Rishabh went downstairs to talk to his brother and sister in law who are having their dinner. He went and sat before them and his sister in law Priya smiled at him warmly.

" Rahul, tomorrow there is this party at......" Rishabh was cut off by his brother.

" I don't have time for parties." Rahul replied in his monotone voice while his wife rolled her eyes.

" Then what do you have time for? Wait I guess you have time only for work right!" Rishabh said mocked making Priya chuckle and Rahul glare at them.

" Look, I am not inviting you to party to enjoy yourself.....it's our parents anniversary tomorrow and I planned a celebration for them." Rishabh said seriously and Rahul looked at him surprised.

" Wow! You did a great job Rishabh.....you even take your time out from work and plan to celebrate your parents anniversary." His bhabi said making him smile at her and Rahul look at her with frown.

" I know bhabi....." He smirked.

" So whom all you are inviting?" She asked excitingly.

" Everyone from family, close friends and also some people from business Circle" Rishabh said.

" Oh! Is there going to be any dress code or something?" She asked.

" Yeah....about that....." Saying this he gave her the invite.

" Wow! This invite looks so nice and elegant." She said reading it and Rishabh felt proud of Aadhya's choice.

" The theme also looks good and coming to the dress everyone can wear anything which can be simple and formal......nice." She said grinning at him.

" Yeah.....you people get yourselves ready for the party, we should inform Mom and dad about it tomorrow after wishing them." Rishabh said looking pointedly at Rahul who was all the while looking at their interaction.

" Are you inviting someone special for the party?" She asked him curiously.

Rishabh's thought immediately went to Aadhya.

" No, but you people can invite whomever you want to." He said looking at both of them who nodded their heads.

" Rishabh you can tell me about your girlfriend after Rahul is gone." She whispered making Rishabh laugh as Rahul scowled at her.

" No, bhabi.....I am serious, I don't have any girlfriend." He said honestly.

" What? You don't have a girlfriend?" She asked him shocked.

" No." He said sighing.

His own family doesn't know anything about him.

" But I hear and see some news about you spending time with girls." She asked.

" They all are just rumours." He said.

" Why don't you have a girl in your life yet?" She asked him seriously.

" I just flirt with them here and there but I don't do relationships." He said.

" Why?"

It was Rahul who asked the question for the first time involving in the conversation making both of them look at him.

" I am happy being single." He shrugged.

" Is that the only reason?" She asked him seriously and Rishabh looked at both of them.

Priya looked down understanding the reason and stood upto leave.

" Sorry." Priya said looking down and walked away.

" It's not your fault." Rishabh said and went away from there sighing.

He doesn't blame them but he was scared getting into relationships after seeing their marriage as it's almost an year since they got married and he never truly saw them as a couple.

After they had gone, Rahul sat there for a while wondering why she had  apologized to his brother and about what they were talking.

******

Rishabh was in the office finishing his work quickly as he had to go to the hotel to check the arrangements and Aadhya was already there supervising the whole thing. He is grateful to her as it is because of her only it is easy for him to manage both office and social affairs.

It's already afternoon and so he winded up his work. He went to the hotel where arrangements are going on for the evening's party and when he reached there, he was mesmerized by the venue and decorations.

He was quite impressed by her choice and taste. Everything was looking classy and elegant. He went inside slowly examining everything on his way and looked around for her but stood awe looking at the interior.

It's not simple but not overly done too and he loved it.

He saw two people at the corner who are in a conversation and walked towards them. He stood a little away from them looking at Aadhya who was sitting there blankly looking at the girl who is talking non stop.

" Oh God! This is so romantic.....I also want such decorations for my wedding.....Wow! These flowers smell so good and God food also looks so delicious." That girl kept on talking gushing about everything around her while Aadhya sat there just listening to her wordless and emotionless which made him chuckle.

He was about to go towards them but his phone rang and he took the call walking around. He finished his call and turned around only to get bumped with Aadhya.

She lost her balance and was about to fall but he gripped her waist and pulled her onto his chest making her gasp loudly. Her soft body collided with his muscled body and they were both stunned looking at each other in such close proximity.

Her heart skipped a beat looking at him so close to her while he was just looking at her eyes intently. His breath was fanning her face and her sweet scent engulfed him.

She should be pulling away from him but she was just lost looking at his features and the intensity in his eyes. Her heart was thumping against her chest which made her feel that she is alive and this feeling was new to her.

Rishabh was lost in her eyes which are telling him many stories. He always saw emptiness in her eyes but today he got to see different emotions reflecting in her eyes. She was looking at him with a strange intense emotion that he was trying to know what it was and he was stuck at the familiarity of her eyes.

They both totally forgot about their surroundings and just were lost in each other eyes. This feeling is new to both of them and they didn't realise their position and proximity.

A loud sound boomed in the hall which interrupted their interaction and quickly moved away from each other looking around awkwardly. That girl who was talking to Aadhya a while ago stood gawking at them while Aadhya resumed her work looking down like nothing happened.

" Who is he?" That girl whispered to Aadhya.

" My Boss." She stated flatly.

