“Gauri!” Arvind Sharma gasped in horror as he saw his daughter getting out of the car that Omkara was driving. She had a couple of bandages wrapped around her palms, and around her knee. He remembered looking at her leaving the house in a pretty dark-blue dress. The Gauri that stood in front of him was in a t-shirt and a pair of shorts, that didn’t even belong to her. Her hair was messily tied up, quite in contrast to wavy-open hair that she’d styled while she left. What was even worse was she looked like she had got into a fistfight. Her bruised lip was now slightly purple, and the cut at the corner of her mouth had turned maroon. “What happened to her?” he looked at Omkara as he asked. Omkara nodded him in acknowledgment, as he helped Gauri to walk, saying, “Uncle, let’s talk inside.” Arvind, noticing that Gauri was limping, quickly held her by her side, and along with Omkara, he helped her walk inside.

Gauri was in for a shock when she entered her home and saw Ajinkya’s parents sitting in the living room, along with her mother and Paddy Maasi. “Gauri?” Shalini almost shrieked when she saw her daughter injured. “What happened to her?” she asked Arvind in panic, who looked as clueless as she did. “You had gone with Ajju, right?” Padmini stood up, keeping a keen eye on Omkara. She was never really fond of him, since Gauri and he stuck to each other all the time as if glued together. She always felt Omkara was the one behind Gauri’s refusal of every proposal that had come for her.

Gauri looked at Omkara with a hint of tears in her eyes at the mention of Ajinkya’s name. He looked at her and nodded, first making her sit down. “Can someone tell me what happened?” Shalini asked, and Rithika Agnihotri added with worry, “Your phone was not reachable; Ajju is also not picking the phone! Where is he? He’s fine, right?”

“He’s where he’s supposed to be. In the police station!” Omkara said with an expression of disgust. All five elders had an expression of shock plastered on their faces when they heard him say that. “What? Why have the police taken him? He doesn’t even drink and drive! How can the police take him without informing us!” Radheshyam Agnihotri said angrily and pulled out his phone, “Let me talk to the inspector and sort this out. Himmat kaise hui mere bachche ho haath bhi lagaane ki?” Gauri trembled, and Omkara sat next to her, with his arms around her, making everyone present there, except Arvind, to frown at him.

“Aapke laadle bachche ne kaand hi aisa kiya hai ke police ko usko uthake leke jana pada!” Rudra’s angry voice echoed from the doorway. Shivaay and Rudra walked into the house, creating all the more confusion on everyone’s faces. “Uthaake nahi, Rudy… ghaseetke le gaye uss laadle bachche ko!” Shivaay added in a vengeful tone. Arvind looked at Omkara, and standing in front of him, he asked in tears, as if he had anticipated his worst fear, “Kya kiya usne? Gauri ki yeh haalat kisne kiya?”

“Ajinkya Agnihotri ne, Papa!” Gauri said in an anguished roar. Looking up at her Papa, she cried, as she said, “Usne mere saath zabardasti kiya, Papa! He tried to rape me!” Shalini sat numbly on the couch with a soft thud, staring at Gauri in utter horror. Padmini’s hands flew to her mouth. “What nonsense are you talking? Mera beta aisa kar hi nahi sakta! Usko phasaya jaa raha hai,” Rithika Agnihotri almost shouted, while Radheshyam looked on in shock. “Nonsense nahi hai. It’s the truth.” Omkara said furiously as he held Gauri’s hand in his to show his support for her. Before Ajinkya’s parents could say anything in their son’s defense, Shivaay turned around and said to someone standing outside, “Can you come in, please?”

Everyone, including Gauri looked at the doorway. Omkara was surprised to see Suhani walk into the room. “Suhani?” he whispered her name, making Gauri realize who she was. She looked at Omkara with confusion in her eyes, and he silently nodded, confirming that she was the one whom he’d seen outside the pub when he’d met Ajinkya for the first time. As everyone looked on, confused at the woman walking into the hallway, Omkara stood up. “This is Suhani, whom Ajinkya seemed to be threatening outside a pub the night Gauri introduced me to him”

“Wrong!” Shivaay said, making Omkara look at him with a confused frown. “Her name is Pranita Mishra. I’m sure Mr. Senior Agnihotri recognizes her, isn’t it?” All eyes were on Radheshyam Agnihotri when he said with a small frown, not knowing where this discussion was heading, “Yes, she is one of the staff members at my office.” Shivaay then nudged Pranita to speak saying, “You don’t have to be scared anymore. Speak up boldly. If not for yourself, then at least for Aashna!” Omkara looked in more confusion at who this Aashna was. Rudra nodded, asking him to trust whatever was happening.

