Swara Bose never realized what it means to have a fake fiancée. When she woke up earlier today, she was asked by the maid to join Sanskar in his study when she was ready.

Swara knew Ragini might want to know as well, but she let her sister sleep a little longer willing to share the information with her later.

When she walked inside Sanskar's study after getting the directions from the  maid, she found he wasn't alone. Laksh was sitting beside his cousin and someone in a suit was sitting opposite them.

Sanskar introduced her to the lawyer who specializes in cases like hers and asked her to  answer all his questions. It almost took them over an hour before the lawyer left with the promise to do his best.

" Thank you for your help, I am worried the Sahil may try to evict my Grandparents next, so thought I should go back home to them just in case" Swara told Sanskar and was prepared to leave as planned until he spoke up and disrupt her plans again.

"I will come with you, as the lawyer said while your house in home town is under your Grandfather's name, we need to know if he signed anything that your father misused" Sanskar spoke up and she didn't understand why he felt the need to come with her for a information she could share with him through a single message.

"Then I will come with you two as well " Laksh spoke up next and Swara was relieved when Sanskar asked his cousin to stay behind.

"It not a good time for you Lucky, you just joined the Magazine and moreover you need to be with Ragini just in case, Sahil went after her. You drive her to work and bring her home until we return " Sanskar told Laksh and Swara was glad that it worked to keep Laksh joining them.

Still, she didn't know why Sanskar wanted to come along either but unlike Laksh who already told his family that he want to marry her.  Sanskar seemed like a safer choice

" My Grandparents are going to have lot of question about you, what are we going to tell them?" Swara asked Sanskar on the ride and he told her to introduce him as her fiancée.

"Aren't we taking the lie bit too far, why should we pretend in front of my Grandparents as well?" Swara asked him worried that she is going to end up hurting her Dada by the lie.

"Because there is no other way I can stay in your house. After all I learned about Sahil today from my lawyer, it is better to be safe first. Until yesterday he thought everything was working his way and now we have to see how he will react, you are going to see your grandparents because deep down you are worried about their safety and why face it alone when you can have your fiancée with you for support" Sanskar spoke up, and Swara did feel better that she wasn't alone.

              ********************

Ragini was nervous as Laksh drove her to work, he was acting little weird not that she knew much about him. Swara left with Sanskar to meet her grandparents, while Ragini wanted to go with her sister. She was still new at work that she didn't want to go back unless there was a need.

" I am going just in case Ragini, from what Sanskar's lawyer told me. Once they follow up with legal procedures Sahil will not be able to do anything illegal. I don't know if we will be able to get the house back without paying back the debt,  but our Grandparents house will be safe since it is not in his name" Swara reassured her and Ragini hoped it was sorted out soon.

"Don't worry Ragini, nothing will happen to you" Laksh spoke up quite suddenly that she wondered was going on with him and she soon had her answer when he went on and on about protecting her.

"Laksh, I will be fine. Don't worry" Ragini answered back and a small part of her liked his protectiveness even when she knew it was just how he is as a person and that she was not anyone special.

When Swara was in danger, he went as far as to offer marriage and now just the mere hint from his cousin that Ragini might be in danger as well, he shifted his protectiveness towards her.

Ragini didn't really think much about anything the rest of the day as she was busy at work, everyone was trying to impress Laksh which meant she had more work than before that she hardly had a moment to catch her breath.

So she wasn't really surprised when she realized that she will not be able to leave on time and may have to work overtime to get them all done. She sent a quick text to Laksh telling him that she will take a taxi home later.

Ragini somehow avoided the questions yesterday and she didn't know how she can escape from the elders today especially when Swara and Sanskar went somewhere together. So she used was not that upset about the two hours of overtime.

But when her work got done, she no longer had a plausible reason to delay going back. As she stepped outside the office gates and waited for the taxi, she found herself face to face with Sahil.

"Where is Swara?" Sahil spoke up and Ragini froze at the sight of him, she had ignored Laksh claim of protection earlier today because she really didn't think Sahil would approach her.

"I don't think I have to answer that, my father may have borrowed money from you and you may have the rights to evict us from our house, but you got no right to stalk us " Ragini answered back hoping that Sahil will walk away.

" You think your two small houses will be enough for the money your father borrowed, think again. He has promised me, Swara's hand in marriage" Sahil spoke up and Ragini was beginning to feel cornered.

"Swara is already engaged to Sanskar, leave her alone." Ragini shouted back at him. She was beginning to worry that Sahil looked dangerous and was cursing herself for not leaving with Laksh.

"Aww the mysterious Sanskar, who is he and did he even know who he is messing with, just convince your sister to marry me or else you will have to take up her place. Your father promised a daughter , while I vastly prefer your sister, I will marry you just to hurt her" Sahil spoke up as he began to walk towards her, Ragini stood paralyzed in fear as she heard the words from him.

" And I will prefer not to have thugs like you harnessing my employee" a voice spoke up full of anger that it took Ragini a moment to realize it was Laksh's voice.

               *********************

Laksh was foolish, when the text came from Ragini, he decided to go and meet his friends for awhile and then come back to pick her up.

He had planned to stay just for 30 minutes but he gotten into flirting with someone and by the time he realized how late it was, he drove back to office in worry.

