Neil: for 10 years u kept such a big secret in u so that we all can be safe and happy...avni I saw the clip where.... where I saw how neela maa got shot and realised what made u take that step.

Avni was shocked... but how he found out doesnt matter as she is happy that he got to know y she took that step

Avni: neil. She said but he didnt let her finish

Neil : as I saw u after 10 years I just didnt know how to react I felt betrayed , I felt u didnt trust me enough to make things better if only I knew what the real reason was.. here I was angry at u ...saying anything to u... and u didnt utter a single thing when u should have been the one to be mad at me for behaving like that ... I wish if I had thought about y avni took that step.. y she pretended to fake her own death but my anger was too big to notice anything.... words r not going to be enough but I'm sorry avni I really mean it... I should have tried to understand u but been too blind i wasnt able tooo he said resting his forehead against hers. As they both cried silently holding on to each other

Avni: now it feels like I finally got my neil and I dont want anything not even your sorry .. at the end of the day we both can do anything to protect our loved ones Neil..at that time this is all I could think of and I'm happy i was able to protect u all..able to keep my happy family together.

Neil: i love u avni i really do i always did but wasnt ready to accept it after seen u... what u did... even I wouldnt have been able to do that.. nobody can be like u.. I promise not to leave u now I promise to be that old neil. .

Neil cupped avni cheeks and both looked at each other with tears in their eyes with a small sad smile playing on their lips ... he moved his forehead away from her and slowly placed a kiss on her forehead...he took her hands after and kissed both her hands when avni eyes fell on Neil's ring

Avni:its too late neil

Neil : what do u mean avni ...it's not late

Avni: it is... u will be getting married to mitali.

Neil : how do u expect me to move on after knowing all this

Avni: I dont know but u cant leave her in the middle like this neil... it's best if we leave things here and not bring up what happeend in the past again she said getting up.

Neil :we have tolerated enough avni... I dont want to marry mitali...in my anger I had taken this decision but not anymore. He said standing up

Avni: neil y r u not understanding

Neil : i am understanding avni but we have sacrificed enough ab not anymore I made the mistake of keeping u away from me but not anymore come with me he said.

Avni: neil stop please she said as neil held her wrist

Neil:dont avni...I wont let u go away now... I want l u and mowgli with me...I want our happy family to be complete... that is what neela maa wanted too... let's not sacrifice this time he said  moving her hands away seen her getting emotional and walked out of sukoon ghar taking avni with him

As they sat in the car neil called mithali

Mithali : hey neil...how comes u called today otherwise it's usually me she said jokingly

Neil:mithali can u please come to khanna mansion now?

Mithali: what happened is everything ok?

Neil : yes everything is ok now...he said looking at avni who turned to look at him

Mithali :ok I'll be there soon.

Neil ended the call and looked at avni when she spoke

Avni: neil is this right ?

Neil : it surely is avni...mithali will have to understand

30 mins later avneil reached outside the khanna mansion...both got out the car...neil started to walk but stopped not seen avni beside him and turned around to see avni standing there looking at the mansion.

Neil walked towards her and cupped her face making her look at him..he shook his head and kissed her forehead and walked inside intertwining his fingers with hers

Bebe who was reading a book on the couch saw avneil walk in hand in hand and got up

Shweta who was coming with few vegetable was happy seen avni but she frowned seen avneil holding hands.

Bebe: neil what is this?

Neil: bebe, mom I'll tell u everything later but just know that I finally got to know y avni had taken the decision to leave all of us... and now i have taken a decision to not let avni go away from me

Avni silently watched bebe and shweta who looked surprised with neil decision

Bebe: neil? Do u know what u r doing ? U agreed to marry mithali and now u r saying u wont let avni go away from u.

Neil : bebe I probably would have married mithali but that would be in anger which I had for avni but after realising what she did for us i realised what big mistake I was about to make

Shweta: at least tell us the reason Neil ?

Neil:I'll tell that after mom

Avni: neil ?

Neil: nothing will happen...everyone does have the rights to know

Bebe and shweta noticed the way avni hesitated

Bebe: avni puttar ...we r not against u but situation is such that we dont know want to do...u r the daughter of this house and will always be and nobody can take your place in our heart but right now even leaving mithali in the middle is not right too...we need to sit and discuss about this.

