"Gauri please don't do this," Omkara pleaded, holding her hands.

"Omkara ji, you too know that it is the right thing to do now. I promise that I will take care of myself and bade bhaiyya will ensure that too. Please don't worry," Gauri replied.

"I don't feel good about the place Gauri. At least take Arjun with you. You can say that you don't trust them and he will not let you go alone anywhere."

"Why do you want to put him at risk Omkara ji? If I go alone, it will be easy to escape singly than have an escort."

"He will not be harmed. Shivaay will be there to take care."

"So, I will also be safe if I went alone. Bade bhaiyya will be there and also Karan ji..."

"Stop. I don't want to hear anymore," Omkara glowered before he left her at peace.

When the doors closed behind him, Gauri sighed. She looked again at the mobile and dialed her brother in law's number.

She has to set things straight. She needs to know the operating person behind the whole arcade.

*************************
Hours later.....

"Once you enter the place, move around a little. Show us how many people are in there so that we can prepare for the ambush," Karan gave the instructions.

Gauri Trivedi Oberoi nodded and mumbled a yes as she covered the earpiece with her hair. She righted her kurta whose first button had a concealed camera.

"Are you telling me that you are sending her into a room full of un-counted armed men?" she heard her husband's worried voice.

Standing in front of the huge gates of the place having a rusted name plate which read 'KALYANI MILLS', Gauri cursed her favorite deity.

Were there less problems in her life that she has to endure another torture?

Her husband and Karan giving her conflicting instructions at the same time through the ear device and at a dangerous moment in her life is not comforting.

Few hours ago, Omkara behaved like an angered lion, not wanting to listen to any of their explanations. It was only when Shivaay told his brother that he can have a continuous touch with Gauri to ensure her safety that he let her leave Arjun's house.

She didn't want to question her bade bhaiyya's negotiating skills but at the moment, Gauri thought that the Oberoi's eldest heir made a terrible mistake in his offer.

Whom should she listen to if she needed some advice through her adventure?

Karan worked with logic while Omkara is played by emotion.

Sadly, emotion and logic can never go hand in hand.

"We have an idea about the number but I want a confirmation. I cannot operate on hearsay," Karan answered with patience.

"So you say that you don't believe your informer," came the cold tone.

"I am sending my wife in there Karan, can you..."

"We are right outside the building Omkara. I will not let anything wrong to happen. Please believe me."

"But..."

Shivaay grabbed the walkie-talkie from his friend to shut his brother.

"Om, if you rise a problem with every instruction, we cannot get through this together. You will confuse Gauri. Let Karan complete his orders."

"You stop talking Shivaay. Had you sided me, I wouldn't have to be going through this stress."

Shivaay loudly sighed in irritation.

"This is the last warning Om. If you don't keep quiet, I will make the police cut your line."

"You gave your word that I can listen to Gauri all through.."

"Well, you are making this difficult and so I can take my work back," came the retort.

Omkara grunted his response and Karan took the Walkie-talkie back.

"If possible, give some excuse and try to open the windows so that we will have a sight inside" he continued.

"When I say Gauri down, you get to dad and sleep to the floor. We should have a chance to fire bullets."

"Are you crazy? No one fires any bullets when Gauri is inside," Omkara broke his silence again.

"I know, I will not fire unless it is an emergency Omkara. You should note that I also have my father inside and I wouldn't want him injured either."

"Omkara ji, please," Gauri tried when her husband started to protest again.

"I promise that I will take care if you stay calm."

"Come back to me please Gauri. I feel that my heart cannot take this fear."

Gauri shivered with guilt.

"I am sorry that I am making you go through this. The faster I go in, the faster I return to you," she cajoled him and her phone rang.

"Okay guys. No more sweet talks. Gauri, just follow the instructions to go in. I am keeping a watch," Karan alerted them and Gauri mumbled a yes.

"One more word," he alerted.

"Remember that Omkara didn't meet you and so, you do not know about my father being kidnapped. You shouldn't be expecting him there and neither you should have any idea why they called you in the first place."

"We do not know why they called her there," Omkara snorted but his answer was dutifully ignored by the remaining.

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

The place which bore the tragedy two decades ago, was left to the same fate without mercy. The walls looked black and burnt while the wooden doors no longer closed full, their hinges threatening to give up the moment wind touched them.

Gauri opened the main door which was left unlocked for her and entered the darkness.

"Close the door behind you. Walk to your right and take ten steps," someone instructed her.

"I cannot see a thing if I close the door," she said.

"The lights will be put on once the door closes," the voice resounded in the emptiness.

Gauri followed the next instructions without complaint and in a few minutes, entered a large room with a single chair in the far end.

Sitting on the chair and leaning against the wall, a frail man turned his head in her direction. His shirt looked bedraggled and his hair was unkempt. He looked weak and tired but she couldn't assess his face at the distance.

With her guard on, she slowly walked towards him, questions bombarding her mind.

Was he the villain that Omkara warned her about or was he Karan's father?

"Dad?" she heard Karan's voice through her earpiece.

As she neared him, the face became clearer and she could make out the sharp features characteristic of her friend. The warm smile on the sightly familiar face further strengthened her conclusion that the man is Siddharth Shukla.

"Chutki."

