Pretend To Be Mine

by P. G. Van

  Dheeraj took a deep breath. “He… he apparently misses his daughter. He heard about the adoption papers being processed in our favor and was upset. He told his lawyer he doesn’t want to live a life without his daughter.”

  Anjali let out a gasp and covered her mouth tears welling in her eyes. “Dheeraj…”

  “I… I’m not able to digest the fact that he… that he genuinely wants his child.” Dheeraj’s voice was wobbly.

  Anjali placed her hand on his cheek. “He may have been irresponsible but…”

  Dheeraj didn’t let her finish. “No, he is an animal. The way he left my sister on the road, she died a lonely death because of him. She didn’t deserve it, and my sister would not want him even to lay eyes on Inara. I will not let it happen.”

  “Dheeraj, you are Inara’s dad, but Raghav is her father, and we need to accept it.”

  Dheeraj pulled away from Anjali. “Accept and do what, give up Inara?”

  Anjali looked at the man who had always appeared to be indestructible and unshakeable but looked vulnerable now. “We are Inara’s parents, and it is a matter of time before the legal paperwork is completed, so it is not worth being angry at this time.”

  He looked at her for a long moment. “What are you suggesting?”

  Anjali took a deep breath. “You will not like this suggestion, but I think we should take Inara to him… just once.”

  The moment the words left her mouth, Dheeraj shook his head. “No.”

  “Dheeraj, have you considered the fact that he may actually care for his child?”

  “Why would he? Inara has always been his ticket to get bail and eventually get away with all the murders with the excuse of a child needing the father since the mother is no longer alive,” Dheeraj growled.

  “The law does not allow for that, and you know it,” Anjali objected.

  “With the influence and reach his father has, it is possible, and I know for a fact that was what he had planned. But when we got married and applied for the adoption, he lost that option and now this is another stunt.”

  “Okay, let’s just say he is putting on a show that he doesn’t want to live without his daughter, and even if half the people on the adoption panel think that his reason for the suicide is for his daughter, they could put a hold on the adoption?”

  Dheeraj growled in response, and she realized that was a concern for him too.

  Anjali took a step closer to Dheeraj. “Baby, listen to me. We should take her to him. Make sure you ask for the adoption panel to be present at the meeting.”

  Dheeraj nodded lost in thought.

  “Also, get whatever permission you need to get because I am not bringing our child to a prison no matter who needs to see her.”

  Dheeraj chuckled. “Didn’t you just say we should take Inara to Raghav so he can see her?”

  “Yes, but that doesn’t have to be in the central jail.”

  “It will unfortunately have to be in the jail building, but… I’ll figure it out.” Dheeraj sounded dejected, and Anjali wrapped her arms around him in the hope of comforting him.

  “I know it’s not what you want to do but…” Her words were lost when he hugged her, his body feeling limp.

  “That man makes me sick. I’ve had thoughts about killing him with my own hands every time I think about how Janu died. I will need all my resolve to stop myself from attacking him when I see him.”

  She hugged him burying her face into his chest. “Dheeraj, always remember that Inara and I are always here for you, and we want you around, for you to see our baby grow and thrive in a loving environment. Let go of that anger. It is very unfortunate and I…”

  Dheeraj let out a curse. “That bastard tried to pin an extra-marital affair on my pregnant sister just so he could say that he was not the one driving the car the night of the accident.”

  It was Anjali’s turn to be livid. “I want to kill him now.”

  Dheeraj held her in silence. “There wasn’t a single moment where I did not think about what he had said about Janu and a mystery man who was responsible for the accident. That bastard had the audacity to go on record to say Inara was not his and even had someone paid to surrender as… as Janu’s lover.”

  “Dheeraj, please. We don’t need to talk about that.”

  “I am still thankful for the traffic cameras that captured him at the scene and the eyewitnesses. I protected every single person in that area from being threatened not to show up in court as a witness, and after all that… he wants to die because he doesn’t get to see his daughter. He… he doesn’t deserve her. I ruined my sister’s life.”

