To be or not to be-completed(epilogue) - Page 9

Originally posted by: fantasy1000a

Why are Gurleen and Jaspal missing??

I have doubts regarding yashraj and ajeet.

Sorry to break your bubble but Ajeet is definitely not involved 😂

All three attacks were carried out by the same person.Gurleen was assaulted over twenty five years ago and at that time,I don't think anyone knew that Ajeet monga existed

Originally posted by: themasked

Sorry to break your bubble but Ajeet is definitely not involved 😂

All three attacks were carried out by the same person.Gurleen was assaulted over twenty five years ago and at that time,I don't think anyone knew that Ajeet monga existed

Okay, sorry I missed that part.

I don't want it to be jaspal 🥺😞

Part twenty five

He watched her pace the room nervously,clearly upset about something.It was clear she had been crying a lot.When he had arrived home,bebe had directed him straight to his room,saying that Gurleen had wanted to meet him urgently.

"Gurleen",he called out hesitantly.

She turned around and took a shuddering breath.

He tried to calm her down.

"Why don't you sit down?I'll have someone bring some tea."

She resolutely shook her head.

"Then drink some water,"he insisted.

When she finally calmed down ,she said,

"I think it's better to call off the wedding."

He felt as if someone had kicked him in the stomach.

"Why?"

"I'm pregnant."

"How long?"

"Around six weeks."

"And the father?"

She refused to meet his eyes.

"Please,tell me."

"He's out of the picture."

"Do you want this child?"

She shrugged,"I don't know."

"I'll support you in whatever decision you take.But if you do decide to keep the child,I wish to raise them with you."

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

Gurleen silently looked out of the window, occasionally glancing at her husband in the driver's seat.The car finally pulled to a stop in front of the Gurudwara.She looked at him quizzically when he gestured her to get out.She obliged and patiently waited for him as he went to park the car.It was nearly evening and the sky had turned a deep orange.The two of them went in together and prostrated in front of the Guru Granth Sahib ,lips moving silently in prayer.She fleetingly wondered what he prayed for.

In the twenty five years they had been married,not once had they progressed beyond the basic formalities required of a fellow human being.He had tried , especially in the beginning,to know her as the person she was,beyond her role as a wife and daughter in law,yet she had rebuffed every one of his advances.Yet he still persisted in his care for her even as the two of them grew more distant.There were times she wished to just hold on to him and never leave him, unconditionally trusting him yet every smile of his turned into a vicious snarl and every caress a violent slap.So she stayed away, content to remain in the sidelines.The only reason they'd stayed together was the dictum that no Brar could ever obtain a divorce.

When the prayers were finally over and the two of went to the river bank..,she finally gathered the courage to ask him.

"Don't we usually go to the Gurudwara on Saturdays?Why today?"

"You seemed especially distressed."

She finally snapped.

"Please,just stop it."

"Stop what?"

"Loving me,caring for me.I don't want to owe you anything."

"You don't owe me anything.I'm not doing you any favour .Whatever I do comes from the heart."

She simply stared at him as he lost his composure and snapped.

"I fell in love the day I met you, Gurleen.And I fall harder every moment I spend with you,see you ,touch you."

He stepped closer and caressed her cheek which were wet.His own eyes shined with tears.

"I understand that you never loved me but at first I thought if I tried hard enough, you'd finally reciprocate. Everything seemed to be going well until you told me about your pregnancy and I realised that your heart clearly belonged to someone else. I was both furious at and happy with Veer's father .Furious that he had carelessly tossed you aside,disregarding the gem he'd found and happy that finally,my heart was whole.

Veer is one of the best things that could happen to me,second only to falling for you.When Ekam was born,it felt as if we were finally complete but that was when I lost you.For over twenty years,I only see you dying a slow death,caged in by your own demons, drowning in some unknown sorrow.I honestly blame myself at this point for not being able to gain your trust,for not being to anchor you and bring you safely ashore.

It is now clear that you will never be happy in Brar mansion with us.And I care too much to watch you hurt yourself everyday.I don't care what daarji says but perhaps it's better if we just divorce.The children need not see their mother destroy herself and I will be happy knowing that you're safe and content somewhere.When sad,I will.picture you on a distant mountain,amidst a field of flowers,gazing at the stars scattered across the sky,in every hue imaginable, tranquility in abundance as the moonlight shimmers over the lake nearby.

She watched sadly as he took a ragged breath and composed himself.There were so many things she wished to say,but the walls of her throat seemed to constrict.He looked at his watch and exclaimed,

"It's getting late.We ought to go back lest daarji starts worrying."

