It was midnight and children were sleeping with their Anu maasi .

Lakshmi got up feeling thirsty and looked at the empty jar on the table beside the bed . She rubbed her eyes and turned on the lamp while adjusting her nighty properly...

She passed through the deadly silent corridors, stairs and hall which was dimly lit.
As soon as she reached the kitchen, she opened the fridge and gulped down half a bottle of water. She took another bottle and shut the fridge. She was about to turn around but stopped as she as she felt a presence behind her....

Without wasting another second, she banged the bottle on that person's head and kicked hard in the abdomen . She heard a groan and stopped as soon as the person moved back and switched on the kitchen lights .

She was shocked for a second registering that it was........Arjun .
Her eyes moved down as he clutched his lower abdomen tightly.
' Damn she is all bones ' he thought.

Lakshmi took a step back while he moved towards her and kept staring at her face.
She is wearing a white satin nighty that covered her whole body but still managed to look like a temptress to him....

" it's paining " he said groaning with his head held down...
Long gone the pain, he just needs a reason to stay near her...

Lakshmi stared at him blankly....
" It's nothing compared to what you gave me " she said and left making him tremble.
His back touched the wall and he slid down onto the floor.
His body has gone numb...
While those memories came back...
all over again.

Anita who had been working late night has been a silent spectator of the incident. She can't let this continue anymore....
She might lose him forever....
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The kids , Anu and lakshmi were collecting flowers in the huge garden for their morning pooja.
She was asking Neelu to not to smell the flowers while Neelu didn't listen to her mom.

After pooja,
Lakshmi was giving Ladoo to her kids while Saraswathi informed her that their mother in law is calling her. Lakshmi nodded while placing Prasad in her hand too. She went to Anita's study and knocked on the door .

She heard a faint ' come in ' and entered the study which was simple and plain yet sophisticated in certain aspects.

" good morning beta " Anita said smiling and lakshmi nodded saying "namasthe".

" you have called me ? " lakshmi enquired and Anita nodded while asking her to take a seat.

" I wanted to talk to you about Arjun " she said and lakshmi stilled in her seat. She didn't want to talk anything related to him. Staying in the same place as him is making her suffocated and yesterday night she couldn't even sleep after seeing his face...

" I know what he has done to you is wrong beta .
We didn't want him anywhere near you after we saw what he has done to you....I and your father in law tried to find you for days and nights restlessly after you went missing...
We kept our son away from us as we couldn't even bear to stay near him thinking how monsterous he has become...

He was depressed in those months you went missing but he never stopped searching for you...
He was in pain which we could clearly see but we didn't console him....
Not even that thought has passed through our mind....
Because we couldn't.....after seeing those pictures of how evil he has become...and what all he has done to you..

But when Veer found out that Arjun has got clues to your location, we informed Rahul to get you back to us without Arjun knowing it....
So that we could keep you safe or atleast send you to your parents...
But when we came to know that you were d....dead in the blast...
We felt pain
but arjun lost himself along with you..
He was searching for you like a mad dog and when he finally found you, he was as if....as if he has found a reason to live again...
But when he saw you dying in front of him....with his own eyes...
He was shattered....

He became more silent and distant from us. Drowning himself in pain by shutting himself in an empty dark room for weeks.
I could still remember his shrilling screams from those rooms at nights...
It was a nightmare for us to see him torturing himself....

How much ever we wanted to hate him, but we couldn't while seeing him killing himself in regret...

After all I am a mother too and this heart couldn't bear to see my son in pain...

It was hard for us to make him talk to us normally until we came to know that it was all an act.... Our own son deceived us as he felt our pain...

We saw that person sitting in front of the temple in torn clothes. Do you know how his face looked at that moment?

Alone
Tired
Weak

With those gloomy eyes and no hope in them, he spent years living a life without an aim. He was just a breathing corpse...
Our son roaming like a breathing corpse in front of our eyes.....( a sob escaped Anita's mouth and she controlled herself )

You might think that why he has to sit in front of a temple and beg when he has done all wrong with you and you were no more in this world to see him regret....

It's because he felt alone...
He felt so much alone that...that he wanted to stay there and feel the pain you have faced... He became a beggar because he has treated as you one...

So that atleast in his pains,
He could feel your pain,
stay with you and feel you...
Even though it was all pain that was left...

I can't tell you how much it killed us everyday to see him like that...
I donot ask you to get back with him..

But p...please don't hurt him with his past, his mental stability is hanging on to a thin line...
He is not stable at all....
The more you try to hurt him with the past... The more he will lose himself and might end up doing something to himself...

We have already seen him facing it when meera died...
We can't bear it anymore...
For our sake please don't speak those words which would hurt him...
W..we donot ask you more... "
Anita said with her voice cracking in the last... She has seen her son suffer too much and she dosen't want to lose him... After all which mother would?

