Author's note: I am back after a long break. I promise new chapters will be more consistent. That being said hope you guys enjoy reading the chapter. Please don't forget to vote and comment. I would really appreciate it 😊

P.S. We have a new cover! I promise I won't change it anymore😊😊 Also, a new precap on Instagram for all my followers.❤

Shaurya parked his vehicle in the parking under the building feeling heavy-hearted and guilty for leaving Dhvani and Dhruv alone that night, but Dhvani hadn't asked him to stay, and he didn't want to push it.

After Haripraksh Mishra had left, Shaurya guided Dhvani to the couch where she sat and cried for what seemed like hours. He really had no idea of what to say to Dhvani, so he just held her close to him and comforted her through his silence and soft kisses to the top of her head. They were both finally forced to separate when Trupti sent a warning message of Dhruv and her arrival.

"Where is Nanu?" Dhruv had asked with a confused look when he returned with a paan in hand. Clearly, the child wanted to be the one to give it to his grandfather. As Shaurya ran his hand on Dhruv's face, he couldn't help marvel at the fact how much Dhruv was a mix of Dhvani and him. If he had his stubbornness, he also had her kind heart that couldn't see the bad and evil in people.

When Dhruv found out his grandfather had left without even a good bye, he had been upset. He ran and fell on the bed and then cried uncontrollably as he hid his face in the pillow. On one hand, Dhruv cried in the bedroom and other hand Dhvani cried in the living room while Shaurya and Trupti stood stunned and confused as to who they should console first. Soon, Dhvani collected herself and talked to Dhruv. Explaining to him that his grandfather had a very urgent matter to attend to wasn't an easy task, but she managed. Dhruv finally stopped crying when Trupti reminded him of his father coming down to visit him. Dhruv's reaction to his grandfather leaving was understandable. While most of his school friends had both parents, siblings, and most probably an extended family, but Dhruv only had his mother and Maasi till now. He had just been shown a dream of having another family member and then it was taken away from him. Shaurya and Dhvani sighed when Dhruv finally fell asleep. As parents, their hearts felt like they were being ripped out, but this was for the best.

Shaurya rang the doorbell and was greeted by a house help. "Is Priya at home?" He asked bitterly.

The man nodded. "She is in her office. A producer and director have come to discuss their new script." He informed and followed Shaurya to Priya's office.

Priya looked up at him in surprise before it turned into a smile. "Hi, Shaurya!" She greeted as she stood up and made her way towards him to hug him.

He coolly stepped aside, making it crystal clear that he didn't want to be touched by her. The producer and director in the office exchanged glances. "I want to talk to you. Right now!" He snapped.

Priya felt the panic rising. Why was Shaurya talking to her like that? He never spoke to her like that. Did he find out the truth? Had Dhvani told him everything? And did he believe her?

"We can come back tomorrow." The producer offered and stood up.

"No, please." Priya smiled and gestured for them to continue sitting. She wanted to prolong this confrontation as much as possible. It would give her time to come up with a plan.

"I need 15 minutes," Shaurya said, gnashing his teeth. "If you could wait outside only for 15 minutes, then I'll be gone."

The men stood up despite Priya's unsuccessful efforts to keep them in the room.

As soon as the men left, Priya immediately said, "Shaurya, Dhvani is lying. She is just trying to instigate you against me."

"Is she? So it's not true that she tried to reach me through you, and you hid it from me. You also hid the fact that Dhvani told you that she was pregnant, which is why she wanted to reach me." Shaurya retorted bitterly.

Suddenly, she ran to Shaurya and hugged him around his waist tightly.

"Priya!" He yelled as he tried to pry his hands away from him, but she struggled and fought back to continue to hug him. "Leave me!" He said just as loudly. He could feel her tears soak his shirt.

After a while, he finally managed to push her away. She fell onto the floor with a soft yelp and loud thud.

Priya pulled up her knees up to her chin and wrapped her arms around her legs. She didn't meet his eyes and focused somewhere on the floor.

"How could you do this to me, Priya?" He asked bitterly. "You were my friend! I like a fool, kept sharing my pain and suffering with you because I thought you cared about me. Was it fun to watch me cry every single night after my divorce for almost a year? What joy did you get from participating in this game?"

Priya continued to cry as Shaurya stared at her waiting for his answers.

"Why, Priya?" He asked as he sat down on the floor in front of her.

"Because I love you!" She yelled in exasperation. "How can you not see it? I love you." She repeated as she crawled over to him and cupped his face. "I did all this for you. You and Dhvani weren't meant to be."

He pushed her away. What was wrong these people? Who the hell gave them the right to think about his and Dhvani's benefit?

