Fated To Be Yours – Season 3<br /> <br /> She wanted to buy him…<br /> But he wasn’t one to be bought.<br /> <br /> A contract… two strangers…<br /> Anaya Singhania – a girl whose world revolves around power, status, and money. Who doesn't trust men... Fated To Be Yours – Season 3<br /> <br /> She wanted to buy him…<br /> But he wasn’t one to be bought.<br /> <br /> A contract… two strangers…<br /> Anaya Singhania – a girl whose world revolves around power, status, and money. Who doesn't trust men and for whom love is a deception.<br /> <br /> Advait Ahuja – a young, promising but simple boy, who wanted to change his life through hard work and honesty.<br /> Despite poverty, he had self-respect in his heart and unwavering faith in his principles. In whose heart resides boundless love.<br /> <br /> When Anaya gave Advait a hefty offer,<br /> she thought he would easily say yes.<br /> But Advait plainly said—<br /> “I am not for sale.”<br /> <br /> But fate had other plans.<br /> Compulsions bound them in a contract marriage—<br /> where there was no love, only conditions.<br /> Where every day was a new battle—of ego, of arrogance, and of hearts.<br /> <br /> Will these two people from different worlds be able to move beyond their deal?<br /> Or will this relationship only become a game—in which someone wins, someone loses?<br />
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A girl emerged from the narrow lanes of Chandni Chowk, adorned in a bride's red attire. Her braid, like a serpent, flowed down her back to her waist, the garland of flowers woven into it spreading its fragrance all around. The golden 'maangtika' on her forehead swung haphazardly due to her running. A large nose ring adorned her nose, and her soft lips, the color of crimson rose petals, murmured something softly. The heavy necklace around her neck swung back and forth with each hurried step. Heavy golden 'jhumkas' in her ears, armlets on her arms, bangles filling her hennaed wrists, and a beautiful pearl 'kamarbandh' around her slender waist accentuated her figure. Heavy anklets with bells jingled, announcing her arrival.
Wearing sports shoes, she ran through the lanes of Chandni Chowk as if participating in a marathon. The scorching heat of March, the time around five in the evening when the sun was still shining brightly in the sky, coupled with the heavy bridal dress and jewelry, took its toll. All her makeup had been washed away by sweat, but her natural beauty was still captivating. With a small backpack slung over her back and her lehenga raised with her palms, she fearlessly ran on.
Reaching the main road, she stopped an auto and quickly got inside. She pulled out a dupatta from her bag and covered her face. She asked the driver to take her to the railway station and took out a bottle from her bag to drink water. The driver, a nineteen-year-old boy, was mesmerized by the girl's beauty. He kept staring at her through the rearview mirror.
While drinking water, the girl noticed him. She lowered the bottle and, glaring at him, said,
"Hey brother... don't stare like that, I'll get bad luck. Drive the auto quietly. Otherwise, I'll throw you out and drive myself, and run you over with this very auto. Then you'll think a hundred times before staring at any girl again."
The boy was taken aback by her attitude and the way she spoke. But as soon as his eyes met the girl's eyes, which were glaring at him angrily, he focused on driving. The girl took out her phone, removed the SIM card, broke it, and threw it out. Taking a deep breath, she muttered to herself with a mocking smile,
"Now try to find me, those who came to get me married. I have always done what I wanted, and in the future too, only what I want will happen in my life."
The driver was listening to her carefully. Finally, he asked,
"So, you ran away from your wedding?"
"Yes, I ran away, so what's it to your father? Drive the auto quietly, that's what you'll get paid for. I'm not going to pay you extra for spying on me… there's a limit! People can't mind their own business, it's very important for them to poke their noses into other people's affairs."
The girl scolded him thoroughly. So, the boy started driving silently. After about half an hour, they reached the railway station. The girl paid him and quickly ran away. She bought a ticket for the next train and went to the platform. Soon the train arrived. The girl quickly boarded the train and, finding an empty seat, sat down, saying to herself,
"By the time everyone finds out that I have run away, I will be far away from here."
A victorious smile spread across her lips. The next moment, her eyes fell on the platform outside. Her eyes widened. She quickly hid behind the window. Outside, there were some people with policemen, probably looking for someone, or for her. The boy who had dropped the girl there was also with them.
Seeing him, the girl said to herself, irritated,
"So, this wretch has planned to get me caught… scoundrel… I will deal with you, first let me get out of here."
She quickly crawled under the seat. After some time, more people came and sat there, and the train started moving. As soon as the train moved away from the platform, the girl quickly came out from under the seat. The people sitting around were stunned to see her. There were two reasons for their surprise.
First, the girl emerged from under the train seat, and the second reason was that she was in a bridal dress. The girl saw everyone staring like that. So, she flashed her teeth and said "Sorry" and moved forward. First, she went to the bathroom and changed her clothes, putting all the jewelry in her bag.
Now she was wearing a simple white short kurta and black jeans, with a dupatta around her neck. In a completely different style, she looked just as beautiful in these clothes too. She went to the other side now. Anyway, she was in general class, so she had to pass the time like that. She even found a seat in a compartment. So, she sat comfortably. Coincidentally, she was on the Mumbai Rajdhani train, which is the fastest train from Delhi to Mumbai. The girl kept looking outside, with a smile on her lips and a sparkle in her eyes all the time.
As evening deepened, it got dark outside, and gradually all the passengers had their dinner and went to sleep. The girl sat on one side. The next morning, she had some light snacks and started looking outside again. At around eleven o'clock, the train stopped at Mumbai Central Railway Station. Everyone slowly started getting off. The girl stepped down from the train gate. Then, spreading her arms and closing her eyes, she smiled.
"Welcome to Mumbai, my dear… welcome to the city of dreams, Mumbai."
She opened her eyes and, grabbing her bag, moved forward. As soon as she came out of the railway station, a speeding bike passed by her and the boy sitting behind snatched her bag. The girl ran after the bike, shouting,
"Thief-thief! He took my bag… someone catch him…"
She ran after them, shouting, but how long could she chase the bike? They disappeared from her sight in no time. Running frantically, she was completely exhausted. So, holding her waist, she bent down and took deep breaths. After relaxing a bit, she looked up at the sky and said, frowning,
"You have given me a very good welcome to this city. Stole my bag as soon as I arrived. Do you know everything from money to my ID was in it? Now what will I do without money in a city like Mumbai?"
Tears came to her eyes, but she didn't let them fall. Asking around, she reached the police station, but there was a different scene there. No one was willing to listen to her. Finally, after two hours, she was called in. An inspector was sitting in front.
"Yes madam, tell me how can we help you?" the policeman asked respectfully. The girl quickly said,
"I don't need any help, as soon as I set foot in your city, those scoundrel thieves stole my bag. It had my documents and money… everything. So, somehow, please just get my bag back."
"Yes madam, we will try our best, you go there and file an FIR and also write down your contact number, as soon as we find out anything, we will inform you." the policeman said, pointing to the other desk. Hearing his words, the girl said with a drooping face,
"But my phone was in that bag."
"No problem, you file an FIR, then you can come here and inquire or if you get a new number, come here and register it. We will try our best to find your bag." the policeman assured her. The girl relaxed a little. It was already four in the afternoon while filing the FIR and leaving from there. She had had tea in the morning. So, now she was very hungry. She rubbed her stomach and started walking on the streets of Mumbai.
She didn't know the way, nor the destination. She just kept walking. It had been a few days since she had eaten properly because her wedding was being arranged against her will. So, she was showing her anger by staying hungry. Then, after coming here too, she had got nothing. So, her head started spinning. A speeding car was coming towards her. As soon as the car reached her, it honked, but the girl's eyes were not opening.
The next moment, she fell face down in the middle of the road. At the same time, the person sitting in the car coming from the front slammed on the brakes after seeing her and the man sitting behind him ran his two fingers across his eyebrows, expressions of frustration and anger appeared on his face, his eyebrows furrowed. Now that person looked very dangerous and scary. Seeing his expression, the boy sitting next to him looked at the driver sitting in front and asked,
"What happened? Why did you stop the car so suddenly?"
"Sir, a girl has fainted in front of the car." the driver replied somewhat fearfully. Hearing his words, the boy looked at the boy sitting next to him and said,
"Sir, I'll go check now."
Saying this, he quickly went out, the driver also got out with him. The boy checked the girl's pulse and said, taking a deep breath,
"She's just unconscious."
He walked back towards the car and, peeking inside through the rear window, said,
"Sir, the girl is unconscious, she will have to be taken to the hospital."
Hearing his words, the boy glared at him angrily and said in his stern voice,
"Do whatever you have to do quickly, I don't have time."
Hearing his words, the boy ran back towards the girl. With the help of the driver, he seated the girl in the back, then sat next to her, supporting her. The car started again. The car stopped at a red light further ahead. Due to being unconscious, the girl leaned towards the first boy and fell straight into his lap.
The boy's eyes narrowed with anger. He glared at the girl who was lying comfortably in his lap. The boy next to him panicked and quickly lifted the girl and apologized to her. The first boy kept staring at the phone without any expression. Suddenly, he turned towards the girl whose golden face was being illuminated by the moonlight filtering through the window, making her face glow, a different allure was spread across her face.
The boy kept looking at her face for a few moments, something was going on in his mind but it was a little difficult to guess what he was thinking by looking at his face. The car stopped in front of City Hospital. The boy started getting out with the girl. He stopped after hearing the first boy's stern voice.
"You stay here with her, see that she doesn't run away. As soon as she regains consciousness, inform me." Hearing his words, the other boy turned towards him and said,
"Sir, what are you going to do with her?"
"Nothing special for now, do what I said, the rest you will find out later." he said in a stern voice. The other boy nodded in agreement and left from there. The driver moved the car forward.
That grumpy, arrogant guy had left. The other boy had admitted the girl to the hospital. The girl hadn't eaten anything for many days, so she had become weak, which caused her to faint. She was being given glucose. The boy was sitting outside the girl's ward.
The doctor had given the girl a sleeping injection, so she was expected to wake up in the morning. At 2 AM, the boy's phone suddenly rang, and he was startled. He looked at the number and it said 'Boss' - meaning it was the phone of that grumpy boy, whose name was Atharv Singhania. And the other boy was his assistant and secretary, Arnav.
As soon as Arnav saw the name, he quickly picked up the phone and said,
"Hello Sir, a call so late at night? Is there any problem?"
"Find out all the information about the girl we met on the road today. I need all the information about her by tomorrow evening. And make sure she doesn't go anywhere from there." Atharv's stern, commanding voice once again hit his ears, and with that, he said in surprise,
"Sir, why are you taking so much interest in this ordinary girl?"
"Do as you're told, I don't pay you to ask these pointless questions. Quietly do your work, when the time comes, you will know everything yourself." This time anger was clearly visible in his voice.
Arnav thought it best to keep his mouth shut and said "Sorry Sir" and "Okay Sir" and hung up the phone. As soon as he hung up the phone, he muttered to himself,
"Who knows what's going on in this devil's mind now. He's after some innocent girl... Leave it Arnav... You just do your work, otherwise, he'll kick you out of his company."
He shook his head and started talking to someone by making a phone call while sitting there. After a while, he cut the call and sat with his eyes closed.
The next morning at six o'clock, the girl opened her eyes while stretching. As she looked around, she got up in shock.
"Where have I come?"
She quickly checked her clothes. After seeing herself safe and sound, she took a sigh of relief and then got off the bed. The glucose had removed her weakness and she was feeling quite fresh and energetic. She remembered a little and remembered that she had fainted in front of a car last night.
She looked around again and started talking to herself.
"Oh! So I'm in the hospital. But Ashna, you don't have any money to pay the bill. (Then she looked around the room and said) Looking at this room, it seems like it's a very expensive hospital. Then the bill will also be huge... Run, my dear, run... Before anyone comes here and catches you, get out of here."
She quickly moved her steps towards the gate and as soon as she came out, her eyes fell on Arnav sleeping on the couch outside, but he was lying there asleep. Hearing the sound of the door, Arnav opened his eyes and turned his gaze towards the gate. Seeing the girl in front, he stood up straight. While Ashna saw him getting up and muttered in her mind,
"Run Ashna run."
She moved quickly to the other side, so Arnav quickly went after her and said,
"Hello, excuse me Madam, where are you running like this?"
Ashna turned her head and saw that Arnav was coming right behind her. Seeing this, she started running, so Arnav also ran after her. Both started running in the corridor of the hospital. Ashna turned to the other side and started going down the stairs, so Arnav moved towards the elevator.
As soon as Ashna reached the ground floor, she frowned seeing Arnav standing right in front of her. By then, Arnav questioned her while glaring,
"Can I know why you are racing with me in the morning? Are you in the mood to play catch with me or are you practicing to run in the Olympics?"
Hearing his words, Ashna bowed her head and said softly with a sulky face,
"No, I don't have any money, you will ask me for money, that's why I was running away from you."
"And who told you that I am going to ask you for money?" Arnav once again raised his eyebrow and asked. Hearing his words, Ashna made a cute face and said,
"You got me admitted here, so now you will take the bill from me, right? That's why you were waiting outside my room."
Hearing her words, Arnav burst out laughing. Ashna started looking at him in amazement. Arnav saw her confused expression and said with a smile,
"Don't worry, I wasn't waiting outside to take the hospital bill from you. Rather, I was waiting for you to regain consciousness. Last night you fainted in front of my car, I brought you here and the hospital bill has already been paid, so you don't need to worry about it."
"Really, you won't take money from me?" Ashna's face lit up with happiness and excitement. This time it was Arnav's turn to be surprised. He said in his mind,
"She's a strange girl, she's so happy about such a small thing."
He was just thinking this when Ashna said further,
"Thank you so much for bringing me here. Waiting here all night for me to regain consciousness and now you are not even taking money from me... Actually, I came here only yesterday and as soon as I came, your city gave me a surprise... That scoundrel biker ran away with my bag. Everything was in it, so now I don't have anything. I have told the police, but who knows when they will find my bag and return it to me."
Saying this, Ashna sulked, so Arnav understood the reason for her being so happy at the mention of the bill being paid. Along with that, he also understood that the girl standing in front of him is very innocent and is not from here. Her heart is very clean, that's why she told him everything. Seeing her sad, Arnav smiled and said,
"What's your name?"
"Ashna... and yours?" Ashna immediately asked, so Arnav also smiled and replied,
"Arnav... Anyway, the doctors are saying that you probably haven't eaten anything for many days, that's why you fainted due to weakness, so if you don't have any objection, we can go inside. You can eat something and also tell me your story... Don't worry, I won't ask you for the bill for the food."
Arnav said with a smile, so Ashna laughed and nodded and moved towards the room.
Just a few minutes later, Ashna was sitting cross-legged on the hospital bed with great enthusiasm. There were many dishes placed in the tray in front of her, which she had ordered herself and now she was looking at them with longing eyes, licking her lips. Arnav kept smiling looking at her childlike antics.
When Ashna did not start eating for some time, Arnav smiled and asked,
"What happened?... Eat, it's all for you."
Ashna first looked at him and picked up the spoon while looking back at the food. She hadn't eaten properly for many days, so now she pounced on the food and started eating quickly. In this process, her food got stuck and she started coughing loudly. Arnav immediately extended a glass of water towards her,
"Take water."
Ashna grabbed the glass and started drinking water. Only then did she calm down a bit. Now Arnav took a step back and said,
"Eat slowly, no one is going to snatch it from you, it's all yours."
Hearing his words, Ashna looked at him and smiled. In return, Arnav smiled and gestured to eat, so now Ashna slid the tray towards him and said,
"You can also eat, it's a lot. Agreed that I haven't eaten properly for many days, I am very hungry, but I am not a monster who will eat so much at once."
Saying so, she laughed at her own words. Hearing her words, Arnav also smiled and refused and said,
"I know you are a human and very innocent, but I really don't want to eat right now, you eat and if you want, you can also tell me about yourself while eating. Like where are you from? What's the reason for coming here? Who are you going to live with here? About your family, whatever you want to tell."
Hearing his words, Ashna's smile faded away, and the next moment a painful smile spread on her lips. She moved the tray aside and said,
"I don't consider my family as a family. According to me, a family is one in which there is love, trust and understanding. Those who become companions in each other's happiness and sorrow. Who understands you, supports you, and if you are wrong, they explain to you. Here people are with you only for their own purposes, that's not called a family? Where no one cares about your life and death, your happiness and sorrow, your smile and tears, that cannot be a family. Where no one understands you, whether you are right or wrong, you are always proven wrong, that is not worthy of being called a family in my eyes. Still, I will tell you about my family... We were six people in that family. Mom-dad, an elder sister, a younger sister, and a younger brother. I don't know about the others, but I never got the love and time of my mom and dad. Since childhood, I used to try to keep them happy, doing all their work so that maybe they would love me, I was small then, so I used to think that if you do someone's work, they will love you. But then slowly I grew up and I realized that if someone loves you because of work, then that's not love at all. Still, I kept fulfilling my duty, they gave birth to me, I had to repay this debt. I didn't used to talk much in childhood, but my silence used to say a lot, but no one could ever understand it. I was given the tag of arrogant, along with being declared rude. It used to hurt at first, I used to feel bad... I used to cry alone for hours, but no one ever came to comfort me, no one ever lovingly put their hand on my head and asked, baby what happened? Why are you so sad? Why do you stay quiet? They didn't ask, so I didn't tell either, then slowly I learned one thing that life is not about shedding tears, but about smiling even in pain, after that I completely changed myself... and now I am what I am, as I am, in front of you."
Ashna said while spreading a charming smile on her lips, but Arnav could also see the moisture in her eyes. For her happiness, he said with a smile,
"Why did you come here? And where are you from?"
"I am from Delhi, my family lives in Chandni Chowk. My dream is to open the biggest dance academy in India. For that, I was saving money for years, but then suddenly my dad dropped a bomb on me called marriage. I didn't want to get married, I refused too, but the boy seems to be from my elder sister's in-laws' family, so everyone forced me. My going out of the house was stopped, in anger I said yes, but my heart didn't agree... I was looking for an opportunity for many days. My wedding was the day before yesterday, then only I was in the room. Everyone else was busy with work, I got the opportunity I was looking for and I jumped out of the window with some clothes and money. I went to the railway station and took a ticket to Mumbai, they reached the station with the police, but I escaped. They say Mumbai is the city of dreams. I also came here to fulfill my dream, all my jewelry, money, clothes were in that bag, which that scoundrel biker thief ran away with. Now I have nothing except these clothes. I thought of starting my career by becoming a choreographer, earning a lot of money. Then I would open my academy, but all my dreams were shattered. Now I will have to arrange for a place to live and food first, for that I need money and for that, now I will have to work hard. This is my story."
Saying this, she stretched and the glass on the table fell on the ground. Ashna looked down in panic and said while hitting her head,
"Everything is ruined... Ashna baby, you can never improve. Your hands and feet should be tied, whenever you see, you keep breaking something. "
She started getting angry at herself, so Arnav said looking at her in surprise,
"It's okay, it was just a glass. What's there to be so angry about in this?"
"You don't know. I haven't told you my biggest specialty yet. Everyone in Chandni Chowk used to call me a walking earthquake and one name is mine, Miss Smash... Wherever I go, I keep breaking something. No matter how much I try, this habit doesn't go away. (Now she said while looking at the glass lying on the ground, which had broken into pieces) The sample is in front of you. See, I cremated this glass while sitting."
Ashna was once again speaking nonstop. While Arnav was looking at her and wondering that a girl who has so much pain hidden in her chest, can she be so carefree? He shook his head, then looked at Ashna and said,
"It's okay... it was just a glass, you eat."
Ashna looked at him, so he smiled and gestured to eat. Ashna started eating again.
"You eat, I'll make a phone call and come."
Ashna nodded her head in yes after hearing his words, so Arnav left the room. He called Atharv and told him everything that Ashna had told him. Atharv listened to him quietly, then said in his usual stern voice,
"Get it investigated by your men, is she lying or not?"
"Sir, that girl is very innocent, I have seen the truth in her eyes. She doesn't keep anything in her heart, she tells everything. I don't think she is lying. Still, I will put my men to work. You will know the whole truth by evening."
Arnav replied with great confidence. Hearing his reply, Atharv was silent for a while, then spoke further,
"Take care of that girl."
Arnav said "Okay Sir", so Atharv hung up the phone. Poor Arnav was once again confused as to what exactly is going on in his boss's mind?
Aashna was talking to Arnav, and he was silently listening to her. Suddenly, the door of the room opened, and some people started coming inside. Aashna looked at them with wide eyes. They were all wearing black uniforms and carrying several shopping bags in their hands. They placed all the shopping bags on the sofa and said to Arnav,
"Sir, Atharva Sir has sent these for Madam and has asked her to get ready."
