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15th November, 1907...

It's just been two days since I met Shona lastly. But I guess I am already missing her. Though we are not supposed to meet till our wedding day we somehow managed to be in contact, through letters. But my oh-so-in-love heart is always around her that nowadays I even dream of nothing but only her! May be as they say, we get dreams only about what we always think, I got a dream of us lastnight! Yes and it was so beautiful that I couldn't believe it was only a dream. It started off so well that at first I couldn't believe what I saw but then realized this is how our life is going to be, after a few days!

It was a cool breezy night when I was back to home after a long day and welcomed by a familiar soothing music from the Piano played by my Shona. I wonder when did she learn to play the piano so well! But more than that what brought a smile on my face was seeing the sindoor on her forehead. Yes, we were married! Happily married! If this is how my days are going to be, with her, I wish I can travel in time and skip these 7 days which separates us. I went and hugged her from behind and she stopped and turned around startled by my sudden appearance making me giggle at her.  She looked so beautiful, beautiful than the moon that showered us with its cool light making us sink in each other's warmth. Whispering sweet nothings to each other, we spent the night engulfed in each other's arms.

But when I woke up the next day, I couldn't find her in my arms anymore. Shocked about where she disappeared, I searched every nook and corner of the house but couldn't find her anywhere. Devastated, I looked up at the mirror, and my eyes widened as it showed the reflection of only me, without her. I woke up with a jerk and looked around panicked finding myself in my room. It was then I realized all that I saw was nothing but a dream! It started off so beautifully but the end made me fear. Why did I see shona disappear all of a sudden? Suddenly an unknown fear crept inside me as I tried to understand my dream.

Is my mind trying to tell me something that is about to happen in future? No! It can't be! Why will Shona disappear from my life? We just have less than a week to get married. After that we will be together, forever! No one can separate her from me. But.. But what if my dream comes true? I can't even imagine my life without her. From the moment she confessed her love to me, from the moment I made her wear the ruby infront of my parents, she became mine, only mine! And still I could very well remember the day my mother showed me that ruby ring for the first time and how excited I got to see that!

~~Flashback~~

"Maa!", a little boy of around 5-6 years ran inside the room. "What are you doing?", he asked seeing his mother taking something out of the cupboard. "I'm looking at this", she said taking a small wooden box which looked more like the one that holds jewellery. "What's that? Show me! Show me! Show me!!", he jumped trying to look the box in her hand and she smiled seeing his excitement. Understanding that he wasn't able to see it, she bent down to his height and opened the box. "Woah!!", he gasped in surprise seeing a beautiful white metal ring with a huge ruby stunned in it. "So how is it?", she asked chuckling as he was busy in gawking at the ring.

"So pretty!", he exclaimed unable to take his eyes off the ruby's beauty and his mother smiled. "This is for you!", she said and he looked up at her amazed. "Mine?", his eyes twinkled in happiness but only until realization striked him. "But it's a woman's ring! And also my fingers are too tiny to wear it!", he showed her all his ten fingers and she chuckled. "For you means not for you! But for the one who will be yours!", she said smiling and he furrowed his brows at her not understanding any of her words. "Dev, this ring is going to be here, very safely, waiting for the right time and for the right one!", she smiled. "One day, you will grow up into a big boy and who knows, at that time your father and me may not be with you", she said. "Why? Where will you both go?", he whinned.

"No, we won't go anywhere. But even if we are not with you at that time, remember to give this special gift from your mother to your special one", she smiled. "Special one?", he asked her confusedly. "Yes! You will find her once you grow up into a big boy and this ruby will help you in finding her", she said. "How?", he asked her quizzically. "Because it's a special ring!", she said and narrowed his eyes at her. "Like it will grant you any wish you ask for", she said and his eyes widened. "Really?", he was more than surprised and she nodded at him in a yes. "Okay! Then ruby listen!", he brought it down to his height and narrowed his eyes at the ruby. "Give me a full plate of laddoos! Now!!", he ordered and waited for the plate of laddoos to appear but to his disappoinment nothing showed up.

"Maa!", he pouted sadly seeing his mother giggling at him. "Dev, you can't make a wish like that!", she said and he looked at her confused. "When you are in a helpless situation and if you wish for something with all your heart, then this ruby will definitely grant that wish of yours!", she smiled. "And this ruby is so special that only it can decide whom it should be with and whom it shouldn't be with", she added and he looked at her and then back at the ring surprised. Suddenly the ring blinked twice making his eyes pop out in shock. "Maa! It's glowing!", he shouted and looked back at the ruby only to be shocked even more. It's not glowing now!