Lakshmi had tears brimming in her eyes which she successfully wiped away when Anita wasn't looking at her...
It's not for arjun that she was crying... She is crying seeing a mother begging for her son's life.....because she is a mother herself too...

" then allow us to leave from here and keep us safe somewhere else " lakshmi said while looking at Anita's face....

Anita was shocked for second...
She can't let lakshmi leave when she saw her son recovering from his trauma... But she knew that even Lakshmi is suffering...
She didn't know what to do... but her love for her son won...That dosen't mean that she would let the history repeat with her daughter in law...

Lakshmi looked at Anita's face and she knew what's going on in her brain. Her anger raised while thinking that Anita is thinking of her son's sanity while she is losing her own sanity living here...

" so
You don't want me to hurt your son
You don't want me to leave this place
So that your son can stay happy while I rot ?!!
Well played Mrs. Anita Singh Rajput " Lakshmi said clapping. Lakshmi is now thinking more rationally rather than emotionally....
Though she knew that not all situations are to be dealt rationally but she couldn't help thinking the injustice that she is facing here...
That she is being a scape goat once again....

Anita knew that lakshmi is over thinking about this matter and though she wanted to let out her heart and make her daughter in law understand the dire situation but lakshmi was hell bent on misunderstanding it. This would cost her son's life ultimately and she can't let this happen . All she wanted was to live in peace...or at least prayed that her children fight without harming each other to an extent that they would end up doing something grave to themselves...
She knew that she can't avoid the fights....

She knew that her son has done wrong....but she knew her son more than any other person in this whole world. Anita looked at Lakshmi skeptically...

" okay
Then answer me this one .
Didn't my son ask you about why you have cheated on him with other men?" Anita asked remembering those photos in which Lakshmi was lying on the bed while a servant was dressing up himself.... She knew that those photos are fake and manipulated ones...

Lakshmi's body turned cold at this question and looked down.
Her memory traced back to those times when he asked her multiple times about this... When he first time ignored those photos that were sent to him and came to her room and spent the night with her and baby....
at that time he didn't trust those photos.....
he trusted her over them.....

" As much as I know my son
He would give a chance to others...
He would let others speak...
Atleast his family....
And I can say for sure that he must have given you a chance as well.
( Anita sighed looking at lakshmi's deflated face )
He was hurt lakshmi
Meera hurt him, but still he loved her... He was in pain when she passed away... And then you came in, we saw how happy he was....but when he came to know that he was being cheated on again,
he couldn't control himself.....

It was not him that abused you lakshmi..... It was his insanity and insecurity that made him take those steps...
Feeling defeated, dejected and betrayed once again in his life made him do something which he shouldn't....

I'm not asking you to come back to him... I'm just asking you to not to hurt him with that past...
He has already faced it twice.
He can't take it anymore...
His own regret will kill him...
P...please..... " Anita said with tears running down her face and lakshmi ran out of the study as fast as she can.....

She didn't stop until she reached the garden....
She enetered the forest and sat under the shade of a huge tree...
She leaned on to the trunk while holding her heart and taking in deep breaths....

'True
True
True
True'

That was what her mind has been screaming at when Anita was speaking...
She was unable to accept the bitter truth...

Tears rolled down her eyes...
not for anyone...
only for herself....

' Now everyone is pointing at me...
Why do I feel like it's all my fault? Am I evil? He...he asked me...
But I couldn't tell him... Be...because Ibbu's life was in danger....
But....but he said that he would trust me no matter what....

B.....but he did give me a chance to speak...
Not once or twice...
Many times....
But I didn't speak...
So it was all my fault?
I was compelled to take this decision... But why has it all become my fault when it is clearly not...
Why do I feel like it's my fault? ' her heart felt heavy with a painful lump forming in her throat.... she pulled her hair in frustration and pain that she was unable to control...

She shut her eyes and leaned back on to the trunk while those tears rolled down her cheeks......
Like a river of sadness
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Arjun followed his wife who was running into the forest and hid behind a tree while seeing her cowering helplessly and crying... His heart ached while seeing her like that.
Though he wanted to go near her, talk to her, take her into his arms and wipe away those tears.....
but he dare not knowing that she would loathe his presence more...

He saw her standing up and wiping those tears away with her pallu. She smiled one or two times and patted her cheeks because she dosen't want her children to see her like that...
A facade that she never wears off...

Arjun followed behind her from a distance making sure that she would safely reach back to the palace.
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Neelu looked at her mom staring out of the window and she knew that her mom is sad. She ran out of the room on her small feet and dragged her Maasi who was talking on phone.

" Maasi
Mummy sad
Go " she said in her baby voice and pushed Anu inside lakshmi's room.

Anu looked at Lakshmi who was dazing out . She went to her, pulled her towards the bed and made her sit on it. She too sat beside her and patted lakahmi's hands assuringly...... The same way Anu's mother used to do when she was sad....

