Ariana's schemes
Ariana had been observing Mahira and Elena's growing bond, fueling her jealousy. That night Ariana waited for Mahira to drop Elena as usual in order to orchestrate her plan.
ARIANA'S POV
I am sick and tired of trying to impress this fucked up family. I only married Thane for his wealth. It took me three years to make my plan work. Im not going to let Mahira and Elena ruin that for me. Mother in law already likes me, Thane has no problem with me,in fact his whole family loves me. I need to get rid of Mahira but first I must kill that old hag, Alf in order to get Thane's inheritance. Once Alf dies,all the wealth will be passed on legally to Thane then I will simply manipulate or even poison Thane.
End of Ariana's POV
Mahira brought Elena back home as usual.
"Fairy, please come with me, I want to introduce you to my daddy,mom said he would be here tonight."
Mahira tried refusing but Elena convinced her to accompany her. The whole family was sitting in the dining room. Thane's cousins, relative's, uncle's everyone was there. They were all gracefully dressed in luxury clothes just for dinner. Elena immediately let go of Mahira's hand and ran to hug her father. Mahira looked at herself and felt completely embarrassed and out of place with her yellow saree. She turned around prepared to leave quietly but Elena wasn't going to let her go away so easily.
"Fairy... where do you think you are going? I haven't introduced you yet. Only Sofia mommy, brother Thane and witch Ariana know you, I am yet to introduce you to grandma and the rest of the family."
Mahira didn't want to meddle in their family affairs so she tried making a reasonable excuse.
" Elena...uhm actually..... I can't stay. It's a family occasion, I wouldn't want to meddle or interfere with your...."
Mahira's sentence was cut off by Thane's grandmother.
" I've heard a lot about you young lady. But I won't make the mistake of judging you from what other people think about you. Join us, my granddaughter seems to like you so much. Come on."
Mahira bowed her head as she walked to the dinner table. The only empty sit was the one next to Thane so she had no choice but to sit there.
Alf " tell me dear, what do you do for a living?"
Mahira nearly choked on the food that was in her mouth.
Alf " Ooh please, im sorry. Feel free to speak to me dear,im not like them."
One of Thane's cousins speak up
Rose " Grandma why would you want to treat this obsessive stalker like family hmm. You know she made your grandson's life miserable. She doesn't even deserve to.....AAAH!"
Elena threw an orange at Rose which hit Rose's head.
" Cousin,the last time I checked grandmother was talking to fairy,not to you. I suggest you keep quiet."
Mahira stood up and took her bag.
" Grandmother, I don't think I should be here, like I said,this is a family occasion and I shouldn't be here. Your family is...."
Alf cut her sentence short.
" Young lady, I'm the one who suggested you stay. Im the eldest in this house,my orders are always followed."
The old lady looked at her seriously which sent shrivers down her spine. Mahira sat down quietly.
Alf " Young lady what's your name? Feel free to answer all my questions.' Honestly '."
Mahira " Grandma actually my name is Mahira Riley."
Alf " Tell me about yourself, everything."
All eyes where on Mahira which made her feel uncomfortable but she answered regardless.
" Grandma my hobbies are reading and writing. I love food. My weaknesses are my loved ones. I want to work in the film industry as a film director and scriptwriter."
Alf " Do you have anyone you would like to be your life partner?"
Mahira slowly looked at Thane and looked down as her plate.
Rose " Grandmother, you know that this woman is a slut. She is obviously after Ariana's husband. She is such a..."
Elena " Mind your language cousin! That's my fairy you are talking about. I don't like it."
Ariana " Elena sweetie. A woman who has eyes for a married man is called a homewrecker. This woman right here tried to seduce my husband and make his life miserable which means she's a bitch."
Rose "I agree sister in law."
Sofia " Mother, inviting this woman was a mistake. Now look,the family is not comfortable with her."
Ariana "Grandmother she is trying to use Elena to steal the wealth of this family."
Mahira had enough and stood up angirly hitting her hand's against the table.
" Enough Ariana! Im not that kind of woman. I love Elena just like my own child and I'd never use her for my own benefit. Im not like that. You are the one who wants to destroy Thane's whole life. What do you...."
Alf " Shut up! Keep quiet. Listen here Mahira ,go to the kitchen and make some Indian dessert please. Elena told me that you have good cooking skills for indian cruisine."
Mahira " Okay grandmother".
Mahira made kheer and gajar ka halwa . She dished it up in small bowl's for everyone. She had to get pistachios from the storeroom so she left the desserts in the kitchen. Ariana went into the kitchen and put poison in one of the desserts. Her plan was to blame Mahira for Alf's death.