His mother laughed out loud and his mouth formed a perfect 'O'. "Magic!", he exclaimed looking up at his mother as she chuckled. She closed the box and stood up from her place. "It's not magic Dev", she placed the box inside the locker. "Maa! But I saw. That ruby was glowing like this", he blinked his eyes twice and she giggled even more. "Maa! Really it blinked! Promise!", he jumped running behind her while she shook her head smiling at him.

~~End of Flashback~~

Maa! As you said you and papa are not with me anymore. But the ruby you gave me showed my shona to me. And now she is my whole world. I can't even imagine my life without her. If there is no Shona, there is no Devrath! I will protect her with whatever it takes, even if it's my life! But if I failed, I won't waste a second to take it away, I promise!

***

Sonakshi looked down at her hand. The huge ruby studded in the white metal shone in the dark brightly. She could very well remember the dream she had after her accident in which she got to see or almost experienced herself in Shona's place when she was tortured by someone to take off her ring. And also the recent event happened with herself when she tried to remove the ring and give it to Dev. Her eyes widened upon realization. There was one similar thing in both the incidents.. The ruby refused to come out of her finger!

"And this ruby is so special that only it can decide whom it should be with and whom it shouldn't be with"

Devrath's mother's words made sense to her now. She didn't know if she was imagining things, but she felt both the ruby are same! And it chose the person it wanted to be with! She could sense her heart pounding aloud in her chest as her mind started connecting the dots. She knew she shouldn't think as such now after all the things happened with her. But somewhere she felt that she was connected to Shona in a deeper way! If not, why would she get instances of past when Shona and Devrath lived, as her dreams even when Dev was not with her? Why would the ruby choose her after Shona? And, why would it refuse to leave her hand, as it did with Shona?

"If I am....", she paused as her heart almost skipped a beat upon realization. "Then...", she gasped and looked at Dev who was in his deep slumber. "Did the lie he said actually turned into... truth?", she gulped and shook her head slowly. "Are the Williams from Devrath's story and Williams who is threatening Dev now somehow related?", her face paled in fear. "But if Dev is related to Devrath then why didn't he get any dream or flashes of the past?", she paused. "If he was Devrath, he himself should get to see the past like I did", she looked down at the ruby in her hand. "But he didn't get any till now. So.. may be..it is...  someone else", her eyes widened. "No!", she shook her head slowly as an unknown fear crept inside her.

Suddenly she heard the sound of papers flipping and looked at the pages getting turned in the diary in her hand. She looked down and her gaze fell upon the letters written on it..

***

17th November, 1907..

So many things happened in these two days that I couldn't even find time to tell you anything. On one side, wedding ceremonies are going on full fledge while on the other side, something which I never expected happened. Yes, I met Mr. Williams today. I was initially surprised to see him here but never expected the reason for his arrival to be such. He, once again, asked my old house! At that time, in his party when he talked about this topic, I thought I had put an end to it. But no, I didn't. I still couldn't believe he is seriously thinking that I will sell my old house to him! Really?

How did he think that I will lose the house where I lived with my parents? Though it was for a very few years and I could hardly remember things, I will never let it go! They are the memories to be treasured, treasured for my lifetime! I immediately asked him to leave but he challenged me that he himself will get my house from me. Did he think I am a fool? I will never do it. Never! And when I said no, he said he will snatch everything from me. How dare he? Now that I know what his actual intentions are, I know what I should do!

***

Sonakshi narrowed her eyes as something confused her. "Was Mr. Williams interested in Devrath's old house? Then what about the ruby?", she couldn't understand anything. If all that Mr. Williams wanted was Ruby why didn't he ask Devrath about it? Instead Devrath had clearly mentioned that Mr. Williams demanded only his old house from him. And much to her surprise, there was nothing related to the ruby written on the diary. Confused, she turned the page.

***

18th November, 1907..

Finally, everything is getting settled in their places. I have talked about Mr. Williams to my friend who is in London. May be Mr. Williams didn't know that I have contacts higher than him. Now that I knew his actual intentions, I made sure he soon gets away from us. Yes, I have talked about his transfer to some other place where he couldn't even think about bothering me and Shona anymore. I guess I can be at peace, atleast now.

***

19th November, 1907..

