Thanks for the overwhelming votes!

"I love you Dev..."

"I love you too............I'll never let anything happen to you again. This is my promise.... You are my everything Sonakshi. If anything ever happens to you, I will never be able to survive....."

--------------------------

Dev squirmed in his place as his back ached due to the uncomfortable position he was sleeping in. He ignored the pain and woke up when he saw Sonakshi sleeping soundly next to him. He hoped that she was fine. The pain which he felt when Sonakshi fell, hurt him more than he could ever imagine. He went through hell. He wondered how Jatin and Pooja went through that kind of pain when they witnessed her suicide. He had tried asking Sonakshi about her suicide attempt once. But she's still reluctant to open up to him about anything.

Dev had tried finding everything about Sonakshi's past but it was all a waste of time. Yesterday, she had confessed that her fall was not an accident... But why? Who would even try to do this to her when she was at home? Kichu? Of course not. He was such a loyal servant to them ever since he was born. Maybe she should have said that due to shock. He just hoped that she did not mean it.

While he was drowned in his own thoughts, his phone rang.

"Hello! Dev. You have to come to office today. There are some important things you need to deal with. Please... come soon." Nisha spoke in a panicked tone.

"What's wrong? Is everything ok?" he asked , but before she could answer, the phone line went dead.

Shit!

He tried calling her again but it was of no use... Her phone was unavailable. Placing the phone down he sat back in the bed.

He blinked down in surprise at the woman he held in his arms the whole night. Her head was resting on his biceps. As he tried to release his arms, she sighed and cuddled deeper in his embrace as her face pressed his upper arms.

His heart did a strange flip inside his chest. That strange feeling of belonging settled in the pit of his stomach like it always did when she was near him. The scent of her perfume surrounded him as the softness of her curves rested against the hardness of his body.

Reaching out, he gently tucked a small curl that had escaped from her tight bun behind her ear. His hands trailed down her face lightly, savouring the feel of her silky skin against his fingertips before letting them rest on her neck where he had marked her. The mark to show the world that she was taken and only his.

He didn't want to wake her up. So, without disturbing her sleep, he slowly walked to the washroom and freshened up before getting ready for work.

Sona's POV

When I woke up, I noticed that Dev wasn't near me. My heart started beating faster as all the memories of last night flashed across me. Dev had never left me in bed alone. It was always me who woke up first. Then why did he leave so early today? Shit, is something wrong? Probably I overslept, didn't I?

Brushing away my thoughts, I walked out of the bed and realized that I was only wearing a shirt of Dev's and a loose pants. The smell of his shirt made me feel his presence near me. I smiled at the thought and walked inside the washroom. Memories of our shower last night, flashing by.

I didn't know what happened yesterday. I was totally traumatized by that fall that maybe my mind had deleted a part of its history. But now, thinking about the shower just caused goosebumps on my skin. I ignored those thoughts and took a fresh shower.

When I came out, I saw my breakfast served inside my room. Kichu informed me that Dev had instructed him to serve all my meals inside my room. Although I was touched by his gestures, I knew that I couldn't be sitting at home all day and wasting my time. So, I informed him that it wasn't necessary and I will come down for lunch. My back was still hurting a bit but it wasn't as bad as last night. Hopefully it gets better by this week...

When I walked down to the kitchen, I saw Ishwari busy preparing lunch. When her eyes met mine, she stood still. Her eyes reflected some shocked expressions.

"Urm... How are you feeling now?" she asked with hesitation while I just nodded meekly.

"Better... I think the painkillers helped me." I trailed, not knowing what else to say.

Unable to stand the awkwardness, I decided to go ahead and help out in preparing lunch. Surprisingly, my mother in-law didn't even insist for me to take a break. In fact, she threw all the work to me!

Just as I was busy with my work, I heard the faint sound of my my phone ringing from my room. Without delaying, I ran to my room and attended the call. I knew it was Dev. I was expecting his call since morning.

"Hello Dev..."

"Sona, are you feeling better now?" his voice was calm and soothing to her ears.

"Dev.... Why did you leave so early? Did you know how panicked I was? Anyways, when are you coming back? Dev-"

"Chill...chill...now tell me how are you feeling first and then...I will answer all your questions!" he answered.

