"Khushali, what you want to do now? Let's leave from here. We'll talk to Sid about it, let's go," said Raima in a fearful voice as she saw Khushali turn back and stare at Sidharth and Mayera, who were still in each other's embrace. Terrified seeing Khushali so broken, she shook her badly and said cryingly, "Khushali let's go from here! You're not in your correct frame of mind. Let's go away from here."

But Khushali didn't pay heed to her words, and instead, opened her hand clutch and started searching for her cellphone. It took a minute or two to take it out from her clutch because of her watery eyes which made her vision blurred.

Raima and Vivan didn't understand what she was trying to do and looked at each other, helplessly. Knowing well the longer Khushali stayed there, the more she'll be hurt, Vivan, for a minute forgetting his hatred for Sidharth, held Khushali by her shoulders and said softly, "Khush, leave from here. I'm sorry, I never thought you'd be this much hurt after seeing your husband with that girl. Please go from here and calm yourself. Raima's right, you can question Sidharth later, right now, you matter more. Go from here and I'm really very sorry for what I made you see today. I'm heartily sorry!"

But even then Khushali stayed quiet and acted as if she didn't hear a word Vivan had said. Rather, she focussed her undivided attention to her phone, which she had unlocked and now was dialling Sidharth's number.

His cellphone wasn't switched off now and from where she was standing, she could hear his phone ringing. She waited patiently for him to pick her call up, while Raima and Vivan both were confused with her act.

He didn't receive her call immediately, as she saw he was still in Mayera's embrace. So she called him again, which made him untangle himself from Mayera, making Khushali feel slightly better, as somewhere her heart just wasn't ready to believe that Sidharth could cheat on her, that too with his own ex and her friend, Mayera, whom Khushali adored like a sister.

He received her call, and in a casual tone, said, "Hey, wifey! Where are you?"

Astonished at his use of such cool tone, she composed herself and concealing every trace of vulnerability in her voice, said, "Hey, hubby! I think I should be the one asking you this. Where are you? And do you know where's Mayera? I've been searching for you two since last so many minutes."

"Mayera? Oh your friend, right? Well, she left a few seconds after you went away. So, I don't know where's she. But anyway, any work with her or what? I think the event's over, so why don't you come to parking area? We'll leave for dinner from here together.... wifey, you're there?" said Sidharth, in his usual tone.

Khushali felt a twitch in her heart, as Sidharth, once again lied to her. She couldn't believe he'd lie so calmly to her, as if he was telling the truth, when she knew he wasn't, she had herself seen him with Mayera.

Still, keeping her composure, she replied to him in an as normal tone as she could afford, "Yeah, I'm here, Sidharth. No, wo I just wanted to convey Mr. Pathak's compliments to Mayera, so was asking for her." She took a pause after that, as the pain of being betrayed by the girl she considered her sister, was trying to take over her.

It took her a moment or two to calm herself down, and once she was sure of herself, she continued to talk to Sidharth. "Anyway, Sidharth, you wait for me in the parking lot, I'll join you in some minutes. Okay, hubby?"

"Yeah sure, wifey. I'll wait for you there," Sidharth said and Khushali hung up the call. Sidharth casually put the phone back in his blazer's pocket and side hugged Mayera, who had an irritated look on her face, as she realised it was Khushali, Sidharth was talking to, which Khushali guessed didn't please her much.

As soon as she ended the call, a soft cry escaped her lips, unable to hold herself together anymore. But not wanting to let Sidharth hear her cries, she covered her mouth with her hand as she was hiding behind a pillar, which was around some 20 feets away from Sidharth and Mayera.

But it was of no use, as she failed to numb her cries and rushed from there, with Raima and Vivan following her suit, worried for her. Without caring a thing or stopping to reply to people who were concernedly asking what happened to her, she ran inside the women's washroom and went to stand in front of mirror. Removing her hand from her mouth, she allowed herself to cry and held the wash basin to keep herself from falling down.

As she cried, the things which happened in last some minutes, continuously played in her mind. Sidharth and Mayera meeting each other allegedly for the first time, lying to her, hugging each other, confessing their love, again lying to her. It was all an act, everything was a lie and she was blindly fooled by them.

This only increased her pain further and she continued to cry bitterly, as the feeling of being betrayed by those two people sank deeper, breaking her heart cruelly.