Pranita cleared her throat, and nervously began, “My name is Pranita Mishra. I used to work at Radheshyam Sir’s office. Six months back, Ajinkya had come down to India from Canada, permanently, and Radheshyam sir had informed us that henceforth, Ajinkya would be handling the office because he would be retiring soon!” Shalini looked at a confused Padmini with a frown; they were told that Ajinkya had come down for a short vacation to India and would be heading back to Canada after marriage while taking his bride along with him. They looked on as Pranita continued, “I was appointed as a P.A. for Ajinkya sir. Initially, he was an extreme gentleman; an amazing person who was so kind, understanding, caring, chivalrous…”

Omkara looked at Gauri; apparently, she wasn’t the only one who had fallen for that act. He couldn’t really blame Gauri now that he was listening to a third perspective from Pranita. The man seemed to be a professional liar and a cheat! “Then, gradually, I noticed he used to have sudden temper issues. He would be nice in one minute, talking with a smile, being so sweet; in the next moment, he would be weird, like throwing papers, breaking vases, phones and what not!” Rudra quietly nudged Shivaay whispering, “Dekha? Phone todna normal nahi, weird hota hai!” Shivaay frowned at him, glaring at him to stay silent.

“Everyone in the office knew of Ajinkya’s behavior, and most of the time, I used to bear the brunt of his anger. So many times, he had raised his hand on me, twisted my arm, because he couldn’t hold his anger back. I didn’t have the option of resigning because I was in need of money, and I couldn’t find any job openings urgently. I even tried talking to the Human resource, but since he was the Chief Employer’s son, they could take no action against him! I was too scared to approach the police to complain about his harassment. My mistake was to give in to the pressure of staying silent about it.” Radheshyam looked lost for a moment, but when he looked at a worried Rithika, he knew she was the one who had pressurized the HR to stay silent on this matter.

“One day, Ajinkya sir turned up at my house, saying that I had to accompany him for a meeting out of town. Since it was the weekend, I had refused. He got violent because I did not comply with his wishes. Badle mein usne mera haath tod diya. I had a plaster for almost four weeks. But when I resumed office the next week, he told me he was sorry and even offered me a bouquet of flowers as an apology. During this time, he saw my younger sister, Aashna!” Pranita paused talking to take a deep breath when her voice cracked at the mention of her sister. “Aashna was only twenty. This leech of a person - Ajinkya began to follow her to college and trapped her in his sweet talk. All of this was happening behind my back. Ajinkya did not let anyone know, and he had sweetly convinced my sister not to tell me either.”

“Two months back, Aashna got a job offer as a hospital administration staff, which required her to take a blood test. Her reports showed she was pregnant.” Shalini and Padmini collectively gasped. Radheshyam looked at Rithika who looked at the floor guiltily. “You knew all this, didn’t you?” he asked in a shocked whisper. Pranita said with a humorless chuckle, “Of course, she knew sir. Rithika Ma’am was the one who met my sister and tried to convince her for an abortion.”

“What could I do?” Rithika whispered to her husband, “Ajju said he was sorry and it was a mistake!” Radheshyam huffed listening to his wife, “Mistake? Getting a girl pregnant was a mistake?” he asked. Then, looking at Pranita, he asked in a sad and contrite tone, “You could have approached me, Pranita? Why didn’t you inform me?” Pranita said shaking her head, “If I did, would you stand up for me and my sister, against your own family? Or wouldn’t you have advised Aashna the same as Rithika Ma’am did?” Silence fell among them at her question, and Radheshyam looked at the floor in shame.

Everyone was still reeling from the shock at the revelation when Padmini looked at Rithika, and said in disbelief, “You knew all this, Rithu? That he was fooling around with girls and even got a young girl pregnant? And you wanted to tie him off to our Gauri’s neck? I trusted you when you told us he was a nice boy, Rithu. I trusted you because you were my friend!” Rithika closed her eyes as she silently sobbed. Her son had left her to feel nothing but shame and embarrassment.

As silence settled in the Sharma House, Gauri whispered meekly, looking at Pranita, “Where is Aashna?” Pranita looked at her with tears in her eyes, saying, “She tried to kill herself a month ago when Ajinkya told her he wasn’t interested in getting married to her because she wasn’t ‘his type’!” A silence of shock and sadness fell, as she continued, “She jumped from the balcony of our flat. She had a miscarriage and was in a coma for a few days. When she miraculously came out of coma, we were told that she is bedridden. Doctors say that her spinal cord is injured and only a miracle can help her walk again!”

