"... you're saying?" Vikram, Rinisha's father asked as Shaurya was speaking to him.

"... talking about Rakshit's marriage," Shaurya huffed. 

Since he had arrived to drop a bomb on Rinisha's family regarding to Rakshit's marriage, he got nothing, but a casual response from Mr. Vikram who had a poker face, partially hearing Shaurya. 

"Oh! I zoned out." Vikram said nonchalantly. He had no time for Shaurya who's expecting a hand to break the marriage. "When was the date again?" He asked as if he had nothing else to speak. 

"Did you hear me well? Or... Shaurya gritted his teeth. He believed this old man would help him to stop the dream wedding of Rakshit. Seeing Vikram's cold shoulder, Shaurya couldn't help but blame himself for coming to this unfriendly man. He should have found a way for himself. 

"Of course, I did." Vikram had a look at Shaurya, giving his full attention. 

"Seems like it doesn't affect you," Shaurya muttered. He could read on his face. There must have been a reason, he thought. 

"Yeah, because it doesn't affect me as you have imagined in your mind before coming here, right?" Vikram insinuated Shaurya's selfish motives behind this. Though both of them were promised, and working on Rakshit-Rinisha marriage, Mr. Vikram still did not get what Shaurya actually wanted. 

"I am glad at least you know what reaction I expect from you. Shouldn't you feel angry about this? Why? What happened? Why are you playing cool?" Shaurya fell silent for a minute as he was pondering over something. "Did I miss anything?" He broke the silence, voicing out his thoughts. 

"I don't think so," Vikram brushed off his doubt. But he couldn't escape from Shaurya's gawking, he smiled for his own benefit and was speaking, "It's just that my daughter doesn't want him anymore. That's it." He tried to make it closure on this chapter, but how wrong he was about judging Shaurya. Did he think Shaurya would buy his goods for no reason? 

"You know what, I'm pretty good at finding lies." Shaurya could bet on what the older man was telling. 

"Because you are quite expert at doing it?" Vikram countered back. 

"Mr. Vikram!" Shaurya slammed his palm on the dark wooden desk.

"Shaurya, I know how bad you are. You want to destroy Rakshit and betray him which you've been doing for years. I don't know what's your real intention behind all this. And I simply don't care about it. But I understood one thing, you need someone around you or be with you to break him. Because you want to be a good as well as a shadow in this game, am I right?" 

Shaurya had lost all the blood from his face as Vikram slowly unveiled his truth. He rubbed his fingers on his forehead as he was thinking, how to ease this forming tension. 

"Okay, leave it. Now come to the point, why are you not reacting to his marriage? You forgot? You're stubborn to get him to tie the knot with your daughter? What happened now?" Shaurya asked suddenly. He flipped over it, as if no conversation had happened early. 

Vikram smiled, understanding Shaurya did not want to speak about it further, neither he did. "No, I didn't forget it. And yeah, I was way too stubborn to accept the fact. Because it hurt my ego back then, now I get over it. So I have no problem with his marriage or whatever he's up to." He gave another believable reason, or what he thought. 

"Why do I feel you are hiding something from me?" Shaurya was not a person who let something go easily until he found out what it was.

"Hiding? Why would I? If you want to ask me something, I will tell you directly." Vikram agreed. 

"Then, why are you letting your daughter's fiance get married to your servant? Don't you feel ashamed of it?" Shaurya knew this man was so much of his ego and proud of his social status. If he wounded it, Vikram would awake from his sleep. 

"First of all he's no longer my daughter's fiance and the girl doesn't work for us either. And it's up to their lives, then they can decide it. We are not allowed to have a say in it." Vikram was too intelligent to realise Shaurya's tactics. 

"I highly doubt that your daughter would agree with your theory." Shaurya smirked. He was aware of Rinisha's obsession for Rakshit. 

"She is my daughter. I trust her, she will listen to me. You are worrying about nothing." Vikram dismissed the thought. 

"Fine... if you say so? I can't push you further. But still..." Shaurya said dejectedly. "You didn't tell me the reason. What's it?" He wanted to know what's stopping Vikram. 

"My daughter deserves better." Vikram said honestly. 

"What do you mean?" A frown etched on Shaurya. 

"Are you trying to fool me or you are fooling yourself?" Vikram retorted.

"Mr. Vikram, you are testing my patience." Shaurya shouted. He couldn't believe that Vikram was turning against him. They agreed to work together. 

"You're telling me to marry my daughter to a man who already has a son? Huh?" Vikram was equally angered. 

"How did you know?" Was it all escaped from Shaurya's mouth? 