His call made her stop. She widen her eyes in shock.

How did he....?

"You look exactly like your father Chutki," she heard him say with a smile.

"Wh..who are you?" she asked.

"I am a close friend to your father Chutki. I am your Shukla uncle, Harsh's confederate."

Gauri dug her mind for information but came up with nothing. She had absolutely no memory of the man nor the name.

"You were very small then beta. I shouldn't expect you to remember me but it is the truth."

"Why did you call me here?"

"Chutki,...I.."

"Gauri, ask dad to call you by your name," Karan's voice sounded in her ears reminding her that he was watching.

"My name is Gauri," she stressed making the elder one pause.

"I know Gauri," he corrected himself with an understanding smile.

"Were you the one behind the fire accident?"

"Tej Oberoi," they heard a voice and turned to look at a man's silhouette covering the door frame.

Tall, athletic with a body frame large enough to scare them, Girish Goenka walked into the room with a sweet smile.

A group of men followed their master inside and spread themselves in the corners of the room. Gauri was sure that each of them had a hidden weapon ready to shoot at a snap of their chief.

"Gauri, careful," she heard Omkara's worry.

"Tej Oberoi is the man behind the fire accident, Mrs. Gauri Omkara Singh Oberoi."

"What nonsense," Shivaay's whisper yell rang through her ears.

"Excuse me?" she responded.

"I will introduce myself first," said the heavy man with a white beard.

"I am Girish Goenka, I am Shukla's friend and so it makes me your father's friend as well."

"What?"

"We asked you to come here so that you will help us in gathering evidence against the Oberois."

"What are you even talking about?" Gauri asked having enough of the puzzles.

"I understand your impatience," Girish spoke in a saccharine tone.

"We called you here without telling you the actually reason and..."

"You did not tell me the reason and you blackmailed to blow up the house of my professor. Yes, I am impatient and also angry Mr. Goenka."

"I am sorry for that. My men believed that you will not come unless threatened but I and Shukla know that you are Trivedi first. You put justice before everything."

"Can we come to the point now?"

"Harshvardhan Trivedi, was murdered by the Oberoi family Gauri," Girish said making her gasp resound in the room.

"What the hell is he saying?" Shivaay and Omkara raged while Karan shushed them.

"Did you just say that my father in law..." Gauri tried hard to frame the sentence.

"He killed your father Gauri," came the confirmation.

Gauri looked at Karan's father to assure her that the statement was a mere bluff but her heart dropped when the latter nodded and swiftly turned his head away.

"It is true Gauri. I will show it if you allow me," said Girish.

"What? Show me?"

Karan exchanged looks with Shivaay who then glared at the computer screen.

"Yes Gauri. That is the reason I asked you to come here. We have been wanting to put the Oberois behind the bars since ages," explained Goenka.

"We have tapes as evidence. You need to search and give us the password."

"Tapes?"

"When Tej was starting the fire to burn down the factory, I clicked his photographs. Also, when he was arguing with your father and threatened to kill him."

"Oh my God, dad speak something," Karan's whisper was all Gauri could hear in the pin drop silence that followed.

"Do you have the tapes with you now?" Gauri asked.

"They are at a safe place."

"Why should I believe you over my family?"

"Because we are your father's friends who....."

"Who I barely remember."

"I understand your lack of trust but in order to know the truth we need to show you the photographs Gauri. We have no ulterior motive other than bringing the Oberois to dust."

"You are talking about my husband's family," Gauri spoke in anger.

"Husband who doesn't trust you? Who never considered you as a wife? Come on Gauri, you should move on. Those people give no value for love and kindness. They treat women like trash and use them for their purpose. Who knows it better than you?"

She glared at him but Girish ignored it.

"I am sorry for putting you in a position to chose between your father and husband but you should know that on one side is truth and justice while the other holds power and betrayal."

"You say betrayal Girish ji. Can you explain to me why you were busy clicking pictures while my father in law supposedly burnt down the factory?"

Karan smiled as Goenka looked taken aback by the question.

"You could have helped then instead of planning to bring justice after everything was down to ash."

"I was unprepared and not equipped Gauri. I tried to put out the flames but it was too late. I was one of the people who lost my family to the flames. Till date, I die of guilt every time I remember that cursed day," he said with a hint of tears in his eyes.

"Even if I believed you, how do you think that I can be of help?"

"You should talk to your father in law and get the password."

"And he would tell me just like that?"

"You should try Gauri. It is for your father. Think about all the families who suffered only because of Tej Oberoi's greed. It is for them."

"But.."

"Gauri, agree with him and come out of there. I will talk to bade papa," Shivaay said making her stop.

"I plead you to rethink," Girish asked again.

"I will do it," said Gauri making him sigh in relief.

"Thank you so much beta. I know your father would be proud of you."

"But you need to show me the tapes first and only then will I tell you the password, if I get it."

"Sure. Just make sure that neither your husband nor his family knows of this meeting. They will try to falsify the evidence just like they did last time. I request you."

Gauri simply nodded her head and looked at Shukla.

"Take care of yourself first," Karan's father said and she turned to leave.

"Do not tell your husband of any of this," reminded Girish before he let her leave the place.

*******************************
Sorry for the delay .... 😑