"What are you doing here?" Swara was stunned to look at Nikhil.
"Surprise! Surprise! One Digital Marketing Company sponsored my work permit. I wanted to inform you but then I thought to keep it as surprise." He took steps towards her.
She could not match her eyes with him.
"Are you not happy?" He tried to hold her hand.
Swara immediately took her hand back feeling his touch.
"Con... Congratulations."
"Come let's go. Let's have some hot coffee. It's so cold here."
"I ... I am getting late. I need to go." Swara tried to escape.
"Late? Come on Swara we are meeting after almost 5 months." He danced his engagement ring in front of her eyes.
'I have to end this drama once and for all.' She raised her eyes to look into his.
"Ok. There is Tim Hortons nearby."
They walked towards the small coffee joint. Nikhil was blabbering something but Swara was lost in her own thoughts.
"What will you have?" They stood in queue.
"I will order for myself."
"Ohh I thought, I will get treat from you."
She reluctantly ordered for both and then came back to corner seat.
"Dark Roast Coffee? Strange? You never liked it." He scrunched his eyes.
Dark Roast Coffee flashed Sanskar's image in front of her eyes bringing beautiful smile.
"Preferences change over the time." She took sip.
"Ok now tell me where are you living? I can move in with you."
"Move in with ME? And why is that?"
"Ohh come on. In your language why to waste money? And as it is we need to save now so we can buy our new house here."
"And what will happen with the house for which I am paying EMIs from last 3 years." She purposefully hid that loan was already repaid by Sanskar.
"Ohh come on just forget it. This is our time to fulfill our dreams."
"You can forget it I can't because my Papa is guarantor for that loan."
"Swara I understand but let's think about our life now. I know, I have been acting like a jerk in past but I couldn't' help it. You were here and I wanted to desperately come here. I was a total mess."
"Our life?" She nodded her head.
"Nikhil let's get to the straight point. I am sorry but it is over for me long back."
"What are you saying?"
"Yes Nikhil, its over. I understand we dreamt to spend life together but in this one year, I have learned a lot. I think, I won't be able to able to match my way of living with you. So, let's call it off."
"You have changed a lot Swara." His eyes turned cold.
"May be yes or may be not... But over this year, I understood what I want from my life. Unfortunately you are not the one what I want"
"Exactly when you have found rich man to satisfy your needs then why will you need me?" Nikhil blurted out taking floor beneath her.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Come on Swara, long back Radhika Aunty had mentioned she haven't seen you in long time where as every time we talked to each other some months back or to your parents you gave perfect excuse to be with her family over weekends. What am I supposed to understand?"
Swara was baffled with his stand.
"You should be thankful to me that I did not tell this to anyone. Else your father..." He smirked.
"Nikhil you are disgusting" she stood up to leave.
"Yes I am disgusting and you are pious soul who kept on betraying me over last one year."
"Betraying you?" She passed ridiculed smile.
"If you are forgetting you were the one who forced me to do contractual marriage with one stranger. You were the one who betted on me to fulfill his dreams."
"That moment only you had lost your right over me. And I did not betray anyone." She fumed with anger.
"So explain where were you on those weekends? With whom you were satisfying your needs? Was he paying you or was it just for free... Was he..." Nikhil could not finish as she gave tight slap.
Her move was unexpected for Nikhil. He looked at her being dumbfound.
Chirpy, bubbly, soft heartened Swara was long gone. This was entire new Swara standing in front of him.
Other people's attention turned towards them. Nikhil felt insulted looking at their intense gaze.
She closed her eyes and one tear drop streamed over her cheeks.
"You are pathetic." She shook her head.
She left without turning back.
"Oops sorry. I was not expecting this" Nikhil heard seductive voice from his back.
"You were right. She has changed a lot." Nikhil gritted his teeth.
"Yes, she snatched my fiancee and now she destroyed your reputation." Serena smirked looking at public.
"I am not going to leave her. She is going to pay for it."
"So its time to bring her truth out." Serena responded devilishly.
"Her contract marriage?"
"Yes, in this way you will settle your scores with her and I hope, my fiancee will have his sanity back."
"What are you going to do?"
"Don't worry, I have my ways. I think you should take rest now. It was long journey for you." Serena confirmed.
Nikhil left from there to the hotel room booked for him by Serena.
"What are you planning?" Ryan asked when Serena slid in side car.
"Let's keep it as surprise."
"I just want to make her face the hell. Because of her I was sacked from by position. Because of her complaint only I am not getting any job." It was Siddhant who had found out everything.
Ryan and Serena had joined hands. It was Siddhant who had grabbed Swara's details and there he found about her so called engagement with Nikhil.
It was not difficult to break Nikhil and made him confess about the their past. His sponsored Nikhil's work permit from his fraudulent company to bring him here in Canada to act as their pawn against Sanskar.
Over the days, it was not news for Siddhant that Swara had become Sanskar's weakness. He was continuously keeping his eyes on them keeping himself hidden.
Siddhant was playing his cards keeping Serena and Ryan on front line.
It was 9:30, Sanskar was still in office busy with his office work. It was after long time he was working till late. From the day Swara started living with him, he used to go to his house on time. But today, his mind was fighting with heart to face her post their heated conversation last night.
'Why can't you understand Swara I cannot stay without you? You have become my lifesaving drug.' He caressed her picture on his mobile.
'I am scared Swara. I know I am becoming un-reasonable. You are confused about us.'
'I don't want to part from you. But I also don't want our relation to be marked as marriage. Marriage is disastrus, I am scared to lose you in it. Why can't we stay as it is hidden from everyone?'
Tear dropped from his eyes to fell on her smiling face.
