As the days passed, Ram was giving his best to earn Priya's trust before he decided to confess his feelings to her.

His efforts did not go unnoticed by Priya but she didn't want to jump into any sort of conclusions. Whenever her heart was giving hints that Ram was trying to get close to her, she followed her mind which was strongly denying everything.

Priya convinced herself that Ram was just being thankful for giving birth to Pari and nothing else. Nothing that sort of can never happen, she concluded in her mind. Priya even wondered why she had to think and bother about him at all.

"Priya, I have to go to Mumbai. I might have to stay there for a couple of days due to some work but I will try to finish it and come back as soon as possible." Ram said further.

Priya simply nodded her head.

Next morning Ram got ready to go to Mumbai. He kissed Pari and said "Rockstar papa will come back soon till then don't trouble your Mumma. Be a good girl." Ram then turned to Priya and said "Take care of yourself and don't hesitate to call me anytime if you need anything. I will try to come back soon."

"Okay, take care." Priya said.

Kapoor Mansion,

Krishna and Natasha were happy seeing Ram after a long time but soon felt dejected when they noticed him alone.

"How are you, Ram? Where is my granddaughter?" Krishna asked curiously and Natasha too stood there waiting for his reply.

"I am fine, Maa. How are you both?" Ram dodged the later question.

"First tell us, where is our princess?" Natasha asked him.

"Baby is with her mother." Ram said calmly.

"What is this, Ram? First of all, you came home after five months and that too without Pari? Can you please tell me what's going on in your life?" Krishna was unhappy with the way Ram was leading his life.

"Maa, I will tell you later once I sort out all the things." Ram tried to convince his mother but Krishna wanted everything today itself.

"You might be a great businessman to the outer world but as a mother I know your flaws too. I agree everybody will have flaws but those flaws should not spoil others' life. One day, you come and tell us that you don't want to get married but want to be a father, the next day you tell us that you got a donor and will come back with your own flesh and the other day you come back home alone after months. You left the baby with her mother whom we don't even know yet. I cannot let you dodge my questions like everyday. Stop hiding things from us, tell me everything." Krishna fired at her son.

"Maa!" Ram ran short of words when he saw the rage in his mother's eyes.

"Ram, I am asking you something. Tell me what's going on with you?" Krishna asked with a strong tone.

"Maa, when the right time comes, I will bring Pari home" said Ram holding Krishna's hand in his.

"How much longer, Ram? It has been 3 months since Pari was born." Krishna said, shrugging his hands off from her.

"No bhai, you cannot avoid this every time. I want to know why you are not bringing Pari here and if it is just an agreement then what is Pari's mother still doing there?" asked Natasha with a puzzled expression.

"Because I love her. I don't want to separate mother-daughter anymore." Ram confessed.

Natasha and Krishna become shocked upon hearing this. They were unable to say anything.

"Yes, I love her. I want to bring her along with my daughter." Ram added.

"Who is that girl?" asked Krishna expectedly. Natasha was also waiting to hear the name of the girl.

Ram heaved a deep sigh and said "Both of you know her already."

Natasha and KK exchange confused gazes with each other.

"She is none other than Priya." This time Natasha and Krishna become flabbergasted.

"What did you say bhai, who is that girl?" asked Natasha to make sure what she heard was correct.

"Yes Natasha, you heard me right, it's Priya, Ms Priya Sharma." Natahsa and Krishna were left dumbfounded.

"What? Priya is Paris's mother?" Natasha and Krishna's eyes wide opened upon revelation.

"Yes." Ram nodded with a guilty face.

"But why, I mean..." Natasha stammered.

Krishna held Ram's forearm, turning him to face her. "How did Priya agree to the surrogacy process?" KK was baffled.

"I helped for her father's treatment and as a return favor I forced her to agree to this surrogacy procedure." Ram could not meet her mother's eyes.

"You mean to say, you blackmailed her?" Natasha was shocked by the revelation.

Ram hung his head low while nodding his head.

"How could you do this to Priya?" Natasha was disgusted by her brother's evil side.

"But I love her now and I want to rectify my mistakes." Ram tried to speak further when he received a tight slap on his left cheek.

"Maaa!" Ram held his cheek where his mother slapped him.

