Anya was folding her clothes and keeping in the wardrobe when the door knob clicked.

Laksh entered, with his laptop bag in hand and kept the bag on the table. He was always meticulous and punctual, she'd observed since the past few days. He always went on time to his office and came back at the exact same time.

"Did you have dinner?"she asked quietly as he removed his tie "I already had" he answered. This wasn't the first time; he hardly had dinner at home, she thought wondering.

He took his evening clothes and walked into the bathroom. She continued her chore, hardly bothering him. She knew he wasn't ready for this relationship and neither was she, but it wouldn't hurt to at least develop some amount of mingling between them, she thought tightly.

Even though they shared the same bed, he wouldn't spare a glance at her, only talking when necessary, that too in monosyllables. It's because of her, Anya thought about her cousin. Talking about her had opened up the old wounds.

He came out of the bathroom, looking fresh. She glanced sideways at him and continued her task. He opened his laptop and sat across the desk.

"How was your day?"she asked, unable to stay uptight. "It was okay" he replied, his eyes locked to the screen. "I..had..a talk with Lekha, she told me she's.. "

Her words were cut short "I'm a little busy..can we talk a little later?"he wasn't even looking at her. Sudden anger filled her "did I do something?" she snapped.

He turned "why? What's wrong?" She walked closer to him "you!"she glared "you are what's wrong!" To her surprise he didn't seemed to be bothered by her outburst, he appeared calm "what did I do?"

"Can it hurt for you to be a little friendly?"she frowned "even if we don't have anything between us, we can still be humane to each other, can't we?"

He gave a lopsided grin "fine" he swirled his chair in her direction "how was your day Anya?" She stared at him with her nostrils flared "I.. it wasn't good"she narrowed her eyes.

"Still not talking to your mother?"he rolled his eyes. She blinked, then realized what he said "you? How do you.."she shook her head in disbelief "you eavesdropped on me!"

He shrugged "you were a little loud" he said in a matter of fact tone "why don't you talk to her again?"

She ignored that "none of your business". He got up from the chair to where she was sitting "I'm sure she has your best interests at heart".

She gazed into his eyes "yeah, emotional blackmail is always one of her best interests" she seethed. He didn't smile "why are you blaming her?"

"You think what she did was right? She literally controls my life, ever since my father.." Anya stopped as tears came slowly from her eyes "I'm sorry".

He pulled her to his arms, she didn't stop him "she doesn't even care about my feelings, she.." he stroked her hair softly "I miss her...she's all I have..I.. love her..it's just..I feel I have no one now".

"You have me...humane or not" he joked. She forced a smile "just a little bit". He held as she cried in his arms; she probably needed this, he thought.

Anya relaxed in his arms, feeling a lot lighter than she had been in days, "you asked me the other day if I miss Riya" he said suddenly.

She slowly looked up at him, he wiped her tears, "I miss her very much, but I've decided to let her go. Thinking too much of the past will not change anything, it only acts as a barrier for the future" he sighed "but I do miss her, every single time, and I'm trying to forget her, what she did to me. I know it's not easy but I will try. Just like you should talk to your mother and reconcile".

Anya nodded, realizing she was still hugging him. She suddenly let go him slowly "I.. we should sleep probably. It's..late" she avoided his gaze.

He went on to say something but stopped "yeah..I guess". He leaned towards the bed and had his back turned on her. Anya went to sleep, with a fleeting feeling that she shouldn't have asked that question about Riya in the first place. The answer somehow bothered her immensely, not knowing why.

◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

Sarita packed her bags, keeping everything ready. She took her cellphone and checked for any calls from her daughter but there were none. A small tear appeared on her face which she wiped immediately.

It was time to go, the train would leave in another hour or so, she thought. "Did you call Anya?" Devika entered the room, finding her there.

"No" Sarita shook her head "she doesn't want to talk to me". Devika patted her shoulder "I'm sure her anger must have gone now, we know Anu, she won't be angry for long".

Sarita gave a long sigh "this time I really hurt her" she cried slowly "all I ever wanted was her happiness, and she never realized that".

"She'll be fine there" Devika said, "at least you know where your daughter is". Sarita smiled ruefully "my heart says Riya will come back to you, just keep faith".

"Even if she does, will it suffice all the things that she did to bring down our reputation?" Devika said, anger in her voice "we gave her enough freedom, so she could get away with everything".

Sarita looked at her "don't be hard on yourself, things will be okay in the end, you'll see". Devika nodded, "I'll call Anu, she'll talk".

Sarita held her hand "let's give her some time, what we did to her isn't right after all, under the circumstances"she got up, "she blames me for her father's death".

Her sister gave a look of disbelief "what?didn't you tell her?" Sarita forced a smile "no, I couldn't. I don't want to tarnish the image she has of her father, let her think of me as a bad person that I am; I can live with that, rather than the truth which will break her heart".

As she started crying, Devika held her "it's time for me to go" she said, composing herself. "I'll call the driver to take your things".

"Take care of my daughter" Sarita said. Devika nodded, hugging her sister one last time before she left.

◇◇◇◇◇◇◇
Riya looked out of her apartment, at the snow filled streets and hugged herself, clad in a leather jacket. She always liked winter in London, it was her favorite season of the year.

She sipped the hot cappuccino slowly and let her mind drift back to her family back home. After she'd barely escaped her cousin from the mall, she had made her way straight to the airport, passport already in hand.

She wished she could have called her mother once, wondering what must have happened in her absence. She hadn't contacted anyone, scared that she could be caught.

She thought of her parents, they must have panicked. But since she'd left a text message to Anya, they would know she was fine but ran away from the wedding. She felt guilty for leaving things like that, without a clue.

She thought of Laksh and her heart missed a beat; he must have been devastated. She wished she could tell him why she had to make such a huge decision but fear got in her way. He would never have agreed, she knew that.

She hardly spared a thought for her cousin whom she'd used as a pawn in her escapade. Of course, they must have scolded her, one or two and then she could have gone back to being a nobody in her tiny little town.

Anya wasn't the one she was bothered about; in fact she didn't even care. It was her patents and Laksh, the people whom she loved.

"What are you doing?" She turned to see her friend Manvi gazing at her. "Thinking about home" Riya said, thoughtful "I wonder what they must be doing now".

It was Manvi who had took her in, only she knew about the plan. "Relax, you did the right thing" Manvi said "you had no other choice".

Riya shrugged "you think Laksh would ever forgive me?" Manvi smiled "come on, it's Laksh we're talking about, you know how crazy he is about you, of course he will!" Riya nodded, hoping everything would turn out well.

Destiny had other plans.

Author's note:

I've only put the sample chapters as I've published the ebook on Amazon kindle..(link on my profile page)

I've planned to publish the paperback version too..but coming soon...(I'll inform as soon as it's available on print :)

Thank you for your support and love ❤❤❤