Bhumi's pov!

It took me so much time to settle Sammy. He was unusually cranky and fussy tonight. Hopefully his mood will be better when he wakes up in the morning.

I slipped out of the boys' room and saw the babysitter Aryamann arranged sitting on the couch, with a fashion magazine in her hand.

When she heard me, she looked up at me and smiled politely.

"Are they asleep, Mrs Mehrotra?" She asked and my lips thinned into a straight line at the way she addressed me.

Aryamann, apparently introduced me as his wife, to the new babysitter.

"Yes. They are down for the night. Hopefully they will sleep through the night," I said.

"Okay. You can get ready for your date. I will listen to them," the other woman said with another smile.

"Okay. Here's my number. Call me immediately, if anything happens," I said and handed over a piece of paper with my number on it.

"Mr Mehrotra already instructed me the same and gave me his number. I will keep this too, in case I couldn't get in touch with him," she said and took the paper from me.

"Thank you for coming here at short notice, Ms Swami." I said with gratitude.

"No issues. That's my job. And you can call me Chiara," the woman said.

"Okay. In that case, you shall call me Bhumi," I said, and flicked my hair in my usual style.

Chiara laughed softly at that.

"That was so adorable," Chiara said.

"I always am," I said with a cheeky smile.

Just because she is hired by Aryamann, I shouldn't show an attitude to her. That would be totally against my character and I refuse to be changed because of Aryamann.

I walked into the other bedroom and shuffled through my suitcase to find a dress for the dinner.

I had packed a powder blue anarkali suit with me. It could be passed as a party wear if you try hard. Or you could call it formal wear, if you want.

It was a self designed knitted dress, with three fourth sleeves. I paired it with a set of diamond pendant and earrings that Ansh gifted me for my last birthday. I went for the subtle make up. Just a bit of powder, eyeliner and lip gloss.

"There! You look as gorgeous as ever, Bhumi darling." I spoke to myself, looking at the mirror.

Then I wondered, why I was taking such pains to make myself look beautiful.

"You are doing it again, Bhumi. This time, it is not only your heart. But little Abhi and Sammy's too. You have to guard three hearts from breaking. So stop being a fool and get it over with," I chided looking at my reflection.

I heard the doorbell ringing and cursed whoever was on the other side. Don't they know they shouldn't press the door bells at this time, when there are two toddlers in the room? Most probably sleeping.

Or maybe I should let the reception desk know about it.

I hurried to the door and opened it, only to find a bell boy waiting for me.

"Yes?" I asked

"Mrs Mehrotra?" He asked, looking at me.

Damn you Aryamann Mehrotra!

"Bhumi," I said, flicking my hair in an attitude.

"Mr Mehrotra is waiting for you in the lobby," the bell boy said.

"I shall be down in a moment. Thank you for passing the information," I said, quickly bid a bye to Chiara and left to the lobby.

As I reached the lobby, I saw Aryamann waiting impatiently for me.

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

Aryamann's pov!

I looked up when I felt her presence and there she was, looking as stunningly beautiful as ever.

I couldn't take my eyes off her.

Her hazel brown eyes were enhanced by dark eyeliners. Her skin looked flawless and I had to fight the urge to touch her.

Her lips were glistening with the gloss she applied and I had the sudden urge to taste and see if she still uses her cookie flavoured lip gloss.

"Aryamann?" She snapped her finger in front of me, bringing me out of my fantasies.

"Uh yes,"

"Shall we?" She asked pointing at the in house restaurant.

"We aren't going there for dinner." I said and she looked at me incredulously.

"What do you mean by that?" She asked with a confused frown.

"A friend suggested a restaurant on a nearby island. Let's go there," I said.

"Aryamann—"

"I chose that spot, just for its neutral ground. This is not a date," I said and saw her spine stiffening in anger

"I didn't think it was," she retorted and walked ahead of me.

I watched from behind, and I enjoyed the view a lot. Especially the sway of her hips.

She stopped abruptly and looked around.

"Why? No idea where to go?" I asked in a mocking tone and she glared at me.

"You are the one taking me." She said with a huff of annoyance.

""""

Soon we were seated opposite each other at a corner table of a local shack.

The chopper journey was quite awkward, with both of us looking out.

As the waiter served the drinks and the starters, I cleared my throat and spoke.

"I talked to my lawyers," I said and she looked at me in panic.

I know what she must be thinking and my anger fueled thinking how low her opinion about me is.

"About changing my will," I added and a confused furrow appeared on her brows.

"I don't understand." she said.

"I am not saying that I will die tomorrow. But I shouldn't just leave it and risk it. In case something happens to me, you and the children should be well provided for." I said.

"Nothing is going to happen to you," she said vehemently and my heart soothed hearing that.

She still cares for me!

"I am just being practical," I said with a casual shrug, though my insides are jumping at having that small glimpse into her feelings for me.

There was a sudden blast of loud laughter from a table at the opposite corner and Bhumi instinctively turned to look towards that.