Arnav was already surprised to see them here; now, there was no limit to his astonishment. After doing their work, they all left from there. Aashna looked at Arnav and asked,
"Who were all these people?... And why were they calling you 'Sir'?... Who is that other Sir, and why did he send so many things and for whom?"
Arnav himself was confused. What could he explain to her? But he had to answer. He replied calmly,
"The person whose car you came in front of yesterday is my boss. He only got you admitted here and paid all the bills. When you fainted in front of our car, I was with him, so he only asked me to stay here with you. He must have sent all this for you."
Hearing his words, Aashna chirped,
"Means compensation? I was about to have an accident with his car yesterday?"
Arnav nodded in agreement. Aashna quickly got down from the bed and ran towards the sofa. She opened the shopping bags and checked them. There were designer dresses, one better than the other, which looked quite expensive. There were makeup items, hair accessories, a watch, everything was there.
Aashna, with a sparkle in her eyes, said while looking at everything,
"Are all these for me?"
"Yes... Please freshen up and get ready. I will wait for you outside," he said as he went outside. Aashna nodded in agreement. From so many clothes, she took the simplest dress and went into the bathroom. She was in a VIP room, so all the facilities were available here. Arnav was pacing outside, looking worried.
After a while, Aashna's voice came from inside,
"You can come in now."
At her request, Arnav opened the door and stepped inside. But after walking two steps, his feet stopped, his eyes fixed on Aashna standing in front of him. Aashna was wearing a full-length gown made of light blue and white combination. Her hair was styled in a messy bun, with some strands falling on her cheeks. There was no makeup, just natural beauty and her thin, cherry-red lips, with a bewitching smile spread across them. As soon as Arnav's eyes fell on her, his whole world seemed to stop on her.
Aashna looked so beautiful that if anyone saw her now, they would happily give their life for her. She looked like a beautiful fairy who had come out of a magical world of dreams and was standing in front of him. Seeing Arnav looking at her like this, Aashna's eyebrows furrowed. She glared at him and said,
"What is it... Why are you staring like that?"
Hearing her words, Arnav hurriedly looked away from her and said,
"Sorry... You are looking very beautiful... so just..."
"So your eyes were not moving away from me. I know," Aashna completed his incomplete sentence. Arnav looked at her in confusion. Aashna smiled and said further, "Everyone used to say the same in Chandni Chowk too, but let me tell you that I don't like it at all when someone stares at me like that.
I spared you for now because you seemed decent to me, but if it happens again, it will be my punch and your face, so keep that in mind from now on," she warned him, showing her fist. Arnav smiled and nodded in agreement.
"Thank you for forgiving my mistake. This mistake will never happen again because I have no interest in getting beaten by your hands," saying so, he laughed. Aashna also burst into laughter. Her innocent laughter was drawing Arnav's attention, but he controlled himself.
Aashna was still laughing when the door of her room opened once again. Aashna suddenly became silent and opened her eyes wide and looked at the front with her mouth open. From the front gate, Atharva, wearing a black three-piece designer suit, stepped inside, setting his coat with great style as he walked towards Aashna. Hair set with gel, black goggles on his eyes, pink thin lips, serious face, branded watch on his hands, and expensive branded boots on his feet. What an amazing and deadly attitude he had... a majestic face, a powerful personality, a chest puffed up with pride, and the shape of his body visible from the fitting suit, which was no less than that of a model.
The way he walked was also different, what swag he had, there was a different aura around him, as if an emperor from somewhere had arrived there. Aashna had never seen such a handsome boy till date, she was staring at him with wide eyes.
Atharva's face had no expression. Arnav was looking at him with wide eyes, surprised and worried to see him there. Atharva went and stood in front of Aashna, took off his goggles with great style, and fixing his black eyes on her face, he said,
"How are you?"
"Y... Y... Yes, I am fine, who are you?" At his sudden question, Aashna was startled at first. Then she composed herself, and finally, she asked the question that was going on in her mind. Hearing her question, Atharva turned his eyes towards Arnav. Arnav quickly came forward and replied,
"I told you, you fainted in front of my boss's car. This is my boss, Mr. Atharva Singhania, CEO of Singhania Groups."
Arnav introduced him. Aashna, looking at Atharva from top to bottom, said,
"Hmm, the name suits the personality, quite handsome too, a hero-like body, comes from a rich family. That's why the way you walk, the way you talk reflects royalty, and this arrogance also seems to be hereditary... Why...?"
Aashna raised her eyebrow and questioned Atharva. Seeing the way she spoke, Atharva's eyebrows furrowed. He started glaring at her with eyes that could devour her. Aashna also looked into his eyes and glared at him.
Seeing the dangerous looks of both of them fighting, Arnav came in between and said with a smile,
"Sir, her name is Aashna."
Hearing his words, Atharva turned his eyes towards him. Seeing his cold looks and glaring scary eyes, Arnav swallowed hard and stepped back and stood silently. Just then, the door opened once again, and a man wearing a black coat came inside. Arnav was shocked. This was Atharva's lawyer who looked after all his legal work.
That lawyer walked towards Atharva. Atharva extended his hand towards him without looking at him. The lawyer placed some papers on his palm. Atharva extended those papers towards Aashna. Aashna, in confusion, looked sometimes at him and sometimes at the papers. When she didn't take the papers, Atharva held her palm with his other hand and handed the papers to her.
Aashna first looked at the papers with confused eyes, then looked at him with questioning eyes and asked,
"What is this?"
"Doesn't seem illiterate, so must know how to read... Read it yourself," Atharva's arrogance did not decrease even a bit. Hearing his words, Aashna made a face and said in her mind, "Arrogant somewhere, what would he have lost if he had told me... But no. He has to show his arrogance... Huh."
She now turned her eyes to the papers. Her senses were blown away just by reading the word written in big letters above. She started reading the papers with wide eyes. As she was reading everything, the expressions on her face were changing. In the end, she threw the papers on the bed and glared at Atharva angrily and said,
"What nonsense is this?"
"Not nonsense, these are papers of our marriage... so sign them," Atharva once again replied with arrogance. Hearing this, Aashna's anger flared up, her mind flared up with anger and she screamed,
"Are you out of your mind?! Marriage, that too with you, I will do... Never. Agreed you are handsome, rich, but I am not for sale. If you are thinking something wrong about me, then let me clear it to you first. I am not one of those girls who are ready to do anything for a few bucks. Yes, I have to earn money, but I am absolutely not ready to sell myself for that...
I am surprised, how can your thinking be so small even after being such a big man? Means, there is a limit to everything, acquaintance and gone to marry me... Mister, I am poor, but I am not a market girl who deals in her body... Got it?
I will not marry a man like you, who is ill-mannered, arrogant, haughty, and has such a cheap thinking, not in this birth, but in any one of the next seven births. Even if you are the last bachelor boy in the world, I would prefer to die unmarried, but marry you... Never. Did I come here leaving my marriage for this?... Take your papers and your cheap face and get lost from in front of my eyes. If you stay in front of me for a little longer, I don't know what I might do to you."
Aashna looked very angry, but her words had no effect on Atharva. He first looked at the lawyer, then at Arnav. Both of them, understanding his signal, started leaving from there.
Aashna saw Arnav leaving, so going behind him, she said,
"Hey, where are you going, leaving me alone with this psycho man? Take me with you too."
She had just reached the gate when Atharva came towards her with long strides, and before she could open the gate and go out, he grabbed her arm and pulled her back. Aashna was now standing in front of him. She started struggling while trying to free her arm from him,
"Leave me... I don't want to stay with you, I also want to go out... Leave me."
"You cannot go out of here until you agree to my words," once again Atharva's majestic voice echoed there. Hearing his words, Aashna flared up,
"I will not agree to your words and will also go out of this room, you cannot stop me."
"Okay then fine. Get out of my grip, if you can do this then you are free and if you lose then you will have to agree to my words," Atharva made a bet with her in his own style. Aashna got irritated.
"What do you want from me? Why are you after me...?" she said irritably. Atharva smiled wryly and said as he went closer to her,
"I want you."
Hearing his words, Aashna became rooted and started looking at him with wide eyes. Seeing her expression, a sly smile appeared on Atharva's lips,
"I have to show the world that we are together. For that, you will have to sign these contract papers. By the way, you have read the papers, but still, I would like to tell you that according to this contract, for the next one year, you will live with me in my house, in my bedroom as my wife. In this one year, we will live exactly as every husband and wife lives, in return, after one year, you will get 25% share of my property, with which you can fulfill your dreams.
In this one year, you will get everything that my wife has the right to, except for one thing, and that one thing is... I myself. You can live there, do everything, just can't come close to me... Don't worry, I will also not try to touch you, to come close to you. You will have to show the world and my family that everything is fine between us, we love each other very much, and we are very happy together. One year later, the contract ends, after that you go your way and I go my way. After that, there will be no contact between you and me.
According to me, you should sign this contract because it has more benefit for you than me. You will go to the world as Mrs. Aashna Atharva Singhania, you will get both name and fame, you will live in a luxurious house, you will get all the luxuries. Then, with the money you will get after one year, you can start your life again. You can fulfill that dream of yours for which you have come here, but you don't have the ability to fulfill it.
Neither do you have a place to live, nor do you have enough money to bear the expenses of food and drink. You will not be able to survive alone in a city like Mumbai, and now you have a debt of more than 10 lakhs on me, which is impossible for you to repay, so it is in your best interest to silently agree to my words."
"A debt of more than 10 lakhs, when did I take a loan from you?" Aashna, who was silently listening to all his words, was looking at him with wide eyes and open mouth, astonished, hearing his last words. Atharva now stepped back two steps and said with an evil smile,
"The room in which you have been relaxing since yesterday, its bill is 2 lakhs, which I have paid. 1 lakh rupees has been spent on your treatment."
"But your car hit me, so you will pay for it, right? Anyway, I didn't tell you to take me to such an expensive hospital, I could have been treated in a cheaper hospital too... You were fond of wasting your money, so why would I return that money to you?"
Aashna quickly clarified. Atharva looked at her with deep eyes, then moved towards her and said,
"Maybe you don't remember, yesterday you didn't collide with my car. You came in front of my car and fainted, so it was your fault and you will pay the money... As for the cheaper hospital, they don't match my status. So you will have to pay the hospital bill too... And maybe you don't know, the way you came in front of my car, if I file a case against you that you tried to commit suicide by coming in front of my car, then what all can happen to you?"
"You are speaking wrong, I was not committing suicide. I had fainted," Aashna quickly said in panic. Hearing her words, Atharva said with a devilish smile,
"Hmm, but you know that, I know... But the police will believe only what I tell them, right?"
"You... Don't you feel ashamed while threatening me?" Aashna was barely controlling her anger. Atharva was not affected by this either, he spoke further,
"You only said that I am ill-mannered, so now see my ill-manners... Yes, I forgot to tell you further." Now he said, looking deeply at her milk-white body, "The products that you are using to shine so much, those products alone are worth more than 5 lakhs, whose money you have to give me now."
"Hey... But I haven't used anything, then why will I give the money for it? I don't need any products, my skin is very good anyway," Aashna quickly said. Hearing her words, Atharva was shocked that she had not used anything. Her skin is naturally so fair, radiant, and soft. Then he diverted his attention from her and said with a wry smile,
"Okay, you haven't used the products, but this dress that you are wearing and standing in front of me, its alone is worth more than 5 lakhs, and you have worn it, so you will have to pay for it."
"A five lakh dress!" Aashna's mouth remained open in amazement, and she was looking at him with wide eyes, while Atharva was looking at her with a sly smile on his lips.
"A dress for five lakhs!" Ashna's mouth hung open in astonishment, and she stared at him with wide eyes, while Atharv watched her with a sly smile.
"You have until evening to think it over carefully. You have two options... either you sign this contract, or you have all my money ready by evening. Because if that doesn't happen, the police will come here, and you'll spend the rest of your life within the four walls of a jail... The choice is yours... whether you want to live a life of luxury with me as my wife, or ruin your life as a prisoner in jail."
He left with a sly smile. Ashna stood staring after him, mouth agape and eyes wide. As soon as he went outside, Atharv told Arnav to keep an eye on Ashna and left with the lawyer.
Ashna walked wearily to the bed. She had just picked up the papers with trembling hands when the door opened, and Arnav came inside. As soon as he took a step inside, a flying pillow hit him squarely in the face. Before he could recover, another pillow came at him, but he caught it and looked up in surprise. Ashna stood holding a heavy object in her hand. She was probably getting ready to throw it in anger. She raised her hand to throw it, and Arnav screamed, covering his head with his hands, "Don't throw it! My head will be split open!"
Hearing him, Ashna slammed the heavy object angrily on the table and shouted, "Why did you do this to me?... I thought you were a good person and told you everything about myself, and you told everything to that monster. You knew that he would extract a price for everything from me, then why did you bring me to such a big hospital?... Why didn't you tell me before that the cost of these things is my life? Why didn't you tell me that in exchange for them I would have to sell myself?... What will I do now? Where will I get so much money from?"
Her throat constricted, and her eyes filled with tears. Feeling her pain, Arnav looked up at her. Ashna was sitting wearily and dejectedly on the floor. For some reason, Arnav didn't like seeing her so sad; he rushed to her, but before he could touch her, Ashna stood up and said angrily,
"Don't touch me... I understand everything... you both planned this together to trap me in your web... But what harm have I done to you that you are doing this to me?"
Two tears rolled down her cheeks. Arnav came forward and quickly wiped away her tears, saying,
"Ashna, believe me, I didn't know what the boss was going to do. I don't even know what happened here that you're so angry with me. I took care of you out of humanity; there was no hidden agenda."
"Oh, so you're saying you don't know what your boss said to me and why I'm so angry?" Ashna asked, shaking off his hand in anger. Arnav made an innocent face and looked at her uncomprehendingly.
"I really don't know anything. What happened?... Why are you so angry? What did Sir say to you? Tell me, then I'll know something."
Seeing the truth in his eyes, Ashna calmed down a little and told him everything that had happened inside the room. Then she continued,
"Your boss threatened me that if I didn't sign these papers, he would send me to jail because I don't have a single rupee to return to him."
She said, showing him the papers, and Arnav looked at them suspiciously, "What's written in these papers?"
"Here, read it yourself and see the sample of your boss's ridiculous act." Ashna was angry again. She thrust the papers into his hand. As Arnav read the papers, the color drained from his face. A strange sadness, helplessness, and pain began to show on his face. After reading the papers, he closed his eyes, then composed himself and began to think about everything. Ashna kept watching him.
After a while, he opened his eyes and said, looking at her, "In my opinion, you should sign the papers. (As soon as he said that, Ashna looked at him in surprise, and Arnav, explaining, continued) This will give you a safe place to live, and after a year when you separate from him, you can fulfill your dream with the money you get from him.
Anyway, you don't have anything right now. It's not good to wander around in a city like Mumbai without any place to stay. You are alone, beautiful, and young... In such a situation, you are wise enough to think about how safe this city is for you. Then you have left your home; the ways to go back are also closed. You came here to fulfill your dream, and with this marriage deal, you can fulfill your dream. Think about it from this perspective; this deal is not harmful to you."
"You've gone mad! If I had to get married, why would I have run away from home and come here?" Ashna said angrily, hearing him, but Arnav replied calmly,
"Because you had to fulfill your dream, and this marriage is the only way to reach your dreams. Sir has said that he will never come close to you during this one year; you will be completely safe with him. Anyway, Sir has no interest in girls and marriage. He is ready to do a contract marriage because of family pressure because if he doesn't marry a nice girl in the next two days, his grandfather will give all his property to a trust. He won't get a single penny of this property.
He had to adopt this method out of compulsion. You don't know him yet; he looks strict but is not bad. He takes care of his employees like his own family. He respects every relationship; he just has one problem: since his breakup with his ex-girlfriend, he has stopped even looking at girls. He has turned 27, but he runs away at the very mention of marriage, so Grandfather has come up with this way. I think you should sign the papers. It's just a matter of one year; after that, both of your paths will diverge. You will be able to live your life as you wish."
"Everything you say is right, but a contract marriage... marriage is not a game that you play today and break tomorrow. He wants to bring me in front of the world as his wife; what will happen to me after a year when we separate? No one will say anything to him; after all, he is so rich, how can anyone dare to point a finger at him, but what about me? I will be branded as a divorced woman; my whole life will be ruined."
Ashna said somewhat worriedly. Hearing her, Arnav turned her towards him. Looking into her eyes, Arnav said,
"Your life will not be ruined. I promise you, I will get you settled in another place; whenever you need me, I will be there to help you. If there was any other way, I would never have asked you to do this, but I know Sir very well; if he has decided to do something, he will do it no matter what he has to do. I guarantee that Sir will not do anything wrong with you, and even after separating from him, I will not let anything wrong happen to you."
Hearing him, Ashna said to herself, "How will I be able to live with that monster in the same house, in the same room?... And he is so handsome; what will happen to me if I fall in love with him while living with him?... No one can understand these things. He will leave me after a year, be happy in his life, but what about me?... It will not be easy at all to live a separate life after separating from him after being associated with his name."
She kept thinking all this. Arnav went out. There was moisture in his eyes. He punched his hand on the wall and said angrily to himself,
"Why Ashna?... She doesn't have happiness in her life anyway. Now Sir has created another problem for her. All this is as easy for Sir as it will not be for Ashna. She is an ordinary girl who has some dreams, and Sir is strangling her dreams. This is wrong; it is not right to force someone like this."
He knew it was wrong, but he was helpless. How could he go against his boss? On top of that, he liked Ashna, and now suddenly, after what Atharv said, the poor fellow's heart was broken. Even though it was going to be a contract marriage, Ashna was now going to become his boss's wife. Just thinking about it made him feel very strange, although he was still unable to give any name to his feelings. Both sat in two places, thinking about their respective entanglements. From morning to evening, neither could Arnav muster the courage to go inside, nor did Ashna come out. At five o'clock in the evening, Atharv once again stepped there, and seeing him, Arnav stood up. Atharv asked in gestures, and Arnav gestured to go inside. Atharv opened the door and stepped inside, and Ashna's angry red eyes rose towards the door. Seeing Atharv in front of her, she averted her gaze in hatred. Atharv smiled crookedly, then moving towards her, said:
"Your time is up. Now tell me, what is your decision? Do you want to become my wife or should I call the police? Because you don't have the ability to pay the money."
"Mr. Atharv Singhania, watch your tongue when you talk to me! Even if I don't have money, I also have self-respect. Anyway, you need me more than I need you right now, so it would be better if you behave with me politely." Ashna roared angrily and glared at him. Hearing her, Atharv looked at her with a sly smile and said:
"Impressive! You do seem worthy of being called my wife. You are right, I need you right now, but it can be corrected a little more. You need me and I need you. So let's sign the deal, both will be happy and both will get their work done. I will get what I want and you will get what you want. So tell me, is the deal approved?"
"Yes, but I have some conditions." Ashna replied, and Atharv smiled crookedly, then gestured for her to speak further:
"First condition, if during this one year you ever break your promise and try to come close to me, this deal will be broken at the same time, I will leave your house and your life at the same time, and I will still have the right to 25% of your property."
"Agreed. Because it is impossible for me to try to come close to you." Atharv replied with firm conviction, and Ashna said smiling,
"Time will tell what is possible and what is impossible. Let it go. My second condition is that as long as we are together, you will not interfere in my personal matters at all. We will live together, but we will not try to intrude into each other's lives."
"Agreed. Next."
"After our separation, all our connections will be severed, you will never return to my life, and you are responsible for ensuring that I should not have any further problems because of you."
"Done. Next."
"Neither will you try to come close to me in front of the media, nor in front of your family, you will have to maintain a distance from me."
"I will come as close to you as is necessary to convince them that we love each other and are very happy in our married life." Atharv modified Ashna's condition according to his own, then gestured for her to speak further, and she said:
"Our marriage will only be limited to these papers; I will not have that marriage with you with the pheras. When it is a drama, then let it remain a drama."
"This is not a drama; we will have a contract marriage, but there will be a marriage. You will live with me as my wife. The only difference between a normal marriage and this marriage will be that there will be nothing between us that happens between a normal husband and wife, and this marriage will end after a year, but the marriage will take place with all the rituals, because I have to show the video of our marriage to my family, otherwise they will not believe me." Atharv put his point in front of her. Ashna remained silent for a few moments, then said somewhat hesitantly:
"My last condition is that if... if by mistake, everything happens between us in this one year... whether it is due to anyone's mistake... if all that happens and because of that I... (Then wiping the sweat from her forehead with her palm, she said softly) get pregnant... then... only and only I will have the right to that child."