Lakshmi hugged Anu tightly but the heaviness in her heart didn't get off.
She looked at Anu's face as there was tinge of blush on it. She was skeptical about it for a second but soon understood who could make her blush.......

" Anu
What did he do now? " Lakshmi asked and anu's eyes widened thinking how lakshmi knew about it.

" no ! no !
What are you talking about ?
What would Rahul do? " Anu said fiddling with her fingers and lakshmi laughed seeing her tensed state . " I didn't mention about Rahul " Lakshmi said...
Which made Anu blush and cover her face with shyness...

" h...he asked m...me
for ma....marriage " Anu stuttered feeling shy... She was infatuated to him at first but gradually it turned into liking him...she is not yet sure about love....
but she knows that cares about him the most......

Lakshmi was shocked for a second. She even forgot to breath thinking that the 'Saint' has finally asked for Anu's hand. She smiled looking at Anu and hugged her tightly while telling " congragulations ".
She knew that Anu too likes him and Rahul is also a reliable man...
To be more precise, He is a gem in Lakshmi's dictionary.

" I'm happy for you Anu
I am always there for you..
Rahul is a good man...
He could even lay down his life for someone like me who is not even related to him by blood...
then I can't even imagine till which extent he can go for you.
Treat him well Anu .
Though he is a so called 'Business Tycoon Monster', but he is innocent at heart for his loved ones...he can do anything for them... " Lakshmi spoke out her heart because she already knew that Rahul will take care of Anu, but she wants Anu to take care of Rahul the same way or even more....

Because it's rare to find someone like Rahul.... Who hasn't expected anything in return from Lakshmi all these years and was there for her in her thick and thin...helping her without even her knowing it.....all he ever wants was her to be happy......

" so when were you planning to tell that me you chasmish " Lakshmi asked while hitting Anu's head and Anu said that he has proposed her today in the early morning and she has accepted it too as she did even fell for him unknowingly......

" Achaaaa.....
lets talk with poojari and take out a good day for engagement .
We should even start marriage arrangements...
After all it's my girl and the great business tycoon who is getting married... " Lakshmi said and Anu blushed more.....

" what lakshmi
You too... ( she said hitting lakshmi's arm playfully)....
We are thinking of getting married in a temple or in a small place with few people close to us... " she said and lakshmi nodded as it is true... She dosen't even remember who all came to her own marriage...
It's a waste of money...
Small marriages are cute....

" Morning only that monkey proposed and Mrs. Monkey already started planning ha. " she teased her more and Anu's face turned into a more deeper shade of red .
" oi oi
Don't blush too much,
or else the vasculature in your face will rupture with the excessive pressure " Lakshmi said laughing looking at Anu's red face while Anu was groaning and hitting her sister...

Both of them started planning and it soon escalated into argument between them..... like when they were kids....
Those good old times....
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( On the same day at 2:30a.m. , when the whole world is sleeping )

Rahul POV :

I have been re-reading these lines again and again but I can't even memorise the first line properly... I groaned internally.... why can't I remember?
The thoughts of her rejecting my proposal filled up my mind and I gulped imagining it......She is beautiful like an angel and I know that I am not worthy of her....

I have my own territory...
But the fear of her safety scares me...
The problems that lakshmi had to face for being Arjun's wife were enough for me to step back as I can't imagine Anu in that situation...
I wanted to step back for her and break my own heart....

But after knowing that all of us have been exposed and Anu has been pulled down along with me and lakshmi... I knew that she should be protected and I knew that I have to be there for her...
Even though marriage is not required for this.... But my heart yearns for it.
Yearns for her love
Her smile...
I want to stay by her side , cuddle with her and listen to her giggling...

The first time I saw her was when me and lakshmi came back to India 3 years back. Though Lakshmi was PA of Alexander and had Ben and Antonio along with her all the time, but I escorted her for her safety...

Fortunately that day after the private conference meeting was over, we were about to exit the company and suddenly a tiny figure collided with lakshmi. Antonio pushed that girl away trying to protect Lakshmi but lakshmi stopped him.

" Anu ? " that's when I saw the girl's face when she looked up hearing her name...

" Lakshmi ! " the girl shreaked making Antonio and Ben take a cover for lakshmi as they understood that someone identified the original identity of lakshmi.

" guys she means no harm
We are um....distant cousins " lakshmi told and helped Anu to get up. I couldn't get my eyes off that little form who is really cute as she kept on staring at the interior of the car with wide eyes.

We stopped at an isolated cafe and made sure that it's completely booked as per Lakshmi's order .

" how are you ? " Lakshmi asked and that mere sentence broke down the little girl in front of me in to a pool of tears. Lakshmi consoled her and my hands itched to do the same...

