaan turns, looks at both nannies, and informs them.
"Pack your things and leave from here as quickly as possible, because sir's anger has calmed down a bit, so he did not say anything to you and has gone away, but it is so confirmed that now you will not get any kind of job in this city. If we are going to meet, there is no point in staying here."
Sandhya silently sits on the sofa, staring at Armaan, knowing that these are Prakram's words and that it would be pointless to respond. Padma is merely staring at the two girls, their faces filled with disappointment, and she feels a sense of guilt. Understanding this, Sandhya immediately tells Padma in front of both of them.
"It is not your fault; even before hiring these two, it was said that both of them had to take very good care of Aashi 24/7, whether it was day or night; Aashi should be their first priority." Prakram has unnecessarily hired three nannies. He also knows that a person gets sick and tired, so if one gets tired or sick, then the other should take care of her work, but here, ever since Avishka has come, both of them have not done anything; it is all the fault of these two. Not only were they familiar with all the medications for Aashi, but they also understood how to care for her and what wasn't appropriate for her. Avi has been brought here suddenly, and she was not even told anything properly. Still, she takes better care of Aashi than these two. I am also angry at these two, but to save them from his wrath, I was supporting both of them, but the mistake of these two is not at all forgivable; my Aashi is ill, and both of them were sleeping comfortably. The truth is that I am angry with you too. You should have immediately informed me about Aashi's ill health."
“Sorry ma'am…”
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Prakram is lying with his daughter, Aashi, lying on his chest, and he is continuously patting her, but Aashi is not trying to sleep at all, and looking at her, it does not even seem that she wants to sleep, due to which he immediately says to her.
"What happened, my sweetheart?"
"Avu told me she’s not my mom.”
"Look, you have to understand that Papa does not want anyone other than Aashi, and Aashi does not want anyone other than Papa.”
Aashi immediately sits on Prakram's stomach and starts looking at him. Although Aashi's fever has significantly decreased, her irritability persists, causing her to become upset and express this to her father.
"Everyone has a mother; only Aashi doesn't; Roni has a nice mom; Nishu also has a mom; only Aashi doesn't; everyone has a papa and mumma; I only have papa."
Prakram begins examining his daughter's face closely. Until now, he was unaware of Aashi's deep need for a mother, a need she expresses with great intensity. However, based on her words today, he has a clear understanding of her feelings. He senses a void in her life, and he understands that she is missing her mother.
"Aashi, doesn’t papa love you?”
"Papa loves Aashi very much, but Aashi also needs mom’s love.”
"There is no need for this thing.”
"Why do you talk like this? You also have a mother; why don't I have one?”
Sometimes, children say things that are too big for everyone to respond to. Prakram does not want to talk much about this topic, but now he has no option left, so he tells Aashi.
"Aashi… listen… Your grandmother told you that your mother has gone to be with God and will never come again."
"Yes, she told me that my old mother gave me to you and went with God, and that she will find a new mother for me, but I have found one, Avu; why is she refusing me?"
Prakram finds it difficult to explain the situation to Aashi, so he tries to quickly change the subject while gently caressing her head.
"Okay, today is Nishu’s birthday party, so what are you wearing?"
And as he was thinking, it is a bit easy to twist the children's thoughts by entangling them in his words. Aashi, who enjoys wearing new clothes, immediately expresses this with a smile.
“Mumma has made a very lovely tiara for the purple dress you bought for me; I will wear it.”
Prakram is smiling after listening to her words, but as soon as she uses MUMMA for Avishka, his smile suddenly disappears. Prakram finds himself at a loss for words to explain the situation to her, and he is also growing increasingly concerned as Aashi has been repeating the same thing to him for the past two days.
"Aashi… Don't call her mom."
"Why…"
"Because she is not your mother.”
“Why not…”
"Aashi, now I don't want to talk about useless things at all; you listen to me carefully and say that you will not eat ice cream at all and will stay with Papa only."