Outside the washroom, she could hear Vivan and Raima calling out to her as she had locked the main washroom door from inside, not needing anyone at the moment. She didn't want anyone to come to her and tell her all those hollow words of assurance when she knew nothing was right.

In just a small period of time, her entire world was again upside down and she couldn't do anything to save herself, just like last time. Last time, Sagar's death had broken her and her heart into millions of pieces, which she never believed would ever get back together.

But Sidharth made her believe that it was possible and even made it happen, yet he was the one, who with cruelty and callousness, himself broke her again and there wasn't even a sign of regret on his face when he lied to her, not even caring that his one lie had so much capability to break her down to pieces, all over again.

She felt like she was being forced to drown in her miseries and her painful past as the images of Sidharth and Mayera came infront of eyes, mocking her and her love, which made her even weaker and she banged her hands on the wash basin, as her pain was starting to turn into frustration and anger.

"WHY, SIDHARTH? WHY? WHY DID HE DO THIS TO ME? WHY? WHY DID HE LIE TO ME, WHEN I TRUSTED HIM SO MUCH? WHAT WAS MY FAULT THAT HE BETRAYED ME LIKE THIS? AND MAYERA, SHE WAS LIKE MY SISTER, EVEN THEN SHE BACKSTABBED ME? WHY? W-Why?"
Khushali yelled, as she saw the happy faces of Sidharth and Mayera infront of herself which were spinning around in her head and instantly she allowed a sob to escape her mouth, with tears rolling profusely down of her cheeks.

But then, suddenly the memories of all those happy times that she had spent with Sidharth, started floating around in her mind, and she felt herself calming down and her pain numbing. She felt as if what all she saw, was all but just her imagination and it wasn't true. And her selfish heart encouraged her to believe it, maybe because it wanted to protect itself from breaking down again. Yet it forgot that numbing our pain is a temporary solution which only increases our wounds and the impact it would cause when finally allowed to be felt.

Feeling dizzy because of all the crying, she opened the tap, and splashed cold water on her face, which, to an extent, made her feel better and peaceful. So she splashed it few more times and as the cold water mixed itself with her salty tears, removing every sign of their existence, she took a deep breath and stared straight at her reflection in the mirror.

But in the mirror, she only managed to get the glimpse of the woman with swollen red eyes, who's life was nothing like her name, which was ironic, after all her name mean happiness yet her life was full of sorrow and suffering which always find its way back to her.

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath. She opened her eyes and looked at the woman in the mirror again, who looked slightly tranquil and wiped the water droplets from her face with a handkerchief. After that she smoothed her saree plaits and made her hairs proper, applied makeup to hide her swollen eyes and walked out of the washroom as if nothing ever happened.

Opening the door, as she strutted out, she saw her best friend, Raima and Vivan waiting for her, with anxious looks on their faces. She smiled to them and in a chirpy voice, said, "C'mon guys, let's leave. Sidharth must be waiting for me in the parking area and I know if I don't reach there soon, he'd go berserk with worry. C'mon, c'mon let's go."

Raima and Vivan looked at each other and then back at Khushali as neither of them could understand what was wrong with her. Just a while back she was a mess and now she was behaving as if nothing had happened at all.

"Khushali, baby you're okay? I mean, you were crying just some minutes back and now...," asked Raima with confusion visible on her face.

Khushali shrugged her shoulders and said coolly, "What's wrong with me? I'm fine, c'mon let's go, I'm dying with hunger. And hey Vivan, thanks for the help today. Let's meet sometime for coffee."

"Yeah sure, Khushali but are you really fine? I mean, that... Sidharth and May.....," Vivan tried to say it out but couldn't do so as Khushali immediately interrupted him and said, "That's what I'm saying let's go from here, Sidharth's waiting for me."

Raima shook her head sadly, as she knew what her best friend was trying to do. Being best friends with Khushali for more than fifteen years, she knew one thing for sure. Khushali was one of those people, who when deeply hurt, like pretend as if everything was fine and she was cool but the truth was, she was breaking from inside yet tried to appear brave because she didn't like being perceived as weak.

"Don't do this Khushali! Please don't pretend that it's all cool, you know it's not. Please don't hurt yourself like this," Raima pleadingly said.

