Marry Me..Journey afterwards pg 35-36Thrd 4 Thread 1-2 -3 link on pg 1

Chapter 168

"Prem gali Ati sankri

"The road to Ishqbaazi is constricted

Gauri rushed after Anika calling her as loudly as she could given the time and occasion. Anika could not react or respond; her mind was numb. The clicks on the plates of people eating around felt like nails hammering away in her head. She stopped for a few minutes to breathe around the corner of the corridor. Gauri covered the distance between them urgently.

"Bhaujai what happened? You look sick." Observing Anika's pale face keenly, Gauri understood something had gone wrong. It took a few minutes for Anika to settle herself.

"I have a severe headache. I will go to my room."

"Sure." Anika passed her a tired smile and walked into the room she was sharing here with Shivay.

The only thought that echoed through her mind was to leave before Shivay saw her.

"He won't let me go." She mumbled as she furiously crushed her clothes back into her bag and dragged the trolley out as inconspicuously as she could. The crisp November air tickled her skin, and she let out the breath she had been holding. She was at the gates of the palatial Mayur Sheraton dressed in her simple worn out jeans and t-shirt. Her mangal sutra and the storm within the only remnant and reminder of the past six weeks. She had managed to come out without raising an alarm or crossing anyone who could question her; she looked back the entire building was glimmering in the light of all sizes and power. The light that brought to light her reality and rubbed it in her face. Manipulated, she had been manipulated for far too long but no more now. She would go far from their reach, his reach but where? She looked ahead the dark, dusty abandoned roads at night unsafe and insecure. If someone hacked her in these empty streets, no one would even hear her cries for help.

"Where have you brought me Shivay? I forgot to live on my own. Nevermind I will learn it again, and she stepped out with a fluttering heart, sacred and tempted to go back before it is too late, in the safety of that room that never would be her's alone. She loved being alone or had learned to love loneliness but these past six weeks had undone her years of self-training. Gone was Anika that she had forged with great force and effort, who could stand in the darkest alleys and still be confident and fearless, who knew how to maneuver around every situation, who was smart enough to decipher the intent of people and their motives even before they cast a glance her way. She had taught herself to think quick and act fast, but today her mind did not work, and she was finding herself unable to reach her safe-haven, her hostel. How did I change so much in such a short time? She wondered but then ironed up and walked faster towards the main road. When one is lucked out of great things, recognizing fortune in smaller happenings becomes easier. By a sheer piece of Godsend luck, Anika found an auto ready to take her to her hostel at 11:00 PM. The driver appeared as decent as his limited resources could provide, and she tried to draw on her latent ability to judge people by their looks. He looked reliable enough, Anika switched off her phone and kept entertaining an imaginary emergency call from the hospital of some police officer who was waiting with his wife for delivery. It took her an hour and a half to reach the hospital when she got down her heart beat at a pace that was strange to her. She had arrived home safely, her home turf where she played by her rules. Paying off the driver, Anika walked towards the hostel carefully looking behind her at short intervals. What if Samaksha appeared from somewhere or any of his goons? She was relying on familiarity even for fears.

When she signed her entry in and opened the lock of her room that was closed for more than a month and a half, a stale smell welcomed her. Switching on the lights, she picked up the broom lying in the corner and cleaned away the dust till every corner was free of it. There were just four corners anyways and a single window with a lime-coated window sill which looked antiqued than white. Priyanka got another room, so she was not living here anymore. Leaning into the old squeaky bed with the wall as a headboard, she finally took in her state internal and external both and laughed bitterly, till hot tears rolled down her cheeks and she broke down into the old hard pillow. She looked at the time it was 1:30 nearly four hours since she left that place.

Would anyone be looking for me? Anika wondered and then heard Pinky's voice in the gallery outside, she reached her before drawing another breath.

"Had it been Priyanka or anyone else other than you I would have slapped the person, Anika!" Pinky shot her a menacing look, worried sick about her well being.

