"He agreed? How did he not get angry Bhabhi?" Bhavya asked Gauri.

The two were conversing through a phone call early the next morning.

"Not get angry, Ha ha ha.. got joke... Nandi bail vale seengh to nikle the na barabar. Bas teesri aankh khulna reh gaya tha..." came the complaint making Bhavya laugh.

"Aap kitne cute ho Bhabhi. Then what happened?"

"Uh..to.. aur kya hona hai... I also showed him that I am not any less. I am dabaang too. He got afraid and he finally agreed."

"Good story Bhabhi. Nice."

"Story? Uhh... nahi too.... Sach mein..."

"He loves you so much right? He is very possessive of you and yet he is letting you go with him," Bhavya said with a smile.

There was a brief moment of silence before Gauri spoke again.

"I don't know Bhavya. He never says anything and I hope that what I see in his eyes is not my illusion. I am only waiting for him to know it himself."

"He will Bhabhi, soon."

"Sure, but we are deviating here. You are supposed to give me that Bluetooth thingy."

"Yeah, sorry. I sent it with someone. He is on his way to the mansion," said Bhavya instructing her how to go about with the plan.

"I will call Karan and inform him of the location then."

"Yes and Bhabhi, please be careful."

"I will be Bhavya. Nothing will go wrong," she assured both of them.

*************************************************************************************

"Svetlana, the wedding preparations are on full swing and soon I will see my son married again to that fatichar ladki. When are you going to act on what you promised," Pinky whisper yelled into the phone.

"I am on it Pinky."

"That is what you have been telling me since many days. Had I not created a drama that day to distract everyone, you wouldn't have got the chance to get whatever you have been looking for in that idol. You owe me."

"All it needs is one phone call and the work will be done. Stop getting hyper Pinky."

"Shivaay is thinking of talking to the boy's principal. What if he goes there before your men complete the deed? Get the work done today."

Svetlana sighed in irritation.

"I don't take orders from anyone. It will be done by evening at the most. Stop bothering me again," she said and ended the call.

***********************************************************************

Rudra and Anika sat on the couch in the living room, eagerly awaiting for some fight to ensue. Omkara and Karan sat opposite each other, one was throwing daggers and the other was turning the pages of a magazine not caring for his life while he waited for Gauri to get ready and come down.

"If looks could kill," Rudra murmured to his sister in law.

"How did Om agree?" Anika whispered back.

"Day by day, my brother is turning into a softie," he wiggled his eyebrows.

"I too feel so. He did not say a word to him yet."

"Are we wasting time sitting here?"

"No, wait for Gauri to come and then see what happens Rudy."

"What did you do Bhabhi?" Rudra asked in excitement and Anika smirked.

"What the fudge!!" they heard Omkara's curse and turned to the stairs.

Rudra chocked as he saw his sister in law dressed in a black netted saree with a red border, walking down the stairs. She matched it with a stylish red lace blouse having a boat neck and full sleeves.

Unlike her usual style, which was loud and colorful, he saw that she choose accessories of platinum giving her the subtle shine of class. Needless to say, she looked outrightly stunning with her glowing face and straightened hair.

He looked at Anika who took a happy jump in her place and knew it was her work.

Omkara, the most affected of all stared at the spectacle in painful silence. As if his wife going on a lunch date with his enemy was not enough, she dressing up for the same was like a punch to his gut.

Karan blew a low whistle further goading him and he marched towards his wife to get her back into their room.

She isn't going with him dressed like that!! He decided.

"Omkara ji," he heard her calling him with a smile as he neared her.

Not speaking a word, he took her hand and started to pull her away when she protested.

"What happened?"

"Who asked you to wear this saree?" he asked, his voice laced with anger.

Gauri who only noted his anger, mistook that he didn't like her dress.

"Anika Bhaujai gave me Omkaraji. It seems the restaurant has a dress code and I didn't have a black saree," she informed making him stop and turn to her in shock.

"Where are you taking her Omkara? We are getting late," Karan walked to them.

"You didn't like it?" Gauri asked her husband in disappointment.

"What? You will surely kill a hundred people today by breaking their hearts, that you are married," Karan answered her.

Gauri looked on in confusion not getting the compliment and he smiled at her before telling clearly, "You look gorgeous my dearie. No doubts on that. I should have done a thousand good deeds to go on a date with you."

"Could you at least attempt, to not flirt with her?" Omkara uttered in a low growl.

Anika and Rudra chuckled unable to control any longer.

Karan casually shrugged his shoulders and reminded him, "We are getting late."

"Omkara ji, I will come soon," Gauri pleaded and he sulked again unable to say a no to her.

"Leave her Om, the poor thing is going out for lunch and it is her first time," Anika said and Rudra couldn't help but agree.

Gauri raised her hand to touch his cheek with a gentle smile just to assure him that she would be okay. Her husband on the other hand wasn't satisfied with just a touch. Instead, he pulled her close and pecked her lips.

Three gasps sounded in the air.

The men in outrage and the woman in awe.

