Two hours later

Pavithra Rathore had lived in better times where she isn't copped up in an jail cell on a false charge, she knew it was a mistake to speak up against her immediate supervisor to the Restaurant's owner, but she had noticed that his behavior towards the younger staff had crossed a line on more than one occasion, she had tried to be around them as much as possible but felt the need to speak up. So she did not realising that her supervisor was the nephew of her boss's wife .

It had been a huge change to move from Singapore, but her circumstances called for a change where she was hounded by the creditor's. Getting verbally harassed by them and stalked whenever she went out that it had made her worry about her daughter safety, hence she risked moving back to India .

It had been two hours since she was brought to the police station and all the awhile her mind wandered about her daughter, she felt helpless as she remained unable to protect her.

When she first met Lavanya, she knew an Angel has been sent to save them. And when she met her family, she felt like all the burden she held on to where no longer an concern .

Pavithra had been an housewife all her life and thrust into the world where she needs to be a bread winner had been a difficult change but the job helped as it was not just work but her passion to cook. She has only completed few online courses back when she was married and wallowed in grief at the continued absence of a child.

It was her husband who insisted she do something to occupy her mind then give into the grief, cooking always calmed her and so she applied for few online courses and it was through a mutual acquaintance on this course, she had stumbled upon the idea of adoption .

Even then the threat that someone would snatch her kid away made her insist that the kid should be adopted from India, as she lived in Singapore she felt the miles of distance between them would keep her real surviving family away.

None of it helped as her brother found her, not a distant cousin or long lost uncle. Her own brother and from the day she learnt about his existence, her happiness at the new found job and stability vanished .

The Maheshwari's assured her, he will not take her daughter away from her . Even their daughter came to vouch for her boyfriend, but the fact is she was intimated by his family, she had been prepared to accept a 19 year old brother and didn't expect to come across a entire family who are immensely rich.

Pavitra met his family once in Singapore in a party, the most successful businessman Rajeev Singh and his wife Divya Singh weren't in the equation. And she felt threatened at their power .

Every one has been cordial when she went to meet them first, but she felt like an outsider among them . Once she used to mingle alongside them when her husband was not a drunkard and leaning towards ruin . The moment everyone heard of his downfall, they alienated her and the so called friends of her,  ignored her as if fearing she would ask their help when things got dire due to her husband debt..

Pavithra had bottled up those insecurity when she moved to India, initially it made her very reluctant to accept Lavanya's help ,the only reason she let go of her pride had been for her daughter and now she is worried about the daughter.

Pavithra knew how much of help the Maheshwari's did to her family,  no legal laws or court could keep those debtors away from her unless they were already paid by someone else, she suspected they paid,  yet didn't ask Lavanya family if they helped with the debt because it would make it too real, that a stranger had paid her husband's  debt .

Though Pavithra felt the gratitude, she feared the cost of their actions and when they came with her Ananya's brother, she couldn't even voice out her real thoughts .

It wasn't fear that held her back, but gratitude towards the Maheshwari's . And it increased tenfold when the prison cell opened and the officers asked her to step out. She walked outside to see them standing together with a smile to greet her, deep down she knew they didn't expect anything from her for their help but she felt the burden of their generosity .

As they drove her back home, she worried about Vihaan's reaction . She had needlessly lashed at him in her helplessness and now she wondered how everyone will react when they get to know about it, she didn't have to worry for long as they reached home .

The sight that greeted her was heart warming as her daughter was asleep on the couch waiting for her, and then she turned to look at him who had been busy cleaning the house. In the quest to find the missing cash they ransacked her house. She was grateful that her daughter wasn't around when they arrived and only saw the aftermath.

Pavithra wanted to thank him for staying with her daughter but felt it would alienate him as she is his sister, or maybe apologize to him for her earlier outburst but before she could approach him, her daughter woke up and launched herself into her arms and everything felt right.

It took her a moment to calm down her daughter who had burst into tears at the sight of her and when she turned to bid goodbye to the Maheshwari's, she noticed Vihaan had already left and she regretted not speaking up before but decided she would find time to do so tomorrow .