  Anjali gasped when it hit her that Dheeraj had been holding onto guilt along with the anger from everything that happened. It had never crossed her mind that he may have had pent-up sadness, and it came to a head at that moment. She hugged him pushing with all her strength for him to sit on the chair and was somehow successful. She knelt next to the chair and hugged him. “I’m sorry. I had been so lost in taking care of Inara, I never…”

  “I love you, Anjali. It’s because of you I was able to move on. You showed me I had a more important purpose in life, and I…”

  Anjali hushed him by kissing him on his lips. “I’m here for you, and you cannot hold yourself responsible for what happened. Not everything can be controlled by everyone every time.”

  “What would I do without you?”

  “Don’t say that, Dheeraj. You were the one to give me new hope on life after being bombarded with challenges every step of the way in my life. Now… the past few months I feel like I’m finally home.”

  “I may have built these walls, but you made this place a home for us… our family.”

  Anjali hugged him, his head to her chest as she sat on his lap hoping for the happiness to never leave the walls of their home.

  *****

  “Are you nervous?” Anjali ran her arms around Dheeraj from behind, her palms resting on his bare skin. It had been a week since Raghav had attempted to kill himself, and it was the day he was going to be discharged from the hospital on the jail campus.

  “I’m angry,” Dheeraj confessed softly. “Angry that he gets to see Inara when he had initially claimed she was not his.”

  “Dheeraj, forget all that for the thirty minutes. We are doing what we are doing for Inara, so she can be with us.”

  Dheeraj turned around and planted a kiss on Anjali’s nose. “If I get arrested for punching Raghav, do bail me out.”

  Anjali laughed and hugged him. “Let’s go. The meeting time is perfect because it is her nap time, and she won’t see him.”

  “That’s some relief. I don’t want her ever to know that man existed.”

  “Dheeraj, we can talk about that later. Let’s go. I will be ready to go in five minutes.” Anjali left the master bathroom to check on Inara and her bag one last time before they left. She was nervous, but she was prepared. She was ready to do what it took to eradicate the smallest of obstacles that would stall the adoption process.

  Anjali walked into Inara’s room and watched as Seema entertained the child. Seema looked up at Anjali. “We’ve never put eyeliner on Inara, and she…”

  Seema’s voice trailed off when Anjali gave her the long, silent stare that she often did when it came to anything Inara-related that wasn’t done the way it should be.

  “Seema, you know how I feel about the evil spirits. I am not taking a chance when more than a dozen people will see her.” Anjali maintained a firm tone.

  A few minutes later, Anjali stepped out of the nursery holding Inara in her arms, Seema right behind her carrying the bag with baby essentials. Dheeraj stepped out of the master bedroom almost at the same time and let out a surprised grunt when he saw Inara.

  “What in the world did you put on her face?” Dheeraj looked shocked. Inara had a large circle of black on her forehead, and her eyes were lined with thick black eyeliner.

  “Dheeraj, I have my reservations about the evil spirits,” Anjali
blurted.

  “Out of the blue? You’ve made her look like one of those evil spirits,” he said playfully running his finger on the baby’s cheek to wipe off a streak of dark liner.

  Anjali pulled back from him. “Don’t wipe off her eyeliner, the black will protect her.”

  Dheeraj knew Anjali was up to something and didn’t want to push her further. “What happened to our cute baby?”

  Anjali ignored his comments as they went down the stairs. She was impressed with Seema that she didn’t jump on the bandwagon with Dheeraj about the way she put black eyeliner on the baby.

  Anjali waited as Dheeraj opened the car door for her and turned to look at Seema. “We won’t put eyeliner on her every day, it’s just for today.” She smiled when Seema looked relieved.

  Dheeraj reached for Inara from the other end of the seat and placed her in the baby car seat that was placed in the middle. Anjali gathered her long, flowy dress before getting into the SUV.

  Anjali looked at Inara as she fell asleep, the black eyeliner making her eyes look larger.

  “Geetanjali, are you okay?” Dheeraj’s voice made her look up at him.

