Shehnaaz Maniyar: The Girl Shukla Never Noticed🤪🥺 (Completed)

Changing The Last Names🤪

It was evening when she turned onto Sid's street. She parked in front of his house and for a moment just sat behind her steering wheel, too tired and dejected to move.

Finally Shehnaaz garnered enough energy to push open the car door and walk to the front door. She heard the doorbell peal and Venus's suspicious growl before Sidharth opened the door. All he had on was a wet swimsuit. He seemed shocked to see her.

"Hello. Is Rayan here?"

"No."

"Oh." Shehnaaz hadn't thought beyond driving here and seeing Rayan.

"Come in."

It took less energy to do as he said than it did to think of an alternative. Shehnaaz stepped inside and he closed the door. Venus observed her closely then moved forward to nuzzle her knee. Automatically she reached down and patted the animal's head.

"She seems to like you." Sidharth commented, running his hand through his wet hair.

"Venus nearly eats alive every other female."

"She realizes I'm no threat." Then, without giving him any warning, she said

"My Ammi died yesterday."

Sidharth's smile collapsed. He lowered his hand to his side. She watched him swallow. He glanced away then back. "I'm sorry, Shehnaaz. What happened?"

"She had another stroke yesterday morning. The worst yet. I arrived at the hospital just a few minutes after she was brought in. I was with her all day in the ICU."

"All day? Alone? Why didn't you call us?"

"There was no reason to. She never regained consciousness."

"But you were conscious and shouldn't have endured that by yourself."

She shook her head. "The hospital would have made Rayan uneasy. He couldn't say goodbye to Ammi, so his being there would have been obligatory and pointless. It was best this way. She had a very peaceful death. I guess that's the most any of us can hope for. Although," Shehnaaz said, finding it more difficult to speak, "she died as an unhappy woman."

"Shehnaaz."

Sidharth reached for her, taking her narrow shoulders between his strong hands. She resisted, but he stubbornly held on, refusing to let go. Finally Shehnaaz surrendered and let herself be pulled against him. She rested her cheek on his bare damp chest. He plowed the fingers of one hand into her hair. His other moved consolingly up and down her back.

"I'm sorry, Sidharth. So sorry."

"Sorry?" He let her cry quietly for several minutes, then whispered

"Tell me about it."

Shehnaaz sniffed noisily. He'd got her front all wet. His swim trunks had left a large dark patch of wetness on the front of her dress, but she didn't even notice.

"One day this week while I was visiting her, I asked why she'd sent you those letters."

"Did she try to deny it?"

"No. As you guessed, she had wanted to get caught. That's why she put my return address on the envelopes. She said she knew you would track us down."

"How did she know I was Sahir's father?"

"She suspected it all along and said that she would have to be stupid not to know.

Mathematically your affair with Alia fit with the date of Rayan's birth. Then the older Rayan got, the more he grew to look like you."