- Mumbai -
- 2017 -

No one's POV

'Why is she back Shivaay? Why am I so weak? Why do I need her to protect me every time? I finally thought she won't return! I was so confident that I can go through this! I tried so hard Shivaay! I tried! I didn't want her back! She's such a nuisance!!! How I wish I never created her! Why do I fall weak Shivaay??? Why??? I thought I'll be able to protect myself from him but I failed right? I failed terribly!', Anika cried bitterly as she placed her head on his chest hugging him.

'Protect yourself from whom Anika?', Shivaay asked her.

'Daksh Mama!', she revealed.

'Daksh Mama? But why? What he did to you Anika? Tell me!', Shivaay insisted.

'Shivaay... he... he's not... a good man...', she stammered in between her sobs.

Shivaay took both her hands in his and knelt down in front of her. He wanted to see her as she reveals her bitter past to him. He gave her hand a little squeeze to ensure her that he's there for her.

'Anika, you have to tell me about that man. I have to know everything about him and what he did to you. We need to get to the roots of the problem to solve it. I'll protect you Anika. Trust me. If you're not yet ready to talk about it, then it's okay, I'll wait. We have a while lifetime together Anika. I can definitely wait! But please do talk to me about it when you're ready! Only when you're ready!', he assured her and was about to leave when she held him back by a tug on his wrist.

'Shivaay... he... he... mol... molested me... a few times before...', she broke into another sob recalling her painful past.

The sexual torture and molesting period of her life flashed through her mind again. Each and every memory were as sharp as a needle and it pierced deep into her skin which made her bleed profusely.

On the other hand, Shivaay was furiously mad at that man who put through his Anika in so much of pain. His anger was clearly visible through his bloodshot eyes and increasing redness of his face. Nevertheless, he controlled his emotions and listened to her cautiously as he needs to hear and know the whole truth for the betterment of them both.

'I was just 12 Shivaay... just 12... I was so innocent and playful... I loved my life... until that day... that day... that lustful man... he... he touched me... he touched me everywhere... here (while hardly rubbing her cheeks as she chocked on her sobs)... here (she rubbed through her chest area, full of of disgust on her face)... here... (her hands went down to her stomach)... and also...', before she could proceed further to her womanhood, Shivaay held both her hands in his and pulled her into a tight hug.

He was also crying along with her. Her sobs were bigger definitely. His was just silent tears. He couldn't believe that behind the calm and composed Anika, there was so much of pain and sufferings. At the age of 12 she had to bear her maternal uncle's sexual harrassments on her. At the beautiful tender age where she was yet to discover herself as a girl, she was put in such a situation where she had to hate her own body and cursed her beauty.

'He took away my innocence Shivaay! He took away whatever that made me a child. He... he didn't stop at there you know... once he even forced me to strip down in front of him... and when I refused... he... he... beat me up and forcefully ripped my clothes away... he took nudes of me... he...', she couldn't continue further as she was becoming breathless.

Shivaay pulled her closer to him. He wanted to absorb all her pain into himself. He so badly wanted to console her and make her stop crying but he just didn't knew what to tell her. Words were juggling themselves in his mind but there was nothing he could voice out. How can he assure her that it's okay now when he knew that she's still broken. She's been affected brutally, both mentally and physically by her name-sake maternal uncle. He was both angry and broken at the same moment. All he wanted to do at that moment was to break each and every bone of Daksh.

'He raped me as well', she finally lets out everything while sobbing badly in his chest. Her wails were getting louder and louder as she lets out all the pain and bitter memories that she had kept buried deep in her soul for all these years.

All he could do was to hold her securely as he suppressed all his anger towards that evil, wicked man.

It took Anika a little while to compose herself. She lived with these pain for 15 years now. She knew how to suppress and succumb her emotions and pain. She felt them for too long and that too insanely intense that now, she had become numb to the pain. But at the end of the day, she was still a human being with all emotions and feelings. Reopening the unhealed wounds stirred an uncontrollable pain in her. She couldn't pull the strong poker face anymore especially in front of Shivaay, with whom she had fallen in love.

Shivaay was still unwilling to break the hug but complied when she pulled away. Anika wiped off the stain of tears from her face completely and took a look at Shivaay. His face also had tear stains. His usually calm deep blue orbs were darker in shades, the pain he bore was visible to her. Unknowingly, he had just become her humdard. He became her 'that special person' with whom she can share and open up all her pain in front of.

