1 month later...
Bangalore...
The lives of Ananya and Aayan had taken some sharp turns, because now their priorities in this marriage were changing....
Aayan who was hell bent to remove Ananya from his life and teach her a lesson, was now actually getting concerned for her and Ananya who wanted to save this wedding, was now not bothered because she had other things to deal with...
Aayan came to know about Ananya being bothered by some unknown stalker, and was now trying to find him using his technical skills, infact he secretly deployed some of his office personnel to trace Ananya's calls and also her activities throughout the day to ensure her safety and also he was busy in some other office issues...
Ananya on the other hand was busy with her new assignment, in which she was supposed work on a poor man's land acquisition case, against a businessman in Bangalore itself, who was backed by local politicians, she didn't know who the person was but was now diligently working on that case, as it was going to be her first independent case
However she was also bothered by the stalker, whose message frequency was reduced but didn't stop, he/she would anyway irritate her at the end of 2 days or maybe a week, she complained about the number to the police and when police tried to investigate, the number would discontinue to exist...
Also Ved and Deepika's wedding date was approaching and they were getting married in 10 days, so Aayan and Ananya were supposed to leave for Delhi in 2 days, completing their respective works...
In these hectic schedule, the revenge - counter revenge game was out of the picture, because none of them seem to bother about harming each other, because they hardly talked...
Aayan's house
10 a.m.
Aayan was sitting on the dining table, feeding Amayraa the fruit salad, Mrs. Kumar prepared..
'Noo... It's yuck.... Cheee... ' Amayraa whined seeing the papaya
'Have it baby, it's good for tummy... ' Aayan said caressing her tummy and Amayraa made a face
'Be a good girl baby, or else how will you grow to become big and beautiful like your Mom Annieeyyy...' Mrs. Kumar said pulling Amayraa's cheeks
'Naa... No this... ' Amayraa whined and Aayan, Mrs. Kumar sighed
'Why is my baby angry... ' Ananya came out in her office attire, and kept her bag on the chair, and walked towards Amayraa who was pouting angrily
'She is not eating Papaya... ' Mrs. Kumar said
'Hawww.... But it's so yummy, Your Aaya loves it... Don't you Aaya...?' Ananya asked sweetly to Aayan and he frowned
'I Hate it.... ' Aayan whispered, but Ananya sushed him
'Play along... ' she warned and Aayan sighed
'Fine... Yeah I love it, Annieyyy give it to me... I will eat... ' Aayan said and Amayraa frowned
'See I will feed all of this to Aaya... ' Ananya made Aayan eat a piece of fruit, which he wanted to spit out, but didn't because Amayraa was seeing him intently
'Yumm... ' Aayan said but was hating it
'Shall I feed everything to Aaya.... ' Ananya asked and Aayan secretly prayed that Amyraa says no
'Naa.... Give it to me...' Amayraa said and Aayan sighed in relief
'Good girl.. ' Ananya said and fed her the fruit
'Well done... ' Ananya said to Aayan, who gulped the fruit frowning and gave her a thumbs up...
'Wow, you guys are really good in parenting, people of your age must see this and learn from you... ' Mrs. Kumar said and Aayan-Ananya smiled at this
'Your future kid and Amayraa are very lucky....' Mrs. Kumar said and Ananya - Aayan stiffened, but didn't say anything
Ananya takes a seat opposite to Aayan and Aayan turns off his laptop and looks at her
'Ananya, do me a favour... ' Aayan said
'And that will be...?' Ananya asked
'I have been receiving calls from the adoption authorities, they are asking whether I found Amayraa's relatives or not...' Aayan began
'You didn't adopt her officially...?' Ananya exclaimed shocked
'What kind of lawyer are you ! Don't you know ? That a single man in this country, cannot adopt a girl child...?' he taunted
'Oh.. Yeah... Yeah that's true... I am sorry, so what did they say...?' Ananya asked
'See when Lalit died, we weren't able to trace her relatives, so authorities made me her official guardian, but then I was supposed to find her relatives or a proper family for her, which I don't want to... I want to officially give her my surname, she is still Amayraa Mishra in papers... ' Aayan said and Ananya nodded
'So my lawyer suggested that after I get married, me and my wife that is you, should adopt her legally, so that she stays with us or else, they will take her away... ' Aayan said a bit scared
'Yeah, we should do that ASAP, why didn't you tell me this before, I would've started with the paper work... No issues will start it today itself... ' Ananya said and he nodded
Both of them didn't say anything for a while, and Mrs. Kumar went to drop Amayraa to her play school when they were silently having their breakfast, when Ananya was done, she got up...
