Location: Omkara's Cabin, CB-CID, Mumbai.

Dandi and Abhishek were looking at their senior who seem to have a smile plastered on his face since morning.

Dandi had nervously informed him that the forensic art did not match the database of two other states till then, expecting him to shout at him again. He looked flabbergasted when Omkara just smiled with a nod and said "Keep going"

Abhishek whispered to Dandi "Why is he smiling at everything? I just saw that Ramudev kaka did not give him tea at his usual time yet sir just smiled at him and let him. Normally he gets irritated when his routine is disturbed right?"

Dandi in the meanwhile was analyzing his theories in mind. After a moment of thought he shared it with Abhishek.

Yesterday sir had an accident right. May be he fell on his head Abhi.

Abhishek shook his head at his friend while Dandi continued "Or else, it must be Gauri mam". That made Abhishek look at his friend with interest.

"Why? What with Gauri mam?"

"Sir had a fight with her yesterday Abhi"

"So?"

"When he went home afterwards, Gauri mam must have hit him with a broom stick on his already injured head. That might be the reason" he said looking serious and Abhishek laughed out loud.

Omkara turned to look at them when he heard them laughing.

"What was the joke?" he asked them smiling and they immediately stopped their laughter nodding their heads in a no indicating nothing.

"To phir kaam chodke pagalo ki tarah has kyun rahe hoo...? (then why are you laughing like idiots without working) get back to work" he growled and they jumped into action.

After a while when Omkara left his cabin, Dandi whispered to Abhishek "I think it is not the broom stick she must have used a bellan (roller)"and Abhishek again burst out laughing.

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

Bhavya was contemplating whether to investigate on her Gauri Bhabhi when Omkara entered her room.

"Bhavya I need the drug analysis reports of the unclaimed dead body" he asked her.

"Okay Bhaiyya" she said and got up to search for the file folder.

Omkara walked up to her desk and casually skimmed through the contents when he found his wife's certificates there.

"Bhavya why are Gauri's certificates with you?"

"Gauri Bhabhi was to submit these certificates yesterday in the college and I offered to do the work for her bhaiyya but the person who was in charge of certificate collection was on leave yesterday college. So, I thought to give them today" she explained and looked at him.

Bhavya was surprised to see him fondly looking at his wife's picture on the certificates with a smile and thought Rudra was indeed right. His brother might be in love with his wife already.

"Umm...bhaiyya.. this is the file you asked for" she said handing him over the file.

When he took the file and was about to leave, she asked him "Bhaiyya.... Gauri bhabhi's surname was Tiwari right? But these certificates have some other name in them."

"Oh!! It might be her mother's maiden name Bhavya. She had some family problems while growing up" he replied remembering his talk with his father in law.

Bhavya visibly relaxed knowing that there was a reason.

"By the way what is the surname?" asked Omkara casually walking out of the cabin and Bhavya replied "Gauri Sharma"

Omkara froze in his steps to look back at her "Sharma?" He heard that somewhere right? Where?

"What happened bhaiyya?"

"I heard it somewhere Bhavya. I don't remember when and where. Anyways do you have work today should I submit them?"

"No bhaiyya I will complete it" she assured him and he nodded before leaving her office.

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

Dandi was going through the CCTV footage of traffic signals to locate the Lorry which tried to hit Omkara.

"Sir do you recognize this lorry? This appears to not have a number plate on it" said Dandi calling Omkara's attention.

One look at it and Omkara confirmed it a yes. "But there would be a hundred lorries which might look the same. This one doesn't even have a number plate how are we going to trace it?"

"Yes sir but this footage was exactly after your accident in the area which immediately comes next to the highway. This should be it. We can trace where it came from. Let me check it once"

"Yeah also talk with the traffic police division. They might help with the tracing" he offered and Dandi nodded his head.

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

Location: Abhay's Flat, Mumbai.

"Abhi are you still angry for yesterday's incident?" asked Gauri.

"No Gauri, that's okay" he said dismissively still not looking at her.

"Abhi what happened. Without you telling me anything how will I know?"

