Priya stayed quiet and kept her talk to Ram to mere words the rest of day. Ram was looking into his mobile phone when Priya stepped out of the washroom after giving bath to Pari.

Priya behaved as if Ram didn't exist in the room. Ignoring him completely, Priya placed Pari on the bed and started wiping Pari with a towel.

"Priyaaa, please talk to me." Ram said, looking at her.

Priya remained silent and focused on pampering Pari. Ram stood up and picked up a pair of Pari's clothes while Priya was applying body lotion to Pari.

Pari was making cute sounds while getting pampered by her mother. Priya also couldn't help but smile seeing Pari's adorable giggles.

Ram stood by Priya's side extending Pari's clothes to Priya.

Giving a quick glance at him, Priya took Pari's clothes from him and started putting them on Pari.

"Do you want something else?" Ram was trying to talk to Priya in some or other way.

Priya shook her head sideways. Ram exhaled deeply, getting no response from Priya.

Priya sat on the bed cross-legged, taking Pari into her lap.

"Priyaaa! Don't be angry with me. I didn't mean to hurt you." Said Ram, sitting opposite to her.

"Tch! Don't talk to me. Please leave me for some time." Priya said, not looking at Ram.

Ram took Priya's hand in both hands.

"Come on, Priya. Who else other than you could understand better that I had the commitment issues and never believed in the concept of marriage? I agree that we should think about marriage but when you picked up the marriage topic all of a sudden, I didn't know how to react to it. I know you are hurt because of me. I sincerely apologize." Said Ram genuinely.

Priya was looking at him while he was speaking to her.

"Trust me, I started thinking about marriage. When I go to Mumbai next time, I will directly speak to Maa and Natasha about us." He added in an assuring tone, squeezing her hand gently.

"Are you telling me that you need permission from Natasha too? What if she says no?" Priya asked with a confused frown.

"What are you saying, Priya? Why do you think Natasha will say no?" Ram asked with a displeased expression.

"Answer me first." Priya asked strongly, taking her hand out of his hold.

Ram sighed deeply and remained quiet.

"Did you take her permission before you forced me into surrogacy?" Priya asked sarcastically.

"Why are you bringing up that topic again?" Ram asked frustratedly.

"Then answer me properly. What about the consent of my parents when you are too concerned about your family's concern?" Priya retorted.

Priya kept him in a fix with her response.

"Don't you have an answer for it, do you?" Priya smirked faintly.

Taking a deep breath, Ram placed his hands on her shoulders while making eye contact with her.

"When I say trust me, just fucking trust me. I will handle everything, okay. Don't overthink this matter ever again." Ram said in a stern tone.

"Do you understand?" He added.

He sounded seriously genuine and Priya nodded her head, not breaking the eyelock.

"Great!" Ram smiled softly before kissing on her forehead. "Now stop giving me cold shoulders and smile a bit. I can't see you like this." Ram let out a soft chuckle.

"First, you should stop troubling me." Priya smiled hearing him which made him smile too.

Adjusting his sitting position next to her, Ram took her into a side hug wrapping his hand around her.

Priya rested her head on his shoulder while caressing Pari's head gently. They remained in that position for a number of minutes.

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

In Mumbai,

Ram reached Mumbai and the first thing he did was to go to Priya's house.

Ram knocked on the door and waited restlessly outside until Shipra opened the door.

"Ram?!" she exclaimed surprisedly as a smile covered her face. "Please come in."

Shipra welcomed Ram in. He just simply smiled and walked inside.

"Please have a seat." Shipra said as Ram nervously took a seat on the sofa.

Shipra was overjoyed seeing Ram after a long time.

"Would you prefer tea or coffee?" asked Shipra.

He shook his head in a negative way. "No, no. I am fine."

"So, what brings you here? I thought you forgot about us completely." Shipra asked curiously.

"No, it's not like that. I was just busy with my business and all. How have you been?" asked Ram.

"Good." Shipra chuckled.

Ram was looking around the house as if searching for someone. "Where is Sudhir ji?" asked Ram.

"He went to the market. You sit here, I will get you something to drink." Shipra got up from her seat.

"No, it's alright." Ram replied.

"No, I insist. You are here after a long time." Shipra went to the kitchen and came back after a while, with a tray of snacks and a cup of hot coffee. She put the tray down on the table. "Please have it."

Ram took the cup from her and took a sip of the coffee.

"So, I have heard that Ayesha's marriage is fixed." Ram said while drinking his cup of coffee.

Shipra became shocked. "How did you know?!"

Ram closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. "Shit." he murmurs under his breath. He didn't know how to explain this.

"I just happened to know someone." he replied hesitantly.

Shipra nodded, buying his lie.

Ram finished his coffee.

Shipra was thinking about what if Ram would ask about Priya. She didn't know what to answer him if at all he asked about Priya.

While they were talking about something, the door opened and Sudhir was back home. He kept the shopping bags on the table and was stunned to see Ram.

"Sudhir ji, look who's here." Shipra said excitedly getting up from her seat. Sudhir walked up to Ram and frowned angrily.

"What are you doing here?" asked Sudhir rudely. Ram got up from his seat.

Shipra was taken aback by Sudhir's reaction.

"Sudhir ji, I need to talk to you." Ram tried to convince him.

"Talk?" asked Sudhir sarcastically.

"What are you doing?" asked Shipra.

"Shipra please, don't say anything. You don't know anything." Sudhir was boiling seeing Ram's presence in his home. He then turned to Ram.

"What did you come here for?" asked Sudhir loudly.

"Please listen to me." Ram tried again.

"After what you did to my daughter, how do you expect me to listen to you?" Sudhir shouted.

