Seeing her in so much pain, for a moment Akira felt like asking Raymond to turn back once and just hug her sister to ease the surging perennial pain inside of her heart, but she knew that she couldn't.

"You don't need to run away from him Katherine. You can't".

"He will always be a part of our lives. No matter how hard we try to push him away, his memories are going to flood us. So don't fight him, Kat. Make him a part of your life instead."

Katherine looked at Akira and laughed.

"Sometimes I feel you have completely changed as a person. There was a time when I used to console you, teach you how to live. But today the tables have been turned."

Akira didn't say a word and just gave a faint smile.

"I am so glad that you are finally over that phase. For so many days I was scared that ...."

"Let's talk about something else Katherine".

"No Akira, let me get it out of my chest. I have been meaning to tell you from so many days. You remember the night that you tried to jump off the club building?"

Hearing her speak about all those shameful past acts of hers, Akira went into panic mode because she didn't want Raymond to hear any of it. She was not in her right mind when she did all those things.

"Oh, I was just messing around with you guys".

"Messing around? If Shawn had not come at the right time, you would not have survived Akira !!!"

Akira held her head in her hands because the damage had already been done and she was praying to her stars for the food to arrive so that the conversation could stop, but once triggered there was no going back for Katherine.

"I mean, I am really really happy that you have moved on. I am really happy to see you this motivated. You have become a strong woman and an exemplary ideal for my daughter.

"Katherine please !!!"

"No Akira, I am serious. I thought you won't recover, especially after when you got drowned in your own bathtub. I had lost all hopes and I was so angry with myself for not being able to help you. MY brother was really lucky that he could find such a gem like you", and saying that she held Akira's hand in her palms and gently squeezed them and smiled looking at her.

She had lost all the words from her vocabulary. She had no idea that the meeting would turn disastrous for her. Not even in the wildest of her dreams, she had imagined that Katherine would bring up all these incidents of the past. She had no idea as to how Raymond would react to it after hearing Katherine speak.

Taking a deep breath she smiled back at Katherine and said,

"Whatever had happened, had happened in the past. I was weak and vulnerable. I was too selfish just to think about myself. But right now all that doesn't matter because we all are at a happy place."

"That's because there was someone to pull us out of it Akira".

"What do you mean Katherine?"

"Take my case, no matter how much I break every day, Shawn tries to glue me up. He fixes me with his love. I know that no matter what he does, no matter what I do, the void can't be filled, but the pain can be reduced. He taught me how to live when I had no idea how to".

"Indeed. Shawn has been such great support for me as well", Akira said and nodded her head.

"I want you also to stay happy and blessed Akira".

"I am Katherine. Why do you think that I am unhappy?"

"It's written all over your face Akira. Your heart still aches for the love. You are young and you deserve to be happy Akira. My brother couldn't play his part but there is someone else who would love to treasure you. Why can't you give him a chance Akira?"

"What are you talking about Katherine?"

"You know what I am talking about Akira. Your heart does. Why can't you give Vikram a chance to redeem himself? Can't you see how much effort he is putting in to be able to come back to your life? Maybe he will be able to make you fall in love again Akira."

"But I don't want to Katherine. The priorities of my life are different now".

"The company was his dream Akira, not yours. Don't invest your entire life into it. Think about yourself and your future".

"I am Katherine, I am. The day your brother proposed to me, that very day his dreams became mine. This company isn't just his dream, it's our dream and I will give all my blood and sweat for it".

"Well I knew your answer would be something like that, but still it was worth a shot", saying that Katherine smiled.

Akira smiled looking at her and suddenly her phone buzzed with a message.

"I am sorry" - PRIVATE_NUMBER

And then she saw him walking away.