" He is your boss!" That girl exclaimed and stood there ogling at him making Aadhya frown.

Rishabh stood there enjoying their interaction while looking around.

" Please introduce me to him." She asked.

" Sir, this is Aliya from the event management team." Aadhya introduced blankly and went back to her.

" Thanks for such a great introduction." Aliya made a face at her making Rishabh chuckle.

" Hi, I am Rishabh Malhotra." Rishabh said charmingly forwarding his hand to her which she gladly accepted.

" Hi, you look more handsome in real than in magazines and it's so nice to meet you personally Sir." She said excitingly.

" Thank you and you look beautiful too." He complimented melting her then and there only.

They talked and flirted with each other for sometime while Aadhya got irritated with their stupid talks and went away to talk with the manager of the hotel.

Rishabh came and stood in front of her who is avoiding looking at him.

" I was searching for you only." She heard Rishabh and looked up slightly to see him amused looking at her.

" I went to talk to manager for the final arrangements." She said looking down into a file.

" Aadhya." He called and she hummed still looking into that file.

" Are you feeling shy?" He asked and she snapped her head towards him who is smirking at her now.

" What? No!" She said turning away from him.

" But it looks like you are effected by my close proximity." He said again standing in front of her.

She glared at him.

" No." She stated.

" Oh really?" He asked with his devil smirk.

" Sir, please check all the arrangements once." She said changing the topic which made him laugh while Aliya came and stood beside them staring at him.

" Everything is almost finished, you look tired.....go home and rest." He said making Aliya look at him like he is some god.

" No, I will stay.....I want to make sure everything is perfect before going." She replied.

" Aadhya go home and rest for sometime. You should come back here for the party again right....." He said.

" Me? Party?" She said frowning.

" Ofcourse, how can this party be without you? You are the one who is working hard on the arrangements since two weeks.....and I want you to be there as you are my personal assistant too." He said.

" But I cannot........" She was cut off by him.

" No buts.....just go home and come back for the party after taking some rest. I will take care of rest of the work here." He said in finality.

She nodded her head and walked to the table where her bag and phone are kept.

" Sir call me immediately if anything goes wrong or if you need any help." She said.

" Ok madam." He saluted her and she glared at him making Aliya laugh.

Aadhya went home thinking that what he would think of her absence in the party. She tried to tell him but he didn't listened to her.

She didn't want to go the party for many reasons. First important reason is Aman. She cannot leave him alone in the house at night and attend the party.

And other reasons are that she is not a party person, she gets panicked around so many people, someone might recognise her who she is.......So it's better she stays at home and spend some quality time with her son.

******

Rishabh was all set to start the party.

His parents were surprised to the idea of whole celebration and they were all gobsmacked by the arrangements.

Everyone was present there. His family, friends, staff and their partners except for the person whom he was waiting for. He was waiting for her since an hour but she was no where.

He was busy meeting everyone and talking with the top businessmen who attended the party one by one. Many girls were flirting with him and trying their luck to date him but he rejected them all.

He thought she was late and will be coming soon but she didn't arrive. After waiting for some more time, he decided to call her and dialled her number but she didn't pick up the call.

He dialled again impatiently and this time she answered.

" Hello, Sir......"

" Aadhya, why are you still not here?" He asked exasperated.

" Sir, I am not coming to the party." She said.

" What? But why?" He exclaimed.

" I cannot leave Aman at home alone and come there.....I am sorry." She said softly.

" Then why don't you bring him with you? I even wanted to meet him." He said.

" Aman is too small for such parties and he is not good with so many people around him." She tried to reason.

He was silent.

" Sorry Sir.....I hope everything is going good there." She asked.

" Yeah..... everything is fine here." He said in a low voice and hung up the call.

Suddenly everything doesn't seem good to him, everything around him seemed dull and everything didn't appeal fine to him.

And the reason made him shocked.

Because of her.

She is not here and he doesn't want to be here anymore.

It not only shocked him but also scared him.

It scared him to know the effect she has on him.

Everyone around him are enjoying but he felt bored. He went and stood in a corner looking at his parents who were so happy and enjoying themselves.

He looked at his brother who was busy talking to the CEOs of other companies and her sister in law who stood beside him bored out of her wits with their business talks.

There are so many people around him yet he felt alone.

And on the other side, Aadhya felt bad for disappointing him but she had no choice and she will be miserable if she goes to that party.

It's better like this.

She and her son.

They both are playing Ludo game and Aman laughs whenever she dies making her heart warm. They both are having a family time which was fun and which they missed very much.

Their whole family used to play this game whenever they are free and it used to be filled with lots of fun and laughs. She normally avoids playing this game as it always reminds them of their past but today she couldn't say no to Aman.

She could only hope that it doesn't have a bad impact on Aman as nowadays he is not getting nightmares regularly and she didn't want to disturb that.

Her train of thoughts broke when she heard the door bell rang and she frowned looking at the time. It is 9 in the night and no one comes to their house at this time.

She went to the door and opened it slowly. She stood shocked looking at the person standing in front of her door scowling at her.

" Rishabh?" She whispered his name still looking at him in shock.

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To be Continued...........

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