"Gauri stop irritating me. Did you ask your husband about the password?"

"No Abhi I....I was a bit busy yesterday" she replied vaguely.

"Get it today please, we will get this over with. What about going to Shakti sir's house. Have you arranged that?"

"Yes, we will be going to his house this Saturday"

"Okay good" he replied and Gauri felt her anger raising.

"Abhay Agnihotri what is wrong with you. Are you telling me or should I extract it from you by other means showing her fist?"

Gauri's phone rang at that moment and she lifted it without checking the id

"Hello... Gauri di" called Ishaana crying.

"Ishu? what happened?" asked Gauri worried giving a fleeting glance at Abhay who stiffened in his place hearing the name.

"Gauri di, mom is forcing me to marry a guy she and baba liked. Please tell them not to do so. I cannot marry anyone else" cried Ishaana.

"Ishaana don't cry please. I will talk to them" Gauri tried consoling her sister.

"Is Abhay there with you di?"

"Yes. Would you like to talk to him?" she asked

"No" shouted Ishaana angrily "Punch him for me di. He suggested the proposal" she explained and Gauri immediately kicked his shin after which he howled in pain.

"I will do more than punching him Ishu. I will call you later now don't cry" said Gauri before hanging up.

"Abhi you moron. When will you understand" said Gauri ready to punch him.

"Stop it Gauri. Why will I send the proposal? Ishaana was mistaken" he explained.

"What happened then explain"

"Maa was pestering me to marry Ishaana since your marriage. I said I am not interested in marriage and dodged those talks by coming here." Abhay started. "She asked me yesterday that Ishaana got an exceptionally good proposal from a well effluent family in Bareilly and that she was wasting her time on me. I was already in a bad mood yesterday and I shouted that I don't care who she married, if she thinks it is a good proposal then they can carry on. That is it."

"You are being a hypocritic pig" said Gauri angrily. "Don't dare say that it doesn't effect you that Ishaana is crying. I saw your reaction."

Abhay sighed "It won't work out Gauri. I don't want to hurt her"

Gauri called someone on phone ignoring his comment "Hello, Gayatri maa do not force Ishaana for the marriage" said Gauri "Abhay is ready to marry Ishu".

A second later her phone was taken away and thrown which resulted in it breaking into two.

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

Location: CB-CID, Mumbai.

"Omkara sir" called Dandi "We traced the Lorry and it started from an area where there is an outlet of Bharadwaj industries."

Omkara smiled "So, there is fire and hence the smoke. I made Vikram believe that we had evidence proving Daksh's death was not due to accident. He took the bait."

"So, my guess is right then sir" smiled Dandi.

"Hmmm.... We have the case and the culprit Dandi. We need the motive" said Omkara.

Abhishek rushed into the cabin at that moment "Sir we have somebody claiming the dead body. She also brought us the pictures from when the girl was alive and they match" he said.

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

Location: Oberoi Mansion, Mumbai.

It was eight by the time Omkara reached the mansion. His family was having dinner by then.

"Someone seems to come early today" grinned Jhanvi.

"Mom now what? It was you who gave me the lecture a few days back right?"

"Yeah yeah you follow my orders so perfectly. How can there be any other reason" said Jhanvi rolling her eyes and Rudra sniggered.

"Where is Gauri?" asked Omkara ending his pretense.

"Gauri said she is not hungry and will eat later. She might be in your room" answered his mother and Omkara took steps towards his room.

"Om!!" called Jhanvi making him turn around.

"Yes mom"

"She appears to be in a bad mood. Take care" she advised and Omkara nodded although he wondered What made her upset?

Gauri was sulking arranging her cupboard for the third time since she came from Abhay's flat. More like thrown out of his flat.

How dare he throw her phone away? Let him come begging, she is not going to let it go so soon she mumbled for the nth time.

She was thinking of ways to torture her friend when her husband back hugged her earning a gasp from her.

"Whose murder are you planning?" said Omkara chuckling and gave a kiss on her cheek.

She turned around in his hands frowning and he explained "You are torturing those poor clothes and mumbling something Gauri" he said pointing at the objects tortured. "Looks like you plan to give a hard time to someone. I hope it is not me" he said grinning.