Atharv was listening to her silently. He was feeling her nervous face, her eyes dancing here and there, the constant tremors on her throat as she tried to moisten her parched throat, and his deep eyes were fixed on Ashna. Ashna somehow completed her sentence with her eyes closed. As soon as she became silent, Atharv glared at her and said:
"So you are planning to have a child with me?"
Hearing him, Ashna opened her eyes in a hurry and said nervously:
"No! I didn't mean that! Nor am I planning any such thing! It happens in the movies, doesn't it, mistakes happen while living together. That's why I was clarifying it beforehand."
"Although it will never happen, I don't know about you, but I am true to my word. Still, for your satisfaction, I am clarifying this to you. If either of us falls in love with the other during this one year, this contract will be cancelled at the same time. If something happens between us and you get pregnant because of it, then I will have the right to that child, because it will have my blood inside it. He will be the heir of our family, so you cannot take him with you. Yes, you will be able to meet him whenever you want, you will have that much right." He said his point very calmly, but as soon as he became silent, Ashna said immediately:
"This is wrong! I will give birth to that child, so I will have more rights on him than you. He will be my child, so why will I give my child to you?"
"Come on, let's make a fair deal. If we ever get intimate in the future, then whoever initiates it, the child will not be given to them, but to the other one. This will be a punishment for him, because he would have broken the rule of the contract first. Now if your conditions are fulfilled, then sign the contract, I have a lot more work to do." Hearing Atharv's words, Ashna fell into thought. Seeing her lost in her thoughts, Atharv came close to her and, taking his lips close to her ear, said in a low voice:
"What happened? Don't you have faith in yourself?"
Hearing him, Ashna stepped back in a hurry and said:
"Why not? I absolutely do! I have complete faith in myself."
"So sign the contract?" Atharv asked, showing the papers, and Ashna extended her hand, saying:
"Pen?"
Atharv took out a pen from his inside coat pocket and placed it on her palm. Ashna signed the papers and handed the pen and papers to him. Atharv signed them, then looking at her, smiled and said:
"From today, from now on, you are officially my wife. Mrs. Ashna Atharv Singhania."
Seeing his smile, Ashna just kept looking at him. Now he was looking even more attractive. Atharv did not pay attention to her and, putting the papers in his coat pocket, said:
"Pick up your luggage and come with me. From today, you will live with me in my house. Tomorrow morning we will get married and at night you will go with me to my house, you will meet my family."
Hearing him, Ashna nodded in agreement. Atharv went out and, seeing Arnav, said:
"Bring her and her luggage, and it is your responsibility to make all the preparations for the wedding tomorrow morning. The wedding will take place in my Juhu bungalow itself, no one from outside will come, but the entire wedding will be video-shot."
Hearing about the wedding, Arnav's heart broke, but he composed himself and said "Okay Sir." Atharv left from there. Arnav took a deep breath, then opening the gate and stepping inside, said:
"Ma'am, Sir has called you."
Hearing his voice, Ashna, who was picking up the luggage, looked at him, then smiled and said:
"There is no need to say Ma'am, just say Ashna, it sounds good. Anyway, the age of this relationship is very short, and I would like to make a relationship with you that stays with me for the rest of my life."
Hearing her, Arnav started looking at her in surprise, and Ashna left the luggage and came close to him. Then she extended her hand in front of him and said:
"Till today, no one has become my friend, no one has met who can live up to my standards of friendship, but you have lived up to all my expectations. Tell me, will you be friends with me? And think carefully before shaking hands once, if you hold my hand once, you will have to support me in every difficulty throughout life. You will not be able to run away leaving me in the middle of the road."
Hearing her, a big smile spread on Arnav's lips. Holding her hand, he said smiling:
"Promise, you will find me standing with you at every turn of life."
"Keep smiling like this, it looks good. (Then she whispered in a low voice) Shall I tell you a secret, when you smile, you look more handsome than your boss. He always roams around with a rotten face, as if someone has sentenced him that by mistake he should not even slightly stretch his lips, otherwise he will get a sentence of Kala Pani." Hearing her, Arnav laughed, along with Ashna also burst out laughing. Arnav picked up all the shopping bags, then said smiling:
"Shall we go?"
Ashna quickly nodded in agreement and both left from there.
Coming soon..........
Aashna reached Atharva's house with him. Arnav had gone in another car; he had a lot of work to do and little time. Aashna was staring wide-eyed at the large palace. Indeed, he was a prince living in this magnificent palace where all amenities were available. Everything in that large palace was antique; after all, he was very rich. Aashna was walking behind Atharva, constantly looking around at everything.
As they entered, the servants gathered and started talking amongst themselves; after all, it was the first time Atharva had brought a girl with him. Atharva noticed them, took Aashna's hand, stood her next to him, and said in a loud voice:
"Everyone come here! There's no need to hide and talk!"
Hearing his voice, all the servants felt trapped; after all, they had been caught red-handed. They came forward nervously, and Atharva, once again in his commanding voice, said:
"Everyone has been called here today because I want to introduce you to a very special person."
All eyes were fixed on Aashna. Firstly, she looked so beautiful and delicate, as if she didn't belong to this world, and on top of that, Atharva was holding her hand. Aashna started feeling nervous under everyone's gaze, so she tried to pull her hand away from his. As she did so, Atharva glared at her, and she immediately calmed down. Atharva now looked at the others and continued:
"Meet her, she is your madam. From today, she will be staying here, and all work will be done after consulting her. Special attention should be paid to ensure that she does not face any kind of problem."
Then, looking at the aunty standing at the front, he said:
"Kaki, this is my wife, Aashna. I am entrusting you with her responsibility. Make sure that whether I am here or not, she should not face any difficulty."
Hearing his words, that Kaki smiled. She came to Aashna, then lovingly touched her cheek and said:
"So, you finally got married. Well, that's good. Now you too will be able to start your family. By the way, your choice is one in a million. We have never seen such a beautiful fairy before."
Hearing her words, Aashna didn't know what to do, so she tried to touch her feet, but Kaki stepped back and said hurriedly:
"What are you doing?"
"Taking your blessings. You are older than me, and he called you Kaki, which means you are like his mother, and I am his wife, so you are my mother too, right? So, won't you bless your daughter?"
She said her words so gently that a smile adorned Kaki's lips. Aashna touched her feet, and she placed her hand on her head, smiling, and said:
"May you always be blessed with a happy marriage, may God fulfill all your wishes, and may your smile always remain like this."
Aashna now stood up, then greeted the others with folded hands, so everyone looked at each other in surprise, then they too smiled and bowed their heads to greet her. Atharva was staring at Aashna. Kaki was also looking at her and smiling.
"Son, where did you find such a sensible and simple girl, who has no ego at all?"
Kaki asked Atharva, looking at Aashna, so both of them said at the same time:
"On the road..."
Both looked at each other in surprise, then turned their gaze towards everyone, so everyone was looking at them in surprise. Now Atharva took control of the situation and said:
"I bumped into her on the road, Kaki, then I liked her, so I thought, why take a risk? If such a good girl slipped out of my hands, I would have lost out. That's why I got married straight away. Actually, it's just a court marriage right now, the wedding will be here tomorrow morning, and you all will be a part of it. So, get started with the preparations."
Hearing his words, everyone was extremely happy. Atharva now looked at Kaki and continued:
"Kaki, please send two coffees to the room, I'll show her her room."
Kaki smiled and nodded, so Atharva took Aashna's hand and headed towards the stairs. Aashna was still looking at the house as she walked along with him. Atharva stopped outside a room. On both sides of the gate, there were beautiful paintings on the wall, and on the stand there was a heavy object with beautiful flowers in it. As soon as Aashna saw the painting, she let go of Atharva's hand. In that painting, a girl was standing in a classical dance pose; it was a very beautiful painting, it looked as if it would come to life. Aashna started touching it with her palm to feel it; she too was crazy about dance. Atharva was leaning against the railing, arms crossed, watching her. At this moment, a different kind of happiness was visible on Aashna's face.
As Aashna touched the painting, she raised her other hand, and her hand hit the heavy object next to it, and the next moment the heavy object was on the ground and shattered. Hearing the sound, Aashna took two steps back in fear and, looking at the flowers scattered on the ground, held her head and said:
"You've started showing your talent here too. Behave like a human being somewhere, Aashna! You're always just breaking things. Everyone is right, you're a walking disaster, such an earthquake that no one knows when it will engulf someone."
Her face became small. Now she was looking even cuter, and her words were even cuter than that. Seeing her innocence, Atharva's lips slightly stretched. The next moment he saw her small, drooping face, took her hand, and said as he went inside:
"It's okay. You can break as much as you want here, no one will say anything to you, so you don't need to worry."
Hearing his words, Aashna stared at him, so Atharva turned her towards him and said, raising his eyebrow:
"Why are you looking at me like that now?"
"Did you just say that I can break as much as I want here, you won't say anything to me?"
Aashna still didn't believe she had heard correctly. She asked him, looking at him with confused eyes, so Atharva said, looking into her eyes:
"Yes, that's what I said."
"But why? Why won't you say anything to me? If I break your things, then everything here looks very expensive."
Aashna asked again. Hearing her words, Atharva said in a sarcastic tone:
"Everything here is very expensive, but because you are my wife now, you have the right to do whatever you want. Even if you break a few things, it won't make any difference to me, because your husband is not so poor that he can't bear such a small loss."
Hearing his words, Aashna stared into his eyes and said to herself: Husband.
Atharva saw her lost and continued:
"I had said, didn't I, that you will get the respect and honor of being my wife, you will get all the rights, except for me. You will have no right over me. Apart from that, you have the right over this room, this house, my money, everything, so you can use it as you like, no one will say anything to you."
Hearing his words, Aashna felt a pang in her heart, but she hid that pain behind her smile and said, moving towards the bed:
"Your room is very big, and the bed is also very big, but if I sleep on the bed, where will you sleep?"
"Where will I sleep? I mean, I'm your husband, I'll sleep on the bed, with you."
Atharva replied nonchalantly. Hearing his reply, Aashna stopped. She turned towards him and said in surprise:
"You will sleep with me on the bed?"
She started staring at him with wide eyes, while Atharva said, moving towards the bathroom:
"Yes, we will sleep together on the same bed. And this rule is also mentioned in the contract, so don't argue with me about it now. Get used to these things now, we have to live together like this for the next one year."
Saying this, he closed the door, so Aashna sat on the bed, worried, and said to herself:
"Aashna, think something! This is not a human being, he is a magician! As soon as you look at him, you forget everything and get lost in him. It seems he knows how to hypnotize people, he is a very dangerous man! As soon as you look at him, you become crazy about him. If you stay together in the same room, sleep on the same bed, then you might mess something up. You have to stay away from him. Don't forget, it's just a matter of one year, after that he will go his way and you will move towards your destination. Just stay away from him somehow for one year."
She explained a lot to herself. As soon as the sound of the door opening fell into her ears, she jumped up and started looking towards the bathroom gate. The next moment, wearing a black knee-length bathrobe and wiping his wet hair with a towel, Atharva stepped out of the bathroom. Now a different form of him was in front of Aashna. The boy who seemed so serious a while ago, who seemed as scary as a demon, the same boy now looked very cute, exactly like a college-going boy. Aashna got lost in him once again, when she heard Atharva's voice:
"If you want to freshen up, go to the bathroom. Just manage with the clothes you have now. I'll take you shopping tomorrow, buy all the things you need."
Atharva didn't even bother to look up and went into the changing room. Hearing his words, Aashna came back to her senses and hurriedly averted her gaze from him. She started checking the shopping bags, but couldn't find anything for the night, so she pouted and sat on the sofa. After a while, Atharva once again stepped into the room. Now he was wearing a black V-neck t-shirt that was clinging to his body, and his muscles and abs were visible. He was wearing trousers below. Aashna glanced at him, then sat with a drooping face. Atharva's gaze also fell on her, so he said, moving towards the dressing table:
"What happened? Why is your face swollen?"
"I don't have a single pair to wear right now. All the clothes are such that if I wear them now, I won't be able to sleep all night."
Aashna told her problem with a drooping face, so Atharva said, drying his hair with a dryer:
"My night dresses are kept in the changing room, take a look. If you can wear something, then adjust today, I'll take you shopping tomorrow."
Aashna had no other choice, so she went to the changing room. There, the entire wall in front was filled with Atharva's hangers, on which his clothes were hanging; the ones for going out above, and the daily wear ones below. On the side, there was a rack on which his different designer shoes were kept. Aashna was watching everything in surprise; she was seeing all this for the first time. When she didn't come out for a while, Atharva himself moved towards the changing room.
"What are you doing standing here for so long?"
Atharva asked her, seeing her standing there like that. Suddenly hearing his voice, Aashna looked at him in shock and said in surprise:
"When did you come?"
"Just when you were standing here like a statue. Don't know what you were looking at."
Atharva replied in his usual stern tone. Aashna, looking at his clothes hanging in front, asked:
"Are these all your clothes? I mean, they are in your room, so obviously they will be yours. But do all of these get a turn? And they are all the same, then what was the need to buy so many? One should manage with one, one shouldn't waste so much money."
Aashna explained to him in a very serious manner. Hearing her words, Atharva's lips slightly stretched, but he hid his smile and said, glaring at her:
"Is money all you see all the time?"
"Yes, money is very important for living. You are so rich, that's why you don't value it at all. Ask people like me, who do so many things to save every single rupee."
Aashna spoke once again seriously. Now Atharva held her arm and turned her towards himself, so Aashna looked at him in confusion. Atharva, looking into her eyes, said:
"You are forgetting, you are not an ordinary girl anymore. You are Atharva Singhania's wife. You have no shortage of money, so change these habits now."
"Absolutely not! I am your wife, that doesn't mean that I should also start wasting money like water for no reason. Do you even know how much effort it takes to earn money? I don't have money, that's why I'm here, otherwise I would have returned your money to you and left your life forever. Money is very important, it should be used thoughtfully. I'm telling you too, what's the need for so many clothes? Just two or four pairs will be fine."
Aashna was once again talking like a train. Hearing her words, Atharva now said, glaring at her:
"Don't you have a little too much of a problem with my clothes?"
"Oh, why would I have a problem with your clothes? I was just saying. You should understand that if you have more money than you need, it doesn't mean that you should waste it like this. It can also be used for the welfare of the poor. What will we get by buying piles of clothes? Instead, if we help even one needy person, they will give us piles of blessings. You'll see, when my dance academy starts, I'll first pay off your debt, then help the poor as much as possible."
Aashna was now speaking as if she were lost. A soft, satisfied smile spread across her lips. Atharva watched her for a few moments, then he stepped forward, took out a white shirt and black lower, and handed them to her, saying:
"Dream later, go and freshen up first."
Hearing his words, Aashna first looked at him, then looked at those clothes and said:
"What is it with you, do you only like white and black?"
Hearing her words, Atharva squinted his eyes and glared at her, so she showed her thirty-two teeth and said:
"It's just that there are only these two colors of clothes here, that's why I asked."
"How much do you talk? Don't you get tired? You keep buzzing like a tape recorder, you keep talking non-stop. Don't your tongue or mouth get tired?"
Atharva asked, annoyed by her talking so much, so Aashna showed her thirty-two teeth and replied:
"Absolutely not! It doesn't hurt. In fact, if I talk less on any day, then my mouth starts hurting. And you better get used to my talking, because I'm not going to change myself for anyone and now you'll have to put up with me for a whole year. Anyway, it was you who got the urge to play marriage-marriage with me, so now suffer."
Aashna said proudly and walked out past him.
Aashna left with a smile. Atharv ran his hand through his hair and said to himself, "You are truly nothing short of trouble, but now that we have to live together, I will have to get used to it." Thinking this, he went out. After a while, Aashna stepped into the room. Hearing the sound, Atharv's eyes went towards the bathroom. When he saw Aashna coming from the front, he started staring at her. Aashna was wearing his clothes, which were very loose on her; it looked as if a small, cute rabbit had snuggled up in a blanket. She was the owner of unique beauty anyway, and she had just taken a bath, so her fair face had turned slightly red, and she looked even more charming. It was becoming difficult for Atharv to take his eyes off her, but he composed himself and looked away.
Aashna was feeling uncomfortable in those clothes. She clutched the sleeve of her shirt in her fists and walked towards the dressing table. She opened her hair, and her long golden hair, which flowed down to her waist, once again drew Atharv's attention, but Aashna did not pay attention to him. Atharv was sitting on the right side of the bed, his eyes fixed on his phone, but only nominally, because his eyes were fixed on Aashna. Aashna tied her hair in a braid. As soon as she turned around, Atharv immediately looked away and immersed himself in his phone. Aashna watched him silently for a few moments, then picked up the sheet from her side and lay down on the bed, curled up in the corner. Her heart was pounding hard today. Her breathing was fast with nervousness. She had gripped the sheet in her fists and was lying down completely curled up. Atharv watched her silently for a while, then said a little softly:
"There is no need for you to be so nervous, I will not do anything to you. You can trust me that much. Sleep peacefully, I will not come near you."
"I am fine, and I am not afraid of you. This is a new place and for the first time with a boy...that's why I am a little nervous, but I am fine. You go to sleep." Aashna said, somehow controlling her restlessness.
Hearing her words, Atharv put his phone on the side table, then turned off the lights and lay down. Aashna started sweating with nervousness just thinking that they were in the same sheet. She closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down. Both of them soon fell into the embrace of sleep.
It was two o'clock at night. Atharv woke up with a start, hearing the sound of something falling. He saw that Aashna was about to roll down, so he rushed towards her swiftly and grabbed her arm before she fell down, pulling her towards him. Aashna collided with his chest, and for a moment it was as if Atharv's heart stopped beating. Strange feelings were born in his heart. But he shook his head and made Aashna sleep comfortably away from himself. Sitting next to her, looking at her face, he said:
"What other strange habits do you have? Tell me all at once, you will give me a heart attack like this. You were about to fall down just now, if I hadn't pulled you back in time, you could have gotten hurt, but look, you are sleeping so peacefully, as if nothing happened. But you didn't fall, then what was the sound of? Which disturbed my sleep?"
Suddenly this thought came to his mind, so he got up and came towards Aashna. He saw that the heavy thing that was kept on the table next to Aashna had fallen down and broken. Atharv glanced at the peacefully sleeping Aashna and said to himself:
"You are truly a walking, talking bundle of trouble! I don't know if any item in my house will survive intact in this one year. Who knows, you might break everything like this. Now I will have to be careful, first this item will be removed from your side. I have no trust in you, you might drop something again while sleeping and get injured by falling on top of it. If I hadn't woken up at the right time just now, you would have fallen on these pieces of glass and gotten hurt. All glass items will have to be removed from the house, and especially from our room, otherwise you will keep breaking something or the other every day."
He looked at Aashna once again, who was fast asleep, and went to his side and lay down. He had been lying down for only a short while when someone's foot came on top of him. He opened his eyes with a start, and Aashna's moon-like face came right in front of his eyes. Both of their faces were facing each other. Atharv could feel her warm breath on his face, and for a moment his eyes were fixed on Aashna. The very next moment, Aashna wrapped her arms around him and said:
"Prerna, where were you? Come here."
Atharv was shocked by her doing so, but by now Aashna had completely clung to him. He looked at this crazy girl with surprise, who was ready to enter inside him, and then started removing her hand from himself, but Aashna's grip was strong. After some effort, he freed himself from the shackles of her arms and jumped straight off the bed. Aashna started babbling something while searching for someone by stretching out her hands. Atharv's breath had gone out of his control. He relaxed himself, then looked back at Aashna, whose face was no longer showing peace. Worried, she was trying to find something in her sleep and was babbling something in a low voice, which Atharv could neither hear nor understand. He watched her for a few moments, then stepped forward and extended a pillow towards her. Aashna filled it in her arms and fell asleep peacefully with one of her legs on top of it. With a gentle smile on her lips, how lovely she was looking at this time. Atharv saw her sleeping style, and his eyebrows furrowed. He shook his head and went and lay down on the sofa, on which he could not fit completely. He somehow adjusted himself on it. He tried to sleep, but now sleep was far away from his eyes. His eyes were fixed on Aashna. He kept looking at that girl for a long time, who was constantly babbling even in her sleep. In fact, Atharv should have been angry with her, but it was not happening. Rather, Atharv was lovingly gazing at her face, which looked innocent and lovely like a small child while sleeping. He didn't even realize when he fell into the embrace of sleep while gazing at Aashna.
The next day Aashna woke up. She rubbed her eyes and opened them, then sat up and said to herself:
"Good morning!"
