" Please say something."

He asked her after a lot of silence between them.

" I will go now." She said standing up.

" What? But you said you would listen to me." He said exasperated.

" I listened. Didn't I?" She asked and turned to leave.

" I am not over yet. I will not let you go until I say what I wanted to say." He said sternly holding her hand.

" What are you doing? Leave me." She said trying to move away.

" No." He said moving close to her.

" Leave me. It's not right when you are engaged to someone else." She said when he pulled her closer.

" Who said to you that I am engaged?" He asked angrily and she looked at him furiously.

" Did I say it?" He asked.

" Tell me Aadhya.....Did I say to you that I am engaged?" He shouted angrily and she shook her head in no in fear.

" Then? Won't I share with you if such thing really happened in my life? Wouldn't you know if anything like that is going on in my life? Tell me Aadhya.....Why you assumed such things about me and made everything difficult between us?" He asked angrily with red face and Aadhya trembled in his grip.

" Why don't you trust me Aadhya?" He asked sadly and left her.

He cried standing there helplessly while Aadhya was shaken from inside.

" I trust you." She whispered.

" No you don't. If you have trusted me then you would have asked me before assuming anything." He said chuckling bitterly.

" I don't need to prove you anything." She said sharply.

" I am not asking you to prove me. I am just asking to believe me when I say the truth." He said sighing.

" About what truth you are talking about?" She asked seriously.

" That I am not engaged!" He exclaimed loudly to which she flinched.

She looked at him shocked.

" What? I myself heard people talking about your engagement at the party that day. Neetha herself told me." She said.

" She had a plan of getting engaged to me by announcing about the engagement in front of everyone without letting me know and when I came to know about it, I stopped them." He said and she frowned.

" Why? Don't you love her?" She asked.

" NO!" He shouted loudly and she looked at him wide eyed.

" What even in the world gave you that idea?" He asked exasperated.

" I thought you were close friends from childhood and also like each other as you have gone dates with her and you have also gifted her a dress. When she told me happily about your engagement, I thought you both love each other." She explained painfully.

" That's all bull shit." He said angrily.

" Why would a girl lie about such a huge thing in her life?" She asked.

" Because she likes me and I don't like her back. She wants to make me agree to marry her and so she has done that stupid thing." He said.

" You don't like her?" She questioned.

" God! No!" He cried.

They both stayed silent.

" Did you leave because of that?" He asked her after a moment.

" Because of what?" She frowned.

" Because you thought I am getting engaged." He said and her face paled.

" I have listened to what you had to say.....now I should go." She said looking away.

" It's okay but let me tell you that I will not let you leave again." He said and she glared at him before walking towards the door.

" Wait." She heard and stopped.

He made her turn towards him and hugged her tightly making her gasp.

" I missed you so much." He said closing his eyes feeling her warmth enclose him.

Tears welled up in her eyes and she hugged him back. She didn't say anything and she doesn't need to because he knows she missed him too.

******

Next day, door bell rang and she went to see who it is.

" You?" She scowled as soon as she opened the door.

" Wow! So happy to see me." Rishabh deadpanned.

She rolled her eyes and went inside without saying a word. He followed her sighing and looked around for Aman.

" Buddy!" Aman came rushing towards Rishabh who grinned at him.

They both hugged each other like they saw each other after years which made Aadhya look at them amused.

" Buddy I missed you." Aman said pouting at him.

" Awee....I missed you too champ." He said ruffling his hair.

" Come on, I have to show you a lot of things." Saying this Aman dragged Rishabh away to their room.

Aadhya shook her head at them with a small smile.

She missed this so much.

The bond between them is beyond words.

They both weren't blood related or have any relationship between them but yet they are so close to each other and the way they both behave towards each other is totally unexplainable. She had never saw them behave like that with anyone else not even with her.

She prepared lunch while they both are still talking and playing with each other. She called them for lunch and both of them came towards the dining table laughing loudly.

It was a sight to see.

" Don't you have office today?" She asked pouring water in the glasses.

" Is this your way of telling me to get out of your house?" He asked raising his brows at her.

" Yes." She muttered and he scowled at her.

" Too bad.....I am staying." He said sitting on the chair while Aman looked at both of them glaring at each other.

" Mumma, did you two had a fight?" Aman asked frowning.

" No." " Yes." Both Aadhya and Rishabh said at the same time making Aman look at them puzzled.

Three of them started eating, well mostly Rishabh was feeding Aman and talking to him.

When Aman finished, he ran inside to bring his new game and Aadhya looked at Rishabh.

" Now you eat." She said serving him more food.

" Are you ordering me?" He asked amused.

" Yes." She said without looking at him.

He chuckled and started eating. They didn't talk but there was a comfortable silence between them. She took plate from him when he finished and walked towards the sink. She started cleaning the dishes while he washed his hands and drank some water.

" Buddy look!" Aman said running towards him holding something in his hands.

