Words Count - 2930
Attached Song - Save your tears.
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[ A/N - Do not read ahead. This chapter and the next two would be very emotionally gruelling. Kindly wait till I update the next two chapters by tomorrow so, you can binge read and get over the sad stuff without getting triggered. Thank you. ]

Neha

My red sleep-deprived eyes stared at the ticking clock. It was an hour to go for the mid-night, paving a way for 10th July to arrive.

Then, my eyes plaintively saw the text, I received this morning from his mother.

His engagement with Bhavna.

I tried so much, asserting that he can't commit to someone else being married to me but, no one listened.

And, the fact that it was happening today wrenched my gut, like someone ripping my skin off me. Still I had complete faith in my father that he'll leave no stone unturned to bring whatever I asked him for. He has always done, and I'm sure, this time would be no different. But, a queer epiphany of something bad taking place made me nauseous. It made me to puke it all out.

So, without thinking twice, I grabbed my car keys and slowly padded downstairs. Only to spot my mother on the dining table, busy with her hotel magazines.

As her eyes mindlessly fell on me, she spoke unintended, "Where are you going?"

"Our apartment," I whispered, a little happy to see her talking to me for the first time after everything related to the contested divorce was disclosed.

"You are not going to show up there. You've ruined him enough, Neha. Let his life have some happiness and peace now, since he is starting a new life." She uttered crudely, her eyes trained on the hotel magazines.

Hearing her, I returned back to my room, defeated. I cried again, unknown to how many times I've cried all this while. But, I knew I had to go to him.

After an hour, coming out of my room, I was relieved to see the dark living room. Knowing that she had already retired to bed for the night, I sneaked out and drove towards our blue apartment.

Since my parents and I were now residing at my Nani's place, it was a forty minute ride to our apartment.

Throughout the ride of those escalating forty minutes, my heart thudded. A strange fear was gripping my heart, numbing and stilling my fingers while I manuevered the car to reach to him.

It was the same fear, which thundered my heart and made me realise my love for him when I drove to the Fortis hospital that night after receiving the news of his devastating accident.

Parking my car, in a single breath, I hurried on my steps to the main door and punched the security code since it was too early for security guard to arrive.

Padding upstairs, I pushed the door of his room a little to see him sleeping. The room reeked of the intolerable smell of alcohol and his citrus cologne, broken shards of glasses scattered all over the floor along with my bangles, his shirt joining the heap of clothes in the sofa as he slept cuddling the pillow, I used to use before leaving this place. My eyes teared up seeing his distressed face even when he was asleep, the nagging conflict of his heart and the tussle of his mind quite evident.

I cautiously stepped closer to him looking at his bare back facing me as his upper body was naked.

Silently, I settled beside him and inclined on the bed to see his face. My fingers travelled to his hair on their own, my body sinked in him, eyes closing on their own, giving in to exhaustion and soon, I felt him turning on his side to hold me.

My eyes teared up as he hugged me tightly, his warmth embracing me as his head laid calmly on my chest.

I was basking in the calmness, seeing his peaceful face when I felt his eyes squint open, he whined in his sleepy state as he pulled me closer. His breath fanned me as he discarded my saree to reveal my blouse claded bosom and rested his face on my chest as he slept again.

I slowed down my ragging breath caused by his soft breath hitting my sensitive skin, before I fell asleep in his warm embrace.

××

As the orange beams woke me from my slumber, I groggily opened my eyes to the view of his peaceful supine visage resting on my heart as we were tangled with each other. Pressing a soft kiss on his forehead, I hugged him close.

Feeling him in my arms to my heart's content, I searched for my phone and retrieved it from the side table. Turning it on, I saw a text from Dad saying the contested divorce was dismissed.

Dad - The withdrawal application has been accepted, princess. Collect the withdrawal notice from the lawyer with his signatures.

"I won't let anyone steal you from me." I whispered to him as a soft smile grew on my face. I tried to fit a pillow between us to make him snuggle it as I had to get the written notice soon.

But, his grip on my waist tightened.

"Don't go." He hissed, his morning voice left ripples on my skin as his beard tickled my neck.

I silently caressed his face with my both thumbs and smothered his face with kisses as he smiled in his sleep.

Feeling him soundly sleeping again, I was about to get to my feet when he murmured again, "I can't live without you. I love you. Don't go."

I sat again near his side and pressed my lips to his, softly and tenderly before saying in his ears, "You are such a cute baby."

