Shattered!

The night lay heavy over the Srivastava Mansion. The sky, washed clean by three days of rain, bore a hauntingly clear view of the stars. Crescent moon hung like a glowing scar in the vast blackness, and down below, on the chilling marble of the bedroom floor, Nayan—or rather, Omkara Choudhary trapped within Nayan's body—lay in a fragile, fevered sleep.

His body trembled slightly, yet the sweat clinging to his brow told another tale. Deep in the depths of unconsciousness, his mind was not resting.

---

The Dream

A soft saffron hue bathed the courtyard of a grand mansion. The wedding mandap stood adorned in marigolds and mogra garlands. Everything felt familiar yet distant. Omkara was dressed as a groom, wearing a pristine ivory sherwani with a golden dupatta draped over his shoulder.

His mother, Ma Dixita, stood near him, applying a red tilak to his forehead. Her eyes glowed with pride. sweets, smiling brightly.

His cousins, Nayan and Uttar, cheered with mischief in their eyes. Nayan winked, tossing petals over Omkara's head. "Bhai, finally shaadi ka bandhan mein bandh gaye ho," he teased.

"You're finally tied into the knot of marriage, brother."

Across the mandap stood Subhangi. Draped in a red and gold lehenga, her eyes filled with tears of joy. Her hands trembled as she adjusted her veil.

The pheres began. The sacred vows, the circling fire, the solemn chants. Saat vachan. Sindoor daan. Mangal sutra.

> "Tumhara haath chhod diya tha maine Subhangi, par mera dil kabhi nahi gaya..." "I let go of your hand, Subhangi, but I never let go of your heart..."

The scene shifted seamlessly.

He saw himself and Nayan, younger and radiant with ambition. The grand opening of their business empire—One Sky. They stood side by side, laughing, victorious. Ma Dixita stood in the front row, tears in her eyes.

Then came SSD Hospital's inauguration.

Cherry blossom trees outside the building swayed in the spring breeze.

Subhangi stood at the lake, waving at him. Her reflection in the water shimmered with love.

Everything was perfect. Everything that Omkara once had.

Then the nightmare struck.

Vaishnavi, Nayan's girlfriend, screamed. Her voice echoed across the valley. She leapt off a cliff.

Nayan fell to his knees.

Omkara watched in horror. He tried to run but couldn't move. Feet heavy. Heart heavier.

The nightmare only darkened.

The scene of his own divorce with Subhangi. Her broken eyes. The courtroom silence.

Then blood.

Subhangi's lifeless body in his arms.

And then, his own hand—pulling a trigger.

Gunshot.

Everything went black.

---

Reality Breaks In

With a sudden gasp, Omkara woke up. His chest heaved. Body drenched in sweat.

The cold marble floor beneath him now felt like ice.

He tried to stand, legs shaking under the weight of memory and fever.

104°F. The fever burned through his skull, distorting reality. But the pain in his chest was something else entirely.

From the drawing room, the old landline rang.

Tringg... Tringg...

Staggering to his feet, he tried to make it across the hall. His vision blurred, breath uneven. He reached for the door…

THAAD!

Omkara collapsed against the wood, sliding down like a broken puppet.

---

Panic Ensues

Malti Mausi, the housemaid and Shakti Mausa's wife, rushed in with a laundry basket in hand. The sight made her drop it in shock.

"Nayan baba!"

Satish, their son, ran from the kitchen. "Maa! Dekho toh sahi, tapak raha hai! Yeh toh poora jal raha hai!"

"He's burning up! Look at him, he's soaking wet with sweat!"

Malti fell beside him, placing her palm on his forehead.

"Bhagwan! Yeh toh agni jaisa tapak raha hai! Satish, doctor ko phone laga! Sahil sir ko turant bulao!"

"God! He's burning like fire! Call the doctor, call Mr. Sahil immediately!"

Satish dialed frantically.

"Sahil sir! Please come quickly! Nayan bhaiya behosh ho gaye hain! Bahut tez bukhar hai!"

---

Backtrack to Earlier That Night

Hours earlier, Shakti Mausa had found Nayan drunken and shattered from the stairs of living room to the floor, murmuring to the moon.

"Mausa... dekhiye naa... Chand kitna sundar lag raha hai. Lekin lagta hai jaise wo mujhpe hans raha ho... mera mazak uda raha ho."

"Look at the moon, Mausa... it's so beautiful. But it feels like it's laughing at me... mocking me."

Shakti Mausa, unaware of Omkara's truth, simply saw a heartbroken man.

He gently said, "Chaliye beta, aap bedroom me chaliye... sab theek ho jayega."

"Come, son. Let's go to your bedroom... everything will be fine."

He helped him to bed, laid him down.

But the moment Mausa left, Omkara rolled off the bed, curled up on the cold marble floor, whispering...

> "Subhangi... mujhe maaf kar do... Maa... mujhe ek aur mauka chahiye..."

"Subhangi, forgive me... Ma, I need just one more chance..."

His shivering body sank deeper into the floor, as if trying to bury the weight of his past.

---

Unaware World

No one—not Shakti Mausa, not Malti Mausi, not even Satish—knew the truth:

That Dakshinayan Shrivastava wasn't the same anymore.

That Omkara Choudhary, heir of Dixita Choudhary, bearer of a broken legacy, was back—but trapped in a second life.

The world around him was asleep.

But within his mind, an empire was burning. A mother's dreams crumbling. A love left behind.