Her gold jewelry sparkled in the shimmer of the fairy lights ,she oozed wealth as she walked around the quint gathering mingling with the family.
Her kitten heels echoing as she walked away from the family towards the hallway.
“How many time have I told you not to contact me on this number?” Pinki hissed turning to see whether there was anyone in the vicinity of the stairs.
“Well, we lost her” the out of breath man replied.
“What!”,Pinki almost shouted but quickly got her composure back.
“Turns out that she had help getting away.” That made Pinki furious, her expression hardened at the thought of Anika getting away after weeks of careful planning.
“How?” She asked impatiently to the unknown man on the other line.
“Well…” The man tried to explain when she interjected,”This is not what I pay you for ….. ” she quickly cut the line when Dadi came over to call her.
A few days later
Shivaay took on a deep breath and turned a couple of pages. He summarized through the loads of information in the various papers.
Suddenly he clutched the paper in his hands tightly until his knuckles turn white.
“She has a sister.”
“Chutki” he said aloud as he relived the many nights when her nightmares plagued her and she woke up in tears.
He wiped at the tears that fell on the name on the piece on paper,smudging the name to an unreadable blotch.
The drive home went by in a blink of an eyes as Shivaay sped home,eager to hold his wife and tell her everything once he sees her, but then he reminded himself of the circumstance;the fact that she hated to talk about her past.
Stepping out of his car her let out a sigh of relief as he couldn’t wait to see Anika.
Meanwhile inside the Oberoi Mansion, Anika had arranged a small get-together for Shivaay for him to take a break from his hectic work programme and catch up with some friends.
One.
The room went dark.
Two.
There was heavy breathing.
Three.
She could hear her heartbeat getting faster and faster.
Four.
The doors opened.
Five.
Then………
“Surprise! ” Everyone shouted, the word caught Shivaay off guard.
At first he was stunned, as he just stood there surveying the room,listening to his close friends and family cheering.
Shivaay cursed under his breath,he knew this could only be his wife’s doing.
When she walked towards him to greet him,he smiled as he linked his hand with hers and dragged her along.
Pinki turned to look at Anika giving her a murderous look of pure hatred,pure evil.
Anika tried to pacify him , “this is just a small party, Shivaay.
It’s a small gathering of friends.” And by small, Anika meant 40 people.
With a wicked grin, she kept quiet making her way through the lobby to their room, with a restless Shivaay leading the way.
Later the evening
Rudra smirked as he took another sip. His brothers burst out laughing, they’d taken his disclosure of going out on many dates, as utter nonsense.
Truth be told he had only been with one woman for the past few months .
Shivaay and Omkara continuously went on with the conversation but Rudra were numbed to it.
Absent-mindedly he watched his hand as he swirled the ice around in the glass.
“I haven’t seen you go out on a date in months ,” Shivaay said.
Across the room a woman in black scanned the room, her eyes double taking and meeting his. She sent him a faint smile and he smiled back at her.
“Two virgin Mojito’s ,” Saumya said forcing Anika to sit with her at the bar.
She eyed the man across the room, the leather-jacketed man ,that was her husband.
Shivaay and Om looked to find Rudra, pausing on the space across the bar that was occupied by Saumya.
They were surprise when they caught the possessive, predatory gaze in their brother’s eyes.
“So she came”..he said.
Saumya almost choked as she found the man who’d been giving her one too many sleepless nights staring at her.
Distractedly, she patted Anika,”I got to go.”
“Wait! What?” Anika said, failing to grab hold of her friend.
Rudra was sick of waiting; he took a step forward just as Saumya left Anika and walked towards the pool.
Wrapping her arms around herself in the chilled night air, she decided to finish her drink by the pool while she gathered the courage to talk to Rudra.
As she extended her arm,to take a sip,her wrist wasl grasped by a much larger, stronger and firmer hand.
Her small, slender fingers wrapped around the glass as his manlier fingers captured her wrist in reaction.
She immediately let go of the glass but Rudra’s grip remained strong.
Her neck snapped up and a fire erupted under her eyelashes.
She twisted her wrist, attempting to break free but Rudra was relentless. “Where have you been!,” he muttered.
“Around” she answered sarcastically.
Rudra lifted his hand and stroked her bottom lip with his thumb,smudging her red lipstick.
“Did you go to Reyhan.” He continued.
“No!” She replied angrily.
“So why did you leave Saumya?” Rudra finally let out the question that was giving him sleepless nights for weeks now.
Saumya faked a smile, although her heart was breaking. “Because you don’t love me like,I love you.” She responded, watching his face go pale.
“You don’t need to worry about me,Rudra.
I will be fine.
I understand you don’t find me attractive.
I see how you look at other girls.
You haven’t even told your family about us, yet.
What if they arrange a marriage for you?
What will happen to me?
I know if I leave,you can go on with your life.
I just came tonight because I wanted to tell you myself” Saumya paused,squeezing her eyes tightly.
“My things are packed.
I’m going to stay with my mother until I can find a place of my own.
You don’t need to worry about me or the baby.
I can take care of the both of us.” The last part slipped out before Saumya could stop it.
She wiped her tears and walked to her room leaving Rudra in a state of shock.