"Dhanu, don't make any noise," Sharan whispered.

Both of them sneaked into the kitchen, trying their best not to get caught.

"Dhanu, you sit here!" he said, lifting Dharani onto the kitchen slab before switching on the lights.

"What do you want to eat?" he asked with a playful smile.

"Pasta?" they both said in unison and giggled.

Sharan began gathering the ingredients for their favorite Indian-style masala macaroni pasta.

"Smells super, Chitappa," Dharani commented, licking her lips with a cute smile.

"Shh, if your Chitthi or Paati wakes up, we'll be in big trouble," he warned, letting the pasta boil while he sautéed the veggies and masala.

"Chitappa, wait here! I need to go to the washroom. I'll be back in two minutes," she said, carefully getting down from the counter.

"Careful, Dhanu kutty! Come back fast! I don't want to get caught alone, understood?" he teased, gently pinching her nose, which made her giggle.

As she ran off, Sharan continued cooking, his mind drifting to everything happening around him.

Life was going well, until his support system abandoned him. It was hard to accept that his brother—his best friend—was gone. He cried every night, struggling to process the fact that he was left alone, with no one to guide him anymore.

When he found out that his brother was alive but refused to have any contact with the family, not even thinking about their parents or his wife, it shattered Sharan’s last thread of patience. His initial dislike for Vikram’s decisions grew into disappointment, anger, and frustration.

At that point, Sharan didn’t even want to get married. He wasn’t ready to form new bonds only to have them broken. But with his family's insistence, Mridula entered his life. He tried his best to keep his distance, not giving her any hopes about their future. Just as he was beginning to rebuild his life, his brother returned.

Of course, Sharan was happy to see Vikram back home, but something held him back from confronting his brother. The wounds were still too fresh.

"Chitappa, I'm back! Is it done?" Dharani asked, tugging at the end of his shirt.

He picked her up and placed her back on the kitchen counter, finishing up the pasta.

"Dhanu, are you studying well? How’s your friend Amy?" he asked while stirring the pasta.

"Chitappa, Dhanu is a topper! Amy is great too!" she replied proudly.

"And it's done," he said, turning off the stove.

"What's going on here?" Mridula's voice startled the Sharu-Dhanu duo.

"Chitappa, Chitthi is here! Do something," Dharani whispered urgently into his ear as Sharan gave Mridula a nervous smile.

"I thought you had important work, Sharan. Dhanu kutty, go to my room. Amma is waiting for you. I’ll bring your pasta there. Go," Mridula said, and Dharani quickly hopped off the counter, running off to escape the situation.

“Not good, Dhanu. You can’t leave me alone to face the lioness,” Sharan muttered under his breath.

Mridula crossed her arms over her chest, staring at him intently. He served the pasta into four bowls and handed one to her.

“Have some pasta, Mridula,” he offered, almost ready to flee with his own bowl.

“I wouldn’t mind spending my life taking care of a physically handicapped husband, but it might be a little hard for you,” she said, causing him to turn back with a confused look.

“I was indirectly saying that if you take one more step, I’ll break your legs,” Mridula clarified, taking a bite of the pasta.

“It’s yummy! Not bad, Mr. Kodidela. You do know how to cook. So, you’ll survive if you’re left alone somewhere,” she continued, signaling him to walk with her.

They both settled down on the living room couch.

Mridula leaned back, feeling a bit weak but still determined. She continued eating her pasta while Sharan watched her, trying to figure out if she was really there or if he was dreaming.

“Sharan, I can’t carry an aarti thaali around every time I need to tell you to get out, sit down, or say anything. Why are you standing there like you’re afraid I’ll disappear if you blink? Come and sit,” she said, patting the seat beside her.

He took slow, cautious steps, sitting beside her while silently praying to every god he knew to save him from her wrath and let him go to sleep.

“Okay, I won’t beat around the bush. Let’s get straight to the point. What’s your problem?” Mridula asked, placing her pasta bowl on the table.

“Huh? Problem? Nothing! What problem would I have? I’m fine,” he replied, forcing a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Sharan, if you don’t tell me what’s bothering you, how can I help? I’m not a mind reader. Don’t push me away. If you do, it’ll be hard for me to come back again,” she said, her eyes reflecting genuine concern.

“I don’t want to talk about it, Mridula. Not now, at least. I hope you understand,” he said, his tone firm.

“I understand, it’s okay! Just know that I’m here. You don’t have to keep everything bottled up in that little heart of yours, which probably belongs to me now… Oops! Forget I said that. But seriously, your heart can’t hold all those feelings. Share them with me—half and half. Sharing is caring, right?” she said with a small, encouraging smile.

He looked at her, tears welling up in his eyes, before pulling her into a tight hug. Wrapping his arms around her and resting his head on her shoulder, he felt her warmth seep through his entire being.

On the other hand, Mridula was taken aback by his sudden gesture. She hesitated to hug him back; she hated human contact, and this might have been the first time someone had hugged her other than her family.

She wanted to end the hug as quickly as possible. Her love language wasn’t about holding hands or hugging; it was a distant concept for her.Slowly, she pulled away from the hug, a nervous smile on her face.

“I’m sorry, it just happened out of reflex,” he apologized, avoiding eye contact.

“Look at me, Sharan,” she said. He lifted his head but still couldn’t make eye contact.

“It’s okay. Just please don’t do it again. I’m not comfortable with people touching me,” she confessed.

“I don’t even let Aaru hug me, for that matter. It’s not just you; I’m just not comfortable with it,” she explained.

He looked at her with concern.“I promise I won’t, unless you’re comfortable with it. I won’t do it again,” he said, their eyes meeting.

“Okay, enough of this talk! Get some sleep. We need to wake up early for the puja,” she said.