Rishabh crouched down in front of him and looked at his hands.

" What's this?" Rishabh asked.

" Your gift that mumma bought for you!" Aman said loudly.

There was loud shattering sound making them jump.

They both turned to see Aadhya's shocked face with a broken glass on the floor.

" God! Are you okay?" Rishabh ran towards her to see if she got any hurt.

" Aman stay there only." Aadhya shouted when she saw him walking towards her.

Aman nodded while Rishabh and Aadhya started cleaning the glass pieces. She saw a glass piece pricking Rishabh's finger and he hissed in pain.

" You leave it, I will do it." She said and took all the broken pieces from him.

" It's okay." Rishabh said and they finished cleaning.

After that she went inside her room while Rishabh was on a call and Aman slept on the couch.

She came back to see Rishabh caressing Aman's hair lovingly sitting beside him. She kneeled down before him and took Rishabh's hand in hers.

Her touch electrified his whole body.

She carefully wiped his finger with a cotton and applied a band aid on it. All the while Rishabh was just staring at her intently and she looked into his eyes.

Love.

It was all she could see.

" You brought gift for me?" He asked curiously.

She looked here and there to avoid his eyes.

" I will tuck Aman to bed." She said picking up Aman in her hands.

And by the time she came back, he wasn't there.

His gift was kept on the table and there was a note on it.

I will take it when you will give me-R

She walked outside and saw that he had already left.

She read his note again and again.

She smiled.

She felt relief all of a sudden as some weight lifted off her chest.

There was this unknown pain in her heart which was shrinking her from inside but after talking to him yesterday, she doesn't have that shrinking pain anymore.

Maybe it was because she thought that he was engaged.

She smacked herself for believing someone else words.

She made a mental note of talking to him from now onwards instead of assuming things.

She got angry on Neetha for doing this.

How can a girl stoop such low?

That girl practically announced that she was getting engaged with Rishabh who wasn't even present there.

Doesn't she care about her reputation or atleast her future?

She shook her head and tried not to think about those things too much.

But the pain she felt because of that was horrible.

She felt like she became alone all over again.

She felt like she had lost an important part of her life.

Life without him wasn't the same.

Whom she is kidding?

She couldn't sleep, she couldn't eat, she couldn't think, she couldn't work, she couldn't be at peace.

All she could do was to think about him.

That's why she left.

She wanted a break from all this.

She took Aman for a vacation and showed him all the places he wanted to see.

Aman was happy and she was happy looking at him happy.

But Aman always used to remind about Rishabh which again brought back her pain to the whole new level.

Although she was going through hell, she always wished good for him.

She wished god for his happiness and well being.

When she came back, she wasn't sure whether she will stay or leave.

Her condition wasn't good when she came back. She had dark circles and bags under her eyes.

Anyone could have easily guessed that she wasn't sleeping at all.

That's why that day she wore make up to the hospital so that her Uncle wouldn't see her like that and she doesn't want to worry him more than already she is.

And she also went there as Shaanvi Arora not Aadhya, so make up did justice.

She didn't forget the look on Rishabh's face when he saw her and she cannot ever forget the feeling she got when she saw him after so many days.

She just wanted to hug him tightly but she had controlled herself and behaved professionally.

His condition was also not good and she felt bad for not being there when he needed her.

She thought she doesn't had any right on him as he was someone else's but now she not only came to know that he is not engaged but also that he didn't liked or loved that girl.

Her heart felt ease at that thought.

He had also said that she and Aman are more important than any other thing. His words made her heart flutter and she wanted to say to him that she loves him.

But she didn't.

She couldn't.

She cannot help but think herself as bad omen and she doesn't want to be a bad omen in his life too.

If something happens to him then she won't able to breathe a second also after that.

She cannot let anything happen to him.

He is her life.

He is her breath.

He is her soul.

He is her Angel.

He is her everything.

She knows that it's all superstitious and she is overthinking and exaggerating.

She can't help but feel it's true.

As she has seen people go away from her life.

She is protecting Aman with all her life and she will give her life to Aman if needed.

And she would even do that for Rishabh too.

But she cannot let him in her mess.

She fell onto the couch with a sigh.

She looked down sadly and tears fell down from her eyes.

She loves him.

She loves him so much that she wants to let go of him.....for his happiness.

She cannot let him stuck with her life.

She knows what her life is and how it is going to be. She cannot let Rishabh in it and force him to deal with her baggage.

It will be too much for him.

Already he is taking care of her company as his own because of her and she will be forever grateful for that but she can't expect more from him.

It will be so selfish of her to drag him into this mess.

She wants him to be happy.

She wants him to smile always.

She wants him to live his life freely.

She wants him to explore love, life and happiness.

If he stays with her, he will only have sadness, tears and regrets.

And she doesn't want that for him.

She cried silently.

So she decides the only thing she can do.

She should leave everything behind and go back to London.

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

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