A secret treasure of the past

28.Arihan

Shriya couldn't process Avni's words She twitched her eyebrows and said " I hope this is not some kind of joke of yours Avni".

"The choice of belief remains yours Shriya" Avni spoke and began to walk away when Shriya caught her hand and questioned "Avni! How can that be possible?"

"Shriya! I guess you are a wise person. I am not lying regarding your son. All I want is Raghav. Oflate I have realised that I have fallen for him madly. If you can promise me that you will leave and never come back I will reveal the details of your son" Avni spoke with tears in her eyes.

Shriya found every inch of her body experiencing anxiety and tension. She held Avni's hands and spoke "Avni! My trust system has been broken beyond repair. Yet I am gathering tiny particles of it to believe you. If this is some kind of joke to hurt me please tell me now. I can't bear with shattered hope especially regarding my son. I have dealt with it enough".

"You think I am a heartless person Shriya? I know what it feels like when children are separated from their mother. I have had a very bad childhood. I want to come out of this erratic life. I want to belong somewhere. Even my trust system has been broken and the only ray of hope I can hold on to is Raghav. Please leave him. You can live happily with your son" spoke Avni.

Shriya felt a knot in her stomach as she couldn't contain anymore anxiety. She gathered all her strength and spoke "Avni! Where's my son?"

"You will have to promise me that you will leave Raghav and never come back" Avni spoke.

Shriya who had gone through though phases after she believed that her son was dead has developed a sort of detachment from life due to depression. The last thing she would expect from herself is being outrageous. The words that came out from her mouth were something she never expected.

"If you think you can use my son as a bait for your personal benefits. Let me remind you that his mother is not dead. My son is my strength and not my weakness. Your wishes and demands will not be fulfilled at the cost of my son's barter. Do you think his value is that low?" Shriya almost roared with blood red eyes.

Avni felt fear through her veins looking at Shriya's reaction. She expected that she could easily convince Shriya and marry Raghav. She instantly looked down not knowing how to react.

"Miss Avni! You can keep your Raghav. For you information I will never interfere in his life anyway. So congratulations! Also, you need not reveal the details of my son. His mother is capable of finding him. So thank you for the information. Let me remind you this is the last time you are thinking of using my son" spoke Shriya and left.

Avni became nervous thinking about the fact that she might reveal it to Raghav. She didn't want Raghav to know that Arihan is his son.

Avni dialed Aadhik quickly and spoke " Aady! I need to speak to you. Please listen to me and don't judge me" and before she could complete the phone beeped.

So she quickly typed a message "Aadhik! I really love Raghav. I have developed feelings for him. I cannot imagine anyone else as my husband. Whatever I felt for Lucky was mere infatuation. Raghav is the perfect man with ideals and loving nature. I need him and I love him. Ever since he rejected me life has been hell. All I could think of is him. I became very vulnerable and called our mom and told her that I might break down if I don't get to marry him. She revealed to me that I should back off as he already has a son and can you believe it is Arihan. Govardhan mama has been waiting for Raghav to attain legal age to reveal the truth and dissolve the adoption papers. But! I want Raghav Addy! I can't let him know this new found truth. Else I will loose him forever. Please help me Aady!!" without glancing she pressed the send button.

Little did she know that she has sent this message to the Serah and Aadhik's wedding preparation group that included Shriya, Raghav, Lucky, Sharini and few other friends of Serah and Aadhik.

Avni switched on the lock screen of her phone to look if the message got delivered when she realised her mistake. Her eyes went wide and immediately deleted the message.

Meanwhile Raghav's phone buzzed with a notification while he was speaking to one of his clients seated in his chamber. He checked that it was a group message in the notifications and did not bother to open it.

Shriya on the other hand locked herself in the washroom and splashed some water on her face. She looked at her reflection and said "Mamma will find you duggu". She felt an unknown wave of confidence ebb through her heart. She smiled from eye to eye and then began laughing with joy.



Shriya closed her mouth to contain her excitement as there were other women in the washroom who gave her suspicious looks. Shriya walked out and reached her cubicle quite enthusiastically.

Euginie who was a colleague of Shriya came up and spoke in her Welsh dominated lingo "Raghav sir has been looking for you for a while. You need to document few new clauses".

Shriya sat on her chair motionless as she was struck between trying to contain her happiness and finding means to get to her son. The word Raghav brought her back to senses.

Her mind was flooded with a thousand questions. "What it he knows about our son. Did Avni speak to him. No! I am sure she might have not told him. But what if she says now after my reaction. Raghav has more contacts and power to find our son. Will he take my son away? But how did Avni find out? If Avni can find out, it's not a rocket science for Raghav" beads of sweat formed on her face when she saw someone's palm moving before her eyes. She looked up at Raghav and immediately got up.

Raghav was confused by her behaviour. He had been calling her name for about five minutes but she was lost. She stood up and lost her balance when he caught her in his arms and didn't let her slip.

Shriya's mind seemed to blank out. Her inner voice kept roaring that Raghav should not know about her son. In the process her knees went weak and she lost her balance and fell in his strong arms. The moment she looked into his eyes she felt a sense of guilt prevail through her. It was not her son but their son. She melted in his warm embrace and drops of tears trailed down her eyes.

Raghav who was looking at her tears gently made her stand and wiped them with his handkerchief. Shriya seemed to shiver and he made her sit on her chair and knelt down before her. In his concerned yet soft voice he questioned "What's bothering you Sweety?"

She hugged him and did not speak a word. He couldn't understand but he understood that something huge has happened. He was still kneeling on the floor as she hugged him and finally spoke "Feetu! I don't think I am fine. Can you drive me home?"

Raghav realised that something has gone terribly wrong by her gesture. Before he could respond, she left his embrace next instant and placed a had on her mouth standing up and said "I am sorry sir! Please don't take my words seriously" and ran towards washroom.

Shriya's phone buzzed with a message and she opened the group to see a deleted message by Avni. She walked erratically across the washroom to understand what it could be.

She got another message from Sharini which she choose to ignore at the moment but again opened to see the screenshot of message posted by Avni in the group.

Shriya lost her balance and held the washbasin counter to stand on her feet.

"Arihan" were her teary words.

**************

Heya guys!

So here you go with this long chapter.

So Arihan is offically Shriya Shetty and Raghav Reddy's son.

I know most of you guessed it. So it's not a huge surprise.

So what do you think will happen now?

Do drop in your thoughts about this chapter