But Khushali behaved like she didn't understand what Raima was saying and said, "Ohho, Raima, I don't know what you're saying. Anyway, I'm going," she paused as her phone buzzed with the ringtone she had saved for Sidharth and said, "See, my hubby's starting to call me now. You guys continue with whatever you both were doing, I'm going. Bye guys and Raima, go home and rest. You seem very tired because of the event."

Before Raima or Vivan could say anything further, Khushali turned and made her way out of the college building, toward the parking area, with a small smile on her face. Yet maybe what Raima had guessed, was actually happening with her.

Even though Khushali was pretending that everything was fine, her insides were crushing down and only she knew how she was holding herself together when all she wanted to do was cry her heart out and ask Sidharth and Mayera why did they lie to her.

But she didn't want to do so. Simply because she wanted to handle this situation with a relaxed mind, and without jumping at conclusions before knowing the truth. Though she knew it was true that both Sidharth and Mayera had lied to her, even then she wanted to know why and that would only happen when she'll handle this situation with a right and sensible mind rather than a chaotic piece of cells.

Walking toward the entrance of the parking lot, she saw Sidharth leaning against his car, with his cellphone in his hands and his aviators on his eyes, though it was already past the sunset and there was no light to block with those glares.

She walked up to him and tapping his shoulder, said cheerfully, "Hey, hubby! Sorry for keeping you wait for so long."

Sidharth turned to face her and with a lovable smile, engulfed her in his arms and said, "It's okay, wifey. I can wait my entire life for you."

Hearing his words, Khushali wondered if he used those words with Mayera as well or was she the only one, he spoke them to. Not wanting to relive those heartwrenching memories of seeing him with Mayera, Khushali shrugged her shoulders and replied, "Ohh really? If you could then why did you leave from the venue when I said I'll be back in some minutes? And you're phone's working again? I tried calling you so many times but it was unreachable."

"Arre that was because I had to attend a phone call, and there was no signal inside. But see my luck, when I came out here, my phone battery died and I had to charge it because of which my phone was unreachable to you," explained Sidharth.

"Oh okay!" Khushali said.

"Anyway, Meher Bhabhi called me just before you came here and said that they all are waiting for us to join them in the hotel. Are you done with your work or you there's something left?" Sidharth asked Khushali while rubbing his hands together as it was getting slightly cold since it was the end of November.

As he was speaking, Khushali tried to look for any hints of deceit in his words and his face, but there wasn't any, which confused her severely because this forced her mind to wonder how could someone behave so normally like he didn't do anything unfair. And it was really a great confusion because that someone was Sidharth whom Khushali considered to be one of the truest and honest men she'd ever met in her life.

Her lips curled into a smile as Sidharth passed her one of his adorable smiles and she replied shortly, "Yeah, I'm done with my work. We can leave now for the hotel."

"Okay," Sidharth said and like a true gentleman, helped his wife settle in the car. Once she was settled on her seat, he walked over to the driver's side and hopped in it and started the engine of the car, driving them out of the college premises.

Throughout the way, Sidharth mostly talked about Khushali's speech and the event, in a very usual tone while Khushali just acted like she usually would do, but a part in her brain kept comprehending his behaviour and tried to reason out the contradictions in Sidharth's words, which was just confounding her and her already worked up brain.

But her thoughts came to a halt when they reached the hotel after a half an hour long ride. She mentally sighed as atleast for some time, she could forget about all this and just chill before thinking about him and Mayera, whom she still hadn't talked to after seeing her with her husband, but she had a special reason for not confronting her yet.

Sidharth parked the car and he and Khushali soon walked inside the hotel. It was about to turn eight in evening and almost around dinner time. As they walked in, they saw their families sitting in the lobby of the expensive hotel, talking amongst themselves while waiting for Khushali and Sidharth to arrive.

Just as they approached them, Khushali's mother, Muskan and mother-in-law, Aarti started giving her blessings and compliments as she did a remarkable job and all of them thoroughly enjoyed the literature event.

"You know, Khushu, the books I got to know about today were just awesome. Seriously it was a fab event and I'm so proud of you," said Muskan with motherly affection.

"I agree with Muskan, and your speech, beta it was amazing. You did really well," complimented Aarti while patting Khushali's shoulder.

Gaurav and Shravan also complimented her, alongwith Meher and Kavya, who couldn't stop gushing over Khushali's saree and hairdo, to which Aditya and Arhaan just rolled their eyes and Sidharth silently admired his wife.

