I took my special neem black coffee to the dining table and served it to my poor husband who was waiting impatiently to taste and enjoy my new recipe. He looked at the coffee and narrowed his eyes at me.

I hope he doesn't find out before drinking it. God, please make him take at least a sip before finding out about the coffee.

"Why is it looking in different colour?" He asked me, raising his eyebrow questioningly.

"Of course black coffee looks in black colour." I chuckled nervously and he again inspected the colour of the coffee.

"Ookkaaayy." He said being unsure and scrunched up his nose. "Hmm I don't feel like drinking black coffee now so I don't want this." He said, making me get disappointed. I was determined to make him drink the coffee so I pulled a sad face when I noticed Sam and grandpa looking at me.

"I made it with so much affection and you didn't even taste it for once. I'm really sad now." I said, showing my puppy face and everyone turned to look at me whilst my genius husband just rolled his eyes.

He was about to say something but grandpa beat him to it. "Veeranshu, look at your wife. She is sad now because of you. You are the one who asked for the black coffee so better drink it without throwing a tantrum." Grandpa ordered him and with no choice left, he agreed to drink it.

He took the coffee near his lips and I excitedly looked at him. He inhaled the fragrance and scrunched up his nose again. "It doesn't smell like a coffee." He shook his head and I made a sad face again.

"It's okay you don't have to force yourself. I made it excitedly but I know you don't prefer anything that I make." I tried to provoke him and as I expected, everyone encouraged him to drink the coffee without disappointing me.

"Okay, fine!" He said and took a sip. I expected him to spit it out the next second when the bitterness reach his tastebuds but what he did next made me gape at him with guilt and shock. He drank the whole coffee at one go and quickly drank the water from my glass to get rid of the bitterness.

You are so cruel, Bani. See he drank it all without disappointing you. How could you do this to such a gentleman?
My inner voice scolded me and I lowered my head with much regret.

Without saying anything, he got up from his seat and started to walk away but stopped after few steps and turned back to me. "Come to the room once you are done with your breakfast. I need your help in something." Saying this, he climbed the stairs and I sat back on my seat.

"Awww my bro is getting romantic nowadays!!" Roshan exclaimed in awe and the others chuckled at him. Grandpa and uncle left the table once they were done, leaving the youngsters and Sam there.

Shreya nudged her husband and gave him a wicked smile when he turned to her. "Abhi, do you need my help? Shall we go to our room?" She asked him straightforwardly and Sam palmed her face.

"No thanks. I gotta go now." Saying this, Abhi bro wiped his mouth and literally ran away from there making Shreya stomp her foot.

"Such an unromantic fellow." She muttered, earning a smack from Sam.

"Bani, go fast. My poor brother is waiting for you in your room." Anusha said teasingly and I quickly left the place by ignoring their laughters.

I entered the room to see my husband sitting on the couch with his phone. I walked to him and he looked up at me. He got up from the couch and threw the phone on it carelessly making me gasp. The next moment my breath hitched as he grabbed my waist and pulled me closer to him. "What did you mix in the black coffee, baby girl?" He asked calmly and I could hear my heart thumping rapidly.

"I-I am sorry... I didn't think y-you will fi-finish it even after tasting it. I j-just added some n-neem powder in it." I completed my sentence with heavy breaths as he was literally glaring at me angrily.

"Why did you add neem powder in it?" He asked in a serious tone and I gulped in fear as I went speechless all of a sudden. "Answer me. Why. Did. You. Add. It. In. My. Coffee?" He asked again, stressing each word he uttered.

"I'm sorry. I just did it for fun. I'm so sorry. I won't do it again." I apologized as tears formed my eyes looking at his heated stare on me. He cupped my face and wiped the lone tear that escaped from my eye.

"Why are you crying? Are you afraid of me now, baby girl?" He asked in his soft tone and I nodded at him. "Why? Do you think I'm going to scold you for what you did just now?" He asked and I nodded at him again. "I want your answer in words."

"Y-yes."

"But you are wrong, baby girl. I'm not going to scold you now." He said, making me breathe a sigh of relief but his next words made me gasp in fear. "I'm not going to scold you but I will punish you just the way I told you just now. Do you remember what I told you at the dining table?" He asked, tightening his grip around me when I tried to wriggle out of his arms.

"No, don't do t-that to....Ahhhhh!!" I shrieked loudly when he picked me up and threw me on the bed within a blink of an eye. My eyes widened when he started opening the buttons of his shirt without taking his eyes off mine. "What are you doing? Why are you taking off your shirt now?" Asking this, I tried to get up but he hovered over me with his knees on either side on my thighs without putting all his weight on me.