And he left,leaving her in a wake of confusion.

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

Gurleen heaved a sigh of relief when they encountered a silent house upon their return.It was clear they had missed the drama.Her husband bade her goodnight and left to talk to Veer about something.The two of them were rather close,she noticed belatedly,while she and Ekam tended to favour each other's company.Feeling emotionally drained,she decided to just watch the stars.To her surprise,the terrace was occupied;daarji sat in contemplation as he gazed at the night sky.

"Daarji,are you alright?"

He started and whipped around,

"Gurleen puttar! I'm glad it's you.Please take a seat."

She joined him on the ledge.

"They were so vicious today,"he said out of the blue.

"Inder and Jassi,"he clarified upon her puzzled look.

"There was so much mudslinging and personal attacks.I heard words I never wished to hear in this life.I've failed my family puttar.My legacy is in tatters.My wife loathes me,my children grew up to be entitled spoiled brats who hate each other and their parents,and Angad.......

I had so much hope for him and he's turned into a monster because of me."

He started crying,tears streaming down his cheek into his beard.Gurleen simply held his hand as his cried.

"Oh puttar,I think the only right thing I've done is getting you married to that idiot son of mine."

"I don't know if he's really an idiot,he is pretty intelligent when he puts his mind to it."

He finally cracked a smile.

"Daarji, there's no point in crying over the past,what matters is the present.While you cannot fix your mistakes,you can try to make up for them right?For instance,take your relationship with Bebe. Things might never be perfect between the two of you and she might never love you the way you wish she would.But you can try keeping her happy for the rest of her life right?"

"So you're essentially saying that I should stop being selfish and thinking about myself all the time."

"Yes daarji,all humans are inherently selfish but we do have the ability to control it and find it in ourselves to be compassionate to the plight of other people.It may be hard at first,bebe might never forgive you;there are endless ways in which all this can go wrong.But what matters at the end is that you do the right thing or atleast try to."

Daarji smiled at her and simply patted her head.

"I hope that idiot never loses you."

She felt a pang of sadness and turned away so he couldn't see her cry .

Sorry about the delay,I started my internship so I don't have time to write 😅

Will try to finish this story asap

Originally posted by: themasked

Sorry about the delay,I started my internship so I don't have time to write 😅

Will try to finish this story asap

Good Luck with your internship!

Originally posted by: themasked

Sorry about the delay,I started my internship so I don't have time to write 😅

Will try to finish this story asap

Word Count: 1

Part twenty -six

It took a great deal of effort to coax daarji into bed. Thankfully,bebe was awake and helped her.As she turned to leave,bebe stopped her.

"Gurleen puttar,thank you."

She smiled faintly before leaving the room.Deciding to get a glass of water before calling it a day,she made it to the kitchen when she heard a loud scream. Panicking,she ran back to Daarji and bebe's room only to be confronted by a pool of blood.Daarji crouched on the ground ,cradling bebe's head in his lap,blood gushing out of a gaping wound on the back of her head.He was trying to stem the flow with his hands but to no avail.

"Puttar......"

Swearing under her breath ,she bolted to the closet and extracted several large towels which she folded to form compresses.She then applied them,giving a little pressure.By this time everyone had gathered and we're fussing about with Bebe and Daarji.She found herself rudely pushed aside by Manveer.

"I'll take care of this,thank you very much."

It was quite clear that she still held a grudge.

"Go and clean up Gurleen.Don't worry about bebe.I've already called an ambulance."said Jassi di reassuringly,to her surprise."Maybe you should take Daarji along with you.You're the only one who can calm him down at this point."she said longingly.

Gurleen felt a pang of guilt as she watched her sister in law yearn for a loving bond with her father, something which would probably never come to fruition.A familiar hand gently tugged at her and she let him slip his hand into hers.

"Let's go Daarji,"she heard him call out loud and the three of them silently left the room.Upon reaching their bedroom,they made daarji sit down and she went to get some water while her husband talked to his father.Meanwhile ,the ambulance had come to take bebe away to the hospital and it took both of them to calm daarji down and prevent him from running after the ambulance.The paramedics finally decided to sedate him.

"I think it's best we stay with him tonight."she said looking at him sadly.Her husband nodded emphatically and sat beside his sleeping figure. She decided to get some water when he stopped her.

"Don't go alone.Let me come with you.The attacker is still at large."

"But we can't leave Daarji alone."

"From the looks of it,bebe was the intended target.He left daarji alone and used his walking stick."

"How do you know daarji didn't attack bebe?"

"Because I know my father.Some of us love our wives too much to hurt them."

