Happy Birthday Sirin... many many happy returns of the day...🥳🥳❤

I am sorry guys... this chapter is not edited... I do not know how it turned out since i did not even proof read it.

 To all those non-hindi speaking people... i will give you the translation tomorrow.... for now you have to read it as it is... I am sure if you have watched the serial you will know what I am talking about... "The Inspiration scene" and the showdown after it.

I hope you all will like it...

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As she wiped a tear from her face cursing her ill fate and going over and over on what Pinky had said to her, those few beautiful moments she had with her husband flashed before her.

"I want to make a painting of you" he said with so much love that made her foolish enough to forget the endless distance between them.

Did he really care for status so much? Did he really think her unworthy only because she was not born with a silver spoon in her mouth?

She could not be mistaken that he felt something for her, when he took her in his arms with so much love and rested her on the recliner setting her up to pose for a portrait he wished to draw.

He looked at her as if she were his muse... He looked at her with so much hope that she believed he had a place for her somewhere in his heart.... which he guarded with a fence of self-imposed stoicism.

What made him back away from her so suddenly?

Did she push him too far, when she said he was a hypocrite fearing to face the truth while he preached otherwise?

Her wait for answers were cut short when she was roughly turned around to face her husband who was vividly angry.

"Jawab Chahti ho na tum? Huh? Jawab?
(You wanted answers right?)

"Ki mein tumhare baare mein kya sochta huun... kya mehsuus karta huun.. aur tumhari kya vajuut hai meri zindagi mein... To kaan khol ke sun lo Gauri....
(You wanted to know what I think of you...what I feel for you and what place you hold in my life? Then listen with attention Gauri)"

"Mere zindagi mein aur mere dil mein tumhare liye koi jagah nahi hai....." (You have no place in my heart nor in my life) he said pushing her away as she looked at him pained to hear the words laced with venom.

"Kaun ho tum.. kaun ho tum?.. (Who are you?)

"Ye Gauri?... ye bholi bhali... sweet si Gauri..?........ (This simple sweet Gauri before me?)"

"Nahi... tumhara asli chehra mein jaanta huun...... (No... I know your real face)"

"Tum vo Gauri ho... jiski vajah se Kaali thakur ke biwi ne apni jaan dedi... she killed herself..... (You are that Gauri because of whom Kaali's wife killed herself)"

"Tum vo Gauri ho... jo Daulat ke liye Kaali Thakur se shaadi karne ke liye tayyar thi..... aur usi shaadi se bhag bhi gayi?... (You are that Gauri who was ready to marry a person like Kaali Thakur for money and you fled from the same wedding)"

"Tum pata hai kya ho? Tum ye Gauri ho jo mein keh raha huun.... (Do you know what you are?? )"

"Ek giri hui ghatiya ghinauni aurat.... (you are an abject, disgusting low life woman)"

"Maanta huun... manta huun ki tumne meri jaan bachai... bua maa ka sach mere saamne layi... lekin mein tumhari fitrat bhool jau? (I agree... I agree that you saved my life... you brought Bua maa's truth before me but should I forget your very identity?)"

"Aur tumhe kya laga..hmm?? Do char din ...tumse kya ache se baat kar li mein ... raai badal di meine tumhare baare mein??
(What did you think...? That If I talked nicely for a day or two?  I had changed my views on you?)"

"Nahi.......bikul nahi..." (No... absolutely no)

"Tumne sahi kaha tha... Jhoot mujhe bilkul pasand nahi hai... bilkul pasand nahi hai.... Aur tum jhooti ho... (You are right on one point though... I don't like lies and people who lie...)"

"And that's why I don't like you..." he screamed with irk.

"Aur...? Aur kya jawab chahiye tha tumhe?? Himmat nahi hai mujhme? Himmat??? (And what else did you say? ... I don't have courage?)"

"Himmat nahi hai mujhme?? Sach bolne ki himmat nahi hai?? (I don't have courage to face the truth?)"

"Areee sach to mein bolta huun... (You are wrong... it is me who speaks the truth)"

"Lekin mein khamosh tha pata hai kyun?? (But I was silent... do you know why?)"

"Kyun ki kuch sach kadve hote hai.... Aur agar unhe dohraya jai to zindagi kadvi ho jati hai... (Because sometimes truth is bitter and if we keep holding on to it, life will turn bitter)"

"Lekin tumne muhje majboor kar diya na?? (But you made me do this.... You... made me do this)" he said looking at her with disgust breaking her heart for the nth time.

Sawalon ka jawab mil gaya tumhe? (Did you get all your answers?) I hope you are satisfied...." Omkara completed before he turned and left the place not bothering to take a second look at the girl who stared at his retreating form with anger never known to her before.

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Omkara escaped to the sanctity of the studio beside his room looking at the half filled canvas with a heavy heart.

Unlike all the other times when speaking the truth never felt wrong... when speaking his heart out never made him guilty... this time it felt different...

Why did he feel like a jerk taking his anger out on a woman just because she asked him answers he wasn't prepared for?

He threw the palette against the wall with a force making it break into two, the colors spilling over the white of the wall, slowly trickling down to the tidy marble floor.

True that she evoked feelings in him he never felt before... true that she confused him with her utter devotion towards him no matter how much he humiliated her.

Why was he not able to get the image of her with another man out of his mind... no matter if that man was a certified pervert who had a liking towards a woman half his age... no matter if that man was a heartless bastard who was eager to marry his mistress the very next day after his wife's death?

To even think that the girl who was beginning to take a place in his heart, wanting to marry that vile man for his money, disgusted him to no end.

As he pondered over the recent happenings, the unmistakable sound of bangles clinking in the silence of the night, made him come out of his thoughts and look to his side at the wall which separated his bedroom from the home studio.

