"Yeh saab kya hai?" Bani Luthra broke the silence that had descended over Luthra house. She looked at her family members expecting some explaination.

Kareena finally broke her silence "Yeh sabh uss middle class larki ne kiya hai! Jab usse yeh ahaisaas huwa ke Karan ne agar Mahira se shadhi karli toh usske haath kuch nahi lagega toh ussne yeh sabh kiya!" she said, her words laced with venom.

"Mujhe nahi lagta hai Preeta aisa kuch karegi!" stated Kritika who was sick of her mother always blaming everything on Preeta.

"Shut up Kritika!" Kareena shouted. She just could understand why her daughter always supported that bloody middle class girl.

"Aap Kritika ko kyun daat rahi hai Kareena Di? Sahi toh kahe rahi hai yeh... Preeta aisa nahi kar sakti hai!" Rakhee intervened.

"Rakhee tu yeh kya kahe rahi hai? Mujhe to laagta hai ke Kareena sahi kahe rahi hai!" Bani said in support of Kareena

"Nahi Dadi! Preeta aisa kuch nahi karegi!"

"Lekin Karan..." Sherlyn who had finally recovered somewhat from the shock tried to interfere but Karan put his hand up stopping her.

"Meine kaha na Preeta aisa nahi kar sakti! Aur waise bhi Preeta ko mujhse bhatar koi nahi janta tho please tum aapni faltu opinion aapne paas hi rakho!"

"Karan! Tameez se baat karo Sherlyn iss ghar ki bahu hai, tumhare bade bhai ki patni hai!" Kareena rebuked.

"Toh?" A voice came from behind Karan causing the family to look at Roo who had raised the question.

"Yeh tum..."

"Oh come on Bua, Karan bhai ne galat kya kaha? Unse bhatar Preeta ko kaun jaanta hai?" Roo asked

"Uss middle class..."

"Ek minute Bua..." Karan interrupted not liking the way Kareena kept insulting Preeta "Abhi abhi aap mujhe bhashan de rahi thi ke mujhe iss Sherlyn se tameez se baat karni chaahiye kyun ke woh 'iss ghar ki bahu hai, Rishabh ki patni' hai and all that... toh aap kyun baar baar meri patni ki insult kiye jaahrahi hai? Usska naam Preeta hai... Mrs Preeta Karan Luthra! Middle class larki nahi!"

"Karan!" Kareena screamed in anger "Yeh kya bakwaas kar rahe ho tum? Woh larki iss ghar ki bahu kabhi nahi ban saakti! Aur waise bhi tumhari shadhi Mahira se ho rahi hai!"

"Aur Preeta se ho chuki hai... Meri shadhi... Preeta se already ho chuki hai!" He declared.

Kareena desperately looked at Rakhee who didn't seem to have any problems with what Karan had said. She then looked at Bani who stepped closer to Karan.

"Karan puttar yeh tu kya kahe raha hai tu? Zaara Mahira ka toh khayal kar teri baate sun ke usse kitna burra lagraha hoga?" she said gesturing towards Mahira.

"Dadi..."

"Mummyji aapko Mahira ki boohot fikar ho rahi hai aur meri bahu ki? Usska kya? Ussko burra nahi laga hoga jab iss ghar ke logo ne usske hote huwe usske pati ki sagai kis aur ke saath kaaradi?" Rakhee stepped in annoyed at the way her Mother-in-Law and her Sister-in-Law had been trying to emotionally manipulate her son.

"Bhabhi yeh kya kahe rahi hai app? Aap ko toh Karan ko saamjahna chaahiye ke usse Mahira ka khayal rakhna chaahiye lekin aap toh faltu logo ki wakalat kar rahi hai!"

"Bua!" Karan raised his voice "Meri Biwi hai woh!"

"Karan tum Mahira ki insult kar rahe ho, woh beechari..." Sherlyn started but was cut off by Karan.

"Kaun beechari? Yeh?" He gave a sarcastic laugh looking at Mahira who had begun to cry in frustration listening to the news being broadcasted on the television rather than Karan's words. Kareena moved closer to Mahira to console her but this didn't stop Karan from replying to Sherlyn.

"Tum toh yeh aache se jaanti ho ke mujhe isski insult se koi faarak nahi paarta, in fact isske hone na hone se bhi mujhe koi faarak nahi paarta!"

"Karan! Mahira iss ghar ki hone wali bahu hai! Tumhari mangetaar hai! Usske baare mein sooch samaj ke bolo!" Kareena said.

"What mangetaar Bua? Lagta hai issne ya isski Mom ne abhi taak aap ko baataiya nahi hai..."