"Because I don't want to wear a shirt with wrinkles to the hospital, baby girl. We shouldn't let others to know what we're doing inside our bedroom." He winked at me and unbuttoned his shirt completely before taking it off his body. I gaped, seeing his naked upper body and he smirked at me, placing his shirt on the corner of the bed. "It's time for your punishment, my naughty kitten." He pinned my both hands above my head and leaned closer to me with a very dangerous look in his eyes.

"Veeranshu ji, look at the time. It's getting late for your duty." I tried to remind him so that he would leave me but then who am I kidding? That arrogant man pressed his muscular body against mine making me lose all my senses.

"Huh? Now you could pronounce my full name? I thought you never knew my full name till now." He mocked me and I looked at him pleadingly. "Nah, don't give me that look. As I said, it's time for your punishment baby. I'm going to eat you now." Saying this, he smirked at me and nuzzled my neck.

"Ahhhh!!" I groaned when he bit my neck. "Veeranshu ji, this is so wrong. You can't bite me like..... ahhh!" Before I could complete, I hissed when he bit me again.

"What, baby girl? You were saying something. Go ahead." He pulled back and looked at me with a satisfied smile on his face. I hissed again when he caressed the place he bit. "Mine." He whispered and smiled to himself.

This man is something else. I think he's off his nut today.

He tried to lean closer again but placing my palms on his chest, I pushed him away from me as something caught my eyes. He had a tattoo on his chest above his heart and I looked at it keenly. It was inscribed as Jaanu. I was about to touch it but he quickly moved away from me and started wearing his shirt back.

I had once seen him shirtless before this but how did I miss this tattoo?

He tried to leave the room without meeting my eyes but I was quick enough to grab his hand and stop him. "Who is Jaanu?" I asked and I didn't fail to notice how he went stiff hearing my question. "Who is Jaanu? Are you hiding something from me?" I asked him again. I tried to sound normal but deep inside my heart was breaking into pieces seeing someone else's name on my husband's chest.

"I will tell you later. I have to go now." Saying this, he jerked off my hand that was holding him but I stood in front of him and looked directly into his eyes which were looking down.

"Raise your eyes and look at me now!" I ordered him and he did as I said. I gasped when I saw tears in his eyes. "Just answer me this. Who is Jaanu?" I asked him, controlling the tears that were threatening to fall out my eyes seeing his vulnerable state.

Please don't tell me she is your girlfriend or ex-girlfriend to break my heart now.

I prayed in my heart but the next moment all my hopes crashed into a thousand pieces when he opened his mouth. "She is the love of my life." Saying this, he left the room and I fell on the floor as my knees gave up.

What???? The love of his life? Why did he marry me then? Why did he let me get my hopes high? He told me that he married me willingly. Was that all a lie?

Tears were flowing my eyes continuously and I felt a sharp pain in my head. I held my head with my both hands and laid down on the floor as the pain was getting unbearable. The throbbing pain in my head was slowly draining me of energy. Soon I started seeing all black and I closed my eyes, inhaling a sharp breath.

*****

I felt someone caressing my hair and I tried to open my eyes when I heard a voice. "She's waking up, Veer." It was Sam's voice. I forced to open my eyes as I felt my eyelids getting heavy. I saw Sam looking at me concernedly and beside her stood her son with his eyes focused on me. "Bani, are you alright?" She asked, caressing my hair but at that moment I felt angry with her. I wanted to ask why did she force her son to marry me when his heart and mind was preoccupied by someone else.

I pushed her hand away and tried to get up myself but fell back on the pillow, feeling a sharp pain in my head. "Bani, please don't strain yourself. You are feeling weak now. Don't take tension please. We will explain you everything later." She said making me glare at her.

"Isn't it too early to explain me, Sam? Why don't you both explain me after a few years so that it would be easy to break me apart after raising too much of expectations for my future with your son." I mocked her and she held my hand.

"Sweetie, please don't talk to me like this. We weren't trying to break you. It's just that he wanted to tell you everything after----" I interrupted her and continued.

"After making me get my hopes high, right? Congratulations!! You succeeded in it!" I glared at her son who was pleading me with his eyes.

"No, we didn't want to stress you as it's not good for your health to hear any shocking news now. We wanted to tell it to you gradually. Please trust my son, Bani. I promise you, he will never let you break apart even in his dreams." She reassured me and I chuckled at her sarcastically.