Gauri just shook her head in a no and looked at the floor.

Omkara lifted her chin to see a hint of tears in her eyes. Worriedly he cupped her face and asked what happened.

Gauri just hugged him and mumbled "My phone broke today" she said crying like a child.

"Okay...and?" asked Omkara rubbing her back smiling.

"And nothing"

"Gauri" he said in a tone of reprimand. "Tell me what made you upset. You can tell me" he offered still hugging her.

"No.... you will turn Nandi on me"

Omkara released her from the hug and asked "Nandi?"

"Ha.. we have a bull named Nandi back in our village. It is always angry Omkaraji just like you" she said smiling as he narrowed his eyes at her.

"Why will I get angry? Now I have to know it. You made me more curious. I promise I won't get angry."

Gauri thought for a minute before trusting him "Vo...Abhi..." she started and stopped noticing him visibly getting angry.

"See I told you... you won't like it. Let it go Omkaraji, I can handle my problems" she said and turned to leave when he pulled her to himself.

"Okay sorry I am calm now tell me what about him?" he said pecking her.

Gauri then recited him the events of the day in an animated manner putting her entire imagination into her story for her husband to understand her point.

Omkara tried to concentrate on the story that his wife started to explain though he was distracted occasionally looking at the movement of her pink kissable lips as she talked and sway of her hips as she moved back and forth explaining the events in detail.

How he wished to do better things to her body he thought with a sigh and shook his head to ward of the erotic images. Just a few consoling sentences from him and then he can have her to himself. Who cares about Abhay. He was more worried about his wife being upset lest she spoils her mood for the night.

"Omkaraji... where are you lost. I finished my part" she said.

"Yeah Gauri I was thinking Abhay should not have behaved so rudely with you. How dare he upset you. Don't go to him from tomorrow. I will get you a brand new phone" said Omkara in an attempt to keep his wife away from that guy.

Gauri pouted cutely "But he is my best friend. How can I stop talking to him because of a stupid phone. I was at fault too right. I shouldn't have forced him to marry Ishu" she said.

Omkara smiled though he felt like rolling his eyes "Okay so you feel he is right. Then go and apologize tomorrow. I'm sure no body can stay angry at my wife when you look like a doll" he said and kissed her cheeks.

"But Omkaraji how can I forgive him so easily he broke my phone right?"

Omkara sighed heavily. Women!!. He decided to give his real opinion then.

"Gauri you have to choose one of the two options right? Either you forgive him or not forgive him. You can't be oscillating between the two."

"Abhay has the right to choose whom to marry. You must not be imposing him to play to your tunes. Marriage should be a conscious decision between two people Gauri. It can't be forced upon you and if it is forced, you end up hating each other."

"Ours was an arranged marriage too. We are happy aren't we?" asked Gauri looking confused.

Omkara cupped her face before explaining "We are happy because we like each other. If I had not liked you or you had not liked me I would have never agreed for this marriage irrespective of who promised whom. If Abhay doesn't love Ishaana, you can't force him to like her and if he gets angry that you forced him, he is right in his place. I wouldn't have liked it either Gauri."

"And remember Gauri we should forgive our friends even if they hurt you" he said with a forlorn look on his face and Gauri knew who he was talking about. She distracted him by kissing him full and he did not complain.

The kiss turned from gentle to passionate and then hungry when Omkara left her mouth and began kissing her neck down her chest. He traced the path of sweet spots he discovered last night and true to its effect his wife pulled him closer to her submitting herself to him completely. He was about to remove her saree when they were interrupted by a knock on their door.

"O!! mom is calling you and Bhabhi for dinner. Come soon its getting late" called Rudra.

Omkara pulled his head back and looked at his wife as he calmed himself. She was still catching her breath looking dazed. He loved the way she melts in his hands.

Leaning closer he breathed into her ears "Let us continue after dinner" and kissed her ear lobe while Gauri giggled nodding a yes.

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

Location: ABC Hospital, London.

