[So buddies, you were right after all. It was none else than Ranbir. Also, this part  contains a bit mature scenario. So, kids like MalaPok06  should avoid it. 🤣🤣 Just kidding. 😁😁 On a serious note, if anyone is not comfortable, avoid the 1st half.]

[This is a gift to my lovely readers as I am so happy at winning the first position in Pranbir fandom in the esthetique community royal awards 2020. ]

Prachi was about to scream her lungs out when a hand covered her mouth. In her agitation, she failed to recognize the warmth in the familiar touch and raised eyes filled with trepidation only to come across a very familiar face. As recognition dawned, the fear in her eyes morphed into bafflement and finally into fury. She began to hit the person on the arm but remembered in the nick of the time about her mehndi. She decided to stomp on his feet and lifted her foot to do just that. Ranbir groaned as Prachi's foot came down on his own. He instantly left her and limped back.

"What was that? You almost broke my leg!" Ranbir whined

"And what was that? You almost gave me a heart attack." Prachi retaliated.

Ranbir smirked and began to prowl towards her. Within no time he had her caged between him and the wall behind her. He lifted a hand and touched her bare waist, his fingers splaying over the porcelain smooth skin. A shiver ran down her spine at the warm touch on her bare skin and heat suffused her cheeks.

"Wha..." Prachi began in innocent confusion, as his touch gave rise to a tumult of sensations within her.

"Hush! Let me speak first." Ranbir placed a finger on her soft lips, making her forget what she was about to say.

"You are the one who has launched an attack on my poor heart, one over which I have not a single chance to win. Do you know how beautiful you are looking today? I don't have a word in my vocabulary that will be adequate to describe your mesmerising beauty. Today there is an ethereal glow about you." Ranbir kept gazing at her, his eyes shining with boundless love and reverence.

His fervent gaze rendered her speechless  and probably for the first time, Prachi couldn't find any trace of her ability to come up with a sharp retort.

As he leaned in and began to inch closer, Prachi closed her eyes in immediate acceptance and anticipation.

As their lips met, it was as if fireworks exploded within their beings, a firework of sensations. Both couldn't refrain themselves from giving in to a force which was far more potent then their inherent modesty.

Molten fire of desire coursed through their veins and they lost themselves in the fire of passion, the passion that they had for each other.

Several minutes ticked by and finally they broke off due to shortage of air. Panting lightly, they gazed into each other's eyes. Not yet ready to let go of her, Ranbir leaned in once again. But this time instead of going for her lips, his lips touched her forehead, then her nose, followed by her chin and finally both of her soft, rosy cheeks.

Feeling extremely shy, Prachi lowered her eyes as her face almost matched the crimson shade of her lehenga. Smiling indolently, Ranbir lifted his hand and ran his knuckles caressingly down the side of her face.

Sudden footsteps in the corridor which housed the room acted like a bucket of cold water on the red-hot flames of their mutual passion. Prachi lightly pushed him away and he moved back instantly. Blushing furiously, she made her way to the restroom.

Seeing her disappearing behind the doors of the restroom, Ranbir grinned sheepishly and raked his hand through his hair.

He walked over to the bed and fall back on it and laid there comfortably with his hands cushioning his head.

Prachi, on the other hand, rested the back of her head on the door after closing it behind her. Slowly, she straightened away from the cold metal surface and walked towards the mirror above the washbasin.

Another wave of shyness washed over her as she encountered her blushing features. She began to raise her hands to hid her face behind them when she recalled the original purpose of leaving the function. Carefully, she washed off the Mehndi and to her utmost delight, the colour of the beautiful patterns on her hands was dark red.

Soon, she recalled what happened a few while ago and blushed anew. However, before she could return to the function, she needed to fix her make up and dress. As she looked around, she found that, to her great fortune, it was the washroom of her own room. She failed to notice that Ranbir had pulled her into her own room due to the ensuing events.

After a while, when she sauntered into the room, she was surprised to see Ranbir still there and waiting for her as she had thought that he must have left by then.

"You are still here?" Prachi raised her brows.

"How can I leave without seeing your Mehndi? Now that you have washed it, I can see it, right?" Ranbir entreated endearingly.

Prachi sighed. He was just so adorable. No one could ever deny him anything. At least she wouldn't be able to. Smiling lovingly, she walked over to him and settled down beside him. She raised her hands and stretched them out to him.

Ranbir took hold of her hands and stared down at the beautiful patterns drawn on the hands of an even more beautiful girl.

"This is so beautiful. And the colour is so dark. Do you know what that means? That means your groom, i.e me, loves you so much." Ranbir smiled.

"I don't need the colour of the Mehndi to tell me that. I already know that. My heart knows how much you love me. No one and nothing has to tell me that." Prachi smiled back.