"I am feeling fine Dev." I sighed.

"Ok...listen...you were sleeping so peacefully just now, so I didn't want to wake you up. That's why I left office early. I was informed that there's some problem in the office that's so I had to leave urgently. Actually, there's something important I I wanted to tell you...." He said sounding stressed.

"What?"

"Sonakshi, I think there is some problem in your department.... We may need you back here as soon as possible...." He said. Something about his tone was bothering me. I knew something bad was going on but he wasn't telling me anything yet.

"Dev.... What's the problem? Tell me na! Do you need me to come over there now?" I asked as fear gripped me.

"No...not today. Take some rest Sonakshi. I will talk to you later at home." He said and was about to cut the call when I interrupted.

"Wait.... Are you coming back for lunch?"

"No.... I will be back only for dinner. You have your lunch first, okay? See you." he said and hung the phone immediately.

Now what is wrong again? My head started spinning and I decided that I shouldn't think about anything else anymore. The more I think, the more it was going to hurt me.

Suddenly, I realized that no one was at home. Ishwari was missing. Neha was out and surprisingly even Radharani mami was not seen in the house. I felt extremely bored. How am I going to spend the whole day here without doing anything?

Just when I was in my dream land, the whole house reverberated with ear-splitting sound of laughter and chatting. I turned and looked at the huge crowd entering the house. Leading them, I saw my great mother in law and the world-famous mami ji!

Did they drag everyone from the streets to celebrate post Diwali in our house?

"Sonakshi beta.... See, this are all our friends living in this city. They couldn't come to our house yesterday. So... please go and prepare lunch and sweets for them!" Ishwari said in an authoritative tone.

WTF?

It was as if the impact had knocked every wisp of air from my lungs as I stood there struggling to inhale, to exhale or to do anything. That's how I felt at that moment. Trying to remember how to breathe, unable to speak, totally stunned as her demand bounced around inside my skull. How could I prepare lunch for so many people when I could not even walk properly? Was she mad or was she trying to test my patience?

"I am sorry but I don't think I can prepare anything today. You should have told me that there were guests today. I wasn't prepared. Maybe we could order from outside...." I told politely although it was obvious that I was gritting my teeth.

Ishwari's face showed pity for a few seconds before they turned cold again. Her insecurities over her son had even made her into a heartless person. She knew that they were torturing me for no reason. But the fact that her son was distancing himself from her, pained her. She believed that Nisha would be a more compatible partner for Dev and for the family. She felt like I was the sole reason of her dreams being crashed.

"What do you mean by you can't? Remember, you are a daughter in law of this family and you should be able to do everything. We didn't get you married to Dev to just sit down and enjoy the luxuries!" Radharani spat harshly while Ishwari just gulped and nodded in agreement.

"Oh really? When I was cooking the whole day yesterday, what was your adorable daughter doing? Hmm... let me think... Oh yea, she was painting her nails, right?" I asked Radharani as her jaw dropped in shock.

"How dare you talk about my daughter?" she gritted

"And how dare you planned to make me fall yesterday?" I spoke bravely as both Ishwari and Radharani stood stunned.

"WHAT?.....Whh...what do....you..." Ishwari stumbled. By now, I had expected only mami to be part of this but now, it was clear that my dear mother-in law had a hand in it as well. I looked at both of them in a pain-stricken face and walked away to my room. Once I reached my room, I closed the door with a loud bang!

Oh my god...Dev! Please come back..... before something really happens to me....

I sat down and closed my eyes in pain. I had no other way out. Think... Sona think! What can be done? What should I tell Dev? Will he believe? He has to believe!!!! God... What if he doesn't trust me again? Just as I was thinking, I saw our wedding picture on the table beside the bed.

I held the picture and traced the outline of his face. My lungs struggle for breath against ribs of stone and my feet have lost their strength to stand as I whispered the words to his picture.

"Before I met you my heart was soft and innocent....... with you it became strong and vibrant. When you left, it became rough and shady.... But now, it is simply broken."

*End of POV*

Sonakshi sat down. She felt like she had no energy in her to fight back with them. Her in laws were too cruel and she felt like a weak person in front of them. Time was passing so slowly. She didn't even have her lunch as all the lunch, was finished by the guests. She was hungry and tired. Suddenly her back pain started to kick in and she collapsed in her bed.

