183 It was me, all me
"It was me", she said and came forward.
They all looked at her in utter disbelief.
"What are you doing here mom?", Vikram asked in surprise.
"I have come here to set the things right. Don't worry", she said and walked towards Vikram and gently caressed his face with her hands and said,
"I will set everything right for none of this is your fault".
"There's no need to take all the blame on yourself mom. They are not going to listen. I don't know from where they have procured all these documents. I guess some third person is trying to frame me and I am going to find that persona and rip them apart", Vikram said holding the hands of her mother.
She took a deep breath and then looked at Vikram and said,
"That person you are talking about is me. I know it's hard to believe but it was me".
Then she looked at Peter who looked ghastly and said,
"You can tell them !!! You did whatever was told to you. It is not your fault either".
Peter looked at her in surprise, unable to believe that suddenly how she was having this transformation. He always considered her as a shrewd and condescending lady, who never thought even an inch about others and yet here she was, taking all the blame and saving him.
She looked at the gratefulness reflecting in the eyes of Peter and said,
"I am not doing this for you. I am doing this for my son", she said and turned her back coldly towards Peter.
"No, she is still a condescending bitch", Peter mumbled.
"I cannot let my son take the blame for the wrongs that I have done", she said and looked at everyone.
But everyone stood there all confused.
"I heard you listening to the phone conversations of Akira with someone over and over again, dead in the night, but with who, I didn't know. I knew you were disturbed and then I found the file on Raymond from your room and I was a bit curious as you had never done a background check for anyone like that before and that guy was the guy with whom Akira worked. So I knew that something was wrong and I checked with Peter about it and got all the information", she said and then looked at Vikram to see his reaction.
He stood there still unable to believe a single word.
"I am your mother, and I knew that you were in pain because of this person", she said and then looked at Vikram with nothing but disgust and said,
"That's why I did all this. I hired Scarlett and bailed her brother. I made Peter do all my biddings. You sign hundreds of cheques every day so it wasn't difficult to get you to sign one for Scarlett".
"Mom no, you did not", Vikram said and slumped on the chair.
"I thought I could separate them so that Akira can be yours. I did all of it for you, my child".
"I wanted her, that's true, but not like this mom".
"See what have you done. See where I am standing right now, getting reprimanded by people for the things that I haven't even done", Vikram said and then buried his face in his palm because this was simply unbelievable.
"Why would you do all this aunty? Why would you go to this length? Do you know how much trouble you were putting Vikram into by doing all this?", Akira spoke in disbelief.
"Why I did this? You are asking why I did this?", she spewed words.
"Because someone was so blind, that she couldn't see how much my son loved her unconditionally. And someone was so afraid that he couldn't tell what was in his heart to someone whom he had known since childhood days", she said and looked at both Vikram and Akira sarcastically.
Katherine and Shawn stood in the corner in silence, unable to believe what just happened. This night was definitely weird. They had planned to unmask someone, but someone else opened their mask before that.
"But I didn't intend to physically harm anyone. I never did", she said and looked at Vikram whose eyes looked like burning charcoal.
" I had no personal vendetta against you Raymond, I just wanted to get Akira for my son. That's all".
"No personal vendetta?", Raymond said and chuckled.
"You tried to snatch away the love of my life. I love her, just the way your son does ma'am. Maybe he has been in love with her earlier than me, but that no way lessens the amount of love that I have for her".
"I know, I know. I was wrong, all blinded with the love I had for my kid", she said and stood there in silence, looking at everyone with eyes begging for forgiveness.
"But then why would you try to sabotage my professional life? Was sabotaging my personal life not enough for you?", Raymond asked.
"I do not understand", she asked.
"What about the disassociation papers Vikram? You were quite aware of that right?", Raymond asked.
"That has nothing to do with all this Raymond. There are bigger forces running behind who want to pull you down and rip you apart. I am just a pawn", Vikram said and got up and went to his mother.
"Let's go, mom, it has been too much for a day. You have already made my night unforgettable", he said and walked towards the exit, but then again turned back and came towards Akira.
He took out that Prussian blue box with the ring in it that he had been meaning to give to her and kept in her hand and said,
"I wanted to give you this tonight, but not in conditions like this. But I am still going to give it to you because if I keep it with me then it will hurt me like a dagger in my heart".
Then he turned to go back when she said,
"Vikram !!!"
"My mom was wrong, but please forgive her. I request all of you. I will clean up all the mess and make everything as before. You can join back in Raymond's company and stay as the owner for a couple of days, till I figure things out for you both".
"Vikram listen to..."
"Listen to you now Akira? You didn't even give me a chance to explain myself. You didn't even believe my words. That completely sums up how much I mean to you. Probably I was having some misconception all these days. But anyways the love that I have for you is my own and I will never disrespect that".
"I had promised you to keep you happy and I will. I will save your company and you can count me on that".
Then he turned towards Scarlett and said,
"I am sorry but I have to send your brother back to where he belongs because he has dared to hurt someone that I love. And as for the money which was given to you, will stay in your account".
Then he looked at his mom who stood there all cemented to the floor,
"How much more you want me to endure all this? Did I not ask you to leave mom?",
He said and marched out of the door and then his mom followed.
Akira opened the box and saw the ring.
It was the same ring that she once saw in a magazine and had told Vikram about how pretty it was.
She didn't have any words, for that night she had just lost a limb.
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