“How are you holding up?” she finally asked.
Mishti looked at her. “I am okay, but I’ve been constantly worrying about what is happening there with Daksh bhai and you.” She paused, swallowing the lump in her throat. “After everything I unknowingly did against Trinity, I don’t even have the courage to step into the office anymore. I don’t know how to face it.”
Divya let out a tired sigh. “Daksh is under immense pressure,” she said honestly. “He is trying everything he can to save both companies. He barely sleeps, Mishti. But…” Her voice faltered. “I don’t know what will happen. I don’t have much hope left.”
Mishti turned to Divya, her eyes filled with regret. “I am so sorry,” she said, her voice trembling. “If I hadn’t been involved, if I hadn’t done any of that…”
Divya immediately shook her head. “Stop,” she said firmly. “This is not your fault. You didn’t even know it was Daksh’s company. Don’t put this burden on yourself.”
There was a brief silence before Divya asked, almost hesitantly, “How is Karan?”
Mishti’s fingers tightened around her dupatta as Divya continued. “Even if Karan is the villain in our story today, he was also the real victim of what had happened fifteen years ago, and that truth could not be ignored, Mishti.”
Mishti nodded slowly, replying. “He is going to do everything in his power to destroy the Goels,” she said before looking down, her eyes filling again. “And that is where I feel lost, bhabhi. IfI pray for Karan, for his wounds to heal, for his pain to ease, then it feels like I am asking God to punish Daksh bhai and our family. And if I pray for Daksh bhai, for things to stabilise, for him to find a way out of this, then it feels like I am being unfair to Karan.” Her voice broke. “I don’t know whom to pray for anymore. I don’t know what is right.”
Divya listened quietly, understanding the depth of her conflict. “Then don’t choose sides,” she said softly. “Just believe in God, the way you always have. He will guide all of us, Mishti. Whether we understand it now or not.”
Mishti nodded, though her tears continued to fall. She then took a deep breath, opened her purse slowly, and pulled out an envelope. Her hands shook slightly as she extended them toward Divya.
Divya looked at it in surprise. “What is this?”
Mishti met her eyes. “A small gift,” she said, almost smiling. “For my soon-to-be niece or nephew.”
Divya stared at the envelope, stunned. “Mishti… but what is it?”
Mishti swallowed. “This…this is something that belonged to my mother.”
Divya was confused. “Your mother? What do you mean?”
Mishti drew a slow breath. “A few years after Maa passed away… when I had just turned twenty-one… a lawyer came to see me. I didn’t even know why he was there.” Her lips curved into a faint, bitter smile. “That was the first time I found out that Maa had been fighting a land case.”
Divya’s brows knit together. “A land case?”
“Yes,” Mishti nodded. “Against her extended paternal family. It was ancestral land in Panchgani, near Nashik. She had been fighting them for years… quietly. Without telling anyone.” Her voice dropped. “Typical of her.”
She paused before sighing. “By the time the case was finally decided… Maa was no longer alive. The court ruled in her favour. But since she had passed away, her share couldn’t be allotted to her.” She looked back at Divya. “So, it came to me.”
Divya stared at her, stunned. “You mean… this land… it was yours all along?”
Mishti nodded slowly. “On paper, yes. But I didn’t know what to do with it. The land meant nothing to me in a practical sense. I didn’t want to sell it. I didn’t want to build anything there.” Her fingers tightened slightly. “Still… it was the only thing Maa had left behind for me. Something that was mine. So I kept the papers safe.”
She hesitated, then added softly, “And somewhere along the way… I decided what I wanted to do with it.”
Divya looked at the envelope again as Mishti went on. “I decided that when you and Daksh bhai had a child… I would give it to the baby. From my side. As my gift.” She gave a small, sincere smile. “It was the only thing I could do. Something meaningful.”
Divya shook her head, overwhelmed. “But… why didn’t you ever tell Daksh about this? That you had something like this with you?”
Mishti looked away. “You know how he has always been, bhabhi. He never really had any interest in me… or in my mother. And now…now it’s worse.”
She turned back to Divya. “That’s why I don’t want him to know it came from me.”
Divya stiffened immediately. “No, Mishti. If I take this, I won’t lie to him.”
Mishti reached out and placed her hand over Divya’s. “Please, bhabhi. You know he will never agree if he knows it’s from me.”
Divya tried to pull her hand back. “That doesn’t make it right.”
Mishti tightened her grip, her eyes pleading. “Tell him it always belonged to you. That way… he might accept it. I’ve already transferred the ownership to your name.”