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

"How is daarji,mummy?"Ekam asked anxiously the moment she walked into the storeroom, accompanied by her father.

"He's fine.Just sleeping off the medication."

He looked at them awkwardly before waving them goodbye."I'll leave you girls to it."

"Mamu, it's ok if you wish to stay with mami.You can just say it."Kiara di remarked snarkily.

"I think it's better if you stay chachu."Sahiba said with a strange expression on her face.

Her papa nodded and took a spot by the window opposite mummy.Di clapped to gain everyone's attention.

"Now that we're all here,who are our suspects?"

"Inder sir,daarji, Yashraj sir,Jaspal chachu"Sahiba parjaii rattled off,fixing papa with a suspicious stare.

To her surprise,he was unruffled and unrattled.

"Why would you suspect me?What motive do I have assault my own mother?"

"Because bebe knows the identity of the attacker."

Mummy chimed in suddenly.

There was a deathly silence as everyone turned to look at her.

"What do you mean?"

"Bebe saw the man that night .I begged her for his name bit she refused to divulge the details.She feared scandal and the repucrussions on the family."

"Gurleen....."her papa started,a frown marring his face.

"Papa, perhaps it's best if you talk to mummy alone later but you should know that both mummy and di have been raped by the same man.That man attacked us last week and has sent me lewd and threatening notes .Oh and he is Veer paaji's father as well."

Her papa stared at them dumbly.

"If bebe already knew,we didn't have to get that stupid DNA test done."di said ,looking rather disgruntled.

"What dna test?"asked mummy faintly.

"We sent Veer and our suspects' dna samples for paternity testing ."di said casually .

Papa looked ready to faint while mummy turned pale in horror .

"You didn't take permission....."

"It doesn't really matter.All if us want closure alright."Ekam said testily."If you had just gotten a dna test done that day,you could've saved us the trouble of being assaulted."

"Ekam! Don't you dare talk to your mother like that!"

The room stilled.Never had they seem Jaspal Singh Brar loose his temper let alone at Ekam.

"Sahiba, let's leave them talk."whispered di and the two of them left.

Ekam stared at her parents,angry tears streaming down her face.

"Why couldn't you just find out the truth back then?A simple paternity test would have solved all your problems."

"I fell in love with your father."mummy whispered."And I still love him."

Papa looked at her,tears in his eyes.He reached out to touch her before consciously stopping himself, retracting his hand as if he had encountered an invisible barrier.

Mummy simply continued,

"And it's not as if I could've walked out of the marriage either.Imagining finding out that the man your tied to is your rapist and yet you're unable to get away from him.As long as I didn't know the truth I could pretend everything was alright.Honestly,I think I'd rather live with your father as a suspect instead of a proven rapist."

"But mummy,by not turning him in, weren't you technically exposing me and Kiara di to further harm?You could've prevented all these further attacks?"

She asked tearfully.

"Ekam,"papa spoke up,"when has your mother been remiss in your protection puttar? There's a reason why you've never been alone with any male,except me.And truth be told, knowing the situation now, I'm glad she trusted me enough to not hurt you.Whatever happened after that is beyond your control.So please don't blame each other.As long as you stick together you'll be invincible."

And he walked out of the room.Ekam ran to her mother and hugged her .Her mother held her tightly.

"Mummy,I hope papa is not paaji's father."she choked between her tears.

"Me too puttar,me too."

Originally posted by: themasked

Part twenty -six

It took a great deal of effort to coax daarji into bed. Thankfully,bebe was awake and helped her.As she turned to leave,bebe stopped her.

"Gurleen puttar,thank you."

She smiled faintly before leaving the room.Deciding to get a glass of water before calling it a day,she made it to the kitchen when she heard a loud scream. Panicking,she ran back to Daarji and bebe's room only to be confronted by a pool of blood.Daarji crouched on the ground ,cradling bebe's head in his lap,blood gushing out of a gaping wound on the back of her head.He was trying to stem the flow with his hands but to no avail.

"Puttar......"

Swearing under her breath ,she bolted to the closet and extracted several large towels which she folded to form compresses.She then applied them,giving a little pressure.By this time everyone had gathered and we're fussing about with Bebe and Daarji.She found herself rudely pushed aside by Manveer.

"I'll take care of this,thank you very much."

It was quite clear that she still held a grudge.

"Go and clean up Gurleen.Don't worry about bebe.I've already called an ambulance."said Jassi di reassuringly,to her surprise."Maybe you should take Daarji along with you.You're the only one who can calm him down at this point."she said longingly.

