Thanks for all your inline comments Aspiramdoc pavithra82 jansip jiya070 titas2828 sri210 Andetheres narbhi_fan Tachiedadi anrawsnarayan hijk2017 IndraPriyadarshini chauhankrishna DiwakarMisra mumbaichic ayatkhan97 Neenu_neenu missingmypassion ishqbaaziiii pari527379 user40279863 ib123456 DeepsitaDeb sanaliaqat95 suryaarjuna user78290620 arshi-suchi Labiqaazmi

Dedicated to Aspiramdoc pavithra82 jansip   sri210 Andetheres narbhi_fan Tachiedadi     DiwakarMisra mumbaichic ayatkhan97 Neenu_neenu missingmypassion ishqbaaziiii DeepsitaDeb suryaarjuna user78290620 arshi-suchi Labiqaazmi for your right guesses..

Some of you thought it's a dream and some of you thought it is not.. let's see what's in store..🧐

Happy Reading!!! And a happy upcoming week 😬

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"Stop acting Annika please!! I am simply fed up of your drama..SIMPLY FED UP!! Why are you acting now and for whom are you acting?? Huh?? Tell me Annika.. Is someone keeping a watch over your behaviour, so you are acting like you are very concerned?? Or you want to prove something to someone?? Is anyone spying on us that you want to behave so good and show off that everything is simply perfect?? Tell me?? Why are you silent?? Tell me there is no one around, then why this drama??" He kept asking her again and again..

Tears came streaming down her cheek and her face was completely fear-stricken..She did not get angry this time, but wondered what went wrong with him all of a sudden. She had never witnessed this side of him!

"Are you even going to talk or not now?" He screamed again and she almost trembled in fear.

"Shivaay?! What the hell do you think you are doing?" A slap landed on his cheek and he was startled.

"Pinky Aunty?" Annika was shocked to find her there.

"Mom" Shivaay stuttered. "Woh actually.." he paused. No matter what, both of them did not want anyone at home to know about what was going on between them.

"This was the last thing I expected from you Shivaay.. I am disappointed, very very disappointed" Pinky said sharply looking at him. By that time, hearing all the commotion, others had gathered there.

"Aunty..it's nothing like you are thinking.. it is just that..just that he was a little tensed and..." Annika tried explaining and Pinky simply stared at her. Shivaay was surprised to see her taking his side for the first time.

"Tu chup kar Annika... I was watching how he was shouting at you..I have been asking you for the last two days if there is any problem between the two of you and you were continuing to defend him.. Did you see what happened now?" Pinky scolded her.

"Aunty... nothing happened" she said.

"Look Annika.. I may not have heard all that he shouted.. But, I saw the way he treated you..You don't know about him.. You don't know.." she stressed "And, you Shivaay...I thought that old Shivaay was completely gone..But, I was wrong...Apologise to her for her behaviour.. You should be ashamed for treating her like this Shivaay.. Do you remember, she agreed to get married to you in TWO DAYS..Remember right, Shivaay? Neither did she know this place, nor did she know us.. She agreed for every single thing just based on the trust she has on us and the love she has for her family and this family.. And it's not even been TWO WEEKS now and is this how you treat her? Is this why her parents sent her with us in two days??It's completely wrong Shivaay.. Atleast, I did not expect this from you..." Pinky expressed sadly, but with a lot of rage.

Shivaay felt very guilty. His mom was right. In fact, he also had been giving enough space to Annika only due to the same reason. But, so many things added to his stress today and his anger overpowered everything turning him completely frustrated. Some day, this would have happened for sure. But, the place and moment went completely wrong! But now, his guilt overtook his anger. He slowly bent his head down.

"We all need to punish him for this behaviour.. Don't you all think so?" Pinky asked while the others remained silent. "Let's do one thing.. None of us will talk to him until I ask you guys to.. I will decide when to end this punishment" Pinky commanded.

"I am sorry Annika" Shivaay finally spoke up. "Sorry Mom" he added.

