° ° °

It was nearly eight-thirty in the morning when varun got a call from shraddha and she had asked him to come there as soon as possible. Without wasting any second he rushed out of the house and took off in his car.

Though she didn't tell him what was the emergency but by her voice he could tell that it was something really serious and right then he didn't want anything else but to reach the hospital.

Upon reaching the hospital, he hurriedly reached the second floor and saw shraddha sitting there, her head hung low and the tears that escaped her eyes were dripping on her hands leaving wet traces.

"Shraddha." he approached her and bent down in front of her, placing his hands on her knees gently.

"He's... gone." she told him, her voice somewhat trembling.

"What? But... I'm sorry." he said as he held her hands in his.

"Don't be. I'm glad he didn't fight to live. Who even wants to live in a world like this?" she let out a chuckle.

"It's good that he's gone. I bet life after death is so much peaceful then this one." she said wiping away her tears and he just kept staring at her.

"You're right. But not for everyone. Only people with good deeds deserves a better afterlife. Others like me don't even deserve anything." he replied and she looked at him.

"You know, you can't wear this mask of the bad guy for your whole life. All mask fall off at the end of the story. And then people will see how much of a good guy you are." she told him and he shook his head with a chuckle.

"Even if I'm, I don't want people to see it." he said.

"Why not?" she asked.

"Because if you're a good guy, they'll expect good deeds from you and I'm afraid that it's too much to give that it'll leave me all drained." he replied.

"Sometimes you just gotta give everything a chance." she said and he nodded.

"I wanna go home." she told him as they both got up.

"Alright, let's go home." he held her hand but she quickly moved it out of his grasp.

"No. I wanna go home. My - home." she told him and he looked at her.

"But... But... Rhea... She is looking forward to see you at home." he stuttered.

He knew he was being selfish and using Rhea in this situation wasn't right but honestly he was just scared of loosing her. With her father now dead, the deal didn't mean anything.

"I'm sure you can manage her varun. I just need some space." she said.

"For how long?" he couldn't help but ask.

"I don't know... Maybe few days or even weeks. I just have a lot on my mind right now and I don't think I can deal with it with all this chaos. I just need a little time." she explained and he nodded.

"Okay. Come, I'll drop you on the way. I'll send your clothes and essentials through driver, later. I.. I'll be waiting in the car." by saying he left the place.

"Kartik, it's been half an hour now. Can you atleast tell me where are we going? I don't even know if I'm dressed according to it." Sara whined.

"You wanted me to propose you in a good way right? So be patient." he told her with a smile.

A few more minutes into the drive and they finally reached the destination. Kartik got out off the car and Sara followed him behind.

"Who's house is this, kartik?" Sara asked in a low voice.

"Mine." he replied and she frowned at him.

"No. It's not. You live in an apartment." she said as they reached the front door of the house and Kartik rang the bell.

"Just wait, will you?" he told her and she shook her head in annoyance.

The door opened and there stood a old lady in her mid-fifties. She immediately embraced kartik in a warm hug and Sara looked on.

"Ma, this is Sara." he introduced her to his mother making Sara's eyes widened in shock.

"Sara.... I've been wanting to meet you for so long." she exclaimed and excitedly hugged Sara and she reciprocated.

"Ma, won't you let us in the house?" kartik questioned with a chuckle.

"Array... Of course. Come in children." she said with a smile as all three of them made their way to the living room.

"Mmm.... I smell lasagna... Dad's cooking right?" kartik asked, taking in the odour.

"Yeah, he's in the kitchen." his mother replied with a chuckle.

"Sara come, sit with me here." the old-lady patted the sofa and Sara nervously sat there.

"Kartik was right. You're very pretty." she said patting Sara's cheeks lightly.

"Thank you aunty ji." she blushed at the complement and Kartik winked at her.

"Lunch is ready!" kartik's dad came out of the kitchen and announced.

"Thank God, I'm starving!" kartik exclaimed as they all made their way to the dining area.

"Here you go, we are here!" Varun said as he stopped the car in front of shraddha's house.

"You can message me the things you need and I'll send them through driver." he told her and she looked at him.

"Varun." she called his name causing him to look at her.

"Thank you." she told him with a half smile and he just stared at her. She waited for his response but he just kept looking at her blankly.

"I - I guess, I should go...." she couldn't complete as he immediately hugged her, catching her off-guard.

It took her a moment but she hugged him back, taking in the moment as his grip got tighter around her she buried her face in his shoulder as tears started brimming for some unknown reason.

"You're gonna come back, right?" he asked as he pulled her more closer mindful of the space between them.

"I will." she replied and separated herself from him causing him to sit straight.

"Tell Rhea I'll miss her. Bye!" she said and got off the car.

He watched her go inside the house and she didn't look back at once. Don't know why, but he felt like everything was slipping from his hands. He wanted to stop her but he couldn't, because what authority does he have over her?

For once in his life he wanted everything to be perfect but the more he was trying to hold things together, the more they were slipping away.

Though he doesn't admit but deep down in his heart he knew very well that their is definitely something between him and her. Something he's not willing to lose at any cost.

° ° °