"Choti ma let us go inside. Priyanka took the lead towards Anika's room.

"Anika this is a height of irresponsibility. How did you come here?"

"I took an auto." Anika's nonchalant response irritated Pinky further.

"Do you realize what kind of a risk you had taken. What if something went wrong?" Pinky was angry, and Anika let her vent out.

"Say something." Anika looked at her with eyes sunken in and brain that was too tired to function.

"Why did you not hit me? I am not one of them hai na?" Pinky was shocked by her response. She sank into the worn out mattress. Trying to regain her lost breath, she surveyed the room and was astonished by the meager furnishings wondering how Priyanka managed in such minimal provisions. She never cribbed, never sought an extra penny for herself, never complained instead she grew into a confident, happy and content woman, who looked forward to life for what she could achieve on her own, not merely get as an inheritance. Then she looked back at Anika who was studying the faded roses printed on the clean sheet.

"No, you are not one of them. I always thought you were far better than them, but today you proved me wrong. I would not have stopped you from leaving. I understand what you are going through, but I am disappointed that you took your safety for granted. The entire family back there was worried, we were trying to reach you.. "

"You knew about it?" Anika held accusation in her tone.

"I did, but it was Shivay's truth to tell and yours to find. I learned about it when you were in the hospital."

"Would you have done the same if it was Priyanka in my place?"

"Yes. You all are grown up I don't think I should interfere. I can only advise."

"Your advice to me is?"

"You are testing me?"

"No, I am trying to figure out what is happening with me, to me, and within me. Maybe your answer would help me find my answers."

"Then stay back let time take its course. It is a tremendous healer and the ablest teacher. Perhaps it will heal your wounds and teach others to let go." Anika searched Pinky's face to look for censure or disapproval, but she found only compassion.

"Mom I did not want to run away just like that, but I just did not know what to do?" Anika tried to make sense of what she was saying because at this moment nothing seemed to make sense at all. She had been languishing in fear and guilt for weeks, what if everyone found out that she married Shivay for money.

"Anika while Shivay was wrong you were not right either, marriage is not something that can be bought or sold in shops. It does not come with exchange offers or an expiry date. It is not a turnkey system that will work on its own. You will have to adjust the lock sometime and the key on the other. You will have to force yourself at one point and allow someone else to stress at the other. You have to make it work."

"There was no hope, to begin with, and then I found a little light glowing in the corner but he just extinguished it." An unexpressed sob blocked Anika's trachea, and she opened her mouth to breath.

"Anika when everything around us appears to be falling apart, we must let it go perhaps life will find a way again. Holding onto broken dreams or things only causes more hurt."

"Is it that easy?"

"Life never promised to be easy. I will leave now. You girls take care of yourself and always remember, do anything but never take yourself and your safety for granted. Only if you exist, there exists hope for tomorrow."

Pinky left Anika and Priyanka; it was not easy for her to walk out when she knew that for her son it was the worst blow ever. The trip back to the hotel was much more difficult than coming here. She had shuddered every time she had looked at the dark roads while coming. They did not know Anika was not there until the party was over and all the guests had left. The haggard look on Shivay's face when she saw him approaching had caused her pulse to race in apprehension. He was looking for Anika. Gauri told them that she had left her in their room as she complained of a headache. It was Om who had relayed the entire conversation between Mr. Lalit and them.

"I had never seen her so lost. I shouldn't have left her alone." Om was guilt-ridden.

"I am sure Anika bhabhi won't do anything silly she must have gone to the hostel."

"How Priyanka? We are miles away from your college, and at this hour there is no chance of finding a reliable conveyance. We are on Delhi! She is not even picking her phone." Shivay looked unmoved by the information and fixed on her safety.

"Choti ma Let us go to her hostel." It was Rudra who had said something that made sense.

"I will come."