When Ragini didn't answer her call , he got worried and seeing her being harassed by Sahil made him want to punch that idiot but Sanskar had warned him not to start a fight unless in defense.

"Sahil loves all the loop holes in law and uses it to come across as a legitimate businessman but most of his shady dealings are undertaken by his underlings. So if you met him by chance, do not engage in a fight with him. We need the law to be on our side to bring him down and not have him file a case against us for hurting him " Sanskar told him earlier today before he left and it was the only reason Laksh wasn't resorting to violence.

When Sahil turned around there was a spark of recognition in his face, and Laksh knew he hasn't recognized his cousin yesterday. Because his cousin after the loss of Kavita never ventured anywhere outside home or office. Unlike Laksh who had even made it into the entertainment side of the news for his supposed girlfriends sometimes.

" There seems to be a misunderstanding, I am not harassing anyone just having a normal conversation related to my business . You see your employee forgot to pay back her debts and this was just a reminder, as a businessman yourself you must know the necessity of it" Sahil answered back expecting Laksh to agree or simply not think it was a big issue.

" Accosting a woman late at night and threatening to marry her is in no way a necessity Sahil, before you think so highly of yourself and assume I know your name. I haven't heard about it till yesterday and I wish I never heard about you either but if you threaten Ragini or Swara ever again, I won't be having a polite conversation the next time. You see, Swara is engaged to marry my cousin and I don't think you want the Maheshwari's wrath for harressing their future bahu or her family. " Laksh spoke up making it clear that he wasn't going to let Sahil get away with it.

" She is engaged to Sanskar Maheshwari? " Sahil question left Laksh feeling bit relieved as he saw that the name Maheshwari was finally registering into the idiots brain.

"Yes and my cousin is not happy with you at the moment for the eviction notice last night. If I were you , I will not give him more reason to be upset just like accosting his sister in law. " Laksh answered back with a hint of smile, he liked having Sahil shake in fear.

He was so angry to see Ragini scared of him and he wanted her to see Sahil shaking in fear as well to make her believe that she got powerful allies on her side.

"Also, marriage is not a business deal you can sign with the father and expect the daughters to follow it up with out a protest. Ragini and Swara are persons of their own right and whatever deal you made with their father is not legal. So stop trying to scare them by that stupid agreement. " Laksh spoke up and was relieved when Sahil walked away without a word.

Then only he turned to look at Ragini because if he did so before then he wouldn't have been able to keep himself from hitting Sahil. And when she wordlessly walked right into his arms, he held her in an comforting embrace and his felt his foolish heart break a little as he noticed her tears soaking his shirt and realized she was indeed too upset by the confrontation.

Laksh Maheshwari was not a stranger to women's tears, he had been the reason for few of them when he broke up with his dates. He always went way out of his way to console them or earn their forgiveness because he never like to be the reason for someone's tears. 

But Ragini's tears affected him more even when he wasn't the reason for them, he felt strangely more protective of her. When he want to marry Swara to protect her from her father abuse or Sahil's mechanism he realized that was the maximum extent of his ability to protect willing to give up his single life.

But now, he realized that he may kill Sahil if he so much as came near Ragini once again and it shocked him as well as confused him. For once Laksh Maheshwari was not sure about his next move in life. All because of the crying women in his arms.

                *******************

Sanskar waited patiently while two sets of piercing eyes judged him. With Kavita, he never had to go through gaining her families approval and when she worried about meeting his family for the first time.

He was quick to reassure her that his family would love her and they did he never doubted that but he remembers the way his bade maa and mom looked at her when she was introduced and it was very similar to the ones he had been receiving from Swara's grandparents.

" Dada, this is Sanskar . My fiancée " Swara had introduced him to his grandfather and her grandmother ignored Swara presence and kept looking behind her maybe in wait for Ragini.

It bothered Sanskar, but Swara seemed used to it and didn't seem too upset until her Dadi spoke up.

"So you stole my Ladoo's groom, I always knew it. Girls like you will always try to snatch others happiness, first your mother tried to make herself the bahu of my house by snaring my son and now you are stealing my Ladoo's happiness." Dadi spoke up and Sanskar felt close to lashing back irrespective of the fact she was an elder and was set on her ways.

" Your son betrayed her mother and Ragini's mother by his ways. Not Sharmistha. Stop spewing venom on the girl. " Swara's Grandfather spoke up but it was little too late as Swara who already gotten upset walked out of the house leaving him alone with her grandparents.

"If I was her, I would have walked away from this family long time ago, you didn't raise her or accept her as your family. But she was on the way to meet and ensure your safety at the first sign of trouble because she cares about you. Your granddaughters were evicted from their home last night and staying with my family for the time being but today Swara wanted to come here because she was worried about you and instead of appreciating her , you insult her and hurt her by your words. " Sanskar spoke up and didn't bother to explain anymore as he walked out of the house in search of Swara.

He found her a little later standing alone under a tree and crying silently, he once walked away from her tears on the day they first met because he was a stranger and was not capable of doing anything else back then but today he wanted to show her that she can rely on him.

So he walked towards her and held her in an embrace to comfort, he was worried that he pushed the line a little too far but when she leaned on to him and let the tears fall harder, he knew she needed him in the moment.

Sanskar maybe her fake fiancée and when this charade ends he wanted to still be her friend, because he wanted someone loyal and caring as her to be part of his life.

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