Vikram's throat had turned as dry as the land afflicted by drought. His breaths came out as staggered gasps, and his heart galloped with a pace resembling a horse whose rider had relinquished its reins.

"How... How far along?" he asked, his lower lip trembling and his palm clenched into a fist as he fought a fierce battle to recover the reins of his mind.

An exquisite crimson curve dawned over her otherwise pale face. Her eyes darted to her abdomen, and her hand followed the lead of her drooping eyes. "Seven weeks. We had found out just a week ago," she said.

"Samar.." The edges of her lips fluttered, and she sniffled, stifling the sobs threatening to spill out of her chest. It was as though someone had poured powdered glass into her parched throat and the constricting pain prostrated her.

"Samar was over the moon when we found out. But it encouraged him to stake a claim on the share of property he had given up as part of a peace settlement. He wished the best for our child. All the luxuries which wealth could gain, he wanted them at our child's feet."

A rueful smile danced on her trembling lips. Her knees shook, and she hoped they did not give way. "And it was the same greed that took his life."

A wry chuckle escaped her lips, and her sunken eyes flashed to his with a pensive and piercing gaze. "Strange, isn't it? In the quest to fulfill the wants of our baby, he sacrificed the need of the baby - a father. Just like how I looked over my shoulder. Every day, every moment, for the past five years, terrified you would find me, and here I am. Desperate. Desolate. Destitute. In need of your help and protection."

Her words had kept their ability to tear his insides apart, despite the weakness and tremulousness of her voice. Her questioning eyes had lost their lustre, but they did not miss hitting the daggers at the target she had painted on his heart. It felt the same as it did five years ago when she walked away from him, but nothing was the same anymore.

On one hand, there was an urge to soothe the heart which he had broken half a decade ago and fulfill every desire arising from the heart which refused to beat in synchrony with his. However, his heart, reluctant, insolent and disobedient, refused to act upon the urge.

She had buried every bit of her pride and hatred under the layers of unconditional love for her child. It took every strand of courage to stare at those eyes which had haunted her nightmares for countless nights. She felt the Destiny mock at her over his shoulders as she waited for his compliance of her ardent request; the one she had vehemently refused when the roles were reversed.

"I-I need time. To think," he said, pushing his shivering hands into his pockets to hide them from the perceptive eyes of Shikha.

She gnawed on her lower lip, and her eyes sparkled with fresh tears upon hearing his words. She took tentative steps towards him as he peered at her in incredulity. Her twitching fingers found their way around his wrist and her pleading eyes found his conflicted ones.

"Please! What do you need me to do? I'll do anything for you to consider my request," she said. Her voice was a mere hoarse whisper and her eyelashes brushed her cheeks ever-so-gently as tears rolled down her flushed cheeks.

Vikram gulped the lump in his throat. She painted an image of desperation so raw that it churned his insides and gnawed at the resolve of his heart. "I thought... I thought you would do everything you could to stay away from me."

Shikha shook her head, and a weak and wry chuckle spilled out of her chapped lips. "The one who fled was Shikha Agarwal. And the one standing in front of you is a mother trying to protect her unborn. There's nothing in this world I would not do for my child. Kill. Die. Even marry you."

He had yearned to receive any sign of the existence of the yesteryear admiration in her heart for him. Maybe a softening of her stormy eyes or a ghost of a smile, or anything resembling the twinkle in her eyes when she spoke of her late husband. Only if. One of many unfulfilled yearnings of an adamant heart.

Vikram took a sharp inhale and nodded at her. "Very well then! You can stay here. I'll let you know when I'm done thinking about my answer."

She regarded his drooped form for a moment before she let out the breath she had been holding. Her fingers unclasped from his wrist, and Vikram hated how it had left behind a void he did not know how to fill. Her touch, unwilling and flinching, had awoken a part of him which he had left to die and wither away.

"Thank you so much, Vikram. I appreciate your kind gesture of letting me stay here despite being in two minds about this."

The utterance of his name by her felt like a gentle caress of a soft breeze over his depraved soul. Her actions, intentional and otherwise, nibbled away at the fortress his heart tried building around itself.

"I will ask the helpers to prepare a room for your stay. You can convey any and every need of yours to them," he said, averting his eyes from her lest the fortress broken down.

A tiny smile, the one that did not reach her eyes, played on her lips as she nodded in understanding. "Thank you."

"Your belongings?" he asked, not seeing any luggage with her.

Her eyes welled up with fresh tears as the memories rushed into her tumultuous mind. "They are with Jiji and Jijaji. Samar had Jijaji on call when he went to his home. As Jijaji tells me, he had asked Jijaji to take me away to somewhere safe if something were to happen to him. When Jijaji heard shots fired, he helped me escape from our home before someone could find me."

From the little Vikram had heard of the man married to the one he had loved, he could gauge the extent of his love for the woman. It seemed like no surprise to him she remained untouched by anything bearing semblance to admiration towards him after basking in the warmth of true love. After all, he had besieged her in the flame of obsession not-so-long ago.

"I'll have someone bring your belongings here and move your Jiji and Jijaji to a safe house. I don't think they'll be safe whereever they are, especially after your Jijaji rescued you."

Her lips curved upwards in response to his words. She had been unwilling to ask for more than what the situation demanded, and he had listened to her unsaid request.

"Thank you so much for being so thoughtful, Vikram!"

Vikram nodded at her. A tense silence followed till he took a step back and made his way towards the staircase and thence to his room, leaving Shikha to her thoughts.

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