" la....lakshmi...
They are soo bad ( hiccup)
I don't want to stay there anymore...
They...they beat me...
They want me to marry their son...
Th...that avi...avinash tried to molest me....and they didn't even help me...
They blamed m...me only lakshmi....
Why did mom and dad have to die...
I should have died along with them that year itself... " she poured out her heart while tears rolled down her cheeks....

My anger knew no bounds knowing that she is too young to face such abuse, that too from her relatives who should protect her . I came to know that her parents died in a car accident and their relatives took her in.....

While taking the glass from the table, her long white sleeve slid back and my eyes landed on those marks on her wrists which caused a sting in my heart...

That was when we have taken her away from that place then and there. I had contacted one of my branches and made sure to get her a job until she finds one on her own. She stayed in the office staff quarters for years until Lakshmi planned to come back to India . She did too change her office so that she can shift in with lakshmi and help her with kids .

All those years, I used to come back to India atleast once in a month to see her and she used to talk to me politely out of gratitude which I didn't like... But after we settled back in India , almost every day I meet up with kids and my sister and also meet my little innocent girl whom to I have lost my heart...
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I came out of my revere of thoughts as soon as I noticed that the time was 3:00a.m. I looked at myself in the mirror and thought for sometime as this is the most important decision in my life that I have taken.... I just want to make sure that it's right....

I drived by myself to the palace and called Anu as soon as I reached . I asked her to come out with me to a place and she said 'yes' without even asking me a 'where'.
She trusts me..
This feeling warmed up my heart and I smiled waiting for her near the gates .

I looked at a figure coming towards the gates..... I smiled more recognising that it was my little angel....
she is walking towards me in her black shirt and pant.... I expected a smile from her but she is sulking with a sleepy face....
Cute.... I want to squeeze her cheeks!

I was tensed while driving but covered it up and concentrated on road.....

As soon as we reached the destination , I asked her to blind fold herself and she was doubtful about it. As soon as I said 'please' , she laughed and tied the folds by herself.

It was still dark outside and I held her hand in mine and guided her. All the while she walked with me as I guided her.... she trusts me.....
I asked her to remove her blind fold and she pulled it away... she squinted her eyes as the lights blinded her....
As soon as she saw the whole place, there was shock written on her forehead clearly.
She gasped looking around and I couldn't help but drink in her expressions...

I smiled seeing her cute face but soon freaked out thinking whether she will accept me or not.

I let out a breath , mustered all the confidence I can....and kneeled down on one leg.

Long forgotten those lines I gathered from internet.
Right now she is staring at me like an alien and I gripped the box in my hand tightly behind my back...

" Anu
Before you ask me questions , I want you to listen to me first...

I don't remember what to say nor do I know how to express myself.

I want you with me...
For the rest of my life.
I want us to stay together...
I can't imagine anyone else beside me while I grow old and play around with my grand kids....except for you...

This rest of my life,
I want to spend with you....
I won't promise to treat you like a queen because you are my other half that I can't disassociate myself from...

I love you alot...
Please accept me.
Though I cannot lay down the whole world for you at your feet...
But you will be my whole world... "
I said and took out the box immediately....

Her face showed multiple expressions from fear till a tinge of love in those orbs..... I knew she likes me but not the way I love her...

It's okay if she says 'no' because I can understand that she....
I don't know....... but I will protect her.....
I closed the box while looking down and was about to stand up....

I felt her hands around my neck while saying a 'yes' softly... I lost my balance and fell back along with her on top, still hugging me tightly...
I felt like I won the whole world in those few seconds...

I heard her sniffing and I looked at her face while wiping away those tears...... She smiled looking at me and hid her face in my shirt.

Those rays of the rising sun peeking through the leaves of the tree.....
Made me feel like
I'm turning on to a new page in my life... A new hope filled within me...
" From this day onwards,
You shall not walk alone....
As my heart will be your shelter and
And my arms will be your home " I said while slipping the ring on to her finger....

" who said you that you are not prepared....
with those ch....cheesy lines all " she said softly while seeing my face and again blushed harder....

" If they could keep you happy and blush forever like this....
I'm ready to tell them all along my life" I said making her making her hide back into my shirt again...
I laughed at her antics....

The sun rise by in the forest while I still couldn't get enough of her...
I know that I had to take her back to the palace....

Today is one of the best days of my life....

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Hey ya guys .
Thanks for us understanding me and supporting me .

I'm sorry your author is a lazy ass who can't give more than hearts and hugs in the comments.... but I can assure you that those smallest gestures are heart felt gestures from her .

My books have been nominated in ThetaTelugu community Awards.
👉 My vows - in ' General fiction '
👉 Time travel - in ' Historical fiction '

I will be sharing their page in my public message board.

Go and drop a '👍' there in the comment section on my book . Only if you feel it's worth it.

~Buhbye~
Muah 💋

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