Our wedding is just two days ahead and all the relatives and friends gathered in our homes already, though I didn't have many of them. But I can't believe that the only friend I have will not be available for my wedding. It was only today that I got to know he is not coming to India anytime soon. How can he miss my wedding just like that? I hope he surprises me somehow and comes here at the right time. I'm waiting for the moment I could introduce my Shona to him. I have already told him so many things about her whenever we talk through letters or telephone. But he had never seen her or even her picture. I thought anyhow he would be available here at our wedding to see me and Shona together. But never thought that he would disappoint me this much.

But Shona had seen his picture once. Yes, it was our old house when she found a photograph of me with him taken during our childhood days in London. And there is another one taken a few years back. It wasn't a new one but I still have it framed in my old house. I still wish he will somehow surprise me with his unexpected arrival at our wedding!

***

20th November, 1907..

Hello Diary!

Wedding ceremonies are going very well that I couldn't even find time to write you, my dear diary. And I'm not even sure about if I will even have a look at you hereafter. So don't get disheartened. I will have my shona to look upon from tomorrow. And I'm sure she will keep me busy that I will forget you completely. And I hope my Shona will be happy now seeing my gift for her. And I'm sure to get my return gift from her, by this time, tomorrow... A long night to go for a beautiful day!

***

Sonakshi sensed something prick her heart. Even by reading this, she could feel how excited he was when he wrote the diary. But he might have not even thought that his life would change so much that he himself won't be there to write his diary the next day. But there's something new that she got to know this time. "So Devrath had a friend apart from Ramu!", she thought for a while. "He might be the one about whom he has mentioned on the previous day too, the one whom he contacted for Mr. Williams transfer. But may be even before he could do that, things turned worse", she sighed. "But he haven't even mentioned his friend's name anywhere so far", she wondered and suddenly something striked her. "May be I can find all my answers there", she stood up, placing the diary on the table.

She was about to walk out but Bruno came infront of her, blocking her way. "Bruno, you stay here", she said and glanced back at Dev who was sleeping peacefully. "Don't go anywhere", she looked at Bruno and walked out of the room. "Kichu Bhaiya!", she called descending down the stairs. "Yes Madam", he stopped infront of her. "Do you know where is Devrath's old house?", she asked and kichu thought for a while. "Do you mean the one where he used to stay with his parents when he was young?", he asked and she nodded at him in a yes. "It's just a few steps away madam. When Devrath was alive he used to take good care of it. But after him, it wasn't looked properly. So it is not in a good condition now", he said. It was a simple house made of no expensive things like the bungalow they are staying in now. So it's obvious that it can't last as same as when it was built. "Umm.. Okay. But do you have the keys to that house?", Sonakshi asked a little hesitantly making him wonder and he thought for a while. "Yes", he nodded making her sigh in relief.

***

"Shona!"

Devrath stopped as he heard a pleasant music of piano all of a sudden. He was back to home after a very long day and this unexpected welcome took him by surprise. Following the sound of music he climbed upstairs and soon reached his room. He was about to step in when his gaze fell upon the source of music and his lips automatically curved up. Shona was seen playing the Piano with her eyes closed, all lost in her own world but with a constant smile playing on her lips. And much to his surprise she was playing very well. But his heart fluttered even more when his gaze fell upon the mangalsutra around her neck and the sindoor on her forehead.

Smiling to himself, he took slow steps careful enough to not disturb her and  wrapped his hands around her neck, hugging her from behind. "Dev!", she almost jumped out of her dreamland and shot her eyes open but he giggled. "Hello wife", he placed a wet kiss on her cheek and she tried to calm down her racing heartbeat. "You scared me!", she let out a deep breath and even before she could understand anything, he scooped her in his arms and sat on the stool, placing her on his lap. "And you surprised me!", he smiled wrapping his one arm around her waist and her lips immediately curved up. "Really? Did you like it?", her eyes beamed with joy as she kept dangling her legs on his left.

"I like everything you do!", he tugged a strand of hair behind her ear. "But when did you learn to play this well?", he sounded surprised. "What can I do husband? It's been a month and you are leaving me alone in this huge house everyday. What am I supposed to do the whole day until you return in the evening? I got bored so I learned to play this!", she smiled proudly and he looked at her surprised. "I got such a talented wife!", he smiled and she patted her own shoulders making him chuckle. "You are lucky my dear husband! And I know I play so well, even better than you!", she said and he gawked at her. "Oh really? Are you sure about it?", he asked and she nodded her head without any doubts.

