Chapter 16

Simrat vigorously wiped her tears as she sprinted along the shoreline, even as the morning breeze blew her unruly curls all over her face. For over a decade she had been relentless at her job pursuing it with a passion no one had heard of. She had become an integral part of SOP’s undercover division. But not many knew the true cause of her diligence. She had given up her prime with a sole aim… she had only one target for which she had slogged all these years and now that she was close to achieving it, her heart was playing footsie…

She couldn’t contain her attraction to Anshuman. She had made a similar mistake in the past for which she was still paying. She had promised herself and her mother, this was the finale after which she would resign from the SOP and take up a desk job. Things were heating up and she was the only one Manpreet had. She couldn’t endanger herself. She had just lost her guard that evening and was caught unawares by Anshuman. She had her target on sight and their mission would have probably been on the last track. But Anshuman had ruined it… nonetheless the enemy was now alerted and they would do anything to protect themselves. The worst part was SOP still didn’t have the know-how of what the enemy wanted. She and her team were to find out. She had been waiting up last night to warn Anshuman about the impending danger but things had spiraled out of control and to her chagrin she had loved every bit of it.

But in the morning, reality had sunk. Anshuman was an honorable man… he would never forgive her if he knew what she had done or what she was hiding from him. He was already attached to Manpreet and vice-versa. She couldn’t imagine her life without Manpreet and she couldn’t afford to lose him to Anshuman. But watching Manpreet bloom a little in the last few days she didn’t know if hiding him was the right way to protect him. She had failed as a mother all these years…

As she entered the house in the clove she decided she would come clean before Anshuman before things went South. The man was perceptive and would find out the truth sooner or later. He was obsessed with Meera and would go to any length to find out the facts. The idiot didn’t even know he was teaming up with the enemy. But she couldn’t warn him without the risk of revealing everything and messing up their mission. Her arm still hurt where he had accidentally hurt her. With great difficulty, she had dragged him away from the location to her colleagues… if they had been caught by the enemy it would have been the end of everything. The SOP by rule would have disowned her. As she undressed in her bathroom and stared at her abdominal scar in the full-length mirror her eyes filled. The ever-strong Angie who was a lethal machine when in her element, was now all mush inside. That bastard Haider… had ruined her.

She had been so naïve … in her mid-twenties and a trainee with the Punjab police when the asshole had befriended her during some passport verification process. She had been attracted to the charismatic personality who had shown a great deal of interest in a simple girl next door… Simrat had stars in her eyes and been swept in the wave…

She had excellent reflexes and had caught the eye of the Crime branch which was recruiting for the SOP. She had been thrilled but due to the NDA, she couldn’t disclose it to Rehmat. He had been gone for weeks during their 6-month-old affair but being busy herself she hadn’t suspected a thing. He took great care of her ailing father too whenever he was in town and had bowled over her family despite religious differences. But then tragedy had struck multi-folds. She was very new in the SOP and they had received intel about the possible sabotage on the Army battalions in Kashmir. The SOP was being deployed to get into the details. She was among the three field operatives who visited the high tension sites the attack was expected. There was no trace of anything else besides what the preliminary investigations had found out.

She had an amazing instinct just like her boss Rewa Nagarajan. She wasn’t convinced withg their findings and had secretly gone to one particularly suspicious site the same night… She was shivering in the cold night trying to find out what she could amid the piling snow and scattered houses in the vicinity. It was then she had seen a  movement in the dark corner towards the house she had suspected. The man had moved towards the house and tried to pick the lock. She had then shown the high power light suddenly and rushed towards him. But he had turned towards the light just then and she had almost dropped it in shock when she saw he was Haider. But he didn’t flinch and attacked her continuously instead before she could get out of the shock and left her for dead.