When it looked like Kavya and Meher won't stop, Aditya suggested to go and have their dinner as it would get late for them to reach home since their home was quite at a distance from the hotel.

They settled down on the chairs and Sidharth took his seat beside his wifey, who flinched back slightly when he held her hand, shocking him somewhat, but he kept his composure to avoid any chance of suspicion, yet his wifey noticed this and tried her best not to break down there.

The dinner went really well and soon all of them left for their homes. Sidharth and Khushali were travelling in their car alone as Meher and Aditya were riding with Sidharth's parents and Amaira.

While driving, Sidharth insisted Khushali for ice cream to which, she said, "Why don't you go get it for us while I wait in the car? I'm really tired to walk now, Sidharth."

"Okay, wifey as you wish," Sidharth said while getting out of the car.

Something struck Khushali and before Sidharth could go inside the ice cream parlour, she called out to him and innocently said, "Sidharth, can you please give me your phone? I need to make a call to Raima and my phone's out of battery. Please can you let me use yours?"

Khushali didn't know if she actually saw a faint scowl on Sidharth's face or not but for a second she did see annoyance on his always calm face. Yet before she could reach to any conclusion, Sidharth passed her, his cellphone and in a love filled tone, said, "For you, I can even give my life..... though never ask for it."

Khushali chuckled and he walked inside the parlour, unknown to what Khushali was upto with his cellphone.
As soon as he was out of her sight, she pressed the unlock button of his smartphone and entered the password : Amaira/27, which had Amaira's name and her birth date as Sidharth deeply loved his niece

Unlocking it, she searched through his call logs and was puzzled seeing his call logs. There were almost ten calls that he had made to a private number, +919712****** and almost equal times that number had called him back. Even there was a call at half past eight when they all were having their dinner and she remembered Sidharth had walked out to attend a call of his alleged 'client' who Khushali now doubted to be his ex or rather maybe still a girlfriend of his, Mayera.

She closed the calls logs and opened his Whatsapp to read his chats but it was protected by an app lock. She groaned as she didn't know the password of it. She decided to keep the phone aside as it was of no use but thought to try unlocking it once. She typed the same password with which she had unlocked his phone but it turned out as incorrect. She typed in two more passwords but they weren't correct either. Huffily, she tried one more time and typed in her name and this time it was correct and the app unlocked. Feeling confused, she went through his chats and saw that he was chatting with that same number till last some minutes. Ignoring the sinking feeling in her stomach, she read the messages, which increased her anger and frustration 10x more.

+919712****** : DID KHUSHALI ASK YOU ANYTHING ABOUT US? I MEAN C'MON, WE VANISHED FROM THERE IN JUST SECONDS, SHE'S OUGHT TO DOUBT US.

Sid : NO, SHE DIDN'T. DON'T WORRY, MIA. SHE BELIEVES ME MORE THAN ANYTHING IN HER LIFE. SHE WON'T DOUBT ME EVER. SO PLEASE STOP WORRYING.

+919712****** : BUT SID, WHAT IF VIVAN HAD TOLD HER ABOUT US? I SAW HER TALKING TO HIM AND INFACT HE SAW US WALKING TOGETHER TO THE BACK AREA. WHAT IF HE HAD TOLD HER ABOUT OUR RELATIONSHIP AND YOUR PAST? WHAT WILL WE DO THEN?

Sid : OH C'MON, WHAT DOES THAT VIVAN KNOW THAT COULD LAND US IN TROUBLE?

+919712****** : SIDDY, HE KNOW EVERYTHING THAT WE KNOW ABOUT YOUR PAST. AND YOU KNOW HE CAN USE THAT TO GET YOU IN TROUBLE.

Sid : TROUBLE THAT VIVAN CAN GET ME IN? SERIOUSLY MIA? YOU REALLY THINK HE COULD GET ME, SIDHARTH MEHRA, IN ANY SORT OF TROUBLE? HE COULDN'T DO IT EARLIER, NOR CAN HE DO IT NOW. SO CHILL AND ANYWAY, I'LL TALK TO YOU LATER. BYE! AND LOVE YOU! ❤

+919712****** : OKAY, FINE! BYE AND LOVE YOU TOO! :*❤

A tear rolled down Khushali's cheek as she locked Sidharth's phone back and kept it in the dashboard. Sidharth really was lying to her. And her doubt was right, it was Mayera whom he was calling so frequently and the chat, it broke her heart completely as she couldn't believe Sidharth would ever take her for granted like this. He was mocking her trust in him and believed that she would never doubt him.

