"What decision, Anuradha ji?" Vikram was almost afraid to ask.

Pragya turned towards Ranbir and walked over to him. Ranbir, in turn, was becoming more and more nervous as she approached him and glanced towards Prachi nervously. Prachi shrugged, becoming nervous herself as she had never witnessed such fury in her usually affectionate and very calm and composed mother.

"Ranbir, you are a gem of a person. You are such a friend whom every person will be lucky to have in his or her life. You have always been there for my daughter when no one else was and I, too, wasn't present to protect my child. You have always stood up when someone tried to sully Prachi's name and even risked your life to save her. I can never thank you enough, Ranbir." Pragya smiled at Ranbir.

Then she turned towards the Kohlis and her features hardened.

"However, I don't want Prachi to ever again come in contact with people like the Kohlis and the Mehras. But if she continues her friendship with you then she will definitely come in contact with your families. So, I think it is better to make a clean break, Ranbir." Pragya sighed as she looked at the incredulous faces of both Prachi and Ranbir.

"But, aunty, what is my fault in all these? Why are you punishing me?" Ranbir stared at Pragya, bewildered.

"Sometimes we have to take harsh decisions in life for the greater good, Ranbir. Like I said, I don't trust your families anymore. What if again they get my daughter into trouble? What if this time you fail to save her? No, Ranbir, I can't take the risk. So, it is better if you both don't remain friends anymore. Relationship between equal classes is way more preferable to relationships between high and middle classes. My life had taught me that class discrimination always lurks under the facade of politeness. I don't want Prachi to suffer as I had suffered." Pragya had a faraway look in her eyes.

"But ma..." Prachi tried to object.

"No ifs and buts, Prachi. We are leaving. Let's go." Pragya walked over to Prachi and grabbed her wrist.

"Anuradha ji. You are taking the decision in haste. Please calm down. Please reconsider your decision." Vikram pleaded but to no avail.

"No, Mr. Kohli. I won't listen to anyone. I have decided and it's final." Pragya's tone brooked no argument.

Ignoring the pain etched onto Ranbir's handsome visage, Pragya strode out of the house with Prachi.

Ranbir didn't follow them. The fire in Pragya's eyes made him well aware of the fact that all his entreaties would fall in deaf ears. A mother's pride had been hurt. Her child had been harmed. She wouldn't let the matter rest this easily.

While his mind could understand Pragya's hurt and anger, his heart just couldn't accept this separation from the love of his life. What was his fault in this mess? Why should he suffer due to the actions of others?

The chain of his conflicting thoughts broke as someone placed a hand on his shoulder. Realizing that he had been standing in the same posture and staring fixedly down at the floor covered with lush and very expensive carpet, he looked up and straight into the anxious eyes of his mother.

The anxiety in Pallavi's eyes transformed into intense disconcertment as she witnessed the tumultuous emotions raging within him mirrored in his eyes.

"Ranbir, I..." Pallavi began tentatively.

Ranbir shrugged her hand off his shoulder. The anger brewing within him was now an almost tangible thing and his eyes were glittering with telltale signs of that outrage.

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Abhishek's car and Aliya's car entered the driveway almost simultaneously only to see a cab pulling away.

As they disembarked from their respective cars, Abhishek turned towards the vehicle which had been rapidly disappearing in the darkness outside the colossal iron gates that formed the entrance to the twin mansions of the Kohlis and the Mehras.

For some strange reason, he felt a pull in his heart strings as if someone very close to his heart was going away. Someone placed a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see Rhea, who had been in the car with Aliya, looking up at him with a slight frown.

"What's wrong, dad?" Rhea tilted her head as she gauged her father's slightly disturbed expression.

"Nothing, princess. Let's go inside." Abhishek smiled at his daughter, shaking off the irrational thoughts.

Aliya followed the father daughter duo with a smile.

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"Are you happy now, mom? My friendship with Prachi has finally been broken. Her mother won't ever allow her to keep friendship with me. Are you satisfied now? After all, that was what you wanted. For our friendship to break. Your heart must be in peace right now. Or maybe it is dancing in joy." Ranbir glared at his mother who was stunned to witness this hitherto unseen side of her son.

