FF - I'll Love you better now - Chap 19 Page 49 Updated on 1 Apr 2018 - Page 4

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It had been around fifteen minutes since Shivaay had burst into their room along with Omkara, both their faces set in a stern scowl and their hands clutching the wrists and dragging in a struggling Rudra Singh Oberoi. They had marched towards the bed and not so gently pushed the youngest Oberoi to take a seat while they hovered around him, arms crossed and eyes set in a fierce glare.Anika tried her best to appear as inconspicuous as possible as she made a show of folding Shivaay's clothes all the while keeping a watchful eye on the three brothers in the middle of the room, especially one in particular.

And Rudra, all he did was pout as he held on to the wedding sherwani now lying all ruffled on his lap, all the while deftly avoiding his brothers' gaze. Usually, Anika would have cooed at her Dewar's adorable antics but today, she narrowed her eyes at the sherwani he kept clutching at, something about Rudra seemed off.

"Well... ".She blinked as Shivaay's steely voice broke the silence. He sounded seriously pissed off. "Tell me who is it or do I have to use other means to get you to talk. Scratch that; he wasn't angry, he was down right into his over protective, deadly big brother mode.

"I just tripped and fell down... ".Rudra started only for Om to gesture him to stop with a raised hand.

"Let me get this straight..." Om reached out to gently grasp Rudra's chin and tilt it up to meet his eyes. "You are telling me and Shivaay that the maids saw you bawling your eyes out on the corridor floor was because you tripped..."here, Omkara narrowed his eyes as he felt Rudra gulp under his stare, "and fell...?"

"Yes and dirtied my sherwani, of course." Rudra replied back meekly as Omkara rolled his eyes and let him go. "You are such a bad liar, Rudy." He huffed.

"That's supposed to be you, O." Rudra started to smirk. "And I might have broken a toe nail." He tried not to flinch when Shivaay abruptly grabbed his shoulders and shook him.

"Stop kidding around, Rudr!" Shivaay growled as his brother continued to squirm under his piercing gaze. "Someone hurt you, didn't they? Tell me who did it?!" He firmly squeezed his brother's shoulder blades to get the point across. "NOW!" he bellowed only to suddenly stop and stare.

The room fell into a dead silence. Anika looked on in worry as Omkara placed a gentle hand on Shivaay's shoulder. "Shivaay?" he questioned softly. But Shivaay ignored them in favour of lifting up Rudra's chin to observe his face.

His baby brother's face looked flushed and his lower eyelids red and puffy; the first clue that had alerted him that his boy had been crying. But he never noticed the reddish, almost purple hue along his jawline. He beckoned Om to come closer as he tilted his baby brother's face to the other side to inspect him further.

"Om..." he forced through gritted teeth. "Please tell me these are not bruises." He heard Rudra's soft gasp and a flurry of steps approaching him from behind. He turned around to see Om and Anika staring at Rudra with wide eyes. He was right and the mere thought of anyone manhandling his baby brother made Shivaay's blood boil.

He abruptly let go of Rudra and grabbed his phone. Nobody and he meant NOBODY got to hurt his baby brother and live another second! "Hello, Commissioner..."

"Bhaiya!" he heard Rudra squeak out in disbelief.

"I need a team of your bes-"And before he could continue any further, Shivaay felt his phone abruptly grabbed from his hand and flung outside the window. Shivaay's eyes widened in disbelief and he whirled around to berate Anika only to see her standing beside Om and gaping at Rudra. No...it couldn't be...

"NO!" Rudra was now beside him with a sad frown on his face. Had it really been his Rudra who had exhibited such temper?

"Rudra!" he heard Omkara bellow "What the bloody hell is wrong with you?!" He saw Om flurry towards Rudra, his hand raised.

"Om, stop!" Shivaay raised his voice. This was turning bad real fast. His baby brother wasn't messing around. He was really upset. Shivaay took deep breaths to bring his temper down. Aggressiveness was never a way to deal with an upset Rudra. And the last thing he needed now was Om slapping Rudra and his said baby brother crying again.

"Baby Ru, please..." Shivaay started again in what he hoped was a persuading voice.

But Rudra mournfully shook his head. "No, Bhaiya...please let it go." With that Rudra started to walk out of the room only for Om to clutch his wrist in a firm hold.

"You are telling us to drop this" Om seethed, "When someone had clearly bullied you, stomped on your clothes and left you to cry on the floor INSIDE OUR OWN HOUSE! ARE YOU CRAZY?!"

