Chapter 41

Daksha's POV:

Daksha started narrating her past while remembering all those happy moments with a teary smile on her face and Arjun just sat beside her silently.

"Before telling you about my past, you have to know about an important person in my life. Back then, my family was not like this. We were so happy and we didn't even know how it felt to be sad. At that time, I met her here, in this same orphanage, as it was her home. Her name was Tejaswi. My Teju.

"From that day onwards, she became my friend and later she became my elder sister. Eventually, I introduced her to my family. As she didn't have anyone to call as her own, she used to consider my parents as her own and even my parents started to treat her as their own daughter.

"As for my silly brother, he fell for her at first sight itself. When I got to know about his feelings, I convinced him to propose to her and he did the same but who was she! She was my teju. So, she didn't accept his proposal right away,” she said while laughing lightly but if one would look closely, they could see the pain in her eyes.

"I got fed up with her behavior and asked her the reason. She said that she wouldn't match my family's status and she never had any thoughts of getting married in her life. So, after a lot of persuasion from my parents and me, she finally gave in to our requests. Their wedding day was the happiest day of our lives.

"I thought, every day would be like that only but how wrong I was," she said while rubbing the tears formed at the corner of her eyes and Arjun just side hugged to console her.

"Ever heard about the fashion brand 'Felicità'?" She asked and Arjun nodded at her slowly.

At that time, this fashion brand created a huge sensation in the fashion world. Many celebrities used to rush to book their appointments but nobody knew the real creator and mastermind behind that brand. Everyone was surprised when that brand discontinued its operations and disappeared so suddenly.

"Teju was the creator of that brand. She was a fashion designer and wanted to make everyone happy with her designs. So, after her marriage, she started that brand on her own without the support of my family as she didn't want anyone to condemn her to be a gold digger that got married into my family for the money. It was one of the reasons why she didn't disclose her identity.

"As for me, I completed my MS in cardiology and started my career as a doctor under the guidance of my Dad's friend, Lakshman Uncle, who is a senior cardiologist. Even Yuktha too started working in the same hospital. Everything was going well and we were so happy but God must have felt that it was unfair. So, he decided to snatch our smiles,” Daksha said while controlling herself to not break down and Arjun sat there helplessly not knowing what to do.

"One day, I finished my work soon and thought to visit Yuktha in her department. So, I went there and was greeted with the sight of a man arguing with Yuktha and the girl who accompanied him was crying inconsolably while looking at that guy fearfully.

"I immediately intervened in between and that was the biggest mistake of my life. Yuktha explained the situation and I got to know that man was forcing that girl to get an abortion and that girl was unwilling to kill a life. Yuktha too was opposed to his idea which led to an argument and she scolded him badly while threatening to file a case against him.

"So, when he was about to slap Yuktha in anger, I slapped him and called the security to drag him out by asking that girl to stay behind. He left from there after warning us to not interfere in his matters or else the consequences wouldn't be good.

"But we didn't consider his warning seriously. After he left, We asked the girl about her story. She said that the man's name was Rahul, heir of RS enterprises. He was pretty rich and a playboy. His family even had a hand in politics too. His grandfather was ex-home minister of our state and his Uncle is a central minister. Trust me, I thought him to be an ordinary man and never expected him to have a powerful background.

"That girl's name was Swathi. She was working as a maid in his house. When there was no one in the house, Rahul forced himself on her and threatened her to never say a word about it to anyone. Then she became pregnant. So he dragged her to abort the fetus.

"How inhumane. I was so disgusted by his deeds. We both asked Swathi to stop working at his house and even suggested filing a case against him. She said that she already thought of doing that and even informed her family about his deeds. Instead of supporting her, they forced her to stop going against him," Daksha said with a slight disgust on her tone.

"We encouraged her to file a case against him and Indra Anna helped us a lot. Going against him was really difficult as he never left any clue behind him. One day, when this news got published in the news channels, many women came forward bravely, saying that they were the victims of Rahul and his friend's evil deeds and revealed everything in front of the court. That day I came to know that, not only Swathi, but there were many others who were facing the same situation but were afraid to reveal everything. Some feared the society while some feared their own families.

