𝖉𝖎𝖘𝖎𝖑𝖑𝖚𝖘𝖎𝖔𝖓 | ✓

𝔢𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔢𝔢𝔫

Annika frowned in confusion as her husband parked the car in front of a house made of mud with a tin roof. She looked at him quizzically as he opened the door of the car and offered her his hand. "Shivaay, ye hum kahan aaye hain?"

"Come on," he ignored her question and led her to the door which was bolted shut, with a heavy key hanging from it. "Here," he handed her an ornate key, and she nearly stumbled in shock as the letters SST, engraved in one corner in the same handwriting as the one in the lampshade in the store room in Oberoi Mansion where she'd found the key with SSR on it.

"Shivaay," she swallowed, a feeling of dread settling in her stomach, as she turned towards her husband. "What is this?" She held up the key which felt way more than it should've in her hands.

"Open the lock, Annika," he merely replied.

As she did as told, her eyes fell on the white letterings of the names Annika+Chutki+Harsh+Sara Trivedi. She placed a hand over her open mouth as tears rolled down her cheeks. She looked back at her husband who smiled softly as he nodded. She slowly unbolted the lock and pushed the door open. The creaking sound brought back childhood memories.

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"Annika!" A seven-year-old Annika rushed to her mother who patted her cheek. "Sweetheart, go and help your father!"

"With what?" She asked, confused. What could she, a child, possibly have to help her father with, that her mother couldn't?

"You father needs to fix the damn door," her mother threw a glare at her father who had just entered their house.

Harshvardhan Trivedi rolled his eyes fondly as he closed the door behind him, making sure to not have the door creak as much as it usually did. "Hello meri Chaand," he placed a kiss on her cheek making Annika fake a gag.

Chutki, who had been sitting on a play mat surrounded by pillows and toys, looked up and placed a hand over her eyes, before following her older sister's lead and sticking out her tongue.

"Niku," her mother chided her daughter, before pushing back her husband by forcing him away with a finger on his chest. "Back off. I'm still angry at you?"

"Why?" He knelt in front of her and grabbed both her hands in his before kissing the back of her palms.

"Eurgh," Annika stood up and walked back towards her sister, blocking Chutki's view. "You don't have to see that Chutki." Annika shuddered, "You're too young for that."

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Annika was brought out of the trip down memory lane by her husband's soft voice in her ear. She wiped away the tears that rolled down her cheeks and turned to her husband. She picked up a photo frame of her father and her sister with her. Her mother had insisted on clicking the picture instead of being in it.

Her mother had spent hours, painting the background for the photo. Annika looked around the room, smiling softly as she remembered how her parents had a fight, with Annika on her father's team and her sister on her mother's.

"Shivaay?" She whispered softly.

"Yes, darling?" He hummed, placing a kiss on her temple.