Aashi dislikes receiving reprimands from Prakram, and each time he scolds her, she bursts into tears. However, thanks to Avishka's guidance, she's gradually learning to manage her tears, so she glances at him while maintaining self-control. She gets out of bed and starts walking out of the room.
"Aashi…"
But Aashi doesn't say anything to him at all and runs away from there. Prakram has brought her to sleep for an afternoon nap, and for the last 2 days he has kept all his work aside and is very busy with Aashi only. He is observing how well Avishka takes care of her, which is why he has no complaints about her. However, he becomes extremely upset when he sees Aashi's inclination towards her. He immediately gets up from the bed to go and talk to Aashi, and as he approaches her room, he looks in through the window and sees her sitting in Avishka's lap.
“Papa scolded me, but I didn't cry at all.”
"Exactly. Aashi is a good girl... But why did Papa scold you? You must have made a mistake.”
"Now you are my mother, so I said in front of Papa that momma would get me ready for the party."
"Aashi, this is very wrong. How many times have I told you that I am only your Avu, not your mother?"
"Avu is Aashi's mother... You are my mother. You are.... You are… you are.”
"Aashi, this is wrong. You understand all the things very well; why are you not able to understand this?"
"Because I want you to be my mom."
"Aashi does not insist on everything, and this is absolutely wrong.”
Aashi is a small girl who sometimes finds it difficult to explain many things, and children often become very stubborn and start troubling when their wishes are not fulfilled.
"Nobody is listening to me; I don't want to attend anyone's birthday; I don't want to go anywhere; you also leave my room; I don't want Papa, and I don't want you either."
"Aashi…"
But without listening to anything, she starts crying continuously and starts throwing things here and there. He is aware that Avishka is not making any inappropriate comments. At this moment, his daughter holds immense importance to him. Even Prakram is not able to see her like this, so he immediately goes inside to pick her up in his arms.
"Aashi…"
"Go away from here... Everyone go."
Upon seeing Prakram, Aashi begins to move backward, causing her to abruptly collide with the lamp on the table, which initially shakes vigorously before toppling over. It was a lamp made on a ceramic pot that broke as soon as it fell. Avishka immediately approaches Aashi and picks her up in her arms after noticing that she is wearing no shoes. She is not even concerned about the fact that pieces of a broken pot have suddenly pricked her feet.
"Ahhh Aashi… Are you okay? .... Ouch...”
However, Aashi started crying badly while listening to her painful voice. Prakram also immediately moved towards them, but Avishka was towards the front, due to which she immediately took Aashi in her arms and lifted her in her lapel, due to which some pieces got pierced in her legs. On witnessing this, Prakram, without thinking anything, immediately picked up Avishka along with Aashi so that he could immediately move her from those pieces as he was wearing slippers on his feet.
"Sir…."
All this happened so suddenly that no one got a chance to think about or understand anything. As soon as Prakram moves her away from those pieces, he immediately makes Avishka sit on Aashi's bed and sit near her feet to check her condition, where many small pieces are pricked. Aashi releases herself from her arms, approaches her feet, and begins examining them, as they are causing her significant pain.
"Mumma…"
Both Prakram and Avishka suddenly look at each other because Aashi is crying in distress and calling her mother, which is very emotional. Both of them keep looking at each other for a few moments but are unable to say anything.
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Sandhya Padma is standing there, and the doctor has removed all the pieces from her legs. Prakram is standing, holding Aashi to his chest. His eyes are on Avishka; her face is half covered, and he can see her lips clearly. Her lips are firmly pressed between her teeth, giving him a clear indication of the level of pain she is experiencing. Aashi, on the other hand, is crying uncontrollably in response to all this. After tying a bandage on her legs, the doctor informs her.
"It is good that the pieces did not go deep inside and just pricked the outer skin. There is no need to worry; you will be back to your routine work in a maximum of 2 days."
As soon as Aashi hears this, she smiles and immediately spreads her arms towards Avishka and looks at her.