  “I’m fine. I just don’t like the idea of us taking her where we are taking her.”

  “Why all the black stuff on her face?”

  Anjali took a deep breath. “I don’t want him to see how cute she is.”

  Dheeraj laughed easing the knot in her stomach slightly. “She is still cute… it’s hard to make Inara not look cute.”

  “That’s because you love her. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t think she is cute. All the coal on her face is meant to make people look away.”

  He smiled taking the back of her hand to his lips. “So, this is not a superstitious thing?”

  “No.” Her voice was weak.

  “Baby, what’s wrong?” He continued to plant butterfly kisses on the back of her hand.

  “Dheeraj, I will not be able to bear it if Inara wakes up and smiles at that man. I know he is the biological father and babies have those instincts, but I won’t be able to handle it…” Her words were lost in a sob as she fought her emotions.

  “We will do what’s right for her. Don’t look so worried.” He cupped her cheek with his hand.

  “I feel like kicking myself for suggesting this whole idea,” she growled.

  “This is a good idea. My lawyer said that as well. Keeping her from him would only make the panel develop sympathy for that animal.”

  “Thirty minutes, Dheeraj. That’s all he gets, and he doesn’t get to touch her.”

  Dheeraj nodded, and she knew he had similar apprehensions about the meeting they were about to have with Raghav, the biological father of their child.

  Chapter 18

  “Dheeraj, let’s go back. I don’t have a good feeling about this meeting,” Anjali pleaded as the SUV stopped outside the prison walls for the final security check. Dheeraj’s face was as cold as stone, and she knew he was feeling worse than she was about the meeting, but she could not contain her worry. She placed a trembling hand on his shoulder in hopes of comforting him, but he did not move or turn to look at her. He had his eyes trained on the tall metal gates that were being opened to let their vehicle into the facility.

  When the SUV came to a stop, Anjali sat in the car waiting for Dheeraj to get out of the car. From the way he sat in his seat, the ticking pulse at his neck and the clench in his jaw, Anjali knew it was a lot harder for him, and she felt guilty about suggesting the meeting and also for not being able to help him in the situation.

  Anjali finally gathered some courage to speak. “Dheeraj, let’s not prolong this anymore. That man just needs to see her, and we should leave. It is not worth doing anything to him to…”

  Dheeraj finally turned to look at her. “However much I want to kill that man for what he did to my sister, I want him to live and pay for what he did… and I want to be with you and our children.”

  Anjali let out a laugh, glad to see the shift in his mood that lifted a lot of weight off her shoulders.

  “You should hold Inara,” she said looking at Dheeraj.

  “Sure. I was going to help with the bags.” He winked.

  Anjali held Inara’s bag and watched as Dheeraj gingerly picked up the sleeping baby from the car seat into his arms. He gently draped the blanket over his shoulder before placing her cheek to his chest and holding her to him protectively.

  Anjali watched as Dheeraj looked at the sleeping child with pure affection in his eyes. Something flipped in her stomach, and her heart started to race in response to the beautiful sight. She smiled to herself realizing how the reason for her attraction to the man shifted from his scorching good looks to the love in his eyes toward their child.

  “You look nice holding Inara like that,” she whispered running her arm around him, enjoying the softness of his suit jacket on her arm. He looked stunning as always in a crisp dress shirt paired with dark wash jeans and a suit jacket to tie it together, but he looked irresistible holding the sleeping baby with care.

  Dheeraj chuckled looking at her. “I still can’t believe you put all this eyeliner on Inara.”

  She smiled to herself trying to keep happy thoughts close to her knowing they were going to be attending an unpleasant meeting.

  Anjali followed Dheeraj into the building that looked to be under renovation. A police officer led them down a long, open hallway to a group of people standing outside what looked like a conference room with a separation wall.

  “Hello, Dheeraj. How are you?” A man approached them.

  “I’m good, Mr. Singh. Hope you are doing well. This is my wife, Geetanjali,” Dheeraj said and turned to look at her. “He has been working on the adoption paperwork for months now.

