Thank you everyone for such amazing response. I have been really busy with work so sorry for the delay. So here is the promised part 2. Please ignore some major mistakes as I uploaded this via my phone so the format may have changed. Sorry about that.
Part 2
"Sahil..."
Shivay who had been sitting on the sofa, his head resting on his interlinked fingers, looked up at the sound of Anika's voice. He saw her eyes flutter open and immediately stood up and went to her. He saw her trying to adjust her eyes to the light. And then all of a sudden her eyes widened, probably on remembering something and to his frustration the very next second they turned dead.
Shivay couldn't place exactly why he felt so angry or at what in particular. He just knew that right now he felt like screaming on top of his lungs. But that wouldn't help so he took a deep breath and let it out. He decided to try again. After all Anika had reacted to his touch right?
"Anika, do you hear me?" he said with aching gentleness. He got no reply. Just when he was about to get up he heard her say, "yes"
His head jerked to her and he asked, almost in a rush, "are you okay? What happened to you?"
"you happened" Anika answered almost disgusted. Her tone, more than her words took Shivay by surprise.
"what do you mean?" he asked. There was slight fear in his voice. Fear that he might have just crossed a line.
To his surprise he saw Anika getting up. He bent a little to help her up but then stopped. He didn't know how she'd react. Anika got up and as soon as she stepped on the floor she swayed a little. She instinctively grabbed Shivay's hand, which was still outstretched, to steady herself. Shivay stiffened.
Anika felt the muscles under grip still which made her realise what she had held on to and she immediately let go as though she had been burned. Shivay though hurt by this did not make a sound and just silently watched her. He was still waiting for her answer.
"Sorry."
Shivay frowned. He hadn't expected that. he had rather expected an outburst where she accused him for whatever she was blaming him for. Her sorry was so defeated that a pang of guilt hit him.
"why?" he croaked out. His throat felt dry.
"for standing up to you. For not saying sorry when it was my fault. For not realizing my aukat' and then I should have never stood up to you. For being batameez' without having a family name..."
"Stop" Shivay almost screamed. What in the world was she saying? Was this her idea of revenge? Did she know that each word of hers was cutting him like a sharp piece of glass.
"Sorry." She repeated again.
"I said stop" now he screamed. He saw her flinch and immediately closed his eyes regretting his tone.
"sorry" he said without even being aware of it. His eyes snapped open only to meet her wide open eyes. then he saw her look down again. he felt so irritated at her insistence to avoid eye contact. He only knew how he was controlling his body from walking into her personal space and jerking her head up forcefully to make her look at him.
"Anika, look at me." he said forcefully. He had expected that Anika would disobey him. But to his disappointment she didn't. she looked him in the eye. The only consolation he got was to see the defiance in her eyes. but when she still did not answer him he repeated his question.
"what do you mean?"
"you did this." She said slowly looking down again. even though bothered Shivay let it go. Anika continued, "you are responsible for all of it. I won't get Sahil's custody. Ever. I can't go there ever. I don't have a home, no family, nothing. You took it all away from me. Everything is your fault. I should have never met you. i..." by the end of her rant she had started screaming with tears pooling in her eyes and suddenly she stopped trying to focus her vision.
Her every word was piercing him yet he kept quiet just so that she would take it all out. But when he saw her shaking her head trying to clear her vision he realised she was about to faint again and went forward to hold her. But she caught hold of his kurta making him lose his balance too and they both fell onto the bed.
Shivay realising that he was about to fall on her immediately put all his weight on his right hand which was already injured. He winced in pain. But when he opened his eyes he saw Anika below him, unconscious. Again. he got up making sure to not hurt her and then picked her up only to place her properly on the bed.
He had no idea what she was talking about. As far as he knew she had not lost the case yet. The hearing was tomorrow. If she was any other girl he could have understood such a reaction. But as far as he knew her she was not the type to accept defeat so early. She may have been many things but weak she was not. He had to find out what was going on and from her mention of Sahil it had to be something related to the case. And he knew where exactly he could find the answers to his questions.
When advocate Hastana opened his front door he hadn't expected to see The Shivay Singh Oberoi himself standing outside his house. To say that he was intimidated would be an understatement. As soon as he offered Shivay a seat, he was asked about the case.
"what case?" Hastana asked confused.
"Sahil's custody case. You are Anika's lawyer right?"
"Oh...so it was true.."Hastana said thoughtfully.
That statement confused Shivay. He inquired, "what was?"
