𝖉𝖎𝖘𝖎𝖑𝖑𝖚𝖘𝖎𝖔𝖓 | ✓

𝔱𝔴𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔶 𝔬𝔫𝔢

Omkara laid beside his wife who was complaining about the soup he had prepared. "Omkaraji, please," she pouted. "I don't like this bitter soup."

Omkara rolled his eyes, "Gauri, be quiet and drink it."

"You're so annoying!" Gauri shook her head.

Omkara smiled softly before wrapping an arm around Gauri, "I was so scared." He placed a kiss on her temple.

"I'm fine," Gauri smiled before it dropped. "Jiji——" she shuddered. "I was so scared that something would happen to her."

"It did," Omkara reminded her softly. "but she's fine now."

Gauri didn't bother to add the details of what Daksh had wanted to do to her—— the things Annika had decided to shoulder instead of Gauri—— her over protective sister. As she lay her head on his chest, she couldn't get rid of the gut feeling that the secret behind Kalyani Mills' fire incident was much more sinister than they had anticipated.

<>•<>

Bhavya sobbed, bringing her knees up to her chest. The shower overhead drenched her clothes, and she shivered as the cold water ran down her body. She had wanted a family to love so badly—— and she had found that. She had thought the Oberois were loving despite their socioeconomic status. They had treated her like their own.

And yet—— they had turned out to be the worst.

Bhavya had feared Annika's suspicions being proven correct—— that the Oberois were responsible for her parents' deaths. Bhavya had hoped, desperately, that that would turn out to be false.

We killed Harsh and Sara.

We framed Raghav and tampered with the brakes.

She gazed up at the ceiling. She hadn't even caught all of what they had been saying.

Standing up with a sigh. She grabbed a towel, frowning as her phone pinged with a notification: 'Meet me at 10 pm in KM. Come alone. tell no one. Or your husband dies.'

Bhavya stumbled: Rudra was currently at the police station, trying to figure our how Daksh had gotten bail. He had said it would take a while for him to return.

As Bhavya swiped the notification, to reply, the message disappeared. She called the number until she heard the dial tone stating that it was unreachable.

She received a video of her husband walking towards his own car, when a sudden car passed by, causing him to spill his cup of coffee. She watched as Rudra cursed the driver.

Another text popped up: 'Trailer tha. If you ignore us, we will kill him. Tick Tock Bhavya Pratap Rathore'

<>•<>

Shivaay glanced up from his phone as his wife stirred. Shutting off the device, he rushed to sit by her side, grabbing her hands, and placing a hand on her cheek. "Annika, are you alright?" Annika blinked, before placing her head on his chest. Shivaay felt like he had just learnt how to breathe after decades of suffocation. He ran his fingers through her hair, breathing in the scent of jasmine and honey. Placing a kiss on her temple, he looked at her with a loving gaze, "You scared me."

Annika sighed, "I did what I had to, to save Gauri."

"That doesn't mean it was right," Shivaay sighed.

"It was either me or Gauri," Annika protested. "You would've done the same if it had been your brothers."

Shivaay sighed, knowing he couldn't argue. "Do you want to talk about it?" He asked after a moment's silence. He watched, with a tightening fist as Annika closed her eyes, like she was in pain—— which he knew to be the case—— and shook her head.