"Good morning! But isn't your good morning a little too late?" As soon as Aashna heard this majestic voice in her ears, she looked with wide eyes in the direction of the voice, and saw Atharv standing in front of the dressing table, setting his hair. Aashna did not even remember that she was someone's wife. She was badly shocked to hear a man's voice, but as soon as her eyes fell on Atharv, she remembered everything. She normalized herself, then, adjusting her clothes, said:
"Anyway, I said that good morning to myself. As for being late in the morning, I don't like to wake up early. I have three favorite things: first dancing, second talking, and third sleeping and eating too. And I don't like to compromise with any of these. And I also don't like anyone saying anything about my sleep, so don't interrupt me from now on."
She said, making a face, and got off the bed. Perhaps Atharv did not particularly like her tone of speaking; his eyebrows tightened. Aashna took a step towards the bathroom, but the very next moment Atharv came and stood in front of her and said, glaring at her:
"If you don't remember, then let me remind you that you are standing in my house, in my room at this time and here what I want happens. Here no one has the right to cut me off or talk to me in this tone, so remember your limits when talking to me from now on. And as for your hobby of sleeping late, I hate people who sleep late. People who don't know how to value their time, time doesn't value them, so from now on you will have to change this habit of yours. Here, the time is fixed for every work and you will also have to follow that time table. Today was your first day here, so I am forgiving you. If you don't get out of bed by six o'clock from now on, then you will have to wake up in my way, which you probably won't like. If you don't reach the dining table ready before eight o'clock, then you will not get breakfast. After that, you can do whatever you want all day, sleep as much as you want, but I need you awake at six in the morning. You are late today, there are only fifteen minutes left for eight o'clock. If you don't come downstairs by eight o'clock, then you will have to stay hungry today."
Saying his point, Atharv started leaving from there. Aashna was listening to him in surprise with her mouth open and her eyes wide. Recalling his words in her mind, as soon as she remembered the last line he had said, she turned towards him and suddenly said:
"You said that today is my first day, so I have a holiday today. Your rules will be applicable to me from tomorrow. Then why did you just say that if I don't reach downstairs by eight o'clock, then I will not get food today? How will I be able to take a bath and come downstairs so quickly?"
Hearing her words, Atharv's steps stopped. He listened to her silently, then said with a crooked smile:
"Now my mood has changed. This is the punishment for your misbehavior. Now how you will get ready so quickly, that's your problem. I just know that if you don't come in front of me before eight o'clock, then you will not get breakfast."
Saying this, he moved forward, so Aashna said in her mind, glaring at him angrily:
"Demon! How is he bossing me around! He is a number one wicked demon! Since I met him, he has been after me, a poor, innocent girl, like a stubborn bull. I feel like tearing his face! He is full of arrogance!"
She started cursing him in her mind, when once again Atharv's stern voice fell in her ears:
"It's good, keep cursing me while standing, even the time that is there will run out, after that stay hungry!"
Saying this, he went out of the room. On the other hand, hearing his words, Aashna ran to the bathroom with her head on her heels, then ran back out and took out a brush and clothes from the shopping bags and went back. She brushed her teeth quickly, washed her face and hands from above, then peeked outside and saw the time, there were only seven minutes left. She went back inside and came out after changing her clothes in three minutes. There was no time to do her hair, so she fixed her hair with her hands and ran barefoot towards the gate.
Atharva sat like a king in the chair at the head of the large dining table. He had a newspaper in his hand and was reading it with a serious expression. Beside the dining table, Kaki and all the other servants stood in a line. They would glance at him, then at each other, and then look towards the stairs. Everyone's face showed worry. Perhaps they knew how strict Atharva was, and so they were worried about Ashna, because she hadn't come yet, and there was only one minute left before eight o'clock. Silence hung in the air.
Suddenly, the bell rang. Atharva looked up at the clock; it was about to strike eight. Atharva looked at the servants and said:
"Serve the food!"
Hearing his stern voice, one servant quickly stepped forward. Just then, another servant said:
"But sir, I..."
He didn't even finish his sentence before Atharva's piercing gaze fell upon him. The poor fellow fell silent and lowered his head.
"The rules are the same for everyone. If your madam doesn't value time, there's nothing I can do about it. It's breakfast time and she's not here, so she won't get breakfast today," Atharva declared, glaring at everyone.
At that moment, Kaki spoke with a smile:
"Ma'am..."
Hearing the voice, Atharva glared at her and said:
"Yes, your madam will..."
He had only said that much when Kaki interrupted with a smile:
"Sir, Madam has arrived."
Hearing her words, Atharva turned his gaze towards the stairs. His eyes landed on Ashna. She was wearing a long skirt covered in flowers and a crop top. She had a dupatta wrapped around her hand, and with both hands she lifted her skirt to her knees as she ran down the stairs. The hair she had tied up the night before was now dishevelled, and strands of hair flew across her face. Her slim, fair waist was clearly visible in the crop top.
Seeing her running like that, Atharva's eyebrows furrowed, his eyes narrowed with anger, and he glared at her with a menacing look. Ashna glanced up as she ran. Seeing Atharva's expression, she was horrified. Her steps faltered in fear, and she was about to fall down the stairs when all the servants cried out in unison. She too cried out in fear, "Papa!" But seeing her fall, Atharva rushed towards her at lightning speed. Ashna was seven or eight steps up, so he leaped towards her and caught her in his arms.
Seeing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Ashna, meanwhile, clutched his coat tightly, her eyes squeezed shut, and hung in his arms. Atharva was furious at her carelessness, but all his anger vanished when he saw Ashna's panicked, frightened, and scared face. There was something magical about this girl, that just her innocent face was enough to calm Atharva's anger. Her actions were so childish, yet Atharva couldn't hate her, even though he didn't like such people at all. Perhaps if anyone else were in this girl's place right now, he would have let them fall, but seeing Ashna fall, he ran as if he wouldn't let her get even a scratch. He acted so tough, but ever since Ashna had met him, he had softened towards her. He looked at the foolish girl in his arms, carefully lifted her properly into his arms, and headed upstairs.
Ashna was very scared. Now she realized that she hadn't fallen, but was in someone's arms. She slowly opened her right eye, and as soon as she saw Atharva's face, she quickly opened both her eyes. Startled, she raised her head and looked back; everyone was smiling at her. Seeing this, she became even more flustered and struggled to get down from his arms, saying:
"What are you doing? Put me down! Look, everyone is watching."
"Let them watch," Atharva said, continuing forward in his stern voice. Ashna's mouth fell open in surprise. In the next moment, she said angrily:
"I said, put me down! Everyone is watching and smiling at us."
"So?" Now Atharva's piercing gaze fell on Ashna's face. He raised an eyebrow as he glared at her. Ashna hit his chest and said:
"I'll tell you what! Aren't you ashamed to hold me in your arms in front of everyone?"
"Are you ashamed? Going in front of the servants like this as my wife?" Atharva asked, grinding his teeth in anger. Ashna stared at him with wide eyes. Atharva continued, glaring at her:
"If you want your respect to remain intact in front of them, sit quietly. I also don't like people who talk too much, so only say as much as you need to in front of me. Besides, I'm already very angry with you, so don't even try to fan the flames. Otherwise, it won't be good for you."
Seeing his anger, Ashna flinched and, putting her finger on her lips, nodded in agreement. Atharva looked ahead and continued walking. He headed towards his room. After a few seconds of silence, Ashna said softly:
"Why are you taking me to the room? I'm hungry. I reached downstairs on time, then why are you so angry? Was I late? Won't you give me food now?"
Ashna now made a cute face and looked at him. Atharva didn't answer her, just glared. She pouted and fell silent. Seeing her, Atharva said to himself:
"What is this girl? One moment she's so foolish, and the next she seems so innocent. Sometimes she makes me so angry with her foolish antics, and the next moment she makes such a sweet face that all the anger vanishes. Are you really as innocent as a small child, or is it all a facade? Whatever it is, I won't let myself get caught in anyone's web of innocence this time. I have included you in my life so that I can show that person that I have moved on, that there is no place for her anymore, neither in my heart nor in my life. But I won't let you make a place in my heart either. Our marriage is an agreement, just one year, after which we will separate forever."
Reasoning with himself, he reached the room and then put her down. Ashna immediately stepped back two steps and began to adjust her clothes. Atharva glared at her and took a step towards her, saying:
"What did I tell you?"
Ashna was already frightened by his glare and anger. Now, seeing him approaching her, she backed away in fear and said:
"If I don't get ready and come downstairs before eight o'clock, I won't get food. But I got ready and came downstairs on time."
"Really? You got ready and came downstairs on time? You must have taken a bath too, styled your hair too, and came down not on time, right?" Atharva asked again, glaring at her. Hearing his words, Ashna lowered her head and said:
"I didn't have time. If I got late, you wouldn't give me food, so I washed my face, changed my clothes, and went downstairs."
"Okay, fine, let's assume what you say is true. Now, what would you like to say about your clothes?" Atharva said, walking towards her and looking her up and down. Ashna backed away until she hit the wall next to the bathroom. She looked back in a panic, then looked at Atharva standing in front of her. She didn't reply. Atharva asked again:
"Answer me! Does a girl who got married just yesterday go in front of anyone like this? Didn't you think about my image even once before going downstairs in such clothes? Look at yourself! You went in front of all the servants like that? What must they be thinking about you, that their boss has brought home such an irresponsible girl."
"But I'm wearing what you gave me. I took this dress out of those shopping bags that your men delivered yesterday at the hospital." Ashna couldn't understand the reason for his anger and looked at him in confusion. Atharva grabbed her arm and made her stand in front of the dressing table, saying:
"Look at yourself! Is this how you wear this dress?"
Ashna now looked at herself. She made an innocent face and said with her head lowered:
"Sorry. I didn't pay attention in the rush."
"Oh? And in the rush, you probably didn't realize how high you were lifting your skirt as you ran downstairs?" Atharva's anger hadn't lessened at all. Ashna, meanwhile, had now understood her mistake. She held her ears and said with her head lowered:
"Sorry. I'll be careful in the future. You said that if I was late, I wouldn't get food, so I was running downstairs. I couldn't run in the skirt, so I lifted it up. Sorry."
Once again, her innocent face was melting Atharva's anger. He now said a little more calmly:
"I'm letting you off today for the first and last time. Be careful in the future. From now on, your image is also linked to mine, and I don't want anyone to question my choice. Go, go take a bath and get ready properly. We'll go downstairs together."
Hearing his words, Ashna raised her head and looked at him, saying softly:
"But it will be late."
"I've forgiven you for today, but from tomorrow you'll have to wake up on time," Atharva said with a slight sternness as he sat on the sofa. Ashna nodded happily and ran towards the bathroom, but while going, her hand collided with the table in front of the bed. A "Ah!" escaped her mouth. She grabbed her leg and began to rub it. Atharva scratched his eyebrow with his thumb and said:
"This girl is really a disaster! She'll break and wreck this perfectly good house of yours and turn it into a junkyard in this one year."
Ashna had probably gotten hurt more because of the table's corner. She sat down on the floor right there and began to sob, rubbing the spot with her palm. The sound of her sobs reached Atharva's ears. He raised his head and looked ahead, helplessly closed his eyes, and then got up and walked towards her.
"Seriously, this girl is a menace!" Atharv said, scratching his eyebrow with his thumb. "She'll tear apart your perfectly good house and turn it into a junkyard in just one year."
Aashna seemed to have hit the corner of the table pretty hard. She sat down on the floor, rubbing the spot with her palm and sobbing. Her sobs reached Atharv's ears. He looked up, closed his eyes helplessly, and then got up and walked over to her.
He sat down on the floor next to her, removing her hand and saying, "Let me see, what happened?"
Aashna looked at him with tearful eyes, then removed his hand, saying, "No, nothing happened. I'm fine."
She wiped her tears with her palm, then started to get up. But the pain was too much, and a "Ahh!" escaped her lips. She sat back down. Atharv stood up, picked her up in his arms, and sat her on the chair. He himself sat down on the floor next to her.
"Now there's no need to act. Let me see what happened," he said, removing Aashna's hands and starting to lift her skirt. Aashna grabbed his hand in alarm and, looking away, said, "Leave it, I'm fine."
Hearing her words, Atharv glared at her and said, "You can't even stand up, and you're fine? We're getting married in a little while, and you're sitting here crying in pain. Should I carry you downstairs like this?"
Seeing his anger, Aashna lowered her eyes. Tears welled up in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. Atharv took a deep breath, calmed himself, and said gently, "Aashna, we have to live in the same house, in the same room now, so we have to take care of each other, right? If you feel uncomfortable with me touching you, I'll call someone else, but then you think about what they'll think of us? In their eyes, we're husband and wife, we love each other, so would it be right to call them for such a small thing?"
Hearing his words, Aashna pulled her hands back. Atharv gently lifted her skirt. Aashna squeezed her eyes shut. Atharv also hesitated a bit. Then he looked at her legs. The fair skin near her knee was completely red. He was amazed to see such fair and soft skin. Is this girl from this world or has she just come down from heaven? He shook his head and stood up. He opened the drawer of the side table of the bed and came back with a pain relief spray.
"It will sting a little, but the pain will go away." Saying this, as soon as he sprayed, Aashna sobbed. Atharv's hands stopped immediately. He looked at Aashna's face, which was showing pain. Then he started spraying while blowing on it. Aashna started to feel a burning sensation. She tightly gripped his palm and clenched her lips. Atharv looked at her, then said gently,
"You are very delicate."
"Papa used to say the same thing," Aashna blurted out. Then she opened her eyes with a start. Atharv's eyes were fixed on her face. Aashna looked away from him and, pulling down her skirt, said,
"I'll go take a bath."
She stood up, holding on to the chair. Before she could, Atharv grabbed her hand, stopped her, and, sitting her back down on the chair, said,
"Let it be. I'll order food. Eat first, the pain will ease by then, then take medicine, then take a bath. Anyway, there isn't much time, the beautician will be here in a little while, and I also have to see the preparations downstairs."
Aashna nodded in agreement. Atharv ordered food in the room itself. Both were sitting face to face and eating. Aashna's usual smile was missing. She was eating slowly, looking worried and sad. Atharv's eyes were fixed on her face. He watched her silently for a while, then, drinking water, said,
"Are you missing your papa?"
Hearing his words, Aashna looked at him in surprise, then, lowering her eyes, said,
"No! I left everyone of my own free will, so why would I miss anyone?"
Hearing her words, Atharv smiled and came closer to her. He lifted her face with his finger. Aashna started looking into his eyes,
"I'm an expert at reading people's expressions, so there's no point in lying to me. Anyway, you left home, you have your own reason for that, but you haven't broken those relationships, have you? You came away from them to fulfill your dream, but you haven't removed them from your heart, have you? If you're missing them, then talk to them."
"No, I don't want to talk to anyone. And I'm not missing anyone. You're mistaken," Aashna said, removing his hand, and, getting up, said, "I'm done, I'm going to take a bath."
As she started to get up, Atharv grabbed her wrist, stopped her, and, standing up, said,
"No, say something about this. At least eat something."
"I'm not hungry," Aashna said, holding back her tears, and started trying to free her hand from his grip.
"Okay, take the medicine," Atharv tried once again, but Aashna shook her head in refusal, saying,
"It's not hurting anymore."
Atharv felt the heaviness in her voice. He released her wrist. Aashna went into the bathroom, holding on to things for support. Atharv, looking at the closed door of the bathroom, said to himself,
"Arnav told me that she ran away from her wedding, because her family was getting her married against her will, but she had to fulfill her dream. So is that why she's angry with them?"
Thinking this, he went back to the table and took out the painkiller and kept it with a glass on the table in front of the sofa. He also left a note there and left.
By now, Arnav had arrived there. There wasn't much to do; shift the luggage and set up the mandap in the middle where the two would get married. Arnav had brought a decorator for the decoration. Along with this, the dress designer had also come, and after selecting both their dresses as per Atharv's instructions, the altering work had started. Atharv was choosing jewelry for Aashna from the jewelry brought by the jeweler.
After a while, Aashna came out of the bathroom after taking a bath. She was wearing a bathrobe. She had already seen that Atharv was not there, so she came out as she was. She started walking towards the sofa. When she reached there, her eyes fell on the glass and the medicine strip kept there. Then she took out the paper hidden under the glass and started reading,
"Anger is one thing, and health is another. So eat something and then take the medicine. The beautician will be here in a little while, so eat by then. After that, you'll only get to eat after the wedding."
After reading the note, Aashna looked at the table where the food was kept. The previous utensils had been removed from there, and now a plate was kept which was covered with another plate. She went towards the table, sat on the chair, and removed the plate from above. Seeing the poha kept in the plate, her lips stretched slightly. She remembered that yesterday morning when Arnav had brought poha for her, she had told him that she liked poha with peas very much, and today again it was the same in front of her. A faint smile spread across her lips. Picking up the spoon, she said,
"You pretend to be so grumpy, but you're not. Are you getting me spied on? You even asked Arnav what I like? Not bad, Mr. Grumpy Atharv Singhania!"
She laughed at her own words, then started eating the poha with relish. After that, she took the medicine, and as soon as she stood up, the room's gate was knocked. Poor Aashna's breath got stuck. She looked at herself and ran towards the sofa, when a voice came from outside,
"Madam, Sir has sent the beautician to get you ready."
"Kaki, just two minutes," Aashna said while getting dressed, then hung the bathrobe in the bathroom, fixed her appearance, and went towards the door. Seeing Kaki and the beautician standing in front, she smiled slightly and stepped aside. Coming inside, Kaki said,
"Madam, have you eaten?"
"I have eaten, but if you call me 'Aashna' instead of 'Madam', I will be happier. What to do, your sir might be grumpy, but I am very frank, so be normal with me. I don't like all this pretense," Aashna said, making a face, so Kaki nodded in agreement and took the empty plate and left. Now the beautician, looking at her, said,
"How is your skin so clean and soft? Do you use something special?"
"It's natural. I don't apply anything. Cosmetics etc. don't suit me," Aashna replied with a smile, so the beautician said in surprise,
"Strange! You don't use anything, yet your skin is so clean and glowing. You don't even need to get ready, you look so beautiful just like this."
"But I want to see my wife as the most beautiful bride in this world, and that's why you are here." This commanding voice drew both of their attention. Both looked in the direction of the voice, and Atharv was standing at the door. Some servants were also behind him. Atharv gestured to them, so they kept the luggage on the table inside and left.
Atharv now looked at the beautician and said,
"You have one hour. Get my wife ready in such a way that whoever sees her just keeps looking. It should be evident that she is not just any bride, she is Mrs. Aashna Atharv Singhania."
Hearing his words, the beautician smiled and said,
"Your wife is not just any ordinary girl anyway. I have seen so many brides till today, but today is the first time I am seeing a girl who looks so beautiful even in simplicity. Surely your wife will be the most beautiful bride in this world."
Hearing their words, Atharv left from there. She also got busy with her work. After seeing all the work, Atharv also went to another room to get ready.
To be continued...
About an hour later, Ashna's room door was knocked, and a voice came from outside, "Ashna, are you ready?"
It was Atharva's voice, and hearing it made Ashna's heart pound. Signing the papers for the wedding was one thing, but now, dressed as a bride in a red outfit, going before him gave her a completely different feeling. Her heart was restless, she was nervous, and she couldn't even utter a word. Seeing her nervousness, the beautician made her stand up, then, setting her veil properly, said, "Relax, he's your husband."
Ashna looked at her and then lowered her eyes with a slight smile. How could she explain to her what kind of husband he was, who had entered her life overnight by signing papers, without her consent?
The beautician went and opened the door, and smiling at Atharva, said, "Take a look, is anything missing?"
Atharva now came inside. Ashna's back was towards him, but her reflection was visible in the mirror in front of her.
When Atharva's eyes fell on the mirror, he forgot to even blink and kept staring at her. A deep red designer outfit, light makeup because she didn't need much makeup anyway, a 'matha patti' on her forehead with a 'maang tika' dangling in the middle, a small red 'bindi' just below it, deep kohl in her eyes which was enhancing the beauty of her fish-like brown eyes.
A large 'nath' in her nose which was half-covering her cherry-red lips, as soft as rose petals, tomato-red cheeks which were making her even more adorable, Ashna, adorned with jewelry as beautiful as the outfit, looked like a beautiful princess of some kingdom today.
Atharva couldn't take his eyes off her. Ashna could feel his gaze on herself, so she was getting even more nervous. She clenched her dupatta tightly in her fists. Seeing her nervous face, Atharva averted his gaze and took steps towards her, and Ashna's heart pounded, like every girl, she was nervous.
After all, it was her first time getting married too, and this feeling was enough to increase her anxiety. She could feel her heart beating fast.
Atharva came to her and, holding her palm, said, "Relax, why are you so nervous? We're already married, this is just a formality."
"What happened before is called a formality, and what is about to happen now is the real wedding. You won't understand, never mind." Ashna replied, looking at him after hearing his words, then averted her eyes from him.