'Listen, take my car... ' Aayan said forwarding his keys and Ananya frowned
'I use public transport, don't you remember...?' Ananya raised her brows
'Listen, I don't want to argue, just take my car...' He said irritated
'Thanks for the generous offer, but I think I can manage, so no thank you...' Ananya declined his offer
'It's not safe for you to travel alone, with that stalker still loose okay... ' Aayan said angrily and then pursed his lips
'How do you know about the stalker...?' Ananya raised her brows
'Doesn't matter, the point is you are not safe...' Aayan said
'Who. Told. You. About. The. Stalker...?' Ananya asked irritated
He took a deep breath and then looked away
'I... I hacked your phone... ' he said getting uncomfortable
'What....!' Ananya exclaimed
'You were not telling me anything and I knew something was wrong... ' Aayan explained
'Whatever bothers me, should not concern you... This marriage is for namesake remember...?' Ananya said angrily
'I know this, don't remind me that I am stuck with you... ' Aayan countered
'Even I am not happily enjoying my married life okay, the feelings are mutual... ' Ananya countered back
'Ananya, please you are my responsibility here... If something happens to you, I will be answerable to both our dads... ' Aayan said
'You are answerable to our dads for a lot of deeds including your own... ' Ananya reverted back angrily
'You are responsible for making my life hell, so I have all the rights to react the way I am reacting okay, and that's not the point here, I am concerned about your safety, so listen to me please... ' Aayan said pinching the bridge of his nose
Ananya was taken aback for a while, but then she composed her expressions...
'So you want to say, no one can hurt me except you...?' she asked tears filling her eyes
'Yes... ' Aayan replied immediately
'You know what, whenever I think that now Aayan won't do anything stupid, you disappoint me again...and hacking my phone was seriously a sick move... ' she said picking up her bag
'Ananya, come on... Please don't make it a issue, I was concerned...' Aayan said
'You invaded my privacy, it's my fundamental right...' Ananya argued
'Taking care of your safety is my fundamental duty as a husband... ' Aayan argued back
'I don't consider you as my husband...' Ananya said
'But I consider you as my wife, so please now listen to me... ' Aayan said losing his patience
'Don't talk to me... ' Ananya said and walked out of the house angrily
'Ananya.... ' Aayan called, but she was long gone, he frustratedly hit the table... 'Damn it...'
Ananya's office...
2:30 pm..
'So you are saying the businessman is based on Kormangala area...?' Ananya asks her assistant, who is assigned to help her
'Yes, he owns a tech company, and has two plots in the area, one in a very prime area, other in the outskirts, it's being rumored that he was about to shift his office to some other city, but then changed the mind... ' Her assistant, Ila informed
'So how does Mr. Narayan's plot comes into picture...?' Ananya asks taking down the notes
'Mr. Narayan's ancestral plot which lies in the outskirts was given on a lease to this man we are trying to find out his name, to set up his office, but the man sets up his office in that prime location, and now he wishes to expand his office area to his plot, which is now, unacceptable to the owner, so the businessman tried to purchase the land from him, but he refused to do that for obvious reasons... ' Ila continued
'Why would he want to leave the prime area...?'Ananya asked
'I am not sure about this, but it's being said that he sold that plot, and wishes to build a bigger office as his office staff expanded, and as outskirts are promising area for further expansion, he will move there... My sources say that half of the businessman's assets are at stake... ' Ila said
'So the businessman is refusing to leave the plot...?' Ananya asked and Ila nodded
'Yes, But if you see from the other man's point of view, it's kinda justified, because he pays the double rent to Mr. Narayan, so if he wants to expand, he technically can, it's in the contract... ' Ila gives her the papers
'But the land belongs to Mr. Narayan, he can ask him to vacate it... ' Ananya argued
'Where will that man go then...?' Ila asked
'That's his problem... ' Ananya said and Ila nodded
Rest of the hour passed discussing about the case and other cases of Mr. Joshi, and before Ananya realised it was already 6:30...
Ananya looked at the watch and gasped, it will take her another one and a half hour to reach her home
'I must leave Ila, Pappy and Amayraa must be waiting for me.. ' Ananya said packing her bag
Ila looks at Ananya's phone which was ringing, and smiled
'I think some Aayan is more concerned about your return... ' she said and Ananya looked at her phone, and saw 9 missed calls from Aayan and rolled her eyes
'Husband...?' Ila asked
'Yeah... ' Ananya sighed and then left her cabin
'See you tomorrow... ' Ila called and Ananya waved at her quickly getting out of the office, which was almost empty
While waiting for the bus, Ananya felt someone's presence behind her, she turned and found no one...
She checked her phone and surprisingly there was no message from her stalker, but threads of messages from Aayan
It's six fifteen ! Where are you...?
Listen, we are not able to trace the stalker, please it's not safe out there, please come by my car..
I am sending my car, please come with that...
Tell me your location, I will send the driver there...
