Karan didn’t sleep much that night, he spent the whole night thinking about what Rajveer had said, it made sense… if he got married to Mahira and Preeta asked for an annulment there would be no reason for her to wait for him to divorce her. NO! his mind screamed he wouldn’t let that happen! He didn’t let her marry Prithvi and he wasn’t going to let her marry Rajveer! In fact he wasn’t going to let her marry anyone he said to himself.

As soon as the clock struck 4.30am Karan rushed to get ready and left the house before anyone else was awake, he didn’t want to stop and waste time with their questions. He had one mission in mind and that was to get to the academy before anyone else so that he could sneak into Preeta’s office and wait for her to arrive. He knew that she normally got in an hour before the team to prepare and he was going to use the opportunity to explain a few things to her!

Preeta was always an early riser and today was no different. As she readied herself for work she saw the reflection of her sister who was still sleeping. She looked at the time and thought about waking Shrishti and then decided against it. Shrishti should rest she told herself, today was her engagement and Preeta didn’t want her to look tired. She herself wouldn’t have gone into work but she had a few things to tend to that couldn’t wait she had spoken to the coach and he agreed to let her take half the day off.

Preeta still had a lot of questions about what was happening around her but kept them to herself as she didn’t want to ruin the happiness that had finally made its way into Arora house. She sighed looking at Shrishti and collected her bag and left the room.

“Are Preeta putar, tu kahan ja rahi hai?” Janki asked, hearing her voice Sarla came out of the kitchen to check.
“Ha Preeta tu kahan ja rahi hai?”
“Maa, Janki aunty me academy ja rahi hoon”
“Lekin aaj? Aaj toh Shrishti ki sagai hai?” questioned Sarla
“Ha Maa lekin kuch kam hai jo aaj hi pura karna hai, mein dopahar tak aa jaungi”
“Theek hai beta, jaldi ja ke aa ja” Sarla smiled to see her daughter smiling after so many days. With that Preeta had a quick breakfast and headed to the academy.

When she walked into her cabin the last thing she was expecting was to see Karan Luthra standing in front of her desk closely studying her name plate which he held in his hand.

“Tum?”

Karan turned around and was lost in her, today she was a baby blue anarkali suit with an elegant net dupatta. She looked like an angel and he continued to stare. He registered that she was saying something but his mind failed to understand. Getting frustrated Preeta moved a bit closer and clicked her fingers in front of his face bringing him back to now.

“Meine poocha tum mere office mein kya kar rahe ho?”

“Wo mein…” but he stopped remembering about Rajveer “Kyun? Mein yahan nahi aaunga to koi aur aaega?”

“Tum pagal ho? Yeh kya be tuke ki baate kar rahe ho?” she looked at him a confused expression marring her face. Karan moved closer to her causing her to take a step back.

“Kya huva Preeta Arora, tum peeche kyun ja rahi ho? Dar lag raha hai?” this caused her to stop

“Mein… aur tumse daroon? As if!” she stood her ground.

He always loved winding her up, in fact it was one of his most favourite pass times. He loved the way her nostrils flared when she was irritated at him and how her nose turned red. He smirked at her and took another step forward, only this time she put her hands out and pushed him back.

“Tumhari problem kya hai Karan? Kya chaahiye tumhe?”

“Tum” he whispered causing her eyes to widen in shock

“K… Kya?” she stuttered and this time took another step backwards as he stepped forwards. Eventually he had her trapped against the door and he slipped his left hand around her waist. She looked down unable to meet his eyes, he was too close her heart told her and with that thought her cheeks turned a lovely shade of pink.

Looking at her state a sense of pride welled within him and he continued to smirk.

“Tumhe toh mere hone na hone se koi farak nai pardta toh yeh kya hai?” he asked gently rubbing his right knuckle against her left cheek. This caused her cheeks to turn a bright red and her eyes shot up to look at him.

They were both lost in one another until the ringing of a phone broke the trans. Preeta was the first one to come back to her senses and push Karan away to create some space.

“Dur raho mujse!” she snapped and began to dig through her bag to find her phone which was still ringing.