Atharva couldn't even understand her words, but as it was getting late, he started to take her away, but the beautician stood in the way and said with a smile, "Tell me first, how is your bride looking?"
Atharva turned his gaze and, looking at Ashna, said,
"A fairy descended from the sky,
Dressed in red, standing in front of me,
What praise can I offer her,
Whose one glimpse,
Has increased my heartbeats so much,
As if eager to escape from my chest,
As if it had been waiting for this face for years."
He praised Ashna in a poetic style, hearing which Ashna started looking at him in surprise, the beautician smiled and stepped aside, then Atharva took her forward.
Ashna now looked at him from head to toe. Golden designer sherwani with a red dupatta on it, traditional shoes on his feet, a beautiful pearl necklace around his neck, a 'sehra' on his head. Today, a different side of him was in front of Ashna, and like every side of him, this side was also captivating Ashna, she kept gazing at him for a few moments and then lowered her eyes.
When both of them stepped on the stairs, everyone's eyes stopped on them, both were looking so handsome that no one could take their eyes off them.
When both came down, Kaki performed their 'nazar utarna' ritual, then the wedding rituals began. First, it was the turn of the garland exchange ritual, both were standing face to face with each other.
Arnav handed the plate of garlands to them, then Atharva very easily put the garland around her neck. But all this was not so easy for Ashna, she couldn't even lift her hands. Somehow, she lifted the garland with her trembling hands and extended it towards him.
Atharva bent down in front of her. Ashna put the garland around his neck, then everyone clapped and showered flowers on them. The cameraman standing in front started taking their photos, and the other cameraman was making a video. After that, both were seated on the 'mandap', the Pandit Ji started chanting mantras, both were offering oblations to the fire and also repeating the mantras.
When the Pandit Ji asked the bride's father to come forward for the 'kanyadaan', Ashna's eyes filled with tears, what kind of daughter was she who had even snatched the right of 'kanyadaan' from her father. Atharva sensed her sadness in a moment and, placing his hand on her palm, said, "He's not here."
"Then who will do the 'kanyadaan'?" The Pandit Ji immediately asked the question, then Atharva asked Kaki to come forward. She came and did the 'kanyadaan', tears started flowing from Ashna's eyes, she didn't want this. The rituals moved forward.
Both took rounds around the fire while repeating the vows, where Atharva was doing everything very easily, it was equally difficult for Ashna. But now all the ways to retreat were closed. After the rounds, Atharva put the 'mangalsutra' around her neck, Ashna squeezed her eyes shut, when Atharva filled her 'maang', a few teardrops rolled down her cheeks.
After all, she was bound in this relationship of agreement whose duration was only one year, just thinking about this would break any girl's heart, and Ashna's condition was also somewhat like this.
The wedding was completed, then both took blessings from the Pandit Ji and Kaki. Arnav gave money to the Pandit Ji and left to drop him off, he didn't even look towards Ashna during this time. The beautician also left after taking her money, then Atharva, holding Ashna's hand, moved towards the stairs.
Ashna was walking with him like a robot, lowered eyes, sad face, empty eyes, all this was showing her sadness. Going to the room, Atharva left her hand, the clock was striking 5 in the evening. Atharva, taking off his sherwani, said, "Go and change, first we'll go shopping for you, then we have to go home too."
Ashna didn't reply, just kept standing, then Atharva turned towards her and, holding her shoulders, said, "Why are you behaving like I have forced you?"
"Didn't you?" Ashna suddenly raised her eyes and asked the question, then Atharva became silent and, leaving her, said, "It was my compulsion."
"And now I'm compelled to fulfill this relationship of agreement whose duration is only one year." Ashna said in anger, then Atharva held her arm and said angrily,
"You knew this beforehand, everything happened only after your yes, so stop this drama now, understood.... Don't show it like you have been deceived, atrocities are being committed on you because you have done everything with your own will. You are going to take a good amount of money from me for this agreement, so you haven't done me any favor, whatever you have done, you have done for your own benefit."
"Ashna, where are you lost?" Atharva's voice brought Ashna back to her senses, all that was her imagination. She looked at Atharva, then he said further, "I have been calling you for so long, where were you lost?"
"No, nowhere." Ashna replied, composing herself, then Atharva, moving towards the changing room, said, "Change first, we'll go shopping, then we have to go home too, everyone will be waiting for us."
Ashna didn't say anything, quietly moved towards the dressing table. First, she kept staring at her own form in the mirror for a few seconds, moisture swam in her eyes, then she wiped away the tears before they could come out and said to herself,
"No Ashna, you can't weaken, now you have to fulfill this relationship for the next one year, after that, both of your paths will diverge forever. Go far away from them, so far that their and this relationship's shadow can't even reach you. Remember, you are doing all this only to fulfill your dream, just somehow fulfill this agreement marriage for one year, after that, you will get freedom from it forever."
She consoled herself, then slowly started taking off the jewelry, after that, she removed the veil from her head but left the bun as it was, she moved towards the sofa and started looking at all the clothes.
In the meantime, Atharva came out, he saw her staring at the clothes with troubled eyes, then, moving towards the dressing table, said, "What happened, why are you looking at the clothes with so much trouble?"
Hearing his voice, Ashna turned towards him, then, making an innocent face, said softly, "We have to go to your house, right, so I don't understand what to wear, you only tell me what to wear?"
Atharva didn't reply to her question and went back into the changing room, Ashna just kept looking at him.
After a few seconds, he came out again. This time, he had a shopper in his hand, he came towards Ashna and, extending the shopper towards her, said, "Get ready after wearing this."
Ashna first looked at the shopper, then started looking at him, then he gestured with his eyes to take it. Ashna took the shopper and went to the bathroom.
After a while, she came out after freshening up and changing. Now she was wearing a beautiful red embroidered chiffon saree with a three-fourth sleeve boat neck blouse. The saree was tied very beautifully, completely covering her waist.
Ashna was looking very beautiful in that saree. On top of that, the vermilion shining in her 'maang' was enhancing the glow of her beautiful face. She was wearing only a golden 'mangalsutra' around her neck, which Atharva had put on her a while ago. The bangles, still filled in her mehndi adorned hands, and the anklet worn in her feet, were like enlivening that lifeless room with their sweet music.
Ashna moved towards the dressing table where Atharva was still standing. For a moment, Atharva also kept looking at this form of her, but soon he composed himself and, extending a shopper towards her, said, "This is from me to you, our wedding gift."
Ashna looked at him in surprise, then he said again, "It's a gift, take it... Don't worry, its money won't be deducted."
Hearing this, Ashna's face fell, she kept the gift aside and, taking out the 'gajra' from her hair, said, "I don't want it... and one thing, I haven't done this wedding for money, I just didn't have money to repay your loan, that's why I said yes to this wedding."
"Okay fine, I just said it. Take this at least." He extended the shopper towards her once again, then Ashna pushed it aside again and, moving away from there, said, "If you want to go, let's go, otherwise I'll go and sleep, I'm tired."
This style of her made Atharva angry once again, he held her arm and turned her towards himself, then Ashna glared at him, "It wasn't written anywhere in the contract that I have to obey all your words, so now you can't force me, I don't want any gift."
"Don't take it, go to hell. I don't care either. I'm just telling you this that don't wag your tongue too much there, speak only as much as is needed, and for God's sake, please don't mess up there, I don't want any vandalism there. Whatever havoc you have to wreak, come here and wreak it, but don't mess up there, and the biggest and most important thing, behave there in such a way that they feel we love each other. They shouldn't have any doubt at all how and why our relationship is connected." He said his words, glaring angrily, and went out of there.
Ashna's eyes welled up, she composed herself and followed him.
To be continued...
Atharv stormed out, and Aashna followed him. The car was parked outside the gate; Atharv was in the driver's seat. Aashna sat in the passenger seat, put on her seatbelt, and looked out the window. Atharv found her behavior strange, but he didn't say anything.
After a while, he stopped the car in a shopping mall parking lot, took her hand, and entered through the VIP gate. The mall manager was there to welcome them. Aashna was surprised to see this; then she remembered that the man whose wife she was role-playing was a very important person. She gave a slight smile.
The manager took them to the VIP section, where various outfits were already prepared according to Atharv's instructions. They were seated on the sofa there, and the salesgirls brought one clothing stand after another in front of them. Aashna was watching everything with wide eyes.
Atharv got up and walked towards the stands, unbuttoning the top button of his coat. He looked at several dresses, then chose a few, told them to pack them and send them home, and paid the bill. Aashna watched silently the whole time. As soon as they came out, she said:
"Why did you buy such expensive dresses? So many! If we had gone to a local market, we could have bought more things for less than half the price."
"Shut up, Aashna! Just come with me quietly and let me do what I'm doing." Atharv said, glaring at her. Hearing him, Aashna pouted and silently walked with him. Atharv ordered a lot of sandals and light jewelry for her. After getting the necessary things, they left.
Once again, Aashna silently looked out the window. While driving, Atharv was thinking, "Today, I only saw the old Aashna once, and even then, I scolded her and silenced her; now Aashna has become silent again."
About half an hour later, the car entered a large gate, went through a corridor, and stopped in the parking lot. There were many expensive cars parked there. The bungalow, spread over a very large area, was no less than a palace. The exterior was amazing. Aashna was looking at it with wide eyes. She said to herself:
"Such a big palace! He really is very rich! He has two such big palaces! That's why he is so arrogant."
Thinking this, she made a face, but glanced sideways at Atharv, who was unbuckling his seatbelt. Atharv got out, then opened Aashna's door and extended his hand towards her. Aashna looked at his hand for a moment, then slowly placed her palm on his; Atharv held her hand.
When Aashna came out, she saw guards standing at the gate and around. Seeing them, everyone bowed their heads. Atharv, holding her hand, walked towards the door. A guard opened the door, and they both stepped inside. It really was a royal palace. Aashna started looking around with wide eyes.
The interior of the bungalow was also very amazing; there were unique antique items and servants working at every turn. In front was a large dining table where food was being served. There was a large chandelier above it; several beautiful and heavy items were placed on the table. There was a large photo on the front wall; perhaps it was a family photo, in which Atharv was also there and he looked like a college-going boy. There were curved staircases on both sides. The color combination was also amazing; white and gray. This palace was also like Atharv's bungalow; extremely beautiful.
Aashna was still looking at everything when she heard a voice:
"You've arrived! We were all waiting for you both."
Hearing the voice, both Atharv and Aashna looked in the direction of the voice; in front stood a beautiful woman of 40-45 years wearing a silk sari. Her hair was tied in a bun; she had vermillion in her parting; gold earrings in her ears; a gold Mangalsutra around her neck; diamond bangles on her hands; she had an amazing look; she was also very beautiful and had a distinct class. A unique glow was shining from her face and she had a sweet smile. Aashna was looking at her in surprise, while seeing her, Atharv's expression softened. This was Atharv's mother, Suhasini ji.
Seeing her, Atharv walked towards her and said in a low voice:
"Mom."
Hearing "Mom" from his mouth, Aashna looked at him with wide eyes, then looked at Suhasini ji in surprise. Suhasini ji also came to them, and Atharv hugged her. Suhasini ji's face lit up with happiness. After all, Atharv was not only her only son but also her only child, who lived far away from her, and she felt his absence very much, but she didn't say anything for his happiness.
For a while, she stood holding her son to her chest, then her gaze fell on Aashna standing with Atharv, and her smile widened. She separated from Atharv and walked towards Aashna. As soon as she came near, Aashna bent down and touched her feet, so she looked at Atharv in surprise. Atharv smiled slightly. Now Suhasini ji also smiled. She lovingly placed her hand on her head and said with a smile:
"Always be happy, may you always have a blessed and prosperous life."
Hearing her words, a painful smile spread on Aashna's lips. She stood up, and Suhasini ji lovingly touched her cheek and said with a smile:
"What a lovely girl." (Then she said looking at Atharv) "We didn't expect it, but you have found a good girl for yourself. We used to complain that you got married alone, in a hurry, and didn't even tell us, but now our complaint is gone because you have given us such a lovely daughter-in-law."
"That's right, daughter-in-law. We didn't expect that you would find such a cultured girl for yourself, but you have proved us wrong. We are happy to see this. It's good to see that your wife knows how to respect elders. We thought you would bring home another Englishwoman who wouldn't know how to dress properly, nor would her parents have taught her to respect elders." A stern voice drew everyone's attention. Aashna also looked in surprise; Atharv's grandmother was standing in front.
Hearing her, Atharv said irritably:
"Grandma, she was my friend and wanted to meet you all, so I brought her home. But you are still stuck on that same thing. I didn't bring her to make her your daughter-in-law, and the one I have brought as a daughter-in-law is worthy of being your daughter-in-law in every way."
"Who are you to decide that? You got married alone and now you can't just bring anyone home and expect us to make anyone the daughter-in-law of our house. We don't trust your choice, so we will see your choice and then we will decide whether she is worthy of becoming the daughter-in-law of our house or not," Grandma said sternly. Hearing her, Aashna looked at Atharv worriedly; he blinked, signaling her to remain calm.
As Grandma came near them, Aashna held Atharv's hand, bent down, and touched her feet, saying:
"Namaste, Grandma."
Her sweet voice brought a smile to Grandma's lips. As they both stood straight, Grandma lovingly placed her hand on her head and said with a smile:
"May you have a blessed life. Where did they find such a lovely and intelligent girl like you? And what did you see in them that you chose them for yourself? We find them very rude and arrogant. They always have anger on their nose, then what did such an intelligent and lovely girl like you see in this spoiled boy that you agreed to marry him?"
Hearing her, Aashna looked at her with wide eyes in surprise. At the same time, Atharv made a face and said:
"Grandma, you are speaking ill of your grandson."
"Now there is nothing praiseworthy in you, so what can we do about it? (Grandma said with a smile looking at him, then said looking at Aashna) You haven't answered. There is no need for you to be so surprised. We are their grandmother, your husband came later, first they are our grandson. They have grown up playing in our lap. No one knows their shortcomings and virtues better than us. Now we want to know from you what quality of theirs did you like, because of which you decided to marry them?" She waited for Aashna's answer. At the same time, Aashna was trapped in a crisis after hearing her question. She had met him only two days ago, she hadn't even gotten to know him yet, so what would she tell them? She was lost in thought, everyone's eyes were fixed on her.
Suddenly, Aashna remembered how he took care of her this morning; how he ordered her favorite breakfast for her and even asked her to take medicine and eat food. Remembering this, she smiled slightly and said:
"Actually, you are his grandmother, so I can never know him better than you. You have been associated with him since childhood and it hasn't been long since we met, so I don't know much about him. Maybe I will get to know him better in the future, but right now the quality of his that I like the most is his caring nature."
Hearing her words, Atharv looked at her with wide eyes. At the same time, Aashna said with a smile, "You were right, Grandma, your grandson is very grumpy, rude, arrogant, and don't even ask about anger, he always walks around with such a serious face as if he is the king and the burden of so many big states is on his shoulders alone, but despite all this, there is a quality in him that can attract anyone and that is his caring nature, although he doesn't show it quickly, but he is very caring."
Hearing her words, Grandma's smile widened. She said with a smile,
"You have passed our test. You know that Atharv whom only a select few people have been able to know till today. We are proud of our grandson's choice that he has included such a lovely, intelligent, sorted, and cultured girl in his life."
"Yes, and we have full faith in you that you will bring our spoiled grandson in line." This voice drew everyone's attention. In front stood an elderly man of around 60 years and was smiling looking at Aashna. Atharv came forward to touch his feet, but he hugged him and said:
"So finally you got married."
He whispered in his ear, so Atharv also said in a low voice:
"You only said to find a girl within two days who is worthy of becoming my wife and the daughter-in-law of the Singhania family, marry her and bring her to you, otherwise you will give all the property to the trust. So here, I have brought a daughter-in-law for you. See if she is worthy of becoming your daughter-in-law or not."
"We will see that. And we will also see the video of your wedding. But first let's meet the one whom you have brought to make our daughter-in-law." He replied with a cunning smile, so Atharv said, separating from him:
"Grandfather, she has already become your daughter-in-law. I have married her."
He said seriously, so Grandma stepped forward and said:
"We will make that decision. You can't just bring any girl and we will blindly make her the daughter-in-law of our family."
Hearing her, Atharv was surprised. Grandfather stood in front of Aashna somewhere and said with a smile:
"We are your husband's grandfather."
Aashna immediately bent down and touched his feet, so his lips also smiled, but he hid it and said seriously:
"This will not work. Just marrying Atharv will not give you the status of being the daughter-in-law of this house. To become the daughter-in-law of this house, you will have to pass our test."
"What kind of test, Grandfather?" Atharv asked the question instead of Aashna, so Grandma glared at him and said:
"We are not talking to you, so it would be better if you don't speak in between. Anyway, you have done what you had to do, now it's our turn. You just watch and let us do what we have to do."
To be continued...
"How is the taste, Grandpa?" Atharva asked instead of Ashna. Grandma glared at him and said, "We are not talking to you, so it would be better if you don't interrupt. Anyway, you have done what you had to do, now it's our turn. You just watch, and let us do what we have to do." She glared at Atharva. He made a face and fell silent. Grandpa now looked at Ashna and replied, "Beta, what is your name?"
"Ashna," Ashna replied immediately. Hearing her sweet voice, Grandma smiled and continued, "What a lovely name you have, just like you. Who gave you this name?"
"Maybe Papa," Ashna replied, thinking for a moment.
"What is your Papa's name? What does he do? And where are you from?" As soon as she asked this question, Atharva quickly said, "Grandpa, the marriage is with her, not with her family. You want to know whether she is worthy of becoming a daughter-in-law of our family or not, so let me tell you. She is from a middle-class family, but the family is good, and you can tell that by looking at her. So don't ask any questions about her family, she gets upset because their approval was not involved in our marriage, they did not approve of this relationship because she is middle class and I am rich."
Atharva lied with such confidence that anyone would believe him, but perhaps Grandpa was not satisfied with his excuse. He now looked at Atharva with a sidelong glance and asked Ashna, "Beta, tell me, is what Atharva is saying true?"
Ashna remained silent for a while, then said in a low voice, "Yes, Grandpa." Ashna also lied. Now Grandpa asked seriously, "Beta, tell us one thing truthfully, has Atharva somehow forced you to marry him?" Everyone was shocked to hear his question, but his eyes were fixed only on Ashna. Ashna seemed a little worried after hearing his question, but soon she composed herself and said with a smile, "No, Grandpa, there is nothing like that. I have married of my own free will."
"There will be one last test for you, we want to see if you can handle this family if you have to in the future. Elders have said that the girl who can efficiently manage the kitchen of the house is also capable of managing the house and also has the quality of managing every relationship, so we want to take this test of yours. We also want to see whether our daughter-in-law is worthy of handling our house or not." He completed his point very calmly. Hearing his words, Atharva quickly refused, saying, "Grandma, what are you saying? What is the need for her to cook? There are so many servants in the house."
"The point is not about cooking, we want to see if she will be able to handle your house and the relationships connected to you in the future. Anyway, all the food is prepared, your wife just has to make something sweet in the food, which will also tell us how worthy your choice is and also her first kitchen ritual will be done and we will be able to start this new relationship with sweetness." Grandpa replied very calmly, but Atharva was nervous hearing his words. He was about to say something when Ashna looked at Grandpa and said with great respect, "Okay, Grandpa, if you want to see whether I am worthy of becoming your grandson's wife and the daughter-in-law of your family, then I will definitely prove that your grandson has not made a mistake by choosing me."
As soon as she heard her words, Atharva glared at her angrily and said, "Ashna, you..."
He had only said this much when Ashna interrupted him and said, "No, you won't say anything now. You only said that I am not only your wife but also the daughter-in-law of this house and I have to fulfill these relationships, so why are you stopping me now? I will prove that you have not made a mistake by making me your wife and then your whole family will get their blessings on our relationship, and no relationship can ever last without the blessings of elders, so please let me do this." Ashna requested with her eyes. In the course of the conversation, she also made it clear that whatever she was doing, she was doing it for him, she was doing what he had said. Atharva understood her point and fell silent.
As soon as Ashna was silent, she felt someone's loving touch on her head. She turned her head and saw an uncle standing in front of her, looking exactly like Atharva, just older, but it was a little difficult to guess his age by looking at him, he had maintained himself very well. It didn't take Ashna long to understand that this was Atharva's Dad. She bent down and touched his feet, saying, "Namaste Uncle."
At first, Adhiraj ji (Atharva's dad) was happy, but after hearing "Uncle" from her mouth, he glared at Atharva and said, "You didn't tell her that we are your Dad and also her Dad in relation."
Before Atharva could say anything, Ashna stood up and made an innocent face and said, "Sorry Dad."
