Decided to try her luck

After crying for a while, Swati calmed herself and said to Shivaay, "I love you so much too. I've fallen deeply in love with you. But I'm scared, Shivaay, that if you find out about my shortcomings, you might leave me. Shivaay, I can give you every happiness in the world, but I cannot give you the greatest happiness. Shivaay, I... I can never become a mother..."

Swati was about to finish her sentence when she felt a weight on her shoulder. She turned to see that Shivaay, due to his intoxication, had fallen asleep. Seeing his sleeping face, Swati took a deep breath and closed her eyes, resting her forehead against his.

After a while, she gently laid Shivaay on the bed and sat beside him, holding his wallet. She stroked the picture in it. Truly, Shivaay had preserved a beautiful dream in his wallet—a picture of Swati, Shwet, and himself, as a family. But that dream could never come true.

"You love both of us so much, Shivaay, and the pain you must have endured because we couldn't be together—it’s all because of me. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Swati said, lovingly touching Shivaay's cheek and gazing at his sleeping face.

A little later, she placed the wallet on the bedside table and got up to leave. Just then, in his sleep, Shivaay grabbed her hand, causing her to stumble and fall onto him. When she tried to get up again, Shivaay, still in his sleep, pulled her into his arms.

Swati looked at his face and gently placed her hands on his back.

Looking at him, she softly said, "If you're in my destiny, Shivaay, then I want to try my luck. I'll give it a chance. I may not be able to fulfill your dream completely, but I can fulfill it partially. I may not be able to give you Shwet, but I can give myself to you. Even if you leave me afterward, at least I'll have one moment of happiness, enough to live a lifetime."

With that, Swati closed her eyes and rested her head on Shivaay's chest. There was a sense of peace in her heart that only she could understand.

Next Morning

In the presidential suite of the hotel, Anokhi was sleeping peacefully, wrapped in a blanket. Her and Rishabh's clothes were scattered across the room. The bathroom door opened, and Rishabh came out, wearing only a towel. Water droplets trickled from his hair as he dried them with another towel. Sitting beside Anokhi, whose face glowed in the sunlight, he gazed at her lovingly.

Pushing aside the strands of hair on her face, he kissed her forehead and said, "When you're drunk, you turn into a completely different girl, Cupcake. I hope you don't remember anything from last night; otherwise, you'd be so embarrassed you'd lock yourself in a room and never face me again."

Saying this, Rishabh reminisced about the previous night. Both had been drenched, so instead of going home, Rishabh decided to stay at a nearby hotel. But even in the room, Anokhi's intoxication didn’t wear off—neither from vodka nor from love. In fact, her intoxication only grew with time—both from the vodka and her affection.

Rishabh, drenched in sweat, was over Anokhi, who was also sweating profusely. Both were breathing heavily. Rishabh said, "Cupcake, now sleep."

But Anokhi, placing her hands around his neck, said, "No, I want to love you even more," pulling him close and kissing him passionately.

Remembering this made Rishabh smile. Just then, the doorbell rang. Rishabh covered Anokhi with the blanket and, draping a towel around his neck, went to answer the door. Outside stood the hotel bodyguard, who had brought clothes for him and Anokhi.

Returning with the packet, Rishabh dressed himself and gently woke Anokhi, saying, "Cupcake, wake up."

Half-asleep, Anokhi muttered, "Don’t bother me, Rishabh Ji."

Rishabh pulled her close and pinched her cheek, saying, "Cupcake, get up. We need to go home."

Anokhi slowly opened her eyes, but they barely opened. Placing a hand on her head, she said, "My head... my head hurts so much."

"I know your head hurts. That's why I’ve got medicine for you. First, go freshen up, then eat something and take your medicine. You’ll feel better," Rishabh said affectionately.

Anokhi got up slowly. Suddenly, she felt something and looked down to find herself wrapped in a blanket with nothing underneath. She immediately turned to Rishabh.

"What happened? Why are you looking at me like that?" Rishabh asked.

"What did you do to me last night?" Anokhi asked, glaring at him.

Seeing her expression, Rishabh’s eyes narrowed. Leaning close, he said, "Why are you asking like that? And I’m not a criminal who committed a crime. I just did what every husband does."

"But why can’t I remember anything, and why does my head hurt so much?" Anokhi said, pouting and pressing her head.

Touching her forehead, Rishabh said, "Don’t overthink. Just freshen up. In the meantime, I’ll order breakfast for us."

Saying this, Rishabh picked her up, still wrapped in the blanket, and took her to the bathroom. After that, he ordered breakfast for both of them.

A little later, Anokhi came out of the bathroom, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt with a high neck and full sleeves.

Rishabh, sitting on the sofa, watched her walk towards him. Anokhi still had a towel wrapped around her wet hair. Seeing her, Rishabh smiled.