His gaze went to the time, 'She must be waiting for me.'
He checked his messages, which was showing more than 10 missed calls from Roger and message from him.
'Sir, I saw Nikhil Chaturvedi near Karma office.'
'Sir, Nikhil met Mam.'
'Sir Mam went with him.'
'Sorry Sir, I lost them.'
"Fuck" he cursed himself for getting buried in his work.
He saw her last message, 'I am leaving.'
'Is she leaving me?' Thought left him in flagger basted state.
He ran out of his cabin to reach his home as soon as possible. He kept on dealing her number which was switched off.
He entered in his home and looked in Kitchen. 'Where did she go?'
He ran upstairs to check her in her room but it was empty.
'I lost her. She left me all alone.'
He slumped down on her bed dropping his shoulders
"Sanskar" he heard her calling from doorstep.
"Are you ok? What happe..." She was crushed in his embrace.
"Where were you? I thought I lost you. Why were you not in front of me when I came? I was scared... I was dead. Please don't leave me. Please... please" he kept on mumbling against her shoulder not loosening his grip over her petit figure.
That moment Swara realized, how much he had started emotionally dependent on her.
She patted his back saying soothing words.
"I am with you Sanskar."
"Please calm down."
After almost 20 minutes, he calmed down and broke their hug but not his hold over her petit.
He cupped her face and smashed his lips on her's to make his fanatically panting heart to understand she is with him.
Swara staggered back but he pulled her in his tight embraced kissing her passionately.
Swara stayed stilled, she let him dominate in their moment.
"Kiss me Swara. I want to assure myself that you are here with me." He mumbled in their kiss.
His words, his vulnerability compelled her to reciprocate in their kiss.
"Promise me you will never leave me." He broke their kiss but kept his forehead on her's.
She raised herself to kiss his forehead without saying anything.
"Go and get freshen up. You must be hungry. I will set dinner."
Sanskar nodded as innocent child and left but came back to kiss her forehead.
"You are damn so much precious for me to lose."
She smiled at him with blink of assurance.
'He is insecure about our marriage. The way he had seen worst marriage of his parents in tender age, he is in denial mental state but his heart is running against his mind. I need to make him trust on this relation. May be that way we will be together.'
They both did dinner together in silence.
"Sanskar, Nikhil is here. He met me today." Her voice earned his attention. Somewhere her confession increased his trust over her.
"I called off everything between me and him." He nodded his head.
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because you are my husband and I am answerable to you with truth."
He became silent again.
"I know Sanskar you don't believe in this pious bond. And it is totally understandable by me. Neither I am forcing you to accept it nor I will impose or ask my wifey rights."
She stared at his changing facing expressions.
"I believe in this pious bond. I know we had contract. But still for me it is a sacred."
He felt her hold over his hand.
"I want to stay in this marriage." He turned to look in her eyes.
"But I will not force you for the same."
"If... If I don't want then? Then will you leave me alone?" He tightened his grip.
"Yes and No" she replied with determination.
"I will be with you always but I will not stay in this home."
"That means you will leave me?"
"No... Sanskar to be with each other we do not require to stay under one roof. We will be together on every step of life, in our thick and thin times. I will be just one call away from you."
He shook his head in denial.
"Sanskar you have to accept my parents will not appreciate it. They will not accept me staying with a person who is not ready to accept his marriage. I love them Sanskar. You and they are equally important for me."
"I promise you Sanskar, no one will take your place in my life, in my heart. I will wait for the day when you will believe in us. When you will trust that we will have successful and beautiful marriage." She kissed his forehead sealing her promise.
He pulled her in tight embrace burring his head in the crook of her neck.
She kept on patting his back.
"Can we stay like this for sometime?" He could barely mumbled against her skin.
"Hmm why not?" She tightened her grip over his body.
They stayed in each other's embrace for long time, when Swara tried to break their hug she found him sleeping like an innocent baby.
"You just need to stop controlling you heart. Let it flow the way it wants." she kissed his forehead.
She tried to get up but even in his sleep he was holding her palm. She settled beside him and kept his head in her lap caressing his hairs.
Two days passed over their emotional breakdown. Sanskar closed himself in his shell. He was silent most of the time or was engrossed in his own thoughts. Swara had decided to give him time to understand his own feelings.
Swara had found one apartment near to his. She promised Sanskar to shift to her new apartment only after her parents arrival.
"Sanskar, I am going to eaten center mall. Ayesha and my other roommates want to go out as one of my friend is going back India for forever. It's kind of lunch out." It was weened when both were doing breakfast.
"Hmm" he nodded his head.
"I have made lunch and kept it in kitchen. Please reheat it and eat."
He kept on staring at her retiring figure. 'If I accept this marriage Swara will stay with me for forever.'
Swara and her friends were in cafeteria when Swara started feeling dizzy. She informed and was going towards washroom.
"Ms. Mehra, we heard you are a fraud entry in Canada?" One girl with mike asked her blocking her way.
"Yes exactly, you did contract marriage for immigration" another question shoot at her.
"What? Who told you?" Swara was baffled with their questions.
"That means this is correct." She was bombarded with endless disgusting questions.
"How shameless you are to do a contract marriage just for your selfishness."
"Ohh so you are ready to do marriage on contract basis"
Questions weakened her knees. Her head started spinning, she slumped down getting unconscious on the floor.
Ayesha tried to intervened but crowd has already got hold of Swara.
Roger and other security guards tried to save Swara blocking crowds questionings.
"Enough" every one flinched at their place hearing roar.
Sanskar ran towards Swara enveloping her in his protective embrace.
"Dare you say a word against my WIFE."
*********************************************
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