“One week back, I met Ajinkya outside the pub, where this guy had probably seen me” Pranita said, looking at Omkara who nodded in agreement. Gauri recalled the way Ajinkya had weaved his lies and told the story of a certain ‘Suhani’ who was stalking him! She closed her eyes in disgust as she thought about that vermin.

As Pranita spoke up again, Gauri looked at her, “You probably thought I was having some lover’s spat with him. But I was there to request him to help Aashna with some finances so she could be shifted to a hospital in Singapore where treatment for such injuries is possible. He laughed at my face, saying that he didn’t run any charity. When I pleaded more, he asked me to…” she stopped talking as her face contorted in disgust. Closing her eyes, she said, “He asked me for sexual favors!” Gauri closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, while Omkara huffed in disgust!

“When I denied, he said he wasn’t going to help, and also said he is no longer interested in Aashna because he was soon going to get married to a girl whom his family chooses. I asked him if I could talk to Rithika Ma’am and explain Aashna’s situation, but he pushed me away and told me to get lost. I have been hoping for the last week that I could talk to you, Gauri. Lekin himmat hi nahi hui. I thought, even if I approached you, would you believe me? If I took you to Aashna in the hospital, would you believe me? After all, I was a complete stranger to you”

Gauri looked at Omkara, with guilt in her eyes, and he looked at her with slight accusation; one that she could read clearly; one that said, ‘Gauri Sharma refused to trust her own friend of three years. She would never believe Pranita Mishra at all’ However, Gauri looked away, unable to meet his gaze. Omkara knew she was still guilty. So, instead of saying anything, he simply held her shoulders and patted her, telling her in silence to let bygones be bygones.

Shivaay cleared his throat, “Thank you Pranita. Aashna will recover, and she will definitely be sent to Singapore. The Agnihotri’s themselves will provide for her unless they want to be arrested as an accomplice to Ajinkya, who will very easily be locked behind bars for a long time for his crimes. Right, Radheshyam ji?” Radheshyam nodded earnestly, looking at Pranita.

“But it doesn’t end here!” Shivaay said after Pranita made her way out. “Haan, picture abhi baaki hai mere dost” Rudra said, adding, “Or should I say, prequel abhi baaki hai!” Shivaay smiled, saying, “You all know his truth after his permanent vacation to India. Abhi toh Canada ka chapter khulna baaki haii!”

At this, both the Agnihotri’s looked guilty as if hiding something. Shivaay asked with a smile, “Ji, aap dono batayenge, ya main hi bol doon?” Looking at the two of them standing in silence, he said, “Long story short: Ajinkya Agnihotri was expelled from the company in Canada because he was involved in a case of sexual harassment. He was even asked to go for therapy in anger management, which by now we all know was pointless.”

Rudra quipped, “Of course, kyunki kutthe ki dumbh toh tedi ki tedi hi rehti hai!” Shivaay agreed, “Ajinkya Agnihotri, with the help of his rich uncle’s contacts with someone in the embassy, quickly escaped to India before he could be banned from Canada. But, as you said, aapka laadla bachcha hai bada maasoom” Shivaay finished with an edge as he stared at the two of them.

Radheshyam and Rithika looked at Padmini in apology. Arvind heaved a sigh, and without looking at their faces, he said, “Please leave, before I forget my decency” Gauri looked at her Papa, who looked angry like never before. “Stop!” Shalini said, making Arvind look at her. She hurried inside and, in a moment, she brought a small box out. It was the chain that Rithika had given to Gauri as shagun. “This is what you gave to our daughter. We don’t need this anymore! Take this, aur yahan se dafa ho jayein” she said in anger.

Before they walked out, the Agnihotris’ stood in front of Gauri with their hands folded, “Sorry, beta” they said. “Aapke sorry bolne se, jo hua woh badal thodi jayega?” Omkara said with an edge, while Gauri refused to look at them. “If you’re truly sorry, don’t bail your son out! He deserves rotting in jail!” he said. The Agnihotri's wordlessly walked out, without a glance behind.

Arvind Sharma looked at the three young men in front of him. Nodding his head in gratitude, he almost folded his hands to thank them, when Omkara immediately held his hands. “Papa jaise hain aap. Please don’t!” he said, as Shivaay added with a smile, “Haan, Uncle. Gauri ko maine unofficially adopt kar liya, as my little sister. Toh aapko thank you kehne ki zarurat nahi hai. Agar meri sagi behen hoti, toh bhi main yahi karta.”