"No bhaiya." Rudra stepped up to Shivay. "She came in this family without a word, and she left just like that without a word. You brought her in, and it is because of you that she went."If Anika's leaving had affected Shivay enormously, Rudra pointing his finger at him stripped his wound raw.

"It is because of her that she lives free of all fears Rudy." Tej stepped in.

"What was the pretext of this marriage bhaiya?" Rudra continued to grill a shocked Shivay.

"You have no right to question him. It is between Anika and Shivay."

Pinky took Rudra's hand and walked out with him but was interrupted by Shivay. He implored her to let him come along, but she did not budge.

"Mom don't do this to me." Pinky's heart broke into a million pieces he was that SHivay who never sought her permission but she had always given it freely. Stood by him when no one did but today when he asked, she could not.

"Shivay she is hurt. Let her be for some time."

"Mom I will make it right. I will ...I will." He looked towards the sky for help. "I will request her...beg her, and if that will not work, I will force her to come, mom. I cannot live without her." He held onto her hands as if his life depended on her response.

"Shivay we are getting late. We need to see to her safety." Pinky had drawn her hand from his grip reluctantly, but at this time it was needed.

"Shivay you can make her live with you by force, by deceit, but she will be happy with you only if she lives with you by choice. Give her back her right to choose and wait. This is your penance." Pinky saw him taking a few steps back.

"Her right to choose? What if she does not?"

"Then let her go." The words had hit him as hard as they had slammed Anika. Pinky had seen her shudder and had known without any doubt that they would come together sooner than later. Shivay brought Anika into his life like a conquest, an achievement, not like a loved one and Anika was always weighed down by the burden of her defeat. It was the reason that she still was disconnected to all of them. Anika was there for everyone when needed, but she did not know if she did it out of love or out of compulsion. Shivay accepted her as a necessity this distance and uncertainty will give him clarity and strength to realize his love for her and admit it without any fear of rejection. It was this distance that would help Anika accept Shivay as an inevitable part of her life. Love was never a luxury that one could forget or discard at will and choose something else over it, nor was it a convenient option for something else. It was that force that made one forget the 'I' and remember only 'you'. It made one forgive a million faults and move on. It made one seek the best for the other even if it meant getting it at the cost of the worst for himself.

Yes, I am back the good old destiny playing my wicked games again, but this is the last round I swear. They had traveled a long way together, but they also had a long way to go alone on this journey. A chosen few took this road, the road to eternal love that was too constricted to accommodate two.

...

Chapter 169

Falling apart but coming together

Anika had counted every second that she had spent without him near her, she recounted his features in her mind so many times that now he walked with her every minute that she was awake. Sleep had become so elusive that when she slept for a fitful couple of hours, she woke up with a start to his smirks and his grips on her wrist only that they were never real. The agony of that dream was so haunting that she forced herself awake for extended hours working at emergency and trauma center. Some strength from within she had summoned that kept her going without sleep and with very little food. There were only two things that she had in her life, his memory and her dream. Every time she stepped into the operation theater she felt alive. He did not leave her even there. He stood in the corner silently observing her. Every time the nurse wiped the beads of sweat away from her forehead she saw him smile encouragingly. Every time she knocked the skull open she glanced towards the same right corner of the room diagonal from where she stood and saw him holding the lamp lower. When her professor nodded at her for a work well done she heard him whisper,

" Doc, I want to see you succeed always. I want all your dreams to come true, I want you to achieve whatever you wish."

He had said these words to her time and again but especially when she had signed the registration application, he had told her that all her dreams her aspirations were his and he would not let them ever be unfulfilled.

"Was all of this also a way to manipulate me Shivay?" She had asked the vision that now was her persistent companion, but it never gave her any reply.