How could he even do this to her? And his past? Khushali recalled the conversation and realised that Mayera was saying something related to Sidharth's past that Vivan knew well about. Which meant what Vivan had said about Sidharth was right? What did Vivan know about Sidharth that could get him in trouble? And what last time did Sidharth was mentioning about? And the thing that confused her the most was why did Sidharth let her use his phone when his chat with Mayera was accessible to her. Her mind suggested that maybe he thought she won't be able to read it because of the password but was it because of this he had that annoyed look on his face, she couldn't tell.

Khushali felt her head again go dizzy with all these questions spinning around her head. Reading this conversation messed her up even more and she couldn't understand where this was all leading.

She pressed her temples and tried to silent all her thoughts before her mind went haywire. Luckily, by then Sidharth came back and seeing her rubbing her head, he concernedly asked, "Wifey, you okay?"

She looked up and saw him leaning on her side of car. Forcing a fake smile on her face, she answered him, "I'm fine, hubby. Just tired and completely drained of energy." She saw him holding two small buckets of ice cream and added, "You got the ice creams, c'mon now, give me mine." She forwarded her hand to get it.

Sidharth smiled at her childlike joy for ice cream and passed her a bucket of ice cream. She took it and started having it, while Sidharth got inside the car and quietly started having his ice cream while admiring her, which she did notice from the corner of her eyes, but she decided to ignore it because her mind was already full of chaos and hassle.

They finished their ice creams and after a quiet ride, reached home. Neither of them talked to each other throughout the drive as Khushali didn't want to increase her puzzlement more as her head might just explode and Sidharth thought she needed rest, so he didn't indulge her in any conversation and let her take rest.

Reaching home, Khushali went directly to her bedroom and Sidharth followed her as their family members had already retired to their rooms.

Changing her clothes, Khushali came out of the bathroom after some minutes and still with silence, went to lie on her bed, which puzzled Sidharth, who very innocently wondered what was wrong with her but didn't bother asking it to her as she was obviously exhausted with the event, and oblivious to him, her emotional pain.

So Sidharth too silently went to lie on his side of bed and wrapped his arms around his wife, who had her back to him. He felt weird as since last some days she used to sleep in his arms. But thinking it to be her tiredness, he ignored it and soon slipped into deep slumber, completely unaware of his wife's mental and emotional state which was keeping her from sleeping.

After what all happened today, Khushali didn't feel as warm and secure in Sidharth's embrace as she was used to feeling. His touch seemed foreign to her and she felt miserable and nauseatic in his presence, but she couldn't do anything about it. She distanced herself as much as she could from him and some time later fell asleep.

Next day, when Khushali woke up, Sidharth was already out of bed and was getting ready for work. He saw her getting up and wished her by saying, "Good morning, wifey. Why don't you sleep some more, you anyway have an off day today. Take rest, and chill."

"Good morning, hubby. No, it's okay, I'm better now," said Khushali, completely forgetful of yesterday's events.

"Okay," Sidharth said and started brushing his hairs.

Just as she was getting up from the bed, she heard his phone buzzing and went to the side table to pick it up. But before she could pick it, Sidharth grabbed his phone, though Khushali did see the number, the same number whose owner was Mayera, she didn't react to it.

And this brought back all the memories of the previous day's events and Khushali felt a shooting pain in her heart as Sidharth excused himself to the balcony to attend the call. Though she could make out what he was quietly saying on the call, she didn't listen and went inside the bathroom to freshen up.

By the time she came out, Sidharth smilingly was back in the room and now was tying his black tie, which Khushali assumed was because of a court hearing.

Keeping her towel on the bed, Khushali picked her tea cup up and settled on the chair near the bookshelf.

"So yesterday was the first time you had met Mayera, haan Sidharth? Or have you met her before?" asked Khushali in a normal tone. She was trying her best to maintain her normal composure as she didn't want Sidharth to get suspicious.

Tying his tie, Sidharth turned to her and with an innocent tone, said, "Of course not wifey, I told you before already that yesterday was the only time I met Mayera. She's polite and cool, and really I appreciate both yours efforts for the event."

