Opening Scenes

Anurag’s attention drifts toward Shivani, and for a few suspended moments, the crowded surroundings seem to disappear from his awareness.

Looking at her brings back the night he has tried repeatedly to push away.

That night begins with hostility, just as almost every encounter between them does. Anurag and Shivani cannot tolerate each other. Neither imagines that circumstances will force them to remain beneath the same roof until morning.

Heavy rain floods the roads outside. Water gathers around an abandoned cottage, leaving them stranded there with nowhere else to go. Thunder rolls across the dark sky while relentless rain strikes the old windows and roof.

Both of them are drenched.

Their clothes cling uncomfortably to them, their tempers remain sharp, and every attempt to maintain distance only makes them increasingly conscious of each other.

For once, their usual arguments begin losing their strength.

Anurag remembers looking at Shivani differently that night. The woman who constantly irritates him suddenly affects him in a way he never expects. Shivani experiences the same dangerous confusion. The hatred between them does not disappear. Instead, attraction rises directly through it, making every glance heavier and every moment of silence increasingly difficult.

Neither plans what eventually happens.

Yet somewhere between the storm outside and the emotions neither of them knows how to control, their resistance collapses.

They become intimate.

Now, standing before each other again, both remember that same night differently.

Shivani remembers the Anurag who would not allow distance between them that night. His closeness had contradicted every hostile exchange they had ever shared. For those few hours, there had been no Prerna, no families and no consequences waiting outside that cottage.

Morning had changed everything.

Anurag had rejected what happened between them.

Worse, when Shivani later became pregnant, his rejection had extended to the unborn child as well. He had made his decision unmistakable. Prerna was the woman he loved and the woman he intended to marry. Whatever had happened with Shivani was something he refused to turn into a relationship.

The memory leaves Anurag uncomfortable.

His gaze unconsciously lowers.

Shivani's hand is resting protectively over her abdomen.

The small change in her figure is now noticeable.

Anurag stares at it for several seconds. He knows what is growing there. He knows that beneath Shivani's palm is the child he refused to acknowledge. Until this moment, rejecting the pregnancy had been easier when it existed merely as information. Seeing Shivani standing before him with the first visible indication of that pregnancy makes the reality much harder to dismiss.

Shivani notices exactly where he is looking.

Her eyes rise toward him.

Neither speaks.

There is no tenderness in Shivani's expression. She remembers his rejection too clearly for that. Whatever vulnerability she once allowed him to witness has been replaced by composure.

Then Shivani deliberately turns away from Anurag.

Viraj is standing beside her.

She moves closer to Viraj and wraps her hand around his arm.

The simple gesture immediately changes Anurag's expression.

Viraj looks toward Shivani before confidently introducing her to Anurag as his would-be wife.

Anurag freezes.

For a moment, he wonders whether he has heard correctly.

His eyes immediately return to Shivani.

Shivani does not correct Viraj.

She does not explain that she has repeatedly refused his marriage proposal. She does not tell Anurag anything about the complicated arrangement between herself and Viraj. Instead, she remains beside Viraj with her hand around his arm.

That silence burns Anurag more than an explanation could have.

The woman he rejected is standing beside another man.

The child he refused is being accepted by another man.

Something fierce rises inside him before he can rationalize it.

He has never wanted Shivani as his partner. He has repeatedly told himself that their night together changes nothing. He has married Prerna, the woman he loves. By every decision he has made, Shivani should be free to disappear completely from his personal life.

Yet seeing her with Viraj produces the opposite reaction.

Anurag's anger grows.

Shivani recognizes it.

For the first time, there is almost satisfaction in the way she looks at him. She gives him the same indifference he once gave her. Instead of reacting to his anger, she turns her attention back toward Viraj.

Anurag feels deliberately dismissed.

The business meeting becomes almost meaningless afterward. His concentration repeatedly returns to Shivani and Viraj. He notices their familiarity. He notices how naturally Shivani remains beside Viraj. Most painfully, he remembers that she is living in Viraj's house.

Anurag had demanded that Shivani stay away from him.

Now that she has done exactly that, he cannot tolerate where she has gone.

By the time Anurag returns to Basu House, irritation has followed him home.

He enters his bedroom and sits heavily on the bed.

Prerna is already there.

She immediately notices the tension across her husband's face. Happiness still surrounds their newly married life, and she cannot understand why Anurag has returned from an ordinary business meeting looking so disturbed.

Prerna moves closer.

His anger is questioned gently by her.

Anurag cannot possibly give her the actual answer.

He cannot tell Prerna that he has seen her younger sister living with another man. He cannot admit that Viraj has described Shivani as his future wife. Most of all, he cannot confess that hearing those words has filled him with an anger he has no right to feel.

So his frustration is blamed on the endless business meetings.

Prerna accepts the explanation.

With playful affection, it is declared by her that she can become the remedy for his exhaustion.

Anurag finally looks at his wife.

Prerna's presence reminds him of everything he chose. This is the woman he loves. This is the marriage he wanted. She knows nothing about the memory currently disturbing him, nothing about the abandoned cottage, nothing about Shivani's pregnancy, and nothing about the jealousy he has carried home from his meeting with Viraj.

A hug is quietly requested by Anurag.

Prerna smiles.

Anurag smiles back at her, although something unsettled remains behind his expression.

She moves into his arms.

Anurag embraces Prerna closely.

For several moments, he allows himself to remain there, surrounded by the familiarity and affection he deliberately chose for his future.

Prerna rests peacefully against him.

Yet Anurag's mind betrays him.

Behind his closed eyes appears another image.

Shivani's hand over her slightly extended abdomen.

Then Viraj beside her.

Then Shivani holding Viraj's arm.