It was not as if life was difficult without him; there was no life without him. It was not as if there was nothing left on this earth that she liked to eat; the fact was that she never felt hungry anymore. Even now this bread pakora that was her favorite from her canteen tasted so oily; she had pressed it down in layers of tissue paper so much so that it was more like dough now. She ate the insipid mass it still tasted of oil, oil that Shivay despised. She gulped the whole thing and choked on it. Had Dr. Ruhi not been with her she would have probably asphyxiated to death on that enormous ball of bread that she had gulped. Hot tears rolled down her cheek, and she breathed in short gasps until she was out of the acute fit.

"What have you done to your self Anika?" Ruhi admonished her and Anika laughed blankly at her, trying to explain that it was just a chance that she gulped the whole thing at once. She thanked her and walked off hurriedly to her room, the only place she could cry and throw things around till she got hold of herself.

Anika heard a knock at the door, and she opened the door urgently thinking it to be him, but it was Priyanka. She walked in calmly and picked up the pillow the sheet, the jug, the glasses, the plates, the pet jars containing biscuits, namkeens all strewn around her, and placed them in their place without a word. She straightened the table that had remained intact after enduring many kicks from Anika and picked up all the papers strewn across in complete silence. When Priyanka was about to leave Anika held onto her hand and stopped her.

"Prinku won't you say anything even today." Anika did not call her Priyanka anymore.

"Sign the bills bhabhi."

"What bills?"

"Daksha's salary." His salary was paid through checks quarterly, and it needed ratification from both Priyanka and Anika. The entire scene replayed in her mind how Shivay had touched her back discreetly reassuring her of his presence.

"I miss your brother Prinku. I miss him too much."

"You don't have to bhabhi, why have you called this misery upon yourself?"

Anika wanted to tell Priyanka that it was only her who was miserable for Shivay the life went on as usual, but she knew it in her heart that it was not the same for him either. Of and on that she caught his glimpse in the news snippets of in newspapers or internet, the gray of his eyes now appeared colorless unlike the myriad of colors that it glistened with earlier. The bags under his eyes were more pronounced now that before, and his face was always set in a terse frame as if he was avoiding the groan that did rounds in his heart.

Shivay admired the signature on the bills that Priyanka had faxed and traced every curve of the alphabet longingly. Life did go on for him as always, but he had lost his spark, his zeal to tackle anything. He did what was expected of him to just kill time for the time without her meant more like a punishment, an everlasting punishment.

He lived mostly in the sanctuary at the office and had only been to his room twice since he came back from office. He made it a point to visit Pinky and dadi every day, but he never stayed there. The room reminded him of her with a ferocity that twisted his insides into a knot and did somersaults as if he had plunged down from his aircraft without a parachute, freely falling to his death. It was not as if there was anything worthwhile left to live and hope for, but he could not be selfish. The only son of his parents they already were suffering because of him, so he carried on not wanting to add to their agony any further.

Every time she slipped or tripped he felt like throwing his phone away, but he could not even do that. The 157th phone was Anika. It was silly she did not like him throwing his cellphone around like that, so she had encased his cell in copper cover with her name engraved on it in cursive, it was her signature. She signed in bold strokes mirroring her personality. She had gifted him the case when they had got their wedding registered.

"I know you can never see me broken nor can you chuck me out of your life so next time you are about to throw your phone remember me." She had tapped on her name seductively and placed the phone in the upper pocket of his waistcoat close to his heart.

"How could you leave me when you knew I could never live without you, Anika?" He put his phone back into his pocket where it belonged with a sigh.

He never called Anika, always asked Priyanka about her whereabouts. A guard always in some form was present around Anika and gave him report about her day. Most of the time he already knew what she was up to, he could always sense her. He never missed her she ran in his blood, like vital oxygen. Air stung his eyes and speared through his lungs every time Anika choked on her food.

"Why are you punishing yourself Anika for my fault?" He questioned holding his fist tight so that he could see his pulse thumping; caressing it lightly till he felt it calming down.