"Yuck, I am out of here," Karan announced as he ran out to his car.

"Hey Bhagwan, O! when did you turn so besharam," Rudra dramatically exclaimed when he saw his brother lean in for the second time.

"Omkara ji," Gauri scolded, making her husband sigh and settle for a forehead kiss.

"Come back soon," he said and she nodded with a smile.

"Chulbul Bhabhi is going out for a few hours. Stop acting as if she is leaving you for months," the younger Oberoi pointed out.

Gauri chuckled before she bid a bye to everyone and left the place.

"That was so cruel of you Bhabhi," Omkara glared at Anika who sweetly smiled at him.

"What is cruel Om?"

"Stop playing dumb now," he said in a huff.

"No, kindly explain. All I did was give a pretty saree to my sister in law knowing it would suit her. How is it any wrong?"

"When she is going out with that flirt, seriously?" he questioned.

"Why? You never took her out till now. Otherwise you would have known and I would have done the same then."

"Bhabhi... it is..."

"Consider this your punishment for making her wait this long to get your attention," she cut him off before flicking her hair and walking away, taking Rudra with her.

********************************************************************************

Gauri adjusted the blue tooth connected to her ear, which she carefully hid with her hair. She looked at Karan who was driving the car, his gaze focused on the road.

Why was he so silent?

"Karan ji?"

"Yeah Gauri," he smiled as he turned to her for a small second.

"You seem very quiet today?"

"Uh... nothing. So you wanted to try Italian today?"

"Google chachi said that it is the best place around here," she replied.

"Hmmm or Bhavya suggested that to you," he said turning to her again and she panicked.

"What?"

"She likes Italian too and the restaurant is close to the police station, so I just had a doubt."

"No, I didn't talk to her," she said with a smile and he nodded.

He took a left turn, taking the car into a side road and her Bluetooth buzzed alerting her of a call. She gently touched it turning it on and Bhavya's voice blasted her ears.

"He took a wrong turn Bhabhi. You are supposed to take a right to reach the place."

Gauri felt the first shiver of fear, when the car sped down the road.

"Uhh, shouldn't we be taking a right turn?" she asked acting to be looking at her phone.

"Stop the Bluetooth and give me your phone," he said in a no non-sense tone looking straight at the road.

Bhavya muttered a curse while Gauri gulped.

"Karan ji?"

"You heard me, switch off the damn phone," he raised his voice and she turned to her side to open the car door.

"Don't be stupid Gauri, you will get hurt. That is not a particularly good idea."

"Please don't go for the door. Give the phone to him Bhabhi," Bhavya instructed making her forward the phone to him.

He roughly took the phone and heard his colleague's cold tone.

"You hurt her and I will destroy you Karan," Bhavya warned angrily.

"Don't get hyper. I promised her a meal and I am just going to give her that. I don't want you breathing down my neck while we have a friendly chat."

"Friendly conversation, my foot. Don't play games."

"I am not planning to do that Bhavya. I know you it is difficult now but you will have to trust me for an hour or two."

"What makes you think.."

"You don't have a choice. Decide or we both are going out of town with our phones switched off. We don't want that. Do we?"

Bhavya slammed her desk raising from her chair.

"One hour Karan, you have sixty minutes with you."

"Thanks, that should be enough," he said before switching off the phone.

*********************************************************************************************

Gauri glared at the person who was smiling so casually that she almost forgot that he kidnapped her. She suffered a tiring one hour drive in the car with thoughts of her husband lecturing her on her stupidity, crying for her untimely death and her dreams of her happy married life breaking into bits.

She couldn't relax at all until he stopped the car at a fancy restaurant filled with elegantly dressed people and dragged her to an isolated cabin.

"Stop glaring and eat Gauri," he said pushing the plate to her.

"I am not hungry," she said before her stomach loudly grumbled at the blatant lie.

Her cheeks colored in embarrassment as Karan laughed loudly.

"You are adorable dearie. Too bad that you love your husband, otherwise I would have..."

"Shut up and give me your plate," she said and not waiting for him, exchanged her food with his.

In no time she started to gulp down the food, feeding her hungry and irritable stomach.

"Omkara should see his wife eating from my plate. Dil toot jayega bechare ka tsk, tsk tsk" he clicked his tongue.

"What if you drugged my food? I am eating this because you already ate some," she clarified though she knew he was just riling her up.

"Oh come on. I am decent man and I am a cop."

"You kidnapped me."

"Correction, you asked for it. I just changed the location of the lunch. Not a big crime."

"Still, you scared me."

"Sorry for that but you are a very bad spy."

Gauri huffed before taking another spoon of the tasty lasagna which just melted in her mouth.

"That is my favorite. I thought you will not know much about Italian cuisine so I ordered what I liked."

"Hmmm, this is nice," she said with her mouth full and he smiled at her as he had his food.

"Why are you doing this Karan ji. How can a person like you work with Svetlana?"

He stared at her for a long minute, his playful expression changing to a serious one.

