Charan did not know what to say.. he did not know where to even start saying about everything Shreya was making him feel at that moment. He really hated himself for it at that moment as he stared at the ring in his hands.

Since Shreya had to leave in a hurry and she needed to take the guys with her, she actually dropped him off at her apartment before going. Anyways, the security in the apartment was much better. He wouldn't need so many people to watch over him. His own house was really awkwardly placed that required too many people to cover it from all sides.

When he came to Shreya's apartment, Andrew drove him over. Charan was met with an empty apartment. He did not bother switching on the lights as he made his way to the bedroom. He looked around aimlessly. He knew he could not sleep until Shreya comes back in one piece.

Shreya resolutely refused to take him with her when he offered. She gave him some bullshit about how he should look fresh for his big day.. But he knew that if Shreya was not taking him, she was probably going to do something risky in which she was not 100% sure of the outcome. But since she seemed to be in a hurry, he did not bother her at that time and let her go.

After all, even when she took risks, Shreya always had a measure. Even if she was not scared for herself, she was scared of Akira. After what happened after Shreya's accident.. after seeing Akira's reaction, Shreya really had been extra cautious about everything. She did not take any unnecessary risks.

So, he can be rest-assured to some extent even if not completely knowing Zack was going to be with her.

So, in order to distract himself from overthinking, he poked around aimlessly. Not that Shreya had anything new here..

Her desk had all her staples. Some files were scattered around with the ??ptop sitting in the center. She had a photo frame of him and Akira in one corner. There was another flip photo frame of the whole of Anand family on one side and her own family with herself, Adithya, and her mother on the other side. She had a pen stand attached to it.

When Charan was aimlessly flipping around some book from her bookshelf, something caught his attention. It was not so much that it caught his attention, what actually drew his attention was the fact that he hadn't noticed it before.

He had been running around busy from the time he came back from the island. So, he was not surprised he never noticed it.

He kept the book back in place and took the box from the place. It was actually slightly hidden away. If he was not standing right in front of the bookshelf, he couldn't have seen it with the book blocking his view.

It was a small jewelry box. The box looked neat and simple. Nothing extravagant. Charan couldn't help open the box. There was a very simple men's ring.

The ring was a simple band of silver with a very simple carving.

For a second, Charan thought maybe it was Shreya's dad's ring. But the ring looked polished and unused.

Charan took the box near for a closer look. The ring actually had shallow carvings outside. Even that design was simple.. nothing too extravagant.

But then, something else caught his eyes.

He moved around and sat on the table chair. He reached out and switched on the table lamp and looked intently at the ring. He took out the men's ring and showed it towards the lamp.

But what he saw made his breathing itch at the base of his throat. He kept staring at the ring shell shocked for god knows how long before coming back to his senses. The ring was carved on the inside.

The ring had "Shreya's Charan" carved into it in very elegant letters from the inside. It was crude and arrogant but effective.. and it was just in line with something Shreya would do.

But what caught him off guard was the significance of the ring she had bought.

If it was just any ring, Shreya would have given it to him a long while back.. If Shreya had held back from giving it, it means the ring had more significance. And he can also see that even when it looked very simple on the surface, the metal itself looked sturdy and rare somehow.

Which all led to only one conclusion, Shreya had bought it as a wedding band for them..

When did she even buy something like this in the first place?

From the dust that had collected all around it in the bookshelf, Charan knew the box had been there for a while now.. which means she had bought it and kept it with her for a while now..

But more than that.. one thing that caught him absolutely off guard was the fact that.. if she had bought it, it means she was planning on proposing to him..

Not that he hadn't thought about it. He actually thought about it too.. very seriously. His hands unconsciously went to his wallet and took out the ring he had bought for her. It was a platinum band. Knowing Shreya, even he selected a very simple one.. it was a very thin band with small diamonds embedded all around it.

If he had selected it by himself, he wouldn't have opted for something with diamonds in the first place... He always felt Shreya would find it too glittery for her taste.. He probably would have stuck to a plain band like Shreya, but he took Akira with him, and obviously, to his 11-year-old, glitter was everything. And no matter how much he tried to convince her otherwise, Akira did not budge. She absolutely refused to select anything that did not sparkle.

Akira shut him up by saying, "Shreya will like anything as long as I select it!!"

He bought it, but with everything going on, he had been waiting for the right timing.. there was also a part of him that was holding back.

But after what he vowed himself today, Charan decisively took out the men's ring from the box and replaced it with the one he bought for Shreya.