Prerna was only gone a day and Rishabh couldn't breathe. Honestly, it was more so because he was home alone. If either of the girls had been home, he would have hidden his emotions better. But here he was home alone with his memories.

Mr. Jones was at the end of his Indian tour, and the companies hosted him a farewell. Anurag decided that since Bajaj hosted the welcome at his mansion, then he would host the farewell in his Badi.

Dealing with Anurag Basu was no problem for Rishabh, but being in Basu Badi meant he had to face Moloy Basu. Rishabh's life goal had been and still was to destroy Moloy for what he had done, but as he sat holding the invitation in his hand, Rishabh's heart was beating fast.

"Dadi, aap namak kam khaya karo, dekho aaj kitna high blood pressure hai!" Prerna scolded her grandmother.

"Dadi main hun ke tu? Thori hi umar reh gayi hai, jee lene de mujhe!" Dadi joked.

Prerna laughed. "Abhi aapko kafi saal jeene hai. Aapne badi nani... ya dadi banna hai abhi."

"Kahan! Koi asraat nahi nazar aa rahe."

Before Prerna could respond, her phone rang. Her phone was up and the name said Mr. Bajaj. Dadi read the name and smiled.

"Tujhe aaye eik din bhi nahi hua aur abhi se yaad aa gai!" Dadi teased.

Prerna chuckled. "Unhe apni beti aur business ke aage kuch aur nazar nahi aata," she said to Dadi and answered the phone on speaker.

"Ji, Mr. Bajaj. Aapne phone kiya?"

"Prerna," he said, followed by a breath, and Prerna turned her full attention on the phone. Rishabh Bajaj was never nervous.

"Mr. Bajaj, aap thik hai? Aapki awaaz bhaari si kyun hai?"

"What?" He asked and cleared his throat. "Wo, uh, so ke uttha tha, shaayad iss liye. Listen, aaj shaam ko Mr. Jones ki farewell hai."

"Oh, accha?"

"Yeh party Mr. Basu host kar rahe hain... apne ghar," Rishabh's voice sounded different and Prerna sat thinking why. She then remembered Mr. Bajaj had a vendetta against the Basus.

"Kyunki.... Main ne unki welcome party aap ke ghar kardi issi liye? Aap ke liye problem bana di na main ne? Agar mujhe pata hota ki itni badi problem jo jaye gi toh..." Prerna asked.

"Mr. Basu ke actions ke liye aap responsible nahi hain, Prerna. You need to learn to separate yourself from him," Rishabh instructed her and sighed. "Anyway, main ne call iss liye ki thi ke agar aap mere saath jayein gi toh..."

"Ji, main aa jaun gi aap ke saath," Prerna agreed and he thanked her and ended the call.

"Kya hua?" Dadi asked when Prerna looked worried.

"Pata nahi. Unki awaaz se lag raha tha kuch hua hai."

Dadi smiled. "Acchi pattni ko apne patti ka hamesha saath dena chahiye. Tu iss rishte ko maane ya na maane, lekin meri Prerna apne saare rishte puri tarha nibhaati hai."

Prerna smiled and went to get ready. The party was at Basu Badi, and Prerna too was apprehensive to go, but she realized Mr. Bajaj would be with her. Like him or not, she knew that she could be independent with him. Prerna wore an anarkali for the party to hide her pregnancy. Tonight was probably not the best time for the reveal.

At 7, a car came to pick up Prerna and took her to Basu Badi. She met Mr. Bajaj outside the house. Mr. Bajaj gave her a quick up and down.

"Aaj aapne sari nahi pehni?"

Prerna smiled. "Haan. Woh, maine bataya nahi hai kisi ko..."

Rishabh nodded, and offered his arm. She took it and they headed into the badi. "Are you ready for this?" He asked.

Prerna readjusted herself. "I'll be fine. I think we should stick together."

"Good idea," Rishabh replied.

Mehra was walking behind them and smiled at their subtle support of each other.

"Rishabh! Glad you could come to my party!" Mr. Jones received them, luckily, avoiding any showdown.

Rishabh stepped forward and shook his hand. "Couldn't miss your farewell."

Jones laughed. "And you brought the lovely Prerana! I'm happy we could see each other one last time."

Prerna shook his hand. "Me too. I hope you go back with good memories of our country."

"Are you sure she isn't an ambassador, Rish?"

"Nope, no ambassador. That's just Mrs. Bajaj's nature. To take care of everyone," Rishabh smiled proudly at her.

"I see you've lucked out in that field. Can I borrow your husband a minute, darling? I've got some partners I want him to meet."

Prerna slipped her hand out of Rishabh's arm. "Of course. He's all yours," she smiled as they walked away.

She wasn't alone long when she spotted Nivi di looking forlorn. Prerna decided to go and see her.

"Aap ke ghar mein party hai aur aap hi pareshaan lag rahi hain?"

Nivi scoffed and rolled her eyes, turning the other way. "Tumhe kisne bulaya tha? Pehle kam problems hai joh tum bhi munh uttha ke aa gayi ho?"

Prerna swallowed. Nivi di had never purposely been mean to her if she knew better. Then something must be going on.

"Anupam ji dikhai nahi de rahe. Unhe dhoondh rahi ho aap?"

Nivi looked at Prerna, almost like she was going to yell at her, but didn't. Instead, she fell into a nearby chair at a table.

