naina picked up the call from rohit immediately knowing it must’ve been something important if he called that late at night.
naina: hello, roh. is everything okay?
rohit: naina, your dad.
naina: what? what happened?
rohit: he woke up. he’s awake, alive, and finally out of his coma.
naina couldn’t believe it. after seven long years, her dad was awake. he was okay.
rohit: naina, are you there?
naina: yeah, i am.
rohit: will you be able to come tomorrow?
naina: tomorrow? roh, my dad’s awake, he’s alive, he’s okay! i’m not waiting until tomorrow, i’m leaving now, i’ll be there soon.
rohit: okay, he’ll be very happy to know you’re coming now. i’ll see you.
naina kept the phone and ran towards meghna, she didn’t realise that now her secret would come out and she would have to explain everything to the chauhans who were all standing out there in the hall.
naina: di, my dad is alive! he’s out of his coma and he’s awake. he’ll finally talk back to me when i say something. after seven long years, i’ve got my father back.
the chauhan family was confused and speechless, they just didn’t know how to react because frankly, they didn’t know or understand what was happening.
dadaji: what’s happening? i thought your father passed away, meghna?
meghna: he did, dadaji.
dadaji: i don’t understand.
naina: i’m really sorry for lying to all of you. i had no choice, i had to lie. in fact, i didn’t just lie to you but to many people around me because of a promise i had made. i promised myself seven years ago that i wouldn’t go back to my real identity, that i would be naina solanki until the day my dad got up from his coma and today’s that day. i don’t have to hide my identity anymore because he woke up.
sandhya: what is this new drama, naina?
naina: masi ma, i’m sorry if you think this some new drama but it isn’t, it’s my life’s biggest truth. in fact, it’s my life’s only truth. i’m not naina solanki. i’m not sharda ma’s real daughter, nor am i meghna di’s real sister.
nk: so who are you? are you someone they picked off the road?
naina: something like that.
nirmala: what do you mean, naina?
naina: ma, i was born and brought up in jakarta, indonesia. i stayed with my mom and my dad stayed in bali because of his business. my mom was not well, she was mentally ill and would abuse me mentally, physically, and emotionally when dad wasn’t around. after a few years, my dad took me away from her and i stayed with him in bali. mom would come once in awhile but that was it. then one day, we shifted to india. well, we didn’t exactly shift. we had our money here and a few houses so we stayed here a few months and in bali the rest of the year. my bua and cousin, who was basically my mother and sister were the only family we had and trusted and they would often come along with us to india for business. one day, we took a trip here and they weren’t able to come with us. instead, mom came. mom found out that if dad passed away, she would get all his money because i was a minor at the time. so she did what none of us thought she was capable of, she poisoned him and tried to kill him. mom ran from the scene quickly and i called the ambulance. they saved him but because i wasn’t faster, he fell into a coma. at the hospital, i called the only person i knew who could help, rohit. rohit was from jakarta as well, we knew each other and i found out that he was in india at the time. rohit helped me with everything. he and vishal bhai knew each other and so when sharda ma heard what had happened, she adopted me and took care of me. sharda ma and meghna di took me in when i needed them the most and that’s why i agreed to get married to karan. i owed it to them.
meghna: naina, you owe us nothing. you’re family.
naina: (smiling at meghna) i know. anyways, mom got all the money we had and they all thought dad and i passed away. we had to make it look that way so she wouldn’t try and hurt him again. dad was kept in safe places here but the conditions weren’t too good as money started running low and we had doctor bills as well to take care of. a year went by, ma and di took care of me while rohit took care of my dad. after that year, i realised what had happened. it all sunk in. my dad’s condition was getting worse because we had no money. we were running low on places to hide him that were in good conditions and if he was even lucky enough to be alive despite all of the horrible conditions, we would have nowhere to go and we would literally be on the streets. so with ma and rohit’s help, we created a business empire, one that could pay the bills and get a proper place for dad to recover.
sandhya: naina, i don’t think you understand what a business empire is because if you did, we would know you but we don’t. i’ve never heard of a naina solanki before.
naina: masi ma, i’m not naina solanki. i’m naina malhotra, the one and only daughter of vinod malthotra who was unconscious and in a coma until an hour ago.
kunal: you’re even bigger than the chauhans, naina.
