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Jhankar gets a little confused after hearing his words. Vikrant looks at her again and says,.

“Sonakshi is pregnant.”

CHAPTER 23

HER FEAR

"Sonakshi is approximately 3 months pregnant."

Jhankar just keeps looking at Vikrant, shocked after hearing this. At the same time, certain things start becoming clearer to her because she knows her brother very well. Her brother holds a deep affection for his family, but he also understands the importance of a child to a father. She is well aware of Vyom's deep love for children. Everything is becoming crystal clear before her eyes now. She also realizes that when they suddenly found out a month ago that Sonakshi was pregnant, everything must have happened very hastily. Probably neither of them had the time to think things through. That’s why they decided to run away as soon as possible rather than terminate the pregnancy. Vikrant approaches Jhankar after noticing her in a state of shock and seeing her staring at him.

"Sonakshi is currently 2 1/2 months pregnant, which means she would have been 1 month pregnant at that time. Probably around then, they discovered the pregnancy. Both of them know Viren Chandel well; he would never have let Sonakshi live under any circumstances, and he would have killed your brother too. In such a situation, both of them probably thought it best to run away because Viren Chandel is not a small name.”

Vikrant stands near her, and she starts looking at him even more intently. The ease with which he is sharing everything is even more surprising to her.

"How are you able to convey all this so effortlessly? I’m not sensing any emotions from you. I mean, you were going to marry this girl, and she’s pregnant. Don’t you feel cheated or jealous at all? After all, you were going to marry her—didn’t you have any feelings for her?”

Vikrant looks deeply into Jhankar’s eyes and replies:

“I was never in love with Sonakshi. We’ve known each other since childhood because our families were acquainted. Because of this, our marriage was arranged by both families. There wasn’t much time between our engagement and all this happening for us to understand each other or fall in love. Sonakshi never told me she loved anyone. I only met her two or three times before the wedding—twice with the family and once alone. She was my father’s choice.”

Jhankar chuckles softly at his words, then shifts her gaze, studying him before speaking.

“Are you a little strange, or are your actions strange? I would never want to marry a man I don’t love or even like. If my family chose someone for me, I would definitely want to get to know him first before making such a major life decision. I would not allow such a decision to be made lightly. After marriage, either he might resent me or I might resent him. It’s better to argue before marriage and make decisions after understanding each other. Love marriages can also end in strained relationships, but I want to thoroughly understand my future husband before marriage. I don’t know what kind of world you live in, where you didn’t even want to know anything about your wife—you just went to marry her.”

Vikrant watches Jhankar carefully as she speaks with her usual rhythm. Suddenly, she falls silent, realizing that she herself is already married to a man she didn’t know at all. She had justbeen talking about knowing a partner before marriage. She suddenly feels uncomfortable with the situation and starts to leave, but Vikrant immediately says:

“It’s every girl’s dream to marry someone after knowing them. It’s every boy’s dream too.”

When Jhankar turns to face him, he puts both hands in his pockets, looks directly at her, and speaks:

“I neither believe in marriage nor do I like to trust anyone, so whatever you say is useless for me… Most importantly, I hate cheaters the most.”

After saying this, Vikrant walks away, and Jhankar can only watch him leave.

~~~~

Sharda starts looking at all the workers serving breakfast in her room. She speaks while seated.

“I was just coming out; why did you all bring breakfast here?”

“Because I said…”

Vikrant enters with a smile and responds to Sharda. She is surprised to see him because she had gone to sleep early last night and didn’t know when he had returned home.

“You? How is Jhankar? She’s absolutely fine, right?”

Vikrant pauses for a moment. It’s the first time in many years that Sharda has shown interest in someone else’s well-being rather than his. But he understands that her anger towards him is also filled with deep love. The more she tries to express her resentment, the more her eyes fill with affection. Ignoring everything, he sits beside her and says,

“Jhankar is fine, and she’ll be here shortly because I told her that breakfast is being served in your room. Today, we’ll have breakfast with you, and then we’ll return to the hospital. So, we want to spend any free time with you.”

"You should spend as much time as possible with your wife so that you can understand each other better.”

Sharda looks closely at Vikrant, who nods in agreement, but she knows very well that, for Vikrant, all this is just an act for a few days. So, Sharda continues and tells him:

"And your effort should be that the more she tries to keep herself busy, the more you should try to break that busyness and make her focus on you. Often, when one tire of a car gets punctured, the car can still reach its destination with the help of the other tire. Sometimes small efforts don’t work—more effort is needed. You should help her in everything because she is your wife. The effort should always come from your side, because the mistake started from your side.”

Jhankar enters the room, but upon hearing Sharda’s voice, she stops. She doesn’t understand why, but she wants to listen to the conversation between Vikrant and Sharda. She hears Vikrant’s voice: