"Alia....its sad....jo kuch bi tumhare sath hua....am just sorry" and mukthi breaks the silence after good few minutes coming closer to alia and hugging her while manik fists his hands shaking his head and "mujhe uske paas le chelo....jisne bi ye sab kiya....i will just punch him until he dies"

"nahi manik....he is already getting his punishment being in jail....you don't have to do anything" and alia utters moving back from mukthi while she stares at nandini nodding her head and "you could have said everything to us....we were her friends....family infact....we could have helped you know"

"Oh of course....i forgot....you are alia's friends....family....who didn't even thought to check upon her by calling or at least texting her to know how she was....seriously mukthi....it has been months now and am sorry to ask but where were you all during that time??" and nandu utters shocking everyone with her words while mukthi opens and closes her mouth for a while and "she said she was going to Italy...for her designer project...!!!"

"I didn't knew there were no phone signals in Italy and as far as I remember....just a few days back we all went out and even alia was with us....so did you try to talk to her after that??" and nandu replies back instantly once again surprising everyone while mukthi realizing her mistake licks her lips and "fine....i agree....but you knew everything then why didn't you just say us then....alia....even you could have said everything on the day we met....but you didn't....and I don't get why....if you couldn't say anything back then how can you confess this all now"

"Out of all the people here I thought you would be the first one to understand me but guess am wrong" and alia utters disappointed while nandu makes her turn towards her and "am shocked and happy that you could disclose everything yourself and now that truth is out I want your permission before talking to everyone here because I have been silent for painfully long duration and I need to talk to them"

Alia nods her head as yes silently while nandu holds her hands and "you have been strong....so so strong and now promise me that you will remain the same while I talk and wont drift back to those haunting memories"

"I promise" and alia whispers blinking her eyes while nandu giving her a tiny smile turns her gaze towards mukthi and "it feels so simple to hear everything right....but you know what....it isn't....you might be seeing alia here standing and confessing everything to you like a strong girl but you have no idea what she has been through to become this strong version of her....!!!"

"we understand nandini....its just that if you have told us everything when it happened we could have solve the problem together and that would have been much more easy than you taking care it single handed" and kabir utters moving closer and standing beside mukthi while nandu nods her head as yes and "may be...may be we could have solved the problem...but am hell sure we couldn't have saved alia in spite of solving her problem"

MAYANK : kyu beta....tu aisa kyu kehri hain

NYONIKA : agar ham alia ka problem solve kar sakthe hain tho usse kyu nahi bacha sakthe hain

"Kyuki maa maine dekha hain alia ko....kamre ke khone main....andhere main khud ko chupake....kayi sare thariko se khud ko dard dethe huye....maine dekha hain kiss tharah se tut chuki thi wo" and nandini utters trembling because of those memories making every one startled and "tum log soch bi nahi sakthe ho alia kiss halath main thi aur usse aisa dekh mujhpe kya guzar rahi thi"

FLASHBACK 

NANDINI : ramu kaka.....kitchen ka saman katham ho gaya hain.....main abhi jake sare saman le athi hoon

RAMU KAKA : main hoon na beti main laa dunga

NANDINI : nahi ramu kaka....gar main yuhi baitri hoon na tho isliye bahar jana chahthi hoon aur haan maa bahar gayi hain....main unke vapas ane se pehle hi lout aongi

RAMU KAKA : teek hain beti

ARYAMAN : nandini??

NANDINI : aryaman....hey....kaise ho

ARYAMAN : main teek hoon tum kaisi ho

NANDINI : teek hoon....tum yaha

ARYAMAN : maa bahar gayi hain saman ka list mere hath main dekhe

NANDINI : ohhh hahah

ARYAMAN : yaaa

NANDINI : alia??

ARYAMAN : oh haan....wo itni jaldi main kyu hain

NANDINI : patha nahi....alia....aliaaa

ARYAMAN : aise baag kyu rahi hain wo

"Kya ajeeb ladki hain 2000 ka change liye bina hi chili gayi" and hearing a sales girl words nandu walks closer to her and "excusme....can you please say me what was the girl here for....i mean what did she take"

"Rat poison" and hearing sale's girl reply aryaman widens his eyes and "nandini there is something wrong.....alia is very scared of rats and as far as I know she wouldn't even dare to touch anything related to rats....i am sure about that"

"I guess I need to check upon her" and nandu rushes out forgetting about her grocery while aryaman follows her close behind and "nandini let me come with you....i will drive you to alia's house"

NANDINI : you don't have to aryaman

ARYAMAN : please nandini....alia and I were very good friends before things fell apart due to misunderstandings....i sincerely care about her so please

NANDINI : okay

ARYAMAN : thanks

"alia....alia" and nandu enters the house seeing it unlocked along with aryaman but getting no reply aryaman suggests to get inside her room leading the way towards it....!!!

"nandini....you get inside first" and aryaman lets nandu walk ahead into room while she due to complete darkness searches for her with difficulty only to gasp widening her eyes finally being able to notice alia pressing herself to wall at the corner of room shivering like hell....!!!

"Dad....is....such....a....great....person....Mom....is....so innocent....pure....perfect.... where....as...me....their.... only....daughter.... is....just....a....unworthy bitch.... they.... dont....deserve.... me....i....am....dirty.... everywhere....i....will....ruin.... them....dhruv....can....never....love....me....now.... mukthi....can....only....pity.... me....kabir....will....get....sick....to....talk....to....me.... manik....will....think....low.... of....me....no....no....no....i....cant...face....them....i.... cant....see...them.... what.... will....i....say....what....can....i....say....no....they....will.... hate....me....!!!" and alia sits scratching her arms, face and legs where ever possible making nandu get Goosebumps....!!!

"Mom....says....its....everyone....who....hates....rats....not....only....me....and....now...everyone....hates....me....so....this....poison....will....stop....eveyone....from.... hating....rats....and....and....me....!!!" and just before alia could have the poison nandu runs towards her throwing away the poison and holding her shoulders asking her to calm down....!!!

"No....no....dont....see....me....dont....come....closer....to....me....i....am....dirty....i.... will....make....you....dirty" and seeing alia hiding her face between her legs moving as far as possible from her nandu moves back slowly sitting on her knees in front of her and "alia....you are not dirty....just look at me please....tell me what's wrong"

"No....i....am....dirty....go....away....i....cant....look....at....you....i....cant....show.... you....my....face.....just....just....go....dont....come....here....if....every....one.... knows....everyone....comes....what....will....i...do....i....will....die....its....the....only.... solution....i....will....die....and....no....one...can....know....how....dirty....i....am....!!!" and alia whispers the same thing again and again and again trying to move away that is if possible while nandu sits in front of her listening to her again and again and again until she finally drifts into sleep getting tired and feeling her eyelids heavy from crying....!!!

"I don't know....what to say" and aryaman utters as soon as nandu steps out of the room shutting the door silently nearly after six hours while she bites her lower lip controlling herself and "its....its scary....to see her like this"

"Something might have happened" and aryaman utters cringing her eyebrows while nandu nods her head and "I guess yes....but she is not in a position to say anything"

"I think the same and hence I haven't entered the room after you....i was just watching you two from door" and aryaman utters agreeing while nandu rubs her temple and "I am not even capable to think anything anymore"

"Hmmm....nandini....its 1 at night....you have to go back to your house" and aryaman utters making nandu panick and "but alia"

"I will wait here and watch her secretly....no one lives with her so there would be no problem....i will contact you if there is a problem" and aryaman utters sincerely while nandu stands without moving and "I am not sure....i don't want to leave her in such situation"

ARYAMAN : I understand but your in laws would worry if you stay out for entire night....its already late and since alia just slept she would wake up again after good few hours so just try to come back by then

"huhhh....ohkay....just watch over her please....!!!" and nandini after a lot of thinking finally leaves still with hesitation not before exchanging numbers with aryaman and asking him to text her about alia details every now and then....!!!

END OF FLASHBACK

"That's the same night you have returned and saw me coming back at 2 am" and nandu whispers staring at manik while aryaman walking a little stands beside her and "now let me make this clear that nandu didn't want me to be near alia either....knowing she wasn't ready to face anyone....she didn't even let me in her house unless she had to be here with you or in this house....plenty of days and nights were spent trying to get back alia to normal form and trust me when I say it wasn't easy for nandini....alia always somehow managed to harm herself and nandu had to again start the process of calming her down from beginning"

"one night after nearly a month alia suddenly broke down in my arms saying what actually happened and that's when I realized how sensitive was the issue....!!!" and nandu utters still feeling thankful that alia could say her truth while aryaman nods his head remembering that day and "indeed very much sensitive but still nandu didn't ask any help from me....it was me who asked her to trust me and said about my brother being an CBI officer"

"I wasn't sure knowing alia didn't want to meet anyone except me but by then things got complicated and the blackmailer already threatened to release video tapes of alia. I didn't have a choice rather than accepting aryaman help who knew almost everything without my explanation and hence I did the only thing I felt right, I met aryaman brother and requested to solve the issue" and nandini utters staring at manik while aryaman once again starts after her and "again it wasn't easy....blackmailer was not texting and neither calling us so we couldn't track anything....He was following our every step though and that's why we had to shift to outhouse assuring him that it was only nandini with alia seeking no others help"

"once when aryaman and his brother almost caught the blackmailer by staying hidden away from the farmhouse they came to me frustrated and that's when alia saw both of them and things got back to square one" and nandini utters with a sad tone while alia who was silent since long lowers her head and "I was scared....i just didn't wanted to meet anyone....show myself to anyone....but nandini made sure to put some sense in my mind patiently like a mother expressed her love for her baby and I realized I was just hiding when other three people were actually fighting....because of me....for me"

"so she decided to face aryaman and abhi but could only talk to me....so the day dhruv caught us was where we were trying to make alia open up a little but seeing dhruv alia was once again scared not to the point to hide herself but to the point where she became distinct ignoring dhruv same like aryaman and abhi" and nandini continuous further while dhruv shakes his head and "it was hard guys....very much hard to convince alia that nothing changed because of whatever happened and she was the same pretty girl who we loved"

"and that helped us so much....alia started opening up more and more and soon though she wasn't fully normal she became very much better than before....that is until she got to know that she was pregnant" and nandini utters with a sigh escaping her lips and "but again thanks to dhruv he handled her well and you know the rest....how it ended after my advice to alia of accepting the baby....and about why didn't I tell you the truth while it happened....i had my own reasons apart from alia's poor condition....to start with you mukthi....as soon as you knew the truth you would have gone to alia and looked her with pity showering how bad you felt about whatever happened....you almost did the same thing a while back hearing alia truth....am I right or wrong???"

mukthi remains silent knowing it was true while nandu smiles faintly and "alia needed support and not pity mukthi....hence I didn't say you the truth....now coming to you kabir....you would have first gone to alia to force out every answer to your every question as soon as you knew the truth....now again am I right or wrong???"

kabir nods his head as yes without muttering anything while nandu blinks her eyes and "thank you....hence I didn't even say you the truth....and....manik....you being my husband and best friend....i should have come clean with truth at least to you....but since you are my husband and best friend I know you more than anyone else and I am more than 100% sure that you would have done something irrational out of your care towards alia and also out of your frustration of not being able to find the victim....then you would have blamed yourself for not being able to control yourself and your anger ruining alia's life and then you would have been a mess knowing you couldn't undo your mistake making me worry and take care of you along with alia....do you agree or not...!!!"

"yes" and manik whispers almost instantly holding her gaze while nandu bites her lower lip continuing to gaze him and "that's the reason I couldn't dare to confess you the truth....not because I didn't have any trust on you or anything like that....but because I was aware of both the things....your way of dealing with a problem and also how sensitive alia issue was....one single mistake....it could have caused alia's dignity....alia's heart and alia's life"

"and to answer your question mukthi....i was a coward back then to confess everything to you all and hence I acted normal when we met a few days back....now seeing you all questioning nandini having all wrong assumptions about her....I just knew I couldn't stand like a statue and let you all hurt her....and also confessing the truth and clearing all the misunderstanding was the least I could do for nandini....!!!" and alia utters looking straight at mukthi while she stares her for a moment silently and "aliaa....i don't get how could you be scared of everyone....of us....didn't you have trust on us and our friendship...!!!"

"More than that alia didn't have trust on herself mukthi....it wasn't her fault....everyone have a different way of dealing their own problems....some shut down themselves from everything and everyone....alia did the same too....!!!" and nandu replies instantly making alia smile and "now am done....do I have to explain anything more to you all"

The only thing I want to do is repeat nandu last lines....now am done....do I have to explain anything more to you all....any more questions....any more doubts....anything else you want me to answer you all....please do say me and also....do you want me to end the story with coming update or shall I continue it for few more parts. Oh and yes how was the update...!!!