Shivaay was still in a trance; he didn't know why he expected that her father would change his mind after hearing his wife's pregnancy news. The way her grandparents prioritized their son over their granddaughter portrayed a grand look at Anika's childhood under the shadow of a lack of love and yearnings.

"What the hell was that?" Om asked everyone in frustration. Shivaay couldn't divert himself. He never believed in curses, but right then, he couldn't stop himself from imagining the moments that her father had spoken a while ago.

"Shivaay, why are your hands shaking like this?" Om said, bringing his senses back when he shuddered at the thought of losing his wife. He had shivering issues since he turned 16, from the moment his Badi-maa passed away, and he witnessed it again. His eyes constantly blurred. He didn't know how he fell weak with mere words. No words escaped from him, and his brothers moved him towards the stairs, making him sit.

"Bhaiya, he's mad! We should ignore him," Rudru tried his level best, while Shivaay's mind stayed stuck at the same place where his father-in-law put him. His heart screamed he had no courage left in him to go through the path again in his life. Before he drowned himself more under the shed of fears, his vision went ahead and stuck on the figure of his wife, who was further away from him to notice his emotions. But he could see her clearly, praying to God for their future, and the dreams she shared about bringing up their kids together banged inside his head. He felt it like medicine for his state. Soon, his shivering stopped, and he quickly wiped off the sweatdrops that formed on his forehead.

"I am not going to let even his breath reach my wife. We should leave this place as soon as we can!" Shivaay said to his brothers.

"Bhaiya is right; we should go back. This environment is not good for Bhabhi," Rudy insisted. Om, despite not knowing the whole truth, nodded in agreement. Shivaay made the arrangements immediately. Then, Anika and Gauri walked towards them, and he felt the calmness in Anika start to fade when her eyes met his. He knew she must have read the worries on his face, and he quickly had to make up something.

"What's happening here?" Gauri asked, sensing the tension.

"I got a call from my P.A.; we encountered a data breach of our European clients. I have to go back and address it as soon as possible," Shivaay said in a hurried tone.

"Oh my god!" Anika responded.

"Yes, Anika! We have to head back soon!" Shivaay said. He tried to be calm, but his tone was hurried.

***

There was tension in his eyes, and something more than that—something very unusual for her husband, who used to be calm even when the storm hit him in business. She had attended multiple business parties with him and was amazed by his skills after witnessing how he handled his business, changing the fate of Oberoi Industries after taking over from his father, Shakthi Singh Oberoi. She knew how he had maintained a secure system for using the information of their European and US clients after the implementation of GDPR and American privacy laws. She became aware of it when he discussed it with his friend Malika during a party. It amazed her that, even though she was less interested, he made every boring topic interesting to her, and she would never tune him out. However, this information confused her more than it shocked her.

Before she could ask him more questions, he held her palm and walked inside the temple. He called the priest with much humility in his tone and apologized first. Anika couldn't understand anything; everything was happening so fast. He patiently offered to fund the renovation of the temple. Initially, the priest denied, but when Shivaay opened up about Anika's pregnancy and expressed his desire to do it for his child, the priest had no option but to accept.

Without communicating with her, Shivaay held up his phone and instructed his security to proceed with the renovations. He quietly held her hand, walked towards the car, and made her sit in the passenger seat, while he took the driver's seat. Gauri and Om accompanied them, while Rudru went to Bhavya's house to inform them about their sudden departure. Anika's eyes remained fixed on her husband's disturbed figure. She turned back to Om to seek answers for his sudden behavioral change, but Om gestured to her that nothing had happened. Meanwhile, her phone rang, displaying her grandmother's name. Shivaay turned his eyes to her phone and looked at her.

"Anika, I don't think it would be a good idea to share the news of your pregnancy with them now. What's the point when we don't meet them in person? We will inform them on our next visit. That's what Dadi said. For the first three months, we shouldn't share it with anyone," Shivaay said in one go and asked her to end the call, which she did, still feeling confused.