The uproar roused the neighbors who took her to the hospital and though she foiled the impending attack on the army battalion at that particular time, she was a mess with multiple stab wounds to the abdomen. She had lost the ability to carry a child in the future… She later got to know Haider was a noted terrorist on Interpol’s wanted list and a master of disguise. He probably knew she was with the SOP but had lost interest in her since she didn’t share any intel with him.. The double whammy struck when her father passed soon after and her younger sister Manpreet was diagnosed with a brain tumor. After getting out of the hospital, the SOP still offered her a spot after her recuperating which was huge, given her history with Rehmat. She had been a fool to not go with her instincts… She had decided to first visit her younger sister in Pune where she studied and look after her as the young girl wanted to give her final exams. It was her dream despite facing the grim reality that awaited her. It was there she had met her sister’s best friend who could pass for her twin… the young and pretty Meera who was a fabulous artist. She had heard of Meera often from her sister. The girls were very close and willing to go the extra mile for each other. But something told her all was not right with Meera and the young woman was not just upset because of her friend’s tumor but there was more.

One day, when she returned from a session of chemotherapy with Manpreet, Meera had disappeared. Meera barely spoke to anyone so no one knew about her whereabouts. It was then Simrat had seen the pregnancy test kit in their dustbin in the hostel room which she shared with Manpreet and Meera. She had shuddered at the thought wondering how Meera would be facing the turmoil alone. Meera had told her about her archaic family and how only her older brother Anshuman supported her. But at the time Simrat didn’t have his contact as well to inform him.

After about 2 months Meera called Manpreet who was sinking and barely in her senses. Simrat had chosen to stay in Pune waiting for the results hoping her sister would live to see the graduation certificate. She answered Meera’s call. Meera was hysterical saying she was in Goa near Bagaa and she was in danger from her husband named Rehmat…Meera had then taken Manpreet along and rushed to Goa. Manpreet’s last coherent speech was a request for her to save Meera at any cost. Simrat knew she was taking a huge risk but there was no time left. She had struggled for a couple of days to find out about Meera’s whereabouts. Baga was a huge place and she didn’t have the contacts. But she was well trained and had managed… Meera had only slipped the information that she was now Shifa Begum after marriage. Simrat had admitted Manpreet to a center for the terminally ill and had rushed to save Meera.

But by the time she had reached the warehouse where Meera was kept it was kind of late. The woman had lost it… Meera was tied and bruised, probably beaten up. There was a huge blow to her head which fell limp over her frail body. She had dragged her out of the place and taken her to the center where Manpreet was admitted. She couldn’t contact anyone in law enforcement because Rehmat sounded dangerous and he would find out sooner and kill all of them. Though they tried to treat Meera, she was as good as brain-dead. But they decided to help the baby survive. Simrat pledged everything she had to pay for the expenses and to shut their mouths. She then dragged an almost dead Manpreet with the help of an employee at the center and shed tears as she undressed her surgical wound on the head. Tying her sister to the same chair she bid her adieu… As she was escaping from the place she had a glimpse of the man and his group who had come to the warehouse. She had barely made it outside and when she looked from her hideout she was shocked out of her wits… it was Haider alias Rehmat. She then waited for a while to see them bring out a bundled-up body in a white cloth… the assholes hadn’t realized it was the wrong person. Simrat had a tough time containing her tears and her heart cringed as she saw them move away with the almost dead body of her terminally ill comatose sister.

So Haider was the bastard behind all this. She had decided to reveal everything to SOP… when she opened her sisters’ photo gallery… Meera had sent a  grainy picture to Manpreet about 4 months ago… and she looked happy. And the guy with her was not Haider… he was older and someone else. Oh God, What on earth was happening…? She had then shared all details with the SOP. She had decided to stay in Goa to watch over Meera and had got her mother too. The SOP had entrusted her to new projects based out of Goa. To everyone else, it was because her sister had passed in Goa but for Simrat it was because of Meera…

Finally, tiny Manpreet came into this world four months later by C-Section and had to spend a month in the NICU… while Meera was still in a coma.

Today, as Simrat emerged from the bathroom and looked at Manpreet’s still sleeping form, her heart filled with love for the boy. He was a living epitome for her sister… a living proof of Meera’s and Manpreet’s deep friendship. If only Anshuman could know the truth… but not before she found out about the man in that picture with Meera… Manpreet’s biological father…

©priyagole. No part of the story can be copied or shared anywhere without the consent of the writer.