Shweta: y does it feel like something big has been hidden? Tillu please just tell us

Neil was about to speak when suddenly mithali walked in

mitali :neil what happened u wanted to talk she said coming but was shocked seen avni

Mitali in her mind : avni?.. she was going but what is she still doing here ? Has she changed her mind of leaving?

Neil:yes mithali I wanted to talk and I hope after what I will say u will understand

Mithali: neil if its about mowgli then I dont mind u seen him or him coming over

Neil: it's not about mowgli its about me avni and u

Mithali stiffened for a sec and then looked at avni

Mithali: what do u want to say about us ?

Neil: mitali u r a very good friend of mine...we even worked together...but I only considered u as a friend ...I even took a decision to marry u but all that was done in anger which I had for avni as I was too blind to see or think about anything...thinking that what she did to me I said yes to get married to u but ....

Mithali: but what? she said clutching her hand hoping that neil still marries her

Neil: my heart still beats for avni mithali... I still love her..but even more now...after finding out what made avni take this big step 10 years ago I  realised what I am doing is wrong...it will just ruin so many lives ..its best not to get married

Mithali got up followed by others

Mithali: and me ? U didnt think about me even once neil... u r the one who said u r ready to marry me...u gave me the hope that finally I will getting my love as avni is out of the picture but no....and what such thing did avni do all those years back that your anger disappeared straight away

Avni:mithali I...

Mithali: shut up... u had said u wont come back...u will leave from Neil's life but no u was just pretending to say all that...I dont know what  u told neil but u played your cards very well...first u come back then u reveal mowgli is Neil's son and now this ...

Avni:mithali u r thinking wrong it's not like that ...I didnt tell neil anything but he found out himself

Mithali: oh please dont try and be nice in front of me... what can I except from a illegitimate person like u.... when your own family couldnt accept u how do u expect others too...if u hadnt come between me and neil then he wouldnt have got such thoughts in his head  she said bitterly

Neil: MITHALI !!! not a word more. He said looking at her angrily.

Bebe: mithali I know what happened with u was bad..but u have no rights to say this to avni...sadly illegitimate is still an issue but due to whatever is happening with u doesnt give u the rights to bring avni past life and I wont allow anyone to say anything against my family members she said looking at mithali seriously

Shweta: and mithali what did u say? avni doesnt have her own family ?... then let me tell u we r her family...even though she lost her 2 mothers she still has this mother of her who loves her just like her own daughter... and avni has her own small family which is neil and their son mowgli...if someone who came in between then its u and somewhere it was my fault

Neil: u r blaming avni but here when I was telling avni to be together she denied as the first thought that came to her mind was what would happen to u and it's not right to leave u in the middle but u never tried to understand avni and jumped to conclusion and not only that u went too far bringing her past up....mithali I thought u would understand but no seems like u have made your mind on how u want to take things right?

Mithali: I didnt say anything wrong neil...all I wanted was us to get married and u end up telling me we cant get married...she even tried to hide from u that mowgli is your son.

Neil: enough mithali...avni had her own reason and I understood very well now...if she didnt let me know about mowgli been my son then she also didnt  allow mowgli to know that she is his mother and kept him just like another normal kid at sukoon ghar...as a mother she endured more pain than me and also as a human...my pain is nothing in front of her ... avni is the best wife anyone can have

Mithali: she isnt your wife anymore... she said laughing bitterly

Neil: she soon will be

Mithali: what about me then ...just for this person u r breaking this wedding with  me...she had faked her death but now I wish that she should have seriously been dead so that she wouldnt have been back

Neil: mithali he said raising his hand to slap her but felt his hand to stop midway

He turned to see avni holding his hand shaking her head not to while his was in full rage

Avni: u r not someone to raise your hand on any girl  neil...what matters to me is that I still have my family she said

Neil softened as he listened to avni but then he turned to look at mithali angrily

Neil:LEAVE  and never be back in my life again 

Shweta: I'm proud of u Tillu...and mithali I was feeling sorry for u earlier on but after u started saying stuff against avni and what u just said now I feel disgusted for thinking to have u as my daughter in law

Mithali looked at everyone angrily as she was about to turn bebe stopped her

Bebe:u have one thing that neil gave u she said going near her

While all wondered what bebe was talking about but soon they saw her lift mithali hand and remove the engagement ring

Bebe:ab u r free to go...she said

Mithali looked at all and left from the khanna mansion

Shweta moved to neil and removed his ring too.

