Not completely proof read. Apologies in case there are errors.

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Aadhi and Sakthi settled into their Business class seats on their flight from Chennai to Bombay.

"Nee thoongu ma. Na unna ezhupren reach aana odana. You need to look fresh for the award show tonight", he suggested with that charming smile, and she placed her head on his shoulder still preoccupied with meandering thoughts about why he had the whole group flying to an award show.

Within minutes after the flight took off, she fell asleep like a baby while he did not dare to blink his eye. He had to keep her safe by all means and that meant no room for any distraction or negligence, not even for a split second.

Looking at her adorable innocent face took him back to memories of their first trip together.

Only less than two months ago he was traveling to the same city with a girl who he had known only for a few days and now the same girl was his wife, his whole world, and the love of his life who made every moment of their life worth living, cherishing.

Life truly had turned upside down for him since the first time he saw her making a presentation at her workplace, in the best way possible. And today he was going to give her the same kind of happiness she had brought into his life.

Happiness that was wholehearted, without any trace of her past trauma. Happiness that was filled with peace.

She was in the window seat and that made him feel at least a little at peace. However, his eyes kept scanning the space around them and continued to watch every person that was within a reaching distance from them.

Halfway through the flight, he noticed that a few people changed seats and that their eyes were trained on Sakthi and himself. Though it was fairly easy for him to identify who were spying on them, to lose them as soon as they got out of the flight was going to be a hard task.

Hatching a plan in his mind, he patiently waited for the plane to start descending.

***

Vishnu's men positioned themselves around Aadhi and Sakthi to not them out of sight.

The plan wasn't to ambush them or pull a stunt that will put unwanted eyes on them, but to keep them distracted enough to execute their act of drugging her at the award show with ease.

Although Vishnu's instructions were very clear not to hurt them physically by any means, Nisha wanted them dead at any cost and she had a few of the guys in on her plan. These subtle threats and distractions were far from all the pains she yearned to inflict on Sakthi for taking away her best friend. Her only friend. Her baby.

To see Sathya's heart ripping apart just like how Vishnu's and her's have been breaking for more than 7 years now was the only thing that would make her find peace.

Yes, drug overdose might give her the utmost happiness but Sakthi dying in a car crash was good enough too.

***

"Sakthi ma land aaga pogudhu", Aadhi whispered into Sakthi's ears and caressed her cheeks.

"Aadhi 5 mins", she made a puppy face.

Instead of losing these guys after getting off the flight, he thought it might be easier to stay inside the flight long enough to get out from the back door and Sakthi sleeping like a baby gave him the perfect excuse to delay them from deboarding until every other passenger moved out.

Aadhi pulled off the 'trying to wake her up act'  like a pro which managed to fool Vishnu's men without the faintest suspicion that they might have been spotted and also put on a convincing grunt on his face to make Sakthi believe that it was indeed her fault that they had to walk all the way to the back door of the plane to get off.

"Konjamaachu seriousness iruka unaku Sakthi?", he chided her on the way to the door.

"Sorry ma. Rombha tired ah irundhena adhunaala dan. Cha na en ipdi poruppe ilama iruken nu therila", she whined at her own self. While he felt really guilty for making her feel that way, he did not have a choice.

To keep her safe trumped everything else.

***

Vishnu's men kept their eyes fixated on the gate looking for Aadhi and Sakthi to come out for about 30 minutes until the air hostess confirmed that all passengers have deboarded.

Dreading the wrath of Vishnu and Nisha, the gang split in all directions to find Aadhi and Sakthi before they could leave the airport but unfortunately, they were long gone. After a good 30 minute search around the airport, it was evident that they have been played by Aadhi and Sakthi.

No one had even thought of the possibility that the two might have been playing dumb the whole flight and now they had no choice but to face the consequences of this blunder which was horrifying.

"Sorry sir. Avanga engala note panaadha madri dan irundhuchu. Epdi escape aananga nu therila", the guy trembled.

"Arivu iruka? Sakthi was supposed to come alone. Kooda avan irukum bodhe ungalku theriya venam? Naane avangala paathukren show la. Anga enkitendhu avala avan epdi kaapathran nu paakren", Vishnu yelled over the phone and hung up.