Adhiraj ji smiled after hearing "Dad" from her mouth. He lovingly stroked her head and said, "God bless you, stay happy forever." Ashna started smiling after hearing his blessings. He looked at Atharva and said with a smile, "We didn't expect it, but we have to admit your choice. Even after a bad experience, you have finally learned to differentiate between people, now you are starting to know who is worthy of you and who is not. You have chosen a very lovely and intelligent girl. Dad may test her to accept her as his daughter-in-law, but we understood as soon as we saw her that she is the girl who can melt our strict son like wax, she can show him the right path. We liked our daughter-in-law very much. Let's forgive all your old mistakes on this matter. Come, won't you hug your next Dad?"
He took a step towards her. Atharva had become a little upset by his words, but he also smiled and hugged him. Adhiraj ji patted his back and said, "We are proud of you and your choice. And we are not saying this just like that, now that you have chosen her, she is the only one worthy of becoming your life partner in the true sense. We have years of experience, we can recognize people by looking at them. Ashna is a very innocent and lovely child, never hurt her heart by mistake, we know the drama you are doing and we also know the reason for this drama, but still we will only say that even in the drama, you have chosen the right girl to make your wife. So forget your past and give her the status of your wife in the true sense, Ashna is the only girl who can gather your scattered life and fill your empty life with the feelings of her love. She is the only girl who can support you throughout your life, whether it is sorrow or happiness, she will never leave you.
Think about our words once, then you will know that the one you loved years ago was never worthy of you, the one whom God made only for you and who is worthy of becoming your life partner, she has now come into your life. The one with whom you can happily spend your life has now become a part of your life forever. The age of this relationship is not just one year, the sooner you understand this, the better it will be for you, because if you take too long to understand this, you may lose that beautiful gift forever that God has given you without asking. If you have received something without asking, then value it, don't disrespect it."
He explained to him in a low voice while hugging him, then separated from him. Atharva looked at him with questions in his eyes, but he did not pay attention to him and smiled at Suhasini ji and said, "Suhasini ji, please show our daughter-in-law the kitchen, we are also eager to eat the sweet made by her hands."
Hearing his words, Suhasini ji took Ashna with her. The rest of them sat on the big sofa in the hall. Adhiraj ji was sitting next to Atharva.
"Dad, how do you know all this?" Atharva now asked slowly. He turned his eyes towards him and said with a smile, "What do you think? If you don't live with us, we won't know what is happening in your life? We are your father, even if you sneeze, the news reaches us, and here you have married a stranger, who met you on the road just one night before. At first, we didn't believe that you could do anything like this, we wouldn't even let you do it, then we found out about Ashna and after getting to know her, we became convinced that she is the girl who can bring you on the right path, the son who was taken away from us by a girl, she can bring him back to us. By breaking your pride, she can teach you to live freely, so knowing how you forced her into this marriage, we remained silent. And as she covered up your mistake just now, our faith in her became even stronger that she is the girl who will support you in every situation. She is sensible, respects elders, is cultured, knows how to respect relationships. Yes, she is a little immature, but a serious man like you needed such a girl."
He said his point with a smile and started talking to his Mom and Dad by looking in front. Atharva, hearing his words, became thoughtful and started thinking about Ashna.
Aashna had been taken away by Suhasini ji. Atharv was sitting in the living room with his father and grandparents. He rarely came there; therefore, they were talking amongst themselves. After a while, Suhasini ji came there and called everyone for dinner, and everyone moved towards the dining area.
Aashna was placing bowls on the table. When everyone arrived, she smiled at them. Everyone sat on their chairs; Atharv also sat on his chair. As Aashna stepped forward to serve, Dadiji stopped her and said, "Oh, child, you don't need to do all this. You sit and eat with us; there are servants who will serve."
"Dadi Maa, my mother says that it is our tradition that the daughters-in-law of the house eat something only after feeding everyone. Although I don't believe that women should eat only after men, I do believe that the daughter or daughter-in-law of the house should make her family sit together and feed them. This keeps the family bound together. Besides, I have come here for the first time today, it is my duty to serve you all; I can't do anything else, at least let me do this much. I will be happy."
Aashna said her words with great love. Listening to her words, Suhasini ji smiled and said, "Very fortunate are those parents in whose house you were born as a daughter. If your happiness lies in this, then we will not stop you, but you have to listen to us as well. Just agree to sit and eat with us after serving everyone once. If anyone needs anything else, there are servants here. You yourself said that the whole family should eat together and now you are also a member of this family."
Hearing her words, Aashna smiled slightly and started serving food to everyone. She first served Dadi-Dada, then Suhasini ji and Adhiraj ji. After that, as she started serving Atharv, he said softly:
"Have you not messed something up? Do you even know how to cook?"
At his question, Aashna glared at him and said softly: "No, I don't know how to cook anything. So, I am warning you beforehand, don't even touch what I have made, otherwise you will die after eating it, I cook so badly."
Hearing her words, Atharv started glaring at her angrily. Aashna also started moving back while glaring at him, but her hand hit the water jug, and the water spilled on the table and into Atharv's plate. Atharv stood up in shock, while Aashna stepped back in panic. Water had also spilled on Atharv's clothes. Seeing this, Aashna started wiping them and said:
"Sorry, sorry, sorry! I didn't do it on purpose. You made me angry and my attention got diverted, causing the jug to fall. I am really very very sorry."
She was so panicked that her eyes became moist. Her hands were constantly cleaning Atharv's coat. Suhasini ji was about to say something, but Adhiraj ji stopped her. At the same time, Dadaji asked Dadi to remain calm.
At first, Atharv was glaring at her angrily, but when he saw her scared and frightened face, all his anger vanished in an instant. Aashna was continuously saying sorry while cleaning his shirt and coat with her palms. Atharv held Aashna's wrists and stopped her. Then Aashna raised her eyelids and looked at him with tearful eyes, saying softly:
"Sorry, I tried not to mess anything up, but I mess things up on my own. I don't do anything on purpose."
Two drops of tears escaped from her eyes and started wetting her fair cheeks. Atharv didn't like her tears at all. He moved his hand forward and wiped the drops of tears resting on her cheeks with his thumb, saying with great love: "Relax, nothing happened, it's just water, it will dry."
"But that..." Aashna said innocently, pointing towards the table, and Atharv smiled. He signaled the servant with his eyes to clean it, then lovingly cupped her face in his palms and, wiping away the tears flowing from her eyes, said:
"That will also be cleaned. You don't need to worry about such a small thing."
"But you said that I shouldn't mess anything up here, shouldn't break anything. I tried, but I mess things up on my own. I told you, didn't I, that I am a walking disaster, wherever I go, I end up breaking things." She started sobbing while speaking.
Her innocence brought a smile to everyone's faces. At the same time, they were all happy to see Atharv's concern for her. As Atharv listened to her, he smiled and said:
"Nothing is messed up, and where have you broken anything? It's just water that spilled, it will be cleaned. You have handled everything very well. I didn't even expect that the girl who can't stay quiet for even a minute, how she is staying so calm for so long without breaking anything, without damaging anything."
Hearing his words, Aashna jerked his hand away and, puffing up her face with displeasure, said: "You are making fun of me."
"No, I am telling you that you are not as big a disaster as you think you are." Atharv replied with a gentle smile, and Aashna silently kept looking at him. She couldn't understand whether Atharv was praising her or making fun of her.
Seeing her innocence, everyone was smiling. Atharv made her sit on the chair next to him and said further: "Now there is no need to do anything else, sit quietly and eat."
Aashna turned her head to look at him, so Atharv took off his wet coat and hung it behind the chair and, folding the sleeves of his shirt, sat down. He moved the plate from in front of him to the side and started placing another plate. Then he slid it towards Aashna and said: "Eat."
Saying this much, he started placing another plate again. Aashna kept staring at him. The eyes of everyone else were also fixed on them, and a deep smile was resting on their faces. Atharv raised his hand to eat, then turned his eyes towards Aashna who was looking at him. He raised an eyebrow at her, so Aashna nodded her head in yes, understanding his question, and started eating quietly. Then Atharv also started eating. Everyone else also started eating. While eating, Dadi's eyes fell on Atharv's plate, and she said in surprise:
"Atharv beta, you haven't taken halwa at all."
"No, Dadi Maa, I don't want to eat sweets." Atharv refused clearly, so Aashna stood up, picked up the bowl of halwa, and, putting a little in a small bowl, moved it towards him and said softly:
"Mom says I cook well, and Moong Dal halwa is your favorite. Taste it once, maybe you will like it."
Hearing her words, Atharv looked at her in surprise, so she smiled slightly and started eating. As Atharv now glanced at the halwa, he saw Suhasini ji, and she also smiled. Atharv looked back at the halwa which looked quite tasty in appearance and then, taking a spoonful, put a little in his mouth. With this, his eyes closed, and he said from his mouth:
"Delicious!"
Now everyone looked at him and smiled. Atharv now looked at Aashna and said with a smile: "Not bad... you can cook decently. You are the third woman whose hand-made halwa I have liked. You know, till today, I have never liked even Kaki's hand-made halwa."
At this moment, he seemed like a different Atharv. That enchanting smile of his brought a smile to Aashna's lips as well. She looked at him and said with a smile: "I know, you only like halwa made by Mom and Dadi Maa."
"Who told you?" Atharv raised an eyebrow and asked, so she looked at Suhasini ji with a smile.
Following her eyes, when Atharv's eyes fell on her, he said with displeasure: "Mom, you are starting to reveal my secrets, not fair."
"Aashna is your wife, she should know everything about you, and being your mother, it is our responsibility to tell her everything about you. We are just fulfilling the duty of being a good mother and a good mother-in-law, so that Aashna can take care of you exactly as we used to when you lived with us. Because after the mother, it is only the wife who makes a man's life better, and for that, it is very important for Aashna to know you. We are just helping her a little in this." She said with a smile, so hearing her words, Atharv smiled slightly.
Everyone started eating, but Atharv filled his stomach with halwa. Aashna was very happy seeing this, just seeing him eating halwa. Adhiraj ji said worriedly:
"This is wrong, beta, I agree that the halwa is made by your wife, and you liked it so much that you are just eating it, but your wife is also our daughter-in-law. Even though you have the most right on the halwa made by her, but we also have some right. The way you are eating halwa, nothing will be left for us. We also have to enjoy the halwa made by our daughter-in-law, so leave a little for us as well."
"I will leave it just for tasting, the rest I will eat." Atharv said and started taking halwa again, so Aashna quickly took the bowl from his hand and, moving the plate towards him, said:
"I haven't made it just for you. Now you eat food, you won't get halwa. You have eaten so much, if you eat so many sweets, you will get diabetes, then you won't even be able to see sweets again, let alone eat them."
Hearing her words, Atharv glared at her and said: "I am perfectly fit, so you don't need to worry about me. Quietly give me the bowl of halwa."
"I won't give it." Aashna said, sticking to her point, and pulled her hand back, so Atharv leaned towards her and said: "Aashna, I said give me the bowl."
"I also said that you won't get any more halwa now, if you eat it all, what will everyone else eat?" Aashna said, puffing up her face. Hearing her words, Atharv glared at her, but Aashna did not budge from her point. Finally, Atharv only moved back, making a face and saying:
"Keep it, I don't even want to eat, it's not that good either."
"Everyone could see how bad it was, that's why you devoured the entire halwa like a hungry person. How much was made and how little is left." Aashna said, taunting him and making a face, so Atharv started glaring at her. Both were engaged in glaring at each other when they heard Dadaji's voice:
"You both are fighting like bitter enemies. Looking at you, it doesn't seem like you had a love marriage."
Hearing his words, both looked at him in haste, then, looking at each other, said, forcing a smile: "No, Dadu/Dadi ji, we both love each other very much, our love is just of the bickering type."
Hearing their words, Dadaji questioned them, glaring at them with suspicious eyes: "Hmm, okay, you both didn't tell us where and how you both met and how things reached marriage?"
Hearing his question, both answered at the same time: "On the road/In the mall..."
Aashna had told the truth, while Atharv had lied. Hearing the different answers from both, everyone looked at them in surprise, so Aashna looked at Atharv in panic who was glaring at her. Aashna made an innocent face, so Atharv, looking at everyone, started saying:
"Outside the mall, that is, on the road, we had our first meeting. After that, we kept meeting, and we fell in love with each other. Her father did not approve of our relationship, he was getting her married to someone else, so she left her house and ran away to me. In haste, we got married so that they could not take her back with them."
Atharv weaved a story, mixing some truth and some lies. Aashna had become sad once again, so no one asked any further questions. Atharv placed his palm on her palm, so Aashna composed herself and started eating a little bit.
After dinner, everyone else ate halwa and praised it a lot. After that, Dadaji got up from there and said, looking at Suhasini ji: "Suhasini bahu, take the daughter-in-law to her room, she will rest, she must be tired. (Then he said, looking at Adhiraj ji and Dadi) You all also go to your respective rooms."
In the end, he said, looking at Atharv: "And you come to the study room with me."
To be continued...
Finally, he looked at Atharv and said, "And you, come with us to the study room."
Atharv followed him. As soon as they both reached the study room, Atharv looked at him and said, "Grandfather, I have fulfilled your condition now. There are still two hours left of the time you gave me, and I have brought your daughter-in-law in front of you. You have also taken her tests and accepted her as your daughter-in-law, so now, according to the deal, you will transfer my company and my property in my name. Do you remember?"
"Of course, we remember, and we will certainly fulfill our promise. We will talk to the lawyer tomorrow itself and transfer your share of the property and shares in the name of your wife, our daughter-in-law." He said very casually, sitting on the sofa kept there.
Hearing that, Atharv stared at him wide-eyed. As soon as he stopped speaking, Atharv said in astonishment, "What did you say?… You will transfer my share of the property and shares in Aashna’s name?"
"You heard perfectly right. We are going to transfer not only your share but also half of our share of the property in Aashna's name." Grandfather replied once again very calmly. Hearing him, Atharv stood up from the sofa and said angrily,
"What are you saying?… How can you transfer my and your share of the property in her name?"
"We certainly can, because we are the head of this house, and we still have the right to decide who gets what in this house. So, control your anger, otherwise your anger may cost you dearly."
Grandfather also threatened him angrily now. Hearing him, Atharv said irritably, "This is cheating, Grandfather. You said that if I get married and introduce your daughter-in-law to you in the next two days, you will transfer my property and company in my name. Now you are going back on your word."
"No, we are keeping our promise. Aashna is your wife, so what difference does it make whether the property is in your name or her name? Anyway, we know you inside out. If you get your property, you won't waste any time in leaving Aashna. You have a one-year contract with her because we had put a condition that the property will actually be in your name only if you can maintain your marriage for one year.
If you separate from your wife in the middle, the property will go to the trust. We know all your planning, and therefore we will not give you a chance to even think of leaving Aashna. You got one contract prepared, and we will get another contract prepared, under which 50% of your shares and property will be in Aashna's name. If you fail to give us good news in the next one year, then those shares and property will automatically be in Aashna's name forever, and if you give us good news in this one year, then after that you will be the owner of that property… but only until your child turns 18. After that, there will be a 25-25% share division between you and your child, and our shares will go to Aashna so that you never think of leaving her."
He pronounced his decree. At this time, a cunning smile was spread across his lips, while the color had drained from Atharv's face. He now made an innocent face and said,
"Grandfather... tell me honestly, am I your real grandson, or did Mom and Dad pick me up from somewhere because of which you are treating me like this?… You know how hard I have worked day and night to bring this business to this point, and in one stroke, you are snatching everything from me and putting it in Aashna's name, whom you met only a few hours ago... that too because of me."
"You are our own grandson, that's why we know you so well. You are very intelligent, you take every decision very thoughtfully. No one can handle our business better than you. That's why we have become carefree after handing over all our business to you........
But you have made a mistake in your life. You had decided to include such a girl in your life who was staying with you and stabbing you in the back, and you were so entangled in her web of deceit that you could not see her deception.
She had left no stone unturned in ruining you, and after humiliating you, she even married your rival. We are not ready to take such a big risk again. We know you will never make the same mistake again, but still, we cannot take any risk with you, nor do we want you to remain lonely for life because of a deceitful girl, and she celebrates her victory that she hurt you.
When you are happy with someone else in your life, then she will realize that she has lost even after winning, and it is very important for us to do all this for that."
Now Grandfather looked quite serious, while Atharv was also sitting quietly with his head bowed. Grandfather now stood up and patted him on the shoulder and said further,
"What do you think?… We don't know anything about this marriage drama that you are doing? We know everything, yet we are happy that even if it is as an agreement, you have included a good girl in your life. This marriage may be a one-year contract for you, but you cannot deny that you have married that girl with all the rituals, and from now on, she is not only your wife but also the daughter-in-law of this house.
We had to test that girl because you picked her up from the street and married her. So that we can see whether she is worthy of the relationship she has joined or not?… Whether she can be given the status of our house's daughter-in-law or not?... And we are completely satisfied with her. Even if you have married her only for property, you cannot deny that she is your wife and our daughter-in-law, so take care that she does not face any kind of trouble.
If a single tear comes into our daughter-in-law's eyes because of any foolishness or anger of yours, then we will never forgive you and will disinherit you from our property. Always remember our words. Come on, go now, your wife must be waiting for you. Go and start your relationship." He said and patted him on the shoulder and left from there.
Now Atharv raised his head, eyes red with anger and a flushed face. Clenching his jaws, he said to himself,
"I can never forget that mistake of my life, and one of the reasons for doing this marriage is also that. I will show her that there is no place for her in my heart now, nor is she worthy of being a part of my life. I will not let her win either… She wanted to ruin me, but what I want will happen… She has caused me as much pain as she could, now the game is in my hands.
I will ruin those who dream of my destruction, that too with my own hands… I will grind her into the dust of the street, but I will not let my property go into Aashna's hands either. After that betrayal, I don't trust any girl in the world. That's why I will never let Aashna become a part of my life.
If you are my grandfather, then I am also your grandson, do everything in Aashna's name, getting everything in my name from her name is a piece of cake for me. I have certainly married her at your behest, but I will not give her the right to be my wife, nor will she get a chance to hurt me. This girl is a magician, she has easily trapped you all in her web, but I am not going to come under her control."
Atharv had decided in his mind that Aashna is like Asmi, who had got his property in her name by acting like she was in love with him and after that, she had married his rival in front of his eyes. After all, she had done everything at his behest, so that she could ruin Atharv, but unfortunately, she could not succeed in her purpose. Grandfather had already suspected her, so he had got Atharv's property and shares in his name in time and had never done everything in his name again.
Atharv had never said anything for this before because he knew that it was his fault. He blindly trusted a deceitful girl and would have been ruined by her hands, but he was saved because of Grandfather. But a few days ago, Grandfather had threatened him that if he did not get married in the next two days, he would give his property to the trust. He had done this only so that Atharv could forget the betrayal given by Asmi and move forward in his life........
Because Atharv had stopped even looking at girls after that betrayal. He had left his house and started living alone in his Juhu bungalow, so Suhasini ji had sent her special servant, who was more than a servant to her, to Atharv. Since then, Kaki was taking care of Atharv like a mother.
Atharv now angrily moved towards his room. He had decided that Aashna is like Asmi, so he would never give her a chance to come close to him.
Somewhere else, Suhasini ji, while telling Aashna small things about her family and Atharv, took her to Atharv's room. Aashna was listening to everything she said very carefully. As soon as they reached Atharv's room, Suhasini ji said with a smile,
"Take a look, this is your room. Atharv used to live here before leaving from here. Even today, whenever he comes here, he stays in this room. No one is allowed to enter his room except us. We also have to stand here to get his room cleaned so that not even a single thing moves from its place, otherwise Atharv's anger will rise to the sky.
From now on, this responsibility is yours. Atharv likes a clean room and house, everything should be in its place. Now you are his wife, so you will have to take care of these things so that there is no unnecessary argument or fight between you two."
"Mom, what happened that he left his family, his home, and started living alone in that big bungalow?"
Aashna suddenly asked a question. Hearing which, Suhasini ji lovingly touched her cheek and said with a smile,
"Today is the beginning of your married life, so start this new life with sweet words. There is no need for you to reduce the importance of today by remembering those bitter memories… Yes, you are Atharv's wife, so you have the right to know everything about him, but there is a right time for everything, and right now you should focus on this new relationship and Atharv so that you can make this relationship so strong that even if the biggest storm of the past comes, your and his relationship remains like this. So, stop thinking about this right now, we will tell you everything ourselves later. Right now, you should weave new dreams and turn them into reality. This time and this night will never come back. Come on, now you rest, we will meet you in the morning."
Aashna nodded in agreement, so she kissed her forehead and said, "May God give you every happiness in the world."
She left from there, so Aashna looked at the room. This room was also exactly like Atharv's room there. Aashna sat on the corner of the bed and started thinking about Atharv. Started thinking about her and his relationship.
