Before 5 years

"Anika..." He dragged her name in the way so that she could respond to his words, and turn around with a smile, but she didn't do so. She acknowledged him and continued to do her work on packing her dress for the trip their family planned to go on after every mystery of Kalyani mills gets solved. Also, they came to know that Anika and her parents had nothing to do with Kalyani but the planned plot of Veer and Roop to trap them. And according to Police, veer died in an accident and Roop served a lifetime sentence in Jail.

But it had a huge impact on Anika, as anything related to her parents remains as a puzzle, that troubled her a lot, shivaay tried his level best to make her feel that any of that ever matters to him but she still couldn't come out of that fact. For a change, they have planned to go on a trip to Shimla. Initially, Shivaay only planned for them, but when he discussed it with his wife, she wasn't interested in leaving anywhere. So, for the sake of Grandmaa, they go on a vacation.

"Are you ignoring your husband?" He asked and fell onto the bed where she folded the clothes for the packing.

"Shivaay..." She called him in an irritated tone.

"Sorry! I did it on purpose." He said while flashing a smile.

"Can you please get up? I have to pack!" She replied in an uninterested tone.

"Nope! I won't!" He said and picked her hand and pulled her to his side so that she fell above him.

"Leave me. This is not right!" She replied and tried to get away from his grip.

"Which is not right? Romancing with my wife?" He said while trailing his kisses from her cheeks to her neck.

"So, you are claiming me!" She asked him while turning around without breaking the contact between them, shivaay was surprised as for the past week, she hasn't been responding to any of her efforts, but now when she started to respond, he don't want to lose this opportunity. He pulled her further close to him by her waist.

"I am claiming my family! I don't think I did anything wrong!" He said, for a while, there was no response from her. That silence scared him a little.

"What happened?" He asked her while kissing her forehead and the tip of her nose.

"Sometimes I feel like I am not your priority!" She finally spoke out which shocked him to the core.

"If it's not you, then who will be?" He asked her back.

"Maybe, everyone else. Apart from me!" She said while looking at the entrance of the room.

"Have you gone mad?" He asked her. But she didn't reply.

"When I came to know about my father, I thought everything became cool between us, and nothing can stop you from..." She stopped. But he held her face up and made her look into his eyes.

"Nothing can stop me from?" He asked.

"From...Starting a family with me..." She finally said while keeping her gaze down. He was stuck by her confession.

"I heard what you said to om! Years back!" She continued.

"You said you can't see me as a mother of your child even though you accept the fact that you love me." She finally said, for a while shivaay could feel the reason behind the disappointment after knowing about the fake news, indirectly it was all because of him.

"Am I the same person whom you witnessed that day?" He asked her back.

"Can't you see the change? Don't you feel I am glad that I changed from those stupid thoughts, and our relationship came this long, Anika? I know I was a fool then, but now, I am not that fool to ignore the angel of my life because of my old thoughts. Listen to me, carefully!" He united his forehead with hers and drew a deep breath.

"YOU ARE MY FIRST PRIORITY! I am ready to lose anything in my life just to keep you with me forever, I can cope with anything but not your absence, that much, you became important to me. I am not only fallen for you but I became completely dependent on you, I need you as if I need oxygen, water, and food to live in this world, that's simple it is, my love for you." He said, tears escaped from his eyes when he said so only to get wiped from his wife, who smiled at his words.

"Okay." She replied with a smile and hugged him back.

"Just Okay?" He asked her.

"What else?" She asked him back.

"I just confessed my love!" He asked her back.

"Yes for the nth time." She replied.

"Then too, you didn't get satisfied!" He replied in a grumpy tone.

"I am satisfied with everything, including this life." She said only to get pinched by shivaay in her hand. She hissed in a pain.

"What satisfied? Still, you have witnessed, SSO Version 2.0 and 3.0 and tame them, I am warning you before, my kids will go by me." He spoke. She didn't reply but smiled looking at his face before she turned around and stayed flat, his palm automatically came to her belly when she turned the position, and she kept her palm above his palm.

"That day is not that long! Let's see." She replied and looked at him with teary eyes.

"Wh-What?" He asked her.

"Still you didn't get it, dumbo Singh Oberoi. SSO Version 2.0 is on board." She said with a chuckle. He didn't do anything but witnessed that laugh that came all over from her heart.

***

PRESENT

He woke up with tears again when the memories hit him hard, their last romantic moment when both of them didn't know it was their last time together, he still couldn't believe how he merely got satisfied with the news of veer's death, why didn't he investigate it further. If he investigated it, he would have happily lived with his family, he still remembered how Anika chose to die along with him when veer captured her at knifepoint on the cliff edge, that day, she ended the chapter of revenge with her sacrifice. Leaving him overwhelmed. Before he could process it, there was a loud knock on his door.

"BHAIYA... OPEN THE DOOR. PLEASE." It was Rudy and his tone was shaking but that didn't urge him. He lazily walked towards the door and opened it for him. Rudy didn't take a moment from hugging him. Shivaay didn't hug him back. But what he told next shook him up.

"You're right Bhaiya. Bhabhi is alive." He said and broke into tears.

***

BEFORE 4 YEARS

You have to escape. At least, for the baby growing inside you. That was a thought running inside her head from the moment she came to know about her pregnancy, she had no idea how she was going to escape but she had to, there was not even a window in the room where she was held captive by Veer, she could remember nothing, how she reached this place, how she got pregnant, how she got kidnapped by him, the last thing she remembers was her medical camp, which her college organized when she was doing her fourth-year medicine, and now, she ended up here, she didn't know how many days have been passed. Being a doctor, she could feel, that she was nearing her delivery date as her mucus plugged out, but she didn't want to deliver her baby there, especially when she heard Veer's intention to kill the baby before her eyes. Sometimes she questioned herself, why did she love her kid that much even after knowing the person who captive her was the biological father?

But she made up her mind, she didn't want to think anything about it. It's her baby! She had to save her baby, she didn't know what life holds for her in the future but now, she had to get escaped, with that she tried to break the metal spoon until it gets sharpened to slit his neck, she succeeds, she checked the sharpness with her find behind her dress hiding herself from all the CCTV cameras that have been installed in the room. She felt the pinch in her thumb, and her thumb bled, she got her confidence, she will get succeed in this attempt. She never tried to escape ever, as she waited for the right moment to do it. At last, she heard his footsteps.

"HEY!" He had that proud smile on his demonic face when he saw her tired and fell into a corner. She didn't reply but witnessed the moment that has been approaching her. She moved a little backward, and the grip on the spoon stayed stronger.

"How's this son-of-a-bitch doing?" He asked while leaning down to her level and looking at her baby, anger emerged from her eyes at his cursing word. She didn't say anything her hand spoke; she stabbed him with that spoon in his neck and the blood splashed out in her face. Before he could process them, she picked the keys from his hands and ran away with her huge belly holding it possessively.

"ANIKAAAA..." He heard his growling; she turned back in confusion.

Whose Anika?

****