Khushi groaned in bed as she heard a loud buzzing coming from Arnav's side of the room and she dug her face deeper into the comforter to escape the sound, but it didnt stop.

"Arnav stop that!" she mumbled. Even though it was probably only a few seconds, she finally felt Arnav shuffle beside her and stop the noise. Five minutes hadn't even passed when it started again and almost wondering if she was dreaming, she opened her eyes to see what was creating such an annoying sound in the morning, only to realize it was Arnav's alarm.

Vacation definitely spoiled me, I totally forgot we even use alarm clocks, she mumbled to herself, before she kicked Arnav again, telling him to turn it off, rather than pressing the snooze button. Within seconds, she was fast asleep again.

Khushi snuggled deeper under the blanket, as she suddenly felt cold. Moving closer to Arnav's side to get some warmth from him, she stretched her arms out to put them around him, to find out that he wasn't there. She opened her eyes and looked towards to bathroom, but the door was open. Looking outside, she realized the sun was fully up and she almost screamed when she looked over at the alarm clock! Her and Arnav should haven been at work by now! They had a meeting with their lawyers to go over their annual resolutions! She jumped out of bed and ran down the stairs to see Anjali sitting on the couch, reading a newspaper while drinking her morning tea.

"Good Morning Di! Is Arnav in the kitchen?" she asked while walking past Anjali, towards the kitchen to be stopped by Anjali's voice.

"No actually Chote already left for work around 7. He said you needed to catch up on your sleep, so he wasn't going to wake you up" Anjali replied, smiling.

"Oh. But we had a meeting..." she mumbled as she ran back towards their bedroom, wondering if Arnav had forgotten all about it.

She walked towards the closet, her face slightly fallen, wondering why he didn't wake her up. How was she going to get to the office? She didn't even have a car! And the meeting was only an hour away. The other option would be to ask Shyam Jiju for a ride since he usually started work after 9 but she decided to pass on that option. I rather take a taxi than spending half an hour alone with his creepiness...

Grabbing her clothes, she was about to walk into the bathroom to find yellow sticky on the door.

Good morning sweetie! She smiled seeing the message but then frowned remembering that he left her behind. She closed the door behind her and was about to hang her clothes to find another sticky.

Little bit pissy? She almost laughed out loud seeing the message but took it off and hung her clothes. She was about to grab her toothbrush when she found another sticky, stuck on the toothbrush holder.

Stinky! Her eyes widened seeing the message and as she stood up straight and looked in the mirror to start brushing her teeth, another sticky awaited her attention.

Actually no your not stinky, just lazy! Taking the sticky off, she went back to her business and as she turned towards the shower stall, she found another sticky, slightly bigger this time.

I love you gorgeous! Smiling she hopped into the shower, chiding herself for wasting time on read the stickies when she was already getting so late. Taking a ten minute shower, she threw her clothes on and walked upto her night stand to grab her phone to call a cab when she found another a full note there.

Ok you may stop running around now. I moved the meeting to tomorrow but that doesn't mean your off the hook. Meet me for lunch at 1. I'll send someone to pick you up- Love ya!

Ass! she muttered under her breath and taking a few deep breaths, calmed herself down. Laughing at the fact that he knew exactly what she will do after realizing that she slept in, she laughed at the sequence of the messages. Knowing that she couldn't go back to sleep, even though when she looked back at the bed it seemed quite tempting, she walked down the stairs to go spend some quality time with her sister-in-law, all the while praying that their jeejaji had already left.

Apologizing to Anjali for running off like that on her, Khushi made herself some tea and sat down with Anjali on the couch. Putting the newspaper down, Anjali smiled at her. Somehow, with the way Anjali looked at her made her feel tongue tied. What was she suppose to talk to Anjali about? Anjali didn't work. Didn't have kids. Didn't have many friends. Didn't really socialize much. Hmm... maybe current events...

"So what's happening in the world today Di?" she asked, while Anjali went off on telling her about the stock market and the political issues being raised these days.

"You're into finance Di?" Khushi asked after Anjali explained the different stocks that were going up and down and the companies that didn't seem to be doing too good these days.

"Not really. I took a few finance classes for fun during university" while Khushi looked at Anjali slightly shocked. With the way she dressed and presented herself, Khushi would have never imagined Anjali taking finance courses as fun. Noticing the shocked look on her face, Anjali laughed.

"Ya I know I don't look like a finance person. One of my friends took them, so I decided to take them too, just for the fun of it." Anjali smiled warmly at her and she wondered what Anjali took in University and she was shocked to find out that Anjali had majored in Arts and she was actually an artist until she had gotten married.