To be continued...
Atharv made a decision in his mind and came to his room. Hearing the sound of the door opening, Aashna also looked towards the door. Their eyes met.
Atharv immediately looked away. Seeing this, Aashna's eyes widened in surprise, but Atharv took his clothes from the wardrobe and went to the bathroom. Aashna kept looking at him. She was still looking at the closed door of the bathroom.
After a while, Atharv came out of the bathroom after changing his clothes. Then, walking towards the bed, he said, "What are you doing sitting here? Go and change your clothes."
"But I don't have any clothes." Aashna said, looking a little worried. Atharv opened the door of the wardrobe next to his and, walking towards the dressing table, said, "Mother has kept some clothes for you, take a look... if you like something."
Aashna silently walked towards the wardrobe. As soon as she saw the wardrobe, her eyes widened in surprise. The entire wardrobe was filled with different types of clothes. Saris and suits were hanging on one side, and on the other side were western dresses, each better than the other. Below, some simple dresses were folded and kept.
In the bottom shelf, there were beautiful sandals. She opened the drawer and found the other things as well. After seeing everything, she looked at Atharv in surprise and said, "Are all these for me?"
"Now you are my wife, you are going to live here with me, so if there are girls' clothes in the wardrobe of this room, then they must be for you, right?" Atharv looked at her, raising his eyebrows. Aashna nodded. She picked up a nighty kept below and got nervous and hurriedly put it back, because it was quite a revealing nighty.
After searching through everything, she took a simple white suit and went to the bathroom. When she came out, Atharv was lying on the bed, his eyes closed and his arms placed over his eyes.
Aashna walked towards the dressing table. She opened her bun and, gently caressing her open hair, walked towards the bed. Then, looking at Atharv, she said, "I want to sleep."
"Go, sleep on the sofa. From now on, you will not sleep on the bed. You don't even know how to sleep properly. You don't have any human habits. You sleep in such weird positions that you ruin the sleep of others. Because of you, I spent the whole night awake. Sometimes your leg was on me, then sometimes some 'Prerna' was clinging to me. And sometimes you would start saying something in your sleep. I say we should take you to a doctor tomorrow while going home, there is definitely some virus in your system, because you don't have normal human-like behaviour."
Atharv suddenly flared up at her. Aashna got scared, her eyes became moist, but she didn't say a word and walked towards the sofa. Atharv kept glaring at her angrily, then lay back down. Aashna curled up on the sofa, did not let her tears come out and closed her eyes. The effect of the whole day's tiredness was that she fell asleep quickly. After a while, Atharv opened his eyes and looked at her. He didn't like seeing her sad face. Aashna was lying curled up, as if she was feeling cold. Atharv got up and went to her with a blanket. He covered her well and also increased the temperature of the AC.
When Aashna felt the warmth, she slept properly. Seeing this, Atharv breathed a sigh of relief and went to bed and lay down. He was also tired, so he fell asleep quickly.
It was about four o'clock at night. Atharv heard someone muttering, so he woke up. He got up and looked around in surprise and found that Aashna was muttering something in her sleep. At this time, she looked very troubled and sad, her face was wet with sweat, perhaps she was frightened.
Atharv watched her for a while, then got up and went to her. After thinking for a while, he leaned down and brought his ear close to her lips to try to hear what she was saying. Aashna was still muttering.
"Papa no, I don't want to get married... Papa please, I have never asked you for anything till today, just listen to this one thing, I don't want to get married yet... I have some dreams, I have to fulfill them... my dreams are my life, if I can't fulfill them then I won't be able to live... I will die suffocating... Please Papa... think about me sometimes, I am also your daughter... you can see Didi's happiness, but can't see my tears?... Please Papa, if I get married to him then I won't be able to do anything in my life, I will spend my whole life locked in the house like Didi... I don't want to live such a humiliating life, Papa, where I am dependent on someone else for every single penny... Please Papa, just listen to me once."
Saying this, Aashna started sobbing in her sleep. Atharv listened to everything and looked at her in surprise. Aashna now covered her face with her palm and started screaming in her sleep.
"Papa no... I will obey everything you say, just don't hit me..."
After this, the room echoed with her painful screams. Atharv just kept looking at her blankly. When Aashna started screaming, he closed her mouth with his palm and said softly,
"Aashna, come to your senses, there is no one here. If you keep screaming like this, the whole house will gather here."
Aashna couldn't hear anything, she started struggling in her sleep as her mouth was closed. Atharv patted her cheek and said,
"Aashna, come to your senses, there is no one here, no one will do anything to you. Aashna, come to your senses, open your eyes, you are having a dream."
After shaking her like this for a while, Aashna suddenly opened her eyes with a jerk and, seeing him so close to her, she pushed him away from herself with a jerk. Atharv rolled back. He was not expecting this from Aashna, so he couldn't balance himself.
Atharv got up in anger, was probably going to shout at Aashna, but seeing Aashna's scared face and tear-filled eyes, he calmed down. Aashna got up and sat huddled up and was crying badly. She was still muttering something. Atharv calmed himself down, then went to her. Now he called her with great affection,
"Aashna."
When Aashna heard his voice, she looked up at him. Atharv, taking another step towards her, said, "Are you okay?"
"Yes, I am fine, maybe I had a bad dream. Sorry, I disturbed you, you go to sleep, I will not trouble you anymore."
Aashna somehow said her words and, wiping her tears, walked towards the balcony.
Atharv, looking at her, started thinking, "This was not a bad dream, but perhaps the painful reality of your life, which you are trying to hide... there is something that makes you sad as soon as you hear your father's name. Did he force you to get married, did he raise his hand on you?"
He was thinking all this. He turned his eyes towards the balcony and saw Aashna holding the railing of the balcony and looking at the moon in front. Atharv also moved towards that side.
"If there is anything that is bothering you, you can share it with me." Atharv said, standing next to her. Hearing his words, Aashna looked at him with empty eyes and said,
"Those whose companionship is for a short time, they never become confidants or sympathizers."
Hearing such a serious thing from her mouth, Atharv looked at her, but Aashna fixed her eyes back on the moon. Atharv watched the pain reflected on her face for a few moments, then looking at her, he said seriously,
"Our companionship is for a year and this is not a short time. So if we can't do anything else, we can at least share each other's pain."
"Okay, so can you tell me what happened in your past that you left your complete family, left your home and started living alone in that big palace?" Aashna asked, turning to look at him, Atharv remained silent. He took his eyes off her, and a painful smile spread on Aashna's lips. Looking at the moon, she further said,
"Our companionship is only for a short time, it would be better if we stay away from each other's personal life and past. Still, if you want to share my pain, then first give me the right to reduce your pain. The day you share the bitter memories of your past with me, I will also include you in all my pain. Until then, leave me alone with my pain, please. Go away from here, I want to be alone for some time."
Hearing her words, Atharv quietly left from there. Aashna kept looking at the moon with empty eyes for a while, then sat down leaning against the railing.
After about an hour, Atharv came there again and saw that Aashna had fallen asleep while sitting with her head resting on the railing. Her face was still covered with pain. Seeing which, Atharv was feeling something pricking in his heart. He had not seen her so sad even when he had forced her to marry. After watching her silently for a few moments, he leaned down and lifted her into his arms and moved slowly inside.
Aashna, in her sleep, placed her palm on his chest, then rested her head on it. Atharv's heartbeats quickened at the touch of her palm. He looked nervously at the girl who was sleeping so peacefully even after being the reason for his heart's restlessness. Then he averted his eyes from her.
Going into the room, he laid her down comfortably on the bed, then covered her well and lay down on the other side himself. But he could not sleep again. It had only been a while since he had made Aashna sleep when he heard something falling, so he woke up startled. He turned his eyes and saw that the place where he had made Aashna sleep was empty. Seeing this, he held his head.
After a while, he got up and looked to the other side and saw that Aashna was sleeping very peacefully on the floor. He breathed a deep sigh and then lifted her again and put her on the bed and, after making her sleep in the middle, covered her and put a pillow on the corner. He himself lay down on the other side, but even then he did not get peace. He said to himself,
"There is no guarantee of this mad girl, she will reach the corner while somersaulting and then roll down again."
Thinking this, he slid closer to her and hesitantly held her hand. After a while, he fell asleep again.
Although Atharv had convinced himself to stay away from Aashna, the truth was that there was something between them. Atharv couldn't bear to see her tears. Seeing her sadness, he would forget everything, or rather, as soon as he saw Aashna's innocent face, he would send his mind on vacation; then only his heart would work, compelling him to move towards Aashna.
What was it from the beginning in this relationship of understanding that kept them connected, they didn't know. Seeing Aashna's pain, Atharv's stone heart had melted once again. And because of his worry and concern, Atharv had fallen asleep holding her hand so that she wouldn't fall again in her sleep; if that happened, she could get hurt, and Atharv didn't want that. Both were sleeping peacefully tonight.
The next day, Aashna woke up early in the morning. She woke up at five o'clock, while Atharv was still sleeping because he had stayed up late. As soon as Aashna opened her eyes, her gaze fell on Atharv's handsome face. They had moved closer to each other in their sleep, and now their faces were facing each other.
Aashna got nervous seeing his face so close and started to get up with a jerk, but at that moment Atharv turned to the other side. He was still holding Aashna's palm tightly, which caused Aashna to be pulled towards him. She was about to fall on top of him, but she braced her other hand on the bed, which saved her from falling on him.
All this happened so quickly that she didn't get a chance to understand anything. Everything just kept happening on its own, and she just kept looking at Atharv in surprise, who was still sleeping peacefully. His hair was swaying on his forehead; he looked completely different while sleeping, very sweet and cute. His face was amazing anyway, now it looked even more captivating. Aashna's eyes got stuck on his face. She started staring at his face.
Suddenly, Atharv pulled her hand towards him once again, and this time Aashna couldn't balance herself and fell on top of him. Her eyes widened. The next moment, she felt Atharv's arms around her waist, and the poor thing's breath caught in her throat. Nervous, she raised her head slightly and saw that Atharv was still sleeping peacefully.
Aashna took a sigh of relief and said,
"Thank God he's sleeping, what would I have said to him if he had woken up? (Then, after thinking for a moment, she said to herself) But why would I say anything?... He's the one who fell asleep holding my hand, he's the one who pulled me on top of him, and now he's the one who's holding me and sleeping, so why would I answer?..."
"He'll have to answer why he's sleeping holding my hand? (Then, after thinking for a moment, she said) But I was sitting outside, right? Then when did I come here? And how did I end up sleeping with him on the bed?..... I guess I must have fallen asleep there, so he picked me up and brought me inside and accidentally held my hand in his sleep."
She asked herself questions and answered them herself. Then, looking at him, she said in a low voice,
"Actually, you're not as bad as you pretend to be."
Saying this, a sweet smile spread across her lips. She gently removed his hand from her waist and carefully moved away from him. She slowly got off the bed and walked towards the closet with slow steps. She kept looking back to see if he had woken up. She carefully opened the closet, took out clothes, and went into the bathroom.
As soon as the bathroom door closed, Atharv opened his eyes and said, taking a deep breath,
"You got saved today, what would you have answered her if she had asked you all these questions?..... That's why I say, stay away from her. But she's a strange girl, she asked the question herself and answered it herself....... But it's good that she didn't seem sad anymore, she had returned to her former self....... But it's surprising that the girl who can't do one thing without breaking something didn't make even a tiny sound. She got up so quietly that no one even knew that someone had disappeared from there.
But I woke up when you fell on top of me and I unknowingly wrapped my arms around you, but I didn't let it show because if I had opened my eyes then, the situation would have become awkward for both you and me. Then answering your questions would have been difficult for me too, so I pretended to be asleep."
Atharv was thinking all this when the bathroom door opened and Aashna stepped out. As soon as she stepped into the room, her eyes fell on Atharv sitting on the bed, and remembering the moment before, her cheeks turned pink. She averted her gaze from him and walked towards the dressing table.
Atharv was watching and understanding the expressions of nervousness on her face. He himself was feeling strange about meeting her eyes, so to ease the atmosphere, he got off the bed and asked,
"You woke up early today."
"Hmm, I woke up early, so I thought I'd get ready, otherwise if I'm late, you won't give me food." Aashna replied, opening her hair, and Atharv said,
"Hmm.... That's good." Saying that, he went into the bathroom. Aashna looked back and saw Atharv going into the bathroom, and her lips slightly stretched.
When Atharv came out after taking a bath, he was a little shocked to see the room empty. He looked everywhere, but Aashna was nowhere to be seen. He quickly put on clothes, set his hair, and left the room. He went straight downstairs, where Adhiraj ji was reading the newspaper in the hall, also sipping tea. Grandparents were also sitting near him and discussing something. Servants were busy cleaning.
Atharv looked around everywhere, but he couldn't find Aashna anywhere, and Suhasini ji was also not visible, so thinking something, he walked towards the kitchen.
As soon as he reached near the kitchen, he heard Aashna's tinkling voice,
"Mom, I also want to learn how to make all this from you."
As soon as she said this, Suhasini ji's voice also came,
"Of course.... We are free all day. You stay here with us, we will teach you how to make everything that Atharv likes."
"But he won't let me stay here." A sadness was reflected in Aashna's voice. Atharv was now standing leaning against the gate of that open kitchen, listening to the conversation of those two mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.
Hearing Aashna's words, Suhasini ji smiled and said,
"Do you want to stay with us?"
"Yes.... I know, there's no one there. It's such a big bungalow, like a haunted house. If I stay there alone, I'll definitely get a heart attack. Even though there are many servants there, but family is family, right? And you all are so nice, I want to stay here with all of you. But your son won't let me stay here.
He's absolutely a tyrant, you know.... He gets angry at the slightest things. I don't even understand when he's in a good mood and when he's in a bad mood. One moment he'll talk so nicely, and the next moment his tongue will spread bitterness like neem. But now I have to stay with him, being his wife, I can't stay away from him here, and he won't come to stay here."
Aashna was unaware that Atharv was listening to all her words. She was going on and on, as soon as she stopped, she heard Atharv's stern voice,
"You said it right, you are my wife, so you will stay where I stay, so stop dreaming of staying here and think once before you speak ill of me, crossing me can be very heavy for you."
Hearing the voice, Aashna was shocked for a moment, her face turned pale with nervousness and fear, but as soon as she heard his words, her eyes became small with anger and she turned towards him.
"Aren't you ashamed of listening to other people's conversations like this?... And what are you threatening me, I'm not afraid of you........ Understood." Aashna put her hands on her waist and glared at him angrily. That same tone of hers once again made Atharv angry. He took a step towards her and said, gritting his teeth,
"This is my house, I can go wherever I want, I can do whatever I want. I don't need to take anyone's permission for that. As for being ashamed.... then you should be ashamed, you're speaking ill of your husband in front of your mother-in-law. Your tongue is getting a little too loose these days."
"My tongue has always been very loose, you just found out late and why should I be ashamed?... I was talking to my mom, you were listening to my words secretly, so you should be ashamed." Aashna once again glared at him angrily. Both started glaring at each other with murderous eyes, but before either of them could say anything further, Suhasini ji came in between and said,
"Stop it, you two, you've grown so big, you're tied in a relationship like marriage. But childhood hasn't gone away yet, how are you fighting like children over such a small matter."
"Mom.........." Atharv opened his mouth to say something, but Suhasini ji cut him off and said, glaring at him,
"You don't say anything. What tone were you talking to Aashna in?..... Don't forget, she's your wife, so give her respect.... and one thing.
You said this time that this is your house, don't let it happen again because Aashna is the daughter-in-law of this house and from now on she has as much right on this house as you do."
Hearing her words, Atharv glared angrily at Aashna, who was looking at him with a victorious smile on her lips, as if teasing him. Annoyed, Atharv stomped his feet and left from there, and remembering his face, Aashna burst out laughing. Now Suhasini ji glared at her, so she became silent immediately and the next moment the whole kitchen echoed with the laughter of both mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.
Aashna said to her after a while, smiling,
"Wow mom... you did amazing, what a scolding you gave him. His face was worth seeing. Really, I enjoyed it a lot."
She once again burst out laughing. Hearing her words, Suhasini said to her, becoming very serious and glaring at her,
"Aren't you making fun of our son a little too much in front of us?... Don't forget, we are his mother and your mother-in-law."
"I will always remember that you are my mom." On her words, Aashna said with a charming smile, so hearing her words, she smiled and said, touching her cheek lovingly, explaining,
"We know that he gets very angry, he must be bothering you a lot too, he has been angry and irritable since childhood. He used to smile and laugh a little before, then Asmi came into his life and the betrayal given by her also snatched Atharv's smile. He has made himself as hard as a stone and that is the effect that he is like this now, but son, he is very good at heart. Now you have become a part of his life, so gradually you will understand yourself that he is not as he seems.......
And we have full faith that you are the girl who can return our old son to us. The bitterness and harshness that is residing in his heart, only a girl like you can erase, whose words have the sweetness of honey. So we will just say this to you that don't fight with him, he will get even more annoyed. Treat him with love as much as possible, then you will see that the thick layers of ice frozen in his heart will soon melt and in its place your immense love will make its place in him.
We know this marriage did not happen with your consent. (Aashna was listening to her words silently. As soon as she said this, Aashna's eyes widened, she started looking at her in surprise, so she smiled and continued) We are his mother, no one can understand better than us what he can do and what he cannot. We know that he has married you in a hurry because of Dad's deal.
We don't know what your compulsion was, but looking at you, we have understood that you are a very sweet and pure-hearted playful girl. You can't be with him for money, you are exactly the kind of wife we were looking for our son, who decorates his desolate life with her words, who forces those feelings to flourish again in his heart which he had hidden somewhere deep in his heart years ago.
Who can instill faith in the word love in his mind. Who can turn his bitter words into sweetness and introduce his life to lovely sweet feelings. And you can do this. Seeing you at first sight, we understood that this time Atharv has chosen absolutely the right girl for himself, now you just have to take out those bitter memories from his heart and settle yourself in his heart.
We will help you completely in this, you will see that by the end of this one year, Atharv will fall in love with you, because even after living with such a lovely child, he does not fall in love with her, it cannot happen. Once he falls in love with you, then he will never let you go away from himself and you will get his company for the whole life. Tell me, will you try to reach his heart for your mom?"
Aashna was lost in deep thought. She was looking at her as she asked the question. Suhasini ji was looking at her with hopeful eyes. There was a lot going on in Aashna's mind at this time. After thinking for a while, she slowly nodded in yes, so Suhasini ji became happy and said, hugging her,
"We had the same expectation from you. From now on, you will come here to us every day after Atharv leaves, we will tell you those things about Atharv which will help you in getting closer to him. Along with that, we will also teach you how to make his favorite dishes. It is an old saying but it still works today that the way to a husband's heart goes through his stomach."
She now moved away from Aashna, so Aashna asked after being silent for a few moments,
"Mom, who is Asmi? And what has happened to her that he has changed so much? Even he has left his house, his family too?"
"The right time has not come to talk about this yet, son. Just know that Asmi is Atharv's past and you are his today and his future. You have to remove his past from his heart and settle yourself in his heart. When we feel that now we should tell you all the truth, then we will tell you everything ourselves."
She lovingly touched her cheek and explained to her, so Aashna nodded in yes. Both got back to making food. After a while, Atharv once again stepped there and said, making a face, seeing both of them talking,
"If you have time from talking, then make coffee for your husband, I have been sitting outside in wait for so long, but no one is paying attention to this thing ahead of talking."
His words were directly for Aashna. Saying the word 'husband' with so much rightness touched Aashna's heartstrings, her heart leaped with an unknown happiness. The same Suhasini ji also started smiling seeing that Atharv unknowingly cares for Aashna, also expresses his right to be her husband....... the meaning was clear that their relationship can become strong in the future so much that no contract can break it.
Aashna heard his words, turned back and looked at him and said smiling,
"Sorry.... you go outside, I'll bring it in a moment."
"No.... I'm standing here, give the coffee quickly. What trust do I have in you, if I leave from here, then you will forget everything again in talking and I will keep sitting outside waiting for the coffee." Atharv said, leaning against the wall and watching her with his arms folded. Aashna now averted her gaze from him and started heating milk for coffee. Then turning towards Atharv, she said,
"How much sugar?"
"One tea spoon." Atharv replied comfortably, so Aashna started making coffee again. She put coffee in the coffee mug and moved towards him.
"Your coffee." She said, extending the mug towards him, so Atharv stood up straight. Holding the mug, he leaned slightly towards her and said in a low voice,
"Come to the room quickly, I have to talk to you about something."
Hearing his words, Aashna started looking at him with wide eyes. The same Atharv looked at her with a crooked smile and turned to leave. Then he took a sip of coffee and said smiling as he left,
"The coffee is okay."
