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Jhankar speaks to her, pressing her head against hers with a gentle smile.

“Yes, I was very tired; that’s why I fell asleep, and it was good that we took a lot of time to reach because of the traffic jam, so I got a chance to sleep comfortably.”

“Traffic jam? But the driver was telling me that there was no traffic. Sir asked him to get out of the car after reaching here so that you could sleep comfortably in the car; your sleep should not be disturbed in any way.”

Jhankar suddenly starts looking at her and, while making coffee, starts saying more to her with a smile.

“When Sir’s car arrived, we started preparing to set his dinner because he dislikes any kind of delay in his work. However, he did not come out of the car, which worried us. The driver then informed us that Ma’am was sleeping in the car, and we would rather not disturb you. Therefore, he asked him to get out of the car. I have been working here for so many years, but this is the first time in front of me that Sir has had his dinner so late.”

Jhankar, listening to her words very carefully, suddenly tells her,

“What time did we come here?”

“Maybe 9 o’clock…”

Jhankar becomes completely silent. The helper hands her a cup of coffee, and then she quickly comes back to the room. Vikrant is sleeping very well; she sits on the sofa and starts looking at him. She can clearly see the tiredness on his face. She understands that the reason for his tiredness is her father’s illness, as he is fully dedicated to their needs. Over the past month, he has made every effort to assist them, a fact that Jhankar finds difficult to comprehend. She looks at him and says softly.

“Are you regretting your mistake?”

She gazes at him for a while before becoming engrossed in her work and reading continuously.

~~~~

Vikrant wakes up at his usual time in the morning. He looks at the sofa, where Jhankar is sitting with her eyes closed. He looks at his watch. It is 6:30 in the morning, and the way she is sitting tells him that she has been working all night. He gets up and walks over to her. Her hair is shedding on her face. He has seen on her laptop that she might have found some online work that could help her earn a little money; she was doing that the whole night. He begins removing her laptop from her grasp, but she gets up immediately.

“What…?”

“You were working all night; you didn’t sleep.”

Jhankar rubs her eyes and looks at her watch. She immediately closes her laptop and starts to stand up. However, the prolonged sitting with her legs crossed has caused her to become extremely rigid. She starts falling as soon as she gets up. Vikrant catches her immediately.

“Ouch…”she screamed in pain.

“Sit back…”

Because she had been sitting in the same position for a long time, her feet had become numb. When she suddenly placed her feet on the ground, they became crooked, and she continued to feel pain. Vikrant sits her back on the sofa and starts looking at her feet carefully.

“Ouchhh… Leave…” He is checking her leg, which causes her pain.

“Relax… it is muscle stiff…”

He massages her calves, then tries to relax her feet by rubbing the soles with his thumb. Jhankar is experiencing severe pain, prompting her to gaze at him silently. However, as a result of his massage, her feet begin to experience significant relief. Soon her pain disappears completely, and she starts looking at Vikrant, who is massaging her feet very well. Abruptly, she draws her feet closer to herself, prompting Vikrant to stand up and gaze at her. Jhankar converses with him as she gathers her belongings.

“What time will we leave for the hospital?”

“Tell me when you are ready, and we will leave.”

She nods her head and starts leaving from there. Vikrant continues to stare at her, then abruptly calls her out.

“Jhankar…”

Jhankar turns toward him. Vikrant is looking at her and then says to her,

“If you want, we can send a message to Vyom that your father is unwell.”

On hearing this, Jhankar starts looking at him in a very strange way, and he says to her while looking toward the window,

“But it would be better if he stayed away from here because Viren Chandel is looking for them, and he will not leave Sonakshi and Vyom under any circumstances. It is better for both of them to stay away at this time… They both need each other right now.”