Karthik's POV:

Zaara.

What a beautiful name for a beautiful child.

She really reminds me of Aarohi. Aarohi was just as beautiful, adorable and vivacious as a child.

Now that I think of it, Zaara resembles Aarohi a little. I remember her childhood photos and there is definitely a similarity between them.

Zaara.

Somehow this name is stuck in my head, with the memory of the little girl, since the time I left the cafe.

It's like there's some inexplicable connection between me and the child. Something which keeps drawing me back to the shop. Something which makes me worried about her safety. Something which makes me want to strive for her happiness.

Almost as if she were my child.

I sigh.

My child.

Raveena and I got married five years ago. The entire time was traumatic for me because I suddenly had a baby and a wife to look after.

But the worst part of it all was Aarohi.

Letting the one woman, I have always loved my whole life, go.

And miraculously, I still love her. So much.

My mind keeps traveling back to the time we were together. The time we made love. The time I found out that she loved me as much as I loved her. The time I finally found her.

I still remember how she smells. How she feels. How she tastes. I still remember her soft and passionate kisses. Her soft skin. Her soothing touch. Her warmth. Her love.

I love her. And I miss her so much.

And I curse the day I left her. I should have stayed and thought of an alternate option. I should have been with her. We were meant to be together.

Because ultimately, being with Raveena never changed the way I felt about Aarohi. The way I still feel about her.

Her beautiful, big eyes. Her soft, plump lips. Her long, silky hair. Her smooth, satin skin. Her adorable actions. Her kind words. Her craziness.

Just her.

I wanted to go after her when she ran from my house. My gut was screaming to stop her. To tell her that I would always be with her. To tell her that she means a lot to me. That us, together, means the world to me.

But I had to accept the harsh reality of being a father. And I had to make it easy on her. She deserved more than someone who had no other option but to leave her and forget her. So, I had to tell her to forget me too. To move on with life. To never contact me.

And she did. She never listened to me about anything, but this she did. She changed her number and blocked me and moved out of her house. I tried calling her several times before I got married. Several times after, as well. I tried to reach her friends but none of them knew of her whereabouts. Her family refused to talk to me or tell me anything. My moments of weakness were innumerable.

So I had no chance of telling her that I still love her. Crazily. Insanely. Purely. Irrevocably. Immeasurably.

I had no chance of telling her that I had been lied to by Raveena.

During the third year of our marriage, Raveena and I were struggling to be comfortable with each other and to be compatible. The truth, however, was that we could never forget our past. Raveena knew how much I missed Aarohi. And she never stopped me from trying to contact her.

I could never forget Aarohi. And Raveena could never forget her ex boyfriend.

And it all started having an effect on the baby.

Ritwik.

Our son.

Or so I thought.

Until the day I found, on our third marriage anniversary, the real DNA test results.

Ritwik was never my child.

Ritwik was her ex boyfriend's child.

Mayur.

So I confronted her. I showed her the real DNA test reports that I had found in her cupboard, hidden, and she started crying. She accepted it and said that she had no choice but to say that Ritwik was my kid.

Because her parents hated Mayur's parents, and Mayur as well. Mayur's father had duped her parents of 50 lakhs and Mayur was blamed for everything. Raveena had begged her parents and told them that Mayur was not like his father, that he had broken all ties with his father, and he was standing on his own feet. He had opened a start up. But Raveena's parents had forced her to break up with Mayur, threatening to get her married to someone of their choice if she didn't.

So she broke up with him, and both of them were devastated. The day she broke up with him was the day she slept with him as well, and it was the same day that she met me at the party.

She found out three months later that she was pregnant. And she knew instantly that Mayur was the father.

But there was no way she could tell her parents that. They would force her to abort the baby. And she couldn't do it. She would never abort her child. She loved the baby, as much as she loved Mayur.

Then she remembered having woken up next to me at the party. She knew we hadn't done anything, but the timing and the circumstance were perfect. So she told her parents that I was the father of the baby. To protect the child.

And then they decided to pay a visit to me in America, after the baby was born. Her parents had done a thorough research on me and found out that I was a good guy.

The timing seems impeccable now. I had finally gotten Aarohi, and I had to let her go almost immediately.

When Raveena told me all of this, I was really furious. Because not only had I been lied to, but so had Aarohi- and Mayur did not know of his son's existence at all.

It wasn't fair on any of us. I had made her and the baby, my priority. I had left Aarohi for her. I had gotten married to her because I thought that was my son.

I had changed the entire course of my life.

So I did the only thing which was logical. I forced Raveena to contact Mayur.

Mayur's business, it turned out, was very successful, and people began trusting him a lot, seeing how he wasn't like his father. And Mayur hadn't forgotten Raveena either. He was working hard to make sure that one day, he could ask for Raveena's hand in marriage from her parents.

He had no idea that Raveena was married to me. Or that he had a son.

When Raveena and I had showed up at his office with Ritwik, he was shocked. I had left him and Raveena alone to talk. I couldn't hear what was going on inside the cabin. I was sitting outside with Ritwik for a good two hours when they finally showed up. Raveena's face was blotched and her eyes were puffy. Mayur's hair was disheveled, and it looked like he had tried to pull them off his head. His eyes were wet as well.

He then looked at Ritwik and his eyes softened.

"Is this him?" He glanced at Raveena, who nodded, her eyes full of tears.

Mayur then hesitantly walked towards us and he reached out for Ritwik. Ritwik was playing with his toy car. He looked up, surprised to see Mayur and somehow said, "Dada".