Evening she heard the sound of a car parking and she quickly rushed down, expecting it to be Dev. But when she went down, all she was met with was disappointment, because the person downstairs wasn't Dev. It was Jay who entered the house with his laptop bag.

"Hi Sonakshi beta! How are you now?" he asked her as she smiled thinking that there was at least someone in the house, who was genuinely concerned about her.

"I am fine dad. How are you? Is everything fine?"

"Everything is fine dear..... and I know you are waiting for Dev." he smiled warmly making Sonakshi choke on her words.

She didn't know what to say. She felt like crying out her heart to someone. But she didn't want anyone to think that she was a weak person who could not even handle a proper married life.

"Yea...he said he will be coming late." Sonakshi managed to say those words bravely.

"You can tell us if there is something Sonakshi. We are like your parents too. I know Ishwari is a bit harsh on you at times.... But don't worry. She is actually nice. She will change. She is not as bad as you think. She initially wasn't happy with the marriage but she is slowly accepting it now. Moreover, we have such an understanding daughter in law like you, I know everything will be fine." he said as Sonakshi just smiled sadly at him while he kept on talking.

Little did he know....that his wife was capable of almost killing a person.

It was dinner time but both Nisha and Dev were not back yet. Hunger killed Sonakshi, but she didn't feel like eating until Dev was back. Neha and Jay requested Sonakshi to eat first but she insisted that she wanted to wait for Dev to be back. Sonakshi decided not to call Dev as she knew that he was already busy with work.

Time passed and it was reaching midnight. Her eyes were sleepy due to the lack of rest. She went to the kitchen and tried finding some fruits to eat on the meantime.

Just as she was about to grab an apple, she felt a hand clamp over her shoulder in that half unconscious state. The moment she felt the touch, she immediately panicked. Just as she was about to fall down, the person held her waist and their eyes locked.

"I promised you that I will never let you fall, didn't I?" he spoke huskily as Sona's eyes widened.

"DEVVVV" she screamed in delight as she jumped away and hugged him with all her might. She controlled her urge to cry in his arms.

"Sonakshi..... Baby what's wrong. Its ok...I am here. I'm sorry that I couldn't inform you. My phone was with Nisha and she was speaking to a client on behalf of me. I am really sorry....... Wait have you eaten?" he asked as he soothed her back while his other hands were buried in her hair.

"No..." she spoke apologetically as his eyes widened. He pulled away from the hug and stared at her.

"Why sweetie?"

"Dev, I was waiting for you..... I missed you" she said and she hugged him again.

"Sorry jaan, I had a hard day at work." he mumbled as Sonakshi suddenly felt guilty. She felt like she was always busy thinking about her problems and expecting comfort from him instead of asking him how his life was.

Of course, life as a CEO wasn't an easy one. He had to deal with lots of workload and pressure. After a long day, he would have expected some love and care from his wife. But here, she was sulking and being ridiculous, she thought to herself.

After noticing her face drop, he pulled her closer and joined their foreheads together.

"What's wrong love?" he asked softly.

"Dev..... Can you kiss me?" she mumbled as he tried to read her facial expressions slowly.

"I can't sweetheart."

"Why?"

"Because I don't think I would be able to stop with just a kiss." He whispered as Sonakshi's face turned a deeper shade of red while he chuckled and hugged her.

"Fine go and change. I will arrange your dinner till then! You know, I also cooked today" she smiled and those words immediately made him frown.

"Why did you cook? I thought I clearly instructed you to rest?" he spoke sternly.

"Oh right.... You won't believe if I told you we had guests and your mum demanded me to cook for that whole aunty-gang!" she spoke quickly before she could stop herself.

Sona's eyes widened when she realised what she had uttered.

"WHAT?" Dev's voice roared with rage. Sona's body turned rigid. She didn't mean to speak up like that but it just came up casually from her mouth. Did she want another drama to happen in this house?

"Dev..."

"Did mum ask you to cook for everyone?"

**********

This chapter was written during my work hours! I am sorry if this chapter is boring :(

Precap: Steamy bath together