They reached their place within 15 minutes, but the enthusiasm they had before going to the temple was missing upon their return. Everyone was disturbed, and Anika still couldn't believe that Shivaay was disturbed due to his business. The way he had carefully held her when she climbed the stairs conveyed something else. He made her sit on the bed. Whether it was because of the sudden news of their departure or his worried state, she felt too weak to move, and her headache intensified.

"You stay here while I pack," he told her before disappearing into the walk-in closet where they had unpacked their stuff the previous night.

"Shivaay, can I help?" she asked while not moving from the bed. Even reaching for the water jug across the bed seemed too strenuous. But her concern for her husband prevailed, and she felt that the reason he gave for their sudden departure might be fake.

"No, I can manage," he replied and walked out with their suitcase.

"Shivaay, is this only because of business, or are you hiding anything from me?" Anika asked him directly. Her phone rang again, displaying her grandmother's name. When she attempted to answer the call, he grabbed her phone and threw it on the floor, breaking it into pieces before she could react.

"Shivaay..." she called his name, and for a moment, he seemed unable to process what he had done. He looked at her broken phone and her face.

"I am sorry," he tried to pick up her broken phone, but Anika quickly stood up from her place and stopped him.

"Leave that! It's okay," she gently cupped his face, noticing the tension and teardrops in his eyes. She felt helpless, especially when she didn't know the reason behind it. She quickly kissed away the tears trailing down his cheek.

"What am I seeing? Tell me what happened?" she asked him, but he was not ready to open up. He stayed silent, but she quickly embraced him in a hug.

"It's nothing, Ani," he tried to break the hug, but she purposefully sat on his lap.

"Anika, please," he asked her in a soft tone for the first time. It sounded like a plea to her. Her concerns grew stronger. She started to think about the possibilities for his sudden change of behavior, connecting it to the point where he asked her not to share the news with her grandma and his sudden rage when he saw her grandmother calling her. Then reality hit her hard—her mom's death anniversary.

"Shivaay," she held his face to make him look at her. "Did you meet any of my family members in the temple?" she asked, and there was a sudden change in his posture.

"Nothing happened," he said, trying to push her away, but she stayed stuck, looking at him.

"Dad!" she asked, "Did you meet him?" she asked. Before she could figure out his response, her eyes automatically closed, and her headache became unbearable.

***

"Dad!" she asked, forgetting to blink at him. Her skin paled when she uttered the next words, "Did you meet him?" She asked him without breaking eye contact. He went speechless, keen on his decision that, whatever happens, he will never let her know what happened in the temple. But before he could stop her, he saw her losing consciousness in front of him and falling above him. For a while, he felt blank, unaware of what happened next. He called everyone to take her back to bed, and everyone rushed to them. Soon after that, the doctor arrived and checked her while he stayed next to her, his eyes never leaving hers. Everything happened so fast.

"Her blood pressure dropped. She will get better soon; it's pretty common in pregnancies," the doctor informed and left, but stayed nearby, closer to her head while her head rested on his lap. He knew she might have guessed what happened even though he didn't open up about anything to her.

"Shivaay," Om held his shoulder. He dragged his gaze away from her to his brother, "Let us know once she wakes up, and take care." Shivaay acknowledged him, and they left. Surprisingly, his mind didn't dwell on his father-in-law's words right then. He knew that was what he feared when the slight thought of falling in love with her crossed his mind before they got married, which made him warn her not to expect anything from him. In contrast, he was the one to fall in love with her more quickly.

The time was close to midnight, and he stayed with his wife without moving. His lap started to hurt for a while, and now he felt only numbness. Even then, he didn't try to move when he found immense pleasure in that pain. He smiled to himself; moreover, he felt a change in her posture, and she tried to shrug off, indicating to him that she was regaining consciousness. She opened her eyes, and he smiled at her.

"So, how's my baby momma?" He asked, trying to normalize everything, knowing his wife would never ignore that. Her eyes traced his face before saying anything.

"I know I am handsome; I don't want you to prove it repeatedly," he spoke, attempting to change her mood.

"You shouldn't have married me," she said, taking him by surprise.

"I could guess what would have happened," she continued with whispers, expressing utmost pain.

