Shehnaaz hugged the corpse of Somesh and cried a lot.

"It was the best day of my life in this house eversince your daadi left me."

Those were his words yesterday before he went to take his late afternoon nap.

She tried calling Sidharth, who declined her call few times. She called his secretary and asked her to give the phone to Sidharth urgently.

"...Do y'all realise what this mistake could cost us? I am starting to doubt that whether I work with professionals or some mental retards...", Sidharth was yelling out at his employees in frustration. He had not eaten food nor slept since yesterday morning.

He looked at Lilly, who knocked at the boardroom door.

"What?", He barked

"Sir, Mrs. Mittal is on call. She said it's very urgent.", Lilly said in a scared tone.

"Arggghhhh..", he screamed and went out to attend the call.

"Saxena, don't you understand that I am busy even after declining your calls so many times. Is the world coming to end that you are continuously disturbing me?", He screamed into the phone totally frustrated while standing outside the boardroom door.

"Yes, it is Sidharth! It is the end of world for your daddu. If you have sometime off from your important work then consider to pay him a last visit, else you might have forgotten that I am a not a Saxena but Mrs. Mittal now. And as your better half, I will myself do the tasks which were supposed to be done by you.", Yelled back Shehnaaz with painful yet annoyed tone, unable to take his negligence any more.

"What are you speaking? I didn't understand.", He said in a lowered tone.

"Yes, you did Sidharth. Daddu is no more. Deal with it.", She said before disconnecting the call.

"Hello.. hello.. ", muttered Sidharth and looked at the phone, trying to digest the news that his wife broke to him. He rushed towards the parking lot and got into the car to drive back to Mittal house.

"Hello.. papa.. Mittal daddu..", Shehnaaz broke down into tears yet again.

"Hello.. hello.. Shehnaaz.. Beta what happened?", Asked her father on the other end.

"Mittal daddu left us all.", She sulked.

"Oh God!! Shehnaaz, control yourself and please take care of Sidharth. Will be there soon.", Said her father.

"Hmmm..", she hummed not letting her father know that Sidharth wasn't even there with her at the moment.

"Papa.. please don't break this news all of a sudden to daddu.", Shehnaaz said

"I know Beta. I will say he isn't well.", Said her father before disconnecting.

"Who isn't well Santosh?", Inquired Ramesh occupying his chair in the hall with his cup of coffee.

"Aaa... Babuji.. Somesh Chachu.. he isn't well", fumbled Santosh.

"Oh no! Surely that rascal must have eaten too much of pineapple pastry. Santosh, please call an auto quickly. I need to see him and scold him. If he starts troubling my newly married grandchildren like this, how would they give us our great grandchild?", He murmured in frustration and got up from his seat with the support of his trembling cane to go to his room. His heartbeats were high and at the back of his mind, he offered prayers to the God, that he believed, for his friend's wellbeing. He stopped at his room door and turned around.

"Santosh.. wait a minute. No need to call the auto. I am not going to Mittal house.", Declared Ramesh.

"Why babuji?", Asked Santosh.

"That rascal is playing an emotional trick on Sidharth and Shehnaaz for a grandchild. We had already planned it earlier even before their marriage.", Whispers Ramesh and giggles.

"Idiot! He could have given me a heads up atleast before pulling the prank. I was palpitating in tension.", He murmurs shaking his head in disbelief.

"No.. no.. babuji.. it isn't a trick.. he.. he is no more.", said Santosh.

"Don't teach your father. I know my buddy, Somu better than you. He is one hell of a player.", Said Ramesh and laughed nervously to convince his heart that what he was saying would be true.

Santosh starts sulking approaching closer to Ramesh who gets the message very clear. The cane in his hand slipped and his weak knees were now supported by his son's embrace. He was numb and no words flew from his mouth.

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Sidharth's heartbeats were rising higher as he approached closer to Mittal house. The huge gate was open ajar and he could now see an ambulance and police vehicles standing outside. All the way, he was consoling his heart to believe that it might be some prank by his daddu and wife to teach him a lesson for being away for over 24 hours from home without informing, but those emergency vehicles broke his heart into infinite unrepairable pieces. He cursed himself for not being with his daddu at the time or for not having seen him for over 48 hours because it was late midnight when he arrived home the day before.

He parked the car and walked inside the mansion blankly. Shehnaaz's uncle placed his hand over his shoulder from behind and he turned around to look at him.

"Daddu?", Said Sidharth in a choked voice.

"Console yourself Sidharth. Come.", He said taking him to the place where the corpse of Somesh was kept.

He looked around at a police official scribbling on a file, while the two men dressed in white waited for his approval to pick the body and take it to hospital for the post mortem. The entire Saxena family and Solankis were already present.

Ramesh, sat beside the corpse holding his best friend's lifeless hand in his hand. He was totally numb as if he was missing a part of his soul. Shehnaaz, whose head lied on Ramesh's lap, stared at Sidharth blankly with her reddened hollow eyes. He wondered how long his newly wed wife would have cried alone that her eyes were now dry yet held the pain.

His focus shifted to the table on which he saw his daddu's favourite pineapple pastry lying untouched. He looked at the bed on which his lifeless daddu's body was resting. Tear droplets held by his eyelashes started it's journey towards the south and scattered on the exquisite marble floor. He went and sat beside the body and held it's other hand in his hand and sulked silently.

"Daddu, I am sorry.", He mumbled in guilt that he carried all the time.

Every drop of tear they all shed had a tale to tell. Ramesh had lost his childhood and childishness with his childhood best friend, Sidharth had lost his strong shelter which guarded him all these years when he had none of his parents to care or love and Shehnaaz had lost an important person in her new home who she treated like her own child.

The two men dressed in white picked up the body and placed it on the stretcher. The silent sobs were converted into loud cries as they picked up the body and took it to the ambulance. Sidharth, Shehnaaz and Solanki silently followed them and soon there was a pool of media officials who surrounded them from all the sides.

"Sir.. Sir.. What is the cause of Mr. Somesh Mittal's demise?", Asked one.

"We've heard from a close source that Mr. Somesh Mittal had called off your marriage 1 day before. Wasn't he happy with your marriage with Ms. Shehnaaz?", Asked another.

"Mr. Sidharth Mittal, do you think the news of Mrs. Shehnaaz Mittal's affair with her alleged boyfriend Anshul, could have been a cause of Mr. Somesh Mittal's death?", Asked another.

Sidharth was shocked to hear such baseless and lewd question from media about his wife. He glared at the journalist who asked such question.

"Sidhaaarth", Shehnaaz grabbed Sidharth's arm tightly so that he doesn't react in haste.

He stared at her whose eyes were glued to the ground while her hands dragged him towards his car.

"Sir, do you also believe Mrs. Shehnaaz Mittal had brought a bad omen to Mittals?", Asked another journalist.

He gritted his teeth and glared at him but Shehnaaz pulled him towards the car's back door. She pushed him inside on the backseat and got into the car from the other side. The driver drove behind the ambulance.

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To be continued.. ❤️❤️