Abhishek, Aliya and Rhea had by then sauntered into the room and the trio, too, were shocked at this furious outburst by Ranbir. A shiver ran down Rhea's spine as she realized, for the first time, that Ranbir's anger was downright scary.

"Ranbir, you can't talk to me like that. Don't you forget that I am your mother." Pallavi managed to speak after composing herself.

"Yes, you are my mother. A mother who claims to love me a lot and yet becomes the person to snatch my love away from me." Ranbir finally revealed the truth in a moment of anger that he had kept secret till then.

The words stunned both Pallavi and Abhishek, both of whom had thought that it was Rhea whom Ranbir was in love with.

Oh God! How wrong I was! All this time I was so confident that Ranbir loves Rhea. I never once asked him about it. Just came to conclusions over some random interactions between the two. Might be because I wanted it to come true, I didn't see what was right there in front of my eyes. Ranbir going out of his way to get Prachi out of a mess, his restlessness and anxiety whenever she was in some kind of difficulty, his taking a stand for her everytime she had been accused of one thing or another and even taking a bullet for her. How could I have failed to understand that a person never does all these things for a friend but for the one they love? Just because Rhea loves Ranbir does not mean that Ranbir too has to love her. My love for my daughter and my desire for a guy like Ranbir for her had blinded me to the obvious truth. But no longer. Now that I know that Ranbir loves Prachi, if she too loves him I will unite them myself.

Abhishek resolved silently.

"You love Prachi? But...but I thought you are in love with Rhea." Pallavi was baffled.

"Rhea? But why would you think something like that, mom? I don't even hang out with Rhea. Whereas I am always hanging out with Prachi. And you claim to know me more than myself? Sorry to point out the truth, mom, but you don't know me at all. Just...just leave me alone, mom, please. I don't want to hear anything at the moment. You have done enough damage to last me a lifetime." With unshed tears glistening in his eyes, Ranbir threw a terribly hurt look at his mother and strode out of the house.

"Ranbir. Ranbir, listen to me. Where are you going?" Pallavi went after Ranbir.

"Ranbir" Vikram too followed her.

Abhishek turned towards Rhea. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. Sobbing, she ran away from the room.

"Rhea. Rhea baby. Listen to me." Aliya went after her.

Abhishek was in a dilemma as he wondered after whom he should go - Rhea or Ranbir. Then decided that since Rhea was at home and with Aliya and probably Meera too, she would be safe. Ranbir was furious and was out of home. He needed Abhishek more than Rhea at the moment.

Sighing, Abhishek strode out of the house in search of Ranbir only to find a sobbing Pallavi and a distressed Vikram.

"What happened?" Abhishek looked at Vikram anxiously.

"He drove away like a mad man in his car. He is not in the right state of mind at the moment, Abhi. I am scared about his safety." Vikram looked back at the driveway leading out of the mansion with worried eyes.

"Don't worry Vikram. We will find him and he will be safe." Abhishek assured the worried father and fishing his cellphone out, hurriedly texted Aryan to join them.

Within five minutes, Aryan was with them and all three of them were heading out of the mansion in Abhishek's car in search of Ranbir.

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Saritaji's house

Prachi was sitting on her bed in her room dejectedly while Sahana was pacing up and down.

"Prachi, I still don't understand why maasi broke your friendship off with Ranbir." Sahana turned to look at Prachi, bemused.

" I too don't understand, Sahana. What was Ranbir's fault in all these? He has always been the one to take a stand for me, save me from troubles and even risk his life for me. Why did ma punish him?"

Prachi looked out of the window morosely.

Little did they know that someone was overhearing the conversation between the two friends.

Why did Pragya take such a decision? Is the reason something else or just what she said? Who is eavesdropping in Prachi and Sahana's conversation?

If you want to know the answers to these questionsthen keep reading and please don't forget to vote and comment to encourage meto keep writing. Hope you all like this part.