Sunaina's decision had benumbed Shikha to an extent of nullifying her will to dissent in any form or manner. She had taken away the lone branch she was holding on to avoid drowning in an abyss of immeasurable depth and darkness.

She whimpered and sniffled, wrapping her arms around herself. Her entire form shook like a flower ripped apart by a storm. She had wanted to stop Sunaina and bare her heart and its woes to the one her heart trusted before she even knew her name.

Was it that easy for Sunaina to give up on her baby sister? How did the unvoiced escape her notice when she did not need any words in the past to convey the state of her heart?

Shikha felt like a fawn deserted amidst a pride of lions.

Vulnerable. Terrified. Lost.

For the first time in years, Shikha wondered if her situation would be any different if their parents were alive.

Maybe their mother's maternal instinct would have warned her and conveyed what she left unsaid.

Maybe their father's paternal instinct would have asked him to hide her away from the man threatening her freedom.

And how could she forget the man, Vikram Singhal, himself? She had run out of her curses for him, and strength to fight against the image of the man in her repentant mind.

When did her desire for validation become powerful enough to vanquish her rationality? She knew not.

How did she allow him to clinch his victory and conquer her mind? She knew how, and she hated herself for that.

"Shikha!"

His deep, throaty voice and the way he uttered her name like hymn made goosebumps blanket her. His raspy whisper and piercing gaze made her heart race with anticipation. He had unraveled every layer cocooning her, and now that they were alone, the wide range of possibilities petrified her.

"The doctor has cleared you for discharge. Come. Let's go home!"

"Why do you want to marry me?" she asked. The thin film of tears in her eyes blurred his silhouette, but the unmistakable sharp inhale of his did not escape her notice.

He held the railing beside the bed and contemplated his answer while regarding her quivering form. "Because I want to."

Shikha shook her head in indignation. "Why? Why me? Why not Niti or someone else who wants to marry you? Or, was Niti's incident staged for my benefit? Another masterful plot of yours, was it?"

Vikram had the humility to avert his gaze from her accusing eyes. Her doe-like eyes no longer possessed the ability to soothe him and his wounds. Her furious, fiery eyes inflicted deep gashes over his dormant conscience and opened the gates of remorse into his cynical and pragmatic heart.

"No. It was not. I did not expect her to come in that day. My conversation with her was not a planted one or fake. She was not what I was searching for. She did not possess what I sought."

Shikha's eyes widened slightly before she scowled at his answer. "So, what am I? A vessel holding something you sought? A prize you wanted to claim? What am I?"

The derision in her tone and the contempt in her eyes threatened to deepen the gashes on his conscience. A part of him urged him to voice the desires of the deepest recesses of a heart that lay long forgotten, and another advised him she was in no position to understand his reasons. And the heart laid forgotten once again.

"Come. Let's go home."

Shikha gazed at him with disbelief etched into her features, which soon morphed into fury. Despite her heart screaming at her to shout at him, voice her dissent, punch him at his jaw, kick in his guts, she chose silence. And heart laid forgotten once again! But that time by someone who always listened to the voice of her heart, no matter what it entailed.

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"Why did you never confide in me, Bhaiya? How could you conceal such an important matter from me?"

It left Nikita Singhal, Vikram's sister, with her jaw hanging when her brother turned up with Shikha, and declared the morose woman was her sister-in-law.

Vikram had wanted to bring his sister on board when it was time to carve their relationship in stone. As Fate would have it, his plans were foiled and left him no chance to inform his sister.

"I wanted to be sure before telling you, Niki! I did not want to keep it from you."

Nikita crossed her arms against her chest and regarded the couple with a scrutinizing gaze. Shikha's downcast eyes and the way her lips quivered ever so slightly did not ease her worries or put her doubts to rest.

"Well, turns out you are sure enough now to bring her home. To stay. What were you thinking, Bhaiya? She is not your wife. You don't need me to tell how I feel about this."

She did not have to lay it out for him. He was well aware of her inhibitions and insecurities in the matter of love and relationships.

"I am aware, Niki, but-"

"You will drop her back home, Bhaiya. She will come back, but as your legally wedded wife. I am sorry, Bhabhi. We will come to your home to seek your hand from your parents."

"I am an orphan."

Her breathy whisper was the first sentence she had spoken since her arrival at the Singhal Mansion. As much as she was aware of the painful reality of being deprived of her parents, it was the first time in many years that it pained like a raw wound would to declare herself to be an orphan.

Nikita visibly flinched at the revelation. Her breath hitched in her throat as it took her a few moments to compose herself.

"I am sorry, Bhabhi. Well, we will come to your home to seek your hand and plan the wedding. I will ask one of our drivers to drop you home. I look forward to meeting you soon."

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"Why are you here, Shikha?" asked Sunaina, stumped to see her sister standing at the threshold.

"He forced me. I am sorry. He said he will kill you, Jijaji and Rohan. I am sorry. I am sorry!"

For a second time that day, Shikha collapsed onto her knees because of the sheer exhaustion she endured because of one man keen on possessing her.

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