"Does it matter? No?" Vikram took a deep breath to control himself. "Shaurya, you are smart, but I am smarter than you. What do you think about me? I would buy all your lies since I shook hands with you?" 

When Shaurya was being mute, he continued, "I have done a detailed investigation of Rakshit and your other friends as well. To be honest, I was quite shocked to hear it. My daughter doesn't want a person like him." Vikram could stoop low for anything, but he cared about his family. He did not let his daughter get hitched with a man who already had an illegitimate family. 

"So that's it, right?" Shaurya nodded his head. "But about Vedant? It's too secretive to find by a random investigator. Did he tell you himself?" He couldn't still believe Vikram had done a study on their past. And about Vedant? How did he find out?

"No, I have my own source." Vikram was not ready to give the answer he wanted. 

"You can't blame me, Shaurya. I am a father of a daughter. I admit it, I should have done it early, then we don't want to be here either. It's my fault." 

Shaurya lost his last hope as Vikram withdrew from their previous agreement. Now he had to do something himself without getting caught. But how? It's a big question. 

"So, you left him completely?" Shaurya stood up from his seat as there was nothing else to talk more. 

"Yeah, we did." Vikram affirmed. 

"Hopefully, it's gonna be the last meeting we had, isn't it?" Shaurya said, ready to leave. 

"I would be glad, if it was." Vikram didn't hesitate to tell it.

"Will surely try, then..." Shaurya trailed off. "I believe everything will only stay with us. There won't be a back stab." 

"You can trust me, my old friend." Vikram smirked. 

"Good," the next moment Shaurya was out of the room. 

●●●

"You really happy, beta?" Aradhika caressed Rakshit's head which was on her lap. They're having some mother-son moments. 

Rakshit quickly sat straight and asked, "Is this a question to ask? I am getting married, mom. Your son is going to get married finally. I am in a state of total euphoria!" He masked his emotions behind a sweet smile, but Aradhika was not convinced. She kept looking at him for the truth.

Rakshit took a hold of her hand in his and was saying, "Trust me, mom. I am happy, because it's my wish finally going to be fulfilled. So definitely am I..." he kept going on when she gave him a smile. "I can't lie to you, mom. Well, it's a kind of... you know..." he did not know how to call it what he felt now.

"Fear?" Aradhika interrupted. 

"No!" He denied it immediately. 

"It's... nervous? Yeah, maybe I am nervous." He was asking himself. 

Aradhika gave his hand a slight squeeze. "I understand," she would not be a genius to get her son's feelings. She just wanted him to share it with her.

"I can't believe it that she agreed?" Aradhika couldn't help but ask. She was thinking about it since Rakshit told his marriage. 

"Mom, I know you are worrying about the tension between us. It's alright. I will make sure that we are gonna have a happily ever after, okay?" He knew his mother was worried about their marital life and so did he. 

"Everything's a joke for you. It's your life, beta. I don't want to see you regret any decision you have made." Aradhika didn't want to see her son's failed life. She could see that they had to pass through a lot of thorns rather than a bed of roses.

"I promise you, mom. I won't ever regret it, even if it will make me a failure in the end." He could just imagine how Anuradha was planning to ruin him. He would enjoy whatever she throws at him, because he began to like everything she does.

"You know I am too excited to welcome my grandson and daughter in law as well as anxious about your future. I don't know whether I should feel happy or sad." Aradhika confessed. 

He shook his head, "You don't need to worry about the consequences. Just get into the flow and cherish the moments with the two precious people." He had a smile on his lips when he remembered them. 

"Aww... precious already?" Aradhika teased him. 

"Why not? Ved is my son and Radha is my child's mamma after all." He shrugged, but his smile was still there. 

"Do you love her?" Aradhika asked out of the blue. His head whipped towards her. 

"What?" 

"Don't play dumb. Tell me now, do you love her?" Aradhika hid her smile behind her hand, seeing his flushed face. 

"Ah... I.." he did not get the proper word to describe it. It seemed like he faced a scarcity of words. 

"I'm waiting..." Aradhika was enjoying her son's dilemma. It rarely happened. 

"Since she's my son's mother, and I love my son very much, I love her as well. I love my son and so does his mother. That's it." He was looking anywhere but her.

She turned him to face her, holding his chin, "You headstrong man, admit it you are in love with your Radha." He did not say anything but smiled as a reply. 

Later they'd been talking about wedding preparations for some time. There's only three days left for the marriage and he has taken care of everything, since it's a private marriage it's easy for him to handle everything alone. As they're discussing when his phone rang, he took his phone from the table. A frown etched on his face while reading the name flashing on the screen. It read--Rinisha.