'I'm sorry Shivaay, I didn't mean to keep this hidden from you. You're going to be my husband. I should have told this to you earlier but I couldn't gather the courage. And to add to this, the issue with 'Annie' was also there. And then our marriage bethrotal. My feelings for you. Everything was there at the same time that I couldn't figure it out. I thought of telling this to you after our engagement but before that, that Daksh Mama came and...',

'Don't call him mama... that wicked man doesn't deserve any kind of respect!', Shivaay's anger shoot up and made him interrupt her midway.

Her eyes welled up upon seeing the anger he had towards the misfortune that landed upon her.

'Shivaay...', she was yet again interrupted by him.

'Why did you bear all of his harrasments and torture Anika? Why? Why didn't you tell anyone? Why didn't you ask for help? Why did you bear everything silently? Huh? Why didn't you tell anyone???', he asked her frustratedly.

Shivaay knew that if such a crime took place in anyone's life at such a young age, they would have definitely voiced out or seeked for help. How come she didn't was a huge question to him.

'What do you think? That I didn't try to get help? I didn't want my miseries to end? He had my nudes and videos Shivaay. He threaten me with them and he also said that if I tried to tell this to anyone? He'll release the videos and nudes online. He also threaten to kill Om Bhaiya if I ever said it to him also! I was helpless Shivaay! I couldn't think of anything else other than to keep it all inside of me!', she revealed as tears once again begain to well up in her eyes.

'But, how come you're finally revealing all of this to me now?', he asked her.

'I don't know. Somewhat you make me feel secure when you're with me and I began to tell you my dark secrets one by one. I just really don't know how I manage to pour this out to you!', she was equally surprised.

Of course she had made up her mind to tell him about her bitter past but she didn't plan to tell the whole thing to him. She thought she wouldn't be able to do it but to her surprise, she just did and that too very much deeply.

'I'm glad that you did it anyhow! That Daksh will have to pay for whatever he had done to you. He has to pay the price for every tear you had shed. He will live the rest of his life regreting his birth!', Shivaay gritted in anger.

'Shivaay, no! You won't do anything such!', Anika stopped him right away.

'But why Anika? That man has put you through a lot pain!', Shivaay almost roared at her.

'He's evil Shivaay. What if he harms Om Bhaiya? What if he did something to you? I no longer care about my nudes and those videos but I care about you both! I can't... I just can't afford to see you both in pain because of me!', she requested him with obvious fear in her eyes.

'Anika...',

'We'll leave from here. We'll go away whenever he's back in town. That's how I used to do it. We can just stay away from him. He won't be able to do anything to us! He will not be able to harm any of us that way!', Anika added.

'Keeping him away by running away from him?', Shivaay questioned her back with a tinge of frustration in his voice.

'Yes!', she nodded plainly hoping that Shivaay will obey to her way of handling things.

'That's wrong Anika! How long will you be running away from him? Huh? What if he tried to force himself upon you again? What if one time day, he got hold of you? What if he comes up with more things to blackmail you huh?', Shivaay rebuked.

'I just don't know all that! All I know is that as long as I'm away from him, I'll be fine!', she retorted.

Shivaay couldn't believe his ears. Why was this girl running away from her problem instead of facing it? She should be braver now given the pain that she's underwent but instead of being brave, she was running away like a coward. She was locking herself in. When Shivaay finally thought that he understood her completely, she proved him wrong by stopping him from taking any action. He was furious but he controlled all his anger as he knew that it will bring no good. He had to find some other way to convince her to fight back and this job wasn't going to be an easy one. He undoubtedly needed help from Om, Gauri and Annie as well.

He ended the conversation with her by saying that she needs rest and also that they shall leave somewhere tomorrow. He wanted to assure her that she can trust him. Her trust towards him was the key to all the problems. He made her sleep and left to his room.

It was a long, sleepless night for him. He so terribly wanted to smack Daksh but he can't. He so desperately wanted to make Anika strong but he can't as well. He was totally helpless. His hands were tied by the way things were.

PRECAP : STILL THE SAME.

- To be continued -

P.S. Phew! So I finally managed to spare some time to update this chapter. Guys, I do know that you all must be wondering why am I not updating as frequently as I used to do, but trust me, I'm having quite some difficulties juggling up with everything that's going on in my life. Will try to update frequently after this.