"Why did you stop after the wedding Di?" she asked and noticed the slight difference in Anjali's posture but Anjali covered it quickly and Khushi almost wondered if she had imagined the slight change.

"Oh just because. Your jeejaji makes enough and he really didn't want me to work too hard as the fumes from the paints would give me headaches" Anjali replied, as she slightly shifted in her seat. Khushi's eyes almost widened at Anjali's lie about Shyam making enough but she didn't say anything. Perhaps Anjali didn't know that Khushi had information to all their personal banking along with all the information for Anjali's holding companies in AR. The last time Khushi had went over the bank account when she was trying to track down Shyam's whereabouts, she had only seen Anjali's dividends from AR being deposited into their bank- both Anjali's personal and joint account with Shyam and there was definitely nothing else. Maybe they had another account Khushi wasn't aware of but somehow, that didn't seem to be a possibility as Arnav had provided her with all of Anjali's account information too. Wondering why Anjali had just lied, Khushi went back to her coffee. Maybe Anjali wasn't lying... she couldn't have been the only one noticing that no other money was being deposited into their account, i.e. Shyam's earnings. Arnav should have noticed it too. Maybe they did have another account that she wasn't aware of...

Reminder- meeting at 10am

Khushi stared at her phone, horrified as she stared at the message. She had totally forgotten about Karan's message! She looked up towards Anjali, who was now busy packing Shyam's laptop for work while Shyam ate his breakfast and she sighed in relief that Anjali hadn't seen her horrific expression however, feeling someone staring at her, she looked towards the dining table to see Shyam munching on his toast, looking at her intently. Giving him a small smile, she turned her attention back and not knowing what else to do, she turned the TV on. She was not going to meet Karan. Infact, she shouldn't have messaged him back in the first place and if she had, she should have told Arnav by now and asked for his opinion on what to do. She had planned on talking to Arnav on their drive to work but he had left without her.

Not paying attention, she stared at the TV and flinched when she noticed someone snapping their fingers at her. Looking up, she noticed Shyam standing down infront of her and starding down at her and the next second, he smiled brightly as Anjali walked past them towards the dining table to pick up Shyam's dishes.

"I was asking if you need a ride Khushi. You have a meeting at 10 no? You probably shouldn't be missing it" Shyam asked innocently and her eyes widened in horror.

"How do you know?" she barely whispered, anger flashing in her eyes at the nerve of this man, while he just looked on at her innocently.

"Arnav had mentioned it before leaving this morning. Why what's wrong?" Shyam asked, and her eyes narrowed.

"It was actually at 1" she lied while he looked at her, absolutely unfazed.

"Oh is that so? I am sorry. I thought he said ten" Shyam asked while he looked at his watch and Khushi glanced towards the clock on the wall which read 9:30.

"Anyways, have a good day" he told her while he grabbed his bag from Anjali and walked out of the house.

Khushi kept stealing glances at her phone, which she had now turned to silent as Anjali sat across from her, watching TV as well. Not knowing how to distract herself, she was about to talk to Anjali when she noticed a new message. Almost dreading to check it, she looked at her phone to realize it was Arnav. She sighed out loud while Anjali looked at her and went back to the TV.

Up yet kumbhkaran? Arnav asked while she smiled at the message and telling him that she was actually ready to come to the office, she went back to looking at the TV, finally being able to breathe again. Even though he wasn't with her, she realized even a small message from him could calm her nerves down.

I am sorry sweetie but I have to go out of town right now. I am just at the airport, ready to fly out. Last minute emergency at one of the thread plants. I'll make it up to you for the lunch. Kick your feet up and enjoy the day off. I am sending the car back home, if you need to go somewhere. Perhaps you can pick me up from the airport? Love ya!

She read the message twice to make sure she understood it and replied back telling him that she will pick him up and her heart sank unknowingly. Not that he was going far, but she hadn't seen him all day and she almost kicked herself for not waking up on time. Leaning back on the couch, she read all the messages again.

"Kya hua Khushi?" Anjali asked as she noticed Khushi's fallen face and before Khushi could realize, she blurted out the next few words.

"I didn't even get to see him today" she mumbled while Anjali grinned at her.

