Hi Guys back with an update , This is the Final Chapter in terms of the SS 😎😎. Not exactly in truth as we have five more updates to go including Epilogue , It is the final update because the 365 days are up , And so here ends the basic premise of the story .

Two weeks later.  

3rd September 2019

                Pretending to Sleep was harder than Swara expected , yet she stayed in bed as if sleeping and waited for the clock to hit twelve . 

              After she almost missed wishing him on his birthday ,she wanted to wish him first on their Anniversary , She can't believe a year has passed already .

                 She thought of the contract and felt her heart constrict a little ,the clauses which she thought would protect her where the ones which is disrupting her peaceful mind at the moment  , So she slowly got out of the bed took her contract papers and went into her office which she shared with Sanskar ..

           As the contract paper were shredded into  bits of pieces . She relaxed as she didn't want to be reminded about the clause which stated she will let him go after 365 days ..

              Letting him go was not an option , and   she rushed back to her room to wish him first  as the clock stuck 12 .

               When Swara stumbled in to their room , her husband was still sleeping ,she walked upto his side of bed and gently woke him up .As his eyes drifted open she smiled at him  waiting to say the words , But he beat her to it even when he woke up just now .

         " Happy  Wedding Anniversary Wife .." he said and smiled at her, Only for her smile to drop at that .

          " Shona , What happened " he asked as her face expression changed into an frown

          " I stayed awake all night even when I was sleepy so I could wish you first and you shouldn't have said it first .." Swara lashed out as Sanskar mind began to understand his wife anger .

           " Fine , Let do it again ,I will go back to sleep. You wake me up and wish me first . We will forget this  happened" Sanskar teased her when he know it will make her more angry .

         " You know it won't work that way , Now  I am  supposed to wait for 365 days before wishing you first .." She said and sat beside him totally defeated by her sleepiness .

               " I am sorry my wife , I promise to always let you wish me first for the rest of our life's ." he told his wife who brightened up at the prospect .

            " Fine ,then I let this slide .Happy Anniversary husband .." She said and then briefly reached past him to take the gift she hidden behind her pillows  and held it out to him .

         Sanskar was wide awake by then that he gently unwrapped the gift to find an hand made greeting card and a Rolex watch .

           " Do you like it " she asked excitedly and at his affirmative answer she relaxed since she was worried he might not like it .

         " Where my gift ?" She asked  and had her answer when he got out of the bed and brought a jewel box hidden between his files in shelf .

                 Swara opened the box and was briefly mesmerized by the exquisite design of the necklace . He waited patiently  before she looked back at him and told him it was perfect .. 

                 " So what the Plan Mr Maheshwari " she asked  few moments later  as she cuddled next to him already sure that her husband would strife to make this day memorable .

               " That for you to guess my dear wife , Just be ready with my princess and do pack all you need for an overnight stay" he said and  swara was left with no other clue about his plans .

            Later that evening Sanskar Maheshwari was in an rush to head back home , He wanted to spend the whole day with his family but he can't help it when he had an trial on the day .
 

                 He still can't believe it has been a year since he was married , He knew his parents would have loved getting to know their daughter in law and his princess. . 

                  He hoped his wife and daughter would love the surprise  .He already knew swara loved that place and it holds very special memories for both of them , But he was hoping to give her  and Lavanya the whole camping experience she wanted last time

               He already had planned and brought the whole camping kit just for the occasion and he was excited to continue his family  tradition with his princess .

                 Unlike his mother who hated to leave from the comfort of her home for  an night in the wilderness ,he hoped swara would join them as well , As his plans included his wife to be by his side always ..

              When he reached home his daughter and wife  were already waiting for him and with his daughter chatter throughout the ride .The distance seemed smaller than before .

                Swara was pleasantly surprised when they reached the place,  It wasn't dark yet so her husband and daughter where playing in water  and swara was content to have a stroll alone in the sandy beach .

                 The contentment and happiness she felt at the moments can't be expressed in words ,  He already told them they will camp tonight and set the tent before heading to the beach with his daughter

              When both daughter and father came out of the water drenched  , swara can't help but smile to see her  daughter adoration of her father .That was what she missed as an child .