"Karan yeh saabh chodo..."

"No Sherlyn, kaise chodu? Issi outsider ki wajai se meri biwi ki insult ho rahi hai aur mein chodu? Yeh kaise ho saakta hai?" he smirked at her as Sherlyn began to sweat seeing all her plans falling apart.

"Kahena kya chaahte ho tum?" Bani asked.

"Zyaada kuch nahi girlfriend... yehi ke maine Mahira se aapni sagai already tordi hai!"

This resulted in a mix of reactions from his family. Where Bani and Kareena gasped in shock, Rakhee, Rishabh, Sameer, Kritika and Roo smiled.

"Karan tum yeh... Lekin..." Bani tried to form a sentence but was lost for words.

"Karan yeh saab? Kaab? Kaise?" Rishabh asked with his smile still intact.

"Kal jab issne meri biwi pe haath uthane ki koshish ki thi aur usski insult ki aapni iss Mom aur iss..." he said almost growling at Sherlyn. Rishabh followed his gaze and glared at Sherlyn. She would never learn her lesson he thought deciding to speak to her about this later – now they had more pressing matters to deal with!

"Karan yeh tum..."

"Nahi Didi!" Rakhee stopped Kareena from saying anything more on the matter "Mujhe lagta hai Karan ne sahi kiya hai..."

"Mrs Luthra... Mrs Luthra aap yahan kyun hai? Aap ko tho Luthra house mein hona chaahiye!" before Rakhee could continue the voice of a reporter caused everyone to turn back to the television. They noticed that the footage was outside Preeta's house and the whole of the Arora family were standing shocked in front of the media.

"Mrs Luthra kya yeh saach hai ke Miss Mahira Khanna aapke pati ke peeche padi hai? Aur unhe blackmail kar rahi hai aur issliye unhone usse sagai ki hai?"

"Preeta Ma'am kya aap Karan Sir se naraaz hai? Kya unhone aap ke saath kuch galat kiya hai? Kahi unka kisi aur larki ke..." the questions kept coming.

"Yeh kya bakwaas kar rahe hai app?" Karan who was lost in his babydoll from the moment he turned back to the television and saw her, didn't fail to notice her anger at the reporters implication.

"Babydoll... tum kabhi nahi badlogi! Aaj bhi koi mere bare me kuch bhi galat bolta hai toh tumhari aankho mein tumhara ghussa saaf saaf dikhta hai! Aur phir tum kaheti ho ke tum mujse pyaar nahi karti!" Karan whispered to himself.

"Ma'am kya Miss Khanna ne aapko dhamki di hai ke aap Karan Sir ko chod de?"

"Mrs Luthra kya yeh saach hai ke Mr Karan Luthra ne dabawe mein aake Mahira se sagai ki hai? Kya yeh saach hai ke Miss Mahira ne aapko jaan se marne ki koshish ki thi issilye Mr Luthra ne unse sagai ki hai?"

"Yeh kya bakwaas kar rahe hai yeh log!" Ramona said outraged at what the reporters were saying. She instantly regretted agreeing to Mahira and Sherlyn's plan the night before. She had barely recovered from the shock of the photographs that were being shown on the television and now on top of that her daughter was the one that was looking bad instead of Preeta!

"Dekhiye aap log please jaiye yaha se..." The family watched as Sarla unsuccessfully tried to control the press.

"Preetaji kya Luthra family janti hai ke Karan Luthra ne aapse shadhi ki hai?"

"Ma'am humne suna hai ke aapki aur Karan Sir ki love marriage huwi hai, kya yeh saach hai?"

"Yeh kya subha subha bakwaas laga rakhi hai? Maine kaha jaou yaha se! Abhi ke abhi niklo mere ghar se warna mein abhi police ko call karke tum saab ko jail bhijiwa dongi!" but it was no use,

"Ma'am please hum Preeta Ma'am ka interview lene aiye hai!" seeing the reporter moving closer to the family Rakhee looked at Rishabh worried about the Luthra's. She knew what these reporters were like and she knew that Preeta and her family wouldn't be able to handle them.

Ma'am kya aap ki family ko aapki shadhi manzur nahi hai? Kya aap issiliye Luthra house ki jagha yahan hai?"

"Eh!" as Shrishti moved to argue with the reporters Karan finally lost his cool and started to move towards the door.

"Karan? Kahan ja raha hai?" Rakhee asked her son knowing full well where he was headed.

"Mom mein... yeh log unhe parishaan karte rahenge... Mein..."

"Tu kahi nahi ja raha!" Rakhee said firmly.

