Fifteen days later.......

It had been fifteen days since that unfortunate night came into their lives, taking everything away from them. Today was the day they were returning to their work town, Gurgaon – their second home. Everyone in the family had insisted they stay, but Sidharth had been firm in his decline, especially after the incident that took place that day. Mr. Hooda had tried to persuade him as well, but in response, Sidharth had simply confronted his father with the truth about how their so-called relatives would humiliate her for no reason.

"Son, I was thinking you could stay a few more days," Mr. Hooda said to his son.

"We've already discussed this, and it would be better if you don't bring it up again," Sidharth stated.

"Alright, as you wish. Take care of everyone," Mr. Hooda said, to which Sidharth nodded.

Sana came downstairs at that very moment, and they touched the feet of the elders before making their way to their car to begin their journey back to town. It was almost a three-hour drive back home, and Sidharth had made sure to get everything ready. He held Aarav in his arms as they walked to the car. Aarav had grown quite mature too – though young, there were facts he understood, and over the past few days, he had been understanding a lot more. Sometimes, it felt like the little one had grown up too soon.

During one of these past fifteen days, he had said he was better off with "young father" as Pradeep was barely a father to him. He couldn't even see him that often. That outburst had infuriated Sana to her core, and she had slapped him across his face, following it with a yelling session and a lecture about sense he had yet to gain. But what stunned everyone was that the little boy didn't get angry. Sure, he cried, but he sought his mother, saying he was there and she could beat him. None could understand the level of maturity the little one showed, but Sana melted right then and there, crying with her child for their mutual loss and loving him. At that moment, Sidharth took a pledge to protect both of them with his dear life. They were just too precious, and the world doesn't let precious ones be on their own that easily.

"Sis-," Sidharth started and then sighed, closing his eyes.

Addressing her as his sister-in-law was one of the habits he had been practicing for the past four years. Such habits couldn't be changed overnight, nor in a span of fifteen days. So here he was, struggling with it.

"I wanted to say that if you need anything, I'm here," he stated, to which she barely nodded.

"He's sleeping, so shall I put him in your room?" Sidharth asked, pointing to Aarav, to which Sana nodded slightly again before opening her side of the door and making her way inside.

Sana walked to the door and tried to open it, but it was locked, and at that moment, she actually realized what a blunder she had made by leaving the door unlocked before. But then, she had been too dazed at that moment to care about such things. Still, she thought, the door shouldn't be locked according to that.

"Key," she heard the familiar voice letting her know that he had taken care of it. She took the key and inserted it, opening the door.

As soon as she opened the door, it felt like a sudden wave of nausea hit her as she gripped the wall for support. The memories of that day – the day she lost her world – came crashing upon her. She couldn't find the strength to keep herself steady and let herself drop to her knees as her mind went back to the lane of sadness, loneliness, and grief. How her brother-in-law had been teasing her about her husband just fifteen days ago, and how her world came crashing down in a moment when she received that phone call, and how today she had come back to this house with the title of almost being a wife to that very brother-in-law of hers. Life really was unpredictable.

"Sana," she heard his voice before his arms wrapped around her shoulders as he saw her on the floor after coming out from putting Aarav to bed.

"What happened? Are you alright?" he asked, caressing her hair and soothing her.

"I... don't know," she managed to breathe out.

"Your body seems hot. Do you have a fever?" he asked as he rubbed her hand, which he was holding, noting it was unpleasantly hot.

"I'm fine," she said, making an attempt to get up, and he let her, just helping her steady herself.

"I'll be back in two minutes," he said before making a rush, but her harsh voice stopped him.

"You don't need to care for me. I'm alright, and I can take care of myself," she said rather harshly.

"Yes, just like you've been taking care of yourself for the past four years, right?" he said sarcastically.

"I don't need your concern," she stated.

"Why are you making this difficult?" he sighed.

"Why did you agree to all of this?" she asked, her voice choking at the end as she tried to keep her tears at bay.

"I can't keep repeating the same thing. Given the situation we were in, I made a wise choice. Now whatever you think about this is your choice, but if you think that because of this choice I'll end our friendship or stop caring about you, or erase the memories of the past four years we've spent together just to fulfill this new relationship, then you're wrong," he stated in a tired tone.

"This is all as difficult for me as it is for you," saying so, he left.

Sana felt as if she couldn't breathe for a moment as she replayed his words in her head. He was right – they had always had each other's back in the past four years, given the fact that his presence was more prominent in her life. But what shattered her was the very idea of viewing him romantically. It felt like she was betraying her soul, her husband somewhere. It felt like she wasn't ready to even continue the relationship she had with him as a brother-in-law. They were like best friends always, but now even that seemed like a wrong deed. He was indeed right – Sana was always careless regarding her health, and that's why he had always looked after her, but today when he attempted to do the same, she was infuriated.

Wasn't it wrong on her behalf?

He was a victim of this as much as she was!

Sidharth grabbed the first aid box from the drawer and walked back to her room. He didn't know why, but his heart felt a deep pain when she asked him not to take care of her. She was always the one who would demand he look after her, even at the expense of his brother's disapproval. They were like two best friends whom you could always look up to in your ups and downs, but today her behavior hurt him a bit too much.

"Here, put this on," he commanded, holding out the thermometer to her.

"No," she declined.

"Sanu," he said, and both of them froze for a moment as her nickname rolled out of his mouth – the nickname given to her by her husband.

Sidharth felt like he had just exploded a bomb as he saw the look of utter anger on her face, and he knew by that look that she had taken it seriously wrong. She might have thought he was trying to take her husband's position, whereas on his behalf, he was only trying not to address her as his sister-in-law again. In the past four years, he had always addressed her as 'bhabhi,' and today that word didn't feel right given they hadn't talked much in the past fifteen days. But today, they had finally talked after the ritual, so addressing her that way felt wrong, so he opted for her name, but he never intended for it to come out that way. He knew it would hurt her, and he had obviously been trying to avoid doing that at all costs, but then again, what's supposed to happen ends up happening on its own.

"Leave," she nearly yelled, and for the time being, he simply obliged.

"There's paracetamol in the box. Take it after checking your temperature," saying so, he left with a defeated and infuriated sigh.

He was angry at himself!

Our ML is going to be so goated. Trust me on this🌸. I'm a reader first and i would've absolutely loved reading this book and i can't really wait for it to unfold in front of you. So, stay tuned. Don't forget to like, comment and follow. The upcoming chapters are going to be for followers only[Free,although] so follow if you haven't done that already.