Pavithra knew her job was lost after last night, so she went to collect her belonging but was told that she still had her job. Yet again reason to thank the Maheshwari's ,she didn't know what law they used to threaten her boss not to fire her. And she didn't expect her boss's wife to apologize to her in person for her nephew actions ,and assured her that he had been fired from the job .

" I am so sorry, my husband believed him since he was family. I told my husband not to hire him but he had said it wouldn't be fair to reject family and so he choose to trust him over you, if you had come to me first ,I would have supported you. And add to that he filed a false charge against you in anger that when my husband had enough of his actions . And understood it had been my nephew fault " her words was heartfelt that she felt secure in her job and as she immersed herself in work ,she forgot all about Vihaan until she walked outside of her restaurant to come face to face with him, he had been waiting for her .

         ************************

Vihaan felt a hint of guilt at not telling his Angel about his destination ,once he assured Divya di everything was fine and that they need not prolong their trip for him, they left earlier that day with Anjali who had bid a teary goodbye to everyone including him .

His Angel's family asked him to wait for a day or two after the scare his sister faced, she wouldn't want to be away from her mother and he agreed to wait. Yet when his Angel texted him stating her brother had told her that Lavanya's mom went to work . He made up his mind to meet her in her work place .

Vihaan couldn't  unhear the accusation in her words and he also felt it was his duty to reassure her, he knew it must have been a trial last night and he didn't want to add to her worry by letting her continue to worry about him as well. He knew last time when he tried to talk with her, she responded with just a single word answer and he hadn't been able to break the barrier between them. This time he had hoped to convey his thoughts .

" I know you may not want to see me right now, but I just wanted to say I have no intention of coming between you and Ananya . She is your daughter and you have raised her for all her life. I just wanted to know her a bit, and two weeks had been more than enough. All I wanted was to know if she is safe and happy and now that I know it, I will leave tomorrow .

We may happen to meet by chance in the future, and I hope you knew that I won't cross my line . " Vihaan didn't know why he spoke those words, he hadn't came here to relinquish his hope of getting to know his sister and he knew it isn't fair to Anjali to decide on her behalf, but he knew one thing that right now wasn't the time to get back into her life .

When he noticed Anjali's mom ,he knew that she wasn't ready yet to share her daughter with anyone else. Right now she needed her daughter more, and he had waited for 11 long years to know his sister was alive and happy, that was all he needed to know back then and he gotten greedy when he met her.

But it was time for him to take a step back till her mom finds it in herself to know she won't lose her daughter because of him.

" Thank You and Sorry " was all she had replied back to him and Vihaan knew he made the right decision . As he drove back to his Angel's home since his Angel's mom had invited him for dinner .

Vihaan had waited till the dinner got over before he told them about his decision, his Angel had been surprised but her parents seem to understand the need for him to take it slow. No one spoke further on the topic as they understood he won't want to talk about it.

But he knew his Angel had been worried from the glance she kept throwing his way, he understood her concern and yet the truth was he wasn't hurt or sad.

The truth his sister was happy had been enough and he had gotten to see her smile, laugh and even play with others .And he had also seen her tears and understood she may not get to know him, but he would always look after her even if it is from afar .

" You are going back tomorrow right ?" his Angel voiced out the question once they were alone, he knew he had to bring it up but didn't expect her to catch on to it first .

" It is the only way, Anjali's mom won't feel threatened, as long as I am around she won't be able to relax " he answered back and he could see her trying hard to mask her disappointment .

" Fine, just two more weeks before college reopens " she answered back with a smile, yet he knew two more weeks would feel like s long time without his Angel .

" It will be gone in the blink of an eye and then you will be back in college and talk non stop about how you miss your family " he answered back in hopes of getting an reaction out of her that wasn't sadness and as expected she smiled as she understood the truth behind his words .

" I Know Vihaan, how precious is the time you get to spend with your family and that why I am so proud of your decision, at least one Anjali will get her bhai back soon " his Angel answered back and he agreed with her .

Vihaan had always searched for his sister to find the one person who could love him back and in turn he found several people who loved him even without the bond of blood between them. It hasn't been an easy decision for him to take a step back from his sister's life but right now it was for the best .

P.S :" That it for now. Let me know your thoughts and Feedback. Hit the votes if you liked it "

Juanita Reid .