"Nahi.....aunty it was not his mistake.. please try to understand aunty" Annika was literally pleading, when she saw what Pinky had ordered and how Shivaay's face completely drained after that. Whatever the problem was, they would resolve it, they were in fact going to. She did not want the family to involve in this.

When she thought she had to act quick, Pinky gave another shock.

"I will accept your apology when I feel like it.. You can go now Shivaay" she said sternly. Shivaay knew his mom well. He looked at everyone else standing there but hardly reacted and then walked away into his room. They would not forgive him soon, he was sure about that!

Annika stood clueless at whatever was happening. It all happened so quick, within the blink of her eye, that she could not comprehend anything. And, by the time she was going to react, Shivaay had already walked in, even without protesting.

"Aunty.. this is not fair, aunty.. I told you na that there is no problem.. Why are you punishing him?" she asked with moist eyes and Pinky stood there with the same cold reaction.

"Look Annika..following the rules of this punishment only applies to all of us.. Of course not to you.. You have been defending him from the beginning and you continue to do it.. You have all the right to talk to him just like always..But, we are not changing our minds now..Anyway, it is already too late.. We can talk about this tomorrow.. Go and sleep now.. Good night" she said casually, yet in a taunting tone and Annika was stunned.

"Aunty aise kaise.."she asked but Pinky just waved a good night and left.

"Daadi.. OmRu..." she said looking at them. They remained silent. OmRu bent their heads down for a moment and without giving any answers, walked away.

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Annika was completely taken aback at the reactions of everyone. First of all, the matter was not that serious that they had to stop talking to him. Second of all, she was baffled at how even Daadi did not have a say and she obliged to whatever Pinky had commanded.

She walked into her room to find that Shivaay had already changed and gone to sleep. She knew how emotionally drained he was. But, she did not know what had gotten into him all of a sudden. He was really nice even the previous night. Those thoughts came running into her mind.

Though she had apologised to him and he had accepted the apology too, he had not reacted much. She was upset and she knew she could not earn an apology just by some silly gestures like arranging his files and making sweets. But, in spite of all that, he had given her an ointment in the night.

"Annika..your hands would be swollen.. use this" he had smiled curtly, handed over the medicine and gone to continue with his work. The simple action and she knew he had almost forgiven her, though he did not say or talk much about it.

But, what had happened today?! She was puzzled.

"Whatever! That is not important now. I will talk to him and resolve it separately. First thing in the morning, I should talk to Pinky aunty and convince her to talk to him. Why are they unnecessarily angry on him?" she felt very bad that Pinky aunty had slapped him and scolded him so badly.

"It's my responsibility to set things right now.. I will do it, I promise" she decided within herself.

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Next morning, she was going to walk out of the room when she noticed some movement from the pool side. She slightly moved away the curtain to notice Shivaay sitting there, completely broken. A lone tear escaped his eye and he wiped it off immediately.

Annika walked towards the couch and sat there with a thud. She felt very guilty. She thought about all the happenings of the previous night.

"Why was Pinky aunty so angry for such a small thing? I mean it happens with almost every one of us. We are bound to get angry at office and vent it out at someone at home. It has happened with Papa, it has happened with Mumma too..but, what's there to get so disturbed about it? Accha Pinky aunty got angry.. But, none of the others said anything as well..They all stood mum.. They did not even take his side.. And, Daadi.. she did not question Pinky aunty or anyone else at all?! What was wrong with her and everyone else yesterday? " She thought.

"Haa of course I am a little upset that he shouted at me..He has never shouted at me before.." she pouted "But, why should Pinky aunty get aggressive for it? No.. I should go talk to her right now and make things clear" she decided.

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She first walked towards Om's room. She had a gut feeling that Rudy will be there too. He was indeed present there, as expected.

"Good morning Bhabhi" Rudy said as he noticed her walking into the room.

"I want to talk to both of you" she smiled as she entered and they nodded.

"Let me come straight to the matter.. Why are you guys not talking to your brother?" she asked with painful eyes.