If Vishnu who wanted to just keep an eye on her was this furious, Nisha's guys started to feel scared for their own lives if and when she comes to know that they had messed up her whole plan.

The only way they could think of, to keep their lives, was to divulge her plans to Vishnu and get his help to calm her down.

Sneaking away from the rest of the group the lead of Nisha's gang called Vishnu.

"Ippo enna?", Vishnu screamed.

"Sir oru vi..vish....yam...", the guy stammered making Vishnu burn with rage.

"I don't have time for your nonsense", Vishnu yelled making the guy sweat in horror.

"Nisha madam engala Sakthi pora car ah accident panna sonanga. Aana ippo avangala miss pantadhunala... adhu execute panna mudiyaadhu. Rombha kovama irupanga. Sir please konjam eduthu sollunga", the guy said meekly.

Vishnu could not believe what he just heard and nodded in disbelief. Nisha, the girl who he loves was ready to go behind his back to get Sakthi killed.

Yes, he did know that Shreya's absence affected her more than him and that it took every ounce of her sanity to keep herself under control all these years. However, he never in his whole life thought that she would do something so outrageous which might endanger both of their lives.

"Enaku theriyum nu avaluku theriya koodadhu", Vishnu warned.

"Sir...", the guy did not know what else to say at that point.

"Ungalku onum aagadhu. Na avala paathukren. Aana idhulam mudiyara varaikum avaluku indha vishyam enaku theriyum nu theriya koodadhu", he repeated but this time in the most intimidating tone that sent chills down the spine.

***

Aadhi and Sakthi reached the hotel that was owned by his father's business associate who was also a really close friend. Vijay, Kavya, Sathya, and Nithya had reached there earlier and worked with the best private security firm in the city to make necessary arrangements for the award show.

They had to do this all under wraps in such a way that Vishnu would be caught completely off guard and would not be prepared to handle it, by a long shot.

Vijay had been dead set on convicting Vishnu and Nisha for their crimes of stalking, blackmailing, assault, hacking and of course attempting to kill Sakthi as of today. The only way to do this was making them confess and of course in a way that was not just honest but also brings out their true motive behind all of these heartless acts they have done to Sakthi over the years.

And forgiving them was not an option. Never. Not for Vijay and neither for Aadhi.

Penance and letting them repent for their mistakes might be great to talk about but Karma was a very real thing and there was no way these two deserved any less than a lifetime of suffering.

***

"Sounds like a plan Vijay. As I said no one but me and you know about this. We have to keep it that way until the award show is over with", Aadhi sounded tense, albeit with very good reason.

Vijay could only imagine what Aadhi was going through at the moment. If one part of this plan misses the bull's eye, then the whole plan would go haywire, and this was their only chance to do this. Most important of all, Sakthi's life was in real danger and if something happens, it would be on his hands.

With all the detailed information they had, he could have chosen to involve the police and get them convicted without getting a real confession with motive in their own words. But Sakthi deserved to know the truth and also an apology from the devil's mouth.

For all those years of pain and terror, she had to endure, this is the least he could for her to finally be free of it all. There still was a long way to go for her to get back to her old cheerful self but this definitely would be a huge milestone in the right direction.

"Aadhi it will all go well. She is going to be safe. We are all here to be with you both. Just smile and cheer up. You don't want her to see your face and be stressed. This is a big day for her. Now go back and get ready. Its showtime", Vijay pat Aadhi's shoulder and hugged him.

***

Aadhi walked into their room and found Sakthi standing in front of the huge mirror, struggling with the zipper of her knee-length Angelic blush dress made of Exquisite organza silk with pearl detailing all over. The dress hugged her in all the right places making it impossible for him to stop devouring the alluring sight.

"If only I had time, I would have definitely considered making real memories of at least a few images on my mind right now. This girl makes me crazy", Aadhi murmured to himself.