dadaji: yes, she is – the malhotra’s are much bigger than the chauhans.
naina: but dadaji, none of this means anything. i did all of this because i needed my father to be safe, i needed to give him the comfort he deserves, and most importantly, i needed him to stay alive. name, money, none of this really gives you happiness. yes, i’ve been living with the most amazing people the last seven years but i haven’t been able to meet my sister or my bua, they still think we’re dead. i haven’t even been able to go back home in seven years.
kunal: bali’s where we were supposed to go for our honeymoon. wait, that’s why meghna told me we couldn’t go there, because you couldn’t go back home?
naina: yes, and that’s why i didn’t give you my passport for the visa’s because you’d find out everything. that, and, i already had a visa.
nirmala: naina, you’ve been through so much the last seven years.
kunal: that’s why you said the last seven years has been hell for you.
naina: yeah, it’s been hell. but, i couldn’t have gone through a minute of it if it wasn’t for ma or di. i nearly gave up that first year. i’d lost everything. i had to create a new identity, live in a new place, i couldn’t even meet dad as often and i’d go months without meeting him at times. thank god for rohit, though. he took care of dad through all of this and has been such a help with the business whenever i couldn’t be there, especially since the marriage.
naina folded her hands, apologising to the entire family.
naina: i’m really sorry i lied. i had to do it for my father’s safety. i can’t let anything happen to him again, i won’t be able to take it.
dadaji: you did lie but you had your reasons. i understand why you lied and now that he’s out of the coma i’m sure everything will go back to normal. my respect for you and meghna is even more now because despite the money you had, you didn’t use it to your advantage. i’m very proud of you naina, building a business empire at such a young age is not easy. go naina bahu, your dad is waiting for you.
naina thanked dadaji and took blessings from him and everyone in the family. just as she headed out the door, nirmala stopped her.
nirmala: wait, naina. karan will go with you, it’s not right to go out alone at this time of the night.
dadaji: yes, nirmala bahu is right. karan, please go, naina needs you.
karan agreed and as they entered the car, naina decided the driver wasn’t going to be needed today.
naina: it’s okay kaka, i’ll drive.
karan: naina, i don’t want to die today.
naina: i don’t want to die today either. don’t worry, i’m a good driver.
they entered the car and rohit called. naina put him on speaker.
rohit: are you coming?
naina: we’re on our way, we should be there soon.
rohit: who’s we?
naina: oh uh, karan and i. i’m driving, by the way, and you’re on speaker. anyways, how’s dad?
rohit: health wise he’s doing good but otherwise, he’s very confused. he doesn’t know what i’m doing here, although, he does remember me so i think that’s a good thing. he asked me whose house we’re in and when i told him it was his, he didn’t believe me. he’s asking about you, he wants to meet you.
naina: what else did you tell him?
rohit: i didn’t tell him you got married. do you want to tell him?
naina: well i can’t hide it, can i? it’s not a small thing either, you know. it’s a big thing. he needs to know, he should know. look, i’m not hiding anything from him. i’m telling him everything and then we’ll see what happens from there.
rohit: what do you mean you’ll see what happens from there?
naina: i might not go back.
rohit: what?
naina: roh look, i don’t know. i haven’t thought about what i’m going to do and i can’t decide until i talk to dad. i need to talk to dad about all of this and then i’ll decide.
rohit: okay, we’ll talk when you come. drive safe, don’t die.
naina: (teasing) ha ha, very funny.
naina kept the phone and karan looked at her.
karan: you might not go back where?
naina: chauhan house.
karan: what do you mean?
naina: if you’re lucky karan, i won’t come back.
karan didn’t know what to say to that and so changed the topic, asking her something else he wanted to know.
karan: why didn’t you ever tell me you went through so much in the last seven years?
naina: why would i tell you anything that’s happened to me karan? i don’t need your pity and besides, you don’t care. you want me out of your life and in a few hours i could be gone.
naina reached her house, she was there, back home. the gates opened for her and she stopped the car right in front of the front door. naina malhotra was back home.
thank you for reading! i know it took longer than expected but i hadn’t written or planned out the chapter yet. i have the upcoming chapters all planned out so it won’t take long for upcoming updates. a lot of interesting things coming up in the next few chapters, i hope you enjoy!