||Mile ho Tum Humko|| MehRya FF -LastChptr Pg148 17/Oct/18 - Page 104

Out of all my stories, 'Milo ho Tum Humko' was the one which I had started without a proper outline or direction. I was able to sustain and proceed here just because of my lovely dearies who constantly encouraged me.

At last the finale of the story arrived. Hope you like it

LAST CHAPTER

The rope was still few millimeters away from her skin. Yet she knew anytime, it will choke her to death. She closed her eyes and prayed for her life. Ironically, her murderer was also shaking. Perhaps guilt took over him coz he repeatedly asked her forgiveness. Sudden bang on door shook both of them. "Keep your dirty hands off, Mehek", Shaurya roared as he kicked open the cabin door. Andrew was in just behind him, aiming his weapon on Harish. Harish was too shocked to react. Mehek saw her opportunity and pushed him with all her might. As Harish staggered to his feet, Mehek ran to Shaurya. "It's okay, Mehek. You are safe now. I will never let anyone harm you", he consoled her and glared at his father. "So you are going to shoot your father for sake of your lady love", he clapped, "I am impressed, son", he laughed hysterically. "For you, killing your own blood was as easy as driving over a street dog", Shaurya spat at him. "So you know", Harish sounded sad. "Yes Dad. For quite some time. One day I caught you speaking to Mr Singh while plotting and planning to kill Mehek and bury the truth. From that day onwards, I was desperately trying to protect Mehek. I decide to fake my engagement with Nikki to buy more time. Yet you kidnapped Mehek and tried to cruelly finish her", he was furious. Her eyes widened at realization and she felt ashamed of her foolishness. "Mehek knew nothing, Dad. Yet in your desperate efforts to leave no loose ends, you are caught red handed", he explained. "So what are you going to do, my dear son", Harish asked defeated. "You sins are unforgivable. Still I am not going to judge you as I have my mother's blood too in my veins. I will bare your truth before Ma and let her decide your fate", Shaurya led Mehek outside while Andrew stood on guard until they safely exited.

Harish was broken. He had sinned again and again. Being alone in the wooden cabin, where Vicky had taken his last breath brought horrors of his deeds before him. He knew it was beyond his control. He pulled deeper into his pit of vice and crime. He had lost respect and love of his children. Now once Karuna knows the truth, he will lose her affection too. His life was hopeless. He decided to end it all rather than facing Karuna's hatred. He tied knot around his neck and hung himself from the ceiling.

After few weeks

Ruckus created by suicide of Harish had subsided. Khanna mansion seemed peaceful devoid of crowd who came to pay respects to departed. Karuna was shattered after learning about Harish truth and his death. Yet she stood tall, unable to accept defeat and faced the world bravely. Nikki and Mr Singh were thrown out of their lives immediately. Shaurya severed all professional and personal ties with them. Mehek stayed in Khanna Mansion and supported Karuna during her difficult time. Eventually Karuna accepted Mehek and asked Shaurya to officially announce their relationship to world. Shaurya walked to guest's room where Mehek had insisted to stay for past days. Regardless of his truth, she chose to distance from him. He knocked at the door and she greeted him with a polite smile. "Mehek, I wanted to talk to you", he set the preface and she sat calmly to listen. "Mehek, I did everything to protect you. I had to act being engaged to Nikki to throw my Dad off guard. I wanted you to be safe and to hid under disguise of Saurabh. I was taken aback when you marched into my cabin as Mehek. Dad, Nikki, Mr Singh ; they all were close and I panicked. In my desperate attempt to cover you, I punished you and pushed you to danger", he explained. He looked at her expectedly. She took a deep breath, "I understand, Shaurya. But it is still not justifiable. You should confided in me but you never had enough faith". Shaurya tried to defy it but she showed her palm, refraining him to interrupt. "May be your intention was to shield me but I am hurt. We have only ourselves to blame. Our relationship lacked depth and strength. We never gave enough time and space for it to nurture. We gave into circumstances and lost ourselves into physical intimacy regardless of being emotionally misunderstood". "Mehek", he roared and pulled her to his chest, "I love you from depth of my heart. Don't ever judge it as lechery". Mehek slowly freed herself, "I understand, Shaurya but hope you too try to see my point. More than love and faith, all I feel is fear. Fear of losing you, fear of getting hurt and fear of breaking my heart. I refuse to indulge in such a relationship". She stepped away from him while he stood speechless. He was unable to convince her since he was unable to defy her. "Please let me go, Shaurya. We will never be happy if we choose to take it forward", she appealed. Shaurya marched out of her room. A piece of her felt devastated as he chose to accord rather than oppose her. She fell down and broke into tears.

Couple of days later.

Awara helped Mehek to arrange her stuffs in the hostel room. Karuna had managed to enroll Mehek into a hotel management course. When Shaurya shared Mehek's concern and opinion, Karuna readily concurred to it. She felt Mehek was correct and decided on her behalf to continue her studies. Henceforth Shaurya avoided Mehek and remained cold when she bid farewell to Khanna mansion. Apart from Awara, none accompanied her. Once Mehek was settled comfortably in hostel, Awara bid adieu. Her chatter box roomie was blabbering continuously but Mehek couldn't listen even to a word. Her mind was elsewhere. She missed him terribly. Few days without Shaurya proved to be extremely painful. She questioned her decision to break up from her love, her Shaurya. Tears ran down her cheeks and she rummaged her bag to find handkerchief. She found a neatly gift wrapped box in it. She was sure it wasn't there when she left Khanna mansion. Probably Awara placed it when she wasn't paying attention. She unwrapped it to find a latest handset of branded mobile. A letter was pasted to it.

Dear Mehek,

I am sorry, Love. I had to torture you these days to prove that how much you love me. If it's of any consolation, it was not easy for me either. You were right when you declared our relationship lacked of depth & strength. But your decision to break apart is incorrect. We are made for each other. We complete one another. If apart, we are just broken pieces. When I saw after many years, I was eager to claim you as my wife. I was wrong. Hence I am correcting it. Let's give our relationship, the tender loving care it deserves. You will be wondering how it is possible now? Well, I have a plan.

Let's play boyfriend & girlfriend. We will have long mushy calls, send love letters, go out on dates and regular lover's tiffs. Let's try to know eachother and fall in love all over again. Then we will get married again and have lot of children

She was unable to read further. Her vision blurred due to tears. But this time, it was tears of happiness. She needn't read more. She hiccuped softly and kissed his elegant handwriting. Before she could do anything more, the phone rang displaying Shaurya's devilishly handsome face. She looked at him affectionately. Her roomie sneaked from behind and got curious, "Wow, handsome dude. Who is he?". Mehek smiled contently, "He is Shaurya. My boyfriend". She excused herself and moved to lone corner. She calmed her breaths before receiving his call. "Hello, Mehek", he was anxious to know whether Mehek was happy about his proposal. She understood his worry and placed a quick kiss for him on her phone, "I am game, dear boyfriend. So tell me did you miss me?". He was relieved to hear her giggles, "Terribly, my love".

THE END