Shipra was confused and was getting impatient. "Sudhir ji, what's going on here?" asked Shipra, nudging him.

"Daughter means, Priya?" Shipra asked. Sudhir didn't reply.

Shipra then turned to Ram for answers but he looked down guiltily. She was getting answers from no one.

"Will someone please tell me what's going on here?!" asked Shipra who was freaking out.

"Do you want to know the truth?" asked Sudhir as he turned to her.

Shipra nodded, waiting for a proper explanation.

"The reason why our Priya isn't here with us is due to him." Sudhir said as he pointed at Ram.

Ram didn't say anything as he gulped a lump down his throat. Shipra frowned and looked at Ram who was gazing down.

"But how?" asked Shipra, desperate for an answer.

"Priya's pregnancy wasn't normal, it was a surrogacy. A forced deal from this so-called businessman." Sudhir finally disclosed the truth to Shipra. Shipra was entirely stunned and unable to process anything after the truth was out.

Ram pressed his lips, not knowing what to say.

"This man forced our Priya into surrogacy as a return favor. He paid my hospital bills not as charity but he expected a return favor from Priya. He blackmailed her!" Sudhir explained.

Shipra's eyes were wide in shock and slumped on the sofa.

Placing his hand on Shipra's shoulder, he said, "Priya is innocent and she didn't do anything wrong. All because of his ego and selfish need, our Priya is trapped into this."

"And you knew this all along?" asked Shipra with tears falling from her eyes. She was heartbroken and felt deeply guilty as she recollected how she treated Priya and disowned her.

Sudhir nodded his head and Shipra was traumatized by the whole revelation.

"What have I done? Priya just wanted to do good for our family but I just pushed her away and disowned her. I jumped into conclusions without understanding her situation. Instead of helping her out, I left her all alone." She sobbed, tears running down her cheeks continuously.

"What have I done, Sudhir? What have I done?" She grabbed Sudhir's hands and kept on weeping.

There was silence. Sudhir looked at Ram.

"Sudhir ji and Shipra ji, I am really very sorry for what I have done. I know it's a terrible mistake. I am here asking for your forgiveness, even if that's the last thing I deserve." Ram started. "Priya made me a better person and realized my mistakes. I fell for her and we are in love. I am here to ask your permission for marriage." Ram finally confessed.

Shipra couldn't speak a word as she's still in that guilty zone.

There was a sheer silence, yet again but Sudhir broke it.

"How could you even think that we will agree to the marriage? You must have manipulated Priya but you can't do that with us. We will not accept this." Sudhir said strongly.

"Sudhir Ji, please understand I really love her. Please forgive me for my past mistakes." Ram pleaded to them.

"What you did to my daughter is unforgivable but I will forgive you as long as you give me back my daughter and promise that you will never meet her again." Sudhir glared at Ram.

Ram did not expect this coming from Sudhir.

"What you wanted was your baby, right? You can have your baby but I want my daughter back. Only then, I will be able to forgive you."

Ram was shattered. He was very disappointed and left heartbroken. He can sacrifice anything but Priya. He tried his very best to convince them but all in vain.

He didn't know what to do next. He felt as if a part of him was wounded.

"Please don't say that. I am really ashamed of my mistakes and I have changed for the better." Ram tried to explain to Sudhir but Sudhir cut him off by raising his hand.

"Please get out of my house before I lose my temper completely." Sudhir yelled at Ram.

Without having any option left, Ram left from there.

**********

With a dismal heart, he headed to his company. He was furious when he entered his office.

While he was sitting in a bad mood, an employee opened the door. Ram looked up; the employee had a file in his hand.

"Can't you knock before coming?" yelled Ram as he got up from his seat.

"Sorry sir." The Employee replied timidly. He walked and put the file on the table.

"We need your signatures on this file on an urgent basis." He said opening up the file.

Ram frowned while going through the file. "What is this rubbish? All I can see are errors! You have a simple task and you can't even do that properly?" he screamed at the poor employee who entered at the wrong time not knowing his boss was not in a good mood today.

"Sorry sir, I will make the corrections and get back to you." The Employee hurried out of the cabin, taking the file with him.

Ram exhaled sharply, closing his eyes. Resting his head back, he tried to calm down himself. He doesn't know what to do now.

Ram genuinely wanted to surprise Priya after getting Sharma's full consent on their marriage but things were not in favor.

His whole day had been miserable. He decided to call Priya. Impatiently, he took out his phone and dialled her number. He was eagerly waiting for her to pick up the call but sadly, she didn't attend the call.

Ram grimaced and dialed her number again. The call went unanswered in the following attempts too. He then called Sunita.

"Hello Sir." Sunita said as soon as she picked up the call.

"Hello, can you please pass the phone to Priya or ask her to call me once." said Ram hurriedly.

"Sorry sir, Priya ma'am is not home." Sunita's voice came from the other side. Ram had a confused frown on his face.

"Oh...Umm...Where did she go?" asked Ram.

"She didn't tell me where she was going. She left about half an hour ago with Ved sir." Sunita replied.

Ram was stunned hearing Ved's name. He didn't expect this coming.

"How is Pari? Did Priya take Pari along with her?" Ram asked, trying to sound normal.

"No sir. Pari is sleeping at home only." Sunita answered.

"Okay, please take care of Pari. Call me if you need anything." Saying this Ram cut the call.

Ram gritted his teeth, banging his fist on his desk. His jaw muscles clenched in anger just with the thought that Priya still maintains contact with Ved and even goes out with him.

Indeed, both Ram & Priya are in double trouble as one side, they are having a bumpy ride in their relationship and on the other side, Sharmas are not in favor of their marriage.

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