Srishti stirred in her sleep as she felt a pair of strong hands pulling her closer to a warm body. She lazily opened her eyes and it took her a few moments to register where she was.

In someone's arms.

Her husband's arms to be precise.

And then the memories of previous night came rushing back. She didn't know what to feel. A part of her was happy and shy for she knew she had started falling for her husband and couldn't deny it.

But another part of her was worried. She didn't know what Sahil felt or he just used her to satisfy his desires. She had no idea if he even looked at her as if wife. What if it was just another night for him and behaves indifferently after waking up?

These thoughts were giving her a headache and she could feel her heart clench.

Before her thoughts tortured her further, Sahil slightly shifted as he pulled her close again and rested his face in the crook of her neck. She could feel his hot breath and despite her trying to control, it gave her goosebumps.

Thankfully, she wasn't completely naked under the blanket and wearing his shirt. She tried to sneak away, by removing his hand from her waist, slowly and carefully, to not wake him up but luck wasn't on her side.

Sahil threw his hand around her waist and jerked her towards him making her gasp.

"Sahil," She gulped as her hands rested on his bare chest. His right leg came over hers, trapping her successfully in his hold.

"Stay." He mumbled snuggling close to her. She was stunned. Was he the same Sahil Malhotra? Since when did he like to cuddle?

"If you continue doing that, I won't hesitate to take you again right now." His hoarse voice reached her ears and she sucked in a breath.

Completely mortified, she looked at him wide eyed whereas he only pointed at her hands which were currently drawing random patterns on his chest.

Blushing, she took her hands back and avoided his eyes. He sighed before taking her hands and placing them back on his chest.

"I never said you could take them back." He ordered and she made a face. What the hell did he want? Bipolar Malhotra.

"Sahil," She called out after a minute of silence and he hummed in response.

"What are we? Where does our relationship stand after last night?" She finally asked staring at his chest, not having the courage to look into his eyes.

His hold on her waist tightened slightly and she felt him unconsciously caress her skin through his shirt which made her shiver.

"What do you want me to say, Srishti? We are not a normal couple and cannot have feelings in just one night." He started and she felt her heart breaking but he continued, "I'm not saying that what happened was because we were driven by hormones. All I'm saying is, I know I feel something for you but it won't be easy for me."

She didn't say a word and it made him slightly anxious. He held her chin and made her look up and seeing tears in her eyes, he hugged her close. She sniffed, snuggling into him and feeling safe in his arms.

"I'm scared, Sahil." She whispered in a broken voice and he frowned.

"Of what?"

"Of you. Of this relationship. I don't even know where its going." Her lower lip trembled as a tear slipped from her eye.

"I'm falling for you, Sahil and I don't know if I can stop. These feelings I have, I'm developing, I'm scared that it'll create a problem." Sahil tensed and she felt it too but ignored it.

"I don't think I'll be able to stay in this relationship, if I will be the only one having feelings. It will be too hard for me, Sahil." With this, his hold on her loosened and she didn't think twice before moving out of his grip.

────────

Aditya and Zevah entered into Sahil's cabin and found him lost in his thoughts. He didn't even hear them coming in and that was something new. They shared a look before moving closer to him.

"Sahil?" Aditya called and that is when he finally noticed them.

"When did y'all come?" He asked and Aditya rolled his eyes as they sat before him.

"When you were busy daydreaming." The sarcasm in Aditya's voice was ignored as Sahil looked at Zevah.

"Your father has accepted the deal and now he's under my control. What next?" He said it casually but their faces turned blank.

"He accepted it? When?" Zevah asked in a daze to which Sahil shrugged, "Yesterday."

"And why didn't you tell us then?" Aditya scowled making Zevah hit his arm. He winced before pouting at her which she royally ignored.

"What are we going to do now?" She asked worriedly.

"I asked the same thing." Sahil deadpanned.

"Now when he sends his men at the orphanage ─" Aditya's words were cut off by Zevah's phone ringing. She pulled it out and watched as her father's name flashed on it.

"Put it on speaker." Aditya said and she nodded.

"What do you want now, Abbu?" Zevah asked in a tired voice.

"What have you decided? Are you going to divorce that pathetic of a husband of yours and come back or do you want that orphanage to be ruined?" Her father was always straight to the point and she clenched her fists.

