Flip - side

"Ish!" Manya whispered, almost to herself, as if confirming that she had indeed heard his name. 

She then asked aloud, a frown of confusion marring her face. "You are getting married to Ishaan…? How... how have I been unaware of this fact?! And wait- you mentioned that you are going to be a mom! Are you pregnant, how long have you guys been in a relationship? I doubt if you even know the true side of things...he actually-"

"According to you, he is an imposter, isn't he? But look at things carefully for once, and tell me, aren't you the one to be blamed? The first time you opened your eyes after almost drowning in the pool, you referred to him as your best friend. What he was supposed to do at that point, just straight up tell you that he is not the one you are in search of? He just wanted to protect you all along, and this is how you are paying him back for his kindness- by breaking him from within, as if he is nothing to you? Of course, why would he be something for you, he is just a filler in your life for the time you were separated from your best friend! You claimed him to be your best friend,and as soon as you found your way back to Arjun, you just kicked him out of your life?! Wow, isn't this really great of you? But let me tell you that he still doesn't want to hurt you, as he will be returning to Italy just the day after the launch. And relax, you can't prove him to be the bad person in this situation either, as I am not pregnant. So don't waste your breath on this matter; he is going to adopt a girl child, and this is why he needs to get married. He wanted to adopt that girl so that he can give her the company she deserves, and according to the adoption laws in India, a single male cannot adopt a female child. As the matter stands, we are getting married. He wanted me to invite you, regardless of the fact that you hate him. But have you considered that you are the only friend he had hoped to stay with till the end of his days, who is not with him when he needs her the most?! My words may sound painful to you, and I am sorry if I have hurt you, but trust me, we both want you to be in our wedding, and neither of us have too many friends. So according to me, I think it is necessary for you to see  the true side of things as well. We don't want to lose you due to a silly confusion, as Ishaan had only the best of intentions at heart, and was trying to protect you."

Manya was sitting there, her face frozen as she was trying to decide whether to fight back, or dodge, or to come up with some other way to handle the shock she had been subjected to.

Vendy was aware that she was projecting all of the frustration born from her inner turmoil on Manya, despite her being the innocent one. Nevertheless, her self-awareness didn't change the fact that  she was bound to say each and every word she had just blurted out of her mouth, as per the script handed to her. It was not like had much of a choice about it anyway, she mused to herself, trying to tame the chaos in her mind by providing this as a justification of sorts. 

She looked intently at Manya, who was still not saying anything, and initiated the conversation once again.

"I am sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you. But, somehow I have ended up doing that very same thing, haven't I?" She shook her head, dismissing the look of remorse from her face and then spoke with a lighter tone, effectively changing the subject. "Anyway, we should discuss the models. I stand by what I said, I genuinely do think that you will be the best model for the showstopper dress- don't you think so?"

Manya finally managed to look Vendy in the face after she had asked her about the show. Her brain seemed to have stopped functioning, she couldn't process anything, at least not for a few minutes.

*Yes, Vendy was right. She was the one who had forgotten her memory,the one who didn't remember anything and forced the role of her best friend on Ishaan. She was the culprit, and had presented herself as the victim! She couldn't think about the model, the show, her job…anything right now. She needed to clear her thoughts.*

She stood up from her seat in one abrupt motion, but a forgotten piece of memory flashed in front of her eyes again.

*"You...how dare you think that you can do whatever you want, and I will let you?" Swara's voice rang in Manya's ears as she saw her Massi pushing the person to a side.

The person Swara had shoved aside spoke in a placating tone, "Baby, you are getting it wrong. It was not me, I haven't done anything wrong! It was you who asked me to get those, have you forgotten?"

"No, I didn't ask you to get anything done illegally. Don't you dare put forward your misdeeds as my demands or commands. You know what? Here, here are the papers! Just sign it...I don't want any scandal to happen, so just sign it and leave. Understood?!"

"Oh Swara, darling, don't you think you are being too harsh on me?"

"No, I am serious! Just leave, or else...Security, security! Drag this man out of the house!"

The two guards who had approached, lifted the person by his arms and dragged him out of the room, while he was still trying to convince everyone present there of his innocence. "Dad- mom, don't you believe me? Oh Minnie, you believe your uncle, don't you? Just tell your massi to listen to me, only one chance-"

"Don't try to use Minnie as a ladder, or it will not be good for you! I am warning you of this," Swara had roared, pulling Manya behind her.* 

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"Manya, what happened? Are you alright?!" 

Vendy asked with concern as Manya had gotten up without saying a word, and then stood there for a few minutes, holding her head with her hands. She also stood up from her place and helped her sit down again. She offered her some water, asking, "Are you really okay?" 

"Yeah yeah, I am okay. I don't know how, after all this time, I am now getting flashbacks of my distorted memories. But trust me, I haven't had a single glimpse of them back in Milan. And even if I did, they were always there in the form of nightmares during the initial years, and they also stopped within some months. If I remember correctly, I stopped getting them around the time I started hanging out with you all. But anyway, you were right- I should have realised that I am the guilty party, not the victim. After all, I am the one who put everyone around me in that weird position. But I am sorry, I really can't attend your wedding, now that you have pointed everything out to me so clearly. I am the one to blame in the entire situation, and I don't think I will be able to face Ishaan. Please understand, I really can't." She completed her sentence, trying to smile but failing miserably.

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Arjun was looking at the postmortem reports, and within seconds, doubts had started to arise in his mind. 

*How could the reason for all four deaths be listed as haemorrhaging? Messo had been admitted in the hospital for a few weeks before her death, while the other three had been declared dead on the same day. According to the doctors attending to Messo, her death had been caused due to complications resulting from blood pressure; was it possible that the reports had been tampered with?

He was suddenly reminded of Maenu's description, that she had seen some bruises on Messo's body- so suffocation couldn't be ruled out completely, either. This situation was getting more complicated with each clue he managed to get his hands on. There must be someone involved in this accident, who was still alive, even if Sia's dad also died in the accident. But who could it be, and how was he supposed to uncover the identity of this person?

He was running through the list of people he had heard of in the entire last week, when the name of Advocate Roy popped up. That old man must have many secrets that needed to be revealed. They never did get a chance to have that friendly lunch, such a pity.*

He pulled out his phone to make a call,  and within minutes, he was standing in front of his car, with the address of advocate Roy on his phone.

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