Prisha’s room

“And?”

“And what? I gave him a front punch, breaking his nose bridge. He will be a sight to see tomorrow in the university!” Benisha laughed explaining her latest fight that her besties missed.

“You are really a bully! Humph! When are you going to understand that we, men also have feelings!” Prisha was getting ready for the verbal fight to start with the initial words of her bestie, Gaurav.

“Oi! He proposed to me! It was his good luck that I left him undead! Feelings, Humph!” Benisha screamed at him making him tsked from the other line.

“Guys, please! Benny, I agree with Gaurav on this one! It was really harsh of you to hit him. You could have just warned him and not hurt him like this!” Prisha expressed her thoughts to which Benisha was wide mouthed.

“Really! You! Out of all people! I mean…I get what this idiot Gaurav is telling! But you! I never expected you to betray me like this! thanks for being my friend for so long! Bye…forever!” Saying so Benisha kept the concall.

“Benny! sigh when is this girl going to learn that even men have feelings too. I am sorry, Gaurav for her rudeness. I will talk to her tomorrow to apologise to you,” Prisha looked at his sad face which glowed with her consoling words.

“Its fine, Isha. I know her and … maybe she is right! He should have not done that to her. Given that she is mi…” Gaurav almost spilled the beans and was wide eyed at his error.

“What was it?” Prisha encouraged him to speak clearly.

“Um…nothing! God! Look at the time! See you tomorrow, bye!” Gaurav immediately cut the call, leaving a confused Prisha.

Prisha looked back at the phone and huffed at her friends silliness. She went to sleep to get up fresh tomorrow.

The Empire Hotel

“Stop it! Sanal!” Amritha screamed at him who had no plan to stop.

Trishna, Veena followed by the other family and friends reached the front exit, getting shocked at the scene.

Dino rushed to stop Sanal from hitting the person whose face had turned black and blue with his punches.

Amritha came to support the injured person. Seeing that Sanal escaped from Dino’s clutches to hit the injured person again.

Amritha saw him taking his best punch. She came between him and the injured person saying angrily

“Don’t you dare touch my fiancé!” Sanal stopped at her words shocked.

Trishna looked at Veena who rushed to her brother. The children were dumbfounded to see the scene as well as the parents.

Vinay came to the rescue of Veena who was finding it difficult to close up to a confused Sanal.

“What?!” Sanal asked her who was caressing his wounds crying audibly.

Rekha came towards her daughter to protect her from the wrath. Shiva looked at Vinay signalling him to control Sanal.

“Can anyone tell me, what the hell is happening here!!?” Sanal screamed at everyone’s silence. Latha clutched his arms to stop him from approaching a crying Amritha.

He knelt down to her face level and asked her

“What did you say, huh? Say it again! Say it!”

“You heard me! Don’t hurt my fiancé?! You touch even a hair on his body, I will not forgive you!” Amritha cried grabbing the injured person’s body closer to her. The person caressed her arms to console her that he was alright.

Sanal shaked his head negating her words and said with tears in his eyes “No, No…no, no, no…! I love you, Ami! Why don’t you understand that?!”.

Amritha was just caressing Shyam’s face crying her heart out. Sanal saw this and jerked her calling out her name.

“Stop it, Sanal! Enough of your madness!” Sanal was wide eyed at her who had screamed at him for the first time.

Sanal looked at their interaction and tried to separate her from the stranger. Vinay saw it and rushed to him. He grabbed the angry Sanal and took him away from the scene.

He pulled him into his car and tried to calm him.

Sanal felt the flowing tears in his eyes and looked at his uncle who signalled him to cool down.

“Why!” Sanal asked his uncle who closed the car doors fearing that his impulsive nephew would charge towards Amritha.

“Is it true?!” Vinay saw the anger and betrayal in his eyes which he felt 18 years back.

He nodded his head to which Sanal tried to open the door.

“Open it! I say open it, Uncle!” Sanal shot his blood red eyes at his poker-faced Uncle.

“Shut it! Listen to me good, child! I will not repeat myself!” Vinay – the mafia, pushed his shoulders towards the car seat and looked straight in his eyes.

Vinay told him that Shyam was engaged to Amritha last month. The time when Sanal had gone to Portland to attend the Art exhibition of his friend, Zach.

Vinay also confirmed the pure love that both Shyam and Amritha shared for each other from their college days. So, it was almost a love marriage than an arranged marriage between them.

Sanal was feeling his head whirl around with the news and he clutched his head.

