"So they are your parents too, huh I mean parents in law, ask," he said, she went forward and slowly knocked over the door. Gajendra and Sandhya looked at the entrance and seeing her, they smiled. "Come and sit," Sandhya said. She went and sat near Sandhya's feet on the bed and then looked at Arjun hesitantly who nodded in assurance. "Ummm mom in law, can I ask something regarding Arjun and Reema?" she asked, Sandhya's expressions changed from smiling to worried. "Why? Did they do something? Did they have a fight with you? Tell me they would face my wrath," she said.

"No mom in law, nothing like that, it's just that, I wanted to ask, how much time did Arjun take to come in the world?" she asked with a smile looking at Arjun again and again, Sandhya laughed accompanied by Gajendra. "What kind of question is that? Every baby takes nine months only," Gajendra said. "But did Arjun also take nine months?" she asked in between her laughter. "No, Arjun took nine months seven days to arrive, and he was the calmest baby ever. Soon after he was born, he slept immediately as if very tired, meanwhile all the pain had to be suffered by me," Sandhya said while laughing.

"But I heard babies experience pain during the birth," Arjun said. "They do, but both pains aren't equal, but a baby can't tell about his pain, a mother does understand on its own, your birth was a little difficult, but yes he rarely cried. And when it was time to make you taste honey, you loved honey so much that you made so many noises that even in my sleep I could hear you,and I kept asking Gajendra jee about your well-being again and again," she said with a smile and called Arjun to her. Arjun came and the mother and son shared a hug.

"You've grown up to be a gentleman, and I am really proud of you, you're just like I wanted you to be," she said and he smiled. "Love you mom, a home is also not a home without a mom," he said, she smiled and they broke the hug. "By the way what about Reema? How much time did she take?" he asked. "Reema was a premature baby, she came six weeks early, and I was very tensed as well as happy when she was born, tensed because premature babies like Reema have less than fifty percent chances of survival," she said and Preeta became emotional.

"But Reema turned out fine, and Preeta, once your pregnancy completes seven months, we would perform your baby shower and make it the most special occasion for you," she said and Preeta smiled and they shared a hug. Arjun smiled, they broke the hug after sometime. "Go take some rest," she said and Arjun took her from there. Kartika collided with them on the way. "Sorry Preeta, sorry Arjun, actually I was taking Raunak for a walk," she said and began to leave.

"Kartika," Arjun called out after her and she turned. "Why are you in so much hurry?" he asked and she shook her head. "No Arjun, I am not in a hurry, you know already that I would die anytime soon so I want to spend my last days with Raunak," she said, he nodded and she left. "Preeta, why do I think there's something which she's hiding?" he asked. "Don't know Arjun, maybe you're overthinking," she said, he nodded and took her to her room and lied her on the bed and was about to leave but she stopped him.

He turned to her. "Arjun, chocolate," she said and he smiled. "Its in the fridge," he said and left from there and returned with her chocolate and gave it to her, she smiled. "Thanks," she said and tore open the wrapper and ate it. He sat with her. "By the way Preeta, I brought four dresses for you, and all are white, I think white suits you the best, and they all are lose from the tummy, so you can wear them throughout the period of pregnancy," he said and then went to his room and came back with a shopper and showed her the dresses.

She glowed seeing them. "Wow Arjun, they are so cute, thanks," she said and was about to hug him but he stopped her. "No no don't hug me while you have a chocolate in your hand, it would cause me to have diabetes," he joked and she laughed. "You're so naughty," she said. "I haven't shown you naughtiness till now, I would show it when it's the right time," he said and she blushed. He pecked her cheek and she closed her eyes, he smiled.

