Dedicated Sree8410 , For giving me a reason to work on this update with a smile .

24 hours later .
           
Gauri was driving back to work,  she needs a familiar surrounding to forget the incident that happened . She was in the kitchen and when she heard footsteps she had assumed it was Arnav ,a mistake on her part because when a hand touched her shoulder and she realized it didn't belong Arnav, she panicked and the result her hand with the knife  flew and found its mark in her brother in law face .

          
She was relieved when Arnav arrived on time and stepped in between her and Vinoth, and she was thankful when he dragged her brother in law out of her house and locked the door leaving him out, but she wasn't the least bit relieved to see his questioning glance at her or rather when his eyes filled with concern the moment he noticed she was shaking in fear.  

         
He walked towards her in an hurry but she took a step back  and he stopped when he noticed she was backing away from him, there was a hint of hurt in his eyes but she couldn't let him close if she wanted to guard her secrets. But she knew he would want an explanation so she rushed inside her room and locked him out, gathering time till she have to face him again. He didn't knock on her door as she expected and she only met him an hour later when he was about to leave for work.

       
" Breakfast ?" She asked him when she noticed he was leaving, her son was still sleeping which gave her enough time to get over the initial shock and head back to the kitchen to cook. And he only shook his head in answer but she had prepared an explanation over the time and didn't think she could pull it through if she didn't speak up then .

     
" Do you know Arnav. That  I have one or two  FIR against me"  She spoke up out of nowhere that wasn't what she planned to tell him, just that she didn't mean to hit Vinoth and it was an accident yet she found out she couldn't just lie to him.

And realized it will be hard to keep her secrets if she kept talking with him . She saw the surprise in his face as he heard her speak but also concern as if he couldn't understand what she meant by her statement.

 
 " That was the reason my lawyer thought , I  couldn't win the case for custody if it went to trial as my past will be used to make me a liability for his safety " She found herself speaking and this time when he walked towards her, she felt herself relax and gestured him to sit next to her in the dinning table.

   
" The first time it happened was when I was Pregnant with Rahul, I mistook three stranger who were just trying to return something I dropped as following me purposely and used my pepper spray against them ,  Arun didn't want me to endure the stress  when I was pregnant that he paid those three  to not file the case against me. 
      
And there began the cycle where my actions became reckless with time,  I never realized how protected I have been until I moved to a different city . Truthfully half of the time it was my fault and the other person had been innocent, there was a time when I walking down the stairs of a super market after Rahul was born. My Colleague found me and tried to greet me with his wife  and when I felt a tap on my shoulder again I reacted and pushed him away and he fell down the stairs and broke his ribs . They didn't file a case still I felt guilty of my actions. 

Those time when I actually harmed an innocent, I always went Scott free but when I had been the one innocent, I had an FIR filed against me.  it happened while I had been pregnant as well , I was driving the car when another car driver began to harass me by words and whistle, it scared me that I tried to drive faster but he kept following me until it ended in an accident but the driver filed a case against me saying I caused the accident out of negligence . So yeah Gauri Singhania daughter of Adharsh Singhania had been in the wrong side of the law often .

             
I thought I was over it , until today . When I found Vinoth in the kitchen I reacted without thinking ,maybe I am not fit as a  parent. " Gauri voiced out letting him see the deepest concern of her ,she always wondered if Arun really didn't think she would be able to raise Rahul without help . 

       
And she felt his hands over her hands in an gesture of comfort and she realized she had been crying as the tears droplets fell on the glass table ,he didn't say a word but waited for her to stop crying . As always she became a watering pot with him .

              
" It not your fault Gauri, I still don't understand why  perfectly explainable actions of your were made into something that was unforgivable enough to worry you about the court case, " he spoke up a moment later but she knew it wasn't the truth , she knew there had been innocents she hurt needlessly and the most frustrating aspect of it was that she didn't know how to stop overreacting before analyzing the situation . 

            
" Some of them got hurt Arnav , without their fault, because of my actions.  Yes people cause accidents.  People makes mistakes but I did a lot of them together that I fear it could be used against me " She answered back to him .