Bebe:shweta apply kala teeka on these two so that no evil eyes falls on them she said.

Avni moved to bebe and hugged her letting her tears flow while neil moved to hug shweta watching avni

Neil: mom where is dad ?

Before shweta could answer avni spoke as she moved towards neil

Avni: neil please...if papa ji knows then he will feel guilty and think he is responsible for something he hasnt done

Neil: avni I know what u r thinking and for now we wont tell dad but we can tell mom and bebe na he said placing his hand on her shoulder

Shweta: what is going on? Where did prakash ji come into this and what do u mean by guilty and responsible for something he hasnt done? She said frowning 

Avneil looked at shweta and didnt know how to start

Bebe:will u both say something? She said getting tensed

It had been 5 mins

Bebe and shweta were sitting in the hall with avni while neil came down with his laptop and the pen drive he had hidden and sat next to avni

As he turned on the laptop and adjusted the pen drive he looked at bebe and shweta and then at avni who was fidgeting with her fingers.

Neil:what I'm about to show u should remain between us only and dad shouldn't know about this at all

Bebe: mata rani Give us strength she said mumbling.

Shweta:neil u r scaring us y did u say prakash ji shouldn't know about this ?

As neil loaded the clip he turned the laptop towards bebe and shweta and placed his hand on top of avni squeezing it as both looked at each other... they took a deep breath and turned to look at bebe and shweta.

Bebe and shweta were watching the video and as they saw how neela was shot both had their mouth covered as if reliving that bad day...both of their eyes were welled up while the shock was visible

Neil turned off the Laptop...both avneil wanted to give shweta and bebe some time to recover from what they saw.

Shweta:what if...what if prakash ji gets arrested?...what if he gets life sentence....no no no no....we... we... we need to do something ...tillu your dad needs to be saved he..police will..neill he...

Shweta didn't know what she was saying as he mind was occupied with what would happen to prakash but the truth was only known to them.

Neil got up and moved to shweta and hugged her

Neil: mom calm down nothing will happen to dad.... he is innocent nobody knows this except us... nobody can take him mom vidyut had confessed his crime years back that he killed neela ma nobody can take him away from us relax...this is y avni had taken a decision to leave us just to save dad and us from vidyut evil plan He said rubbing her back

Bebe looked at avni and got up...avni saw bebe get up and also got up thinking bebe may need help due to the shock she received but instead of going anywhere bebe folded her hand in front of avni...but avni quickly moved bebe hand away

Avni: bebe please dont fold your hand

Bebe: puttar what u did for us is nothing compared to me folding my hands...this is something small....to save prakash u made such a big sacrifice...u didn't even once think about yourself and decided to show to the world u r no more and lived far away from us so that we r safe... nobody would have done what u did for us avni..I seriously dont know how to thank u  ...

Shweta: avni she said getting up and moved towards her hugging her tightly

Shweta : u dont know how debted we r for u to take such a big step...we had each other to lighten our pain but u had nobody on top of that u kept such a big secret hidden from us...I'm seriously blessed to have a daughter in law like u who is actually my daughter....bebe is right nobody would have done what u did.

Bebe: not only avni but even neil had kept his pain hidden from us she said looking at neil who looked at avni

Shweta: avni we seriously dont know how to thank u

Avni: then please dont thank me... I always craved for a happy family and a fathers love but I never got that except from nanno, neela ma and ayesha ma..but after u all entered my life I finally got my full complete family.... I got the love of a dadi. A love of a father and a supporting life partner who accepted me in all ways...and a loving mother in law who accepted me with her full heart... and at that time I could do anything to save my happy family and will continue to do so she said

Neil: now that u all know the truth let's keep it between us and not allow anyone or dad to know...from no onwards we wont talk about this

Avni: neil what will u do with the drive?

Neil : it will be kept somewhere where nobody will ever find it he said

Precrap: neil got onto his knees while avni and the rest looked on

Avni: neil what r u doing she said In a low voice while neil smiled

Will be waiting for comments and votes

Thanks to those who commented and voted for the previous chap