Lies bring them closer – Ishqbaaz ff Chapter 15(b)

Om POV
She sat down on the floor in lotus pose and pulled me also down.
“Long Hair………you know I never slept with your brother. My friend did. Not just any friend. You know the Malhotra’s daughter, Ria.”
I stared at her blankly. “Who?”
She scowled. “Long Hair, you are also like your brothers. That Malhotra…..the business man, Veer Malhotra’s daughter.” She slurred.
I gasped. “The Veer Malhotra. The hotel chain Malhotra. The one whose entire family was killed in the car crash.”
She nodded. “Yes, the very same. I was her father’s escort.”
She paused and I held my breathe for her to continue. “You know money makes people very strange. Some people ditch their wives to get money like my father and others who have money, ditch their wives to flaunt their money by hiring barbie dolls to hang around them like that Veer. And then they pay the press to shut the noise.” A tear rolled down her cheek.
I thought back to dad and that Swetlana and realised how true Aarya’s statement was. I mean he had money and a sweet wife yet he roamed around with her.
“Aarya…” I shook her slightly.
“Oh haan…..Long Hair……she got pregnant. So then Veer offered me money to just carry the child. Money meant I could keep Anika away from the world I was stuck in for longer time.”
Anika said she had to convince her sister to keep Shivani and not abort her.

“But Anika…”
She shook her head sadly. “Anika only knows the story after I was carrying the child. When I tried to abort her after the Malhotras died. She told me that the child was a gift to me and all those sort of stuff. Then she became my key.”
But she had told Rudra that she had slept with him.
“But Rudra said that you claimed that you had slept with him.”
She laughed. “Your little brother has no idea, who he sleeps with. It was not too hard to convince him. And I had to. I needed the money.”
I grimaced. It was true. Rudra kept sleeping with different girls. Shivaay and I had repeatedly warned him. But he…..he would never listen.
But Om, it is because of her that he is right now in coma. I felt my anger rise.
“How dare you destroy my brother’s life?” I grabbed her arms in mine.
She pushed me away and got up. Her eyes ablaze.“What do you mean, I destroyed his life? I should have killed him for what happened to me.”
I got up and grabbed her. “HOW DARE YOU?”
She started sobbing. “Because of your brother’s stupidity I was forced to carry a child. I had refused. I even left the house or so I thought. After a month, when I thought I was down with a flu and went to the doctor did I know that I was carrying a child. Then when I wanted to abort the child, Anika begged me not to.”
I was shocked. I felt like the earth had stopped rotating. She kept crying until she finally passed out.

Author’s note: So now you know pretty much why Aarya is not Shivani’s real mom and why she has no emotion linked to the child.
Also that no one can take Shivani from the Oberois as the Malhotras have passed away.
Also those who were getting mitchmitchi regarding Om falling in love with the woman Rudra slept with can have an ease of mind. Aarya never slept with him. She was just a surrogate for his child. But don’t worry the sassy and snide Aarya is going to return after the alcohol wears off. This is the person that hides behind her wall. She also tends to get really child-like at times. She is the after-effect of horrible times in the foster system.
But if still all of you are against it you can let me know. Also remember that unless they are married, any love track can be rearranged. I will do it based on the flow of the story.
I will update the next chapter based on your response.
Also even I can’t digest a person with Anika’s face with Om, so while I am deciding how to fix that Om and Aarya will be on hold. I mean when I am typing her and Om’s lines, they seem like characters that are two puzzle pieces that belong with each other. But………Anyone has suggestions.