Hesitantly Zevah stepped ahead and placed her hand on Aditya's shoulder which tensed further but she didn't retrieve.

"Aditya─"

"Don't, Zevah. Just leave me alone now." He ordered and she retracted her hand but didn't budge from her spot. She wasn't going to leave him like that.

"I won't. Aditya you need to calm down, it's okay─"

Aditya spun around and glared at her which made her halt in her sentence. She watched as a muscle in his jaw ticked and the fire in his eyes as he glared at her.

"It's okay? You weren't even going to tell me if I hadn't forced it out of you. Why didn't you call me yesterday, Zevah? It could have been dangerous." His voice raised and she felt her temper rising.

"But I managed and anyways you were busy." She snapped and Aditya's eyes went to hers. She sounded like a jealous girlfriend but she couldn't help it.

"I was busy huh? So you didn't want to disturb me or you were angry because I left with her?" He took a step towards her and she looked away immediately taking a step back. It continued until her back hit the wall and she had nowhere to go.

"Tell me Zevah, why are you so angry at the thought of me with some other woman? Why does it affect you?" He whispered and she glared at him but that it when she realised their proximity and she felt nervous.

"It doesn't affect me." She tried to sound stern but the voice was foreign to her own ears. Aditya chuckled but there was nothing humorous in it. It was a wry chuckle.

"Still stubborn. So it won't affect you if I flirt with any woman?" He questioned and she nodded hurriedly looking down but his eyes stayed on her form.

"It won't affect you if I hug someone else?" She gulped and again nodded without looking at him.

"It won't affect you if I kiss someone else?" He noticed her clenching her jaw and shutting her eyes tight but in the end her head moved sideways as she denied it all.

"Alright, Zevah." He said loudly and moved behind while her eyes snapped open as she watched him moving away from her, creating much distance between them.

"So from today, I, Aditya Singhania, won't come after you ever. I promise our relationship will only be work related and outside this place you'll only know me as a stranger." And with that he walked out from there while Zevah kept staring at nothing particular.

Why did her heart feel heavy all of a sudden?

────────

"And done. Ayaansh is now ready to meet his father." Srishti grinned down at Ayaansh who just played with his hands, blinking up at her.

She picked him up and he nibbled on his hand while humming sometimes. Srishti had wanted to visit Sahil at his office and from there she would leave for her orphanage.

She left the penthouse and hired a cab not wanting to travel in any of Sahil's car. One hour thirty minutes later, she reached at her destination and thanked the driver before moving inside.

"Excuse me, I'm here to see Mr. Sahil Malhotra." Srishti informed at the reception desk and the lady looked up. Ayaansh chose to play with his mother's hair while she sought the way to meet his father.

"Do you have an appointment ma'am?" The receptionist asked politely and Srishti pursed her lips.

"Well, I don't but ─"

"I'm sorry, ma'am but you can't meet him without an appointment." She apologised and Srishti sighed, nodding her head. She understood that the receptionist was only doing her job but the how was she supposed to go inside then?

"Ma'am?" She turned around and saw a similar face but couldn't quite remember him. Seeing her confused face, Rohit knew she didn't remember him.

"I'm Sahil sir's secretary, please come, I'll take you to him." He smiled and she realised where she had seen him. With a smile she followed him to Sahil's cabin.

"I'll just inform him." Rohit said as they reached outside his cabin but Srishti stopped him.

"No it's fine. I think he'll like this surprise." Srishti indicated at Ayaansh and Rohit's eyes went on him. With a smile and a nod he went away but not before lightly pinching Ayaansh's cheek.

Srishti was about to knock on his door when she heard his voice.

"Mr. Singh, now that my grandfather's condition mentioned in the will has been fulfilled either way, can we finish the formalities so that I can acquire the property?" The authority in his voice was clear even though he was asking a question.

Srishti frowned in confusion, wondering as to what condition he was talking about.

"Ye─Yes ofcourse Mr. Malhotra. I─I will just need a proof of your marriage and ─" The lawyer was already terrified as he stammered because of the cold look that was directed at him when Sahil cut him off.

"I don't need to give you a proof of my marriage because that wasn't on the paper. As for having a heir, my son is already four months old and that itself is enough for you to be convinced that I have fulfilled the old man's condition. Anything else?" The warning was clear and Mr. Singh wasn't a fool to dig a grave for himself.