"Do not insult my husband, Mr. Qureshi and I mean it. I'm not going to divorce him neither I will let you do anything to the orphanage. So do whatever you want to." She fired back and Aditya stared at her, proud.

He was proud that she wasn't scared of him anymore and his heart did a back flip when she stood up for him.

"This is not how we raised you, Zevah. See what that lowlife is doing to you ─"

"Goodbye, Mr. Waseem Qureshi. I hope we never meet or even talk again." With that she hung up and a tear slipped out of her eyes.

No matter what, he was still and will always be her father and she'll always love him. But it hurt because her family never cared for her.

Aditya hugged her and she buried her face in his chest.

Just then there was a knock on the door and Rohit stepped in.

"Sir, Mr. Qureshi wants to have a talk with you." He informed and Sahil smirked, expecting it and gestured him to forward the call on the office phone.

"Good evening, Mr. Malhotra. This is Waseem Qureshi speaking and I'd like to thank for you taking interest in our company." The call was on speaker and everyone could hear him clearly.

"Why have you called, Mr. Qureshi? I don't have full day for your greetings." Sahil said curtly, annoyed by his fake, polite voice.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Mr. Malhotra. I just wanted to say that I want our company to buy a property." Zevah looked at Sahil while Aditya clenched his jaw at the audacity of the man.

"First of all, that's my company now and secondly, what property." The authority in his tone was enough for the opposite side to go silent.

"There's this orphanage named 'Hope' and I want to build a hotel over there. So if we could buy that ─"

"Mr. Qureshi, let me clear a few things for you. First of all, since you agreed to the deal, you must know that your company is officially mine and I hold power over you as well. Secondly, I don't know what gave you the idea that you could call me for such stupid offers. My time is too precious to waste on such matters. And lastly, that property you are talking about is already mine. So, I better not hear you talking on this topic again." And without any greeting or whatever, Sahil hung up.

Aditya was grinning whereas Zevah could only gape at Sahil.

"I could definitely kiss you right now." Aditya puckered his lips and that snapped Zevah out of her state. She pursed her lips seeing Aditya to stop herself from laughing.

"If you don't want to get humiliated infront of your wife, then get out." Sahil said coldly and Aditya turned serious. He immediately held Zevah's hand and dragged her out of there knowing Sahil would do exactly what he said.

Sahil sighed, leaning back on his chair and closing his eyes.

"Sahil," He opened his eyes hearing Zevah's voice.

"Thank you for what you did today. I don't know why you helped me and Srishti and I don't care. That orphanage means everything to Srishti and if it would've been snatched from her then she would have shattered. So thank you for saving her." Zevah smiled at him and left after that leaving him in thoughts.

He knew the orphanage meant everything to Srishti and also that he did it for her. But why? Why did he?

Was it because she gave him his heir? Or because she was his wife? Maybe he just did it for his bestfriend Aditya.

Or maybe because he didn't want to witness a broken Srishti.

────────

When he got home, he found Srishti running behind Ayaansh with a bowl in her hands. She was giggling along with him and it brought a smile on his face.

"Ayaansh, come here baby, just two more bites are left." Srishti attempted to feed him again but he just turned his face to the other side.

"Okay, fine." She pouted and sat beside him grumpily, looking away as well.

Sahil watched the duo quietly and honestly it was quite entertaining for him. He watched as Ayaansh slowly climbed on his mother's lap and demanded her attention.

What amused him was how Srishti refused to look at Ayaansh even when he tried to with his tiny hands. A frustrated scream left Ayaansh's mouth and that made her laugh as she finally looked at him and hugged him close.

"What a little drama queen you are." She pinched his nose and his face scrunched up adorably.

"It should be drama king." Sahil corrected her as he finally walked towards them.

"Dadda," Ayaansh squealed excitedly, wiggling out of his mother's arms and Sahil immediately bent down and picked him up.

"Dadda missed you." He whispered softly, holding his tiny hand and Ayaansh only grinned at him making his heart swell in happiness.

Srishti smiled at them before she got up and left from there. His eyes followed her until she disappeared and only one thought crossed his mind.

Is she still upset after their morning talk?

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