Ananya ! Listen to me please...
Sighing she replied, I am on my way, don't irritate me...
There was an immediate reply...
Don't come alone woman... Listen to me once...
She rolled her eyes and switched off her phone
She catches the bus and then after an hour she reaches her desired bus stop and it was already dark, as Bangalore is a busy city, and roads are usually busy so she thought she can reach home safely
While waiting for the auto, her eyes land on the supermarket, so she decides to buy some groceries and walks inside the store
About 40 minutes later, she comes out of the store carrying a big bag of some essential items and some toys for Amayraa and then walks towards her house, trying to catch a auto or something
When failed to take an auto, she sighs irritated and then using google maps, tries to find the shortest route to her house, when she switches on her phone, she sees numerous texts and missed calls from Aayan and frowns
What is wrong with this man...
She follows the direction on the Google maps and finds herself in a deserted road with only one street light, which is leading towards the main street, which was few metres away, where she can see many people and recognises the street as her house is just 5 mins away from that street...
Sighing in relief, she starts walking along the deserted road, listening to the music, ignoring the uneasy feeling of being watched
Reaching halfway she noticed a silhouette behind her and started walking as fast as she realized that the person was following her...
But the person was quicker, he grabs her left arm and pulled her towards him, she panicked and winced at this because the person's grip was very tight...
As soon as Ananya sees the person's face, she relaxes a bit, but seeing the expression she gets confused
'Hey Yash... What are you doing here at this time..?' she asks politely
But Yash doesn't reply, he continued to stare at her from top to bottom, not leaving her hands and she gets uncomfortable
'Please leave my hand Yash, it's hurting...?' Ananya said wincing
'Why did you marry him...?' Yash slurred and Ananya could smell alcohol reeking from his breath, she took a step back trying to get out of his hold
'Leave my hand Yash... ' She said a bit strictly this time
Yash instead of leaving her hand, pulled her closer and grabs her waist tightly and Ananya is shocked at this...
'Why will you marry that impotent half brother of mine, when I deserve you...!' Yash slurred trying to get closer to her
Ananya got disgusted by this and slapped Yash tightly, and pushed him away so that he falls on ground
'How dare you, he is your older brother, and I am your sister in law, have some respect for this relation... ' she growled angrily
'My older brother always gets the best thing, more than he deserves... ' Yash says trying to stand but fails miserably
'I think you should go home Yash, because Aayan won't appreciate seeing you like this... ' Ananya says calmly, and starts walking towards the street
'You don't seem to recognize me baby....' Yash started laughing and Ananya stopped on her tracks, she realized that he was the stalker
'You... You are the.... ' She stammered
'Yes that's me... Yash Singhal gets what he wants, now my eyes landed on you, so yeah you are mine... ' he said walking dangerously closer to her
'You are drunk Yash ! And I am your Sister in Law.... Do you understand what that means...? Your older brother's wife... You should not even think something like that... Are you insane... ' She said angrily
'Whatever Babe, once I make you mine, Aayan Bhai will anyway leave you, so we can leave happily together...' Yash said grabbing her arm again and digging his nails into it
Ananya cried in pain and pushed him away, and simultaneously, all the groceries fell on the street
She looked around for help, but to her bad luck, no one was there and the street was still far away, she quickly grabbed her phone and wallet and started running towards the crowd
Yash grabbed her, by her shoulders and pulled her closer to him, he was about same like Ananya's height, but she realised that he was bulkier for a 21 year old guy...
'Yash are you crazy... Your this act can land you in jail, you are not in your senses... ' Ananya said trying to get out of his hold, but he was too stoned to understand all this..
'Age is not a barrier in love...' he slurred and dug his nail into her shoulders and Ananya struggled to get out of his hold
'Yash, leave me... ' she tried to push him away, but then he removes pocket knife, which horrifies her
Just then a black SUV speeds in that deserted lane, and Ananya tries to stop the car, asking for help..
The car stops and Sameer gets out of it and marches towards them, he frees Ananya from Yash's grip and slaps yash so hard that he fells on the ground
'Sameer....' Ananya's voice was a mere whisper
'So this is why you are in Bangalore ! Leaving all the pending work... ' Sameer growls catching Yash by his collar
'She is our Sister in law you moron ! How dare you lay your filthy eyes on her, we are supposed to protect her as our sister...!' Sameer slapped him again
Tears rolled down Ananya's eyes and she stood taking the car's support
Yash was too high to react, he didn't say anything
'She is mine....' is all he was repeating and Sameer looked at him disgusted
'Ananya you go home, I'll see what to so with him... ' Sameer said and Ananya nodded
Sameer handed her all the groceries that were lying on the road, and wanted to assure her that everything is fine by patting her shoulder, but she took a step back, moving away from Sameer as well...