"Then fine", a mischievous idea crossed his mind. "Let's play a game", he said and she looked at him suspiciously. She very well knew all the games that he had advised so far, turned to be very dangerous to her and she was scared about the same. "Are you scared Shona?", he asked breaking her reverie and her eyes widened. She immediately shook her head in a no. "Then let's play", he said suppressing his laughter and without letting her think much. He turned her around such that she was still on his lap but facing the piano. Her back hit his front and he could already sense her getting nervous. "So now you should play the Piano. For every mistake you do in the tune, you are supposed to give me one kiss", he smiled one sidedly and her eyes popped out. She knew he would come up with something like this only!

"And for every tune you play well", he continued and she looked up at him. "I will give you a reward", he said and she looked back at him. "What kind of reward?", she asked doubtedly. "That's my wish. But I am sure you will love it!", he said and she thought for a while before nodding in a yes. "So fine. Start!", he held either side of her waist as she started pressing the keys with her soft fingers . But suddenly she felt his lips on her cheek much to her shock and stopped abruptly. "Dev! What was that?", she asked startled but he looked as if he didn't know anything. "Reward!", he said casually and she looked at him wide agape. "But why did you stop?", he asked sounding innocent and she pressed her lips together giving him an angry pout.

"You are cheating!", she whined looking grumpy and he furrowed his brows at her. "What's cheating here? I told you that I will give you a reward if you play a tune correctly. And I even did that being true to my words", he shrugged his shoulders and she frowned. "But now you did a mistake by stopping abruptly. So now it's your time to be true to your words. Come on, give me a kiss", he showed his cheek to her and she gawked at him open mouthedly. "I knew it! So according to your game, if I played correctly you will kiss me and if I didn't I should kiss you, right?", she asked and he grinned at her.

"Exactly! My smart girl!", he smirked much to her annoyance. "Now stop wasting my time and give me a kiss. We have so many things to do tonight", he said pointing at his cheek and her breath hitched hearing him. She very well knew, exactly what 'things' he was talking about. Hiding her blush, she turned his face and placed a wet kiss on his cheek making his lips curve up. "Now, continue", he turned her around in his hold, making her face the Piano as her fingers started grazing through the keys again. Every passing second, for every tune she played, he kissed her, not leaving any part of her skin untouched by his lips and she withered like a leaf to his every touch.

"I love you shona!", he kissed her hair which turned all messy, only because of him and she hummed in response placing her head on his chest, hearing the familiar sound of his heartbeat. He wrapped his arms around her tiny frame and pulled her closer as if it was even possible. She closed her eyes sinking herself in his warmth hiding herself from the breeze of cold moon, both lying on the bed wrapped in each other's arms, completely forgetting the Piano game. "You are beautiful Shona, more beautiful than the moon itself!", he mumbled in his sleepy tone and she chuckled.

"Don't say it aloud. The moon will get angrier on you and will never come back tomorrow night", she smiled looking up at him. "Oh! Then it will be even more comfortable for us to do our 'things' in the dark", he smiled mischievously and she slapped his arm playfully yearning a loud chuckle from him. "I want to stay here, in your arms, forever", she wrapped her arms around his torso. "And I want to keep you here, safe in my arms, forever!", he pulled her to himself hiding her in his arms and closed his drooping eyes letting himself slip into the land of nod.