"What does that Dhvani have that I don't? This position is all because of my hard work. What did Dhvani do? Nothing. Zilch. She was distracting you from your career. I was the one with you through all the ups and downs." She said with a sob.

"Were you always on this?" He asked. He couldn't believe that he gave their friendship a preference over his marriage.

There was a pregnant pause. "At first, your father-in-law approached me and promised to pay me well if I tried to act in a way that Dhvani was forced to think we were having an affair. I sent pictures to Mr. Mishra that he used to show Dhvani." She confessed. "But then I started falling for you. You became my whole world. I could have used the money Haripraksh Mishra gave me and become an actress way before I actually did, but I didn't. Why? Only because of you. I wanted to stay close to you."

He sniffled and stood up. "Stay away from my family and me." He ordered and began walking away from her.

"Please, Shaurya!" She screamed frantically and held his hand. "Please don't do this." She stood up and cupped his face again. "Can we forget all this and start again? I'll make you very happy that you won't even think of her. Just give me one chance. I love you so much. Even more, than Dhvani ever could. We can get married. Have babies. Travel, and so much more."

"Priya, leave my hand. I am really angry right now, and I don't want to do anything that I'll regret later." Shaurya snapped and tried to push her away.

"Why don't you understand?" She screeched. "I love you. I have worked day and night to get you to this position. All my dreams and aspirations I put on the back seat only for you. I wanted you to be happy." She babbled frantically. He couldn't understand half of the things she was saying and quite frankly, he didn't care either.

Shaurya fisted his hands and took deep breaths to calm himself down, but nothing seemed to be helping. The more he saw and heard Priya speak, the more angry he was getting.

She stepped away from him, feeling defeated by lack of reciprocation. Crying and wailing, she leaned against a wall. "What do I have to do to win your love, Shaurya? I haven't left a single stone unturned. I have tried everything to make you fall in love with me. I even lied to you that we slept together."

"You did what?" Shaurya asked, calmly. Almost too calmly.

She looked frightened as he waited for her to repeat her confession. He walked up to her, and she cowered in fear. Blocking her way, he repeated his question, curly. "That night, we... Nothing happened? You used my inebriated state to your advantage and lied to me."

When she didn't reply, he knew the truth. Stepping away from her, he covered his face with his hands for a minute and then placed them on his hips. "How could you?"

"Shaurya, everything I did-"

"You are disgusting." He roared. "I can't believe I considered you my friend." He opened the door.

"Shaurya-" her voice was feeble.

"I won't repeat it. Stay away from my family and me!" He screamed, making Priya flinch.

Ignoring the looks from the movie makers and house helps, he stormed out of the house. He didn't even register his journey towards his car. He got in and drove out of Priya's apartment building.

Parking the car in a dark, secluded street, Shaurya hit the back of his head against the headrest. He couldn't handle the weight of the truths he had learnt today. Everything was too much. His feelings of guilt, frustration, anger, confusion and even his love for Dhvani all merged and escaped his body through hot tears. With loud sobs and hiccups, he cried. Not caring who would see or what would happen if someone saw him in this manner.

☆▪︎▪︎▪︎☆

Dhruv stirred in sleep when he felt something ruffling his hair. He scrunched his nose to show his displeasure of being disturbed in his sleep. When he heard chuckles, his scowl grew deeper, but his eyes remained shut.

"Dhruv," Dhvani whispered into his ear. "Baccha, wake up."

Dhruv let out sounds of protest and turned over to sleep on his stomach.
"Then, I guess we'll cut and eat your birthday cake without you."

As soon as he heard that, he sprang up and sat up on the bed. All the sleep vanished as he looked around the room wide-eyed. Dhvani, Shaurya, Trupti and Lucky wore birthday hats, and everyone except Dhvani were holding wrapped presents in their hands. They all laughed at the speed Dhruv sat up.

"Happy birthday!" Dhavni said as she rained kisses on his face.

"Thank you, mumma!" Dhruv grinned at her and hugged her. "I love you!"

"Shaurya, you are here too!" Dhruv exclaimed and stood up on the bed and launched himself into Shaurya's arms.

"How could I miss your birthday?" Shaurya asked and kissed the side of Dhruv's head as he continued to hug him.

"Happy birthday!" Shaurya wished when Dhruv pulled back from the hug, but Shaurya was still carrying Dhruv.

"Thank you!" Dhruv gleefully replied as he stretched his arms in excitement.

Shaurya put Dhruv back down on the bed so he could walk to Trupti.

"Happy birthday, my hero!" Trupti said, cupping his face. "My little Sharukh Khan." She hugged and rocked Dhruv as she hugged him.

"Is it the game set I wanted?" Dhruv asked as he bounced a little on the bed when Trupti handed him a present.

"Happy Birthday, Dhruv." Lucky wished as he held out his gift.