"Mumma…"
Sandhya suddenly turns and looks towards Aashi, due to which the Prakram starts looking at her, but Aashi comes out of his arms and goes to her bed, where Avishka was sitting, and goes and sits on her lap very lovingly and hugs her. She tells her.
"Sorry, I am sorry, mumma."
After hearing all this, Padma becomes very upset and looks towards Avishka, who is continuously gesturing to Aashi not to say anything. Up until now, these matters were solely between Prakram and Avishka, but now Sandhya is also listening to everything. When Prakram turns to go out, he sees Digvijay in front of him, who is constantly looking at him with his hand in his pocket. Without saying anything to him, he immediately goes towards his room.
Digvijay stares at Prakram as he leaves, prompting Sandhya to immediately move towards his room. Prakram opens his laptop and sits down because he is stressed out.
"Prakram, what is all about?”
"Why are you asking me this? You are the ones who repeatedly talk about bringing Aashi's new mother in front of her.”
"But this does not at all imply that she should consider her nanny to be her mother."
Hearing Digvijay's voice, Prakram keeps busy with his work without saying anything. Digvijay, seeing Prakram coming inside, tells him.
"Dinesh Mittal and his entire family have died as a result of burning in a fire. The news is two days old, but I thought it was crucial to tell you."
Prakram is busy with his work without saying anything at all, and Sandhya is not able to understand anything much after hearing all this because something else was being discussed here, and suddenly Digvijay has started saying something else here.
"I know very well that you have done all this because the people with whom you have done all this are also loyal to me; they told me everything."
Prakram, who wanted to do his work quietly, immediately stood up, put his hands in his pockets, and stood in front of his father exactly as he did. He gazed into his father's eyes and spoke.
"I was short on time because, after that accident, I wanted to finish my work as soon as possible and come to my daughter because I could lose her because of that stupid girl... Otherwise, you have no idea what I would have done to that girl and her family, because you know very well what I do to someone when he tries to harm my loved ones. At that moment, I couldn't help but think of Aashi. So I had to come to her immediately. You are relieved that those people died very peacefully."
"What are you two, father and son, talking about? Can anyone tell me something?”
Digvijay and Prakram often start arguing like this, which is very frustrating for Sandhya because she cannot see both of them like this at all, but every time something happens, it makes them angry at each other. They tend to turn against each other and engage in such arguments. Prakram says this to his mother while looking at her.
"I have made it clear to my father that I have no interest in getting married or dating any of the girls he chooses, but he is not giving up his habits. He has selected Dinesh Mittal's girl for marriage and instructed her to persuade me to marry her. However, that foolish girl persuaded Aashi to jump into the swimming pool, implying that the girl who comes first to save her must have a deep love for her, be willing to die for her, and thus become her mother. Because any mother loves her children very much, she can do anything for them."
It doesn't take much time for Sandhya to understand why Aashi is calling Avishka mumma again and again. Sandhya also gets very angry about how a girl can mislead a little girl like this, but Digvijay tells Prakram.
"I didn't know that all this could happen; I just thought that Dinesh Mittal was going to be very helpful in our upcoming project, and I have to get you married at any cost because I want to take my dynasty forward."
Hearing his words, Prakram looks back at him with a slight smile and tells him.
"I have agreed to your words every time; even you cannot deny this, but this time I am not going to agree at all; this is confirmed. As far as marriage is concerned, I have no interest in getting married, and if I want to get married, if it happens, then remember that I want a mother for my daughter and not a wife for myself."
“So, aren't you thinking of marrying that low maid?"
Prakram has just looked at his father, who has already understood from his glance that he does not want to get married at all, and here he is troubling him a lot by repeatedly raising this topic, causing Digvijay to immediately walk out of the room. Sandhya knows that Digvijay is angry at this time, so she immediately goes after him. Prakram stands there, thinking for some time, and then again goes towards Aashi's room and stands near the window. Aashi is probably crying and has fallen asleep in Avishka's arms; she is sitting silently with her head resting on the headboard. He can only see her lips, and upon catching her glance, he immediately turns his gaze towards his daughter, who appears to be very relaxed in her embrace.