When Anokhi approached him, he extended his hand. When she placed hers in his, Rishabh pulled her onto his lap. He wiped the water droplets on her neck with his fingers and said, "Feeling a bit charged up, aren’t you?"

Anokhi shyly nodded. Afterward, they had breakfast together and left the hotel after some time.

At the Shergill house, the "first rasoi" ritual for Shivika had already been completed. The entire family was sitting in the living room. Dadaji looked around and said, "By the way, Shivaay isn’t anywhere to be seen. Where is he?"

Hearing this, everyone looked at each other. Meanwhile, Rohit and Omkar exchanged glances and shrugged. Rohit thought to himself, "Where has this boy gone? Did he drink alone after we left? Did he go somewhere while drunk? Could he have gone to Swati’s house in his drunken state?" This thought widened his eyes.

He immediately took out his phone and said, "I’ll call him and find out where he is."

When Rohit called Shivaay, he picked up after two rings.

"Hello," Shivaay said.

"Hello? Where are you? You’ve been missing since morning. You’re nowhere to be seen at home," Rohit asked impatiently.

"I’ll be seen at home when I’m there," Shivaay replied calmly.

"Yeah, that’s what I’m asking. Where are you?"

"I’m at the airport, heading to Gujarat," Shivaay replied.

"What?" Rohit stood up abruptly, drawing questioning looks from everyone.

Rohit asked, "Why so suddenly?"

Hearing this, concern appeared on Shobha’s face. Rohit asked Shivaay, "Hey, what’s going on? Uncle went to Gujarat yesterday, and now you’re going today. Is everything okay?"

Just then, Shivika took the phone from Rohit and asked the same question, "Hello, Shivaay, why are you suddenly going to Gujarat? Is everything okay? Is papa okay?"

"Yes, everything’s fine. Papa is fine too. I’m going for work. I told you about the project in Gujarat, remember? I stayed back because of your wedding," Shivaay reminded her.

Slapping her forehead, Shivika said, "Oh right, I forgot. When papa and you both left for Gujarat, I got a little worried."

"Okay, no problem. I’ll be back in a few days. Okay, bye."

After Shivaay hung up, everyone looked at Shivika. She said, "He’s gone for work, for the company."

At Vikram’s House

The situation was similar there. Rishabh and Anokhi were both missing.

Shalini asked Vikram, "Vikram, Rishabh and Anokhi are nowhere to be seen. Did they tell you anything?"

Vikram muttered under his breath, "Why would they tell me? I was enjoying the night with my wife. He must’ve gone to enjoy the night with his wife too."

But sanjay, sitting next to him, overheard. Realizing this, Vikram froze, a sheepish smile on his lips as he silently begged sanjay not to tell his mother.

Just then, he noticed Rishabh and Anokhi entering. Seeing them, he quickly said, "They’re back, Maa."

"Where were you both so early in the morning?" Shalini asked. Hearing her question, Anokhi and Rishabh exchanged glances.

Rishabh replied, "Aunty, we didn’t leave this morning. We left last night."

The tone of his voice was such as if he had given the final statement, leaving no room for anyone to dare ask further questions. Rishabh's nature was like that—rude and arrogant. But everyone is used of his nature.

But this time, there was something odd about Anokhi's face. Anger was clearly visible on her face. She was glaring at Vikram. On the way, Rishabh had already informed her about her bizarre actions the previous night, all under the influence of vodka, which Vikram had placed in the room. However, he didn’t tell her what happened after the kiss.

When Anokhi learned that her headache was because of Vikram, she started glaring at him.

Seeing both Anokhi and Rishabh behave this way, Vikram asked, "What’s wrong, Princess? Why are you glaring at your brother like this? Oh, are you upset about last night? Come on, I’ll apologize. Don’t get upset, and I promise not to trouble you again."

Making a pitiable face, Vikram looked at Anokhi, but she said nothing and quietly headed towards the kitchen. Rishabh sat silently.

Watching them leave like this, Vikram softly asked Rishabh, "Why is the Princess in such a foul mood this morning? Where did you take her? Did you two have a fight?"

Hearing this, Rishabh gave him a cold look, thought for a moment, and asked, "Had breakfast?"

The question startled Vikram. "What? You’re asking if I had breakfast? Did you drink too much vodka last night?"

The mention of vodka made Rishabh's eyes turn hard. Seeing his expression change, Vikram quickly said, "No, no, I haven’t eaten yet."

"Good, go have it peacefully," Rishabh said and started looking at his phone.

Vikram was puzzled. Watching Anokhi and Rishabh’s changed behavior made him feel something was wrong.