              And that was she hoped to give her unborn  when she married siddharth and It turned out to be the  biggest mistake of her life .

            As the father and daughter duo joined her , her husband hand reached to hold her in an silent gesture of affection that when she realized she had been crying .

      When Lavanya choose to go play in the beach  building sand castles it left swara alone with her husband and  Swara knew he would want to know the reason behind those tears ..

              " I was just happy to see you together , " she answered his question without him speaking up .  And he seem to understood her and let the matter drop but she wanted to share more .

              " Do you when I learnt that who my father was " she asked visiting those darker moments of the past , He didn't have to say a word but she knew he was listening as his hold on her hand assured her it was quite okay to speak up . 

            " I always hoped one day I will get to meet my dad and he would always have an valid reason for abandoning my mom and me , I never once thought my father could be the reason my mother rarely smiled .

                  It was my first year in college , Nisha and I were best friends from school as you know , It was also the first time Nisha met someone she liked .

             Soon they were in love and I was happy for her , But I always know he didn't like me , Then one day Nisha told me they broke up ..

               After much insistence she told me it was because  they had an fight  regarding me , he wanted her break it up with me because of my background  and she refused to do so  .

         That was the first time I realized  not only me but those around me get affected because of me

             I asked her to break it of with me like he asked but she refused to listen to me   and I was so affected by my friends tears I didn't think about my mother ..

            I went to my home and demanded my mother to tell me about him  , she refused  and I wanted to know so I insisted we had an huge arguments and I said words I regret to this day .

      I blamed her for having me out of wedlock as if it happened with her consent , Still she refused to say a word for my sake .And I walked out of my house claiming I  can't stay there and went to stay with Nisha

               I didn't know how I broke my mother heart that day , after I cooled down I went back home the next day  to apologize since I knew I crossed the lines in anger .

     My Mom was happy and forgave me in an instant ,But my dida refused to speak with  me for over two weeks for hurting her daughter .

            And it was my birthday  that day , every year my mom and dida would wish me at midnight but that year my dida didn't even wish me .I was sad the whole day  ..

            I came home that evening and  overheared my mom and dida arguing , My mom was accusing dida for  hurting her daughter  and dida was accusing me of hurting her daughter just like my father. It was the first I heard his name . Gaurav Khanna..

             Comparing me with the person broke my mom last restraint , That when she lashed back and spilled the truth as she claimed me as her only daughter that I never belong to the person who raped her .

               Dida wanted mom to tell me everything but she refused not realizing  I already overhead everything ,  I couldn't process what I overheard that I left my house without them noticing

              I walked alone on the beach for hours that day  for the first time as I tried to deal with everything I learned about my existence ,  The sound of waves provided my comfort that night  and I returned home a little late as i lost track of time but by then mom was already panicked about my disappearance . 

                I still remember the first words I asked  my mom that day .." I am not like him right mom? " , it was the one question that haunted me after hearing about my birth .

           And I remember my mom embrace and reassurance when she kept saying I am not like him as I cried for her more than me as i realized what she lost because of me  .

                 That was when dida stepped in apologized saying she was wrong to say that and told me how the day i was born was the day he died as well , That her Shona will be never like him .." Swara finished speaking up about her past  that she never told him before and waited for him to say anything

               After a awhile she was worried about his silence and wondered if he topic shouldn't have been broached on their wedding  day .

          " Sorry Sanskar " she said as the silence continued for awhile ..

        " What for Shona .." he asked at her words ..

        " I shouldn't have broached such topic today ,It just the beach reminds me of those day and seeing Lavanya and you kind of made me think about the father I wished for .."  She answered back ..

            " Do you honestly think I would feel like that, truthfully I was thinking if I should ask something you may not like " he said .

             "As if you are different , You know you can ask me anything and still you hesistate as well  " she answered back ..

               " I know , it just you never talked about him so I didn't want to bring it up , Do you have any siblings you are aware of , he must have had a family of his own ." he asked the question that was in his mind for awhile .

            " Mom and Dida are my only family, But to answer your question yes I think he had children of his own who are much older than me  " swara answered back ..

                " And you never tried to reach out to them " he asked knowing he was facing her wrath .