"Bhabhi please..you know the reason.. Unless Choti maa agrees, we can't talk to him" Rudy reasoned.

"This sounds so stupid, Rudra...I really don't understand why you guys are doing this..If you guys don't talk to him, then who will talk?" she was pissed off now. They were all behaving so kiddish.

"You are there na, Bhabhi.. to talk to him" Rudy teased and she simply stared at him.

"Look Annika.. if Choti maa says something, you know there will be a reason behind it..Instead of asking us, you can rather go speak to her directly" Om explained.

"I should have done that already" she facepalmed and marched out of the room.

"Bhabhi will convince Choti Maa right?" Rudra asked after she left.

"I hope so" Om replied looking at him. They smiled with a small ray of hope!

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These people were driving her crazy today. She did not know what was running in each of their minds. She walked down towards the dining hall expecting all of them to be there already, so that she could talk and sort out everything.

"Chalo...We can have breakfast now" Daadi said getting up from the couch when Annika quickly walked there and stopped her and Pinky.

"Aunty..I have something important to say.. You said we will talk this morning.." she said sternly. Shivaay, who came there, was stunned when he heard what she said.

"What do you want to talk?" Pinky raised her brows.

"Aunty..it was not his mistake.. It was all my mistake..That was the reason he was tensed.. You need not get so angry at him for my mistake.. I can explain" she said and Shivaay who was rooted at the spot was literally taken aback.

"What is she going to explain now?" he wondered.

"Aunty.. I am telling you again.. It was just that he was little tensed at office..And... and.. I.. my actions just added to his annoyance..So he came and vented it at home.. There is no need for you people to react so much for it" she said when Pinky glared at her.

"I'm ss..sorry aunty.. that's not what I meant.. It is such a small thing.. You people need not make it such a big issue.. In fact, we already sorted it within ourselves" she plainly lied. Pinky did not react. Shivaay was baffled when she said that.

When Pinky did not give much reaction, Annika decided to speak to Daadi.

"Daadi.. I understand Pinky aunty is angry.. But, you will listen to me na, Daadi.. you know about your Billu right? You know he wouldn't have done anything wrong, hai na..It was nothing Daadi..I mean it happens with all of us right.. what is so new in this? In fact, two days back even I brought my work stress home..It is afterall a small thing.. Why should you give such a big punishment to him for that? If you all avoid him like this, what will he do, Daadi?? who else will he go to? Who will be there for him??" she sat down next to Daadi holding her hands and explained softly. Her eyes were moist, so were Shivaay's. She was cooking up a story just so that they would talk to him. He did not know how to react.

"Hmm.. since I asked everyone not to take his side, not to talk to him, you are still supporting him and trying to gain sympathy for him, right?" Pinky asked with her hands folded across her chest. Pinky's heart had already melted, but she decided to put up a stern face for some more time.

"Aur mai kyaa karu Aunty..when none of you are taking his side, I should atleast take right" she pouted. Shivaay's heart softened at those words. Though his eyes were still moist, his lips slightly curled into a smile, as he walked further towards the place where they were all present.

"Ek toh you people are not ready to talk to him..Dusre toh I don't even understand what's the need to react so much for such a small thing" she whined like a little kid.

"Is it a small thing, Shivaay? Tell me" Pinky asked him, as she noticed him walking closer. He came and slowly sat down next to her.

"I am sorry Maa.. I am really sorry..I know I.. I should not have behaved like that.. Like Annika said, I was just.. just a little tensed.. Haa i Know.. I had promised to never bring my office tension home.. But, it is just that.. I mean.. things just went out of control yesterday..I know I still shouldn't have screamed like that..I know I cannot justify.. my.. actions.. And I am really sorry for what that happened.. I am really really sorry Maa.." he said holding her hands, his eyes were completely clouded.

"Shivaay...You remember what you promised her parents? You said you will make sure she won't cry, make sure she is happy all the time.. But, did you keep up your promise? And, you know what I promised her mom.. That I will take care of her like my own daughter, like how I would treat Prinku. But, I failed Shivaay. And, I did not know my son will be the reason for this.. I did not..The one I saw yesterday was not my Shivaay.. it was Shivaay Singh Oberoi...whom I think I saw last, some two years back" Pinky almost broke down holding his face gently.