  The older man shook hands with Anjali. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Varma.”

  “Likewise.” Anjali was smiling on the outside but was a nervous wreck on the inside mostly because of what Dheeraj was going to feel when he sees Raghav.

  “What’s the arrangement, Mr. Singh? I personally do not want to be in the same room as him,” Dheeraj stated adamantly.

  “Dheeraj, this is important. The adoption panel will not be in the same room with you, but they will be in the observation room.”

  “Does he know about this arrangement?”

  “Yes. The panel wants to be fair to both parties,” his lawyer said softly.

  “Where will you be?” Dheeraj sounded impatient.

  “No one other than a couple of police officers are allowed in the room with you and Raghav.”

  “Okay, let’s get started. Why are we waiting?” Dheeraj looked at his watch.

  “Raghav is getting ready, and his lawyer requested some extra time,” Mr. Singh said in a hushed voice.

  “I don’t care. We agreed to a time, and if he is not here on time, that eats into the thirty minutes he has. Get the meeting started.” Dheeraj was loud enough, and one of the men who was with the panel hurried down the hallway.

  Mr. Singh turned to look at the crowd. “I think we can save some time if we all go take our places for the meeting.”

  Anjali clung to Dheeraj as she followed him into a brightly lit room with two walls made of mirrored glass and the other two walls were gray with no windows. She wondered if the people on the panel were on the other side of the wall. A table was set in the center with a few chairs around the table.

  Two women in police uniforms stood to one side of the room, and the police officer who let them in shut the door behind him and stood with his back to the door. Anjali’s eyes scanned the room and spotted the numerous cameras covering every inch of that room.

  Dheeraj stood next to the table holding their sleeping baby, and Anjali stood by him, silently, her cheek to his arm as they waited. More than a few minutes passed, and an eerie feeling started to settle over her, and she hugged his arm tightly.

  “Baby, everything will be okay. Don’t worry. Inara will be ours, forever.”

  A
njali’s eyes welled with tears. “Dheeraj, I cannot live without her. I am okay for us not to have children of our own, but she…” Her voice trailed off when she heard an authoritative knock on the door. She pulled her hand over her face to quickly wipe off the moisture that had gathered in her eyes.

  Anjali stood next to Dheeraj, half her body hidden behind him, one arm wrapped around him, holding onto him for strength. The man she was about to meet was a complete stranger to her, and yet she felt disgusted to look at him—a man who abandoned his injured, pregnant wife and unborn child. She lowered her eyes and looked at the sleeping baby and hoped she would stay asleep the entire time.

  “Raj, my man… how are you?” The sound of metal on metal and a male’s voice cracked through the silence in the room, and Anjali felt Dheeraj’s body freeze. She took a deep, shaky breath and patted him on his back in an attempt to calm him down.

  Anjali could not get herself to look up when Raghav continued to talk. “So, this is the woman who cracked through your stone wall. She is beautiful but not as beautiful as your sister. No woman is more beautiful than my late wife, and the only one to inherit that kind of beauty would be my daughter.”

  Dheeraj did not move or say a word but kept looking in Raghav’s direction as the police officer removed the shackles that held the man’s hands together to chain him to one of the chairs in the room.

  “I am here to see my daughter, and do I still need to be bound like this?” Raghav growled.

  “Rules are rules, and you agreed to these rules, sir,” one of the women in police uniform stated.

  “What rules? Do you know he is the son of the finance minister of the country? He doesn’t deserve this treatment,” a woman wailed, and Anjali looked up when she heard a woman’s voice, and that’s when she noticed the older man and woman who had accompanied Raghav.

  “Mamma, stop the nonsense. You will be quiet if you want to hold your granddaughter,” Raghav warned turning back to look at his mother, and it was at that moment Anjali looked at the man Dheeraj despised.

  Raghav had a thick bandage on his wrist, and she wondered if he slit his wrist to end his life. He was in thick, white cotton clothes and looked healthy, guiltless, and free of sadness.