"that there is something between Anika and you."
First Shivay took a second to process the words and then he gauged the meaning of those words. "What!?" Shivay almost flew out of his seat in rage.
"I am sorry." Hastana hastily tried to explain, "I didn't mean it that way. I just didn't believe it myself. But those were the accusations of the opposition so I had to bring it up."
"what were?" Shivaya asked narrowing his eyes. "what happened in the court room yesterday?"
"I'll explain" said Hastana in hurry.
Flashback:
"there are some facts that I need to bring to the court's notice. After going through this fact, your honour herself will know who is a better guardian for Sahil." said the opposing lawyer.
Anika sat there confused. A certain dread was building up in the pit of her stomach.
"this girl Anika is an orphan with no blood relation to Sahil. His only blood relative is his aunt, my client. Miss Anika does not want Sahil but the house they all currently reside in which as of now belongs to Sahil. She has very nicely poisoned him against his only true relative and now has filed this case so that she can have him later name the house in her name when he comes of the age."
Anika tightened her fist. This was to be expected. Her lawyer had warned her so. But what came next surprised her.
"not only this my lord. I can prove it to you that she is not only the wrong guardian for Sahil but also a terribly unfit one. this woman my lord has a mask of innocence on her face but in reality she is actually a very cunning lady. She is manipulative and can go to any extent to fulfil her heart's desires. Even sell herself."
Anika didn't hear her lawyer raising an objection. The words had chilled her to the core.
"what is your price?" she heard him ask.
Anika shook her head and concentrated on the words of the opposition again.
"Miss Anika has been lately seen with a very rich man as of lately and that man is none other than Shivay Singh Oberoi."
She could hear the murmurs. She heard Hastana demand for proofs.
"I have not only proofs but witnesses too." said the other lawyer. "eye witnesses have seen him in the colony and her house. Her neighbours too have seen him at her house where when caught she claimed that Shivay Oberoi had forcefully entered her house. Like any one would believe that.
There was an instance where there were broken things in the house, glasses if I am not mistaken and you do know when things break like that." he finished lewdly. Anika shut her eyes. this wasn't happening. All of this was true yet untrue. She could feel her hands falling cold.
"not only that. when my client demanded that he leave the house he threw notes of thousand in the room and left. And I repeat the word threw. It clarifies the relationship between them if everything I have said till now hasn't."
Anika saw her lawyer look at her accusing her silently of hiding things from him. But she hadn't. she had just assumed this all to be irrelevant.
"also she was caught by police in his mansion dripping wet inside a pool nonetheless with him, in the middle of the night. he filed a complaint against her of trespassing but it was just a ruse to hide what they really had been up to. Because the very next day she was first visited by him in jail and then was released on request by the Oberois themselves."
"not that it is of our concern, how she decides to earn her keep but this will obviously leave a very bad impression on the mind-set of a growing child. Also this is not all. This woman is also mentally unstable."
Anika froze.
"She has no control over her anger .i have written testimonies from eyewitness from the temple where she broke the windshield of Mr. Oberoi's car. Also the very next day to her arrest she came back and hit the inspector who arrested her with a stone. And yet again it was Shivay Singh Oberoi who came and bailed her out. I have submitted the reports from the police station submitted to the court."
"now the catering company she currently works for is also Shivay Singh Oberoi's company."
Anika was feeling dizzy by now. She didn't know what to say. Anything she said would not be believable at all.
It had all turned downhill from there. Her lawyer somehow managed to get a date for the next hearing. But she could see it. There was no way she'd win this.
When she returned home her aunt mocked her and pushed her out of the house. Her neighbours who till yesterday were supporting her now looked at her with disgust. Her aunt went and picked up something from the ground and threw it at her. She realised it was gobbar'. She remembered flinging the same thing on his car.
She pushed the thought away and looked up. she could see Sahil crying and trying to come to her but her aunt pulled him back. When she tried to go to him her path was blocked by her neighbours. They accused her of spreading dirt in their colony. Her aunt again taunted her about how now her face was the one blackened. The door was closed on her face. She fought and scratched at the people dragging her but they were too many. And just like that she was thrown out of the colony in the puddle.
it started raining and then everything just blacked out.
Anika woke up with a start.
"Anika, are you okay?" Priyanka asked her.
"where am i?" she asked.
"Shivay bhaiya's room."