"For my father," he started and she nodded her head asking him to continue.

"My father Siddharth Shukla worked for the Oberois until the Kalyani mills incident. After that he moved to Lucknow and settled there. He never talked about the incident but I always observed his fear and anxiousness whenever any fire accident news came up in the news."

"My mother died when I was two and he had been my only parent. My job was my passion and he encouraged me to pursue it even though we were not very financially equipped. He is the only person I ever loved so much," he said.

"Few months ago, while I came to Mumbai for some official work, I brought him along for a health checkup. He was diagnosed with cancer and his doctor wanted a specific test to be done. I also wanted a second opinion and since the test was available here, I had to drag him against his wish."

"He was not ready to get admitted in the hospital so I got his test done and we took a room in a nearby hotel for stay. The next day as I came back from my Mumbai office, he pounded me to take him back as soon as possible. I never saw him that scared before."

"Why?"

"I knew he saw something or met someone but he wouldn't tell me a thing. I took him back but I had to leave him for an assignment in Delhi."

"A week later, I got a call from the hospital saying he was admitted there with multiple injuries and I rushed back to him. He was attacked by a mob and he drifted into a coma Gauri. My father never hurt a soul in his life and I couldn't fathom who could have done that."

"It was then that Svetlana came to me saying that Tej Oberoi sent his men to harm my father. I refused to believe the accusation but when I enquired and got hold of one of the men who hurt my father, they confessed the same."

"No Karan ji, this is not possible. That Svetlana is planning a revenge since a long time. Tej bauji couldn't have done it," Gauri tried to reason.

"Why not? A person who can burn his wife alive shouldn't have a problem with putting fire to his factory."

"Karan ji, Svetlana has poisoned your mind."

"What do you think of me Gauri? That I am a kid and I will believe it if anyone comes and tell me anything?"

"No, it is not that..."

"I thoroughly investigated the case for two months. The investigation has been tampered. You father in law used his power and money to get the investigation closed. Oberois weren't genuinely acquitted."

Gauri widened her eyes at the information.

"Svetlana was Tej Oberoi's secretary once and she knew of his illegal activities. She told me that the Oberois are responsible for the fire accident that took place twenty years ago. My father had a proof against them but in order to save me he ran away from the place. The last time he was in Mumbai, Tej Oberoi saw him by accident and so he tried to eliminate him."

"What?"

"That seems to be a reasonable motive why he went after my father."

"Karan ji, please think again. Bade bhaiyya trusted you so much. Your friendship, that love, was everything an act?"

"I won't lie to you and say that I have been true since the start. I did act my part just to get close to Rudra and Anika. But as I got to know how innocent you people are, I couldn't stop myself from liking you all. I even started to enjoy riling up your husband for no reason," he said with a small smile and looked away.

"But Gauri, if I have to choose between giving justice to my father and being a friend to your family...." He left the sentence unfinished.

Gauri knew the answer and nodded her head in understanding.

"I agree that you must choose your blood but why did you want to tell me all this?"

Because I don't want you to think of me as a bad person... he wanted to say but he didn't.

When he just stared at her without uttering a word, she started to feel awkward and looked away.

"I...uhh... I thought you will understand me. You have fought alone for your mother. Didn't you?"

"Is your conscience clean Karan ji? Are you sure after you get your revenge, you will be happy?"

"So, you are sure that Tej Oberoi did make the mistake?"

"You were saying that..."

"I did not say that he did it. I said the probability is high. Rest assured, I won't harm him unless I confirm that he is a murderer," he said and she sighed in relief.

"Uh..huh... don't be so relieved. It doesn't matter if I am posted in Delhi or even out of India. If I found that he is guilty, I will make that man kneel before the court," he warned.

"I am sure he wouldn't have done it Karan ji. You can work with us and find out about the same. Don't go behind that Svetlana. Vo womaniya achi nahi hai."

"Do you think that Bhavya would trust me again?" he asked with a smirk.

"I will talk to her."

"Good luck then," he said raising from his seat and returned her phone to her.

Gauri took it and saw that it was switched on.

"You switched it on?"

"Just a few minutes back," he said and started to walk away from her.

"Where are you going?"

Karan turned around and shrugged his shoulders.

"If she caught me now, she would first punch my face and then talk. I am too smart to stay back for that," he winked and she chuckled.

"If I am not wrong, she will reach in another fifteen minutes and it gives me sufficient time to escape. Call me once you decide to trust me," he said before he bid a bye with a charming smile.

******************************************************************************************************

I am happy to inform you that it has been one year since I started to write.

One year since I published "The Law breaker's love".

Yeah, it is officially my "Wattpad anniversary". ☺🤗🥳

I had fun writing, interacting with people and making some amazing friends in all these months. Thank you, my dear readers who encouraged me by voting and commenting on my books. It means a lot. ❤

And yeah... It has been 5 years of Ishqbaaz too...❤

You might get a double update late night... I will try and complete writing it as soon as possible.👍

Until later, signing off...yours Soujanya.