Anika and Shivay both had somehow managed to live apart for nearly five months. In these five months, both of them together had experienced all the five elements that made their body fall apart. The earth gave way for them to fall into the bottomless pit of loneliness. No matter how many times they looked at the sky and begged for it to rain acid and melt their body which was no more than a walking corpse the skies remained unmoved and if it ever did shower it was always wholesome water. The water that could never calm the raging fire that was burning within. No matter how many times Shivay stood in his pool or Anika stood in that overhead shower that looked more like an inverted ice cream bowl, the intensity of the fire that burned the 'I' in them incessantly did not reduce one bit. If anything the air they breathed fanned it to even higher intensity.

If someone would give Anika an option now to choose between two things she would give up the idea of opting altogether and would beg that person to let her be because her free will had led her to opt for misery for herself.

If someone asked Shivay what was most precious to him, he would not have to think twice to say Anika's happiness. He no more thought of what he wanted, all he desired for was some peace for Anika. He was looking at her pictures that Priyanka had sent, that vivacious girl that stole his breath away was history now, what remained was not even a glimpse of that brightness that once illuminated his soul.

"What have I done to you?" He mumbled remorsefully as a drop of salt rimmed his sore sleep-deprived eyes.

Anika's pager buzzed she was required in the radiology department. A patient had come in because he had suddenly lost sensation in his left leg and could not support his weight on that leg anymore.

The doctors suspected presence of a tumor in that part of the brain that affected his motor skills. He was undergoing an Intravenous (IV) gadolinium-enhanced MRI. Anika entered the cold room that had computer screens and where the doctors could analyze the images live while the patient was in the adjoining room that was mostly bare but that cave of a machine present that made a ticking noise at regular interval.

"Shivay don't move and inhale." Anika heard nothing but just Shivay and the name corresponded with the name on the computer screen. Robotically she walked out of the room and collapsed in the corridor; she somehow managed to call Priyanka.

"Prinku, Shivay.." She lost consciousness before she could say another word. When she woke up, she found herself in the hospital bed with saline irrigating her parched veins. She looked for Priyanka frantically. Priyanka had gone to get something to eat on when she entered she saw Anika pale and nervous and ready to go in another panic attack.

"He was not your Shivay." She said without a preface.

"Can I talk to him?" Anika looked at her for help as she could not locate her phone. Priyanka dialed his number and passed the phone to him.

"Prinku Pehelwan" The voice was like the elixir that revived Anika. She forgot that she belonged to the race of humans who had the power of speech.

"Anika" His whisper brought her back to her senses.

"Aap theek hain?"

"Are you alright?" He did not know what to say because she hated lies and if he said he was good that would be a gross misstatement of fact. If he told her the truth, he was sure he would hurt her further.

"Tumhe kya lagta hai?"

"Prinku my Shivay is alright." When he asked her a question in return, she knew he was good even if not literally at least the person on the table was not her Shivay as Prinku said. Priyanka took the phone from Anika with a smile that couldn't have been brighter. She narrated the whole incident to Shivay, and he told her that he was coming to see them forthwith.

"Shivay please don't come." Anika was trying to message Shivay when her battery gave up, and she could only send this short message.

Shivay read the message and murmured an as you wish in a defeated tone.

Chapter 170

Checkmate

Anika had looked into the MRI images of Shivay, guilty that she was feeling relieved for someone else's pain. These were the last few days of her residency and probably her last case that she worked upon in the guidance of her professor. After this, she would be on her own a qualified neurosurgeon one of 15 or 20 odd woman neurosurgeons of the country.

"Would you be proud of me Shivay? I know you despise mediocrity. I work at the top level of the body." She smiled vibrantly at his image on her phone.

She had a little hope because of the structure of the tumor in the 19-year-old Shivay's head. It was very early in the morning five AM. She sipped her vitamin-infused water, one of the expensive habits that she had picked up with SHivay. The surgery was at seven AM. She rarely prayed, but today she closed her eyes and drew strength from Shivay's faith and sent a prayer towards heaven to forgive her and to bless the young Shivay with a long and healthy life. She opened her eyes and saw the distant slightly pink getting ready to welcome the sun. She looked back towards her phone and news caught her attention

"Vicious war of Directorship in Oberoi Industries. Tia Kapoor presents her bid with eleven percent shareholding, four percent more than the next contender Shivay Singh Oberoi."