With beach curls set to fall on her shoulders, peach shade lipstick, kohled eyes and of course heavenly fragrance, she was irresistible. Her diamond earrings and dainty neckpiece complemented so well making her look classy, elegant, and just to his eyes hot.

He walked over swiftly and stood right behind her, gazing at the reflection that did no justice to the real her. Slowly tucking away those curls to one side, he placed his hands on her bareback and grazed it with his eyes fixated on hers through the mirror.

She was biting her lower lip to restrain herself from letting out a moan while he was taking immense pleasure in tormenting her with subtle teasing touches in her most sensitive parts.

With a smirk, he challenged her more by placing his lips on her neck and unable to handle the slow shivers running through her body, she let out a low moan.

"Aa...dhi", she stammered.

He nibbed her neck just enough to make a mark that can be concealed quick and twirled her around to zip her up.

"Thalli poda", she faked pushing him away.

"Thalli poda nu solitu katti pudikra orey aal nee dan ma. Pondatti ivlo azhaga irundha... ipdilam panna dan thonum. Unaku pudikla na sollu.. na", he reasoned, and before he could finish her lips were on his.

She took her time in exploring his lips and making him groan until she was gasping for breath.

"Enaku pudichirku... aana ippo time illa. Seekram ready agu", she said with a naughty smile and wink that left him baffled.

***

"Sakthi will arrive at the show by 9 and it will go on till 11. Her award will be given between 10:35 to 10:45. We will drug her at 10:50 so that we can move her when there is a lot of movement in plain sight.", Vishnu instructed his team.

Aadhi and Vijay were listening to that through the bug they had set up. A guy in his group now was an undercover PI from the private security firm that they had hired and he was relaying all the information live, all thanks to technology.

"Vijay we will leave right after she receives the award. They will follow us. They will try to hurt Sakthi. Be ready to send the message to both Vishnu and Nisha as planned when Sakthi walks up the stage. We will exit via the plan and meet you all", Aadhi summarized their plan.

"Aadhi stay safe. Both of you. I will be just two minutes away at all times", Vijay assured and hung up.

***

Dressed in a white turtle neck sweater and a midnight blue jacket paired with sandal chino pants, Aadhi was definitely on for making a style statement. He was the husband of the most promising stylist of the year after all and there was no way Sakthi was letting him go with the black suit and white shirt. It was too safe and old school in her opinion.

They walked out of the hotel room and got into the classy car that was waiting to pick them up. Within minutes, they reached the red carpet that was filled with celebrities of the fashion industry.

After making a grand appearance and posing for a few pictures, Sakthi and Aadhi settled into their seats. The show went on well and it was going to be her award next. With jitters flooding her body, she leaned into Aadhi for support.

"Super proud of you my pondatti", he whispered and pecked her cheeks making her blush profusely.

Masaba Gupta walked onto the stage with Shravya Varma to present the award.

"This Year's Most Promising Stylist Award goes to Mrs.Sakthi Aadhi", they announced in unison.

She stood up from her seat and hugged Aadhi really tight and pecked on his lips before whispering, "Love you Aadhi", into his ears making him blush.

***

Owning a cyber security firm that aced, definitely worked in their favor and made it easy for Vishnu and Nisha to sell themselves into getting the contract for Surveillance during the show.

It was going to be showtime and the most awaited moment of their lives.

Vishnu spiked the drink just enough for Sakthi to not only be completely unconscious for at least a couple of hours but also wipe the memory of her past clean to a point where she would not recognize her own name though it would not affect anything else.

However, Nisha had already doubled the strength of the drug which was more than plenty to kill Sakthi, and was eagerly waiting to watch her painful death. She had been looking forward to this day for years and finally it was here. She was going to take Sakthi away from Sathya just like how he had taken Shreya from her.

Vishnu was all set to send the spiked drink to Sakthi's table as soon as she settled back in after receiving her award when he received the text that instantly made him sweat from head to toe.

Appalled by the abrupt change in his reaction, Nisha went closer to him and looked at his mobile.

"Don't hurt Sakthi. Meet me at the pinned Location – Shreya"

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Author's Note:
That's chapter 60!

Thoughts ?! Is it all making sense ?!