He looked at the wall clock and frowned... What was she doing at one in the night?

Why do you care? His conscious mocked him but he shushed it, his legs taking him to the very room he vowed not to enter till dawn not wanting to face his..... wife?

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As he made his way into his bedroom, the sight of Gauri hurriedly packing a bag, furiously wiping her tears welcomed him.

For a moment he stood there staring at her tear stricken face, his heart growing heavy with every drop slipping her lashes.

Was she leaving him?... at this time of the night?

He thought nothing could make his resolve break except his mother's pleas. He believed that nothing could weaken him until he had the strength of his brothers with him.

But when he saw her preparing to leave him again.... his strength appeared to leave him making him frail as a dragonfly's wing... His life seemed to be thrown again in a pit of darkness when the light of her smile disappeared.

His resolve to never think with his heart, began to break watching her dump another set of clothes into her duffle bag.

No... she cannot leave him.... not yet...his heart screamed selfishly.

"What are you doing?" he asked trying to keep his tone neutral, taking care not to let her know of his anguish.

Gauri stiffened for a moment before she resumed doing her work... rummaging through their cupboard.

The lack of response made him impatient and he marched towards her to ask again, his voice laced with irk this time.

"What do you think you are doing Gauri?"

She however refused to answer him and moved towards the other end of the room to grab her purse when anger got the best of him.

"Ohh... so planning to go to back to Bareilly? Why may I ask... To return to your former lover?"

Gauri sharply turned to him, her blood shot eyes throwing daggers at him. Those eyes which always looked at him with respect and love in them, now held hate and dislike, making him take a step back unconsciously.

Throwing the purse in her bag, she began to zip it close when he neared her again, this time daring to touch her arm.

Gauri jerked away his hand and turned to him "If you ever touch me without my permission... you will have to repent Omkaraji" she warned.

"I don't need to touch you if you answer my question"

"Why should I? who are you to me? What right do you even have to question me?"

True... what right did he have?

"Still I will tell you.. yes... I am going back to Bareilly... I have better things to do than living as an unwanted piece in this house"

"You are not..." he started when she stopped him showing her hand.

"You were pretty clear telling me my place in your life... I don't want a repeat of it"

"I told you that you won't like...."

"Omkaraji... enough... let us not talk about this... I am leaving and that should make you happy"

"What wrong did I say that you are accusing me that I made a huge mistake? You were a...."

"ENOUGH!!" she shouted "Just because I am silently listening to you... doesn't mean you speak anything about me and my character"

"What do you even know about me? I thought people who studied in big institutes will be smart... I never thought that education and knowledge aren't the same... I always belittled myself that I was not worth you because I am not as well read as you Omkaraji...." she said with a mock smile "I never thought that you will not have the common sense to differentiate good from bad"

"I know what I saw"

"Eyes do not see what the mind doesn't" she said her voice firm.

"You saw what you wanted to... you heard what you wanted to and you assumed what you wanted to... I don't care what you think of me anymore"

"What does that mean? Why will I assume something?"

"Because you are a coward... You are afraid that you started to feel something for me which you shouldn't and so you found reasons which suit your comfort... that is slandering my character"

"I know what I saw Gauri"

"No... you saw what Kaali Thakur wanted you to see... why I am I even saying this to you? Will you believe if I say that my own chaacha chaachi sold me to that person holding my mother captive in their home? Will you believe that whatever I did was to save my mother who was the only parent I had? Or will you believe if I told you that I was chained and tortured when I was with that pervert?"

"Nahi naa? To rehne dijiye... zyaada taklif mat uthaiyee"

Omkara's heart drummed so hard that it rang in his ears... Was she saying the truth? What if ....

"Ek baat bataiye hume Omkaraji? Agar hum Kaali thakur se paiso ke liye shaadi kar rahe the? To hum vaha se bhagte kyun? Aur agar humare paas Kaali se churaya hua paise hai to kaha gaye vo saare paise?

"(Tell me one thing... if I was happy to marry Kaali Thakur for money... why did I run from him? And if I fled for money.. where is all that money you think I stole from him?"

"Humare paas paise hai to humari maa ki ilaaz kisi achi hospital mein naa karvati? Zaruurat hi kya thi aapki madad lene ki... rooz apse zaliil hone ki?"

(If I had money wouldn't I admit my mother in a good hospital and get her treated? Why would I take your help and listen to your taunts everyday?)

"Agar hume sirf paise chahiye hotaa naaa.... to mahino tak aaki ghar rehke aapki gaali galoch na sunti" (If I wanted only money, I don't need to stay in your house for months to get humiliated every other day) she said.

As her questions made sense, the uneasiness in his heart began to gnaw at him eating away his peace "Matlab.... Gauri... I..." he mumbled faintly before she turned away to open the cupboard.

"These are your mother's jewels which she gifted to me on the day of our fake engagement... I am not taking them with me" she said taking his hand and thrusting the box into it.

"Gauri... please... just let me..."

"I did not stay in this house because I wanted money Omkaraji... I stayed here because you asked me to and I thought I should respect your wish as you were my husband" she said as she wiped away a tear.

You were my husband..... the tense of the verb she used made him worry... but when she put her hand around her neck to remove the one piece of jewelry which had bound her to him, he stood tongue tied though his heart vehemently screamed a no.

Gauri was struggling with the hook of the chain when a voice called her husband's name making both of them turn to the entrance of their room.

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Yee lee... Jitna draama chahiye.. le... 😂😂

Guys... I am sorry I wasn't keen on publishing this at this time but the birthday girl wanted it... I had to do...

I do not know what to do with this or how I am going to continue with this piece of work...

Is it even worth reading... kya likha hai kuch pata nahi baba... I wish you people will give me some feedback.

Vote and comment... I will be waiting.

Signing off... yours Soujanya.