Aadhya came out of the bathroom and peeked into the room to see Aman no where and Rishabh was examining the room.

" Where is Aman?" She asked.

" He went to bathroom." He said.

" Umm....would you like to have coffee?" She asked him.

" Why would you say to Aman that not to bother me like that?" He asked seriously crossing his arms.

" He is a kid sir....he keeps asking something or the other. For once you can come but you cannot everytime and what if he gets used to you?" She asked in fear.

" So what?" He asked confused.

" You are not understanding Sir, if he gets used to you, he would want you to be around all the time which is not possible. You can't come to meet him every time he asks for you." She said.

" Why can't I come?" He asked frowning making her sigh.

" You will leave your work, family.....and come here just to meet him whenever he asks?" She asked raising her brows at him.

" Yes." He said as the matter of fact.

She stood dumbfounded.

" Why?" She whispered.

" Can't we do that much for our loved ones?" He asked her and she stood like an idiot trying to understand what he is saying.

" Do you remember what I said to you yesterday that you are so naive and innocent?" He asked her and she nodded her head in yes.

" Add Stupid and dumb too in that list." He said and walked out of the room whistling to himself.

It took a minute for her to understand what he actually meant and glared at the direction he went.

" Did you just called me stupid and dumb?" She exclaimed following him.

" Yes." He said looking at her.

" Mumma, what is stupid and dumb?" Aman asked and she widened her eyes at him.

" No no nothing beta.....it's just....." She trailed off not knowing what to say.

" Champ, would you like to play something?" Rishabh asked Aman who jumped in his place excited.

He winked at her discreetly while taking Aman with him to the living room and she glared at him.

She went and prepared milk for Aman and coffee for both of them. When she walked into the living room, she froze looking at Aman sitting on Rishabh's lap.

He used to sit like that only on her brother's lap and nostalgia hit her remembering those memories. She stood there staring at them and unknowingly tears formed in her eyes.

Rishabh glanced at her and saw her looking at them with tears.

" Aadhya?" He called and she looked at him.

" What happened?" He asked concerned.

" Nothing." Saying this she walks towards them and gives him coffee.

She gave milk glass to Aman and sat down on the sofa beside Rishabh sipping on her coffee. Rishabh looked at her from side and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

She stiffened and looked at his arm and then at him. He pulled her close to him and she gasped at their proximity. He ignored her glare and sipped coffee watching T.V as if it was normal for him.

This was new to her.....this feeling, this proximity...... Although she had many male friends, she was never this close to any man in her life. She tried to move away but he didn't let her and she stopped moving.

Rishabh still didn't remove his hand on her shoulder and she looked at both of them. Him wrapping his arm around her and Aman sitting on his lap, this whole thing looked like a picture perfect family.

She liked it.

But she knows it better to have any hopes in her life.

" I will go and take shower." She mumbled and got up from his grip.

He stayed quiet.

He knows she needs time to accept anything.

He just sat there playing with Aman while she was showering. She came back after the shower and saw them engrossed in a video game. She shook her head at them and went into the kitchen to prepare lunch.

She started preparing for lunch and after sometime she felt someone's presence behind her. She turned and gasped loudly looking at Rishabh. He laughed and pulled her towards him when she was going to get hit by the kitchen slab.

" Sir what are you doing here?" She asked trying to step away but he pulled her more close to him.

" Watching you." He said simply and she looked up at him who was grinning down at her.

He got lost in her eyes and she got lost in his smile.

" Sir...." She was cut off by him.

" Call me Rishabh....." He said.

" I can't, you are my boss." She said.

" This is not office." He said.

" Leave me." She asked softly.

" I cannot." He said back softly.

She looked at him strangely and the emotion in her eyes warmed his heart. It is not everyday you can see emotion in her eyes.....it's a rare scene and he wanted to cherish this moment.

His phone rang and they both jolted out of their reverie. She went back to cooking while he went to attend the call.

After sometime when she went to call them for lunch, both were drowned in their video games. She called them for lunch and three of them had lunch while talking and laughing.

Aman took shower and started doing his homework while Aadhya started washing the dishes and Rishabh was helping her to dry them.

" Aadhya......" He called and she hummed.

" I know something huge happened in your life......I have seen pain in your eyes all the time.....that pain which will never go away." He paused and she looked at him gulping the lump formed in her throat.

" I am not asking you to share your pain or not asking about what happened.....I just wanted to tell you that I will be with you in everything and you can trust me if you need anything.......anytime." He said looking into her eyes.

She stared at him with tears.

" I know it's hard for you to let anyone in and trust them but I will wait and believe me when I say that I will be there for you whenever you need me." He said honestly.

She just stared at him quietly for sometime.

