Empathy had found its way into the unwilling heart of Shikha. She could not forgive the man in her arms. Not when he had almost tattered her dignity and self-respect by snatching her free-will. The distressed part of her, the one that he had broken through his actions, did not want to feel anything akin to empathy for him.

His sobs tore through the high walls of the fortress built around her heart. Salvation of forgiveness, he did not deserve. But salve of compassion? Shikha could not bring herself to push him away and into the abyss of remorse despite her anguish.

"Calm down!"

She could not find any other words of consolation to offer to the man seeking solace in her arms. Whether it was the lack of will and her inability to look past her pain or the utter chaos in her mind had erased her cognition, she knew not.

The commiseration and confusion in her pooled hazel orbs and the light shower of tears from her eyes caused lightning of realization to strike him. He pulled himself from her arms and trained his eyes to the ground.

"I am sorry. I should not have-"

She pushed the tendrils fanning her face behind her ears. "It's okay. I had lost my parents too, and less tragically than yours, so I can understand you. Maybe not completely, but I am acquainted with the pain. You don't have to apologize. Not for this, at least."

Shikha had proven again, with compassion, that her persona was the splitting image of Vikram's mother and it made his heart twitch in guilt and in agony.

"Shikha, I know that I have no right to ask you this after what everything I did, but believe me when I say that I love you. Will you honor me by staying beside forever as my wife, Ms. Shikha Agarwal?" asked Vikram Singhal, as he looked straight into the Shikha's eyes.

Her chest heaved, and her eyes widened. She wet her lips, which had suddenly gone dry after listening to his question. Her heart galloped at an unimaginable pace and the blood rushed to her head, making her feel lightheaded.

His obsession for her had nurtured obsession for him within her. A kind of lethal obsession that burned her and locked her peace away in a cage that opened only with his presence. Would his love, the one that made him kneel at her feet, release her from the bonds that shackled her heart and fill her with love?

Her eyes darted to the polished arms in the room. Could love blossom amidst those cold, metal objects that were the paradigm of hatred?

"You were successful in evoking curiosity in me and leading me on a path of obsession, Vikram. Deceit, it was. The game of deception might have won you a place in my heart, Vikram, but it does not mean I have homed in my heart because of love. I don't. I don't love you, Vikram. But-"

Shikha hesitated to complete the statement. Vikram's weary face lit up with hope at her last word. "But?"

Shikha looked into his eyes, searching for anger arising from her hesitance, but she found none, much to her surprise. "I will never love the mafia bigwig Vikram Singhal. That man is a beast, and I have no interest in consorting with one. Forgo the life of a monster and let the light of happiness reach you! Who knows, in the light of hope and compassion, your love may shine as resplendent as a diamond and capture my heart?"

The flickering of the tubelights was the only sound that disturbed the uncanny silence in the dungeon. "Even if I desire to abandon this life, Shikha, I cannot. My rivals will attack me at the slightest appearance of weakness and vulnerability."

Shikha nodded and gave him a wry smile. "I have laid my condition in front of you, Vikram. You had means matter in love. They do. Prove it to me that those were not hollow words. I don't think it is impossible for you to move away from this life if you intend to. It's all in your hands now."

Vikram regarded her form as he contemplated his words. It was love that pushed him in the arms of crime, and the same emotion had asked him to spurn the advances of the world of crime.

"Okay," he said. "It cannot happen overnight, I am sure you realize that."

Shikha stared at him incredulously with her jaw hanging in shock. She straightened herself and allowed her confused orbs to meet him. Bereft of pride, disrobed of deceit, only sincerity swirled in his eyes.

"Love cannot happen overnight as well, Vikram. I am sure you know that."

"I do. I will stop the marriage citing that I don't want to start the most important relationship of my life in the darkness of my past. I am sure Nikita will agree. Ms. Shikha Agarwal, I agree to your condition," he said, flashing a warm and slight smile to her.

Shikha nodded, shook by the happenings. A part of her rejoiced with his decision and the other part of her, the shattered part, hoped it was not another one of his ploys. "Thanks," she said.

She turned around on her heel to walk away from the dungeon. The darkness and the chilly breeze of the room made her more nauseous by every passing second.

"One second, Shikha."

Vikram stopped her in mid-way as her heart raced, wondering if he had changed his decision of giving her time and was going to do something she could not dare to imagine.

He gently held her by her shoulder and turned her around to face him. His deep chocolate orbs engulfed her eyes in a passionate caress, counting the streaks of deep brown which adorned her hazel eyes.

His hand rose northwards, just as Shikha's breaths hitched. His warm breaths fanned her flushed face as his hand traveled towards her warm face and Shikha shut her eyes, imagining the worst.

Vikram's long dainty fingers, rough from his work, brushed along her sharp jawline and moved towards the apple of her cheeks. Shikha gasped at the burning touch of him and scrunched her eyes further. Shikha felt something greasy in between Vikram's finger and her cheek, and opened her eyes wide open to see Vikram cleaning her henna smeared cheek.

Shikha scolded herself internally for misunderstanding Vikram's actions, which had noble intentions behind them, Shikha smiled at him with remorse swirling in her eyes. Vikram's hand crawled towards her nape as Shikha drew in another sharp breath and his head descended towards her, causing her to shut her eyes in the anticipation of a kiss.

He placed a chaste kiss on the partition of her hair, shattering her expectations and fear.

"I said I would wait for you and I meant it, Shikha. I am sorry if my actions made you feel otherwise. I heard that kiss on the forehead is a sign of assurance, and my assurance to you is that I will never let you down and will try my best to win your hand. I truly love you, Shikha. Please let nothing make you think otherwise."

Shikha felt her heart brim with a multitude of emotions and her mind working in a dazed state. The man standing in front of her did not differ from the affectionate mentor she had met during her internship. Irony, it was that his deceit showed his true colors than his reality did.

Vikram pulled himself away from her and smiled at her warmly. That one perfect upward curve of his lips evoked a storm in her heart, but she masterfully concealed it under a calm demeanor.

She feigned a smile to reciprocate his sweet gesture and turned around to leave. She increased her pace as she left the dungeon and almost ran to the brighter area of the palace. Shikha paused near a pillar and leaned against the wall. Her breath came out in pants as she thought about the man who caused myriads of thoughts in her mind and alien feelings in the pit of her stomach with his words and actions.

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