Khushali nodded and turned her back to him, pretending to busy herself with her arranging her books. She felt her already broken heart, break more as Sidharth once again lied to her. She felt her body weaken again but tried her best to not break down in front of her husband, who didn't flinch even once while telling her all the lies.

It took everything in her to hold back her tears and successfully managed to do so. She turned back to face Sidharth, who was now all ready for the case hearing in his grey formal suit and was now wearing his shoes. For a small moment, she adored her husband, who was looking like a little boy getting ready for school, bringing a smile on her lips.

Her smile made Sidharth smiled as well and when he was done with his shoes, he got up from the recliner and went to stand in front of her. Khushali, though hurt with all the lies he had told her and his act, didn't move from her place as somewhere a small part in her wanted to believe that her husband was innocent and whatever she got to know yesterday was false, though she knew it was mindless because all the things indicated only toward her husband's infidelity and the fact that he had been lying to her, all along.

"I know why you asked me that," said Sidharth, cupping her face, staring deep in her eyes, which made Khushali wonder if he knew, that she knew he was in touch with his ex and Mayera was Mia.

Sidharth took her silence as an affirmative answer to go ahead and softly he said, "You think I'm lying to you, that your friend Mayera is my ex Mia, and yesterday I was with her, right?"

Khushali slightly nodded, wondering if he really was going to clear her doubts and accept his mistakes. Her wounded heart, which was completely shattered after yesterday's events, hoped that all that was untrue and he loved only her, but then that's what he did, which only break her more.

"Wifey, I don't know how to explain you this but I only love you. Mia is my past, but you're my present and future. And your friend, Mayera being Mia is absurd. She isn't Mia, so please delete this thought from your system. And I swear, I went out for talking to my client. If you want, you can check my call logs. Please trust me wifey, I know you've been worked up because of this. I really love only you," said Sidharth with only love in his words and genuineness in his eyes.

Khushali wanted to believe him and even a part in her did trust his words, but her heart broke and along with it, her soul shattered, even though she knew somewhere he would say this only. Still she couldn't show this to Sidharth, who was gazing at her with love. Maybe, whoever has said this, is absolutely right, one of the worst pains in this world is when you're breaking from inside yet are forced to pretend that everything's fine. She understood it well now, maybe better than the time after Sagar's death because that time she was allowed to mourn but right now she wasn't even allowed to let out even as much as a tiny whimper.

So faking a smile, she shook her head and with understanding, said, "I trust you Sidharth, I really do and I love you too. So don't worry now. And I'm sorry for doubting like that."

"It's okay, wifey, I understand. Chalo I gotta go now. Bye and take care of yourself. See you in the evening," said Sidharth. Giving a kiss on her cheeks, he took his office bag and left from there, believing his wifey's words that she trusted him.

After he left, Khushali did shed a few tears but controlled herself soon as her sister came in to call her for breakfast. She acted normally and said, "You go Di, I'll take bath and then join you guys."

Although Meher sensed something weird in Khushali's body language, she didn't probe much and said, "Okay, baby. I'll keep your tea ready. Come down soon." She left from there after this, unsatisfied with Khushali's dull tone. But then she shrugged it off as she thought maybe it was because of yesterday's event that Khushali was sounding dull and slightly sad.

Khushali took bath and got ready soon after Meher went downstairs. After getting dressed in a simple pair of black pajamas and a blue tee, she went down and had her breakfast with her parents-in-law and her sister, all of whom were talking about the literature event and praising her for her work.

True, Khushali was somewhat distracted because of all the drama, she did mentally praise her parents-in-law for being so supportive of her and her career. One thing that she admired the most about Sidharth's parents was their positive and supportive attitude toward her and her sister's careers. And they didn't even interfere in their lives nor ordered restrictions over their clothes or lifestyle, which Khushali felt all the modern in-laws should be like.

Having her breakfast, she went back to her room and her sister came there to spend some quality time with her as Meher had also taken an off day. The sisters continued talking for a couple of hours, stopping only when Khushali gave out a big yawn, which made Meher make Khushali to take rest, though Khushali resisted as talking to her sister made her feel better.
But Meher stubbornly made her lie down and sleep before leaving Khushali's room. Khushali being really in need of sleep, soon fell into a deep slumber.