He immediately nodded and passed him the documents which needed his signature to complete the formalities.

Srishti felt as if she had been slapped across her face. The reality was infront of her and she couldn't turn away from it even if she wanted to.

Ayaansh was born not because he wanted a heir for his company but because he needed to acquire his grandfather's property. And she was just a medium through which he could achieve his goal.

"Ba ba ba ba..." Ayaansh babbled looking at his mother who seemed frozen on her spot. He hummed touching her face and Srishti looked at him finally which got him grinning.

He squealed and that is when she came back to reality. Taking a step back from the door she shook her head before marching out of there with Ayaansh in her arms.

────────

She couldn't go back to the penthouse and she didn't want to. All she could think about was his words and his motives. Sahil Malhotra was a dangerous man and she never wanted to be associated with him.

Srishti sat in her room at the orphanage staring at the wall infront of her. Ayaansh was fast asleep beside her and she had time to think about what she was going to do.

Can she just hide herself and Ayaansh from him for forever?

She knew she had made a deal with him for her own selfish reasons and he even completed his part of the deal but so did she.

She gave him Ayaansh even though she never questioned him why he wanted a baby because that was not her concern in the first place. She had accepted all his conditions but now she was terrified.

He had got what he wanted and practically, she wasn't even in the picture. It was always about him and Ayaansh.

What if he decided to divorce her? What is he decided that she wasn't needed now and threw her out of Ayaansh's life? She cannot live without her son. Is she strong enough to fight for her rights?

So many questions ran through her mind but all she could do was cry in silence. She stared at her son and laid down beside him, pulling him close to her.

Ayaansh clutched her collar in his tiny fist and she melted right there. She will fight for his happiness because he wasn't her weakness but her strength.

At night when Sahil reached his penthouse, he found his room empty. Neither Srishti nor Ayaansh were present in the room and it unsettled him.

He searched for them everywhere and even asked the servants but no one knew. In the end, he called Rohit asking him to conduct a search operation for the two.

"But sir, ma'am had visited you in the office right? Then why would she disappear all of a sudden?" Rohit's question alarmed Sahil and he repeated his words.

"She came to visit me? When? And why wasn't I informed about it?" The icy tone made Rohit gulp his saliva as he clutched his phone a little tightly.

"A─Around five sir and she refused to inform you because she wanted it to be a surprise." He stammered and Sahil racked his brain for the missing link.

Meeting with the lawyer.

That's right. She was there. She might have heard everything.

"Next time, you inform me about everything because you work for me and no one else." He hung up without waiting for any reply and picked up his keys, dashing out of the penthouse.

It took him thirty minutes to reach the orphanage and he took hurried steps to reach inside. One of the caretaker opened the door and he entered inside ignoring her.

"Which is Srishti's room?" He turned to the woman and she just pointed towards the room before scurrying away from there.

Sahil opened the door and found the duo sleeping peacefully. Unknowingly a sigh of relief escaped his mouth and he relaxed. They were safe.

He walked closer and stared at Ayaansh who was almost hidden in Srishti's arms but seems like the little guy didn't mind it because he snuggled more into her. Srishti's head shifted down in her sleep as she breathed unevenly.

She was a wonderful mother and he never doubted it but she was also too naive and impulsive.

He had never imagined that he would be married to someone. Relationships weren't his cup of tea but here he was, married and now a father. It was all for Ayaansh. Always for Ayaansh.

Yes, he had wanted him first because he wanted to acquire the property but he never understood the emotions that built up in him because of the little guy. It was because of him, he married her and it was because of him that he will never try to separate a child from his mother.

Srishti stirred in her sleep and slowly opened her eyes to check on Ayaansh but he was sleeping peacefully. Her eyes then fell on him and they widened slowly.

Sahil covered her mouth before she could make any noise and disturb Ayaansh's sleep. He stared deep in her eyes and she couldn't help but stare back stunned.

But his efforts went in vain when Ayaansh stirred and rolled on his back in his sleep. They stared at him in awe still in the same position before Srishti realised it and tried to push his hand away.

When he didn't budge, she stopped and glared at him but he only stared at her amused. Retracting his hand back he stood up straight and watched as she too sat up and looked away in anger.

"We need to talk." He whispered and her head snapped in his direction. She narrowed her eyes and glared at him but he stared right back as if challenging her.

Then he did something which made her gasp in shock.

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