Ranbir leaned in and kissed her forehead affectionately while she closed her eyes.

She slowly opened her eyes as Ranbir drew back and both lost themselves in each other's eyes. However, a familiar female voice calling out to Prachi brought them out of their trance.

"Oh no! Everyone must be searching for me. I have to go now. Bye." Prachi hastily got to her feet and began to move towards the exit.

Powerful fingers wrapped around her dainty wrist and pulled her back, making her back collide with his chest. He instantly wrapped his arms around her and rested his cheek against her.

"What if I don't let you go?" Ranbir challenged.

"Ranbir! I need to go down. Please." Prachi entreated.

"Okay. But on one condition." Ranbir smirked.

"What condition?" Prachi frowned adorably.

"Give me a kiss." Ranbir grinned mischievously.

"Ranbir! You are shameless! I won't." Prachi refuted.

"I never knew you love staying imprisoned in my arms this much. No problem. Your wish is my command." Ranbir smirked smugly.

"Ranbir! Okay, fine. I will." Prachi finally conceded defeat.

"That's like my girl." Ranbir grinned which widened as Prachi hit the arm wounded around her waist.

Finally, he let go of her and she turned around. She raised her hand and gently closed his eyes. Then smiling a little, she leaned in and kissed the tip of his nose. Straightening away, she instantly moved towards the door.

Ranbir's eyes flew open and he frowned at the treachery.

"Hey, that's not fair!" Ranbir growled.

"Everything is fair in love and war. And you haven't specified where to kiss." Prachi shrugged innocently and darted out of the room.

Ranbir chuckled at the cheeky reply and shaking his head, made his way out of the room.

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Prachi hurried into the hall, casting nervous glances around.

"Prachi, what took you so long?" Pragya looked at her daughter questioningly.

"Ma, I... actually...." Prachi glanced around, searching for a convincing excuse.

But before she had to conjure some cock and bull story, a voice distracted her.

"Now, we can enter the function as the Mehndi is done, can't we?"

Everyone turned around to find Ranbir sauntering into the hall, followed by the other male members of the Mehra, Kohli and Khanna families.

"Couldn't wait a while more, could you, Bhai?" Mishti teased.

"Don't ask. He bored me to death with his incessant rant about the injustice of keeping us, rather him, away from this function, rather Prachi." Aryan chuckled.

"And Aryan also was missing something, rather someone." Ranbir smirked.

"Who is it Aryan?" Disha who had just stepped into the hall, along with Purab, looked at Aryan curiously.

"No...noone mama." Aryan flicked a glance at Sahana who returned his glance nervously.

"Mama!" Pragya exclaimed, baffled.

"Okay, spill the beans, guys. What's going on?" Abhishek raised a brow.

"Aryan and Ranbir helped us to reconcile. I have decided to give divorce to Aliya. Since she has been charged with crime, I can easily get divorce from her."

"Wow! That's a great news. The sooner you free yourself from a woman like Aliya, the better." Abhishek approved wholeheartedly.

"Yes. We all are so happy for both of you. I have always wanted to see you get back together. And now it's actually happening. Great job, Ranbir and Aryan." Pragya smiled.

Prachi looked at Ranbir, her eyes shining with pride. She mouthed 'thank you'. Ranbir smiled and nodded once.

"I am, however, worried about Sunny's reaction." Purab glanced at Disha nervously, who looked equally worried.

"I too am worried about that." Disha glanced around.

However, no one had any words of assurance as everyone was wondering the same thing.

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Next morning

Aliya was pacing to and fro restively within the confines of the cell in the police station where she had been kept as a captive.

No. She could not live like this. She had to get out. She just had to. Her family might have left her to rot in that hell, but she would not accept it. She was Aliya Mehra, she always got what she wanted. And this time would be no exception.

Aliya's furious musings were cut short at the sound of approaching footsteps. She looked up agitatedly. What she saw left her nonplussed. She couldn't believe her own eyes.

Purab and Disha were walking down the corridor that housed Aliya's cell. Their features had the confidence that unnerved the evil woman.

Had they reconciled? No. It couldn't happen. Purab would never go back to Disha. He wouldn't dare to abandon her, Aliya. Even if he had never loved Aliya, he did love Aryan too much to do that. He knew pretty well that if he ever did that, Aliya would divulge the truth about Aryan's background to him. Then why had they come here together? What was going on?

Aliya's frantic musings were cut short as Purab and Disha approached the cell and stopped just outside the iron bars.

"Purab, what is that woman doing with you? Why have you come here with her?" Aliya glowered at Purab.

"Because she is going to be with me for the rest of my days, starting from this day." Purab faced Aliya with a serenity that baffled Aliya.

"What do you mean?" Aliya gritted.

