the following morning, naina was discharged from the hospital. initially, she had planned to leave for paris the following week and so she was going to stay with her father and rohit at her house but, after nirmala made naina promise she wouldn’t leave, she stayed back and went to the chauhan house as if everything was normal. naina, however, went back for nirmala and no one else. karan didn’t know about this and thought naina had agreed to come back for him but he was about to learn the opposite soon enough. at the house, naina was acting completely normal.
dadaji: naina, we’ve decided that for the next few weeks it’s better if you stayed in the room only because the doctors also advised a lot of rest.
naina: okay, but can i eat lunch with all of you today?
sandhya: yes, but only today. after that you’ll go to your room and rest. i spoke to rohit as well and don’t worry about work either, he’s got it all handled.
nk: he’s a real life saver, isn’t he?
naina: naina doesn’t function without rohit – he’s a real life saver.
karan felt something odd, jealousy perhaps?
meghna: naina and rohit don’t function without each other, it’s not just you.
kunal: what do you mean?
meghna: naina needs rohit for the bigger things, you know? but rohit, he depends on naina for the smallest things. in fact, till today, naina still calls the cook at home and tells her what to make for rohit everyday with like reminders of his likes and dislikes in food.
karan: well it looks like it’s time to find rohit a wife who’ll do all that for him, no?
naina was going to ignore karan when she decided she’ll give him a reply instead.
naina: don’t worry about it, he can find his own wife.
naina said that hinting at how his father had to fix their marriage in such an unfortunate way, instead of him being able to look for his own wife. karan was going to say something but instead, he decided to let it go because today was the day he was going to tell naina his feelings and he didn’t want to ruin the day with an argument. after lunch, naina went to the room with karan. naina was going to go sit on the sofa when karan stopped her.
karan: naina, bed.
naina: what?
karan: you need to rest so go on the bed.
naina: no, i’ll rest on the sofa.
karan: why are you arguing with me on this? what’s the difference?
naina: why are you so annoying? why can’t you just let me be?
karan didn’t say anything but instead, he picked naina up and put her on the bed. naina didn’t say anything, she just looked at him – trying so hard not to smile at him or to just hug him and pour her heart out. while putting her on the bed, they looked at each other so intensely that after she was already lying there, he sat next to her and they were still lost in each others eyes. meghna and kunal then came in and broke the stare.
meghna: oh, i’m so sorry. kunal, wrong timing.
kunal: i didn’t think they’d do it in the day, not bad karan.
karan: bhai,
naina: what’s up?
meghna: well, we thought that you might get bored alone so we’d sit with you for sometime.
kunal: yes, you know saali sahiba, i hardly know anything about you.
naina: um, okay. what do you wanna know?
meghna and kunal sat on the bed and karan was still sitting next to naina. naina had her face rested on a pillow while she spoke to them.
kunal: tell me about school, where you went, what you used to do, everything!
meghna: yes! i wanna know too, i hardly know anything about your school life before coming here naina.
naina: um, okay. i stayed with my mom from the first to fourth grade, dad was in another city for work reasons and mainly so that he wouldn’t have to stay with her. i had to stay with her for what was the worst four years of my life. it was absolute hell. uh, school was whatever honestly. i hardly went, was always late. then my dad came and one day he saw her about to hit me – that’s when he took me and i stayed with him from then on. after finishing the fourth grade, we shifted to the city where he worked and i went to this new school where actually most of the people there were friends from pre-school. honestly, those few years were very different for me.
karan: how?
kunal: yeah, what do you mean by different?
naina: i changed a lot those few years from the fifth grade to the eighth grade. i was more open, i wasn’t as shy anymore and a lot of drama happened with friends, i tried out a lot of new things. eighth grade was the best, though. i joined a play, which was till today the best thing i’ve done. i had my first boyfriend, who dad absolutely hated! haha it was fun though.
meghna: wait, boyfriend? and, dad knew about him?
naina: oh yea, he knew about all the guys i liked. i’d go home and tell him about this new guy and how he was so cute. i could tell him anything.
kunal: what happened after that? i mean, school wise, i know you came here but?
naina: i got into online school, because we were shifting so much. ma didn’t want me to disturb that whole arrangement and i wouldn’t be able to fit in here honestly so i continued doing that and because of the free time i had with online school, i started our company with rohit.
kunal: wow, that’s amazing. after that you went to university here right?
