“What the hell!”
Shravan couldn't believe his eyes.
His sister was in the Agnihotri House, making out with Siddhu.
"Bhai" Shreya gasped seeing her elder brother there.
"Shravan bhai. I can explain" Siddhu tried to speak, though he has turned pale as a ghost.
"Explain? You bast**d" Shravan roared and pounced upon Siddhu and punched him hard on his face.
"Bhai! No! Please" Shreya begged, trying to hold her brother back.
Shravan wasn't having any of it. He punched Siddhu again and again.
Siddhu was bleeding by now, and he didn't make any effort to fight back, though he tried to defend himself a couple of times.
Shreya was crying out loudly by now.
She forced herself in between her brother and her lover and hugged Shravan hardly.
"Please bhai. Stop, please. Don't hurt him bhai. I love him" Shreya pleaded with her brother and Shravan looked at her in disbelief
"Love? Since when?" He asked furiously
"Shravan bhai, I understand the way you found out is not right. No brother would like to see what you saw today. But I can promise you that I do not have any wrong intentions with Shreya" Siddhu said, holding his bleeding nose.
"Really? Then what the hell were you doing to her when I walked in?" Shravan asked furiously
"Doing with me bhai. I was an equal participant in whatever you saw. Don't blame it all on him" Shreya snapped surprising Shravan more
"Shravan bhai, we have been in love with each other for the past five years. But we never crossed a line until now." Shravan said
"Five years? Five damn years? Five years ago she was a bloody minor" Shravan bit out furiously.
"I know bhai. I kept my distance until she was older. I am not a lecher" Siddhu said
"I just what you are" Shravan said, disgust evident in his tone.
"Bhai, stop it" Shreya was now standing in between Shravan and Siddhu.
Shravan was taking deep breaths to control his fury.
"I was planning to talk to you about this. Yesterday, I told my parents I want to take an official proposal to your family. Ask mom and dad if you don’t trust me. Ask Drishti. She will tell you" Siddhu said and Shravan looked up at him in disbelief
"Drishti knew?" Shravan asked, shocked beyond his beliefs.
He couldn’t believe that his wife, his beloved wife, kept a secret from him for five years. That too something as important as this.
"Damn it" Siddhu cursed under his breath.
Even if Shravan leaves him alive today, Drishti will definitely have his head tomorrow.
"Bhai, you are angry now. Relax and think for a while. You know me. You have known me for more than ten years now. I would never do anything that would harm Shreya in any way. Neither physically nor emotionally" Siddhu pleaded his case, but Shravan was still furious.
"Bhai, let's go home. We will talk, okay?" Shreya said and pulled Shravan out of the house.
Siddhu let out a breath of relief.
He looked at his phone apprehensively and pondered over whether to warn Drishti or not.
He is terrified of calling Drishti and telling her that he had just pushed her in front of a moving truck.
Oh dear God! Save me!
Siddhu dialed Drishti's number a couple of times, but she didn’t attend the call.
****
Shravan stepped into his apartment, only to receive a glare from his wife.
"Why are you late?" Drishti demanded angrily and stopped shortly seeing his dishevelled look and a worried Shreya stepping into their apartment behind him.
Shreya? Wasn't she supposed to be with Siddhu?
"What's wrong?" Drishti asked
"What do you think?" Shravan's icily calm voice made Drishti shudder for a moment.
He hadn't used that tone with her in years. During the initial days of their marriage, that's how he used to talk to her.
All icy calm and polite. Terribly distant!
That's how he sounded today!
Distant.
"Shravan? What is it?" Drishti asked
"Five years? Five f*cking years and you never breathed a word, Drishti?" Shravan asked, the hurt and betrayal he felt so evident in his voice.
Oh God!
How did he find out about Siddhu and Shreya? And how did he know that she was in the loop.
They were supposed to keep her out of this, when they presented their case with Shravan.
I am definitely going to kill him! Bloody darpok!
'Sorry bhabhi' Shreya mouthed from behind Shravan
"Shravan, let's sit and talk" Drishti said and placed her hand on his arms. He shrugged her hand off and walked away to the bedroom.
"Bhabhi, bhai walked in on us. He caught us in a compromising position. He punched Siddhu a lot" Shreya hugged her sister in law and cried, regaling everything that happened tonight.
"Oh dear. Let me go and see. You go and take a rest" Drishti said and hurried to their bedroom to see Shravan, with his laptop open, furiously typing away.
"Shravan" Drishti called out softly
"Stay away, Drishti. I am too angry at you now. I don't want to say something I will regret later on" Shravan warned, without taking his eyes off the laptop screen.
"Listen to me once," Drishti continued, without heeding his warning.
"Can't you understand what I am saying, Drishti? Does it take a hammer to nail an idea into your head?" Shravan asked furiously and Drishti flinched slightly.
Never had he used such a tone on her before.
Damn him!
How dare he talk to me like that? And why should I share my best friend's secrets with him. I don't owe him any bloody explanation, Drishti thought to herself as she glared at his furiously.
"Fine. Have your way. Don't come running behind me tomorrow" Drishti shot back, in an equally furious tone.
Shravan simply scoffed and continued to type away.
Drishti walked out straight into little Dhruv's nursery, where the baby was sleeping peacefully. She shut the door close and decided to not come out until he calls for her.