"Fhat the whuck?" Anika called Shakti to ask for more details. She wanted to find out how Tia got hold of so many shares. Technically more than any Oberoi. She did come back with might.

Shakti told Anika that Oberoi Airlines was suffering some significant losses especially since four of their aircrafts were sabotaged and had burned in the hanger.

"It must have been the work of Tia's gang papa I am telling you."

"Could be beta. The investigation is still going on." Though Anika called Shakti and Pinky every day but every time Shakti called her as beta, she felt like her the darkness in her heart instantly faded in the resplendent and pure wisdom of someone as profound as Shakti. He was almost seer like, never judgemental towards her and always affectionate towards all regardless of their stature and lineage. Janhavi had to sell her shares to raise funds to keep the loan installments running. Tia had not bought the shares directly, but someone in the UK had purchased it and transferred the shares in her name. Sabyasachi Basu had also assigned his shares to her.

"Is there no way around?" She had asked biting her nails and hoping desparately for Shakti to come up with a workaround, but he was not one who gave false hopes to anyone. He told her unless somehow Shivay could add atleast 3 percent more shares to what you both together own, he was losing this battle. To acquire that many shares from the market, they would have to buy back but doing so in one day would cause an unnecessary ripple in the market and could also lead to a downfall in their stocks.

"Come back, Anika. Shivay needs you." He spoke to her.

"The General body meeting begins at three PM?" Shakti answered in affirmative to her question, and she disconnected the call.

She had made up her mind; it was already six she rushed to the hospital to dress up for the surgery. She sent a message to Shivay before scrubbing.

"Fight it if not for yourself then for me."

Shivay woke up to her message. Not that it was something too reassuring, but she still found herself connected to him that gave him a lot of hope. He was no more concerned about his directorship anymore. He had planned to move to the USA for a year or maybe for life; there was nothing for him here anyway, but the message renewed his hope in his endless wait for Anika. Could it be that the time for her to come back was just around the corner? The possibility of her forgiving him seemed remote, yet the hope that sprouted made him suddenly bright and full of life. He got ready and went down to the executive floor and reread his presentation. Tia might have a higher percentage of shares, but Shivay had far more excellent experience, and if he just tried enough he could sway the investors and shareholders in his favor.

"For you then I shall fight my dear, once more." He spoke to no one in particular.

Anika had been operating on the boy Shivay for almost two hours now. She had removed it in small fragments careful not to cause trauma to his brain tissue. She was trying to reach the stump and was nearly there.

"Anika if you don't have a clear incision then leave it there, we don't want to cause unnecessary damage. It looks like grade two." Her professor guided her. She stopped for a few seconds before focusing on the computers. She looked right across the room and saw him there giving her a thumbs up. She inhaled deeply to stabilize her hands and gripped the knife once again before delving into the grey noodles. This time she found a clear incision to the origin and sliced through the stump of the Tumor. The tumor gave in and released its grip on the gray matter. While they restitched the cranium of boy Shivay, Anika waited for the frozen section test results. That primary test that would confirm the malignancy of the tumor, she concentrated at the job in hand and by the time she had reapproximated the Dura or the covering on the brain under the skull and re-fixed the skull Dr. Mishra her Head of department showed their team a thumbs up. The frozen section test concluded that the tumor was benign. A further biopsy was needed to confirm the results, but for now, it was a victory for boy Shivay and Anika. Her last patient here in this hospital that had provided for her for past ten years would live and not die of brain cancer at least.

" Congratulations! Your last patient was a big success. Why are you dressed in this are you going somewhere?"

Dr. Ajay asked her when she came out wearing the muted yet beautiful gray attire with intricately embroidered wine red dupatta.