Dev sqeezed his eyes open as the bright rays of sun disturbed his sleep. "Shona", he roamed his hand on the bed but couldn't find her anywhere. He immediately shot his eyes open and looked around but the room was empty. Panicked, he quickly got out of the bed and rushed out of the room. "Shona, where are you?", he shouted scared as the lonely house echoed only his voice. He looked at every nook and corner of the bungalow but couldn't find her anywhere much to his fear. An unknown fear engulfed in him as he reached back to their room. The Piano, their bed, the window showing the sunlight every thing in their room screamed her presence which he couldn't feel now. He stopped as his gaze fell upon the mirror opposite to him. He walked forward and his eyes widened as it showed the reflection of him... only the reflection of him, without her!

~~~

"Sonakshi!", Dev shouted aloud waking up from his sleep and looked around panicked. It took a minute for him to understand that he was in Sonakshi's room. "How did I come here?", he held his throbbing head in his hand and shut his eyes as the images of his dream flashed infront of his eyes making his eyes shot open. "What was that?", he gulped down. "Was that a dream?", he looked down nervously. "But.. But it looked somewhat familiar", he thought for a while. "But why did Sonakshi look so different?", he tried to remember his dream and all he could see was the images of Sonakshi, but to his shock she looked so unlike of herself. "And even me!", his eyes widened as he could still remember the last moment of his dream, that is when he looked at his own reflection in the mirror in his dream!

He looked up and his gaze fell upon the mirror opposite to him and his gaze stuck on the reflection of his panic stricken face. Was this the same face he got to see in his dream? The same face which held nothing but fear, the fear of losing her. A loud bark broke his reverie and he looked down at the source of sound to find Bruno near the foot of the bed. "What's happening?", he tried to remember how he landed in Sonakshi's room but couldn't. "Where is she?", he tried to get out of the bed when his gaze fell upon the diary on the table beside. He looked at it carefully and his eyes widened as he recognized what it is. "Devrath's Diary!". He took it in his hand as the papers flipped in air and stopped at a specific page. "15th November ,1907", he read and his eyes traced each line but got stuck at the second paragraph. His heart almost skipped a beat as realization striked upon him. It was Devrath's dream!

***

"Madam this is Devrath's old house", Kichu said showing a huge one storey building with patched rooftop. It's while walls lost all it's colours and to be honest the house was almost in it's worst state. Kichu was about to open the lock but stopped hearing Sonakshi. "Kichu bhaiya, wait!", she shouted all of a sudden. "I will open the door", she said and he forwarded the key to her.

"I want you to open the door"

She reminisced Devrath's words which he said to Shona when they both reopen his old house. Letting out a deep sigh, she stepped forward and inserted the key in the hole. Turning the lock open, she pushed the door and it opened with a creaking noise filling the place with nothing but dust. "Madam, I would've cleaned this house if you told had told me earlier", Kichu said as Sonakshi stepped inside. It was dark, untidy and full of dust. "It's okay kichu bhaiyya. Even I didn't know that I will come to this house until a few minutes ago", she walked in looking around and stopped as her gaze fell upon a very old photograph hanging on the wall.

It was a picture of two boys of around 12-13 years. "This!", she pointed towards the photographer and kichu looked back at her. "That's Devrath when he was young", he said and her eyes stuck on the picture. This was the first photograph of him, that she had seen. "Photographs used to be like that in those days it seems. This was taken when he was studying in London", he said while Sonakshi was all lost in observing the picture. "And the other one?", she asked pointing towards the boy next to Devrath. As far as she knew Devrath was the only child of Rajvanshi family and there were no chances that he had a brother of around same age as his.

"That was his friend. My father used to say that this person was in some higher post in British government", he said and Sonakshi looked at him confused. "But he looks like Indian", she said. "Yes but one of his parents were from England it seems", he added and Sonakshi nodded at him. By now she could understand one thing. He mighted the one whom Devrath had mentioned about, in the last few pages of his diary as his friend from Britain. "So there should be another photograph of them here, isn't it? In which they both were grown up?", she asked out of curiosity. She didn't know why but she was eager to see that photograph, may be to see how Devrath looked, she thought.

"I think yes madam. There were some old photographs. But I don't remember if I kept it upstairs or on the slabs here when I happened to enter this house for cleaning it a few years back. Let me search it up first. But I'm not sure if it is in a good condition", he said and walked upstairs leaving Sonakshi alone. Looking at the cracked walls and roofs she walked slowly but stopped as her gaze fell upon a white cardboard peeking from the slab above. Wondering what it was, she pulled a nearby stool to climb up, she took the sheet and got down. It was more dusty and almost teared up. She turned the sheet back and what she saw then made all the colour drain from her face. And before she could understand anything she felt someone's hand clasping her mouth tightly. She tried to pull away with all her strength but as soon as her gaze fell upon the broken mirror showing their reflection, she froze!

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Who is the person trying to kidnap Sonakshi? Will she escape?

Precap : Golu's grandfather is back!

So how confusing was the chapter? I hope things are slowly getting clearer now. And yes, we are nearing the end! 😄

My other works,

# Falling for you.. [COMPLETED]

# A Journey towards her.. [COMPLETED]

# My Little Paradise - A sequel to AJTH [COMPLETED]

# All Credits To Love - A Sharica OS

# Mine - A Devakshi OS

# Happy Ending - A Sharica OS

For more updates and spoilers follow my instagram account 'mishti7593'

Next update will be on next weekend 😊

~See you soon ❤️