And Anika, who had been following the exchange from the side line, froze. Could it be...? Anika carefully reviewed the whole conversation. Any other day, her Dewar would have happily complained to Shivaay and Om about his troubles. He would pout and whine until he had his ways.

But today, he was begging his brother to stay out of it; and it would only be because whoever had troubled her Chote Dewar must be someone whose involvement would upset Shivaay and Om as well. The only person who would fit into that category was...

Pinky Aunty...Anika felt sick. Would she really stoop so low as to hurt Rudra of all people? Rudra, who still calls her Chote Maa? And for the first time, Anika felt anger towards Pinky. Humiliating her was something she could bear but to upset Rudra?!

She looked at the sherwani, now laid forgotten on the bed. She observed the faint traces of a lady's footwear on the silk and also the mark of manicured nails on Rudra's cheeks. God, she would never forgive Pinky for this! She had broken the poor boy and she had done a good job at it.

But would it do good to reveal this to Shivaay? She knew Shivaay would practically blow the roof over not to mention the rest of the family; and the media outside. Her heart broke when she observed Rudra's hunched shoulders and his trembling lips. She could see it in his eyes the anguish he held and the effort it took him to keep his mouth shut.

Anika struggled to look passive as she approached them. Om looked ready to tear someone apart, Shivaay looked upset and Rudra was on the verge of tears; the latter worried her the most. Rudra needed some time to calm down; away from his two over-bearing, mother hen and mollycoddling brothers. Shivaay and Om could be so insensitive sometimes. She was still mad at Shivaay for slapping Rudra over the whole drunken marriage fiasco with her Soumya.

"Shivaay, Om..." she smiled softly.as she approached them "Why don't the both of you oversee the decorations while I take Rudra to the laundry room and have his sherwani cleaned up?"

"He will not wear that sherwani!" Shivaay bristled indignantly. "I'll call the designer and have another stitched right away." Anika groaned. What little relief she had brought into Rudra's face immediately died out. Didn't Shivaay understand that it was next to impossible to make a sherwani from scratch over a night?

"Shivaay..." she pressed on firmly, taking Rudra's sherwani from the bed and his hand from Om's, "It's just for the morning, probably for only an hour!" she exasperated. "I'm sure Rudra would hop into his other bandhgala as soon as his girls start to arrive" she smirked at him and Rudra gave her a watery smile.

"But..." Shivaay started. Anika completely ignored him and marched out of the room with a giggling Rudra. On reaching the laundry room, she had Rudra sit on the window sill while she busied herself over the washing machine. Having the cloth thrown in and the machine started, she walked over to Rudra and stood before him.

"Rudr..." she smiled down at him as he lazily rocked his feet back and forth. Her Dewar was such a child. The way he looked up at her with those almond shaped eyes, all vulnerable and trusting, made her want to hug him close and never let go.

"Yes, Bhabhi..." he smiled at her adoringly.

"Bhabhi..."

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Anika's eyes snapped open and she abruptly sat up. She looked around in the dark. Shivaay was fast asleep beside her, his hair a mess and his lips slightly parted as he snored softly. Anika smiled sleepily as she ran her finger along his jaw. She giggles softly while he mumbled incoherently and flipped onto his stomach and tucked the nearest pillow under his arm. She reached out to bother him again when a soft shuffling outside their room halted her.

She slowly got out of bed and opened the door to peer into the darkness. Surely it wasn't a thief...

"Hello?" She softly called out. When nothing met her in reply, she shrugged to herself and made a move to get back into the room when her eyes fell on a silhouette sitting by the balcony. Without alerting Shivaay, she cautiously stepped outside to confront the person who was venturing out this late at night.

"Hello, who's there?"

"Bhabhi..."

Anika froze mid-step. The figure slowly turned to face her. It was her Rudra but at the same time it was not him. Half his face was obscured by the dark while the moonlight lit the other part of his face and his body. He practically glowed like an unearthly spirit bathing in the moon.

But what made her stare was the serious set of his jaws, his bittersweet smile and the trails of silvery tears down his innocent face. He looked determined and that made her heart race.

"Rudra... "she hushed out as her steps picked up pace. Something was wrong, very wrong!

Rudra merely smiled at her as he slowly leaned backwards over the balcony rails.

"Rudra. Just stay there!" she barked as she ran towards him with her hand outstretched towards him.

"I am so sorry, Bhabhi." He whispered, "But I'll do anything for you and Bhaiya." And with that he practically hurled his own body down the balcony.

"RUDRA!!! "Anika screamed as she lunched at the balcony only to miss his fingers by an inch. And Anika let out a bloodcurdling scream as she peered into the engulfing darkness.

Her Rudra was gone.

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