"Well, what will you do if your sister herself acknowledges the relationship with me, Ms. Sunaina?"

A condescending and sarcastic smirk distorted the frown on Sunaina's face. "Mr. Singhal, I always regarded you to be pragmatic. Relentless, but pragmatic. Looks like you are losing your touch. You are being delusional."

Her sharp words would have stung if Vikram had not grown a thick skin over the years.

He had seen it in her eyes. Shikha held him in high esteem. She also craved for his presence in her life if her obsessive search for his social media profiles were any sign. But her dear sister, Sunaina, was blissfully blind to the latest developments in the matters of Shikha's heart.

"The patient is conscious. You may meet her. However, since the reason of her unconsciousness was acute stress, it is best if permit only two members at a time to meet her."

Vikram nodded at the doctor curtly and turned to Rohan. "You are accompanying me."

There was no way he would leave Rohan with Sunaina and Rajeev to divulge the chain of events which caused Shikha to land up in the hospital. Rohan was not naïve enough to believe that he had a choice of refusing Vikram.

To add to the reasons of following the man without resistance was being able to see his dear friend and her condition by himself. There was nothing Vikram could say to satisfy him she was in the best of health. Only seeing her conscious, even if it meant seeing her lament at her fate, would soothe his tempestuous heart.

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Shikha's eyes were glistening with tears and her breaths came out as gasps. She could not shrug away the terrifying feeling of the walls closing in upon her as she felt trapped. That man, Vikram Singhal, was undoubtedly shrewd and masterful manipulator but her naivete was the one that helped him clinch his victory.

He wanted her to marry him, and the mere thought of being married to the mafia overlord made shivers run across her spine. She crumpled the bedsheet in her fist as she struggled to not scream in despair by biting down on her lower lip. The painful lump in her throat was choking her and before she could realize, Shikha was pulling at her hairs for allowing him to take advantage of her by exposing her vulnerabilities in front of him.

The burning at her scalp distracted her from the throbbing ache of her head and the constricting pain of her chest. She wanted to scream her lungs out and destroy everything she could lay her hand on, but she could not find the strength to move an inch. She also wanted to curl into a foetal position and hide in a corner where no one could find her.

Several questions of the past and of the future ravaged her mind, but she had answers for none of them. Warm tears, filled with melancholy and repressed anger, rolled down her flushed cheeks. She raked her fingers through her hair and tugged at her voluminous black hair with more force than the previous time as sobs slipped out her bruised lips.

"Shikha!"

Rohan's concerned voice tore through the reverie of agony, and the sight of him rushing to her side felt like a ray of light tearing through the darkness of an endless abyss.

"Rohan!"

The hoarse whisper hurt her parched mouth. His trembling and icy hands rushed to wipe the tears away from her cheeks as he burst into tears himself. She held his clammy hands against her cheeks, relishing the semblance of normalcy it brought along.

Rohan's fear of Vikram had succumbed to the worry after seeing her devastated form, and compelled him to rush to her side, not caring of the consequences.

"How are you?"

Vikram's question forced her to turn in his direction. He stood near the closed door and eyed the friends with rapt attention. His sharp features betrayed no emotion as he continued to don the mask of indifference, but his piercing eyes were swirling with anguish, longing and envy.

He could not muster the courage to approach her and wipe the tears like Rohan did. Despite his charade of nonchalance, he knew it would disembowel him if she recoiled from his touch or expressed her repulsion or distaste for him in any other manner, and he was sure he had not given her any reason to not do so.

Instead of feeling envious or threatened, he felt relieved when Rohan took the baton of consoling her. However, that could not stop the wave of jealousy that followed when she clasped his hand against her cheek as if her life depended on it. That was when he let her learn of his presence.

Every hint of relief faded away from her features as she stiffened visibly. "Why are you here, Mr. Singhal? Wanted to see if you can cause anymore damage?"

He felt as though the derision of her words slapped him. "You had fainted, Shikha. Of course I would be here. I would never want you to suffer."

She huffed and twisted her lips in disgust. "And you still force me to marry you."

He gulped the uncomfortable lump that had formed in his throat. "Yes. You know the consequences of rejecting the proposal, Shikha. I hope you do, too, Rohan. If I were you, I would keep my mouth shut about this and not reveal a thing to Sunaina and Rajeev. I hope it is clear."

Vikram Singhal was not an insecure man, and yet, he could not suppress the heartfelt and overwhelming desire to be in Rohan's shoes.

Shikha chuckled wryly. "I would be a fool to expect mercy from a heartless monster like you, Mr. Singhal. It'll be a shame if I allow you to fool me once again."

If Vikram's heart, the one whose existence he was oblivious to for long, had shattered by the impact of her caustic words, he did not let it reflect it upon his features.

"Rohan, let us allow her sister and to-be brother-in-law to meet her now."

Vikram turned on his heel and walked out of the room.

"Take care, Shi! Everything will be fine!"

Rohan did not believe the words of assurance he had offered to Shikha himself, but he could not walk away without offering any reassurance to his dear friend. It was a blur to her when Rohan walked out and Sunaina and Rajeev walked in.

"Shikha! How are you? And what is Mr. Singhal saying? You are in love with him and accepted his proposal? A gangster and ruthless man like him?"

Sunaina ignored Rajeev's gestures to stop shooting question after question and allow her to speak.

Shikha inhaled deeply and prepared herself to lie to the only mother she had known in her life - her beloved elder sister.

"Yeah, Jiji. I am sorry that I couldn't inform you about this before. What Mr. Sin- Vikram is saying is true."

The ground beneath Rajeev's and Sunaina's feet slipped as the words spoken by Shikha fell on their ears and their troubled minds processed the information. But Rajeev had noticed something which Sunaina had not - the pain which Shikha's eyes held and the tears glistening in them. Unfortunately, before Rajeev could speak, Sunaina had taken her hasty decision.

"You have let me down, Shikha. You have really let me down. You loved that gangster without even informing me? Or maybe I was wrong to think that my sister was still a child. Thanks a lot for making me realize how wrong I was. You are grownup Shikha. Go, marry him and live with him. After all, that is your home now, and he is your family now."

Sunaina walked out of the room without giving a chance to Shikha to speak.

Rajeev stood rooted to his spot because he was not the one whose trust depended on the circumstances and situations. He knew Shikha was hiding something from them, and he vowed to find it out to reduce her pain and fulfill his responsibility towards her.

Sunaina disowning her came like a shock to Shikha, who was already in a deep trauma. It was as if Shikha forgot how to blink and even breathe, but tears flowed freely out of her eyes, which were forced shut in pain.

Rajeev caressed her forehead affectionately before he followed Sunaina out of the room.

Vikram's obsession had filled Shikha's life with pain and left her heart bleeding. Will he be able to win the heart bleeding in the pain of his actions?

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