"Aunty... I.. I am not sure what you saw two years back.. But, I still feel it doesn't make any sense for punishing him for something he did without his knowledge.. And, if you all say you won't talk to him, who will talk aunty? Since you ordered, none of the others are talking too..If all of you avoid him, what would he do aunty?" Annika asked, sitting down next to Shivaay and holding Pinky's hands.

"Of course you.. who else? I told you right.. You have no restrictions..you talk to him..you don't have to avoid him..you continue to defend him, while we continue to defend you" Pinky said sarcastically.

"Aunty..." she whined.

"You have your own ways of convincing me, don't you?" she asked Annika.

"Mom.. I..I promise that this would never happen again...I assure that this is the first and last time.. If at all I break my promise, I know I won't.. but, if I do, I will accept any punishment that you give me" he assured. "But please forgive me this time, please" he pleaded. Pinky could no longer stay angry at him, atleast after Annika's plea.

"Accha thik hai.. not for you..but for your wife" Pinky faked an attitude and gently stroked Shivaay's cheek.

"Thank you so much aunty" Annika quickly hugged Pinky.

"Accha..come on guys..let's have breakfast now..it was a dramatic morning.. And thank you Bhabhi.. I was wondering how I would stay without talking to Bhaiyaa till Choti Maa is convinced.. Hai na, O??" he said and Om smiled in response.

"Accha next time, you get angry na Bhaiyaa, just come and vent it on us ok... Bechari Bhabhi.. see she took so much efforts to convince Choti Maa just because she agreed to get married to you in two days" Rudy acted like wiping off the extra sweat off his forehead and the others giggled.

Shivaay looked at Annika and they shared an eyelock. He had to thank her, personally thank her for the help. If not for her, his mom would not talk to him, his family would not be talking to him yet.

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Annika was seated at the poolside thoughtfully. She was happy that she managed to convince Pinky. But, she was still confused at his previous night's behaviour.

"Did he really think I was creating a drama?" she thought.

"Annika..." his voice broke her trance.

He gradually came and sat next to her.

"Thank you Annika.. thank you so much..whatever you did today, uske liye thank you.." he smiled gratefully. "And I am really sorry for yesterday" he added softly.

"Please don't say sorry.. I did not know you were tensed over something..I should have known, I should have guessed..I..I know I did not even apologise properly for my mistake...I.. I am sorry..And on top of that, I.. I annoyed you..." she said with a lot of hesitation.

"Aisa kuch bhi nahi hai Annika...I already forgave you.. I told you right, let's not talk about it..jo hua..so hua.." he explained.

"Pinky promise?" she asked with a pout.

"Pinky promise" he smiled intertwining his little finger with hers. They sat there looking at each other for a while.

"I want to say one more thing" she added hesitantly.

"Mmm.. tell me??" he asked eagerly.

"Woh kyaa hai na.. yesterday Pinky aunty was waiting for you for a very long time..I only asked her to go and sleep..But, when you came, I saw you seemed to be very tired and drained out. That was the reason I came to help you.. I promise it was not any pretence or anything" Annika explained with a lot of guilt.

"Annika..don't explain please.. I know.. I understood that later..I am sorry for that behaviour" he said and she smiled widely.

"Thank you..thanks a lot for understanding..I.. I am sorry that Pinky aunty slapped you for that..I.. I felt very guilty" she added with remorse. He could see a glimpse of his old Annika there, at that moment.

"So, what are you going to do about it then?" he asked a little mischievously, rubbing his cheek.

"Huh? Matlab?" she asked not able to comprehend what he meant. He simply smiled shaking his head.

It was then he realised that their fingers were still intertwined.

"Huh woh nothing.. I just said that..anyway kuch kaam hai..I will have to go now" he said a little awkwardly and she nodded her head understandingly.