Rishabh messaged Rohit, Hardik, Shivaay, Praveen, and Abhinav. As soon as he sent the message, their phones buzzed. Rohit, Hardik, and Praveen checked their phones and saw a message from Rishabh asking them to meet at the golf club in an hour.

Reading the message, Rohit, Hardik, and Praveen exchanged glances. While having breakfast, they suddenly paused and looked at each other. Ajay noticed this and asked, "What happened? Why are you all staring at each other? breakfast looks better then your face. Stop staring each other and eat."

Everyone laughed at Ajay’s comment, but the trio fell silent and resumed eating. Hardik then softly said to Praveen, "I’m not going to the golf club."

"Why?" Praveen asked, but Hardik didn’t answer. Instead, looking at Dadaji, he said, "Dadaji, Shivika and I..." He stopped mid-sentence.

Seeing him stop, Dadaji asked, "What? You and Shivika… what?"

Completing his sentence, Shivika said, "Dadaji, we are going to Khurana Mansion to meet uncle. From there, we’ll also visit Alia."

Hearing this, a brief silence fell over the dining area. Everyone looked at Hardik, who sat with his head down. Breaking the silence, Dadaji called out to Hardik.

When Dadaji called him, Hardik looked up. Dadaji said, "We’re happy with your decision."

A smile appeared on Dadaji’s lips, followed by everyone else's. Seeing this, Hardik and Shivika also smiled.

A little later, the two left for Khurana Mansion.

Alok and Ajay were also leaving for the office. Seeing Rohit and Praveen having silent conversation, Alok asked, "Aren’t you two coming to the office?"

Rohit replied, " Bade papa, we’ll come a bit later. Bhai messaged us; maybe he’s stuck with some work."

As he spoke, Rohit’s voice trailed off because Alok and Ajay were staring at him and Praveen.

"What happened? Why are you looking at us like this?" Rohit and Praveen asked together.

Alok said, "Haven’t you left that work yet? As far as I know, after Anant Sethi’s death, The Seven Rings shop should’ve shut down. Is it still operational?"

Hearing this, Rohit and Praveen’s eyes widened in shock. Making a face, Rohit complained, " Bade papa, you’re insulting us! It’s not a shop; it’s our gang, a brand. In fact, The Seven Rings name itself is enough to intimidate people."

In a cold tone, Alok said, "Oh, so The Seven Rings is a brand to intimidate people? Remember, if I decide to intimidate The Seven Rings members, you’ll lose your reputation worldwide. I’ve never liked all this, so tell Rishabh to lock the basement as soon as possible."

Alok spoke about the basement softly to Rohit and Praveen. Hearing this, both glanced at Ajay, who was confused and watching them.

Quickly, they stood up and pulled Alok aside. Rohit hurriedly asked, "bade papa, how do you know about the basement?"

With a calm smile, Alok said, "Because I’m the father of your leader."

Hearing this, Rohit and Praveen folded their hands in front of Alok and bowed, saying, "Alright, leader’s father, we’ll convey your every word to our leader and also deliver your warning. Please grant us permission to leave."

Watching their antics, Alok smiled, gently tapped their heads, and said, "Permission granted, now go."

Both laughed and left. Alok, smiling, came to Ajay, who asked, "What did you say to them that made them bow to you?"

"Never mind. If you hear it, you’ll also bow to me," Alok said and left, leaving Ajay making a face as he followed.

When they reached the golf course, they saw Abhinav there. Praveen asked him, "Abhinav, you here? Did Rishabh message you too?"

"Yes, sir messaged me. What happened? Is there a problem?" Abhinav asked. Rohit and Praveen shrugged, and the three went inside.

As they entered, they were shocked to see Rishabh sitting comfortably in a chair in the middle of the golf course, sipping wine while working on his laptop. Nearby, a big dog was chasing a man.

When they looked closely, they realized it was none other than Vikram. Sweating profusely and exhausted from running, he didn’t dare stop out of fear of the dog.

"What’s going on here?" the three exclaimed in unison.

Swati’s Home

Swati woke up late today, perhaps after years of peaceful sleep. When Shwet was around, she’d hold him in her arms while sleeping. But yesterday, she found someone who held her in his arms.

When Swati woke up, she rubbed her eyes and sat on the bed. Looking to her side, she found the spot where Shivaay had slept empty. Scanning the house, she couldn’t find him anywhere. She got up and checked the washroom, but it was empty too.

"Where did Shivaay go?" Swati mumbled to herself. Then her eyes fell on her phone, beneath which was a piece of paper. She picked up the paper and read it.

"Sorry, I came to your house drunk last night. I don’t remember much, but when I woke up, you were sleeping in my arms. I don’t know what happened last night. If I said or did anything inappropriate, I’m really sorry. I left your house early this morning. Don’t worry, no one saw me leaving your house."