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Naina got out of the car as soon as they reached their destination and darted towards the mansion. She was still engrossed in rubbing her misty eyes carelessly until she stumbled upon a hard figure. She tried saving herself from falling until she raised her eyes to see a man's piercing gaze. Her eyes froze over like the surface of a winter puddle, staring at him as she felt an unusual warmth held in his orbs. The man held her before she could fall, still staring at her. "Have I seen you before?" He questioned like a whisper as his tone was laced with confusion.

Everything stalled for seconds as the man gaped at Naina. "Have I met you before?" He questioned again in perplexity.

"I don't know but I feel that we have met before. Are you a friend or some partner of Mr. Maheshwari?" Naina asked him.

"I am his friend as well as a business partner. I am not involved in mafias and all this stuff. What's your name, Miss?" He replied in a sober tone.

"Naina Sameer Maheshwari." Sameer replied on behalf of Naina as he held her by the waist. Naina stared at the man whose expressions drained from his face instead his mouth remained as an uncharacteristic grim line amid his stubble.

"Impossible."

"How's that not possible, Silva? She is Naina, my wife. We have been married for a month, right Khaza?" Sameer spoke while Naina bobbed her head agreeing with him.

"That's fucking not possible!" He yelled in response.

"How's that not possible? We are actually married. Now please don't say that  it was not a real marriage or I was already married to you before Mr. Maheshwari. I am really tired of all these revelations." Naina intervened. 

"I am the only husband you have Khaza," Sameer said sternly, "Silva let's get in the mansion first,we can speak later about this." He added not wanting to create a scene before his guards. Naina sat next to Sameer as the man sat before them. Maids served them snacks as well as drinks,which Naina refused politely.

"You should haven't joined us if you don't drink." The man snapped. Naina glanced at him but did not say anything against him as she did not want to be rude to 'guests'.

"When did you come back, Silva?" Sameer asked him.

"This morning, I came here as I had some tasks to be done." The man replied as he sipped his drink. Naina whined as Sameer took away the dessert from her plate.

"There is a lot more to eat than just these sweets." Sameer grinned, as she punched his chest.

"But I wish to eat that!" Naina yelled, trying to get the dessert back from him.

"Can't you use your inner voice? Yelling as a wretched kid." The man commented.

"It would be a great thing if you stop your unappreciated comments, as nobody here is interested in it. Dare you call me that, Mr. Silva." Naina snapped and snatched dessert from Sameer's hand. The man stared at her in disbelief and glanced at Sameer who had his signature smirk plastered on his face.

"I have some work lined up this week so I won't be there for hours or days maybe. Can I trust you with her, Silva? I know you are trustworthy and for Naina's security, you are the safest person whom I could think of." Sameer asked.

"I am not a kid that needs to be taken care of. I can take care of myself and this man, I am sorry but he is too irritating. I can't stand him even for a minute." Naina reverted in anger, glaring at the man.

"I just speak the truth, she behaved like a hooligan and that's what I said. It's you who have changed a lot." The man said, rolling his eyes as if he was stating a fact.

"Can you guys behave maturely? There's so much to do in life rather than fighting like idiots. He is elder to you, Khaza and that's not the way to speak to an elder person. You are being too sharp Silva. She's my wife, you can't speak to her like that." Sameer said, wiping his mouth with a tissue.

"You should have at least informed me about the marriage. Naina, don't you remember me?" He asked her as his tone had softened a bit this time. Naina shook her head in a way of no.

"It's the first time I am meeting you,which is truly unpleasant." Naina mumbled stuffing her mouth with food, not wanting to converse with him.

"Feisty and that seems cute." Mr. Silva said as he laughed. Naina pouted her lips in anger as she saw her husband too smiling at his comment.

"So funny, Mr. Silva." Naina uttered in response, using a babyish tone as she rolled her eyes.

"It's Xander D'Silva dear." He replied in a composed manner.

"Xan-der." Naina repeated his name.

"You can call me Xan." He said at which she nodded her head in a way of understanding.

"It's strange that you don't remember him, maybe because you were too young then. Silva will stay with us here till he completes his job, Khaza." Sameer spoke at which she bobbed her head, glancing at Xander trying to remember if she had seen him before.

"I am done, come to the terrace once you complete eating your food. We will just talk, you know, general talks as we always do. Naina you can join us if you wish to." Xander spoke with a genuine smile and walked upstairs towards his room. As soon as he left Naina tugged Sameer's arm.

"What?" 

"Who is he?" 

"He did introduce himself. Okay, let me repeat it for you. He's Xander D'Silva, a renowned businessman and my friend. He lives in Paris with his father and stays here whenever he comes for investigation of his company or if he has some dealings to be made in India. That's enough for you to know about him."Sameer replied curtly.

"How does he know me? Even I feel as if I have spoken to him before. His aura felt so safe to me but the way he speaks to me is too rude." Naina said.

"He isn't rude Naina. He can never be rude to you, maybe because he got to know about things in such a way so he reacted like that. I still remember how you used to follow him wherever he used to go, copying all his actions just like a kitten follows its mother. You will surely love his company but remember you belong to me." Sameer spoke sternly at which Naina hummed in response.

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When anxiety and fear grabbed him by the tongue, his voice no longer seemed to be composed. He untangled his hands from Shrikha's hold and stepped a few steps backwards. 

“I'm leaving you. We need to end this before things get worse.” The words came out soft, but their punch was anything but the air left his lungs in a single breath. Her lips quivered as words stalled in her mouth. She didn't say anything, only stared at him with those soft black eyes, her hands clenched at her sides. She pressed her lips together to suppress her cries. “You're leaving m-me, Kab-Kabir?” 

