Chapter 45: Ch.44/ The Harsh Truth
Anupama's POV:-
When I open the door of the library, I notice that Alessandro is not there making me confuse. So I call out his name and suddenly
one of the long book shelf stats to move. Suddenly the shelf completely open and Alessandro comes out of what seems like a
hidden room. He dial some code by the side of the shelf and the shelf closes imidiately. When he finally stands in front of me I
notice that his eyes are slightly damp so I hug him without asking anything. He wraps his arms around me and put his chin on
top of my head with a sigh.
"You are missing your best friend,right?" I ask after a few minutes.
"Hmmm, he would be so happy to see me become a father for the second time and finally fulfill his wish." He replies while
rocking us side to side.
"What was his wish?" I ask while putting my chin on his chest while giving him a curious look.
"He wanted me to understand the value of family and how nice it feels to love someone wholeheartedly." He answers while
pecking me on the lips.
"He sounds like an incredible person who had a heart of gold. I would have liked to know him in person." I tell him because a
person like his late best friend is someone who is greatly admirable.
"Then let's go and meet him." He says making me confuse because of how I can meet a dead person. He gives me a small smile
and take my hand in his. He dials some code by the side of the same bookshelf from where he came out earlier, the shelf moves
and reveal a room which is something I have not seen before. He gets inside first and motion for me to follow him. Upon arriving
in the room my eyes widen seeing the stuff in the room as it feels like I have seen them somewhere before.
"Whose room is it, Alessandro?" I ask out of curiosity.
"I have made this room for my late best friend but he never got to stay in here. While designing this mansion, I have kept in mind
what he liked so I bought everything to his liking. He was also the one who gave me the idea of attaching a library to my home
office because he was a book lover and liked to read anything he could find. But when I learnt that he was no more I decided to
keep this room as the way he liked to have it in the hope that someday may be he will come and surprise me saying that he is
just playing with me. But he never came back making me realize that he is indeed gone." He confesses with a voice full of
emotion. I feel my eyes moisture just hearing his sad tone but I know that I can not break down crying because I need to be
strong for him. So, I wipe some fallen tears and plaster a smile on my face before hugging him from behind.
"I am sure that wherever he is now, he is extremely proud of you. Because you have become so successful and you are taking
such good care of your family. But I am sure that he would have not wanting you to get sad because he is not here anymore. He
would have wanted you to be happy no matter what. So, please don't be sad because it's hurt me to see you so upset and our
little baby is also not happy seeing his or her Papa so sad." I say while putting his hand on my stomach with an assuring smile.
He closes his eyes with a sigh and open them after a few seconds while giving me a smile in return.
"Come on, I want you both to meet my best friend." He says while pulling me further into the room. I follow him with a bright smile
but soon my smile fades while I halt in my steps seeing the large photo frame on the wall. I feel like throwing up because of the
anxiety I am having after seeing the photo, the same photo I have drawn in my diary. I can feel non-stop tears slipping from my
eyes because I can not hold them anymore.
"Cara, meet my best friend, my brother Romil Basu." Alessandro says while looking at the photo with a big smile.
I try to smile but the heavy emotions that are running through my mind is not letting me concentrate on anything.
"This was the last photo he sent me before he passed away by heart attack. So, I print this photo and put it in here." Alessandro
says while turning to look at me but when he notices my state a frown form on his face. He quickly comes to me before holding
my face in his hands while looking at me worriedly.
"What's wrong, Cara? Are you not feeling well?" He asks with so much worry that only makes me cry harder. I don't want to tell
him anything but I don't want to keep him in dark anymore. So, I will tell him everything and after hearing everything he thinks
that I am not worthy enough to be forgiven then I will accept any punishment he will give me. With that thought in mind, I wipe
the tears with my palm before looking at him with a determined expression.
"Alessandro, do you remember that I wanted to tell you something important before we got to know about the pregnancy?" I ask
him.
"Of course I remember but why are you asking me this question, Tesoro?" He asks looking confused.
"I wanted to tell you something related to my past but then we got to know about me being pregnant so I have thought that there
is no need to tell you anything. But now I will tell you everything and after hearing everything you can decide what you want to
do." I reply looking straight into his eyes.
"What are you trying to say, Cara? Please stop with the riddle and tell me directly." He says with impatience. I take a deep breath
and look at the picture on the wall with a painful expression.
"Romil Basu was my first husband."
******
Alessandro's POV:-
"Romil Basu was my first husband." Anhuphama utters the most unimaginable words that can not be true. But her expression is
saying a completely different story and I can not deny that she is looking a bit dishonest.
"But how can this happen? There is no record of you being married to anyone then how is this possible?" I ask her after finding
my voice. She gives me a sad smile before turning to look at Romil's photo.