Gauri smiled looking at them, as Arvind hugged Omkara. Rudra murmured in Shivaay’s ears. “Yeh Sasur-Damaad wala moment kitna sweet lag raha hai na? Like our Hindi TV serial saas-bahu reunion feels!” Shivaay pursed his lips to stop himself from grinning and then asked him to shut up. “Dono sirf best friends hai, Rudy!” he reminded him with a smirk, making Rudra roll his eyes at that. Arvind suddenly looked at them, and then questioned, “Magar aap dono ko itna information pata kaise chala?”

Shivaay smiled, “Belonging to the Oberoi family has its perks, Uncle. Omkara told us about ‘Suhani’, that is Pranati. Ajinkya probably gave a fake name since he didn’t want Omkara to track her down easily if he decided to.” Arvind looked at Omkara asking, “Why did you not tell us about her, beta?”

Omkara looked at Gauri, who guiltily said, “He tried telling me, Papa. But I did not believe him. I fought with him and-” “Leave it ya, Sharma. It happens!” Omkara quickly said. He didn’t want her father to know in detail about the argument they’d had. He was sure he’d rebuke her, and honestly, Gauri didn’t need any more rebuking or reprimanding. She’d had enough for an entire lifetime! Arvind looked at Gauri and with a disappointed sigh, he said, “If you’d listened to your Oberoi, you wouldn’t have to go through all this, Gauri!” Gauri nodded regretfully.

Shivaay continued, “So after Om informed us, Rudy asked his hacker friend to get into Ajinkya’s phone records. We were able to trace frequent calls to and from one number. I put a team of private investigators to search this person, and it turned out to be Pranati. It didn’t take long to connect to Aashna. And as for the Canada details, I had to reach out to a certain minister, who had contacts within the Canadian company Ajinkya was working in. A little pressure from him and all the information was faxed to my office.” Omkara and Gauri smiled gratefully at the man who was rightly called the Great Wall.

Shalini walked to Gauri and carefully held her face in her hands. With tears in her eyes, she asked, “Bahut dard ho raha hai” Gauri’s eyes glistened with tears, but feeling Omkara’s hand at her shoulder, she put on a brave face as she shook her head in a no. “I’m alive and safe, Maa. That is all that matters!” she said, repeating the words Omkara had said earlier to her, reaffirming to herself that she was now fine, making Omkara smile. “Sorry beta,” Shalini said, almost breaking down into sobs, hugging Gauri, who patted her back, telling her everything was alright.

Padmini walked up to them, and standing behind her sister, she looked at the floor in shame. “I’m terribly sorry, Gauri. If I didn’t insist that he was a nice guy, and didn’t constantly push you to trust him, this could have been avoided. Maaf kar de, bachche! Your Maasi made a horrible mistake.” Gauri smiled at her Paddy Maasi, who was no less than a mother to her. She couldn’t even blame the woman. She too fell for their external appearances, blindly trusting them just because they are well-off and were well-qualified. Paddy Maasi trusted her friend, who only lied to her. After all, not all friends were trustworthy, truthful, and honest, like her Oberoi was, she mused with a small smile.

“You’re a brave girl, Sharma” Omkara said with pride in his voice when he saw Gauri slightly pulling away from her mother’s hold, “You kept fighting till the end without giving up.” She leaned against him, with her head against his chest, “But if you didn’t come on time, I could have…”

Shalini sniffed as she looked at Omkara, and said, “Thank you, beta!” Her voice was apologetic as her eyes cast down in guilt at often lacking trust in him. Omkara smiled at her with a nod, asking her not to feel bad. Rising from the arm of the sofa that he had been sitting on, he said, “I’d only accept one kind of thank you, Aunty; the sweet ones that you bake with chocolate chips in it!” Shalini nodded with a bright smile, “I’ll make some tomorrow. Come home in the evening after work!” Omkara was more than happy. He would do anything for the choco-chip cookies her mum baked.

Gauri then said to him in a soft tone, “I don’t think I’ll come to the office for a week.” Omkara agreed, “Yea, you take rest. Let your injuries heal, let the scar fade a little. Or else you know how people at work will start speculating.” Before she could say a word, he said, “Don’t worry, I’ll inform Krishna you’ve got some “ladies’ problem”. He’ll get uncomfortable listening to it and won’t ask anything further!” This brought a small giggle on Gauri’s face for the very first time in the whole evening.