"It's ok Khushi. Aren't you going to the office soon?" Anjali asked while Khushi told her that Arnav had just left to go out of town. All Anjali could do was smile at her bhabhi and her thoughts drifted back to the initial days of her marriage when she would go visit Shyam in his office almost three times a day. Her excuse was that according to employment standards, he was suppose to take three breaks per day and she was just there to make sure he was eating something, while she knew that she was doing it more for herself than him. She understood Khushi's predicament and knew that for her Chotte and Khushi, the bliss in their marriage was slightly delayed. Mainly due to the circumstances arising to their marriage but it was finally there and Anjali couldn't have been any more happier.

Where are you?

Khushi stared at her phone and taking a deep breath deleted the message. She barely waited a minute, when she noticed the number flashing on her phone. Karan was actually calling her now and she almost was tempted to pick up the phone and tell him to go to hell and leave her alone but she couldn't do that. First, that was inappropriate and she didn't want him to think that he had some sort of affect on her. Secondly, Anjali was sitting right there.

Ignoring his call, she told Anjali that she was just going to the bathroom and she walked up the stairs to her room and sat down on the bed. Her phone flashed again, with another message this time.

Khushi, stop ignoring me. How long are you going to be? I need to get back to my shift too.

She stared at the message and realized that it was unfair to keep him waiting like that. Making up her mind that once Arnav was back and that she would tell him everything, she replied back and told Karan that she was busy and didn't have time to meet him. If he wanted to, he could just message and tell her what was going on, otherwise it was ok.

She waited for a response for a few minutes and wondered what happened when five minutes passed and she didn't get anything back. Almost wanting to leave her phone in the room and walk downstairs, she was about to do that when she got his message.

Khushi, this is important. Your life is in danger. We need to talk- what part of that don't you understand? Come now or I am going to walk into your office. I know Arnav is not in- I saw him leaving half an hour ago.

What the f***! She swore out loud and was thankful no one was around her. Shocked that he knew about Arnav's whereabouts, she replied back and instantly regretted it.

I am not in the office, so don't bother. She replied back but his next message shocked her to the core.

Fine. I will be at your place at noon. You can explain to nani and Anjali why I'm there.

Telling him that he wouldn't do any such thing, she waited for an answer but didn't get one back and hearing Nani talking to Anjali now, she knew she should go back downstairs before Anjali came looking for her.

Khushi stared at her phone waiting for Karan to respond, but he didn't. Knowing that time was ticking out, her palms started feeling sweaty and she wondered what she should do. What was she going to say if Karan came over? This had nothing to do with Anjali or Nani and she knew that they didn't have to be dragged into this mess. In order to keep herself distracted, she tried talking to both the ladies but found it harder than usual. She looked around towards the wall and stared at the time. Was it just her or was the time flying by today? She wasn't sure, but she started feeling slight tremors in her body after awhile.

"Are you cold Khushi bitiya?" Nani asked out of the blue and Khushi almost jumped hearing her voice.

"Little bit Naniji. Maybe because I am just tired" she replied smilingly and stared back at her phone, while both the ladies looked at her and grinned. Thinking that she was waiting for Arnav to message her back, Nani and Anjali smiled seeing her jitteriness and when the message icon popped up on her phone, Khushi almost jumped in her seat.

Hey Sweetie! Just got here. Eat lunch k? Love you and see you at 5! She smiled seeing the message and replied back. Knowing that he probably wasn't going to message back, she looked at her phone and waited for Karan to message.

Thinking that Khushi was missing Arnav, Anjali and Nani left her alone and decided to walk to the temple close to their house. They had asked her to come along but she had politely refused saying that she was feeling a bit tired, which she actually kind of was now. In the meantime, Aman had come to drop off the car while another employee had followed him to take him back to the office. Knowing that she didn't have any other way out, she grabbed the car keys and walked out of the house, while she texted Karan.12:00- at StarbucksCursing him under her breath, she made her way to downtown, her legs and hands slightly trembling, not wanting to hear what he had to say. She needed Arnav right now. More than anything, she realized and she wished he was there. If he was in the office, she would have ran over and dragged him out of any meeting that he had and explained to him what was going on as the reality of the situation kicked in. She didn't know what Karan was going to say but something told her that it wasn't going to be pleasant. Parking the car, she walked towards the Starbucks and saw Karan already seated in there. Annoyed, she walked up to his table and before he could get up to push her chair out, she raised her hand to stop him and harshly pulled her own chair out and sat down. "How are you Khushi?" he asked and she almost punched him, seeing his calm demeanor."None of your business. What did you want to say" she asked heavily annoyed for the situation she was in, especially when her husband wasn't aware of all this. Karan just smiled at her and leaning forward, ready to crash her world with his words and she was so absorbed in trying to read his face to figure out what was going on that she didn't notice the camera flash across the restaurant.