          
" They are all fine now right ?" he asked her instead and she knew they were as Arun kept tabs on them and Arun had paid the bill for her colleague and compensated his family when he had been on bed rest because of her . 

                   
" Yes ..but " she began but realized what he was trying to say ,it was time for her to stop feeling guilty over the past. She was too consumed that she hurt someone , that she never realized all of them had moved on from it at some point of time ,only she was still holding on to it .

             
 "  Sometime we make mistakes Gauri and sometime we hurt someone without meaning to but it is okay to forgive yourself  " he spoke up yet again and she felt herself nod as if she for the first time felt free of the burden she carried around .

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

                      
Vinoth seethed in fury as he realized yet again she outsmarted him , he left the lawyer office an hour ago and learnt she really had married again . He was always  the son who wasn't favored , Arun had everything that was out of reach for Vinoth, a job , a family and money .

                         
Vinoth blamed his brother for his parents partiality  as well but the only relief had been that he had access to his brother hard earned wealth that allowed him to lose his pain in a glass of wine,  and when he learnt his brother got married again . He hated the nameless person with fury that he unleashed when he first saw her .

                           
He still remember that day when she slapped him and his brother kicked him out of his house and he lost the only good thing that he had with his brother that allowed him to drown his sorrows .  Then he thought it would all be his again after his brother death ,he didn't care about his brother son ,he had planned to send him to a hostel and forget about his existence but yet again his plans were foiled by her .

                          
He was too shocked that he was kicked out of the house yet again this time by a stranger who must have married her because of his brother wealth as well or because she trapped him just like her brother.

                          
He also felt annoyed that he couldn't marry her. He wanted to not because he liked her but he wished to snatch the happiness his brother found in his life , having two wives and two kids . His brother had it all awhile he remained alone . 

                              
He couldn't stop now , but decided to wait till the right time . For now he need to learn all he can about the new man in her life and once he found his weakness maybe he can find a way .

                   *******************
              
Arnav hated lying and he just lied to his mom . He knew she would worry if he didn't call every day, yet somehow he couldn't call her for two days because he knew it would mean lying to her.  

               
He knew that his family would support him and he also knew they always loved Gauri as their own ,even his sister who may pretend all she likes that she wasn't bothered that it had been four years since she saw her friend . 

               
But the one thing that made him hesitate was Gauri herself ,he didn't know if she was ready to let herself meet his family . He knew she married him for Rahul and if it would be too much to expect her to mingle with his family because the moment his family knew they would take the first flight to see him .

             
And so he lied to his mom ,that he forgot to call her as he was busy which she seemed to accept thankfully.  But his mind was still stuck with his wife , he knew she would never lie to him and yet he felt like he was missing something .

               
The Gauri, he knew was shy and kept to herself . So he can see how a new city might have made her react differently but the panic he saw in her face yesterday made him worry , he didn't mean to lighten what she went through because he still feel the anger as he want to find all those people who harmed her and hurt them . 
 
                 
Yet he find himself at lost with her and he knew he can't expect her to share everything with him ,just when it has barely a week since they met again . Still it makes him wary of asking her to meet his family , and then there was Rahul . The little one greeted him today with a smile and Arnav was relieved that he had been able to sign the few words he learnt by now that included good morning .

                      
But he was lost the moment Rahul who assumed he can speak his language began to sign the words he hadn't learnt yet until Gauri stepped in and told her son that he is still learning and he would need some time to understand everything . The smile dropped from Rahul face and he hated that in his enthusiasm to speak with him, he inadvertently hurt him .

                     
He was still in his phone trying to learn more words when a call came from his sister.  She wasn't someone who called him often as she was found of texting ,and he wondered if it was because their mother was worried about him ,his sister was usually the one who acted as a buffer between them after he came home injured .

                 
" Guess who is in town to meet her favourite brother " her voice greeted him and he realized he ran out of luck .

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

Love

Juanita Reid.