“Why didn’t she tell me?! I mean I was her…*gulp* her…friend!” Vinay raised his eyebrow at his last word.

“Everyone knows that you take her as more than your ‘friend’ You love her…like mad…so we thought to disclose this to you slowly. But then Shyam had this office tour that he could not avoid till the coming three months. So, we hurried the engagement,” Vinay explained the scenario held in the past four months under the very nose of his nephew who looked at him in utter disbelief.

“So, you planned this, huh! Why did you do this to me! I trusted you! You were my idol! Why?!!” Sanal removed his hands and looked straight in his eyes, clenching his jaw.

“Coz, I know that if you would come to know about this. You would surely try to break this. And not realising that she would also be broken in the process!” Sanal scoffed at his last statement.

“She loves me and no one else!” Sanal shaked his head denying his words.

“Yes, she does. But as a friend. You saw how she cares for him, loves him! You can’t deny that! can you?!!” Vinay tried to put some sense into the lover boy.

“It’s sympathy for the injured! Nothing else!” Sanal tsked not agreeing with his uncle’s words.

“Fine, don’t believe me! You will when they get married after three months,” Sanal got another shock from his uncle’s mouth.

He looked down with shaky eyes trying to figure out an escape from the tangled situation. He then tilted his head on the car seat and gulped. Vinay saw that he was calming down and after some time.

Click!

Vinay opened the door for his nephew who looked at him, calmly.

“Don’t try something stupid! You might regret it!” Sanal chuckled at his uncle’s last words and got out of the car not before saying.

“She will come back to me!” Vinay gave a ‘what’ look to him.

Vinay came out saying “I am warning you!”

Sanal looked back at him saying “I don’t care!” and strode away from there, leaving a shocked Vinay who couldn’t believe the words of his nephew.

His silent nephew who never looked straight in his eyes, challenged him for his unrequited love.

He sat back in his car and rubbed his forehead to think of a way to stop his stubborn nephew.

He did what he thought was sensible at that time.

“Dan,”

Shiva’s house

Amritha was tending to the bruises on Shyam’s face crying continuously.

“I am fine, Ami! It is just a scratch,” Shyam caressed her arms to console her. Her lips quivered at his words, on which Shyam hugged her kissing her hairs.

Rekha was also tearful watching them. Sameer sat beside Shiva to calm him as he was enraged with Sanal’s behaviour.

“He really crossed his limits this time, Sam! I mean how can you beat up a guy like this without knowing his identity?!” Sameer was listening to his complaints with a remorse.

“But he didn’t know that Shyam was Ami’s fiancé. Otherwise, he would have not behaved like this,” Sameer tried to make amends for Sanal’s actions.

“As if! I am sure that if he knew that Shyam is my Ami’s fiancé, he would have surely done more damage than this!” Shiva got up from the couch and went to drink water to calm himself.

Rekha went towards Shiva to make him understand the dimension of the situation.

“Shiva, I know that we should be angry at what Sanal did to Shyam. But we have to understand Sanal’s stand here too. He has been in love with our Ami from childhood. He can’t just accept the fact that she is not his anymore!”

Shiva glared at Rekha on her words but he knew that whatever she was saying was somewhat true.

He thought to talk to Sanal and make him understand that Amritha would be happy only with Shyam.

“V, yeah it’s me. um... yes Shyam is fine. I…needed to talk to Sanal regarding this. We need to make him realise the situation and I don’t want to tense my Ami more, please?” Shiva talked getting worried about the future of his only daughter. He looked back at her who was getting vulnerable at the situation.

Vinay rubbed his forehead and thought to talk to his friend face to face and discuss the seriousness of the situation.

At the bar

Sanal was continuously drinking his anger on Amritha who he thought betrayed him.

Dino was trying to take him back home. But he was just shrugged away.

“Sunny, it is enough! Let’s go home!” Dino tried to grab him away from the bar stool.

But Sanal just jolted him away, saying

“Leave! I don’t want to remember this night. How can she do this to me? Was my love not enough for her that she had to…ugh!!”

“You heard what she said! She loves him and not you. Why can’t you understand this little thing?!!” Dino was making him get the gist of the scene that happened in the hotel. But Sanal was not taking no excuses for her betrayal.

“*huff* she is just confused. She needs to know that she only loves me and not that scam…” Dino got confused as to why his friend was so adamant to make someone his who was not his in the first place.

He thought to call for a cab and take him to his place before he gets completely wasted.