"When we were happy that everything was going in our favor, the court suddenly dismissed that case,saying that we intentionally filed to defame Rahul and the proof that we had produced in the court were all fake. They even asked us to pay the penalty for defamation and the next day we heard the news of Swathi committing suicide. Though, we knew it wasn't a suicide but a murder. Still, we couldn't do anything about it.

"I was so helpless at that time. I was the one who encouraged her to stand up for herself and assured her that nothing would happen but she lost her life while fighting for the truth. Later, I heard that Rahul got kicked out of his family. Though his father used all his means to save him, he disowned him. From then, he kinda held a grudge against us and I used to get a lot of threat messages.

"Adi Anna and Teju used to assure me that nothing would happen. Though it took some time for me to recover from that incident, I resumed my duties as a doctor as usual and my family wanted to introduce me to the public as their heiress for the first time. Even though I was reluctant about it, I agreed with them at last.

"They wanted to introduce me to the public on our company's anniversary. So preparations were done and soon that day came. I thought that Rahul's chapter was a closed one in my life but how naive I was!" She scoffed at herself and explained the details of that fateful night to him.

*Flashback*

On the day of the party:

Daksha's family was all set to head over to the hall where the celebrations were going to happen. The restaurant came under the GV groups, Daksha's family business.

Upon reaching there, Daksha's father started introducing her to all his partners and friends. When she got bored from all the formalities, she excused herself and went to Teju who was sitting on the couch afar while sipping on to a fruit punch with a bored expression on her face. Daksha chuckled at that and sat beside her.

"Instead of sitting here, why don't you mingle with everyone?" She asked Teju, to which Teju shook her head immediately.

"No way. Everyone is a spoiled brat and they always look at me like I came from another planet. So, I am better this way." She said in an exaggerated manner making Daksha chuckle a little.

"That's because they don't know the value of my Teju and moreover, they aren't aware of your true identity. If they knew about it, they would definitely worship the place where you have walked," Daksha said while pinching Teju's cheeks.

"Woah! Stop it, okay? I don't like materialistic people who calculate a person's worth by seeing their bank balances. So, it's better if they never know about my identity," she said with a sigh and Daksha shook her head.

"Okay, I can never understand your logic and philosophies. I am going to the restroom." Saying this Daksha stood up from the couch.

"Wait, let me come with you. I want a breather. It's so suffocating here," Teju said and followed Daksha.

Just then, Teju's mobile pinged with a message, and knowing very well who it might be, Daksha shook her head helplessly.

"Is it from your husband?" Daksha asked her and Teju nodded at her shyly.

"Go to him. See? He is already throwing glares at me for stealing you from him," Daksha said teasingly while pointing at Adi who was already looking at them and Teju blushed even more.

"It's not like that. You go and I'll join you in a while," Teju said and was about to leave from there but Daksha held her hand and looked at her face for a while.

"Girl, why is your face glowing a lot today.? What's the matter.? Did you change your cosmetics or what?" Daksha asked while scrutinizing Teju's face clearly.

"That? It's nothing and you will know the reason soon. Go go." Saying this, Teju left from there hurriedly with a smile on her face. Daksha sighed at her weird behavior.

When she was on her way to the washroom, she was stopped by a waiter in that restaurant.

"Ma’am, there is a problem with the water supply in the washrooms on this floor. Our team is working on it. So ,can you please use the washrooms on the upper floor.?" He asked politely and Daksha nodded at him, not doubting his words.

"Truly sorry for the inconvenience, Ma’am." Saying this, the waiter bowed his head in an apologetic manner and Daksha just mumbled an okay.

Daksha used the stairs instead of the elevator as it was just a floor away. While climbing, she messaged the same to Teju and asked her to come to the upper floor.

