Miraya was sitting with her father in the garden and drinking coffee when she asked him, “Dad, before I fainted that evening, I noticed a lady at the party. She was wearing a golden saree and looked like she was in her late forties.”

Rudraksh chuckled, "Oh, I know who you are talking about. It was Sandhya Anand. Sameep Anand's wife. Even I have noticed that she looks like your older version."

“Hmm, Sandhya Anand. I would like to meet her someday.” She smiled, even though in her heart she wanted to murder that woman the moment they met.

“You can meet her on your engagement. She will be invited.”

“Great.” She replied with a smile.

🦋🦋🦋

A few days later, Miraya was going through Sandhya Anand's history while sitting in her office. Her maiden name was Sandhya Sachdeva.

“She is currently forty-seven years old, which means she was nineteen when she gave birth to me. Could it be she abandoned me because she was an unmarried mother? No, but then she should have done that when I was an infant. Why would she keep me for four years?” Miraya looked through the documents again.

“There's a gap of two years before she got admission in a college. She passed out from twelfth standard at the age of eighteen. Means she got pregnant after a few months of passing out. And if that's the case, her classmates must know something about her affair.”

She quickly called the detective who did the digging for her. She told him to get her the list of the students from Sandhya's session. It didn't take long. She got the list three hours later.

“There were forty eight students in the class out of which twenty five were boys. I should focus on the girls. There were twenty two girls beside Sandhya.”

She read their personal information very carefully and found out that one girl Aastha Mishra lived in the same colony as Sandhya.

“Aastha Mishra.”

She immediately called the detective and told him to get Aastha Mishra's current address.

🦋🦋🦋

That morning Miraya was got ready to head to Rani Sahiba Ki Pahadi, a small hill station on the Meghavali range where Aastha Mishra, now Aastha Kashyap, lived with her husband and two children.

She wore a black trench coat because that time around the year it snowed in Rani Sahiba Ki Pahadi.

She was heading towards her black Thar when she saw Shashank sitting on it's bonnet, dressed in a sky blue shirt and white pants. His usual style.

“Shashank, what are you doing here?” Miraya asked with a frown resting on her forehead.

“Well, I came to take you on a Sunday date. But Tara Aunty told me you are going to Rani Sahiba Ki Pahadi so I decided to accompany you.”

“Shashank, I'm going there to do some private investigation related to a case. I can't take you. It's a very secret trip.” Miraya told him the half-truth.

“I don't care about the secrecy. It's our engagement next week and we still haven't gone on a date.” But Shashank was being stubborn that morning.

“Shashank, you are being difficult.”

“I'm going with you. That's it. And if you left alone, then it means you don't love me. So prove your love by taking me with you to the Pahadi.”

“Shashank.”  Miraya groaned in annoyance.

“I'm serious, Miraya. Do you love me or not?” He pouted.

Miraya sighed and headed back to the house. Seeing her returning to the house, Shashank asked her worriedly, “Why are you going back?”

Miraya replied without turning around, “To get you a coat, Mr Stubborn Agnihotri.”

And his face broke into a grin.

🦋🦋🦋

Shashank was wearing Rudraksh's brown trench coat as Miraya drove to the hill station. He wanted to flirt with her but on the hills even a little distraction while driving could be very dangerous so he didn't disturb her on the journey and occupied himself with eating the snacks Miraya brought for the journey. Once in a while he would put a piece in her mouth too.

Soon they entered the quiet town of Rani Sahiba Ki Pahadi that received fair amount of tourists throughout the year.

“Shashank, you have been to this town before, right?” Miraya asked as they drove through a residential area.

“Yeah.” He nodded while staring out of the window. It was already evening.

“Where do you stay on your visits?” She asked and immediately honked seeing a young couple walking on the road without the care of the world, they immediately moved to the footpath seeing the car coming their way.

“There's a cottage two kilometres away from here. It's called The Victorian Cottage. It's run by an Anglo-Indian family.”

“Cool, we'll stay there for tonight. Tell me the directions.”

And they drove to The Victorian Cottage.

🦋🦋🦋

The Victorian Cottage was as Victorian as it's name. The brown building looked at least a century old. The path to the entrance was covered in snow. They went to the reception. Shashank was very much familiar with the architecture of the cottage. But Miraya was new to the place and she was in awe.

“Hey, Shashank, you are quite early this time. You come to the Pahadi during June.” asked Daniel, the son of the owner who helped his parents in running the cottage. He exchanged a fist bump with Shashank.

“Hello, Daniel. First of all, meet my fiancée Miraya Yaduvanshi. Miraya, it's Daniel. His family is running this cottage for more than a century.” He introduced them to each other.

“Nice to meet you, Daniel. This place is beautiful.”

“Thank you, Miraya. Nice to meet you too.”

And they shook hands with each other.

After the pleasant introductions, Miraya said, “Daniel, give us two bedroom keys.”

“No, we need only one.” But Shashank interrupted, earning a glare from Miraya.

“Shashank, we will be sleeping in separte bedrooms.”

“But why? We can share one bedroom, Mira.”

Looking at his helpless friend, Daniel decided to help Shashank.

“Umm, Miraya, actually there's only one room left. There are other empty rooms but they are being renovated. This cottage is quite old so we keep renovating it frequently.” Daniel lied smoothly.

Shashank sent a flying kiss to Daniel. Miraya knew Daniel was lying but she let it go.

“Alright, give me the keys.” She agreed.

Daniel handed her the keys of room number 205. Miraya headed to the room while Shashank did a high five with Daniel.

“I want a bottle of Bourbon for helping you.” Daniel demanded.

“I'll give you two.” Shashank winked at him and went to the bedroom.

🦋🦋🦋

Shashank locked the room after he entered and removed the trench coat. He threw it on the couch. The heater was already on and the room was getting warm so he began removing his shirt. Miraya came out wearing a warm night suit that she carried in her small backpack. Her eyes widened in surprise when they landed on his naked chest.

“Shashank, why are you undressing?” She shrieked.

Shashank shrugged, “I sleep naked,” And his clothes joined the trench coat on the couch.

Miraya was flabbergasted but she didn't protest. She quietly laid down on the bed and covered herself with quilt.

Shashank smirked and laid down beside her, very close to her. She could feel the warmth radiating from his bare chest to her body. Suddenly he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her against his chest.

Miraya didn't protest. His embrace had a comfort. But his touch had a sensuality too. He intended to do more than just hugging her.

She turned to face him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She wasn't being shy at all. On the contrary, her actions made Shashank blush.

“Aww, my stubborn fiance is blushing.” She pulled his cheek.

He didn't reply to her remark. Instead he cupped her face and pecked on her lips.

“Miraya, do you love me?” He asked softly.

“Not yet.” Miraya replied honestly while staring into his deep brown eyes.

“Thank you for being honest.” He smiled and kissed her forehead.

Miraya rested her head against his chest and closed her eyes. Shashank kissed the top of her head and began caressing her back to make her fall asleep. He had long heard about her nightmare from Ansh. He wanted to put her mind and heart at ease so no nightmare could disrupt her peace.

His eyes fell on the view outside the sealed window. It was snowing outside. He fell asleep while staring at the view while holding Miraya close to his heart.

•••

I hope you liked the chapter ❤️