Shaurav  Thakur was a man who believed in principles. Being right and always choosing to fight for justice. And he never could understand how is son turned out different, when he was young Rishi had always been shy around other owing to his stuttering that hindered him from making friends , Shaurav and his wife Pavithra did everything they can do to help their son . 

                     
Yet he closed himself off over the years until they couldn't reach him, he had no friends and no social life that Shaurav had always been worried about him. They even sent him to counseling over the years but nothing helped their son out from his silence and they terribly missed their little boy who had always a smile on his way .

                        
Until he met Gauri, Shaurav regrets ever taking him to attend his boss's birthday party but Shaurav admired Adharsh and hoped his son would make friends . Gauri had been kind towards her son, even when he barely said a word back. She talked with him politely maybe that was the start of his obsession, but all Shaurav saw was that his son was willing to try and talk with someone else .

                
Over the years his stuttering disappeared but he rarely tried to talk more than few words, so when he came home and talked about Gauri all day, he knew his son was infatuated with her and as his father all he noticed were the positive effect Gauri was having on him and failed to see that it was crossing the line of her privacy.

               
One day he casually joked with Adharsh, his boss about being in-laws soon and it should have been a huge clue when his boss denied anything like that happening

         
" My daughter has already made her choice  Shaurav, it is like a package deal with them. It is just a matter of time before she marries the man of her dream and I am just relieved that Arnav was a good man even if I want to make it hard for him when he comes back from Army for leaving my daughter in the first place " Adharsh had told him one night that confused him.

                   
Obviously, it made Shaurav worry for his son so much that he broached the topic who has claimed that Gauri was single and she has broken up with Arnav. He thought maybe Adharsh liked Arnav that he didn't want to believe the end of his daughter relationship, it never crossed Shaurav mind that maybe it was his son who had been living in a make-believe world until everything came crashing down

             
Shaurav remembers getting the call from Adharsh and driving to meet him in the club , he knew his son was staying over with his friends that night , a fact that surprised him so much that he had friends and that he was staying away from home . He didn't question much about them either.

                             
He still remembers everything about the night, the years haven't made a single memory disappear no matter how much he wants to forget seeing his son dead or his son has a monster. He still can't decide which image hurt him more.

                       
Over the years he protected his wife from the truth, let her hate Gauri then struggle  with the same knowledge that kept him sleepless until he saw his grandson . The first thing he noticed had been the fact Rahul didn't say a word at all ,it was made his police instinct kick in as he wondered if he could be his grandson .

                    
At first he assumed Rahul had struggled with stuttering as well , so he was beginning to see him as his grandson until he noticed Gauri talking with him through sign language that when he realized Rahul couldn't talk . 

                
And it was his temptation to see Rahul that made him lose his wife , because the day he broke down and told the truth was the last day she ever spoke to him . She closed herself off from him and he began to worry about her ,the doctors told him she was in shock and will became normal soon enough but so far it hadn't been happening as he hoped and he began to fear that he was losing her as well .

              
So when he returned home that day ,he had been prepared to face yet another day of silence that he was shocked to hear laughter from inside the house . He rushed in fear at the sudden change in her behaviour only to find the source of her laugh, Rahul who was sitting on her lap eating a snack and it stopped him in his tracks. 

              
He tried talking to her ,asking her how she met Rahul but she never responded to him and without knowing sign language he couldn't ask Rahul either , yet again he knew he had to take away his wife smile because even now Gauri would be missing her son . It didn't make it easy but he was about to drive to her house when a knock sounded on his door revealing her standing outside with her husband , Arnav .

                        
Adharsh had been right ,they were indeed a package deal from the way Arnav stood protective of Gauri ,he knew Adharsh judgement had been right while his judgement was not because he loved his son . 

              
" Where is my son? " Gauri asked him and that was when they all overheard his wife laughter again , he didn't say a word but moved aside so they could walk inside and Rahul thankfully rushed to his mother side leaving his wife looking at him in confusion . 

             
" Rishi come back here ,what did I tell you never to rush towards strangers . " his wife spoke up leaving him stunned as he realized that so far his wife was thinking of Rahul as their son . He rushed to her side in a panic trying to gently tell her that their son was dead but she began to scream at him for lying to him.

         ********************

        
Arnav knew something was wrong when he saw Gauri stiffen up at the name and his doubts came true when he found out it was the name of the monster , he wanted to take her and Rahul away from them and the memories but Gauri refused to leave them .

      
" Take Rahul out and leave him with Ishaan, " Gauri whispered to him , and he wanted to protest against leaving her alone when she was vulnerable but decided to listen to her seeing the determination in his face .

       
Fortunately Rahul was happy to return back without asking too many questions , Ishaan had been more than relieved to have his nephew back after the panic he felt losing him , Arnav was sure Ishaan wasn't going to take his eyes off from Rahul even for a second.

                   
And which was the only reason Arnav was able to leave the little one after the scare he gave them earlier ,as he made his way back to Gauri . She knew he won't stay away from her that was why she asked him to leave Rahul with Ishaan. 

               
When he walked back inside, the sight before him caught his breath. His Gauri was trying to comfort them , he knew that having seen them at their vulnerable point Gauri won't likely leave them alone to deal with it , he couldn't imagine how she found the strength to support those who are closely related to the man who destroyed her life. 