The moment she heard that, Anika threw the covers away and got up to get out of there. She felt Priyanka hold her down and soon the commotion she was creating brought in Rudra. Rudra first saw the situation and then came up to her and hugged her tight. That startled Anika into a rigid position. Rudra immediately let go and started saying sorry.
Anika relaxed.
She stopped him and said slowly, "I don't want to be here."
"okay" said Rudra with a smile, "where do you want to be? Home?"
"I don't have one." Anika said dejection setting in again.
As Shivay was driving he felt only on emotion. Rage. He hadn't planned this. He hadn't even considered this. He wanted to kill that lawyer , that aunt of hers and everyone else who had accused her. When he reached her house, he stepped on the break coming to a screeching halt.
The jerk shook up a voice in him.
"you started this" said the voice.
"I didn't want this."
"but you caused this."
"i..." he couldn't defend against those accusations.
"you wanted to break her."
"not like this."
"you succeeded"
"not like this"
"you won"
"not like this!"
"but what's done is done."
"I can fix this" Shivay said aloud. He could and he would. He was Shivay Singh Oberoi. He didn't waste time in regret. He worked towards solving the mess.
He got out of the car and started walking to her home.
Anika avoided all the questions to her with much effort as she sat on the couch in the living room. She was surprised at how incredibly caring his family was. His dadi, Priyanka, Omkara and Rudra all were worried for her. How had such a heartless man been born in this house?
"Anika"
She looked up. There he was. he had just entered the hall. But when her eyes went to who he was carrying she froze. It was Sahil. And he was unconscious. She staggered and Omkara supported her just in time but her eyes were fixed on Sahil.
Never had he seen her shed a tear. No matter what he did she never did. But right now her sobs made him want to shut his ears and hide somewhere. She was sitting there crying as Sahil lay there unconscious.
When Shivay had gone to her house to get Sahil he found him locked in a room, unconscious. The only thing that saved that aunt was his need to take Sahil to the doctor. The doctor had said sahil was fine. He had just exhausted himself crying. Shivay sighed in relief and looked at Sahil. Right now he really had started to hate himself. And he couldn't even begin to imagine just how much Anika would hate him.
"didi" she heard Sahil call and looked at him. She didn't bother with any other thought and instead raised him up and showered him with kisses hugging him.
After she was sure Sahil was fine she looked around. Everyone had left except for Shivay. he was still there leaning against the wall by the poolside, his back facing her. She got up and picked Sahil up.
"you can go back to that house. that woman will not stop you."
Anika didn't bother to confirm that she had heard him. She just walked out of the room.
When she reached home the door was open. She put Sahil to sleep in his bed and came out only to see the door of her Bua's room open. she heard her aunt thank god for the money she got from Shivay Singh Oberoi. Her eyes widened. She had been angry at him. she had blamed him for everything but she had assumed he wasn't the direct cause of it. But now she detested him after realising what exactly he had paid for. He had done this to her intentionally and she had lain in his bed.
The thought made her skin crawl. She felt disgusted with herself. It felt like every accusation hurled at her in that court room had been true. She felt like vomiting.
Anika sat in the court. Her lawyer was putting forward her defence. He was saying that all the things said in the last hearing were a misunderstanding. She saw the judges face though and knew immediately what the verdict would be.
If she lost Sahil what would her life be? She'd die without him. Suddenly she felt the whole room go silent. She looked around only to see people pull out note pads. She realised it was the media. What was media doing here in this room? She turned to look at what they were looking at and she froze. It was Shivay Singh Oberoi.
He had come to see her lose she thought. Her eyes narrowed. He wanted to laugh at her misery. Or maybe he came to prove personally that all he accusation hurled at her last time were indeed true. She turned just in time to see a victory smile spread on the opposition's face. This was i. she had lost.
"I have come here to give my testimony." She heard him say confidently. She closed her eyes. Was he going to defame her too? And just when she had thought it couldn't get worse."
"please step on to the podium and say what you have to." said the judge.
To Shivay standing in that tiny place was degrading. But he had no choice. His actions alone were responsible for this. He stepped up and said, "I had decided not to intervene in this matter but now it is also my reputation at stake so I had to."
"you don't need to say anything mr Shivay. your presence here itself has proved everything." said the other lawyer smirking.
Shivay narrowed his eyes. "it has proven something but not what you have said in this court. It has only proved one thing and that is that Anika is a person who keeps her promises no matter what the price."
Anika heard it and shut her eyes tighter wondering what he was getting at.