Dhruv frowned as he looked down and the gift and then Lucky. "What are you doing here? You are not my friend." He said, making the other three adults in the room gasp.

"That's okay." Lucky stopped Dhvani, who was going to scold Dhruv. "We are not friends. Yet. But we can be. Right?"

Dhruv looked skeptically at the gift and debated whether or not to accept the present, but he finally took it and thanked Lucky with a smile.

"Come. Let's cut your cake, Dhruv. Lucky Uncle has bought such a nice cake for you." Dhvani said as she stood up. "Then, you have to get ready for school too."

That's when he realized something. Dropping all the gifts on the bed, he ran into the living room that was partly decorated as per the party's theme.

"Where is Papa?" He demanded as he looked around the room and even walked up to the main door to check if he was outside.

Dhvani and Shaurya exchanged a glance and then she spoke as she walked up to Dhruv, "We'll cut the cake first and then-"

Dhruv stomped his foot and shook his head. "I can't cut my cake without Papa! He'll be upset." He said adamantly.

Dhvani licked her lips nervously while Shaurya's heart pitter-pattered in anticipation and excitement.

Lucky cleared his throat and spoke, "I forgot something in the car. I'll go get it."

"I'll come with you to.... to help," Trupti said and followed him to the door after squeezing Dhvani's arm on her way out.

Shaurya and Dhvani sat on the couch beside each other while Dhruv watched them filled with anticipation. She patted on her lap, so Dhruv padded his way over and sat on her lap.

Brushing Dhruv's hair away from his forehead, she passed him a smile. "Mumma is sorry that it took me so long to tell you about your Papa." She said softly as she looked at her son in the eye. "But I wanted to keep it a surprise for your birthday."

Dhruv continued to watch Dhvani expectantly. "Dhruv," Dhvani took a deep breath. "Your Papa's name is Shaurya Gupta." She said.

Both Dhvani and Shaurya's heart began thumping in their chest, but they chose to ignore it. They didn't want to focus on anything except their son's reaction to the truth. They watched confusion and bafflement etched on Dhruv's face as his eyes oscillated between his mother and father.

"Wh-what?" Dhruv covered his mouth in surprise. "But? How? Shaurya is my Papa?"

Shaurya held Dhruv's arm and kissed his hand. "I am your papa, Dhruv." He affirmed.

Dhruv was silent, and his parents were beginning to get worried at the frown on his face. "Did you and mumma also get married?" He asked as he stood up and placed his hands on his hips. "Was Mumma also a bir...bride?"

"Of course!" Both Dhvani and Shaurya said in unison.

"Show me proof." He demanded.

Dhvani shook her head. This boy of hers was far too intelligent for his age, and sometimes she wondered if it was a good thing. "Papa doesn't have pictures. I'll go get them." Dhvani said and began getting up, but Shaurya stopped her by holding her hand.

"Papa has pictures," Shaurya announced and pulled out his phone. "See," he held it out in front of Dhruv.

Dhvani was pleasantly surprised that Shaurya had stored their wedding pictures on his phone.

Dhruv squinted as he focused on the phone.

"That it is me. That his your mumma. And these are your maasi and Lucky uncle." Shaurya explained as he pointed at the phone.

"But mumma doesn't look like that picture from the magazine that maasi was reading," Dhruv said as he grabbed the phone so he could get a closer look.

"That's because your mom doesn't need all that to look pretty," Shaurya said, winking at Dhvani, who rolled her eyes.

Dhruv returned Shaurya's phone and looked at him. "Do you have a picture with me when I was a baby like mumma has."

Shaurya and Dhvani looked uncomfortable and squirmed in their seats.

Dhvani held Dhruv closer to her and kissed his cheek. "Papa doesn't have pictures of you as a baby because he didn't know about you. We had a big fight before you were  born, and Mumma brought you here to live with maasi and Papa went to live in Delhi."

"Why did you have a fight?" Dhruv asked. "Was it because Papa didn't want me?"

"Dhruv," Shaurya and Dhvani said in horror. Where did kids learn these things?

"That's not true," Shaurya said, shaking her head. "Both Mumma and Papa love you a lot. And our fight was not at all because of you." Shaurya assured.

Dhruv's face turned thoughtful, and suddenly, he tugged at Shaurya's arm. Pulling him to a mirror on the wall. "Lift me up." He said as he held out his arms.

Once Shaurya did as Dhruv demanded, Dhruv leaned closer to the mirror to study their reflection. "Mumma said me and my Papa looked like, but we don't." Dhruv ran his little hands on Shaurya's beard. "You have a beard, and I don't." He grumbled.