meghna: yes, naina went to university in mumbai.
naina: um actually,
meghna: what?
naina: i mean, i guess it’s okay to tell you now that i didn’t go to university in mumbai.
kunal: you don’t have a university degree?
naina: oh no, i do but it’s from paris.
meghna: what?!
naina: okay calm down, i’ll explain. dad always wanted me to go to a good university and i always wanted to go abroad but money was always an issue. we had money thanks to the company and i spoke to ma and i studied in paris. that’s why i hardly came home – because of the distance.
meghna: wait, so all those paris trips?
naina: i was staying there.
meghna: that’s how you met..?
naina: yes.
kunal: oh, that’s why you wanted to go to paris!
naina: um yea, i know paris so what better place to go.
they continued talking about naina’s life and then naina wanted to know about meghna’s childhood. they spoke for some time before naina went to sleep. after she woke up, it was time for dinner. naina was supposed to eat in the room but karan took her out instead as he had something prepared for his wife in the room. karan had decorated the whole room for naina, for their special night. karan was going to tell naina his feelings, something he never thought he’d do. naina went back to the room to see the room decorated and stood there not knowing what to say.
naina: karan, what is all of this?
karan: it’s for you.
naina: karan, i didn’t come back for you. please don’t stay in a this misunderstanding that i came back for you. i came back for ma.
karan: what do you mean, naina?
naina: karan, one minute you tell me to leave and then the next you tell me you can’t live without me and before i know it, you’ll tell me to leave again. how do i know you said all those things to just get me back here so that no one in the family says anything or just because of the accident?
karan: naina, i love you.
karan finally said it. he finally told naina he loved her. naina sighed and then softened but, not as much that she’d tell him that she felt the same way. naina told karan her feelings, indirectly telling him why she was acting this way.
naina: karan, i’ve been hurt a lot of times and i’ve lost a lot of people but, no one’s hurt me as much as you did when you told me to leave. i can’t go through that again. i’ll stay here but we have no relation anymore.
naina walked pass him, took off her jewellery and went to the bathroom. afterwards, she went out and sat on the sofa.
karan: naina, why are you sleeping on the sofa?
naina: i can’t sleep on a bed with someone i have no relation with.
karan: okay, then at least let me take the sofa. you’re not well, i can’t let you sleep on the sofa with your injuries.
naina: i’ll be fine.
karan: naina, stop arguing with me and get on the bed.
naina: no.
karan: fine, then i’m sleeping in the store room.
naina: what?
karan: if you don’t sleep on the bed, i’ll sleep in the store room.
naina was going to argue but she knew she couldn’t let him do that.
naina: uh, fine.
karan smiled to himself.
karan: (thinking) i know i hurt you a lot and that’s why you’re acting this way. it’s my fault, i know. i’ve hurt you so much that you’d rather stay away from me than stay with me. i promise i’ll change this though, naina. i’ll win you over and i’ll prove that my love for you is not guilt or anything else. i really do love you and i can’t live without you.
the next morning, naina was standing in front of the dressing table trying to put on her mangalsutra when karan woke up and saw her struggling. he got up from the sofa and helped her, naina looked at him – remembering their marriage. once karan helped her, he hugged her from behind, shocking naina.
karan: good morning, love.
naina stood still, not knowing what to do. karan knew she wasn’t giving her anger up but he also knew that this didn’t mean he’d have to stop showering love on her. he was going to shower so much love on her, make her so happy, that she’d forget all her anger. karan smiled and went to shower. he then went to talk to kunal and meghna.
kunal: come in karan, all okay?
meghna: you look worried.
karan: naina’s still upset at me and by that i mean very upset. i don’t know what to do.
kunal: why don’t you try and make her jealous?
karan: no bhai, i want to win her over, i want to prove that i love her. i don’t want to hurt her more or even worse, make her hate me more or get further away from me.
kunal and meghna then sat with karan to plan something for naina. they spent all morning planning. karan had found his perfect proposal plan and he was sure it’d work. naina was going to forgive him soon and he couldn’t wait for that moment.
thank you for reading! i hope you enjoyed how long this chapter was. it was supposed to be quite short but i planned it wrong and needed more stuff going on and so behold, the long chapter haha! we get to know more about naina’s past and soon, you’ll know even more secrets. please comment any scenes you wanna see and your favourite movie! i’d love to know.