Srishti gulped harshly, feeling anxious because Sahil was suddenly eerily quiet. He seemed like he was replaying the scene in his mind as his jaw clenched and body tensed.

Abhinav Malhotra and Supriya Malhotra were tied in an arranged knot by her father who thought it was for the best.

Her father, the Commander-in-chief of the army was a strict man with principles and ethics. He needed things to be done his way and that was what happened when he chose a man for his daughter.

Supriya didn't want to marry Abhinav but afraid of her father, she didn't oppose back and followed his instructions until she was married to the guy, she knew nothing about.

Abhinav was a calm and cool guy and since he trusted his senior who was like a father to him, he agreed immediately failing to realize that he should've once atleast talked to the person he was marrying.

Things went smoothly for a while then, Abhinav and Supriya were happily married or it was just how it seemed.

Five years down the marriage, now with a child, Abhinav felt like he had achieved everything in his life, with his position in the army being promoted as well.

Just when everything was going well, one day when Abhinav returned home from his duty with a smile on his face and excitement of meeting his wife and his son, he didn't knew it was going to be the worst day of his life.

When he entered inside their room, Supriya wasn't there whereas Sahil, their son was in his crib playing with his toys.

"Aww champ, why are you alone here? Where is your Mumma?" He picked Sahil in his arms who seemed excited seeing his father, squealing on joy.

"Did you miss your Paa? Did you?" Abhinav kissed his son's head before he headed out to search for his wife.

He reached the living room and just then Supriya stepped in the living room as well, adjusting her saree.

Abhinav froze on his place as he took in his wife's disheveled state and the man behind her setting his hair.

Supriya who was totally unaware of his presence, turned towards the unknown man and smiled,

"You should leave now, I'll go and check on Sahil." She was going to leave but the man held her waist and pulled her close.

"Why do you want me to leave? Your husband is anyways not here. I can hang around for a while you know." He smirked and she giggled as he nuzzled in her neck.

Abhinav felt his rage building as he watched the scene before him. He stepped ahead while Sahil continued to play with his father's collar, babbling quietly.

"Well what a surprise, Mrs. Malhotra." Supriya and the man froze in fear hearing the voice. She turned around slowly and stared at him as if he was a ghost.

"I must say your surprise ousted mine. I can't beat you in that." The icy cold tone sent chills down her spine because in their five years of marriage, she had only heard him talking sweetly and politely.

"Abh─Abhi─"

"Not. A. Word." He gritted out through his clenched teeth and she took a step back seeing his rage filled eyes.

He set Sahil free on the floor before he advanced towards her and held her by her arms in a tight grip. Supriya hissed in pain and tried to remove his grip but all her attempts were futile.

"Why? Why the fuck did you do this? What did I ever do to you? Did I force you into this marriage? Did I force you to sleep with me? Did I?" Abhinav gulped harshly as he watched her squirm in pain but it was nothing compared to what he was going through.

"Abhinav you're hurting me." She whimpered and he chuckled dryly.

"Do you even know what pain is? Sleeping with your lover behind my back and you have the audacity to look this innocent." He scoffed as he pushed her and she staggered back almost falling down.

Suddenly his eyes fell on Sahil who was watching them with his big innocent eyes. His throat felt clogged and he found it difficult to breathe.

"Is he mine?" He questioned, not once looking away from his son. Supriya followed his gaze and looked down in shame.

"He─He is─"

"Just fucking answer dammit!" Abhinav yelled which caused her to jump and the man behind her took two steps back as well.

Sahil started crying as he got scared by his father's shout. Abhinav screwed his eyes shut and clenched his fists at the sound of his cries. Supriya took a step towards her son but stopped when Abhinav marched towards him and picked him up.

"I don't care whose son he is, I raised him as mine and damn if I would allow you to touch him." He gritted lowly as he rocked Sahil back and forth to stop him from crying.

"Abhinav please let me─"

"Stop right there Supriya!" She gasped as he took out his gun and aimed it at her.

The man tried to run but before he could make it, he wailed in pain as he was shot in the back. Supriya's eyes widened on horror as he watched him fall down with a thud.

Bullets were fired but no sound was heard neither of the firing, nor of the cries. Everything was destroyed. Everything turned into ashes.

(A/N : please note that the above flashback is from a general point of view and not from Sahil's point of view, because he was just four, lol.)

