Dheer quickly lunged towards Elisa and stopped just in front of her and asked in a worried voice "How did it go El? Did she doubt anything?"
Elisa circumvented her steps and headed over to the bed and took a deep breath as soon as sat at the edge of the bed.
"Everything went well and she didn't doubt a thing. She even believed that Dheer really had no idea about that bitch's true idea and that he's lovelorn learning the truth." Elisa finished in a single breath.
"So?" Dheer asked expectantly.
"So what?" Elisa asked seemingly tired from the long day.
"So what does she plan to do now? Did you convince her to give up on that contract and divorce thing? What did she say? She is going to give this marriage a chance right?" Dheer asked cautiously.
"Oh no! She's all prepared to move out of this apartment day after tomorrow and said she is going to talk to the parents about the divorce. She's more determined to get the divorce more than ever." Elisa said calmly.
"What?" everyone said at once while Dheer was shocked to the core. His mind went blank.
"Why? I thought the plan went perfectly and she even believed that Dheer was heartbroken then why?" Sam asked curiously.
"Yes, she believed it all. In fact, she even believed the things she wasn't supposed too. All thanks to a certain raccoon's whimpering throughout the way" Elisa said, now gritting her teeth. She was still frustrated about how tongue-tied she was just now while talking to Anaya.
'It's here. The storm is finally here. But this time it seems like a tsunami' Rehan gulped thinking about his wife's destruction power.
"What do you mean?" Eva asked.
Hearing their questions she glared at Dheer and recalled her conversation with Anaya.
****Anaya's room***
After talking for a bit, Elisa finally began the actual topic for which she followed Anaya
"Umm, Anaya I know that it is not the time for this conversation but as both of you now know how Anshika is like, what would you do now? Right now Dheer needs your support more than ever. So I was thinking to nullify that contract. You two can finally be together now."
Hearing Elisa, Anaya gave a wry smile and said, " I know how badly you guys want our marriage to work and I'm really thankful that you all think so highly of me. But I don't want this marriage to continue. I will move out after Mama Oberoi's birthday party. And tell Dheer that I will talk to Mama Oberoi and our parents about it. I don't want to stress Dheer even more."
"But..." Elisa wanted to oppose her but was interrupted by Anaya.
Anaya said softly "Please hear me out, Elisa."
Elisa stopped talking at her request and quietly waited for Anaya to continue.
"There is no doubt that Dheer is a great guy. He's one in a million. You know back at the banquet when Anshika was exposed, I really thought not to divorce Dheer and continue our marriage but.." Anaya paused.
"But what?" Elisa asked impatiently.
"But that would not be right to Dheer or me. I know if I ask him to continue the marriage, he will agree without a question because he is a great guy but his heart won't be with me. Seeing how badly he was crying on the way back, I realized that I don't want to take advantage of his weak phase to salvage this marriage, Elisa."
"And say that I decided to continue this marriage, and I even fall for him, what is the guarantee that Dheer would fall for me? What if I am not the right one for him? What if he falls for another person in the future? What would we do then? I don't want to do any wrong by him by tying him to this knot when he is at his lowest and is unable to think straight. He needs time to think, to stabilize his emotions, and to sort out his feelings."
"The same goes for me too. It would have been a different matter if we had been together from the beginning as it was an arranged marriage. But I know about Anshika and how much Dheer loved her even after our wedding. If it was his past before the marriage, and Dheer had agreed to the wedding then, I would have happily helped him to come out of it as his wife. Because then, it would be his decision to move on and even though it was arranged, I still would be the one he agreed on. A girl of his choice, not a forced one."
"Right now, we are not even giving him the options to choose a girl he wants just because I'm his legal wife. And what about me? You all know that it was a contractual marriage from the beginning. Now just because Anshika is no longer in the picture, am I supposed to go back to Dheer as her replacement? I don't want to be a replacement for Anshika. I am Anaya, not any replacement for Anshika. I too have my own existence and my self-respect."
Anaya took a deep breath and looked straight into Elisa's eyes "Now you tell me Elisa what would you do if you were in my place. Would you have continued the marriage?"
Elisa was tongue-tied and couldn't respond to her question. First time, it was the first time in her life that she had lost in a debate. It was the first case that she lost in her life and that too her best friend's love. But Anaya was right. She didn't know that Dheer had already fallen for her and that his tears today only had been a part of the act. For her, his tears were real. In her eyes, Dheer truly loved Anshika and she would just be a rebound for him to overcome his feelings for Anshika. It would not be real love. Elisa herself wouldn't have continued the marriage if she was in her place. She felt disheartened as she couldn't refute a word that Anaya said.
She could have told her that Dheer loved her already but it would not be right. She just can't do it and there were many reasons but topping the list was that Dheer himself could not confess now. And what would she say to her? How does she explain the situation? How would she feel that the man in the question himself could not say that he loved her? He had no right, yet.
Watching Elisa deflating like a balloon Anaya felt bad and tried to cheer her, "But that doesn't mean that I would completely shut myself from your lives. I will help Dheer to overcome this phase along with you guys as a friend. And who knows what fate has in his hand. Maybe we will fall for each other then."
Elisa's eyes glimmered at this sentence. She suddenly looked up and excitedly said " You mean you will remarry Dheer if you both fall in love with each other and that there is still chance for you two?"
"Y..Yes" Anaya said reluctantly. "But there is also a possibility that we will fall for someone else. Let's not be hasty and start fresh. Just as friends. Let the time decide where it will flow."