Priyanka Khurana was ecstatic today. She saw a flicker of movement in her Shivaay bhaiyya's hands this afternoon. She ran to the doctor to inform him the same. The doctors examined him and gave a positive response. He might be awake anytime soon.

"The reflexes have improved considerably Priyanka. He is conscious now though his weakness prevents his complete movement. We are expecting him to open his eyes and communicate anytime soon. He just needs more strength. Keep talking to him and guide him to follow your actions. But remember he might lose his memory we don't know to which extent. You need to remind him of his family and his life" said the doctor and Priyanka nodded enthusiastically.

"He is off the ventilator today and breathing well. We were in doubt to do that for a while taking his poor GCS score but his neurological scale improved since the past one week and with his hand movement today, we were positive that he will come back to us strong" explained the doctor.

"Thank you doctor, thank you so much" said Priyanka.

"It is our duty. Remember that patients after getting up from coma will be starved and need proper nutrition and care to completely get back to normal. You cannot expect him to go for a fight the moment he gets up. See to it that he is well fed and strengthened mentally and physically. Once he is awake we will have to put him through physiotherapy to fully gain his muscle strength. You should be prepared for that too. They might be very tiring and painful" he said and Priyanka nodded smiling.

Finally, after two years she will be relieved of the guilt that she has been carrying. She still has nightmares of the incident. How she was whipped and tortured mercilessly, how her father gave away Shivaay's name which alerted the gang preparing them for the attack. Had her father been more loyal to his job, Shivaay wouldn't have missed two years of his life.

She will do everything required to clear her father's sins. Irrespective of whether she talked to her parents or not, she loved them and would help them in clearing their and in turn her conscience.

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

Location: Bharadwaj Mansion, Mumbai.

"You are proving yourself to be useless time and again. I asked you to kill Omkara and report to me. Why can't you do one damn thing right" growled Vikram on phone.

"Sir, I almost had him. His brother came out of nowhere and pushed him out of the way"

"I don't want to hear any excuses. He will become cautious now. Plan the next attack after a few days. Remember that if you get caught, you will kill yourself otherwise your family will have no future" he warned.

"Yes sir. I will get him the next time"

"Get it done and then call me" said Vikram and hung up.

"I think he was bluffing Vikram" said Nikhil Bharadwaj who looked at his visibly anxious son.

"He sounded so confident papa. Even if he did, he needs to know that playing with us will eventually lead to death. Shivaay was foolish enough to fall into the death trap. Now it seems to be his friend's turn" smirked Vikram.

"What about Shivaay's sister? We cannot let her go so easily. She may provide to be a useful hostage. Are you keeping an eye on her?"

"I am more worried about that Abhay, he might prove to be a danger. He was a shield to that girl not letting her out of his sight till the time she got married. Shivaay indeed put his sister in cautious hands. I only kept quiet to not gain attention when the drug trails were in plan. Had I harmed her; he would have created a ruckus. Him being a computer geek doesn't help. Even a small leak of information to the media would alert the police and it would be the end of the trials. I was sure Shivaay gave him our name" sighed Vikram.

"In addition we had difficulty in getting her details because of that Shakti. It was only at her engagement that i made the relation that she could be Shivaay's sister. I could have had Gauri earlier if not for that bastard. You shouldn't have let his daughter go the last time"  he cursed.

"We wouldn't have got Shivaay if not for him Vikram. Omkara will be off the case too because of him. I had to let his daughter go only then would he co-operate" explained Nikhil.

"But Gauri... what if she decides to get to us for her revenge?" laughed Vikram. How he had a good laugh when he heard of that. "That girl is indeed feisty. Perhaps after everything I could have her"

"Let her be Vikram. She might be of future use either to scare Abhay or Omkara. She is their weakness and our strength" said Nikhil smirking.

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

End of chapter 18.

Yeah secrets in the out. What do you think must have happened.

I would like to hear your theories.

The story is nearing its end. I hope to keep it interesting till the very end.

May be I can relax from giving daily updates now? . An update twice a week would not harm now i guess... let me know your opinion.

Till the next update.... signing off...yours Soujanya.