Some time later, Khushali lazily opened her eyes as she heard someone familiar call her name. She looked around herself but couldn't see anyone. Shaking her head, she was again about lie back down when she heard her name being called for the second time.

This time the voice was coming from somewhere closer and Khushali turned to her north and saw the love of her life, Sagar Malhotra, leaning against the door of her bedroom with a charming smile, adoring his boyish face. She returned his contagious smile and getting up from the bed, began to walk upto him.

But just as she reached near him, she saw him turn into the one person she didn't wish to see at this moment, Sidharth Mehra, her husband, who kept her in dark for last seven months with his lies and hollow promises.

She blinked her eyes twice to make sure she wasn't hallucinating Sidharth, but he didn't disappear rather he was now standing beside Mayera, who had her arms wrapped around his waist as she hugged him and he returned her gesture by putting his arms around her shoulders, in the same manner he had hugged Khushali several times. And then both of them started speaking the same words of love, which broke Khushali's world in just a fraction of second, the previous night.

And then Khushali woke up, realizing that it was all, nothing, but a dream, which only reminded her of the torturous situation her life was in, her broken heart, her shattered soul and the betrayal of two people, she never thought would do this to her.

She closed her eyes and took deep breaths to get a grip on herself and her worked up emotions. Feeling slightly better, she got up from the bed and went to wash her face. She came out of the bathroom and sat down on her bed. Pouring water in a glass for herself, she drank it while her mind replayed the dream she had just some minutes back.

Sagar! She didn't know why she was missing him since last some days and today, when he appeared in her dream, for a nanosecond, she saw him smile the same smile which was on his face before he was cremated, which she couldn't understand why was hurting her.

Bringing her knees to her chest, she rested her head on her hands which she had kept on her knees. Remembering Sagar's appearance in her dream, suddenly she was attacked by all the memories of him, happy and sad, which hadn't bothered her for long. Yet today they were readily embracing her in a familiar yet most hurtful manner.

She didn't know how long she sat like that, reliving her memories of Sagar. While she relived the happy times with him, she felt as if he was right beside her, holding her hand and trying his best to soothe her pain. She couldn't deny but she really felt he was there with her and she could feel him.

Never in last two years had she needed him or wished him this much to be there with her than she was feeling now. Somewhere Sidharth's betrayal had given her a push toward her old memories, her past, of which Sagar was the biggest part. And she knew, even if he was dead, his love for her was so strong that even just his memories could make her feel better.

Though she had seen genuine feelings for herself in Sidharth's eyes, yet she won't deny what Sagar had for her was much greater and truer than Sidharth. And maybe that's why she needed time to fall for more in love with Sidharth and give him a bigger place in her heart. But she felt slightly relieved over the fact that she wasn't yet completely in love with Sidharth because if she had been in love with Sidharth as much as she was with Sagar, then whatever happened last night and this morning might've killed her completely from inside.

Thinking about yesterday, she knew Sidharth in no way would tell her the truth because if he wanted to, then he would've told her everything in morning. But he didn't and now only one person could tell her the truth, Mayera Shah.

Khushali glanced at the clock which was showing the time as half past three, she picked her mobile phone up and dialled Mayera's number which was already on her speed dial.

It took Mayera 2-3 rings to finally answer her call and with an exhausted tone, she said, "Hey, Khush! What's up baby?"

"Hey, Mayera! I'm cool, what about you? You sound so tired," Khushali said in her usual friendly tone.

"Yeah I'm very tired yaar. Since yesterday night I was sleeping and only had woken up an hour back," replied Mayera, after which she yawned slowly.

Khushali pressed her lips together and knowing this was the right thing to do, thoughtfully she said, "If you don't mind Mayera, then can I come over your house? I'm feeling really bored and plus I wanted to talk about something quite serious."

Mayera took a moment to answer, which made Khushali impatient. Sighingly, Mayera at last, said, "Yeah sure, you can come over. I think you have my address with you, right?"

"Yeah I have, I'll reach there by 4:30, okay?" Khushali said.

"Okay, I'll wait for you," said Mayera shortly and they hung up the call.

Khushali looked down at the floor for a minute and then went to get ready in a pair of denim jeans and white kurta. She went downstairs and informed her mother-in-law that she was going over to her friend's house and will be back in a few hours.