              " No , As I said mom and dida are my only family .." She answered back  wondering why he was asking something like that then she remembered that she told Sanskar his name for the first time .

            " Sanskar .do you know them " she asked and Sanskar knew she was too perspective that he can't lie to her even to spare her the pain . .

             " Yeah Shona, I know one of them  , And I am sorry I shouldn't have brought this topic ,If you don't want to reach out to them .You know I will support you right " he answered back

             " I am sorry too Sanskar but please don't ever tell me , I don't want to know , I can't do it I would feel like betraying my mom . I don't want any secrets between us but never tell me the person name or tell him or her about me" she answered back 

                 Sanskar accepted her decision as he knew swara was right in her own way .But he didn't expect to be surprised by the realization either , just hearing the name froze him up .

                   And soon their daughter joined them and brought smile back to their faces , Still Swara mind was haunted with the question for awhile . 

                 Sanskar soon forget the secret he had to keep from his wife as he entertained his daughter and wife with camp fire and scary stories . He relaxed when he found his wife was smiling again at his attempts to tell a scary story .

               The day activities gotten their daughter tired who soon fell asleep on his lap that he carried her inside the tent and came out to greet his wife who was gazing at the stars ,And sat beside her ..

    
            " I still can't believe it Sanskar ." She spoke up after few minutes .

           " Believe what Shona " he asked .

          " Everything that happened in this last year ,Our marriage , me practicing law , finding Lavanya back , loving you and being loved by you  and if someone told me a year ago how my life will change drastically within a year I would have probably laughed at them .." She spoke up and Sanskar wondered about it as well . Just a year was all it took to turn his life upside down ,It was only then Swara noticed the paper in his hands ..

           " What is it ?" She asked as she pointed  at the paper .

         "  Our marriage contract ,I thought it time to burn it up as I have no intention of letting you go " he said and dropped the papers on the fire and let it burn .

          " I already shredded mine Mr Maheshwari , you are stuck with me forever as I have no intention of letting you go  .."his wife reply surprised him and also warmed his heart to know that she trusts him with her future ..

              " Shona .." he spoke a few moments later as swara lifted her head from his shoulder and look into his face to see his intense gaze on her and she knew he was gonna say something important ..

             " I Love You Shona , I won't change anything from our life from the moment we got married  as it gave me you and our princess except one thing .."he spoke up which scared Swara about the thing he regret in their marriage as she  didn't regret anything .

              " What is the one thing ?" She asked as her mind conjured about million answers ..

             " Swara Maheshwari , the thing I regret the most is the words I uttered the day when I proposed our marriage " he said which confused her further and made her wonder what he was speaking about .

           " Do you remember what I told you that day ?" he asked and swara recollected the day when he called her into his office which changed her life ..

          " You said , that you need a favor and it was a big one and that I am under no pressure to agree to it , then you told me about the stipulation in the will and asked if I could marry you and promised it was only for an year and that it will be just an agreement on paper nothing more " she replied back  as she recollected the words he spoke to her that day .

           " Yes I regret that, because no one deserve such a sloppy proposal of marriage especially the woman I love ,  so listen carefully my wife . Back then I was stupid to give you the lamest proposal of marriage and I would like to rectify that ..

          Shona , I love you and I can't imagine my life without you ,  I want you to be by my side for the rest of my life . You entered my life when I gave up hope of ever having a family and you gave me our princess ..Today I feel like the luckiest person on earth to find myself in love with you and knowing you love me as well , so Mrs Swara Maheshwari will you marry me again this time not for just a year but for the rest of our life's, not because of laksh inheritance but because you love me and want to spend the rest of your life with me" he spoke up and swara was overwhelmed that few drops of tears fell at his declaration and it blinded her moment from seeing the ring he was holding out in front of her .

         And as he gently  wiped away her tears , he was  still holding out the ring waiting for her answer . At his questioning glance she realized she hadn't answered him back

          "  Yes Sanskar , I will marry you again ." she said and held out her hand as he placed the ring on her finger  .. And as he leaned to kiss her, swara held on to him and returned his kiss savoring the moment that she will cherish forever ..

P.S : " That it for now ,Let me know your thoughts and Feedback . Hit the votes if you liked it "

Love

Nita