"Ghar pe ho toh dhoondun na," she revealed. "Anupam ghar chor ke chala gaya hai."

Prerna was shocked and sat across Nivi, to comfort her and hide her from poking eyes. "Ghar chor ke chale gaye? Kabh?"

"Tumhari wajah se. Tumne Bajaj se shadi kar ke Anurag ko paagal kar diya hai. Aur abh Anupam Annu ke saath nahi reh sakta."

"Nivi di aap ko to pata hai na! Aap aur Anupam ji ne mujhse kaha tha ke Anurag ko chudane ke liye mujhe Mr. Bajaj se joh bhi deal karni pardi main karun."

"Haan, haan. Main ne kaha tha. Lekin mujhe kya pata tha yeh sabh ho jaye ga? Ke Onnu ka dimaagh kharaab ho jae ga?"

"Accha. Abhi Anurag ki chorein. I can't believe Anupam Ji aap ko yahaan chord kar chale jaaein ge!"

Nivi sniffled. "Chord ke nahi gaya. Uss ne bulaya hai mujhe. Parso tak ka time diya hai, warna woh chala jae ga," she revealed to Prerna.

Prerna listened, and took Nivi's hands. "Toh iss mein kuch bura bhi kya hai? Kehte hain ladkiyaan hoti hi paraaye ghar ki hain. Agar main Mr. Bajaj ke saath reh sakti hoon, toh aap toh phir bhi Anupam ji se pyaar karti hain. Aapko jaana chahiye."

Nivi smiled. "Tapur aur baba ne bhi yahi kaha. Shaayad tum sabh thik keh rahe ho. Mujhe jaana chahiye. At least to see, ke hum ek saath survive kar bhi sakte hain ya nahi?"

Nivi stood up and hugged Prerna. She thanked her and was happy, and enjoyed the rest of the party.

Meanwhile, Mr. Jones was walking around with Rishabh when they met more of the hosts.

"Mr. Jones! I was just walking by to see you were doing fine!"

"Ah, Mohini! It's all splendid! Lovely! I shall remember all of this forever. By the way, have you met Rishabh Bajaj?"

"Oh! So you're the famous Mr. Bajaj I've been hearing so much about!" Mohini said tersely. Someone pulled Mr. Jones aside, and he let Mohini tend to Rishabh. Mohini smiled until Jones went away.

"Tumhari himmat kaise hui mere ghar aane ki?" She gritted at him.

Rishabh fisted his hand. His heartbeat was rising the longer he stood alone in the presence of Anurag's mother. Of course, she sounded just as bitter as her husband.

"This is a work party, Mrs. Basu," Rishsbh respectfully answered. "Otherwise personally mujhe yahaan aane ka koi shock nahi hai."

"Aa hi gaye ho toh main bhi dekhun yeh Bajaj hai kon. Jisne mere bete ko itna pareshaan kar rakkha hai."

Thankfully for Rishabh, Mehra noticed his boss was close to losing his patience, and quickly came over while Rishabh stood listening to Mohini.

"Mujhe laga ke tum mere bete jaise hoge," Mohini said, something almost nice, but then she continued. "Lekin abh pata chala Prerna ne Onnu ko kyun chorda."

Rishabh was a fair man. He knew the truth. That even when Prerna slept on the bed next to him, she had never left Anurag. Rishabh respected her, and while he could listen to people say things about him, he couldn't stand to have the wrong people disrespected.

"Aap meri wife ki bare mein baat kar rahi hai," Rishabh defended. "Uska aapse koi taaluk nahi hai. Be careful," he warned, as Mehra reached for his arm to keep him physically back. Mohini smiled vilely and left.

"Sir, aap dono ko yahaan nahi aana chahiye tha aaj," Mehra argued.

"It's business, Mehra. I can take deal with this."

Mohini left Bajaj and walked into Nivi, surprised to see her daughter happy. "Sabh thik hai na, Nividita?"

"Haan, ma! Sabh thik hai. Party ke baad main Anupam ke paas jaa rahi hoon."

Mohini was shocked. "K-kya? Nivi? Tum hamein chord ke chali jao gi? Humse baat to kar leti! Itne, itne bade ghar mein hum teeno akele kya karein ge!"

"Ma! Main ne socha tha! Aur hum ne baat bhi ki thi. Abh kabh tak ghar baithun gi main. Meri shaadi ho chuki hai. Agar Prerna Bajaj ke saath reh sakti hai, toh main bhi Anupam ke paas jaa sakti hoon. Hum baad mein baat karte hain," Nivi left to see some friends.

Prerna had walked around with Nivi for a while, until the two got separated. Prerna had grabbed some food and was throwing away her stuff when Mohini cornered her.

"Tum kyun meri family ko tordne pe tuli hui ho?!" Mohini gritted.

"Kaaki ma, main ne...?"

"Mat kaho mujhe Kaaki ma. Mera aur tumhaare kabhi koi rishta na tha, na hai, aur bhagwaan kare to kabhi nahi ho ga."

Prerna took a breath. "Main yahaan apne husband ki work party ke liye aayi hoon. Mera yahaan aane ka aur koi reason nahi hai." She was going to say more but Rishabh found her.

"Prerna, Mr. Jones aapko dhoond rahe hain," he said as he came beside her. Prerna took his arm. "Chalein?"

Prerna nodded to Rishabh and the couple smiled to Mohini and left. "Thank you," Prerna said to him as they were walking away.