Mayur immediately started crying, and so did Raveena. To be honest, I had teared up a little as well. Ritwik willingly reached for Mayur and Mayur was beaming with joy, extremely overwhelmed.

"Thank you", Mayur looked at me and said, "Thank you for taking care of my son."

I had smiled. Then the three of us had got to work.

Raveena and I were living with her parents, because they wanted to keep an eye on their grandson as he grew up. I had hated that arrangement, but for the sake of the baby, I had no option but to agree. I then realised that they wanted to keep an eye on Raveena as they still suspected her to love Mayur. So, we secretly took care of the divorce. The legal procedure was a long one. We had to make sure that Raveena's parents never found out. Mayur, on the other hand was making arrangements to stay permanently in USA, with Raveena and his son. He had to take care of the job, of the passports, of the legal procedures and documents and everything.

It took us about a year to get everything settled. Unbeknownst to Raveena's parents, Raveena and I had gotten divorced. We had packed our bags and told her parents that the three of us would be visiting my parents for a while, since they missed their grandson. Usually Raveena's parents accompanied us during such visits, but this time, they had to stay at home, since Raveena's mom had sprained her ankle.

We had got the perfect opportunity. Mayur had booked the flights for that night. He and Raveena got married in the afternoon in a court, with me and my parents as witnesses and Mayur's business partners as witnesses. I had told my family everything. They had then bid adieu to all of us, and had flown to New York, with Ritwik.

They had contacted Raveena's parents from there and told them everything. Raveena's parents disowned the both of them. Raveena didn't really care. She had never loved her parents and they had always forced her to do everything.

And then I was free. I was free to search for Aarohi, to tell her what had happened, to tell her that I had always loved her and I would always love her, to beg for her forgiveness, and to hope that she would take me back.

And I tried to search everywhere for her. During the time that I was married to Raveena, I had obtained a Master's degree in Business Management from Delhi (where Raveena's parents actually lived), and I had set up my own business. It was small, but it was growing.

I was learning, earning, and searching for Aarohi at the same time. None of her old friends knew anything. I had no idea who her new friends were. Her family was hostile towards me and I couldn't blame them. Pari di had refused to pick up my call altogether.

It was then that I decided to go to Boston to search for her. Mayur, Raveena and Ritwik are staying there, so I thought I might as well visit them.

It's been a month since I have been here. I searched at her university and found out that she had graduated. According to the university regulations, they weren't allowed to tell me anything else about their student. And I knew Aarohi did not live in her college dormitory anymore.

So I tried to find out apartment listings where she could be. I tried the yellow pages. I even considered the possibility that she wasn't here at all. Maybe she took up a job some place else. Or maybe she was in India somewhere. I had tried to email her once, but my mails kept bouncing.

I realised she had blocked me from everywhere altogether.

That stubborn woman.

How was I supposed to contact someone who did not want to be contacted? Then Mayur suggested that I email her from another account.

And I have been doing that since then. But she hasn't replied to my emails even once. Either she read them and decided not to reply, or she hasn't read them at all. Either she received them, or she did not receive them at all. Maybe she changed her email ID. Or maybe she forgot to open her Spam folder.

Whatever the case is, all I know, is that I won't stop emailing her till she replies. So I have been sending her one email every single day since the past one month. Some of them are long. Some of them are short. But I make sure I contact her.

I want her.

I need her.

I love her.

She's my Aarohi.

Thinking of her reminds me of Zaara for some reason and I realise in horror that I haven't asked for her address.

I turn around and hurry towards the cafe. As I burst inside, the woman at the reception looks at me in surprise.

It's Megan.

Thank God.

"Hey", I say, as she scrutinises me with wide eyes, as if I am not supposed to be here. Something about her has changed since the last time I saw her. It's like Megan is cautious of me now.

I wonder why.

"How can I help you, sir?" She asks, her voice slightly wavering.

"The little girl who was here earlier- Zaara- where is she?"

"She left, sir", she says.

"Dammit!" I growl in frustration.

How do I search for her now?

"What about her mother? Is she there?" I ask, my voice urgent.

"No, sir", Megan replies. "Both of them left."

I grit my teeth. I always have the tendency of spoiling things.

And then it strikes me.

"But her mother will be here tomorrow, right?" I ask. "When does her shift start?"

"I'm sorry, sir", Megan replies. "Her mother has taken a holiday tomorrow."

"Ohh.." my voice trails off. The mother seems to love her daughter a lot, considering she has taken en entire day off to be with her on her birthday.

"You know where they live, don't you?" I ask Megan suddenly, as it strikes me that probably she is invited to the birthday as well.

"I'm sorry sir, but we aren't allowed to reveal our employee's private information", she says firmly, but I can see she is suppressing a smile for some reason. Like she is happy with my question.

"Come on!" I plead her. "You heard Zaara! I am invited to her birthday party. You don't want to break a little girl's heart, do you?"

Megan regards me with cautious eyes, before sighing and saying, "You can come here day after tomorrow in the evening, sir. Zaara will be here and so will her mother. You can meet her then."

I sigh and say, "Alright. But I know you are going to meet her tomorrow at her party. So can you give Zaara a present from me? And tell her I am really sorry I couldn't come because I forgot to ask her address. Tell her I promise to meet her on Monday."

Megan's eyes suddenly twinkle with unshed tears, and she sniffles. "Yes, sir", she croaks, her voice wavering once again.

I look at her, confused at this reaction, but shake my head and leave.

Now, I have to get a gift for Zaara.

And I think I know exactly what to give.