"I'm going just to come back to you soon, Raaz. Please, wait for me." Playing with his hair, I told him hoping he would remember it in the  next few hours after he wakes up.

I instantly got to my feet, adjusting my saree. Changing into a spare saree I left here after a good bath, I got ready to go. Before leaving, I left a note for him, which said -

"I'll make it alright, Raaz. Just wait for me tonight, please."
~ Yours Neha.

Kissing his nose for the last time, I turned to go, a glimmer of hope painting my new morning bright. The chirrups of the bird, the tossing trees and the breezy weather navigated me towards my car as a smile never left my face.

But, that queer feeling never left. Maybe, I was being over-cautious.

Shrugging off my thoughts, I drove towards the lawyer's place, which was in the outskirts, a two-hours drive through a rough road and another forty minutes of ride through the national highway. I knew, the journey would be exhausting but, today I had enough courage to do it if it meant for us to be back to our normal life.

With occasional tea breaks and a little long break for breakfast, I finally reached my destination.

A mundane yellow and brown building in the sun-lit greenish valley of Dehradun. I had came often to know the way to the lawyer's office, hence, I climbed up the stairs and reached it in no time.

A plump man greeted me and informed of the lawyer's emergency. Though I was too happy to wait any longer, still, I needed it. So, I complied.

But, when more three hours passed, a growing anxiety made me feel sick. So, I dialled him.

After seven rings, he received on my constant nagging and replied, "Ms Mehra, I'm sorry. I am outstation right now, it will take me another two hours to reach back."

"Do you have my withdrawal notice here? If yes, can you not let this man here hand it over to me?" I asked, contemplating the issue.

"Oh no, it's with me. Sorry but, you've to wait." I heard him say making me sigh.

I agreed and sat back, though my legs were numbed from the long drive through the rough passage and the long sitting.

I spent my time listening to songs, replying e-mails and talking to a few patients recovery on calls and whatsapp. After what felt like ages, the sound of a car entering the premises was heard.

"Sorry, Ms. Neha. We got caught up in the traffic. Here's the withdrawal notice." He handed me a yellow file as I nodded at him and unfolded the file to see the content in it.

Seeing the papers in my hand, I sighed in relief and thanked him. After a few signatures, I proceeded towards my next stop not before thanking him again for his efforts to get it done at such a short notice.

"I'm coming, Raaz." I whispered as I rode towards the engagement venue directly after having a masala dosa at a local restaurant.

It was already 4:05 PM.

I had no time to waste since his engagement was scheduled at 7:30 PM. So, this time around, I drove without any breaks except for once to refill fuel.

The sky was breaking into a beautiful evening, the trees shrunk in the giggling gale as the houses were open to let them in and kids played around, ushering the wind to play with their hair and clothes.

The queer feeling in me was raising its tail again as I was just a kilometre away from the venue, which was supposedly the ancestral farmhouse of Surfraaz's father.

"Hurry up, Neha. It's already 7:55 PM." I hissed as I sped up, through the lone jungle paving the way to the subtly decorated venue.

Parking the car, I held those files close to my chest as I stepped into the orange-ly lit venue amidst the lush green trees, yellow and pink lamps and colourful rajasthani camel fur carpets with those intricate designs of elephants, deers and tribal women.

The orange and green curtails and those yellow lit chandeliers told tales of the family's riches. Everything screamed of luxury!

The whole set-up reminded me of my marriage. The same exuberance and extravagance. But, the venue had a calming silence unlike the frantic chaos, I had seen on my own big event.

As I walked closer towards the main area, I saw a handful of people, whom I assumed to be the family members of one of the families.

Though I felt under-dressed, that was the last thing going on in my mind as my eyes frantically searched for my husband.

I knew, he would wait for me because I told him...

Leaving the same queer epiphany at the back of my head, I hurried my steps towards the central hall of the farmhouse.

Stepping in, my steps stoned as I saw her making him wear the engagement ring before a round of applause began.

The thunder of claps felt like a tight slap on my cheeks as I walked ahead to see both of them in the midst of the small dias, dressed in the shimmering shade of pale orange. While Maa and her parents, dressed in golden and green stood happily beside them, Viraj and Kiara Di stood in a corner.

I could feel my tears cascading down as I walked forward, grabbing the attention of the handful of people present in the ceremony. As whispers broke out in the small crowd of relatives, both of their eyes fell on me following which, Bhavna looked stunned and he looked away as if he never saw me.