Shivay glanced at her and tightened his fists. What he was going to do was extremely risky. His reputation was at stake. And after this all would be in Anika's hands. He would be a news no matter what by tomorrow. But whether it would be good or will he turn into a laughing stock all depended on her statement after this.
He was nervous but he would never let it show on his face. He could feel his heart thumping loudly. He looked back at the Hastana and Hastana nodded telling him that this was the only way now.
He looked the other lawyer in the eye and said, "I had asked Anika not to disclose this before as we would like to officially announce this but I guess it can't be helped now."
He was aware of the reporters there sent by his rivals when they got a whiff of the fact that he was going to the court. This had helped him find the mole in his office though and now he had decided to misguide his rivals by supplying wrong information to the mole. He hit himself mentally. He was losing track of the situation. He steeled himself.
"the reason Anika and I have been so close to each other these days is because we are going to get married."
Anika's eyes shot open. She stared at him. had he lost it? What in the world was he talking? She could hear the scribbling noises in the now extremely quiet room.
Shivay felt her stare but chose to ignore it. He had more pressing issues like exacting petty revenge on the guy in front of him whose jaw had hit the floor.
"and you Mr whoever you are' have just insulted the future daughter in law of the Oberois and my to be wife who will soon be Anika Shivay Singh Oberoi."
"is this true?" Anika was snapped out by the Judge's question to her. she looked around and then looked at Shivay. he was looking at her waiting for her to say something. She quickly weighed the situation. This was a golden chance. She could have Sahil's custody thanks to this. But then it would be like taking his help. He had done this then why was he doing this.
A sudden thought hit her. maybe this was his plan. If she accepts his offer she loses. But she'' win Sahil's custody. Was her self-respect more important than Sahil. The answer was obvious.
"yes" she said loud and clear. She thought she saw a small smile cross Shivay's face but before she could be sure it was gone.
After that there was no argument. Nothing. She had won the case by the statement of a single person.
As Shivay walked to his car he was pulled aside by someone. He wasn't really surprised. He was actually waiting for it to happen. There were questions he had to answer.
She pulled her hand away from him and stood in front of him her hands folded.
"I guess you want answers." He said.
"wow, what magnificent mind reading skills you have." Anika said with sarcasm.
"you won the case." He supplied hopefully to placate her anger.
"I would have won if you hadn't paid my aunt for yesterday. Were you that desperate to break me that you had to stoop so low as to accuse me of selling myself to you."
"wait, what!?" Shivay was thrown totally off track. She had accused him of this. He felt his anger return.
"I didn't do this Anika."
"you paid her. I heard it with my own ears."
"that money was not for this."
"than what was it for?"
Shivay opened his mouth and then realised it wouldn't work. No explanation would. So he calmed down and used a different approach.
"if I had wanted to do this why would I come here to save you?" he asked trying to reason with her.
"save me?" she scoffed. "you came here only to rub it in that you have won. This is your win isn't it?"
"And how exactly does publicly announcing our marriage make it a win for me?"
"you asked this in front of the media knowing I won't have a choice but to say yes. This way now you are a hero and I am the desperate one. Tomorrow you'll break off this engagement and I'll be a laughing stock." She said calmly.
Shivay almost screamed in frustration. Man was she smart. If she had actually been vindictive she would have ruled the world with that brain of hers. She had come up with logics that he had not even thought of.
And just like that laughter started bubbling in his chest at the irony of this whole situation. He had assumed worst of her thanks to his prejudice and now she was doing the same. No matter what he did she would still think the totally opposite of him. and the hilarity of it all was that he was not even frustrated. Just impressed at how fast her brain worked. That thought itself made him lose his control and he burst out laughing.
He saw her eyes widen and mouth open at the completely random laughter of his. He had shocked her.
Anika was not just shocked at Shivay laughing in this situation but the fact that he could laugh itself shocked her. she had seriously assumed that Shivay Singh Oberoi was born with a frown on his face. She had actually wondered if they should have replaces the frowny face smiley with his face.
Shivay almost got his laughter under control and looked up only to see the look on Anika's face and burst out laughing again. he laughed more when he realised that he actually found her confused face cute. In Rudra's language, Shivay Singh Oberoi, a girl and cute in the same sentence was a first time.
"I knew it. You are mad." Anika said as soon as the shock wore off.
May be he was. The relief that he had fixed his mistake was undoubtedly great. But this happiness was different.
