Pragya was still on the balcony, waiting for Abhi to come into the room... She wondered what his mood was like. Was he still angry or had he calmed down? She desperately hoped it was the latter.

What was taking him so long? She wondered. Maybe he went to check on Dadi...

That was good, she thought. Dadi had been worried sick. At least now her mind would be at rest.

Abhi entered the room, his eyes searching for Pragya.

Where was she?

He checked his entire room but still couldn't find her.

She probably went back to her old room...

He turned to go there but then his eyes spotted her out on the balcony, her back facing him.

"Oh, there's my beautiful wife."

Pragya turned around at the sound of his voice.

"Waiting up for me, darling?" he asked.

Darling? Pragya thought. Was he drunk?

Pragya opened her mouth to give a reply, but he interrupted, "Oh, how sweet of you to wait up for your husband."

Abhi walked closer and stood right in front of her. He lifted a hand and smoothed a stray lock of hair from her face and then he caressingly touched her cheek.

Pragya looked up at him, puzzled by his actions.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, sweetheart. Hope you didn't miss me too much..."

She had wanted him to calm down...but this was a little too much, don't you think? What was he up to?

Having him so close to her, playing with her hair....touching her face... was turning her brain to mush. She needed to get away from him so she could think clearly.

Pragya swatted his hand aside and tried to move away from him, but Abhi put his hands on either side of her on the balcony rail, preventing her escape and lowered his head slowly towards hers. Pragya put a hand over his lips to stop him. He kissed her palm and removed her hand from his lips, her wrist remaining in his grasp. Abhi cupped her cheek with his available hand while Pragya was struggling to release hers.

"Let me go!" she said.

"What's the matter?" he asked looking at her, his lips close to hers. "This is what you wanted, isn't it...?"

His fingers began to shift...from her cheek...to her ear... Pragya closed her eyes as Abhi's fingers shifted from her ear to her collarbone and trailed across her neckline, making her heart race.

"To marry me..." he continued, "To be my wife...to share a husband and wife relationship..."

Yes, Pragya thought. But not like this...

She wanted him to love her... wanted him to realize how she felt about him...

I have to stop this, she thought. I shouldn't get too close to him...

Pragya pushed at his chest and tried to get away...but Abhi's reflexes were too swift for her. He quickly grabbed her hand, pulled her towards him and lifted her up in his arms.

"Let go of me!" she shouted again.

What the hell was wrong with him?! She wondered.

He carried her inside his room, put her on the bed and sat down beside her. He held her hand and started removing her bangles...and pressed a kiss to each wrist. He removed the rest of her jewelry and her dupatta...

Pragya looked at him.

He had the same eyes...same face...but this was not her Abhi. Who had replaced her best friend with this stranger?

"Why are you doing this?" she asked softly, her voice barely a whisper.

"We got married today. We're just doing what most couples do on their wedding night."

"But you hate me." she stated.

He might not have said so earlier, but his facial expression certainly implied it.

"How can I hate my own wife?" he asked softly. "Let's just forget what happened earlier and just concentrate on us."

Us? Did I hear that right?

"There is no us..." she replied.

"Well there is one now. We're married, remember?" he said sweetly and caressed her face.

She turned her face away from him.

Pragya didn't believe his words for a second. She couldn't accept that he had changed so drastically in a few hours. He was up to something...but what was it?

Abhi knew he shouldn't be doing this.... But right now this was the only hope he had of extracting the truth from her.... Frighten her with his advances and hopefully she would back off and give him the answers he needed. She was already reacting the way he expected...just like his original Fuggi...

If she'd wanted to marry him so badly...why was she fighting him so much? Something was definitely wrong here... A little more...and she'd back away and finally blurt out the truth he was looking for....