But when she went there, it was completely empty and then she remembered that this floor was under renovation. She suddenly thought about something and tried to rush back but her hand was caught by someone, making her scream in fear.

That person started to drag her from there, ignoring her protest.

"Who are you? What do you want? Leave me," she screamed and tried to wriggle out from his hold but she failed miserably.

So, she tried to call her Anna for help with her free hand but her phone was snatched away by that person and he smashed it to the wall.

When he dragged her to a corner room on the far end of that floor, he revealed his face to her and she was pretty shocked to see him there.

"Rahul?" she exclaimed in shock.

"Yeah. Why are you so shocked? Do you think that I will leave you guys this easily? Here you are enjoying your life after spoiling mine. It is not fair. If I go down, I will drag you all along with me." Saying this, he laughed at her maniacally.

"What do you want?" she asked him calmly, even though she was freaking out from within.

"Hahaha..Nothing much," he said and went close to her. After that he caressed her cheek lightly, making her step back in disgust. He chuckled darkly at her. "So feisty. I like it."

"Stop beating around the bush and come to the point," she ordered him angrily.

He laughed at her and held her hand while running his hand on it softly . When Daksha tried to pry her hands away, he held it tightly making her hiss in pain.

"Don't show that attitude to me. I hate it when someone hinders my way. Not only you dared to spoil my reputation but because of you, I got kicked out of my family." He said while holding her face tightly with his hands.

"Since you are the reason for my destruction, it will only be fair if I do the same. Let's see who is going to save you from me," he said dangerously and released her face from his hold.

After that, he took out the folding knife from his pocket and smirked at her.

"What are you going to do?" She stuttered and tried to go out of the room but he was fast to catch her and pinned her to the wall.

"Not so soon darling. You tried to be a knight who was saving the damsel in distress. So what will you do when you become one of them? I already warned you to not interfere in my matters yet you did. So, face the consequences." Saying this, he ran her hand slowly on her cheeks, making her close her eyes in disgust.

When she tried to scream for help, he covered her mouth and threatened her with the knife. Tears started to flow from her eyes at her helplessness. Yet she didn't stop her protest. In that process, her arm accidentally got cut deeply by that knife and she closed her eyes in pain while sobbing to herself.

"See? Now you hurt yourself. So, stop struggling." He said while roaming his filthy hands on her back and grabbed her waist to make her stand still.

He brought his face closer to her but she turned her own face aside and his mouth landed on her neck. Being furious at her resistance, he slapped her hard and due to its impact, she landed on the floor.

While holding her wounded arm, she tried to stand up weakly but before she could do it, he lifted her from the floor by gripping her arm tightly while tearing the sleeve in that process. When she felt his hold, she hissed in pain and started looking around for an escape.

When she thought about something, she took the pin from her hair bun and pierced his arm with it. Being caught off guard by her action, he immediately left his hold on her and held his own arm while hissing in pain.

Taking advantage of the situation, she rushed to open the door of that room and escaped from there with him behind her who was trying to catch her.

When she was about to climb down the steps, he caught her pace and tried to drag her back.

"Leave me. Please let me go." She pleaded him but he didn't pay any heed to her words

"Daksha!" A sudden scream of her name made them stop their actions. Daksha looked at the stairs with her eyes wide open.

"Teju, go away from here. Call for help." Daksha shouted at her but Teju didn't listen to her and marched to them.

After reaching them, she slapped Rahul and tried to pry his hold on Daksha. Rahul just looked at Teju angrily while gritting his teeth.

"Teju, please go from here. I beg you." Daksha pleaded with her but Teju ignored her.

"Bastard! Leave her. How dare you lay your filthy hands on her?" Teju angrily spat at him and Rahul furiously pushed her back purposefully, making her stumble on her feet and as a result, she rolled down from the stairs.

"Teju!"

Seeing this, a gasp escaped from Daksha's mouth, and sensing that situation was not in his favor, Rahul quickly fled away from the scene. Daksha wasn't in her senses to even notice it. She was staring at Teju's body which was rolling down the stairs and landed at the bottom of the staircase.

