Note: It was bought to my notice that Abhimanyu was in fact aware that Akshara left the room to go to the hospital with Neil as she was not well. It jumbles up some things. It was one of my reasons to kind of justify Abhimanyu as well- that he did not know why Akshara broke his promise and thought what his mother said was true.

Anyways, for the sake of this story, please assume that Abhimanyu still misunderstood this fact (maybe did not hear her properly in anger and pain), till the time Shefali cleared it herself. Now, let’s proceed with the story.

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Recap: Akshara comes to Udaipur to fight for her son’s custody. Abhimanyu too prepares his best to get rights of his son. The court battle begins and Akshara puts forth her stand in case of Sirat and Neil. She clears her name as a murderer.

……………

After clarifying how she loved the people she was accused of killing and how much that weighed her down to be misunderstood like that, Akshara broke down a little before recollecting herself. She reminded herself why she was there and it wasn’t time to get emotional.

Akshara: (in mind) emotions are for fools! Ye duniya sirf practical aur selfish logon ki hai…wahi khush rehte hai.

The court took a break. Akshara sat down next to Abhinav. Goenkas were there to support her but somewhere they were guilty as well, of not stopping Arohi when she was a child. Arohi gave Akshara a childhood full of traumas but that was more fault of Goenkas than Arohi who herself was a child dealing will loss of her parents. Instead of shaping her emotions correctly, they let her pour hate on Akshara.

Birlas on the other hand, sat still. Arohi was deep in thought. The parallel Akshara drew with Ruhi and herself made Arohi think how wrongly she accused her sister for Sirat’s death. If someone called Ruhi a murderer over something that was Arohi’s decision then it would pain Arohi to bits. She wondered if it pained her mother too- seeing her one daughter accuse the other in such manner.

Abhimanyu, meanwhile, was deep in guilt. He kept trying to look at Akshara who was quietly nibbling on a sandwich that Abhinav was forcing her to have. He clenched his fist and pushed away his salad bowl. It was really unappetizing to see another person sitting next to Akshara. The woman he loved seemed so close yet so far- a distance of his own making. He knew he accused her wrongly. Talking about Sirat was overstepping a boundary. On the day of Neil’s demise, he just wanted her away. Having her so close wasn’t doing Manjiri well. He thought he lost his babies so he did not want Arohi to stress by seeing Akshara and lose her child- his brother’s first and only child! He did react irrationally. Sending Akshara away with badepapa was the solution; not digging up her past, blaming her for everything wrong and divorcing her on spot. He wondered how different his life would have been if he had reacted differently.

What ifs were a waste of time now. What was done was done. Future was the only thing ahead of them and Abhimanyu was adamant to have his son in his future at least.

The court resumed. Abhimanyu’s lawyer decided to take the lead again.

Abhimanyu’s lawyer: Your honour. Akshara Ji ne break se pehle bohot emotional baaten kahin. Chaliye un purani baaton se age bhadte hai aur aaj ki baat krte hai. Inka aur Mr. Birla ka divorce hua. Pr divorce pati patni ka hota hai, baap- bete ka nahi. Akshara Ji ne na sirf mere client ko unke bete se door rakha pr unke koi intentions bhi nahi they to inform him. Akshara Ji ne toh baap kehlane ka haq bhi kissi aur ko de diya. Kiss haq se Mr. Abhinav Abhir ke papa hai?! Kiss haq se in sab logon ne Abhir ko Birlas se door rakha?! Agar ye Maa hai toh Mr. Birla Papa hai aur unse ye haq cheene ka right nahi hai Mrs. Birla ke pass.

He pointed at Abhinav and accused him deeply. He also mentioned how Arohi’s daughter was also raised by Abhimanyu but they always clarified her about her biological father. They called Abhinav’s relationship with Abhir a sham. Nishtha had heard Neela Amma and Abhinav’s talk the day she was spying so they all assumed Akshara and Abhinav weren’t married. Akshara rose up again and took her document bag. It was time to give everyone a reality check.