"I never imagined that you could stoop so low? Is this how I raised you? How easily you spoiled Priya's life? Now you are saying that you love her after making her go through all these." Krishna's eyes furrowed in an angry glare.

"Maaaa! I will sort out everything." Ram tried to talk to his mother but Krishna raised her hand stopping him.

Krishna felt bad thinking about Priya, her blood pressure shooted up. She could not believe that her son committed such a grave mistake in his life.

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

After finishing his work, Ram reached Pune the next day itself. He headed straight to Priya's room after freshening up.

There was a sheer silence in the room. He smiled at Pari who was sleeping in the crib peacefully before turning his gaze towards Priya who was standing near the window looking outside in a daze.

Ram made his way towards Priya and she was so engrossed in her own world that she did not realize his presence in the room.

He stood behind and looked over her shoulders trying to see what she was looking at. Seeing nothing in front, he tapped on Priya's shoulders lightly.

Priya jerked out of her thoughts and turned back only to bump with him.

"Where are you lost, Priya?" Ram asked, holding her in place.

Priya shook her in negation and quickly wiped away her tears. Ram looked at her face and understood something must be bothering her.

"Priya, are you alright?" Ram was worried to see her tear stained face.

Priya cleared her throat and said, "Nothing." Priya shook her head sideways, turning her gaze away from him.

"What do you mean by nothing? Look at yourself in the mirror. You are not okay." Ram held her arms and made her look at him.

"So what if I am not okay?" Priya raised her tone.

"Priya, come on, you can tell me. What's bothering you?" Ram was worried for her.

"What will you do after knowing it? You can't do anything. Leave me alone, please. I will be okay sometime." Priya said sniffing while controlling her fresh pool of tears which were threatening to fall.

"I can't see you like this, Priya. You are not in your usual self. Please tell me what happened? I insist." Ram said.

"Ram, there is nothing personal between us so please don't insist on me. It's not related to Pari, so you don't need to worry at all. She is fine." Priya said clearly while looking at Pari.

"I know Pari is fine but I want you to be fine as well. I am not just bothered about Pari; I am worried about you too. Please understand." Ram said looking directly into her eyes. He seemed to be genuinely saying this.

"Irony, isn't it? The person who messed up my life is saying that he is worried about me." Priya smirked at the irony of the situation.

Ram closed her eyes, exhaling deeply.

"I am sorry for whatever I have done to you in the past. I really want to rectify my mistakes, Priya. I mean it." Ram's shoulders dropped a bit, feeling apologetic.

"Wow, that's great. Now you want to rectify your mistakes but how can I get back my old life, my family doesn't even want to see my face. My father, who was my supportive system, who can't stay away from me, remained quiet all the time when I left the house after I denied aborting the child. Nobody is there for me, Ram. Do you know how it actually feels when you have a family but they neither want to speak to you nor want to see your face?" Priya fired at him.

Ram lowered his head and fixed his gaze on the floor. "I am sorry."

"Your sorry doesn't heal anything, Ram." Priya's nose flared, while her eyes spitting fire.

Ram could not look directly into her eyes. "You are missing your family, right? Call your father." He said.

Priya looked at him with furrowed brows. "Are you joking?"

"No. Call your family. I will talk to them." Ram said and forwarded the mobile to her.

One part of her desperately wanted to talk to her family while the other part of her was holding her back.

When she did not take the mobile from his hand, he dialed her father's number. With a lot of hesitation, Priya took the mobile and her heart started thumping faster. She looked anxiously at Ram while waiting desperately to hear her father's voice.

"Hello!" Priya's heart skipped a beat. It was her mother who picked up the call.

"Hello, who is this?" Shipra asked when she didn't get any response from the other side.

"Maaa..." Priya said in a shivering tone.

On the other side, Shipra's eyes widened when she heard the familiar voice and took no time to realize who must be on the other side of the call.

"Wrong number." Shipra said in a rough voice.

"Maa, it's me, Priya." Priya said.

"For god's sake, don't try to contact us. Ayesha is going to get married and I don't want her in laws to know that there is an elder sister to Ayesha who doesn't care about family reputation. I can't risk Ayesha and Karthik's life because of your actions. Keep that in mind." Shipra hung up the call without giving any chance to Priya to respond back.

"Ma..aa" Priya tried to talk but her mother hung up on her already.

Ram closed his eyes in disappointment seeing the teary eyes of Priya. Priya started sobbing badly.