I climbed up the stairs, my eyes fixed on him. The file from my hand fell, unnoticed. But, I cared less. He still had the audacity to look away from me while, I stood infront of his eyes.

I walked a bit closer to him as my eyes fell on a platinum band in his ring finger. I gripped the edge of the golden shrug he wore over the orange kurta as I slapped him hard, unannounced.

I heard several gasps, but, a certain palm stamped over mine as I saw Bhavna trying to free him from my grip.

I thwatched her hands away as I gripped his shrug tighter while, angry tears rolled down my eyes.

"I told you-" My voice hitched as my voice raised at him.

"I told you to wait for me, didn't I?" My voice thundered in the still night in the venue as he loosened my grip on him, pushing me away.

"For what? Something non-existent?" He hissed as he drew out a few papers from his shrug inner pocket. Slamming it on me, he walked off the stage.

I saw Bhavna running after him as my eyes fell on my feet. A few scattered papers caressing them. As I crouched to see them, I was left thunderstruck.

They were marriage annulment papers with my signatures on them, dated two years back, which proved our then, five months of marriage null.

People had started to disperse the main area to dine in the eatery section. Mustering up my courage, I collected them and ran towards the other side of the venue to look for him.

Seeing no one, I turned to leave when I heard hushed voices.

"Maa, you tricked Neha into signing those papers, didn't you?"

"So, what? She or her family were not good for our Surfraaz." I heard my mother-in-law's tone as my heart shrunk and I held onto the side railings for support.

"Maa, how could you? You know, they love each other. Still, how could you conspire all these to separate them? Atleast, think about Bhavna? You are set to ruin three lives because of your faculty notions." I heard Viraj yell at his mother as I waited her answer.

I turned on my sound recorder, standing behind the vase.

"I never wanted her to marry Surfraaz. I always wanted Bhavna to be Surfraaz's bride since, she is a quick-witted girl and her father is our ticket to navigate our company into the medicine business unlike that dumb girl and her father, who are a liability to us." She answered, instantly.

"But, didn't you want me to marry her?"

"I did, because her father was interested to get her married in our family. Since her father is a big name in the industrial market, I asked her hand for you to secure our reign there but, then, you left for the best. I am proud that you chose Kiara, the heiress of the leading business corp. The biggest asset Mehta's could ever have. After you got Kiara home, I knew Neha won't be of any use to us and even her eccentricity in the first few months of their marriage assured me that she isn't good for Surfraaz. So, I made her sign all those papers before they could complete six months. Also, I got to know that they hadn't consummated their marriage when Aisha informed me how she found him sleeping on the balcony. Hence, I just helped them live a better life." She uttered as my head bowed at the weight of my aching head.

"But, nullifying their marriage without their consent and not even letting them know till now, was that right, Maa? Now, you framed Neha as a culprit in Surfraaz's eyes." Viraj's anger was evident in his voice as I heard that vile woman laugh.

"It's for better, Viraj. He would be hating her now. It was me, who brainwashed Neha about Priya and Surfraaz to convince her to contest for a divorce without Surfraaz's knowledge so, that their marriage would end. Though I wished to let the secret out, Surfraaz came to know it from somewhere else and the misunderstandings strained their marriage. But, no one knew that was my plan. Neha was just a pawn in my plan." She concluded as an enraged Viraj looked at her in disbelief.

"Someone's life is not just about business, Maa. Love and business are always better apart. How could you be so heartless, Maa?"

Having no heart to stand there anymore, I turned to leave and came face to face with Kiara, who looked aghast, maybe, hearing everything just like me.

"Surfraaz left for Mehta Mansion. I think, you should go after him and confess everything to him." She patted my back, wiping my tears as I nodded, taking the car keys from her.

"He loves you, Neha. And, love is too powerful a force for people like Smita Mehta to reckon with. Don't worry." She assured me as I smiled at her, faintly.

Urging all the divine powers to give me strength and courage, I drove towards Mehta Mansion though exhaustion was taking a toll on me.

In a few minutes, I hopped out of the car, walked towards the stairs and climbed upstairs holding the railing to move myself to his room. I was just two steps and a little distance away, when my palm left the support of the railings after my eyes sighted Bhavna inclining towards him as he embraced her close to him, laying on the bed.

In a split second, a sharp jolt of pain induced in my ankle as the heel of my footwear broke making me tumble down the stairs. A loud, painful yelp left my lips as a myriad of painful sensations surged in me before I fell on my stomach, saw someone running towards me and calling my name. But, I slipped into oblivion.

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