"Haa thik hai.. bye.. thanks again" she said with a smile. She felt a lot better, specially after she came to know he had forgiven her. Her lips curled into a wider smile slowly.

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Towards noon, Annika walked towards Daadi's room to hand over a package that had come from one of her cousins. Daadi and Pinky were engrossed in some talk there. She decided she would come later not wanting to disturb them, but what she partially heard, rooted her to the spot. Seemed like they were discussing something about her and Shivaay.

"You need not have reacted so much Pinky" Daadi told Pinky.

"I know Mummyji.. I understand it was very silly. But, you know Shivaay right.. I don't want that old Shivaay to resurface again Mummyji.. His arrogance and anger can stay at office..He need not bring it home.. That was the first thing that came to my mind when I saw him yesterday.." she expressed sadly.

"I understand Pinky.. But, what was the need to make it such a big issue.. But, you know, I should really say one thing.. Did you notice how maturely both of them handled it? I am proud of my grandchildren" Daadi said with a sense of pride.

"Hmm I saw that..the way both of them take each others' side at all times.. I am really happy about it..Annika is very nice Mummyji.. That is why I don't want any problems to recur again.. I don't want Shivaay to behave the way he behaved with Tia again...And I mean it Mummyji" Pinky sounded worried.

"Don't be silly Pinky..Tia is past.. Nothing like that will happen again" Daadi consoled her.

"Tia??Yeh Tia kon hai?" Annika was surprised.

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She was confused as she walked back towards her room, when she almost collided with one of their cooks.

"Sorry Mam.." the lady said.

"That's ok..what is this?" she asked when she noticed that the lady was carrying a set of the entire lunch in a tray.

"Om sir is busy mam.. he asked me to bring this to his room" she said and Annika nodded understandingly.

That was when something struck her.

"Om?! Why not I ask Om? He might surely tell me about this.." she thought.

"Ruko.. you go.. I will give it to him.. I am going there only" she convinced the woman and she left.

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As Annika entered into Om's room, she found him missing. As she walked around looking for him, she found him at the pool side completely engrossed in making a sculpture.

"Annika..Hey you need not have taken the trouble?" he smiled.

"It's ok Om.. I was kind of bored.. That is why I just thought I will bring it.." she explained.

"Huh..looks like you are too busy??" she asked.

"Huh actually Annika.. this one is supposed to be delivered in a week.. And you know, I am more comfortable working on this at the pool side..so..." he said.

"Accha.. chalo you can do this later...You first have this lunch and then get back to work" she said and he quickly agreed.

Om and Annika sat by the pool. A little while later, Om felt that Annika was completely lost in some thoughts.

"Annika...where are you lost?" he asked waving his hands in front of her.

She was hesitant as to how she would start the topic, and exactly around the same time, Rudy joined them.

"Hey guys.. chit chatting here leaving me alone..so bad" he pouted.

"Dramebaaz..we just came here" Om smacked him, while Rudy sat next to him. That was when Rudy also noticed that Annika was completely lost.

"Bhabhi.. all okay? Why do you look so disturbed?" he asked.

"Huh.. woh actually.." she stammered.

"Kyaa hua Bhabhi.. any problem?" Rudy asked. "Bhaiyaa said anything?"

"No No..he did not say anything..." she quickly retorted.

"Then.. What is it?" they asked again.

"Huh..woh actually... Om..Rudra.. Yeh TIA kon hai?" she asked and both of them were completely shocked.

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Alright.....done with this chapter finally..wanted to publish it yesterday but got busy with Ganesh Chathurthi preparations!!

Happy Ganesh Chathurthi guys 😊😊

Now tell me.. Pinky aunty acted little silly right 😒😒 Hmm..but poor thing, she had her reasons too🥺

Anyway who cares.. Annika managed to manaofy Billuji 🤧 (ok no chamelis pls 🙈)

Ok, who is this Tia now?? Do you think OmRu will tell Annika about her?? Do you think she is important??

Keep guessing until we meet again 😉
And answer in the comment box below!!

Hit vote if you liked it!