“What? Early? It’s already 2 a.m. Don’t tell me I have to wake up early. I might as well stay awake for the next three hours,” he whined.

“Just sleep, however much time you get. Sigh, I’m going back to sleep too. Good night,” she said, getting up to return to her room.

“Good night! Did you take your medicines?” he asked, remembering her dosage wasn’t completed yet. She still had a week to go.

“Yes, I did,” she said, giving him a small smile.

Slowly, she disappeared from his sight.He lay down on the couch, placing a cushion under his head and closing his eyes, slowly drifting into sleep.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps approaching and, reacting instinctively, pulled the cushion from under his head, ready to defend himself.

“Sharan,” she whispered urgently.“Uh oh, it’s you? Why are you here again? Weren’t you supposed to go to sleep?” he asked, confused.

“I thought I’d keep my dear friend company, so I brought a blanket and pillow,” she said.

“No thank you! Go back to your room, Mridula,” he insisted.

“I would have if there was any space to sleep there,” she said in a resigned tone.

“What do you mean by no space to sleep?” he asked, puzzled.

"Actually, three people on that bed would be really congested. So, I thought I'll sleep here, it's not like I have to sleep for some eight hours",she explained.

A loud scream echoed from their room, and both of them exchanged concerned glances. They quickly left the pillow, cushion, and blanket from the couch and ran towards the room.

"Meena akka?",Mridula opened the door to see Meenakshi hugging Dharani close to her heart as she cried.

"What happened, vadina?",Sharan asked scanning the surroundings. In no time, everyone from the family assembled near Sharan and Mridula's room.

Vikram stood outside, he was worried for both of them he would have gone inside but if he did, it would hurt her and the last thing he wanted to do was give her more pain given that she was already holding back a lot of emotions.

Sharan found a rock with a paper tied with a rope around, and the window broken.

"How did this come in?",he asked and examined it from the place it fell.

"Pick it, Sharan!",Mridula said.

"No, it might get contaminated with my hand prints on it. Get the gloves for me, they are in the study room. Teja, go and get it. Dhanu, vadina you both shift to Teja's room for today. That's a bit safer for you",Sharan said as Vikram heard everything standing outside.

Sharan picked out his phone from his pocket and dialled to Krishna to inform him about the event so that he could do something regarding it.

"There has been an attack at home, Krishna",were the first words he spoke as soon as Krishna answered the call.

"What? There were two constables, right? The hell, I'm coming there",Krishna said getting up from his bed and changing his shirt.

Mridula held Dharani in her arms at first but as Sharan saw her doing it, he extended his arms towards Dharani and she quickly jumped into his arms, her face still red, and tears on the verge of her eyes.

"Dhanu kutty, don't cry please! It was nothing, you are my strong little princess right? Why are you scared? You should be strong like your amma, paati, chitthi and face any challenge",he said as he tried to nuzzle his nose with hers.

"Chitappa, someone yelled something so loudly after throwing. I got scared, his voice was as scary as Ursula",she said as she hicupped.

"What did they yell, baby?",he asked as he placed her on the bed.

"Ring-a-Ring-a-Roses chitappa!",she said which made it surprised for him to hear.

"I'm here only kutty, in the living room. Call me if you need anything, okay?",he said and she nodded.

"Is everything okay?",Meenakshi asked.

"I'm afraid I have to say no, vadina. Mridula was drugged a few days ago and she has been receiving threats after it as well. I also have a feeling, this comes in addition to the case that I am dealing with. I'm here, I'll make sure our family's safety is my first priority",he said.

"Remember that there's someone waiting for you too, now. Take care of yourself as well",Meenakshi said as Mridula looked at him.

He nodded to what Meenakshi said.

"Anna, gloves",Teja came and handed him the gloves.

"You stay here, Teja!",he said and went towards their room.

Mridula followed him to the room.

He put on his gloves and carefully examined the rock. It had sharp edges and potentially was thrown to harm someone of course-

He untied the thread and opened the paper to read it.

Mridula,

In a garden of roses, the first petal is ready to fall. Pay close attention to the familiar blooms, for they wither quickest under the moon’s gaze.

One step closer, one breath less.

- The Silent Watcher

"What does it really mean?",he thought to himself as his eyebrows furrowed.

"What is it, Sharan?",Krishna asked as he entered the room.

"A cryptic letter for Mridula, seems a bit difficult to decode but it won't take long",Sharan said putting up his strong facade out for everyone but he was scared, yet again..

Hello dear readers,

And as said before I am back with an update again. 😗🌝

I hope you guys liked the update, thank you so much for showering your love towards this story 💝 it really means alot to me.

How did you like this update?

Who is the one at risk?

Rate the update on a scale of 10.

I did try to include Sharan and Mridula's scenes as much as possible 🌝🌝 I hope you liked it. The reasons why something is going like that, you'll know when time comes!

No, Vikram didn't meet Meenakshi yet. They're still yet to meet, though they have seen each other.

Don't forget to vote and comment your views on this chapter, I'll be updating the next chapter spoiler tomorrow on Instagram at 6pm.

(I know I said I will update today at 6pm, but suddenly we had guests at home so I was kinda occupied.

Readers : Say that you took Rajamouli sir as your inspiration

Me : you guys think that I am as great as him?

Readers : No you take as long as him to complete a chapter 🙄

Me : cries 😭😭 guys don't do by bezati

Readers : You just did it yourself! 😏😏)

Thank you for reading! Keep supporting! Keep loving! You matter a lot and always remember that you are very very precious to me!

And now I'll go and run and prepare for my exam!

Next week no update guys probably, three exams next week and vratham is also there on Friday but your pyari si author will try!

Till next time, hasta la vista besties! Take care, live life to fullest and if you guys want double update the upcoming week then shower so much love as you always do!

Tataaaa!

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Sakshi Devi