Gurleen felt a pang of guilt as she watched her sister in law yearn for a loving bond with her father, something which would probably never come to fruition.A familiar hand gently tugged at her and she let him slip his hand into hers.

"Let's go Daarji,"she heard him call out loud and the three of them silently left the room.Upon reaching their bedroom,they made daarji sit down and she went to get some water while her husband talked to his father.Meanwhile ,the ambulance had come to take bebe away to the hospital and it took both of them to calm daarji down and prevent him from running after the ambulance.The paramedics finally decided to sedate him.

"I think it's best we stay with him tonight."she said looking at him sadly.Her husband nodded emphatically and sat beside his sleeping figure. She decided to get some water when he stopped her.

"Don't go alone.Let me come with you.The attacker is still at large."

"But we can't leave Daarji alone."

"From the looks of it,bebe was the intended target.He left daarji alone and used his walking stick."

"How do you know daarji didn't attack bebe?"

"Because I know my father.Some of us love our wives too much to hurt them."

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

"How is daarji,mummy?"Ekam asked anxiously the moment she walked into the storeroom, accompanied by her father.

"He's fine.Just sleeping off the medication."

He looked at them awkwardly before waving them goodbye."I'll leave you girls to it."

"Mamu, it's ok if you wish to stay with mami.You can just say it."Kiara di remarked snarkily.

"I think it's better if you stay chachu."Sahiba said with a strange expression on her face.

Her papa nodded and took a spot by the window opposite mummy.Di clapped to gain everyone's attention.

"Now that we're all here,who are our suspects?"

"Inder sir,daarji, Yashraj sir,Jaspal chachu"Sahiba parjaii rattled off,fixing papa with a suspicious stare.

To her surprise,he was unruffled and unrattled.

"Why would you suspect me?What motive do I have assault my own mother?"

"Because bebe knows the identity of the attacker."

Mummy chimed in suddenly.

There was a deathly silence as everyone turned to look at her.

"What do you mean?"

"Bebe saw the man that night .I begged her for his name bit she refused to divulge the details.She feared scandal and the repucrussions on the family."

"Gurleen....."her papa started,a frown marring his face.

"Papa, perhaps it's best if you talk to mummy alone later but you should know that both mummy and di have been raped by the same man.That man attacked us last week and has sent me lewd and threatening notes .Oh and he is Veer paaji's father as well."

Her papa stared at them dumbly.

"If bebe already knew,we didn't have to get that stupid DNA test done."di said ,looking rather disgruntled.

"What dna test?"asked mummy faintly.

"We sent Veer and our suspects' dna samples for paternity testing ."di said casually .

Papa looked ready to faint while mummy turned pale in horror .

"You didn't take permission....."

"It doesn't really matter.All if us want closure alright."Ekam said testily."If you had just gotten a dna test done that day,you could've saved us the trouble of being assaulted."

"Ekam! Don't you dare talk to your mother like that!"

The room stilled.Never had they seem Jaspal Singh Brar loose his temper let alone at Ekam.

"Sahiba, let's leave them talk."whispered di and the two of them left.

Ekam stared at her parents,angry tears streaming down her face.

"Why couldn't you just find out the truth back then?A simple paternity test would have solved all your problems."

"I fell in love with your father."mummy whispered."And I still love him."

Papa looked at her,tears in his eyes.He reached out to touch her before consciously stopping himself, retracting his hand as if he had encountered an invisible barrier.

Mummy simply continued,

"And it's not as if I could've walked out of the marriage either.Imagining finding out that the man your tied to is your rapist and yet you're unable to get away from him.As long as I didn't know the truth I could pretend everything was alright.Honestly,I think I'd rather live with your father as a suspect instead of a proven rapist."

"But mummy,by not turning him in, weren't you technically exposing me and Kiara di to further harm?You could've prevented all these further attacks?"

She asked tearfully.

"Ekam,"papa spoke up,"when has your mother been remiss in your protection puttar? There's a reason why you've never been alone with any male,except me.And truth be told, knowing the situation now, I'm glad she trusted me enough to not hurt you.Whatever happened after that is beyond your control.So please don't blame each other.As long as you stick together you'll be invincible."

And he walked out of the room.Ekam ran to her mother and hugged her .Her mother held her tightly.

"Mummy,I hope papa is not paaji's father."she choked between her tears.

"Me too puttar,me too."

Okay, thats intriguing 😳

Bebe knows the attacker 😳😳

I have never seen jaspal in angry mode either 🤔

Ok so jaspal may or might not be the suspect 🤔

Bebe should just tell them who did it cause we all want to know 🥺

I just cant wait to know who the attacker is now.

My guesses are Jaspal or Daarji?