"Sam, do you understand what are you saying now? He was not having his ex-girlfriend or ex-crush's name tattooed on his heart but it belongs to THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE! Which means she is still there in his heart, right? Then what about me? I trusted you blindly and agreed to marry your son. I don't know anything about my past life! I don't know what happened in my life before that accident! I don't know if I was already married or not! I don't know to whom I lost my virginity! It's not an easy task for me to move on from my clueless past but I tried it for the sake of this marriage!! I wanted to give a chance to this relationship and I accepted him wholeheartedly as I don't have anyone else in this world except your family but now all that was a lie, right? I'm not in his life and I can never be in the future too. Why? Why did you all give me too many hopes? WHY??????" I shouted at them aggressively, breaking down in vulnerability in front of the people who lied to me. Soon I felt two arms wrapped around me when I was breaking down but I was not strong enough to push them away. I knew whose arms were they and I ended up crying more in his arms.

"Baby, please don't take tension. Just calm down please it's not good for your health. You are stressing yourself now. Please calm down. I swear I wasn't cheating on you. I promise you now, that person who made you cry like this will never ever come between us. She is no more in our lives. I'm all yours and you're all mine. Just give me a chance and I will prove it to you. Please just calm down now. Please baby girl." He pleaded me and I broke the hug to look at him.

"What do you mean by she is no more in our lives? You just told me that she is the love of your life, didn't you? She's still in your heart and how could you say you weren't cheating on me? I could never become the love of your life anymore right? Your heart belongs to her then what about me?" I asked, poking on his heart as I was feeling dejected and maintained some distance from him.

"No, please don't say like that. I wasn't cheating on you I swear. I will always be loyal to you till my last breath and I know we are sharing a sacred relationship so don't ever think that I would be cheating on you. It's only you who have preoccupied my heart and mind since the day we tied the knot. Please trust me in this." He pleaded me holding my hands and I sighed, not knowing what to say. I could see the honesty in his eyes while confessing his feelings to me and my heart refused to mistrust him.

"She is no more in your life, right? But what if she comes back in the future and claim you as hers?" I asked, swallowing a lump in my throat.

"She won't be back. I promise this to you, baby girl. It's only you and me for the rest of our lives." He assured me and I heaved a sigh of relief.

"Can I trust you? Are you hiding anything else from me?" I raised my eyebrow, giving him a cold look and he sighed, closing his eyes for a few seconds.

He shifted closer to me and cupped my face. "Just trust me, baby girl." Saying this, he kissed my forehead and I looked behind him to see Sam smiling at us.

"Oh thank God. I will bring the lunch for both of you now." She quickly left the room after saying it.

"Lunch? What's the time now?" I asked him.

"It's almost 12:47 noon." He answered, glancing at his watch.

My eyes almost popped out hearing him. "I was in unconscious state for more than 4 hours?" I asked him in disbelief and he nodded at me.

"Yes. I decided to be back to the room immediately after leaving you alone here as I felt it was not right to run away without giving you a proper explanation but unfortunately, you were already lying unconsciously on the floor when I was back. I'm so sorry for leaving you alone just now like a coward. I wasn't brave enough to look into your eyes and explain it to you." He apologised by lowering his head and I instantly cupped his face to make him look at me.

"It's okay, I trust you now but please don't ever break my trust in the future." I told him and he nodded at me. "You will always be with me till my last breath, right? You won't leave me alone like how I was left alone after that accident?" I asked him and he shook his head no.

"I will always be with you till my last breath, baby girl. Even if I die before you, I will always make sure my soul to be around you all the time." He said, making me chuckle remembering about my devil.

I was about to say something but Sam came back with a tray of two plates. I just turned away from her as I was upset with her for hiding the most important thing from me. She tried to speak to me but I excused myself from there and went into the washroom to wash my face.

When I returned back, I saw only my husband there in the room. He saw me and gave me a small smile which I returned him in the same manner. He fed me the lunch and ate himself before giving me my medicines to reduce my headache. He came back after returning the plates in the kitchen and laid beside me on the bed.

"How's your headache now?" He asked, massaging my scalp and a moan escaped from my mouth with delight.

"It's better now. Just keep doing like that." I guided his hand to the place where it was paining a bit more and he chuckled before massaging there.

Hello sweethearts 💜 How's the chapter today? So finally Bani got to know about Jaanu 😁

And I'm sorry if I had disappointed any of you who expected Bani to react more when learning about his past love. Actually I just don't want to create any scene now as it's just the beginning. She needs to learn a lot more about his past life so let's save some drama for the future 😂♥️