Sia tried calling Varun again. And this time, it got answered in a couple of rings.

“Sia?” he greeted.

“Varun, what happened? I wasn’t able to reach you last week.”

“I know. I was... away.”

She sighed in relief. She had been worried, even though she knew Varun disappeared during his ‘seclusion binges’ for days together. And during his seclusion time, he never answered his phone calls or had any sort of contact with the outside world.

“What happened Sia?” Varun asked.

“I had a visitor today,” she said and then told him briefly about Manish’s visit.

After he heard about the visit, Varun became agitated. “How did he find out about that man?” Varun asked her, referring to her uncle.

“He saw me. At the charity event,” she said, and then told him about her face off with her uncle. She deliberately avoided telling Varun about her uncle following her to the staircase, where she eventually fell. Because she knew Varun would flip, and might do something rash and dangerous. She couldn’t risk anything at this point, when they were close to trapping their prey.

“He must have begun an investigation on me as soon as he saw me at that party.”

“So we need to move quickly with rest of the plan, then.”

“Yes. About that... Ajay has already hired a lawyer, and begun the DNA tests, to start the proceedings for me to claim the Naidu Estate.”

There was a brief pause. “You told him?” Varun asked. This time ‘him’ was her husband.

Sia could make out that Varun was upset.

“I didn’t tell Ajay anything. I didn’t have to. He already knew everything about me,” she said, and told Varun about her confrontation with Ajay during the charity event. She also told him a little about Ajay’s background. But she left out the part where Ajay had an agenda against her.

“Sia, you can’t trust him or take any help from him!”

“Even if I don’t trust him, I need him for claiming the Naidu Estate.”

Varun let out a frustrated sigh.

“We don’t have a choice, Varun. So far we haven’t accomplished much with regards to catching my uncle in the act. Ajay has contacts and other help that we need. And we have to move quickly. Before my uncle lets up his guard.”

“Alright,” said Varun grudgingly.

“Take care, Varun. I’ll call you again to keep you informed.”

She ended the call.

Sighing deeply, she sat on the bed, and looked down at Anika, who was sleeping peacefully in her cradle. She felt a tug in her heart as she looked at Anika’s innocent face.

“I’m so sorry, my angel,” she whispered.

She had always known that she would be a terrible mother.

It didn’t matter if she loved Anika with all her heart. She became a horrible mother the moment she decided to bring an innocent life to the world for the sole purpose of revenge.

 

* * *

 

That night, after dinner, Sia and Ajay remained in the kitchen for a long time. Ajay briefed her with information on what he had been doing while she was in coma. He had just finished speaking when she voiced her one burning question.

“How did you know I’d every wake up from a coma?” she asked him softly.

“I knew,” he said simply.”It only frustrated me that you didn’t come out of it sooner.”

Her look softened. “You can’t bully a coma patient to wake up, you know,” she said.

“What do you mean?” he asked, looking confused.

She had a small smile on her face. “I recall having several dreams during my coma phase. Some of which were actual memories. But one thing I distinctly recall was with you. You were demanding that I fight, and return to you,” she said.

He was quiet and looked surprised. “You could hear me?” he asked.

“No. Not all of it,” she said. “I just had these dreams where I could hear you plead with me at first. And then, you became angry. And then, you shouted at me to stop escaping into the dark. Somehow I have a feeling that it actually happened.”

He was quiet, and then he replied. “It happened,” he confirmed, but didn’t elaborate.

Those two words were enough to melt her heart.

“Tell me something,” she asked. “Does it bother you that I have a past?”

This time, his response was quick. “Yes,” he replied.

She didn’t know how to feel about his frank answer. Hell, even she herself was ashamed of her past. Dr. Patel had told her several times to embrace her past, but she was never able to follow through. Then how can she expect someone else to be okay with her kind of past?

Ajay sighed. “I know I should be more modern and have forward thinking... but this afternoon I was badly tempted to bash that man’s head somewhere. I wanted to remove the memories of you,” he said, watching her face intently. “Not just from his head, but also from all the other men’s heads who knew you before.”

“I see,” she said.

“I admit I was jealous. Hell, I am still jealous.”

“What about me, then? And my head?” she asked. “You don’t want me to forget all the men from my past?”

A crooked smile appeared on Ajay’s face; bringing out a dimple, and causing all kinds of stirrings within her. “No. I want you to remember other men,” he said, reaching out and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Why?” she asked softly, her heart stirring inside.

“Because only then, will you know how awesome I am than the others from your past.”

A surprised laugh escaped out of her. God! This man, she thought. Before she could analyze her complicated feelings about him, she gave in to her need to touch him.

 

* * *

 

Ajay loved listening to the sound of laughter escaping from her. He felt the light touch of her hand on his cheek, making his heart thump and speed up. Deep within her eyes, while she watched as her warm hand touched his cheek, he found it again.

He had seen it before, several times.

Her loneliness and her longing, reaching out to him.

Swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat, he turned his head sideways, and kissed her palm that lay on his cheek. “I’m going to fight for your forgiveness, Sia,” he promised. “I’m going to fight for your happiness too,” he persisted.

The expression in her eyes slowly changed from longing to wonder. And then, it was gone. It got replaced by a sad smile.

“Why?’ she asked simply, dropping her hand.

He pulled her hand back, holding it to his cheek again. “Because I love you,” he said.

She didn’t respond. He didn’t expect her to.

They sat in silence, until the events of the day crept up to her, and her eyes drooped in exhaustion.

“Let’s talk tomorrow,” he said gently, and led her to their bedroom, where she fell into an exhausted sleep. But before she fell asleep, she murmured, “Stay.”