As much as he hated to admit it, he was hurt by her actions and her words! Who was she to tell him to stay away from her!

“Preeta…” he began but stopped listening to her next words

“Rajveer? Yeh itni subha kyun call kar raha hai?” she was about to answer but her phone was rudely snatched from her hand.

She looked towards Karan who was now looking at her ringing phone, she would have asked him what his problem was but his expression was murderous so she remained silent. The phone stopped ringing after a few minutes and then beeped indicating a message had been left. Preeta thought that Karan would hand her phone back but she was wrong, he simply turned it off and stuck it in his pocket.

“Yeh tum…”

“Tumhari problem kya hai!” he shouted. She tried to move back seeing his anger but he grabbed her wrist and twisted her hand behind her back effectively causing her to crash against his chest. She struggled but it was no use his grip was firm, but she realised that he wasn’t hurting her just stopping her from moving away, so she stopped struggling. she tilted her head up to look him in the eyes to try and read his expression expecting to see anger, but what she saw confused her – he looked hurt.

“Karan? Kya huva hai?” she gently asked. But maybe she should have stayed quite because suddenly his expression changed; anger quickly replaced the hurt and she felt his grip tighten

“Kya huva hai? Tum pooch rahi ho kya huva hai?”

“Ahhh, Karan… chodo muje…” she struggled again.

“Kyun? Kyun chodu tumhe? Taki tum uss Rajveer se baat kar sako? Taki tum usske paas ja sako? Taki tum usse shadhi kar sako? Right Mrs Preeta Karan Luthra! Yeh hi chaahti ho na tum?”

Preeta looked at him like he had gone mad
“Karan mera haath chodo mujhe dard ho raha hai!” she struggled some more eventually causing him to let go. “Tumhai problem kya hai? Aur tum yeh kya bakwas kar rahe ho?”

This only angered him further

“Mein bakwas kar raha hoon? Aur tum jo kar rahi ho woh kya hai? Aur tumhari behn jo kar rahi hai woh kya hai!”

“Kya kiya hai meine? Aur Shrishti? Shrishti ko kyun beech mein larahe ho?”

“Oh toh aab tum innocent ban rahi ho? Ab toh tum yeh bhi kaho gi ke tumhe yeh bhi nahi pata ke Shrishti janbooch ke Akaash se sadhi kar rahi hai!”

“Ek minute… Mein janti hoon ke Sameer ko bohot dukh huva hoga Shrishti ke decision se lekin tum uski taraf se bhi to soocho. Tum ache se jante ho ke tumhare ghar mein koi bhi Shrishi aur Sameer ka rishta accept nahi karega! Toh aab in sab baato se kya faiyda? Woh dono kabhi ek nahi ho sakte toh bahtar yehi hai ke dono move on kare right? Aur yeh jitna jaldi ho utna Shrishti aur Sameer ke liye bhi bahtar hoga” she interrupted although her heart hurt to say it she knew it was the truth.

“Aur Shrishti ko iss puri duniya mein ek Akaash hi mila?”

“Akaash hi mila ka kya matlab hai? Akaash mein kya problem hai?” she asked
“Mujse badla lene keliye tum itna kaise gir sakti ho?”

“Shut up Karan! Yeh kya bakwas baak rahe ho? Mein kyun tumse badla lungi? Aur issme Akaash aur Shrishti ki shadhi ka kya lena dena?”

Karan failed to realise that in his anger he was making matters worse for if he did he would have realised that Preeta was unaware of what had happened to Roo. He would have realised that if he calmly explained the situation to Preeta she would have helped him despite what he and his family had done to her! But then he wouldn’t have been Karan right?

In his anger Karan blurted out what had happened to Roo all the while cursing Akaash and the Shergill family. He admitted to kidnapping Shrishti the day before and briefly the conversation they had had with Shrishti before Rajveer had arrived. With every word that came out of his mouth Preeta’s anger increased. But she didn’t stop him, she wanted to hear where his baseless claims would lead.