Shivaay and Rudra came ahead to wish her goodnight before they left. Shivaay simply placed his hand on her head, while Rudra gently hugged her. They both nodded at Om, who hugged them. “Here are your bike keys! Safe and sound!” Rudra almost dumped them angrily in his hands. “But there’s probably a small scratch on the side of the fuel tank,” Shivaay said with a smile, making Omkara glare at Rudra. Rudra’s mouth formed an O, as he looked at his oldest brother teasing him. He then looked at Om, who smiled at him with a wink as he said, “Woh pehle se hi tha, don’t worry about that”

Rudra frowned as the two of them grinned at each other while poking fun at the youngest one; his brothers always bullied him. Annika Bhabhi was the only one who supported him in the whole house. It was too late to pray for a younger sister now, who would support him. Instead, he silently prayed to get another supportive Bhabhi soon. Looking at Gauri, he secretly hoped it was her. She fit into their mad family so perfectly! He could already imagine how much mad chaos the trio was going to create: Annika Bhabhi, Gauri-Hopefully-Bhabhi, and him! His excited chuckle made his two brothers suspiciously look at him, and so he zipped his mouth.

Soon, Padmini also decided to leave, not before hugging Gauri and asking her to take good care of herself. After they all left, Omkara looked at Gauri, “Will you be able to go to your room?” he asked pointing upstairs. She stood up and almost limping, she said, “Yes, I’ll be fi-” Before she could finish, he picked her up in his arms. “You weight lighter, Sharma! Ek hafte mein itna kya weight loss ho gaya tera?” he said with a smile and a small frown. She almost grinned at the compliment. Arvind and Shalini walked silently behind them.

As Omkara placed her on the bed, Shalini placed the pillows behind her. Gauri held Omkara’s hand in both of hers. He cautioned her about the bandages but she shrugged saying it was okay. “Now if you thank me again, I’m going to be really mad, Sharma!” he warned, to which she just tugged on his hand and touched the back of his fingers to her forehead. “I won’t say thank you, Oberoi. Jo tune mere liye kiya, uske liye thank you kaafi nahi hai!” He simply ruffled her hair, and then wished her goodnight.

Arvind stepped out with Omkara, while Shalini stayed next to Gauri. As the two men walked downstairs, Arvind asked Omkara, “Tell me honestly. If you wouldn’t have reached on time, do you think Gauri would be… would that man seriously…” Omkara pitied the older man who couldn’t even bring himself to complete his sentence when his voice cracked. But he didn’t want to lie either. Arvind needed to know the gravity of the situation, and just about how much danger his daughter was in. So, Omkara nodded as he slowly said, “Uncle, when I reached there, that Ajinkya… he had his pants undone” Omkara said, turning red in anger, embarrassment and shame, as Arvind simply closed his eyes, leaning against the wall for support as his knees trembled.

“Uncle,” Omkara said, making him look at him, “She seems to be slightly better now, but she was pretty shaken up earlier. Uncle, please ask Aunty to be with her tonight? JItni sehmi hui Gauri thi, mujhe nahi lagta ke aaj raat woh thik se so payegi! The doctor had prescribed some painkillers for her, but still, she needs someone by her side” Arvind nodded, appreciating his thoughtfulness. As they walked to the door, he said, “Gauri ne jo bhi kaha tumse, gusse mein ya phir uss Ajinkya ki baat sunke, uske liye usse maaf kardo please? I understand you’re hurt a lot, but-”

“Uncle, woh meri dost hai, my best friend! Disagreements, fights, anger, curses; all of this happens between friends. I understand that whatever she told me, she said it in anger. Gauri also apologized to me earlier, and frankly, now I don’t hold anything against her. In fact, she called me up yesterday to say sorry, but I was too stubborn and too hurt to talk to her. Now that I think of it, God forbid if something were to happen, I would have lived in terrible guilt till my last breath – ke Gauri ne mujhse baat karne ki koshish ki, aur maine usko mauka bhi nahi diya. All said and done, Uncle, everything is fine now. In the end, she’s my Sharma!”

“And you’re her Oberoi!” Arvind said with a fond smile, patting him on his cheek. “Khush raho, Om, hamesha…” he said blessing him. Om nodded and then hugged him, slightly flustered at being blessed by a father-figure, apart from his Chote-Papa. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” Omkara said with a twinkling smile, as he turned to take his leave. Arvind stood by the door, still trembling over the fact that if Omkara wouldn’t have reached on time, Gauri would not have been here right now. He made a special little prayer in his heart for the young man, who waved out to him as he zoomed away on his bike.