"Because Thakurmaa never wanted anyone to find out about my marriage with Romil. As you know, Pishimaa and thakurmaa
didn't let me study further. Then they convinced Baba that he needed to get me married to someone as soon as possible
because I was having an affair behind their back. Baba believed them and started to look for a suitable person for me. Suddenly
one day Pishimaa told Baba that she had found a good guy for me to get married and the family was also very good. That's how
Romil and I got married after one month. I was not very happy with the marriage because I wanted to study more. However,
Romil's gentle and friendly personality started to bring me out of my shell. We started to share little by little details about
ourselves with each other and started to develop feelings for each other. I can not describe it as love but yes, I respected him
very much. After one year of marriage, we got the news of my pregnancy. Both of us were extremely excited to welcome our little
one but his family was not a bit happy as they didn't want to spend money on another person. Romil told them that he was
capable of taking care of me and our unborn child so no one needed to think about spending money on our baby. However, his
mother was not having it. She was Pishimaa's very good friend so Pishimaa used to come to my in-laws house a lot and both of
them used to taunt me whenever Romil was not present there. Also, my mother-in-law used to give me a lot of household work
to do so I wasn't getting much rest as required as a pregnant woman. Still, I never told Romil what was happening behind his
back." She explains with an unbearable tone while I clench my fist in fury. How can a person be cruel to treat a pregnant woman
so badly? Fuck! My cara was pregnant but wait, where is the baby now? Did her family take the baby away from her or what?
"I know what you want to know Alessandro." She says while turning to look at me. I bit my lip but still nod my head because I
need to know everything that happened in her past.
"Everything was going as usual but suddenly I got a call from Romil's colleague that Romil was admitted to the hospital because
of sudden cardiac arrest. So, without wasting any time I informed his family and my family before we reached the hospital.
However, it was already late because when we got there, the doctor who was treating Romil told us that Romil was no more. I
felt like my life collapsed in front of my eyes and I couldn't even do anything to hold it back together. We also got to know that
Romil was having pain in his heart for some days before and he had already consulted with a doctor. But he never mentioned
this in front of me or any other person in the family. So, ultimately all the blame was thrown on my head. I was only five months
pregnant at that time so I couldn't handle the demise of Romil very well and this made me very sick. So, Dadabhai brought me
back to Sengupta Mansion because he got to know what Romil's mother was doing to me. I had become a living corpse by the
time my baby's delivery date came close. But I think God was not done with punishing me as I delivered a dead baby whom I
didn't even get to hold in my arms. Because Thakurmaa decided that my baby was a sin so she didn't want to have any
connection with it. In fact, I didn't even know the gender of my baby. That's not all, the doctor also informed me that I could not
get pregnant again because my fallopian tubes were blocked very badly but now I am pregnant again." She falls down on her
knees while heavy sobs wreck through her body. I want to reach out to her but I can not move from my place as if something is
holding me back. I still can not digest the fact that my wife and my best friend used to share a relationship of marriage.
"I am going out for some time. The passcode for this room is Romil's birthday and I think you know that very well." I tell her
without looking at her face because I know that if I look at her for once, I will crumble in a second but I need to be alone for some
time to clear my thoughts.
I get out of the room and soon out of the mansion before I start my car and drive out of the property. I don't for how long I am
driving but I can feel the wetness in my cheeks and this time I am letting them fall. Because I was deceived for so many years as
Romil's mother told me that his wife had an extramarital affair with another man and when Romil got to know about this, he
couldn't handle the betrayal and had a heart attack which took his life away. I have believed the lie and my hatred for his wife got
beyond the limit. I have vowed to punish her for killing my best friend but I never got any information about her as Romil never
told me his wife's name because he wanted to introduce us face to face. Now, I can understand why I have never got any
information about Anhuphama because her family has hidden everything very well.
"But now what? How am I going to face Anhuphama and tell her that I have been looking for her just because of some
misunderstanding? Fuck, everything is messed up."I hit the staring wheel hard after parking the car by the roadside. Suddenly
my phone starts ringing so I pick the call without looking.
"Where are you, Mr. Bianchi? Anu has lost consciousness so you need to come back quick wherever you are." Mr. Ganguly says
in a rush.
"Where is she now?" I ask while starting the car before driving at full speed.
"Jasmine is taking care of her but still she is not responding well." He replies with a tensed voice.
"I am on my way but please till then look after her." I plead while taking a u-turn.
"You don't have to tell me that because I will do before I let anything happen to her again." He says and cuts the call. It takes me
more than half an hour before I reach the mansion. I hurriedly get inside before going straight to our bedroom where I find Mr.
And Mrs. Ganguly with a worried expression. But when I look at my Cara, I notice the defeated look on her face which makes me
want to hit myself for leaving her alone in that room all by herself. I get near the bed and sit beside her before taking her hand in
my own. One by one tears starts to fall from her eyes making my own tears fall freely. I take her in my arms and both of us break
down in tears not caring about anything or anyone else. I shouldn't have left her alone after the past trauma she has to describe
by her mouth. It takes gut to recall everything and tell others about it.
"I am so sorry my love for leaving you all alone. Please forgive me, I won't be doing it again." I tell her while kissing the side of
her head. She cries harder and clutch me tighter as if I will vanish somewhere.
"I have already lost so much in my life, Alessandro. Please don't make me lose anything anymore. Please don't leave me again
or I will surely die." She says with a trembling tone. I shake my head and run my hand through her hair trying to calm her down.
"Shh, stop crying and I am promising you that I won't leave you again. I love you so much to leave you or our unborn baby
alone." I tell her gently. Yes, I won't leave her or our baby and this time she won't be losing her baby because I will be there to
take care of her. But I still need to know what has happened to her firstborn baby as I don't believe neither her grandmother nor
her aunt. Because there can be a chance that her and Romil's baby can be still alive but they have been hiding it as well. So, I
am going to find out the real truth about the baby no matter what.