“Aur tum… Tumhe kya lagta hai mein tumhe dusri shadhi karne dunga?” he grabbed her shoulders and shook her, the very thought of her wanting to marry Rajveer increasing his anger ten-fold. “Tumne yeh sooch bhi kaise liya ke tum iss saza se baach sakti ho? Kan khol ke sun lo Preeta tum dusri shadhi nahi karogi! Suna tumne? Meine kaha ke tum dusri shadhi nahi karogi!” he ordered

“Shut up! Just SHUT UP!” she screamed shoving his away with everything she had. She was angry at his lies and his blames… every time something bad happened in his life it was her fault… every time he had a misunderstanding she was the one caught in the crossfire, the one subjected to his baseless anger and she had remained quiet, but today he had crossed his limit.

“Tum hote kaun ho meri zindagi ke faisle lene wale?” she thundered

“Pati hoon tumhara!” he screamed back hoping to shut her up and regain control of the situation, but Preeta had had enough! Listening to his accusations against Akaash and Shrishti made her mad! She was sick and tired of Karan throwing his weight around and this time it wasn’t about her it was about Shrishti and it was about Akaash. Karan’s misunderstandings has already destroyed her life but there was no way she was going to let him or his ungrateful family play with her sisters life!

She knew her sister would never do something like this and she had known Akaash since they were kids. He too just like her sister would never hurt anyone and this man standing in front of her was questioning her Janki maa’s upbringing and she would never allow that! She realised that her silence had led to this and if she let him get away with it Karan Luthra would never learn to respect her! it was time to show him his place she decided, it was time to make Karan Luthra realise that her life would not run according to him and it was time to show him what happens when someone tries to hurt her loved ones!

“Tum aapni yeh ghatiya baate aapne paas rakho! Aur kya kaha tumne Akaash ne Roo se shadhi kar ke usse chod diya? Woh Akaash Shergill hai Karan Luthra nahi jo assi ghatiya harkate kare ga!” Karan tried to speak but she showed him her hand and continued “Meri baat abhi puri nahi huvi!” she looked at him and then smirked “Oh aab samji… meri zindagi barbad kare ke chain nahi mila toh aab meri behn ki zindagi barbad karne agaye? Well played Mr Luthra lekin ek baat tum bhool gaye mein woh Preeta Arora nahi hoon jo tumhari har baat pe ankh bandh karke bharosa karti thi… tumhari in jhooti baato pe nah mein yakeen karongi aur na hi mera parivaar! Samje tum”

Karan was stunned to see her so angry; this wasn’t his Preeta, his babydoll! And what did she say? she didn’t trust him? No that can’t be right… he couldn’t believe what he had done. His babydoll didn’t trust him! No he had to make her see reason his heart protested,

“Babydoll…”

“Preeta! My name is Preeta!”

“Ha… mein… Ha Preeta mein… mein ne… I didn’t mean…”

“You never mean anything do you!”

“Preeta mera yakeen karo” he tried all the anger now having fizzled out.

“Yakeen…” she laughed humourlessly “Okay Mr Luthra karongi yakeen…” he smiled but her next sentence once again wiped the smile off his face “Show me the proof, saboot dikaiye mujhe ke Akaash ne Roo se shadhi ki hai! Show me the proof ke yeh saab Shrishti ne kiya hai! Taab karongi yakeen ke jo bhi tum kahe rahe ho woh saach hai!”

He remained silent…

“Kya huva? Nahi hai saboot?” she shook her head at the thought that she had ever trusted this man.

“Pati…” she whispered after a few minutes of silence causing him to look at her again. “kis haak se tum apne aap ko mera pati kahe rahe ho Mr Luthra? Jis rishte ka gala tum ne khud ghot diya tha usska haak jaata rahe ho?” tears made their way to her eyes but she refused to let them fall, this man was not worthy of seeing her cry!

“Aur kya kaha tha tum ne? Mein dusri shadhi nahi kar sakti kyun ke tum karne nahi doge? Toh ek baat meri bhi sunlijye Mr Luthra mein Rajveer se shadhi nahi kar rahi thi! Lekin aab… aab mein Rajveer se shadhi karoongi aur mein bhi dekhti hoon ke tum kaise rok te ho mujhe!” her voice deadly calm and her eyes challenging as she stared him down.