"I am going home." She walked confidently to the exit where Samar waited for her with Priyanka.

"You here? All well?"

"Come with me I will tell you everything en route." He dragged her along.

Shivay had finished his presentation after Tia. It was a tough call for the people there. Tia was no less of a force with greater shareholding she had every right to be the director, and Shivay had made Oberoi Industries what it was. Tia had shown her ability to foresee and access the risks by selling off her firm at the right time and thus had avoided a significant loss. Digisol had come to life and had seen two successful months of implementation already. Neil received a call from their ground staff at the helipad.

"Shivay Dr. Samar wants to land at our helipad. He is asking permission and assistance."

"Is he mid-air!" Shivay felt a change in the air around him.

"Yes"

"Allow him." Someone had asked something, but he had lost his focus.

"Anika your rightful inheritance." Samar gave her the documents that Dr. Dhawan's lawyer had delivered to him today morning. Transfer paper of his late wife's three percent holding in Oberoi industries. In the letter and the documents that he had left for her, he had bequeathed his property to her. His wife who had died in the second month of their marriage in an accident was the owner of these shares. He had never married again, and people mostly believed him to be a bachelor. His wife's father had invested in Oberoi industries when it was first listed, and its shares were opened for pennies.

For Anika, this was the most significant miracle of her life. She ran towards the staircase. When Samar reminded her of the elevator, she screamed that she could still give any lift a run for the money and hitched her long flowing skirt up to reveal her sports shoes and raced down nine floors.

"Shivay!" Neil exclaimed as he received the call from the ground staff once again, but Shivay had already moved towards the door.

"Are you quitting already?"

"You wish" Anika barged in as Shivay observed her stunned. not only Shivay Tej, Shakti, Om, Janhavi, Rudra everyone was shocked.

"Bhabhi" It was Rudra who came to his senses first.

"Chotey sahab. You had called me how I could not come.?" Rudra hugged her hard knocking air out of her lungs and chanting everything will be all right now.

"Rudy release me. Neil, please introduce me." She spoke with the air that befitted an Oberoi.

"Our outgoing director Dr. Mrs. Anika Shivay Singh Oberoi." Anika placed the place card that Shivay had once himself written and she had taken with herself right in front of the vacant chair in between Janhavi and Shivay.

"I am sorry for my late arrival, but you see I was looking for a cure for a especially crooked brain. That is my job." She winked at Tia who was shooting daggers at her. Anika gave Neil the papers of her shareholding. He read it twice and then once more to confirm if what he was seeing was actually written on the documents. He passed it on to Shivay.

"What is this?" He whispered

"Dr. Dhawan's blessings!" She whispered back, and Shivay recollected the day they had held the prayer service for Dr, Dhawan and everything cleared to him.

"Since Mrs. Anika is acting as the person in concert with Shivay, Shivay jointly with Anika Bhabhi, I mean Mrs. Anika holds thirteen percent of Oberoi shares." Neil projected the documents, while Anika rolled her Reynolds ballpoint on the table like a striker of a carom board and it took with it Tia's place card down, for good.

Originally posted by: samiksha1993

If one does not walk out of marriage once they come to know about betrayal or something like that and continue to live in the aforesaid marriage then they cannot take this as a cause for separation later on.

In essence since they went ahead and registered their marriage by consent before a registrar that finishes Anika's possibility of separation based on the contract thing.

There is more to Anika being upset than just the trick thing.

Shivay took advantage of her ignorance.

That line in bold is also something that has struck her.

She had been concerned all the while that she was doing wrong by a family that loved her so much by marrying SHivay for money and she kept on pointing that out yet he never cleared it to her.

Lack of Shivay's trust in her is extremely apparent...when she said that she was ready to look beyond the contract he should have revealed at least at that time.

Anika and Shivay both have a valid and different point of view on this issue and it will come forward in the next chapters.

Guys let us move on to thread four please😃