Sameer looked away in shame and then took a step back..
'I know it's futile to... But I am sorry for his behavior, he is high, he doesn't know what he is doing...' Sameer said looking down
Ananya didn't reply, and just took a step back and started running towards her house, not responding to Sameer's calls
She ran towards her house, without stopping in between, colliding with people, spilling the the things in her bag and reached her house, wiping her tears
As she was trying to unlock the door, someone opened it from inside and she saw a worried Aayan looking at her, he started at her and gasped, while she on the other side was relieved to see him...
'What happened... Who did this to you.... Where....?' he shot questions at her, but she hugged him tightly as her life depended on him
Aayan was too shocked to react, but then he hugged her back, taking a deep breath
Ananya sobbed into his chest not leaving him and he got scared, and his grip on her tightened
'God Ananya, you are scaring me... Tell me what happened....! Why are you crying so badly....say something please...' Aayan said caressing her hair
'What happened... Oh my god... ' Mrs. Kumar gasped seeing Ananya's condition
'Baba let's take her inside.. ' Mrs. Kumar said and Aayan nodded
'Come Ananya... ' He said softly trying to get out of her hold, but she didn't leave him
'We are going inside Ananya, you are at home, no one will harm you... I am here, no one can touch you...come... ' He said kissing her head and she took a deep breath
They walked inside, and Aayan was holding her protectively all the time, not leaving her at all, he made her sit on the sofa and sat beside her, holding her arms
'Pappy please get a glass of water... ' Aayan said and Mrs. Kumar rushed inside the kitchen
'See that's why I was requesting you to use my car, see what happened... ' Aayan said wiping her tears and more tears rolled down her eyes
How can she tell him that his own brother did this...
'Hey don't cry, I am here... ' Aayan kissed her forehead and she cried more, and he hugged her at this, and after five months of their marriage,for the first time, Ananya felt complete in his arms
Mrs. Kumar gives her the water and Ananya takes the glass and Mrs. Kumar gasps seeing the nail marks on her left arm, and then she looks around her neck to see red marks near it, she slides Ananya's top and sees nail marks there as well on her milky white skin
Aayan follows Mrs. Kumar's gaze and then gasps, later closing his eyes in frustration, trying to control his rage...
'Who was this monster... ' Mrs. Kumar asked caressing her hair and Ananya didn't say anything
She was debating in her mind, whether she should say this to Aayan or not...
Just the bell rings and Mrs. Kumar opens it, and Aayan makes Ananya rest her head on his shoulders and was stroking her hands gently
Mrs. Kumar opens the door and Sameer walks inside
'Sameer Baba, is everything okay...?' Mrs. Kumar asks him, as he looked panicked
Aayan and Ananya look at him and he saw his face was flushed and he was holding Ananya's wallet, Aayan got confused at this
'Ananya... See I am really sorry that... ' he began, but Ananya gestured him to stay quiet
'Why are you sorry Sameer...?' Aayan asked
'Because... Her attacker... was... He tried to... I... ' Sameer stammered and Aayan fisted his hands
'What did he do...? Who was he...? And how come you have Ananya's wallet ?' Aayan shot questions at him
Sameer looks at Ananya who asks him to stay quiet..
'Say something Sameer... ' Aayan said irritated
'The attacker was some local guy, and Sameer saved me from him... ' Ananya said getting up
'What....!' Aayan exclaimed
'Thank god Sameer Baba, you saved Ananya or else god knows what would've happened....' Mrs. Kumar said and Sameer sighed
'How do you know where was she...?' Aayan raised his brows
'I.. I was supposed to meet her near your building and give her something Mom sent for you both, but when she didn't respond... Respond to the calls, I thought something was messy, so I.. Tracked her via GPS and then saw the... Attacker.... ' He took a sharp breath at this
Aayan didn't seem to buy this argument, but then he looked at Ananya, who nodded in confirmation
'Thanks a ton brother... I owe you for this... ' Aayan hugged Sameer, shocking everyone there, Sameer hugged him back hesitantly, looking at Ananya
'It was my duty as a brother in law... ' Sameer said and Ananya wiped her tears, when Aayan left him
'Pappy get the first aid, and serve dinner for all three of us... ' Aayan said and Mrs. Kumar smiled
He turns to Ananya, and pulls her gently towards him, while Sameer walked towards the hall room
'Now will you take my car...?' He asked her softly and she nodded
'You scared me you know....' he kissed her forehead and then the space between her eyes and Ananya sighed closing her eyes...
'Go get changed, I'll help you with first aid... ' he said and Ananya nodded, looking at him
Aayan pecked her cheeks and then walked towards the hall, to chat with Sameer
Ananya took a deep breath
Should I tell him about Yash...?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~