" I trust you." She whispered.

He looked at her shocked and she smiled at his face.

" Yes, if I didn't trust you then you would be no where near Aman." She said and he grinned at her.

They both went to the living room where Aman was drawing something.

" What are you doing champ?" Rishabh asked.

Aman grinned at them showing his drawing which has three people drawn crookedly and he had coloured them.

" What is this?" Aadhya asked.

" We." Amna said excitedly.

" What?" Rishabh asked.

" These three people are me, mumma and buddy." Aman explained enthusiastically.

" Wow! It's really nice." Rishabh said making him grin.

Aadhya took the paper and looked at it. Aman has drawn a cartoon with three people. He coloured them according to their dress colours they are wearing today and it looked good. For his age, this drawing is wonderful and she liked the thought Rishabh being there in the drawing along with them.

She took the paper and went to a table which is at the corner. She took a plastic frame from a draw and placed that drawing in that frame. She decorated it on the table and turned to see Aman grinning at her while Rishabh had a strange emotion on his face.

He was very much happy that they both consider him as a member of their family now and he didn't expect Aadhya to accept or trust him. He promised to himself that he would protect them both and never break their trust.

Three of them chatted and played for sometime. Then Rishabh left to his home while Aman continued to do his homework and Aadhya was lost in her thoughts. She felt something change in her today......after a long time she is feeling truly happy.

Rishabh on the other side reached his house and saw his mother waiting for him.

" Rishi, where were you? I am waiting for you since morning." His mother asked him.

" Why?" He frowned at her.

" I have an important thing to talk to you." She said and he sat beside her on the sofa.

" I have met one of my old friends yesterday after a long time and I have seen her daughter.....she is very beautiful and will be perfect match for you." She said and Rishabh rolled his eyes at her.

" No." He said and got up to leave.

" What no?" She asked.

" I am not interested." He said bluntly and started walking towards the stairs.

" You didn't met her! Atleast you didn't even see her photo.....how can you say no?" She shouted at him who is going upstairs.

" Even if I meet her or I see her photo then also it will be a no from me." He shouted back and went to his room closing the door.

He sat on the bed and ran his fingers through his hair frustratingly. He is angry at how his mother thought that he will ever marry a girl that she chose for him.....it will be a disaster and he got even more angry that she is doing nothing to sort out his brother and sister in law's lives but instead trying to push him to that hell.

Today he had realised that how much Aadhya and Aman meant to him. He wanted to keep them happy and protect them.

After what his mother did today, he realised that there can never be any other girl other than Aadhya in his life. The thought of giving her place to someone else itself is making him go  mad.

He knows he loves her.

But now he realised that he wants to be with her.....forever.

He wants her to be his wife and his family.

She is the only girl he wants.

******

Aadhya woke up and made Aman to get ready for school. She was surprised as her nightmares are decreasing and what surprised her more was that she slept peacefully after a long time.

She dropped Aman in school and drove towards her office. After reaching the office, she walked in to see no one and she went to canteen to have some coffee.

She had her coffee and looked through his schedule for today. He has two meetings outside the office in some hotels and she started arranging the files for the meetings.

The first meeting is with Vineeth's company and she smiled at the thought of Rishabh's jealousy. Her phone pinged with a message and she looked at it to see a message from Rishabh.

I am not coming to the office, will go directly to the meeting.....you are not needed here.....stay in the office only - R

She chuckled at his message and typed a reply.

Why Sir? - A

She waited for his reply.

As I told you, you are not needed here - R

She shook her head and sighed.

She thought of doing some pending work until he comes back.

It was already noon and she thought of eating her lunch but just them some chaos surrounded the office.

A girl came to their floor looking around the office and she was beautiful. She stood there with attitude with the aura of confidence emitting around her.

Everyone are looking at her in awe as if she is some celebrity.

Maybe she is.

She saw office boy attending her to ask her for whom she is looking and then she saw both of them walking towards her.

" You can talk to Aadhya madam about it." Saying this office boy went away and Aadhya looked at her.

" Are you Aadhya?" She asked.

" Yes, how may I help you?" Aadhya replied politely.

" I want to meet Rishabh." She said.

" He is not in the office." Aadhya replied.

" When he will be back?" She asked.

" Maybe after his meeting is finished." Aadhya said.

" But I wanted to meet him." That girl huffed in disappointment.

" Please tell me your name, I will inform him after be comes back." Aadhya told her.

" It's Leena." She said.

" From?" Aadhya asked.

" I didn't come here for an official meeting.....I came to meet him personally." She said arrogantly.

" I should inform Sir about you, that's why I am asking." Aadhya said.

" I am his fiancee." Leena said proudly.

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

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Stay Tuned...........