Year: 2023.

Place: Chennai. 

Anika rushed to her home and straightly went to her room, Opened her cupboard. she took all her documents about her research and packed them in the bag. While searching the books from her cupboard. She saw the DSLR, Which was gifted by shivaay on her birthday. she looked at them, A huge lump created in her throat, She felt very difficult to swallow it. She fell weak, Her legs gave up. Her mom, Who came to her room to give coffee, rushed to her when she saw her in that state. 

"What happened?" - her mom asked her while caressing her hair, She didn't say anything but lay her head on her shoulder and cried without spelling a word. Her brain said, he never loved her but her heart completely denied it. It was the constant fight between her brain which thinks rationally and her heart which thinks emotionally. 

"Did anyone say anything?" - Her mom asked her while kissing her forehead, Seeing her helplessly crying, her mother couldn't control her tears. when she cried looking at the DSLR. Her mother understood and immediately got it why she was crying. 

"Anu... People move on... I know it shouldn't have happened to you But happened... No other choice left in you, It has been three years, You have to forget everything and move on..."- She said, Anika wiped her tears. 

"My heart got broken before four years, But before three years, I lost a part of my soul, My daughter... Sorry to ask you, If i deadly born, would you ever able to forget me easily and move on?" - Anika asked her mom with welled up eyes. Her mom stayed silent. 

"Sorry, mom...  Even it's one eternity, I can't forget anything, I can't forget my daughter..." - Anika told and stood up from her place. she packed some of her clothes along with the documents and left her room, her mom stayed at the same place without speaking any word.

"I am going to Bangalore, at 2.30 PM flight... And from there i will be directly going to Rameshwaram..." - She passed the information before leaving her room. She immediately called Khushi who was about to book the tickets for her trip. But Upto her surprise, two tickets were booked.

"Hey, Dear..." - Khushi exclaimed as soon as she attended the call.

"Two tickets are booked, Who will be accompanying me?" - Anika asked her. 

"Of course, Your Professor, Darling" - Khushi exclaimed. 

"Why?  I mean, I can travel lonely..." - Anika said in a low tone. 

"I know, Miss Anika Seshadri can do anything, But for your kind information, I am going to attend the national conference on women rights which will happen after two days so i thought of coming with you... Do you any problem in that?" - Khushi asked her. 

"No... I guess..." - Anika said while biting her tongue. 

"You guess... Okay, Jokes apart, get ready in two hours, i will come to your house to pick you up..." - Khushi said. 

"Okay" - She said and rested her call. 

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Dear mom,

I am going to marry Anika. And i am writing this letter with my full consciousness. I know she didn't belong to our kind and I also know by marrying her, I am pulling her to this riddle where we are all in. But I can't let her suffer lonely. She's pregnant, Mom. She's pregnant with my child. she needs me, Our child in her womb needs me. I started this, I will protect her from everything. Till now, I didn't tell her about my identity. But when she asks about this in future. I won't lie to her.

My prediction was right, mom. she's exactly like you. she can go to any extent to protect her child. And i can go to any extent to protect her. We decided to go somewhere alone where nobody could find and trouble us.

With love,

shivaay. 

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PLACE: BANGALORE.

He had no idea, why it happened and what will going to happen, One thing was aware in his mind, Even though it hurts, He had to put aside his every pain to save his wife and his daughter. He knew he was the only person to put them in that condition, And also responsible for everything. It wouldn't have happened if he didn't propose her. It wouldn't have happened if he didn't marry her. He understood every fault was in his hand and whatever happened was only because of him. 

After many failed attempts he opened his eyes, He saw his wife lying in front of him in a pool of blood and his daughter was little bit far-away from his wife nearer to the bonfire. His wife's eyes were closed and her body turned fully blue. He tried to move, But none of his body parts was moving. 

"Anika..." - He cried while patting the floor. There was no response from her. 

"Anika" - He again called her, Again there was no response. But this time, His daughter responded and coughed. He immediately looked at her side, This time, He tried to move his body with all his left out energy and dragged himself nearer to his daughter. He sat nearer to her and grabbed her in his arms and cried bitterly while caressing every wound on his three-year-old daughter. He cried He cried as much he could while caressing anika's face which was too cold. his brain told him, She's dead. But his heart was not ready to believe him. 