"He means that we have decided to get back the happiness and the love that you had snatched away from us through crooked means years back." Disha replied without losing her composure.

"No! No! This is not possible! Purab, don't you dare think of divorcing me or else...." Aliya's trailed away as she encountered a familiar figure emerging from behind Purab.

"Or else what? You will reveal to me that I am adopted? You can no longer use that as a trump card, Aliya Mehra. I am the one who brought back Dad and mama together after knowing the truth. So, you see you can never separate them again by using me." Aryan glared at the woman he had always known to be his mother and had loved blindly.

"You can't do this to me, Aryan!" Aliya hissed.

"I can and I have. And you don't even need to agree for a divorce as you are a criminal and dad can easily get divorce from you." Aryan stated candidly.

"Disha! Today you have snatched away everything from me. Atleast let me hug the child I have always considered to be mine even if I had not given birth to him. Please Aryan!" Aliya entreated, shedding tears.

Aryan looked at Purab and Disha questioningly. Disha put a hand on his shoulder and nodded with a smile. Purab asked a policeman to let Aliya out for a few minutes. As the policeman opened the gate, Aliya got out of the cell. As soon as she got out, the bleakness in her eyes morphed into vindictive fury which gave them a fleeting warning before she snatched the gun out of the hands of the unsuspecting policeman and pointed it towards Aryan. Her back was facing the side of the corridor which led to the exit. 

"Aliya! What are you doing? Stop right there!" Purab yelled and moved forward to shield Disha and Aryan from harm's way.

Disha clutched Aryan's arm and pulled him back.

"Don't move! Don't move, Purab! Or else I will shoot your Disha and Aryan only faster." Aliya's eyes were glinting with a demented gleam.

Aliya turned towards Aryan. Her eyes showering utmost loathing on the young man.

"People say that blood ultimately wins over upbringing. You proved them right. Like mother, like son. Both are hell bent on snatching the love of my life from me." Aliya spat venomously.

"What...what do you mean?" Flabbergasted, Disha stared at Aliya.

Somewhere a long lost hope began to unfurl within her. A hope which had withered and died and had remained dead for so many years began to rejuvenate.

"Aryan Khanna! He has chosen you over me! And why not? After all your blood flows through his veins. He chose his birth mother over me, who has done so much for him. Yes, Purab, he is the son you never knew of. And Disha, he is the son you had lost at birth."  Aliya glowered at the trio.

Stunned was an understatement for what Aryan was experiencing at the moment. He looked from Aliya to Disha and then to Purab. Purab's state was no better. He gaped at the woman in front of him, unable to take in such a momentous and life altering truth out of the blue. Disha, however, glared at Aliya in incandescent fury.

"You! You evil witch!" Disha charged towards Aliya.

"Don't you dare!" Aliya warned.

Aryan and Purab immediately grabbed Disha by the arm and dragged her back.

"What's going on? I don't understand anything." Purab looked at Aliya and then turn to Disha blankly.

"I was pregnant when I left you. I found that out after a few weeks. I had decided to come and inform you about it. And by then I was having second thoughts about leaving you. I had started doubting what I had seen that fateful day. I had begun to doubt that you could betray me once I had calmed down. However, the day I was about to come to you with this news, Aliya came to me and said that she was pregnant with your child. Thus, she strengthened my wavering doubts again. When the due date arrived, I was admitted to the hospital. The day I gave birth to Aryan, I lost consciousness due to exhaustion. When I regained consciousness, the doctor told me that my baby was stillborn." Tears cascaded down Disha's cheek.

"The doctor was my friend and with her help I smuggled the baby out of the hospital and pretended as if he was my own. I had no plan of taking Disha's baby away but when the adoption I had planned didn't come through I had to use Aryan, your and Disha's younger son, to tie you to myself. I knew pretty well that you would have left me otherwise and gone back to Disha. I couldn't have let that happen. Not after doing so much to get you. I wasn't pregnant ever. How could I have when you haven't ever touched me, even while intoxicated? But now I know that I won't be able to hold on to you anymore. You love these mother and son so much, don't you, Purab? Let me finish them off then. Then you will be just mine forever." Aliya cackled like a demented woman and pointed the gun towards Disha.

Disha and Aryan gaped at the devious woman in front of them. They were unable to fathom how someone could be this twisted that there was no boundary they could not cross to satisfy their caprice. Was Aliya even a human? It was hard to believe that she was one as she was completely devoid of humanity.

"No!" Purab screamed and lunged forward, shielding Disha even as the policeman advanced towards Aliya cautiously.

Aliya was about to pull the trigger when an arm coiled around her neck with astounding force, choking the breath out of her. 

Let's leave it here. 😁😁
So, who is it? Any guesses? 😉😉
Hope you all like it.