Ariana " Ooh, I thought you had left. Let me help you with serving everyone."
Mahira didn't think much about Ariana's sudden kindness. Ariana served Alf the desert that had poison. Despite not liking Mahira everyone enjoyed the dessert and complimented her cooking skills. After finishing the dessert, Alf started gasping for breath. The poison had already started it's effect. Sofia immediately called the family doctor. Their doctor examines Alf and states that Alf was poisoned and if she had taken in any liquid she could've died. Her health was stabilized. Ariana was dissappointed that Alf was still alive. Thane turned to look at Mahira and it made sense to him because only after Alf ate Mahira's dessert did she start showing effects of food poisoning.
" It's you isn't it."
He strides to where Mahira was standing and slapped her.
" It's you who tried to kill my grandmother. How could you stoop so low huh? Is that why you gladly made dessert. You tried to poison my grandmother."
Mahira" no I didn't I..."
She was silenced by another slap on her cheek by Ariana.
"How could you stoop so low Mahira? Don't you know that Thane can't live without his grandmother? How could you try to murder her?"
Mahira sobs" honestly I didn't. I made kheer and gajar ka halwa fir everyone, I didn't even...."
She was slapped again by Ariana.
"Shut up you witch. I should've known. It was you. It's all your fault. I can't believe it. I knew you were evil but I didn't think that you would do this to grandmother."
Mahira" I didn't poison anyone.... I....."
She was slapped again with greater impact. Mahira's cheeks were on fire. She bowed her head in tear's then looked up again to try and defend herself.
Ariana" I need you to leave this house and never come back."
Thane" No! She won't be punished that way. The law will punish her for attempted murder. I'll make sure she ends up in jail because a murderer shouldn't be left roaming around freely."
Ariana volunteered to call the police
( Wow! This turned out better. Although that old hag didn't die, I'm going to get rid of this Mahira once and for all.)
Ariana thought to herself as she called the police. Mahira kneeled down in front of Elena holding Elena's shoulders.
" Elena please, please....tell them..tell them that I didn't poison grandmother....tell them that it wasn't...."
Once again she was silenced but this time by Elena's slap. More than the pain of the slap, Mahira felt her heart being squeezed. As she looked into Elena's eye's she only saw anger.
" How could you Mahira...huh... how could you? "
Elena's hand's were trembling and her eyes filled with tear's.
"Mahira I trusted you.... I... I con.... considered you my mom and you... you just come home and decide to poison my grandmother."
The police officers arrive.
Police "Mahira Riley, you are under arrest for the attempted murder of Alf Carson. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do will be used against you in court."
Mahira looked at Elena in disbelief. Her face was swollen and her eyes too due to crying. As the police handcuffed her and drag her out. Elena was heartbroken by the scene. She fell on her knees and cried bitterly.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO,"
Her elder brother Jordan, and her cousin Zack hugged her and comforted her. Mahira was heartbroken. She had not expected for something like that to happen to her. She hadn't expected that everyone would turn against her. What hurt her the most was the way Elena accused her of poisoning Alf Carson. She spent three nights in prison. A woman officer visited the police station for inspection.
Policewoman " Hey, what was she accused of? Poor girl. She looks so innocent."
Policeman " She was arrested under charge's of attempted murder. Don't be fooled by her innocent looking face. She tried to poison the elder or the Carson family. She's greedy." He accused as he munched down his hamburger.
The policewoman turned to question Mahira.
" Hey girl, Why would you do something like that hmm? You have your whole life ahead of you but now you will spend it in prison. Don't you think that's kind of stupid."
Mahira stood up and walked to the woman.
"What people see is what they believe. I made dinner that night but I didn't try to murder anyone. I was wrongfully accused."
Policewoman" every criminal claim's to be innocent".
Mahira" im not a criminal, I was misunderstood."
Mahira went back to her cell bed and curled herself in a corner
ELENA'S POV
It's been three days since grandma was poisoned. I haven't heard from Fairy. My brothers have been taking care of Alf. I didn't dare to go see her because I didn't want to. When those police officers took fairy away, I was completely shattered. I really didn't mean to judge and misunderstand her. I was angry. But I regret it now. Fairy will be sent to life imprisonment or even 20 year's for attempted murder. If she is proven guilty I am going to loose her. I don't know what to do but....
" Elena, grandmother wants to see you. It's been three days since she regained consciousness but you didn't even visit her. Grandma wants to talk to you. "
Brother Thane informed me. I took deep breath and walked to grandmother's bedroom.
End of Elena's POV