Page 50 of Forged By Fate

“I don’t know, but he wants to take me out on a date tonight,” I whispered. “Why else would he do something so alien to his nature?”

“Umm…because he’s finally come to his senses?”

“I don’t know about that, but when I get back, you need to help me pick out an outfit for tonight,” I said, heading towards the car waiting for me.

“Hold it, gorgeous. The only place you’re going now is to a salon. Look at the state of you,” he shrieked, but I made my escape when one of the movers called him over to sign for the delivery.

Primping could wait. I had more important things to do.

I picked Tarana up again and took her to Bandra. She looked much happier since her reel went viral.

“Did Tanvir tell you if he found a studio to record your song?” I asked.

“He said he found something, but he wouldn’t give me any details. Said it’s a surprise,” she replied.

To our surprise, the band was waiting for us outside Gino’s house, next to a lime green and yellow Tempo van with the name of the band painted all over it.

“Hope in,” said Atharva from the back of the van. “And hold on to the sides because Perpetua drives like a maniac.”

Tarana and I piled into the vehicle excitedly, and we set off for the super-secret location that turned out to be a very familiarstudio in Khar. And the reason I knew the place was because Viren owned it.

“Umm, guys…this place costs a lot of money,” I said, knowing Tarana couldn’t afford to spend so much.

“The owner is letting us use it for free,” he told me with a wink before he led Tarana into the building.

I followed more slowly, wondering why Viren was giving us this space when he disapproved of the whole affair. Because that was the kind of man he was, I realised. There was no limit to his generosity.

By rights, Tarana should have had access to her husband’s studio, but Viren knew Ria Ghosh reigned supreme over there, and getting her to vacate even for an afternoon, especially to accommodate Sarang’s new wife, was going to be very difficult. So he circumvented the problem by offering us his own studio even when he didn’t have to.

Viren didn’t agree with the direction the band was moving in because he didn’t think our audiences were ready for progressive rock with such a heavy classical influence. But he still gave them what they needed because they were his people. Because Tarana and I were his people, too.

I was about to enter the building when someone called my name. I turned around instinctively and recoiled in horror when I realised it was my stepmother, getting out of an autorickshaw.

I turned to go without acknowledging her because this woman had destroyed my childhood and almost destroyed my whole life. I didn’t owe her anything after she tried to sell me to a man twice my age.

“Sunaina! Wait for me,” she cried, throwing some change at the auto driver.

“Are you following me?” I asked, and she tossed her head angrily.

“Not everyone is made of money like your husband. I’m here to meet a client who lives in that building,” she replied, nodding to a posh high-rise next to the studio.

So she was still conning people with her fake astro-vaastu tricks.

“Good for you,” I said and tried to walk away again.

“Arre! What’s your hurry, beta? Don’t you have any time for your poor mother?”

I shook my index finger in her face, and she flinched at the movement.

“Do not call yourself my mother. You were my father’s wife, and then, you tried to be my pimp. That is all you will ever be to me,” I said coldly. “And no, I don’t have any time for you.”

Her face twisted with anger and hatred.

“You think you’re so much better than me just because you have your man supporting you. But wait till he tires of you, beta. Then you’ll come running back to me,” she said viciously.

I shook my head in reply, but she went on.

“Your own father got sick of you and died to get away from the burden that you were. Do you really think you can keep a man like Viren Chaudhry? I don’t know what vashikaran you’ve done on the poor man, but it won’t last forever. The day it wears off, he will recognise you for the trash that you are, and he’ll throw you out with the rest of his garbage,” she hissed.

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