             
By the time they left the house, she already helped Mrs Thakur to bed after calming her down from her panic attack, and Arnav didn't know she carried with her sleeping pills but she took them and gave a very mild dose to Mrs Thakur to help her sleep as well after checking with her husband if it was safe for her to take them or if she has any other health issues. 

               
But none of them surprised him more than her last parting words to Thakur when he thanked Gauri for helping out after waking them out. Arnav had assumed that was the end of it until Gauri spoke up.

                 
" This is the card of the psychiatrist that I met after that day. I think it would help aunty much more if she has a consultation with the doctor. And when she gets better , you both can visit Rahul provided you always remember to keep the fact you were related to him a secret . " Gauri told the grieving man who was taken back by the kindness in her words.

     
Arnav didn't expect her to offer them visitation rights ,it would have been well with in her rights to demand them to stay away from Rahul but she surprised him by doing the opposite .

        
And he never got a chance to ask her more about it, as Rahul occupied her at the moment. She refused to let him away from her sight and he was proud of her for helping out the Thakur's when all she wanted was to hold her son . 

            
Ishaan apologized profusely to his sister who had never held it against him ,but asked him to not bring Rahul back to the Maheshwari house for a little awhile. By the time it was too late to return back to the shopping that they drove back to her home .

               
Last night ,she asked him to stay and since he can't assume it was what she would want today as well . He left after tucking Rahul in his bed , by the time he drove back home everything he forgot about the day before rushed back . His mind temporarily blocked it all out when Rahul went missing ,and now he is safely tucked in bed . He could no longer hold those thoughts away from his mind.

                 
So he didn't expect his sister to open the door for him with a smile ,  Arnav loved his sister but she was probably the last person he wanted to see at the moment.  He need to come to terms with everything he learnt before he could face his sister again but unfortunately luck wasn't his side because when he tried to head to his room ,she called out to him .
   
           
  " Bhai, can we talk for a moment? " Kavya, his sister called out to him.She was dressed up for her movie premiere and he had went with her as her plus one often but if she asked him to do so today ,he will have to decline the request because them alone together wasn't a great idea at the moment .

            
But he couldn't make himself walkaway from his sister either ,so he turned around and waited for her to speak up .

           
  " Is something wrong? I feel like you are angry with me " his sister asked him straight up and he should have guessed that being siblings he could never keep his emotions in check around her,it was why she was his most ardent defender when he broke up with Gauri because she knew he was devastated just as much as Gauri. 

             
  " Not angry Kavya. It just Rahul went missing tonight " he answered back and immediately she launched into several questions about her nephew and his safety , awhile  she chalked up his  change of behaviour to stress over Rahul . She still had questions about why Arnav or Gauri didn't file a case against the people who took Rahul.

             
" She was not well Kavya, she was imagining Rahul to be her dead son. This is a situation where no one is wrong,I am just glad to have Rahul back safely " he assured her, hoping her questions will end because he didn't have it in him to answer more of her questions because he feared it may lead to spill something that would let her connect the dots.

          
So he had been relieved when the door bell rang again , she rushed past him to open the door and for the second time in the day he stood facing Akash Reddy . He wondered about his appearance as he walked towards him but his sister was quick to answer back his unasked questions .

       
" This isn't like you to take practically a stranger to the party sis" he asked her because as far as he knew Akash hadn't been one of Kavya friends .

        
" Not a stranger, he is Lav friend Bhai and I am perfectly safe so stop worrying and get some sleep . You must have had a long day and check-in with Gauri too " his sister spoke up and he noticed the hesitancy when she mentioned Gauri name ,he understood guilt and he heard it in his sister voice .

            
If his sister felt bad for her broken friendship with Gauri four years later ,how horrible she would feel when she learnt the entire truth he didn't want to contemplate ever .

         
" Be safe ,don't drink anything given to you by strangers " he felt like a fool for uttering the last sentence but the knowledge of her sister in an party was suddenly so scary for him .

           
" Bhai, I am not a kid. And I had these lessons from you when I was 17, no need to rehash them now. " She answered back and with a quick parting hug, she left with Akash. 

             
" Look after her " Arnav told Akash just before there were out of earshot and he knew her sister must have rolled her eyes at his protectiveness and yet the truth had been he wasn't much of a protector to the one he loves . 

                 
He went back to his room and massaged his legs as doctors order so that it won't cramp up again and tried to sleep but it eluded him that he decided to review few case files instead of just lying down, he had his partner take over all the remaining cases and he felt bad for leaving him alone but Gauri and Rahul were important.

           
He decided to ask Gauri if she want to return home tomorrow because he no longer want her to remain in this place where her darkest memories are part of it. He opened his shelf to take out the files hit accidentally knocked them all down until his hands clutched several unopened letters, his father must have placed them in his room

              
Most of them were unimportant and some were from his friends from Army and he decided to write them back as soon as possible but one letter came as a surprise because it was heavy and when he opened it, he was taken back to see Arun Prasad's will starring back at him .

            
The lawyer did mention a copy of the will was sent to him, but seeing it in truth made him wonder what was going through Arun mind when he decided to send him the will, did he hope for a reconciliation with Gauri or was he looking after Rahul even from up there and he didn't have to wonder long because along with the will had been a letter from the man himself.

P.S:" That it for now.Let me know your thoughts and Feedbacks.Hit the votes if you liked it "

Love

Juanita Reid.