************************************

At evening, Alia got a call on his phone and she received it. "Hallo?" she said. "Alia Karan Luthra?" asked the person. She gasped and panicked a little. "Sorry? Why do you want to know my name?" she asked. "No, actually, someone was missing from your family, right? Your brother as well as your mother, right?" asked the person. "But why and how can I tell you such personal details about myself?" she asked a little irritated. "Isn't your brother Dev Karan Luthra and mother Ishwari Karan Luthra?" the person asked. Alia sighed. "What is up with you and who are you to ask such details? Are you a stalker?" she asked. "I am a private investigator, someone you know wants to protect you and that's why the person hired me to give you protection," the person said. "Who is it? Mister Karan Luthra? Look please stop it, neither am I Alia Karan Luthra nor is Karan Luthra my father and nor anyone is missing from my family," she said lying and stammering. "Lying won't work, I work for the police department and I am their Khabri Network also known as Private Investigator, and no it wasn't Karan Luthra who asked me to do this, and if you lie and don't tell the truth, your first and last chance may slip out of your hands to meet your missing family," said the person, something in his voice asked Alia to trust him. She sighed. "Fine, I am Alia Karan Luthra only, and my brother is missing but my mother is dead," she said. "Did you ever see your mother's dead body? How can you be so sure?" asked the person. "Because I have a voice recording of my father Karan Luthra in which he said my mother is dead," she told him.

"Okay, kindly forward the audio to me, and yes Alia, you need to come with me, the police would also be there with me so no need to be scared, we need to make you meet someone," said the person. "Anyone can dress up as a policeman because the costumes are easily available," she said. "For that, we would be carrying our official identity cards with us to prove to you that we aren't bogus," said the person. "Okay, when do I have to come?" she asked. "Now itself, because the police doubts you can be the next victim too," said the person. "Okay, shall I come out of the house?" she asked.

"Yes, there's a police jeep waiting for you," said the person and the call disconnected. "Should I really trust this person? No, I can't take a chance, in case I go missing, I should inform someone trustworthy, I would leave a chit for Nalini didi and Pragati didi and then I will inform Mauli aunty over the message," she said and took a piece of paper and wrote the number of the mysterious person on the paper with other details and then messaged Mauli about it. She forwarded the audio message to the given number and exited her room and the house and hesitantly opened the exit door praying that everything goes fine. She walked outside closing the door behind her and saw a police jeep. She walked towards it with baby steps, the door to the backseat opened. The policemen sitting inside all showed their IDs and she sat inside and closed the door, the jeep drove off. Mauli read the message and got worried and called her but her phone was unanswered. She called Pragati and informed her who went to her room and saw a chit and read it. Even she became worried.

Few days later, Alia was said to be missing. They all did complained to the police about her going missing but her lead also couldn't be found. The number was also given in the police station from which Alia was called and the number was put on surveillance so that if it becomes active, they get to know about it immediately. But then Mauli received a call and then after listening to the person, she smiled.

At night, Nalini went for a drive promising Pragati to return soon and drove on the lonely and peaceful roads humming to herself softly. While driving for sometime, she saw a familiar person in a car driving somewhere that too so fast as if he was in a hurry, he even wore a hoodie. The person was Karan . "Where is he going? That too in such a hurry? I should follow him," she said and followed him driving at a distance, Karan  stopped his car at a strange place and so did she. He went inside and closed the door. She got irritated and got out of the car and tried to hear whatever was going inside but then she heard the footsteps coming outside, so she ran to her car and sat inside hiding.

The door opened and Karan  came outside with a lunchbox and kept it inside his car, she looked on. He went back inside and came back within a second and drove off elsewhere. "Now is the time to see who was he meeting here? But there's seventy five percent chance of him returning here so I should leave my car here only but take my phone with me only in case Pragati didi calls," she said and opened the car door and got out of the car.

She closed the door and locked the car. She stared at the closed rusty door of the house and walked towards it hurriedly. She saw the latch because of which the door was locked from outside and she knew if she entered inside by the door, Karan  would know about it. But she had to take the risk and so she held the latch and unlocked the door in one swift movement and entered inside and saw many empty wine bottles lying here and there. She coughed due to the dust and several spider webs here and there, almost at every corner. She heard someone moaning and followed the sound and walked towards it cautiously and finally found the person who was tied to a chair and had a cloth over his face. She removed the cloth from his face and got shocked.