Shivay stopped laughing and looked at her. but there was still a smile present on his face. There never was a dull moment with this girl. with her his life came to life. And she was everything he enjoyed. Beautiful, smart, witty, courageous, caring and so many things more. And he genuinely liked her. A lot. He couldn't imagine a day without her.
He asked her trying to supress his smile, "if I told you I genuinely like you, would you believe me?"
It was the second time in the day that Anika was shocked to the point that she felt like she'd faint.
"of course not!" she burst out.
"but I have announced our marriage, you have said yes" Shivay said. He already knew what she was going to say.
"I am not marrying you. If you don't break it off I will."
"but why? I am such a good catch." Shivay said amused by the faces she was currently making.
"I am rich, handsome and..."
"extremely rude, inconsiderate and cruel" she continued.
"so no redeeming qualities?" he asked obviously enjoying this.
"not exactly. If you work on your personality maybe you can become a good catch...wait...what the hell am I talking about...how did we come here?"
"I don't know" Shivay said with mock innocence.
She narrowed her eyes. "I am not marrying a person I do not love."
"you don't have a choice not Unless you want to lose Sahil's custody."
"I'll find another way. There has to be one."
"there are two actually."
Anika looked at him curious.
"either marry me and divorce me. that way you get half of my property too." Shivay said with enthusiasm.
Anika gave him a half lidded look.
"okay, if not that then you can just fall in love with me."
"impossible."
"you can try."
"don't want to. I don't like you."
"good" Shivay said.
"what?" Anika asked now totally confused.
"making you like me will not be easy you see and as I have told you before 'aasan chizon ka shauk bhi nahi hai mujhe'."
"Tej it's all over the news. Oberoi's possible heir has announced his marriage to a poor orphan." Svetlana said waiting for his reaction.
"damn that Omkara. Does he really have to keep playing around like this?" Tej said looking up from his file.
"um...actually it's Shivay" Svetlana said softly.
Tej looked up at her, staring at her for a few seconds and then said, "I think you got the names wrong. I can understand since both are Lord Shivas names and..."
"its Shivay, Tej" she said irritated.
For the first time Svetlana saw Tej so shocked. he still kept signing even thoughthe pen had slipped out of his hand.
The moment everyone in the Oberoi mansion saw the news there was immediate reaction.
Pinky fainted.
Priyanka ran to Rudra who in turn ran to Om who in turn ran to dadi who was watching the news shell shocked on the sofa.
All of them heard Shivay walk in and turned to look at him.
Shivay walked in all happy and threw his coat on the sofa and jumped in the seat next to it.
Rudra whispered to Om, "this is not bhai. Our bhai is kidnapped and this is an imposter."
Om ignored him and asked Shivay, "what is this?"
"what is what?" Shivay asked and then he saw the news. "oh sorry, I forgot to tell you. I am getting married."
"you forgot to tell us?" Om asked shocked.
"not bhai" Rudra whispered in Om's ear.
"what have you been up to?" Om asked Shivay yet again ignoring Rudra. Rudra wiggled his eyebrows at Shivay.
Shivay looked at them in thought and said, "nothing special. Just the usual. Following my to do list."
"bhai has a to do list?" Rudra asked aloud to no one in particular.
"and what does your to do list say" Om asked genuinely curious.
"well, daily stuff like wake up, have breakfast, get angry and cursed half the population of India, set my hair, break two or three hones and then give my family a mini heart attack by announcing my marriage."
Hearing this Omkara and Rudra looked at each other. Priyanka gasped and Dadi laughed. Shivay smiled at his dadi for appreciating his joke.
Om, Priyanka and Rudra on the other hand burst out together, "who are you? And where is our brother."
Shivay got up and patted them on their shoulder and said calmly, "I am me, you are you, dadi is daid, this flower pot is a flower pot and this sofa is a sofa. Now I am feeling like cooking so I am going to the kitchen. If you'll have any special demands I shall fulfil them."
They all watched him walk off happily towards the kitchen without even changing his clothes.
Om slowly asked, "dadi what is happening?"
"a wedding" dadi said happily. She was not surprised anymore. Afteral Shivay was his grandfather's grandson.
With this I end this Two shot. I know it was very long. Hope you'll finished it till the end and didn't get bored. So now please Tell me how it turned out. Till then good night.
Did I love you not?: https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/ishqbaaaz/4666107/did-i-love-you-not-ff
Drunken Shots: https://www.india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=4683445&PID=135947376&#p135947376
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