"Lekin Mom Preeta..."

"Meine kaha na tu kahi nahi ja raha hai!"

Kareena and Sherlyn smiled; delusional in thinking that Rakhee had finally come around, but they were in for a rude wake upcall. Rakhee on the other hand was worried about what her son would do if she let him go to Arora house and the reporter continued to harass Preeta and her family. She knew him too well to know that he wouldn't be able to control his anger and would make the situation worse!

"Mom..." Karan tried to protest. He couldn't leave his babydoll to deal with this mess alone he had to go his heart screamed! "Mom Preeta akeli hai wahan... mein..."

"Sameer" Rakhee said still looking at her younger son.

"Ji chachi?" Sameer replied stepping closer Rakhee.

"Tu abhi ke abhi jah aur Preeta aur usske saare parivaar ko yahan leke aaja!" she order.

"Bhabhi..." Kareena tried to protest but this time Bani stopped her.

"Nahi Kareena mujhe lagta hai ke Rakhee sahi kahe rahi hai. Iss saab se doono parivaaro ki izzat pe umli uth rahi hai." She turned to Sameer and continued "Putar mein bhi tere saath chaalti hoon"

"Nahi Dadi mein challa jauga aap..."

"Nahi putar mujhe nahi lagta hai ke woh log itni aasaanee se aaiyenge... in dino jo kuch bhi huwa hai..." she stopped looking at Karan and then Roo "Khair jab Karan ne Preeta ko aapni patni maan liya hai toh hamme bhi yeh rishta maana hoga. Preeta iss ghar ki bahu hai aur usse yahan honna chaahiye" she declared "Aur usse yahan lane ke liye mera jahna bahut zaroori hai!"

Leaving no room for argument she moved towards the door with Sameer following her.

The Arora's tried to go about their work as best as they could, but it was difficult when they were trapped in their own home.

Preeta watched from her bedroom door as her mother sat at the dining table chopping vegetables with a vengeance. Preeta could almost imagen her mother visualising Karan's neck every time the knife came down slicing through the vegetables. Could she be blamed though? Preeta asked herself, what Karan had done to her family was something Preeta was finding hard to forget especially when he kept on causing them more hurt and humiliation.

The sound of commotion outside the door drew her out of her thoughts. It had been almost an hour since the doors and windows of Arora house had been shut but she could still hear slight murmurs of the reporters outside. But this was different suddenly she could hear them getting louder. The rest of the family members too looked at the door questioningly.

"Sir kya aap Mrs Luthra ko lene aaiye hai?" they heard someone shout.

"Ma'am kya aapko paata tha ke Karan Sir ne Preeta Ma'am se shadhi ki hai?"

"Kya yeh shadhi aap ke paarivar ki maarzi ke khilaaf huwi hai?"

"Ma'am... aapne Karan Sir ki sagai Mahira Khanna se kyun ki? Kya Miss Mahira nai Karan Sir ko blackmail kiya hai?"

"Aap aapni bahu ko gharse nikaal ke apne bete ki shadhi kyun kara rahi hai? Aur woh kaisi ghatiya larki hai jo ek shadhi shudha larke se zabarzasti shadhi kar rahi hai?"

"Rakhee Aunty?!" Preeta said worriedly moving to the door.

"Ruko!" Sarla ordered before Preeta could open the door

"Maa...Rakhee Aunty bahar..."

"Toh?" Sarla asked her tone reflecting her anger.

"Maa... Woh..."

Sarla raised her had stopping Preeta "Andar jah!"

"Maa mein..."

"Tune suna nahi maine kya kaha? Andar jah" Preeta reluctantly moved to her bedroom "Aur ha aapni khidiki maat kholna!" Sarla add.

"Sarla yeh galaat hai" Dadi said.

"Kya gaalat hai Biji?" she replied now glaring at the door with no intention of opening it "Unlogo neh jo kiya kya woh gaalat nahi tha?"

"Ha tha, lekin hum unlogo ke jaise nahi baan sakte!" Dadi stated "Shrishti darvaza khol aur unlogo ko andar bulale... agar woh zyada der bahar rahe toh yeh press wale aur tamaasha banaiyenge".

"Ji Dadu" Shrishti replied moving towards the door. As she opened the door she came face to face with Sameer whose hand was raised to ring the doorbell.

Normally she would have lost herself in his eyes but today just wasn't that kind of day, the shouting in the background was continuous and she also noticed a distressed Bani Luthra standing close to Sameer with her hand firmly wrapped around his arm. She quickly moved to one side so that Bani Dadi and Sameer could come in and then quickly shut the door behind them.