“I'm sorry,” He began, with a heavy voice. “But I can’t—with you anymore. I am sorry Shri..Shrikha” She stiffened as she listened to the words roll from his mouth. His eyes travelled from her shoulders to rapidly moving chest, then back to her eyes where he was held steady, even as they filled with moisture. 

“Was it because of something I said?” She paused, “Something I did?” She continued, her voice came out eerily calm. A sharp contrast to how she felt at the moment. 

“No, it’s not that.” He replied, averting his gaze.

She waited for seconds, then palmed her face. The crease between her brows deepened. The silence and tension between them expanded, taught like an overfilled balloon waiting to burst. He looked at her then and said, “I wanted it to be you.” 

 “So let it be me.” She uttered desperately.

Again, he shook his head, sealing his lips.

“There has to be an explanation,” she started gently, coaxing. “Why are you leaving me? Everything was just perfect then why are you doing this, Kabir?" 

"We can never be together. We just can't. You and I are really different and you won't accept me when you get to know about the truth. It's better to end this relationship. I am sorry for starting all this, I should haven't done this when I knew about the consequences. I am really sorry."

"Truth? Do you even know what you are speaking, Kabir?" 

"I know what I am doing is good for you. The guy who will win your heart would be so lucky." Kabir spoke, wiping his tears.

"And that person is you, idiot! Why can't you stay with me forever?" Shrikha said.

"We can't, Shrikha but we can be friends if you wish to be."Kabir replied with expectant eyes.

"Even you know we can't be just friends."

"I know how things end, Shrikha. I’ve seen what commitment leads to. Promising and committing is the easiest part. While it's the endings that suck. I don’t know how to say goodbye. I can’t think of any words, Shri..sorry Shri-Shrikha”

“Don’t try, Kabir.”

"Sorry."He mumbled as he brushed past her. She saw him leave, taking away a part of herself.

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"Amm..Hi!" Naina uttered but then bit her lip realising how stupid she was acting. She whined as Sameer hit her head slightly while Xander laughed seeing her cute antics.

"Seems as if Sameer has scared you by saying something regarding me." Xander laughed seeing her frightened.

"N-o he hasn't said any such thing to me," Naina replied.

"Come here Naina." He called her softly. Naina gulped in fear and glanced at Sameer who had already sat on the couch. She took baby steps and sat next to Xander.

"He won't kill you little kid." Sameer smirked seeing her hesitation.

"Quit smirking at me and I am not a kid. I am officially an adult." Naina reverted back.

"So does this beautiful adult like chocolates?" Xander asked her, handing a bar of chocolate.

"Thank you Xa-Xan!"Naina squealed and stuck out a tongue seeing Sameer. Sameer rolled his eyes and continued surfing on his phone.

"You liked it?" Xander asked.

"A lot!" 

"Does he treat you well?"

"Yes! He's too cocky, controlling and self obsessed. I noticed him checking himself a hundredth of times in the mirror. He behaves as if he doesn't care but he does." Naina whispered.

"Seems like you like him, huh?"Xander asked with a teasing smile.

"Nah, he likes himself too much for that, trust me."Naina noted with a serious face as if she was stating fact while Xander nodded his head in response.

"Do you like chocolates?"

"No."

"Have you ever played the game, The Run?"

"I don't get time to focus on anything other than my work." 

"Which genres do you prefer to read, Xan?"

"I don't read, dear. After I complete my work I tug into my bed."

"So boring! You are not at all crazy."
 Naina wailed as she pulled her lips into a pout.

"Sweetie, I am freaking insane. There's a lot which you don't know about me." Xander spoke as he pulled her cheeks.

"Naina, we have to visit an important place tomorrow. Silva, can you accompany us tomorrow?"Sameer asked.

"Where are you guys going?"Xander asked.

"It's important. I will inform you later."Sameer replied, eyeing Naina who was lost staring at the sky.

"Can't I visit them once, please?" Naina uttered with a hope that her husband would give in to her request.

"I can't let you go there, Naina."Sameer replied nonchalantly.

"Just for once. I promise I won't cry, be scared or harm myself. I want to meet them for the last time."She requested.

"Why don't you understand Naina? I can't take you there and even if I can, I would prefer not to take you to them. You need not be so concerned about them, they were not your real parents nor did they behave as one." Sameer yelled as he did not wish to take her to hospital. Naina hung her head, letting streams of brine roll down her cheeks. Xander's face had turned pale as he recollected Sameer's words. He glanced at Sameer, who simply blinked his eyes in assurance. He jolted as he felt a tender nudge on his palm. His face beamed as he noticed how she held his palm, as she used to do whenever she was upset.

Sameer, who had noticed this, got up from the couch and sat next to her. He pulled her gently towards him to which she did not resist. In that moment the arms squeezed a fraction tighter as Naina breathed more slowly letting her body melt into his embrace as every muscle lost its tension to the air. Xander sighed seeing him getting possessive.

After a few minutes, Sameer felt Naina cling to him as his hand reached her hairs to caress her eyes softly closed and her body became floppy still holding Xander's fingers in her fist. 

"Which place were you talking about Sameer and why do you want me to come along with you guys?" Xander asked him, lowering his tone as Naina was sleeping.

"I need to end something, which would hurt her. I trust you with her so I want you to be there with her till I complete my task." Sameer spoke as he caressed her plump cheeks.

"Why the hell are you doing such a thing that would hurt her? "Xander asked him.

"It's important Silva. I had made a mistake then but now I won't spare the life of that bastard!"

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