"But even with that. Both of you are so similar." Dhvani said as she walked up to the father-son duo. "You both are allergic to pineapples.  You both don't like your food mixing. And you both have the same smile." She assured as she tried to get rid of any doubts Dhruv might have.

"But if you like, I can remove my beard," Shaurya said. "I want to look like my son."

Dhruv laughed when Shaurya nuzzled his nose against Dhruv's. "Really?" He asked, feeling shy all of a sudden.

"Really!" Shaurya replied immediately.

"Won't you call your Papa Papa? And give him a big hug?" Dhvani asked after a few moments.

Dhruv giggled and threw his arms around Shaurya's neck. "Papa!" He repeated and hid his face in the crook of Shaurya's neck. "I love you, Papa!" He said to Shaurya.

Shaurya was smiling, but he felt his vision to blur with tears. He vaguely saw Dhvani taking pictures of the father son's first official interaction. "I love you too." He said as his voice come out like a choked whisper. "I love you so much, my son. I love you so much." He said and continued to place kisses all over his face.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Shaurya kept repeating even as Dhruv laughed when Shaurya's beard poked him.

"Don't cry, Papa," Dhruv said as he wiped away Shaurya's tears.

"Papa, you won't leave me anymore, right? You'll stay with mumma and me, right?" Dhruv asked as his smile dropped, and he looked at his father in all seriousness.

Before either Shaurya or Dhvani could answer Dhruv's question, the main door opened and Trupti, along with Lucky, walked in. Dhruv wiggled out of Shaurya's hold and ran up to his aunt. "You know who my Papa is, massi?" He asked as he bubbled with excitement. "I'll tell you." He said even before Trupti could reply. "Shaurya is my Papa!"

The adults in the room watched in amusement as Dhruv ran around the room, yelling out that Shaurya was his father and time to time, he would stop to hug Shaurya around his legs and gleefully smile up at him.

Trupti brought out the cake that Lucky had bought after lighting up the number 7 candle. She placed the cake on the coffee table in front of which Dhruv was standing. Both Shaurya and Dhvani sat on their knees and flanked Dhruv while Lucky and Trupti sat on the couch beside each other so they could take pictures.

Dhruv grinned widely as he watched the adults to make sure they were all singing him happy birthday correctly.

"Yay!" They all said and clapped their hands when Dhruv blew out the candle after making a wish.

"First, give to your mumma," Shaurya instructed when Dhruv held out a piece of cake in front of him.

"No, first, Papa." Dhvani insisted when Dhruv twisted his body to feed his mother.

"Mumma!" Shaurya said, shaking his head and turning Dhruv's arm towards Dhvani.

"Papa!"

"Mumma!"

"Pa-"

They both stopped and began laughing when Dhruv ate the piece of cake himself.

"Happy birthday!" They said as they hugged and kissed Dhruv at the same time, helping Lucky and Trupti get the perfect family picture.

"Papa?" Dhruv asked as Dhvani wiped off the cake from around his mouth. "Will you drop me to school?"

Shaurya smiled and nodded despite Dhvani's warning glare. Partly because he wanted to do all the things for Dhruv that any normal and good father would do and partly because he wanted to Dhruv to call him Papa as much as possible, he didn't think that he would ever get tired of that word from  Dhruv's mouth.

"I can't wait to tell all my friends who my Papa is and how he'll be at my birthday party," Dhruv announced.

"Dhruv," Dhvani chuckled nervously and pulled him to sit in between her and Shaurya. "We have to keep your Papa a secret."

"Why?" Dhruv frowned in confusion. He couldn't understand why he was repeatedly being asked to keep his acquaintance with Shaurya a secret.

"Because Papa is the Maggi noodles man. Remember?" Shaurya asked, and when Dhruv nodded, he continued. "So if everyone finds out that I am your Papa, then they'll ask me to make Maggi, and then they'll take so many pictures of me, and I'll get tired. Would you like that?"

Dhruv diligently shook his head.

"Such a smart boy, our Dhruv, is." Lucky praised with a smile.

"And for your party in the evening. It will be and Maasi. Your Papa already celebrated your birthday with you right now. So in the evening, it will just be your friends. Okay?" Dhvani asked with a sweet smile.

At that point, Dhruv stood up. "Papa has to be at my birthday party. It is a rule. All my friend's Papa and Mumma both help them cut their cake. I want Papa at my party, and I told all my friends that he'd be at the party." He stomped his foot and began tearing up.

"Dhruv, you are a good boy, and good boys don't throw tantrums." Dhvani calmly explained. "Let's get ready for school, and your Papa will drop you, but he can't come to your party in the evening."

"Then, I don't want to have a birthday party!" Dhruv announced and burst into tears as he ran into the bedroom.

Dhavni and Shaurya clutched their heads.

Great! They had made their son cry on his birthday.