As the rain started to really hammer down Omkara was still reeling in what had just happened hours ago.  After parting with Gauri he drove back to the company to finish up some work as well as look through the files Khanna had gathered for him. As much as he wanted to strike them now and get it over with Omkara knew he couldn't. He had just assured Gauri he would not give her any special treatment and if Riddhima just suddenly disappears it would surely paint him as a liar. However, every time he thought about the bruises Gauri was trying hard to hide yesterday dark thoughts starts to invade his mind. The urge to use all his power to trample on the Khurana's entire enterprise was so strong that he could feel the fire in his veins.

"Maybe if I could find a better reason for my actions...then...technically....it wouldn't be lying..."

When Khanna saw his Boss's lips curved up at the corners with his piercing eyes fixated on the documents he had just gathered an ominous feeling came over him.

"Boss...it's almost 8. Do you need me to do anything else?"

"You've done really well Khanna. Really well. But....I need a better reason to go after them. Find it for me."

"I don't understand. What is considered a better reason Boss?"

"I just need one good business reason Khanna. One that proves it effects my business interest. Be it Oberoi Fashions or any business dealings that we are a part of....find it."

"Yes Boss."

As he walked out of the office to head on home Khanna could only shake his head at the calamity that was about to fall on the house of the Khurana's. Spoiling their daughter to this extent has truly come back to bite them hard.

Leaning back in his chair Omkara turned around towards his window to look at the rain that was causing everything to look blurry outside and yet he didn't care because his mind was filled with the images of Gauri. He had successfully managed to enter her heart and for him that meant he now had hope. The only problem now was his next step. He wasn't blind to the fact that she had her reasons for not wanting to come close to anyone but it was always the sadness in her eyes that prevented him from asking. The tall wall she had built only proved that her past must have been very painful. Would she really end it with him if he tried to find out? This was the question that had been bothering for quite some time. He was a businessman. How can he not gather information if he wanted the best outcome? It just didn't make sense to turn a blind eye and hope for the best. He needed to know everything so that his next step would be the right one. The one to seal the deal. And this deal was one that would determine the happiness he had dreamt of every time he sat by her on the bus or in his car.

With determination in his eyes Omkara picked up his phone.

Omkara: Rudra? You still at my house?

Rudra: I was just about to call you....

Omkara: I'm headed home. I need to talk to you.

Rudra: You?!! It is me who needs to talk to you!

Omkara: Why do you sound so mad?

Rudra: Really?! Are you sure you didn't do anything today that would make me angry?!

Rudra could hear Omkara chuckle through the phone and his anger that he has been holding end after ending the call with Bhavya was about to burst.

"Are you laughing Om?!"

Omkara: Oh...I was just thinking about what I did today....Okay. Stay there. I'm on my way home.

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

"Father! Please don't do this! Don't you love us anymore?!"

She pleaded and pleaded while grabbing onto the bottom of her father's pants that was stained with alcohol after kicking the bottle her mother had drank.

"Look at mother! Please father! Can't.....can't...can't things go back to the way it was?!"

Her eyes were full of tears but she could still see her father's cold eyes as he stared down at her.

"I have had enough! Life is too short to stay in a loveless marriage Gauri! I have found the meaning of true love now and it's with Ragini."

He tried shaking her off his pants but Gauri did not want to lose her father. He had always doted on her. Loved her. How can he change just like that?! She didn't believe it.

"What about me dad? You....you are leaving me too?"

When she saw her father crouch down and started to wipe away her tears Gauri quickly grabbed his fingers.

"Dad...please. If you say you have found true love then what kind of love did you have for mom?"

Pinky who was drunk could only stare at her unfaithful husband. Gauri could see the warmth her father had for her mother was no longer there. The days that they would hold eachother watching tv on the sofa or dancing in the kitchen was gone.

"The love I had for your mom was not strong enough to last a lifetime Gauri. That is how I know it's not true love but with Ragini it's different."

Gauri sees her mother stand up and quickly came to her side to help her stabilize.

"Different?!" Pinky shouted.

"You mean because she is half my age?! Shakti! Mark my words! There will come a day where you will regret it all!! Gauri! Take a good look at your father! Men....no matter how much they say they love you and will always be with you....it's all lies!"

Gauri shook her head while looking at her father with tears running down her face.

"Dad? It's not true right? This....this is must a mistake. It's okay dad. Come back and things will be okay. I know mom still loves you! She will forgive you as long as yo--"

"Stop Gauri. I don't want to come back. I want to live the rest of my life being in love with Ragini. Goodbye."

"Wait!!" Gauri sets her mother back on the floor and runs to her father. She wrapped her trembling arms around him and buried her head deep into his chest. "Please dad. For me...can't you stay? I don't believe that the love you have for mom is gone. I just don't. If you leave now....mom will...she will....."

She felt her father push her away and still with her small arms she tried to hold on.

"Let go Gauri. It's over between your mother and I. You can look after her now."

"What? You....what about me?....Like this you are leaving me too...you....are willing?....just for her?"

Gauri had hope that his love for her would make him reconsider but when she saw the woman walk up to her father and happily hook her arms in his her heart dropped.

"Just tell her Shatki...I'm tired of waiting outside."

She saw her father push her away farther as he let the woman hold him tighter and the tears started to seize.

"I'm sorry Gauri. To be with Ragini....I can't have  you around. I am sorry."

In disbelief Gauri was in a state of shock that her body refuse to move. Her eyes kept looking at the father that held her during grade school, made her breakfast, kissed her goodnight, called her princess every chance he got walking out the door. The voice inside was screaming for him and yet she could only stand there.

**BOOM** **THUNDER**

Gauri grabbed her bedsheets as she woke up drenched in sweat.

"Gauri? Are you okay? I tried waking you but you kept screaming...."

Breathing heavily Gauri clenched the sheets tighter "Why did that dream come back?"

Bhavya took a small wet towel and handed it to Gauri to wipe away the sweat and tears.

"Maybe it's the rain Gauri."

"It's not the rain Bhavya....it's not the rain....."

Bhavya swung her arms around her friend "Forget him Gauri. It's his loss for giving you up! He's the worse father!"

She had hope that her words would comfort her friend but Bhavya could still cleary hear Gauri's soft whispers. "There was a time he loved me very much.... time I can't forget...the happiness that once was......time that was priceless and that I can't get back...."

"Gauri....."

"I no longer believe in it Bhavya.....nothing lasts forever....only the memories we choose to keep. The memories with Omkara right now.....I want to keep.....but the thought of it changing one day.....I don't think I will be able to bare it again. I have decided. After this project....I am leaving Mumbai."

**I hope you guys got a glimpse of why Gauri is the way she is. I truly believe that the love you get from your father is incomparable to any man. And when that bond is broken for whatever reason the trauma will leave it's mark. This is the mark left on Gauri. She loved her father immensely. He was the first man in her life to love her unconditionally and when things went bad her trust in love wavered....**