"Please Priya, don't cry. I will talk to your family and tell them everything. I am ready to face any consequences for my deeds. I can't see you suffering like this." Ram said.

Priya stopped him holding his hand. "Stop it, Ram. There is no need for it now." Priya yelled at him.

"I cannot be a burden to my family anymore. If my presence hampers my siblings' happiness, I shouldn't be there when they want to disown me completly." Priya said in a cracky voice trying to control her tears.

At that very moment, Ram felt like a piece of shit for spoiling Priya's life and her relationship with her family.

Ram looked at Priya who fixed her gaze to the floor and her tear-stained face went pale.

Slowly taking her both palms in his hands, Ram said in an apologetic tone, "Priya, look, I really am sorry for whatever I have done to you. You don't know how miserable I am feeling right now. I will speak to your family and sort everything out."

Priya looked at him and smirked lightly.

"I know sorry doesn't heal anything. It will not lessen the pain you are going through. Please tell me what I can do to rectify my mistakes." Ram said genuinely.

"How easy, right? Firstly, you commit mistakes sparing no way for me other than agreeing to your demands and now you want to rectify your mistakes?" Priya's jaws clenched.

"I understand..." Ram tried to speak in a low tone.

"No, you don't understand anything, Ram. My younger sister is getting married and my mother did not even want anybody to know that I am her elder daughter. Do you even realize I cannot be a part of my younger sister's marriage? A big thank you for making my life hell." Priya clasped her palms in front of him.

Ram shut his eyes for a moment.

"Let's go and meet your family. I will talk to them directly and I am sure they will understand that you are not at fault." Ram said.

"My mother was right, if I go back home, I might end up spoiling my sister's life too. My family will be happy without me." Tears trickled down her cheeks.

"Please stop acting as if you didn't expect these consequences after surrogacy." Priya's eyes were red due to continuous crying and at the same time she was very angry with Ram.

"You are the reason behind all these. Why did you even come into my life, Ram?" Priya screamed at him.

"Priyaaa!" Ram's eyes were too filled with tears and he stood guilty-ridden.

"Tell me, why?" Priya grabbed his collar tightly in her fists.

Ram doesn't have any answer to her question. He just let her vent out her anger & frustration that was in her heart for all these months.

"After going through all these things, I won't even be able to stay with Pari. What did I do to deserve this miserable life?" Priya started weeping badly while holding his shirt.

Ram couldn't see her crying like this. He stroked her hair lightly, wrapping his hand around her trying to console her. Involuntarily, Priya cried in his arms trying to lessen the burden through her outburst. Ram kissed on her hairs caressing on her back.

Moments later, Priya realized their position and tried to distance herself from him.

They parted from the hug and Priya took a step back.

"Priya" Ram said in a cracky voice.

"Listen to me; you don't need to stay away from Pari. Don't worry about that. I will fix everything soon. Trust me, please." Ram said, holding her face in his palms.

Priya stood frozen to the spot when he cupped her face. She did not know why but she did not step back or push him away.

Priya looked into his eyes and realized he was crying too along with her. She could not understand why but she was lost in those deep eyes.

"There is no need for him to cry for me. Why is he even crying seeing my outburst?" Priya thought.

"I am not going to separate you and Pari." Ram added.

Priya held his wrists and pulled them down from her face.

"What do you want to say?" Priya asked with a puzzled expression.

"I made that deal because you were adamant to leave but I don't have any intentions to keep you away from Pari." Ram said.

Priya looked at him blankly not knowing how to react. She felt relieved when she heard him saying that he won't separate Pari from her.

"Thanks for not letting me away from Pari but what next? Where my life is going ahead? How can I stay with you and Pari? What relationship do we share to be with you life-long?" Priya scoffed.

"I want you both to stay together because I..." Ram was trying hard to confess his feelings for Priya but he was unable to anticipate how Priya would react after listening to him.

Come what may, he wanted to speak his heart out today.

"Actually I want to tell you something." Ram said, trying to gather some strength.

"Go on." Priya nodded. She was waiting for him to finish his statement.

Suddenly they turned their heads towards Pari who started crying as she just woke up from her sleep.

Priya quickly reached to the crib and took Pari in her arms.

Ram sighed deeply, figuring out when to confess his feelings to Priya.