She snapped out of her reverie and reached Teju with her wobbly legs. Upon reaching her, she flipped her body back. She saw that her forehead was injured heavily and blood was gushing out of it furiously.

"Teju? Wake up?." Daksha asked while patting Teju's face with hope.

"Teju? Please open your eyes." She cried while holding Teju closely to her heart with her eyes closed tightly.

She heard a low groan and opened her eyes to see that Teju was looking at her with a slight smile on her face, though her eyes were reflecting a pain when she placed a hand on her belly.

She brought her other hand forward and tried to wipe Daksha's tears but stopped when she felt her eyes droop down. She was losing consciousness.

"Teju, don't close your eyes. Nothing will happen to you. Please hold on for a while. I will bring Adi Anna, okay?" Saying this, she was about to stand up and go to call her brother.

"Stop. I have something to tell you."

"Okay, okay. You can tell me later. For now, please let me go. I beg you." Daksha stood up hurriedly and thought to climb down the stairs but stopped in her tracks when she heard Teju's words.

"Daksha, I was pregnant." Teju said in a low voice while on the verge of losing her senses.

"What do you mean by 'was'?" Daksha snapped her head back to look at Teju and asked her shakily while glancing at the lower part of Teju's body which was full of blood.

Seeing that, Daksha stumbled back while closing her mouth in shock.

"No, it can't happen. It's just a joke. Your baby is safe. Don't worry. You both will be fine." Daksha assured her with her tears falling down as broken pearls. Mostly she assured herself but she knew the truth was otherwise.

Teju smiled lightly and gestured to her to come near her but Daksha shook her head in denial while crying to herself.

"Please come here," Teju said slowly. Daksha went near her and sat beside her while holding her hand.

"As I have pro-mix-seed, You are the fir-st one to kn-ow about my pre-gna-ncy. Tell Adi that I am so-rry and I coul-dn't keep my pro-mi-use of liv-ing fore-ver with him. Tell him that I love him. Tell Mom and Dad that I am go-ing to miss them. Las-tly, I love you. I will miss you a lot. Tha-nk you for eve-rything. Beca-use of you, I came to kn-ow how it feels to have a fa-mily. I will fo-rever be gra-teful to you. I am sorry that I co-uldn't be the-re for you when you get mar-ried. And one m-ore thing I want to see Adi for on-ce, befo-re leavi-ng this wo-rld." She said with her droopy eyes while Daksha was listening to everything as tears flowed down continuously from her eyes.

"Please stop talking like that. I beg you. Nothing will happen to you," Daksha said in a muffled tone but she knew it was impossible.

"You kn-ow it's imp-oss-ible, right? Do you for-get my bl-ood gro-up?" She questioned her and Daksha shook her head while sobbing.

"Tejuuuu!"

Daksha turned to see that Adi was standing there numbly while looking at Teju without blinking his eyes. Teju smiled at him lightly.

"I am sor-ry." After mumbling it slowly, she closed her eyes while losing her consciousness completely.

He immediately rushed to her and scooped her in her arms. After that, he ran down the stairs hurriedly not caring about anything, with her in his arms.

"Nothing will happen to you, okay? Hold on. You can't just leave me like that." Saying this, he hurriedly started his car after informing his father about the situation and asked him to look after Daksha. After that, he started driving the car like a mad man.

Here Daksha was still sitting in the same position in a daze while ignoring the blood that was seeping from her arm.

After hearing Daksha's condition from Adi, her father immediately rushed to the floor where she was where he was greeted with this sight.

He quickly went to her and nudged her lightly to bring her out of her daze but instead of getting out of her reverie, she slumped forward with her eyes closed tightly. Her father was fast enough to catch her in his arms and held her tightly in a protective manner.

"Princess, what's happening here?" He asked himself while a lone tear escaped his eyes seeing his daughter's condition. He immediately called for help and shifted Daksha to the same hospital as Teju.