Mayera's home was almost forty minutes ride away from Mehra mansion. Khushali reached there around the same time she had told Mayera that she'd reach. Parking her car, she went inside the building and took the elevator to reach the ninth floor on which Mayera's penthouse was.

The elevator door opened and she walked out and started looking at the flat numbers. She finally found Mayera's apartment and pressed the doorbell, which Mayera answered after immediately and affectionately said, "Hey, Khush, welcome to my sweet home."

Khushali passed her a smile and walked in. Mayera told her to make herself comfortable while she went to make coffee and grill sandwiches (which she already had prepared) for them. Khushali sat comfortably on the white leather couch and looked around the living area which had a really sophisticated feel to it because of its interior.

Mayera came out of the kitchen with a tray laden with sandwiches, two coffee mugs and a bowl of wafers. She kept it down on the glass table and passed Khushali a plate of sandwiches and a coffee mug. She then helped herself and both of them talked for some time while having the sandwiches and coffee.

A while later, when they were having their second cup of coffee, Khushali quizzed Mayera about her meeting with Sidharth. Which, for a fraction of a second, made the colour get drained from Mayera's face but she covered up real quick, though Khushali did get to notice it and said, "It was really nice meeting your husband. You know we talked about you guys and your marriage and a little bit about our educations. You know, your husband and I had done our professional courses from the same university in London. That's cool!"

"Oh, I didn't know this. I'm glad your meeting with my husband was good,"said Khushali smilingly, closing observing Mayera's expressions and actions.

"Yeah, and really your husband is very polite and adorable. I must say you're very lucky to have him in your life," complimented Mayera as she took a sip of her black coffee.

"Hmm that he is, I told you already. But Mayera don't you think just a small five minute conversation with someone is not enough to know them that well. So how do you know he went abroad for his further studies, because sharing this information in a small formal conversation doesn't make sense to me," said Khushali innocently, hiding every bits of her anger and bitterness well in her voice.

This took Mayera off her guards and she stared blankly at Khushali, unable to understand what happened to her and why was she talking to her with such bitter and cold tone.

Khushali glared at Mayera with her agitation increasing with each passing second, recalling all the lies, all the fake things Mayera had told her in last three months and even today. She could no longer keep her cool and finally ended up spitting out those words.

Mayera composed herself and sensing Khushali's temper, politely said, "Khush, what's wrong with you? And why are you so agitated? I guess there's some misunderstanding which we should clear and...."

But Khushali was in no mood to continue this game of acting obliviously. So she cut Mayera in between of whatever she was saying and through gritted teeth, said, "I saw you and Sidharth together yesterday behind the college building when you both were confessing your love to each other. Don't try to act innocent now. I want to know the truth. Tell me the truth Mayera! I want to know each and every truth, you've been hiding from me for so long. I want to know what's there between you and Sidharth. I want to know why you both lied to to me for this long and kept me I dark. I want to know everything."

Mayera shifted nervously in her place, probably trying to think of a way to avoid this. But Khushali didn't let her. "And don't you dare try to avoid this confrontation now!" Khushali warned Mayera in an infuriated tone.

Mayera, jumped a little in place, feeling scared slightly, first thought to try make up an excuse to turn Khushali down, but now seeing Khushali this angry, she knew Khushali won't accept anything less than truth now.

So she took a deep breath and said defiantly, "Okay I'll tell you the entire truth. But I want to call someone here before I reveal everything because there are things he would explain you better than I could do."

"Who?" Khushali asked but Mayera didn't answer and simply went to pick her cellphone up from the top of the corner rack and made a call to someone, who had replied positively as Mayera came back to Khushali and said quietly, "He'd be here in some minutes. Till then please cool down."

Khushali rolled her eyes hearing such concerned filled words from Mayera as she knew it was just another drama of hers, which Khushali won't let fool her once more.

They waited in silence for the person to arrive as Khushali was too pissed to talk to Mayera and Mayera was scared to say anything now as she feared infuriating Khushali more.

It was around some thirty minutes that the doorbell rang and Mayera went to answer it. Khushali stayed back in the living area and waited for Mayera to return back, which she did after a couple of minutes, leaving Khushali gasping as she saw the person who was walking behind Mayera. He was someone, Khushali hadn't expected to see at this time and in a shocked tone, she asked, "You? Here? How?"

Who this person was? And what was the truth that Mayera couldn't tell Khushali alone?