Anand's story

"Wow, nice name Avantika." Drishti liked the name a lot.

"She's also a nice girl like the name." Mohit smirked.

"She's a spoilt brat." Anand rolled his eyes.

"If she is a spoilt brat, she would have forced you. When you refused her, she agreed instantly." Mohit argued. He observed how she looked at him. Her eyes sparkled while staring at him, as if she went in dream land. She liked him even after thinking him as driver. So of course she was a good girl.

"How could you refuse that easily even after not knowing her?" Raunak gave him a stern look.

"Like how you behaved so bad with Dri." Anand understood what he said. He shouldn't have picked the topic here. Maybe Raunak was his best friend, but Drishti was more closed to his heart. Raunak was wrong back then.

"Bhai, past is past. You all should learn to move on. I did, Raunak did. But you are still living in the past. It's your time to think." Drishti didn't feel hurt. She knew time changes, it heals and with the passage of time, people changes too. In these days she changed a lot, as Raunak did. Everyone makes mistakes, but they learn too.

Raunak was looking at her with surprise. He all the time felt guilty and sad on this topic. But she could always think positively.

"My life is not that easy to move on, Dri. It's not that I never liked any girl in my life. It's just I'm afraid." Anand lowered his head.

"Do you think my life is easy? Bhai, I killed a person. I was in jail for years. I am a psychiatric patient. Look at Raunak, his dad left his mom when she was not stable mentally. His dad became an antic dealer and he fought against him. Do you know about Deep bhai? He once created an accident in which a girl was victim. Do you know that girl lost her fertility because of that? And maybe she can never be a mom. Do you know who the girl is? That's mitali di. Everyone has backstory bhai, but they moved on. Only you left." Drishti sighed deeply.

Mohit was patting her shoulder to comfort. Raunak looked at him with wide open eyes. Wasn't it should be Raunak to comfort her?

Anand didn't know about Deep. He never thought like that. He was looking at her with surprise as Raunak did before.

"Now will you tell me your story?" Drishti looked into his eyes.

"My mom, Gora. She was a bangali. She loved Amal Mehta. They were friends from University. They studied together, dated and got married. Everything was going right. I was born, Avinash and Asha too, they are twins. When they were just three, suddenly from no where Amal Mehta's ex girlfriend came. My mom knew her before. She informed that my mom played dirty with him. She betrayed and made her diverted from Mr. Mehta."

A smile of arrogance crept up his lips, "She placed some proofs saying my mom was in illegitimate relationship with another person and I was his son. That man believed. He questioned my mom's chastity and purity. He questioned my identity. He told me a bastard."

Drishti didn't knew that was his story, not even Raunak too. Raunak knew what happened to his mom but his dad told him a bastard, was really not a good thing.

"Mom cried, pleaded to believe her. He slapped my mom in front if his ex girlfriend. It was a stormy night. Amal Mehta threw me and mom out of house like that in one cloth. He didn't even let her take her shoes." Anand was crying, really bad. Tears were rolling down from his eyes uncontrollably.

"Mom never could believe he could do that to us. About the person mom talking about was actually mom's classmate who was a doctor. Mom was suffering from cancer, primary stage. She could be cured if she had money. She had until she left him. He sent divorce papers to mom and she gladly signed. She never wanted me to hear the word bastard again and again. "

Everyone was looking at him without blinking. He really had reasons not to believe in relationships. But of course, people need to change.

"You know, mom never told him she had cancer neither she protested about my birth identity. She didn't even meet him after the divorce. The doctor friend didn't know what happened between my mom and Mr. Mehta. He helped as long as he could. But mom took Mr. Mehta's hair when they met last time. She went for a DNA test of me. And unfortunately Amal Mehta was my father. Maybe I would have been more happy if it was a lie." Anand sighed. He looked at Raunak then.

"Mom never showed this proofs to him but she showed me. She never wanted me to feel low or disrespected. She just told me one thing, that man was not worthy of hearing dad from me. She missed Asha and Avinash a lot. But she fell really sick after returning to Kolkata. She never got a chance back to see them."

"Doctor uncle helped me to study until I started to income. In school I met Rajiv bhai as senior. Then Rathindra Sen was good to them. So Rajiv bhai brought money for me, for my study and shelter. Then I met Raunak in college. We become best friends gradually. He knew my mom died and she was divorced. He knew I had two siblings and I was born in Bangalore. But I did tell him everything I said today. I only knew that, only me....not even doctor uncle." He wiped his tears.

"Bhai, I never heard about your doctor uncle." Drishti suddenly said. she was curious who that man was.

Anand smiled at her words, "Do you know how I knew Maya was Mohit's sister? Her name was written as Ms. Maya ganguli. I was sure she was not Ganguli's daughter. Because my doctor uncle had only one son, Kaushik Ganguli who was Maya's husband. And you all maybe know my doctor uncle, Kartik Ganguli, the famous doctor." He then turned to Mohit, "Your sister's father in law was like a father to me. Sometimes I thought why I needed to be Amal Mehta's son. He accused me of being Kartik Ganguli's son, right? It was better actually." He cried out loud. all the time silent tears rolling down but now it was sobs and whimper. He cried with all of his heart. Long time he didn't cry, he was numb. The mountain in his heart suddenly got a jerk today. it broke, crashed and he left all the loads.

"Anand." Raunak called softly and took in a tight hug. Anand was crying more loudly in his comfort and no one forbade to. They knew he needed to cry.

"Dri..." Mohit guestered him with his eyes and whispered softly, "Amal Mehta transferred property shares in his name. He already refused and asked di to transfer in Asha and Avinash's name."

"What!!? Guts of that man. After saying him bastard, he dared to offer property!?" Drishti was furicious now. But she didn't say it loud looking at those best friends hugging.

"Exactly that's what I'm saying. He already knew Anand bhai is his son." Mohit pointed at the situation.

"Shit!!" She was shocked. Some stories are yet to be revealed.

"By the way, do you know who is this Amal Mehta?" Mohit asked. Drishti shook her head in no.

"Owner of MI Industries. " He informed.

Drishti was really speechless. Anand really suffered from the hard side of poverty. And his father was actually a damn billionaire! His mom could get the best treatment if he wanted. He could live a nice life, actually a rich life. But once he was hungry for days.

"Come to our house today." Drishti said with a smile.

"Why? Do you think I won't be able to sleep today?" Anand smiled back.

"No. Just I need to show what I got from last adventure." She grinned like a child. Anand was so excited that he even forgot about those sad things. Now Raunak knew why she brought those manuscript back from her office just for two days. She knew how to make Anand smile.

But their smile couldn't last long. There was a call from unknown number. But as his phone was connected to true caller ID, he knew it was Amal Mehta.

"Put it on speaker." Raunak guestered.

"Anand, why are you sending those shares back?" The cracked voice asked.

"Because a bastard doesn't deserve anything belongs to you." Anand said with a smile.

"I'm sorry for that. You are my son, beta. My son." The voice sounded depressed.

"My biggest regret of life. But unfortunately, I can't afford to erase that." Anand's tone was calm.

"Don't say like that, son." He pleaded.

"It's better to be a bastard than being your son." Anand smirked.