"Already you have borne so much in your life. Why is fate so cruel to you by tying the knot with me?" She asked, a teardrop crossing her eyes. He knew what must have been going on in her mind, but according to him, he was extremely lucky that his life changed because of her.

"Aren't you the one who said we have to leave the baggage of the past in the past and move to the future freely?" He said, gracing her hair, and her eyes locked with his.

"And you forgot it soon!" He asked her back.

"Please tell me what happened?" She asked him, tears streaming down her face.

"I saw your ex-boyfriend! He said you have a plan of naming our child after his name since you promised him during your breakup," he replied. She winced at his response.

"Please tell me what happened!" She insisted.

"Okay, I think it's time to tell you the truth!" He said, heaving a deep breath. She tried to get up and sat opposite to him.

"You know I have been suspecting you of having an extramarital affair for a long time. Out of suspicions, you have been away for a week. I hired a detective to investigate, and he sent me some images of you chilling with Karthik in the US. That's what happened," he said, keeping his face serious, and she was clearly frustrated.

"Hey! I am telling the truth. I immediately called your grandma and accused her of cheating me by getting me married to a cheater like you. That's why she was calling you repeatedly," he replied, her gaze fixed on him.

"So, what made you change your mind after that revelation?" She asked him back.

"My baby!" He said, holding her stomach.

"I don't want my baby to grow up in a broken family, you know. For my baby, I can tolerate anything. Who are you?" He replied to her in a serious tone. Her eyes didn't leave him, and he knew if he continued this drama for a while, he would become dead meat.

"In that case, I want to reveal something too," she told him.

"This baby is not yours but Karthik's." She revealed, and he cupped his mouth dramatically.

"What are you saying, shameless?" He asked her in a slightly raised tone.

"I had to say this to you someday. You have failed to satisfy me, and Karthik was awesome. I will tell you in detail, with the lessons learned, you could satisfy your future partners," she replied to him with a sense of swag. At one point, he was happy that she got diverted, but when she continued his made-up story differently, he felt weird.

"He clearly understands how my body works, and I feel magical every time. The way he kept me on my toes till dawn, uff, how could I explain, his tongue, his weapon. You know when he held my thighs to his..." She stopped abruptly when he pulled her close to him until both could feel each other's breaths.

"Don't feel jealous, Mr. Oberoi. Little by little, you will learn. I will help you!" She responded to him sarcastically. He rolled his eyes in response while keeping her captive in his hold.

"Okay, teach me!" He asked. She remained silent and lost.

"What did he do after he held your thighs up?" He asked, closing the distance between them. Their noses touched, and one could sense the tension.

"Speak up, Lioness!" He asked her again, and he saw her breath grow harder and harder.

"Teach me exactly how he used his weapon on you," He whispered. She remained silent and gazed up at him.

"Why are you silent?" He asked. She moved further away from him.

"Better you ask my sexually skilled partner about it." She said while moving from him. He held her face to turn it to the left side, facing the dressing mirror.

"I think I finally met the person who keeps you on your toes till dawn and the father of the baby you are carrying." He whispered while looking at their reflection in the mirror. The image of them close to each other aroused him.

"You're deviating from the topic." She whispered back when he held her waist upwards until he unhooked her bra, and a gasp escaped from her.

"Do you want to get deviated?" He whispered back while looking at their image in the mirror.

"Yes!" She replied to his reflection, turned to his face, and held his face in between her palms, moving her lips to his lips.

"There's a cost for using me," He said, and a smile appeared on her face.

"You should leave the past baggage behind and never turn back." He asked her, holding her face.

"Will you promise me the same?" She asked him out of a sudden.

"I already started to keep my promise from the moment you entered my life," He replied with a smile.

"Will you promise me the same?" she asked him suddenly.

"I already started keeping my promise from the moment you entered my life," he replied with a smile.

"I promise I would never turn back. From this moment on, it would be only us and..." She paused, moving her gaze from his lips to his eyes. "And Karthik," she smiled.

"Who? He?" he asked while pointing his finger at his reflection in the mirror, but she didn't reply. Instead, she turned his face and kissed him passionately on his lips, and he pulled her close with a smile.

****