His daughter opened her eyes. Tears flowed uncontrollably from her eyes,  Shivaay immediately wiped all her tears. 

"Until paapa is here, Nothing will happen to you..." - He said and hugged her in an instant. But she clutched his shirt in fear. He saw the bonfire tuned into a large fire snake and approached the three of them. 

shivaay opened his eyes in a jerk, It was the third time, he's getting this same dream third time in this week. He wiped off his sweats in His forehead and checked the time, it was about to turn three in the morning. But his heart fluffer, He desperately wanted to see Arushi. Even though he was sticking around the hospital after admitting Arushi in the hospital, He kept himself away from everyone, Avinash, Ritwik, Om and he thought he kept himself away from Gauri but Gauri sensed him. She could have caught him in the very next second, But She didn't do that.  Grabbing his jacket, He went to the hospital as his heart again started to oscillate due to the dream. 

For the past two years, He kept his eye on both Arushi and Avinash on their every move. After knowing about his past life, His only priority was to protect his kids at any cost. But he didn't come face to face with them Even after acknowledging how much they miss him. He just wanted to save them from every situation without coming infront of him As he knew, his life was not in his hands, And don't want to give them unwanted hopes and break them like before. 

But He had no idea about Jahaan as om and Gauri refused her to take in the limelight as it could be dangerous to her. Arushi and Avinash eventually had to agree to them as they wish the same. Shivaay knew that there was a child in their house but he didn't get an opportunity to see her once. 

Disguised like a hospital authority, wearing a mask, He entered into the hospital corridor. The hospital corridor was empty except some doctors and nurses roaming here and there. He opened her ward. His heart got hell relieved when he saw his daughter sleeping peacefully while hugging a small kid next to her. He fell weak when she recognized him without even opening his eyes. When she called her Acchaa, he lost his balance and couldn't resist himself from kissing her forehead. He had a gut-feeling when arushi exposed that MLA in her channel, So he followed her. But things turned out like that. Even though he didn't have any powers, He managed to save her, brought her back from that place and admitted in the hospital. But for everyone, It was some stranger who saved arushi. Shivaay was happy with that, Unestimating Gauri, His sister. 

There was nobody in the ward except Arushi and that kid who buried her face in Arushi's shoulder. Her face wasn't visible for shivaay, But he was very happy looking at her daughter who looked a little bit normal than before. He caressed her hair and tugged them behind her ear. He didn't afraid of waking her up by his touch. Because he knew that wife and his daughter was alike when it comes to sleep. Nobody could ever wake them up from the sleep. 

"I am sorry, Aru... I troubled you a lot, Right... But sorry baby, I have no options left other than hiding... I want you to be safe, I want Avinash to be safe from him, I think that's why God blessed me with this life... But I promise you, Aru... I will never ever let anything to harm you both... It's your father's promise..." - He said while kissing her right palm which was holding the pillow. His words didn't wake Aru up. But it never failed to wake up jahaan. She slowly moved her head from Aru's shoulder and looked at him. The vision was not clear but shivaay's eyes came out in fear looking at her face which was looking at him doubtfully. He immediately went backwards looking at her. He was shell-shocked. He had no idea, How the baby whom he saw in his dream laying next to his daughter?

His breath got choked when she saw her in front of him. He rushed outside from the ward when it became difficult for him to breathe. He quickly grabbed the bottle of water when someone offered him. 

"Thanks" - He spelt without facing the person's face. 

"No mention, Chetta" - Gauri's words thundered into his ears. He turned around to her in an instant as his face went pale looking at her. 

"How you feel after meeting your two daughters at the place, Chetta?" - She added. This time he was hell scared when she asked him that question. Tears welled up in his eyes, And he didn't want whatever he was thinking was true. 

"My daughters..." - He whispered in shock. She nodded while smiling sarcastically. His heart stopped beating for a while. 

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To be continued.