"I clearly remember crying beside their bodies, covered in their blood. I was just four then but the memory of that day can never be erased." Sahil clenched his jaw and shut his eyes as he took deep breaths to calm himself.

Srishti could only stare at him in shock. He didn't deserve this. Heck, no one did.

Not able to say anything, she only placed her hand above his providing him the much needed comfort. Sahil opened his eyes feeling her soft touch and as he looked into hers, he found himself calming down.

"My grandfather took me in after that. I was provided with everything, everything I needed but only materialistic things. The emotional bonding, love, warmth, I knew nothing about it. He was a cold man and with him, I grew up to be like him. I don't hate him for that because atleast he didn't abandon me like my parents. In fact I'm glad he was my grandfather and I got to grow up with him." Sahil sighed feeling relieved that she hadn't taken her hand back because it felt nice.

"You're a good man, Sahil." She whispered into the night and he looked surprised.

"Cold, emotionless, rude but a good man, nonetheless." She smiled and he smirked.

"Are you comforting me right now or insulting me?" She chuckled and took her hand back as she faced to the front while Sahil could only stare at his hand which felt cold all of a sudden.

"I don't know who my parents are, you don't remember yours. Why are people selfish enough to have a baby when they're not even ready yet?" Srishti sighed yet there was this pain etched on her face.

She felt her hand being enclosed in his big, warm ones and they stayed there like that for some more time.

────────

It had been days after that threatening call from her father. He made no advances but that didn't made Zevah any less worried. She was still anxious of what he was going to do and in spite of Aditya's assurance, she was still scared.

Her phone buzzed and she immediately answered the call.

"Zevah, I just called to inform that some time ago, two men visited the orphanage threatening us to vacant it by tomorrow. I don't know what to do." The caretaker said in a panicked voice and Zevah felt the dread coming.

"Julie, don't worry, I'll do something about it." She could only say so much before she hung up and went to find Aditya in the office.

When she reached his cabin, she directly entered without knocking and rushed to his desk.

"Aditya ─"

"Zevah, what's the matter? Why do you look so scared?" Aditya got up from his seat and walked upto her before making her sit on his chair.

"Now relax and tell me what happened?" He asked softly and she looked at him worried.

"Abbu sent some goons to the orphanage threatening to vacant it by tomorrow. He's doing it again Aditya. I won't be able to face Srishti if something really happens this time." She looked really worried and scared and Aditya knew how much Srishti meant to her.

"Okay first of all, you need to calm down. And we can discuss this all with Srishti and Sahil so that it won't be a surprise if they know it by themselves. Alright?" Aditya made her understand calmly and she nodded trying to calm down.

"I'll call Sahil." Aditya said and got up but Zevah held his hand.

"Thank you." She said sincerely and he smiled, bending down to kiss her forehead which surprisingly gave her peace.

"I'll be right back." Saying so he left the cabin to have a talk with Sahil.

────────

"So what you're saying is that her father is doing the same thing again just to prove that he'll always win?" Sahil asked and Zevah nodded meekly.

"As if he won the first time." He scoffed and Aditya rolled his eyes.

"The point here is that we have to think of something which will stop him from interfering in Zevah's life." Aditya stressed and Srishti squeezed Zevah's hand in assurance.

"And that is?" Sahil trailed off and Aditya have him a we-have-to-think-about-that look.

"What if we threaten him with his goons? He sent them and we pay those guys double to threaten him back. It's only fair." Sahil shrugged and Srishti gave him a pissed off look.

"Real mature." Aditya murmured under his breath.

"I think he's very egoistic about his position. What if we leave him with nothing to brag about?" Aditya hinted and Zevah looked at him.

"You mean─"

"I buy most of his company's shares and have the upper hand." Sahil smirked at Aditya's idea whereas Srishti and Zevah could only stare at them.

"Will this work?" Zevah asked hesitantly and Aditya shrugged in response.

"He's never seen me ─your husband, so I can offer him a deal which he won't be able to refuse. I'm sure he'll fall for it." Aditya explained and Zevah sighed.

"Just trust me." He held her hand and she gave him a small smile in return.

"I do." Srishti cleared her throat and gave them a teasing smile to which Zevah rolled her eyes but blushed nonetheless whereas Aditya only grinned.

Sahil looked at Srishti and wondered just one thing ─Did she trust me?

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