In the soft light of the shack, her cut glass profile made my breath catch.

I shook my head to clear it off unwanted thoughts!

There is time for all this in the future.

Now my task is to get Bhumi into believing that I am in this for the long haul.

For some reason, she believes otherwise.

"Also, I would like to set up a trust fund in their names. I believe you would want to be one of the trustees," I said.

"But they already have trust funds in their names," Bhumi said and that made me frown.

"Who set it up?" Because when she left, she hadn't taken the remaining money with her.

"Ansh," she answered and my eyes turned rigid as I heard his name.

"You mean, Ekansh knew where you were all these years?" I asked, my voice turning a grade colder.

Bhumi looked at me warily.

"Uh yes," she said

Damn you Ekansh Mittal!

I begged that man to let me know anything about Bhumi. At least that she is fine. And he had stood rigid on his stance that he had no idea where she was. And that she had left, without even letting him know.

"Where did you go from Mumbai? I checked all the airports around. There was never your name in the passenger list. I have searched everywhere in Mumbai. Where did you disappear to?" I asked.

"You searched for me?" She asked and the surprise in her voice felt like a knife in my gut.

"Of course I did. Did you think I would simply let you walk out of our marriage?" I asked angrily and her expression cleared soon.

"I apologise, I left without completing the contract period. But I couldn't stay," she said in a formal tone.

"F*ck the contract. It went out the window way long back," I said furiously.

"Oh," she said, with a neutral expression.

"Oh? That's all you have to say?" I asked furiously.

"What should I say? I thought you would want to know about the boys," she said.

"I do," I said, embarrassed and guilty. Because for a moment I forgot about them. All I wanted to know about was Bhumi.

"They are adorable," she said with a soft smile and my expressions softened watching the love glazing over her eyes, thinking about the boys.

"I know. I also know that they have got a perfect set of lungs on them," I said dryly and she laughed out loud at that.

God! That sound! How much I have missed that!

That tinkling sound of her laughter!

"That they do. And they take great pains to let people know that," she said dryly.

"Why did you leave, Bhumi?" I asked the question that has been plaguing my mind ever since she left.

She remained silent.

"Why?" I asked again.

"You know," she said.

"I wouldn't be asking you if I know. Please tell me what went wrong," I asked.

"You didn't want children, Aryamann. You had told me that very clearly. Remember? 'I don't want a baby! Not with you anyway.' That was what you told me. And I was afraid that you would try to convince me for a termination. So I did what was best for me and my babies," she said and my heart ached.

Dear God! What have I done!

'I don't want a baby! Not with you anyway.'

I had told her that after those beautiful days we spent on a vacation. And I had left her alone for four long months. And when I came back, I accused her of being a gold digger.

Is it any wonder that she ran?

She wouldn't believe me if I said that I love her. She wouldn't believe either if I tell her I am in this for the long haul.

I have to prove it through my actions, not mere words!

Bhumi cleared her throat.

"Anyways, it now seems that your opinion is changing a bit. So, what is it that you want?" She asked.

You!! I wanted to say, but couldn't find the courage to.

"Do you want to spend time with them?" She asked.

"Of course I do. They are mine."

"Children take up a lot of time and you are a busy man. With businesses all over the world," she pointed out.

Ice formed in my veins as I listened to her.

"Are you trying to say that I would put my business ahead of my children," I asked incredulously.

"You wouldn't be the first man to do that," Bhumi said with a shrug.

"I intend to play a frequent role in their lives, Bhumi." I said.

"Okay. Will you be arranging a nanny when you look after them? If yes, I would like to be consulted before you make the choice" she said, matter of factly.

"You are okay with a nanny looking after them?" I asked in surprise. Somehow, I didn't expect that.

"Better a nanny than your latest girlfriend," she said scornfully.

"Girlfriend? If you have forgotten, we haven't gotten divorced yet. I am still a married man." I pointed out furiously.

"How does that change anything? It was stated clearly in the contract that you are free to pursue other relationships while being married to me. So what's stopping you now?" She asked and I sucked in a breath.

Bhumika Basu Mehrotra seems to be in a mood to be unreasonable. There is no point in talking now.

"Also, the contract was for one year. So our marriage got automatically dissolved after one year. Right?" She asked.

"Annulment was stated in the contract. But annulment was no longer an option. And you know why!" I said sarcastically and was satisfied seeing the red colour spreading across her cheeks and neck.

I heard multiple pings of notifications coming from my phone. I picked it up and saw that the signal was weak and I had missed many calls from the babysitter I hired for the night. There were calls from the resort reception desk too.

A sense of panic hit me and Bhumi caught on quickly.

"What is it?" She asked.

"You have your phone with you?" I asked.

She took it out of her clutch and frowned looking at the screen.

"There is no signal," she said.

"I have got a couple of missed calls from the babysitter and the reception desk. Let me call them back," I spoke quietly and dialled the baby sitter's number.

She picked up the call on the third ring, and what she said made all the blood drain from my face.

A/N

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