Hearing his words, Aashna was now even more troubled and kept looking at him and he left from there.
"Come to the room quickly, I need to talk to you."
Hearing him, Aashna's eyes widened as she looked at him. Atharv, with a sidelong smile, glanced at her and turned to leave. Then he took a sip of his coffee and said with a smile as he left, "The coffee is decent."
Hearing his words, Aashna became even more worried, and Atharv left with a sly smile. Aashna, still surprised and troubled, kept looking in the direction he went, while Atharv had already left. Suhasini ji noticed her. Seeing her standing like a statue, she came to her.
"What happened, dear? Atharv has left, who are you looking at now?"
Hearing her, Aashna snapped out of it. Looking at her with confused eyes, she said, "He called me to the room, saying he needs to talk."
"Then go, what are you doing here? It must be something important," she said, placing a hand on her shoulder. Aashna nodded and left, confused. She reached the gate of the room, but felt nervous about going inside. Then she slowly opened the door a little and, like a thief, peeked inside with her head.
Just then, the door suddenly opened wide. Aashna lost her balance and fell face-first onto the floor while trying to steady herself. With this, an "Ahhh..." escaped her lips. She quickly sat up and began rubbing her arm.
Just then, Atharv's stern voice reached her ears, "How did that feel? I told you, messing with me would be costly for you."
Hearing the voice, Aashna raised her eyes to the front, and the gate was closed. Atharv stood before her with both hands in his pockets, glaring at her with great attitude. Aashna averted her eyes from him and stood up, wiping away her tears.
Atharv, who had been glaring at her angrily until now, had his anger vanish in an instant at the sight of her tears. He took a step towards her and said, "You're crying?"
"No, I'm laughing," Aashna retorted angrily and, rubbing her arm, took steps to leave. Atharv suddenly stood in front of her and, frowning and glaring at her angrily, said, "How many times have I told you not to talk to me in that tone, but you don't understand straightforward talk, do you?"
"Yes, I don't understand any of your talk. I'm stupid, how can I understand? And what are you, some kind of king, that I should be your slave, bowing my head and agreeing with everything you say? Nothing like that was written in the contract, that I would have to live as your slave and you would even take away my right to speak," Aashna now said, standing up to him.
Atharv angrily grabbed her arm and pulled her close, grinding his teeth in anger, "Your tongue has become very loose, have you forgotten who you're talking to?"
"Absolutely not, I remember. I'm talking to the great Atharv Singhania, who considers the whole world his slave, who has the misconception that everyone will bow before him and agree with everything he says."
Aashna still replied, looking him in the eye. Atharv clenched his jaw, and his grip tightened on Aashna's arm. Aashna, writhing in pain, said, "What are you doing? Let go of my hand, it's hurting me."
She tried to free her arm from his hand, but Atharv's grip only tightened. Tears welled up in Aashna's eyes. She raised her tear-filled eyes and looked at Atharv. Her tears were Atharv's weakness. He didn't know why, but seeing tears in her eyes always made him soften.
The same thing happened this time. He loosened his grip on her arm. Aashna pulled her hand back and began rubbing the spot with her palm.
Atharv stood silently, looking at her arm. The place where he had grabbed her, the imprint of his hand had appeared, the spot was completely red. Her skin was also very white, sensitive, and soft, so it had even started to bruise.
Tears flowing from Aashna's eyes rolled down her cheeks. Atharv watched her silently for a few moments, then moved towards the bed. He opened the cabinet on the side table, took out the medical kit kept in it, and walked towards Aashna with a cream. As soon as he tried to grab her hand to apply the medicine, Aashna jerked his hand away and said, stepping back angrily, "Don't touch me."
"Aashna, give me your hand." Compelled by habit, Atharv said in his usual stern tone. Aashna shouted angrily, "Why? Is there still something left? You've already given me a mark, do you want to give me more pain? Just because I answered you, looking you in the eye, which was against your dignity, your ego couldn't bear it, so you want to give me pain."
Atharv was very angry at her words, but he controlled his anger and said calmly, "Aashna, it's bruised, let me apply the medicine."
"I don't want your favor. I can take care of myself. Take your ego and get out of my sight," Aashna roared angrily once again. Now Atharv could no longer control his anger. He grabbed her arm in anger. Aashna kept telling him to let go, trying to free herself, but to no avail.
Atharv took her to the bed and, glaring at her angrily, said, "That's enough, now sit quietly. If you move even a little, you'll see."
He said, forcing her to sit on the bed, in a warning tone. Aashna flared up even more. Angrily, she jerked his hand away and said, "What a…"
The next words got stuck in her throat, and her eyes remained wide open in surprise. What happened was that her balance was disturbed by her jerking away, and she began to fall backwards. To save herself, she tried to grab Atharv's hand, and in the process, Atharv also fell on top of her. Both fell on the bed, and Aashna's open lips collided with Atharv's neck, causing both of their heartbeats to quicken.
Aashna's breathing became rapid, and she began to blink quickly in panic. Atharv also became numb. He didn't even get a chance to understand what had happened to him. The warm sensation of her lips created a stir in his heart. But in the next moment, he composed himself and stood up. He was also embarrassed, after all, something had happened to them that neither of them had imagined. Both became uncomfortable.
Hiding his embarrassment, Atharv said with fake anger, "You can't do anything properly, can you? You fell yourself, and you made me fall too. Now get up, or will you lie there all day?"
Atharv said, extending his hand towards her. Aashna hesitantly took his palm. Atharv sat her up, and Aashna quickly let go of his hand and, adjusting her clothes, glanced around and said softly, "Sorry."
"Give me your hand and, for God's sake, please don't do anything crazy now," Atharv said once again with fake anger. Aashna also shyly extended her hand towards him. As soon as Atharv's fingers touched the bruised spot, Aashna gasped. Atharv immediately pulled his hand back, "Sorry, did it hurt too much?"
Feeling the pain and concern for herself in his voice, Aashna opened her eyes and looked at him. Atharv was looking at her worriedly. Aashna shook her head in a no, looking at his face.
Atharv glared at her, then turned his eyes back towards her arm. This time, he gently started blowing on it while applying the medicine, and Aashna kept staring at his face. Atharv applied the medicine, then raising his eyes towards her, said, "It's done, it will get better soon."
Saying this, as soon as his eyes met Aashna's, Aashna hurriedly averted her gaze from him and, standing up, said, "Thank you, I'm going downstairs."
Saying this, she quickly ran towards the door and went straight out of the room. Atharv couldn't understand the reason for her haste, but remembering the incident that had happened a few moments ago, he ran his hand through his hair and muttered to himself, "Why am I feeling so uncomfortable? I've never had such a strange feeling before. I was in a relationship with Asmi too, we were even closer than this, but these feelings were different. Atharv, this girl is crazy, stay away from her. Otherwise, she will make you crazy like her."
Atharv reasoned with himself, then left the room. When he reached downstairs, he saw Aashna setting the table with Suhasini ji, and now a sweet smile was spread across her lips. Atharv remembered her saying that she wanted to stay here with them. He thought something in his mind, which brought a slight smile to his lips for a few moments, but he quickly hid it and went to everyone. Everyone sat down, and Aashna got ready to serve again, but as soon as she picked up the bowl, Atharv took the bowl from her hands, put it down, and said in a stern tone, "You will not serve food today."
Hearing him, Aashna looked at him in surprise. Atharv continued, "It's impossible for you to do anything properly, and I don't want any more drama at the dinner table. Anyway, we have to leave now, so sit down and have breakfast in peace."
Hearing him, Aashna pouted. She was about to say something when her eyes went to the lipstick stain near Atharv's collar, which was probably caused by her lips colliding there. Seeing this, Aashna's eyes widened and her face turned completely pale. Everyone became worried seeing her panicked face. Atharv also looked at her and tried to understand how her expression had changed from anger to panic in a moment. Seeing her panicking, Grandma asked lovingly, "What happened, dear? Why are you so panicked?"
Hearing her question, Aashna raised her eyes and looked at her, then looked back at Atharv. Now he also raised an eyebrow and asked, "What happened? Why are you so panicked?"
Aashna looked at everyone, then sighed in relief, thinking that she had seen the mark, no one else had seen it yet. She quickly shook her head in a no and sat down next to him. Atharv began to look at her suspiciously.
"Are you okay, dear?" This time, Grandpa asked the question. Aashna spread a fake smile on her lips and said, "Yes, Grandpa, I'm perfectly fine."
Seeing her smile, everyone sighed in relief, but Atharv was still glaring at her suspiciously. The servant served the food, and everyone started eating. When Aashna saw everyone busy, she lightly nudged Atharv with her elbow. Atharv glared at her, and Aashna pointed towards his neck, but Atharv didn't understand anything. He glared at her angrily and said in a low voice, "What is it? Have you gone mad?"
Hearing his whisper, Adhiraj ji looked at him, and he smiled slightly. Aashna now put her hand over her mouth and leaned towards him a little, saying in a low voice, "There's a mark on your neck, wipe it off."
She had whispered it, which is why Atharv didn't understand. Aashna tried to explain it to him a few times, avoiding everyone's eyes, but Atharv didn't understand. Finally, Aashna angrily slammed the spoon on the plate, and it bounced and fell under the table. Everyone raised their eyes towards her at the sound. Aashna made a cute face and said, "Sorry, it accidentally slipped from my hand, I'll pick it up."
Saying this, she started to bend down when Suhasini ji stopped her, saying, "Let it be, dear, take another spoon."
"I'll pick it up, Mom," saying this, Aashna started to bend down again, but this time Atharv stopped her, "You stop, you're not reliable, you'll go to pick up the spoon and knock over the table. I'll pick it up."
Saying this, Atharv bent down to pick up the spoon. Aashna first glared at him with narrowed eyes at this insult, then she also bent down and, as soon as she touched his neck, Atharv looked at her in shock and said in surprise, "What are you doing here? And why are you trying to touch me?"
"There's a mark of my lipstick on your neck." Saying this, she started wiping the mark on his neck with her palm. At the same time, hearing her words, Atharv said in surprise, "What?…How…?"
He was saying it right, but the words couldn't come out of his mouth, because Aashna had pressed his mouth with her palm and was glaring at him angrily. Atharv now realized what he was about to do. At the same time, Aashna glared at him and said in a low voice,
"You fell on top of me, maybe it got on then. Now, if you've got the answer to your question, can I clean it off?"
Atharv immediately blinked. Aashna removed her hand from his mouth and, after cleaning the mark, said in a low voice, "It's done."
She now came back up. Everyone was smiling at her, so she averted her eyes and said, "She wasn't finding the spoon, so I was telling them about it."
Hearing her, everyone looked at her with a strange, mysterious smile and nodded. Poor Aashna, panicking, fixed her eyes on the plate. After a while, Atharv also came out and, after giving everyone a slight smile, fixed his eyes on the plate. One of his hands was on his neck. Suddenly, Adhiraj ji's eyes went towards him, and he said in surprise,
"What happened to your neck, son? Why are you sitting with your hand like that?"
Hearing his question, Atharv looked at him in panic and, shaking his head in a no, said, "No, nothing happened, Dad, it's just like that."
Saying this, he removed his hand from his neck and fixed his eyes back on the food. The lipstick mark was still slightly visible, and Suhasini ji was smiling softly while looking at it and eating her food. Everyone had breakfast, then Atharv and Aashna said bye to everyone and left from there. Everyone told Aashna to keep coming, so she also nodded with a smile. Both of their cars left the bungalow. Aashna was sitting quietly, looking outside, and Atharv was trying to understand the reason for her silence.
To be continued...
After breakfast, everyone was sitting in the living room. Aashna was sitting next to Atharv. Just then, Suhasini ji came and sat beside her. She had some boxes in her hand. She took Aashna's hand, gave her the jewelry boxes, and said with a smile, "This is from our side, a token for showing your face and your first cooking ceremony. We couldn't give it last night."
Aashna's eyes widened. She said in surprise, "Mom, what will I do with these? I don't want them."
She nervously tried to pull her hand back. Just then, she heard Grandma's voice, "Take it, dear, it's your right. You are the daughter-in-law of this house, and you have to take care of these ancestral jewels now."
Even after she said that, Aashna wanted to say something, but Atharv held her hand. Aashna looked at him, a little flustered.
"They're giving it with so much love, just take it." Atharv understood her nervousness and told her to accept it. Aashna thanked Suhasini ji. Now Grandma came to her. She had a beautiful box in her hands. She opened it, and inside were beautiful diamond bangles. Aashna stared at them wide-eyed and exclaimed in surprise, "Wow! So beautiful."
Grandma smiled when she heard her. Then she took the bangles, held her hand, and put them on, saying, "These are just for you. We had them made for Atharv's wife, and since you are his wife, they are yours from today. Always wear them."
Hearing her words, Aashna couldn't even speak. She just kept looking at the beautiful bangles on her hands.
"They look so good on your hands, and the size is perfect too. They were made for you."
Suhasini ji said with a smile. Aashna looked at her when she heard her. Understanding her confusion, she smiled and winked. After that, Dadaji and Adhiraj ji came forward. Adhiraj ji handed her an envelope and, smiling, placed his hand on her head, saying, "Always keep smiling like this. This is a small gift from your dad. Don't refuse it."
He had already forbidden her from refusing. Aashna quietly took it and said thank you with a smile. After them, Dadaji came forward and extended a file towards her, saying, "This is your right, which we are giving you. Consider it our blessing and keep it. Don't refuse, or we'll feel like you don't respect us."
Hearing him, poor Aashna's face fell. She looked at him and asked softly, "What's in this, Dadaji?"
"Atharv will explain it to you, but remember one thing. Keep this file safe with you, don't give it to anyone," he said, explaining to her. Aashna nodded in agreement. Atharv had everything put in the locker in the room. Then Atharv and Aashna said goodbye to everyone and left. Everyone told Aashna to keep visiting. She smiled and nodded. Both their cars drove out of the bungalow.
Aashna was sitting quietly, looking outside, and Atharv was trying to understand the reason for her silence. After a while, he asked her while driving, "What happened? Why is your radio off today? You just had breakfast, you should be full of energy and doing your job of chattering away, and you're sitting completely silent, as if you're not even here?"
Hearing his question, Aashna turned to him and, looking at him with sad eyes, said, "Then you should be happy, I'm not eating your brain with my chatter."
"Yes, I should be, but your silence is raising many questions in my mind. Tell me, you were happy until now, why are you so sad now?" he asked the same question again.
Now Aashna looked at him and said, "Isn't it strange? You don't like my talking, but you can't be at peace without hearing it. I didn't want to get married, for which I left my home, my family, everything, and today I'm sitting here as your wife. Everyone in your house is happy that you got married, and you are deceiving them, showing this agreement marriage as a real marriage. Marriage is really the biggest problem in life. Those who don't do it are also sad, and those who do it are also troubled. Those who want to do it are also not happy, and those who don't want to, people don't let them be happy either. Your and my situations are similar. You didn't want to get married but there was family pressure, so you found this way out and started deceiving them, and I didn't want to get married, but my family was forcing me, so I chose the path of running away from there to escape, and look, today we both are entangled in this relationship. We got married even though we didn't want to. Two people who don't even know each other are now husband and wife. The marriage that happened out of compulsion has become a love marriage for the world."
Atharv was staring at her intently as he listened to her words. Her words were very profound and didn't suit her nature. When Aashna stopped talking, Atharv looked at her in surprise and said, "What are you? Sometimes so serious, sometimes as playful as a child."
"I am as I am in front of you," Aashna said and looked outside. Now Atharv didn't say anything either, but Aashna's words were echoing in his mind. After being silent for a while, Aashna looked at him and said, "Mr. Singhania."
"Hmm, what happened?" Atharv reacted immediately. So Aashna asked seriously, "You live there alone, while you have such a good family. They love you so much, don't you ever miss them? Don't you feel like living with them?"
"No, and this is none of your business, so don't waste your mind unnecessarily." Atharv suddenly got angry. Aashna quietly looked at him. Then after a while, Atharv turned to her and, glaring at her, said, "Stop trying to read me, I'm beyond your understanding. It's not that easy to understand me."
"I know, you are that puzzle that looks very complicated from afar, but when you come closer and look, you realize that they are just straight lines, we just couldn't see them," Aashna said, looking at him. For a moment, Atharv stared at her in surprise. Then he looked away from her and said,
"I'll drop you home, after that I have to go to the office, so stay at home comfortably, there's no need to do any work, and if possible, don't cause any damage either."
Aashna nodded and looked outside. After a while, Atharv dropped her off at home and left from there. Aashna stood there watching his car leave, then came inside. As soon as she saw her, a servant came and offered her a glass of water. Aashna smiled and said thank you. She sat down there and started talking to her.
Aashna was so interesting and simple that gradually all the servants gathered there. Aashna started talking to everyone. They were also happy that their madam was so good that she was giving them so much respect. One story after another was coming out between them. In between, the mansion would echo with their laughter. Everyone was telling stories, and Aashna was listening to them with a smile. At lunch, everyone sat there together and had lunch and then started talking again.
At around 7 o'clock, Atharv's car stopped outside the gate. From outside, his laughter could be heard. He gave the keys to the driver and went inside. As soon as he stepped into the living room, his eyes widened at the sight there. All the servants were gathered there, empty utensils were also kept there, and Aashna was sitting among them. Everyone was sprawled on the floor.
Aashna was sitting sprawled, she was still wearing the saree. Her hair was tied in a messy bun, and her face was glowing with happiness. Seeing her sitting like that among them, Atharv's eyes narrowed with anger, and he roared angrily, "What's going on here?"
As soon as his voice fell into everyone's ears, they trembled with fear. Aashna also got scared. Everyone turned to him, and Atharv was glaring at them angrily. Everyone quickly stood up and bowed their heads. Now Atharv glared at Aashna angrily and asked, "What are you doing here?"
"Talking," Aashna replied as if she wasn't affected by his anger at all, while the others were on tenterhooks. Now he started looking at her in surprise. At the same time, Atharv's eyes narrowed even more with anger when he heard her. He glared at everyone and said, "What condition have you made of the house? Do I pay you all to talk or to work?"
Seeing his anger, everyone quickly said "Sorry sir" and started tidying up the scattered drawing room. Atharv moved forward and ordered, "Everything should be cleaned up within five minutes, and my coffee should reach my room."
They quickly agreed. Now Atharv turned back and, glaring at Aashna, said, "You come upstairs with me."
Hearing his commanding voice, Aashna looked at him in surprise, but Atharv said his piece and moved on. Aashna was still standing there when Kaki came to her and said, "Beta, go quickly, Atharv will get angry if you're late."
Hearing her words, Aashna looked at her with confused eyes and said, "Kaki, we were just talking, then why is he so angry?"
"Beta, Atharv likes cleanliness and the house was very dirty right now and everyone was sitting and talking with you, that's why he's angry. Now you go quickly, otherwise he will get angry at you too," she explained to her. Aashna nodded and went upstairs.
As soon as she opened the door and stepped inside, she saw Atharv standing right in front of her, glaring at her angrily. As soon as he saw Aashna, he roared angrily, "What were you doing downstairs?"
"I told you, I was alone so I started talking to them," Aashna replied very calmly. But hearing her, Atharv glared at her angrily and said, "Haven't changed your clothes yet? Must have been gossiping downstairs since morning."
"I didn't have any clothes, did I? All the ones you got me earlier are dirty, they need to be washed, and the new clothes I bought, you took them away with your car," Aashna replied calmly again. Hearing her reply, Atharv remembered that he had forgotten to take the clothes out of the trunk.
Now his anger subsided a little, but he still glared at her and said, "Then you could have called me, but you only remember to call when you get some free time from talking."
"My phone was stolen along with the bag, so I don't have a phone, and I don't know your number either."
"Your excuses are very good, now stay here, I'll get your stuff brought up." Atharv said sternly and called the driver. As soon as he cut the call and turned around, Aashna came in front of him and said, "I wanted to wash my clothes, so can you tell me where the washing machine is, I'll wash them."
"There's a basket in the changing room, put the clothes to be washed in it. They'll go for dry cleaning, you don't need to wash them." As soon as Atharv said that, Aashna widened her eyes and looked at him in surprise.
"Why? Will the dry cleaner do the dry cleaning for free? Tell me where the machine is? I'll wash them myself, why waste so much money?"
"There's no machine, and for your information, let me tell you that the clothes you're talking about washing in the machine will get ruined if washed in the machine. What do you want, should I give you such expensive clothes to wash in the machine so that they get ruined in one go?" Hearing him, Aashna's face became small.
Just then, there was a knock on their room door, so Atharv told them to come in. Two servants came inside with lots of shoppers in their hands. Then, at Atharv's instruction, they put them on the sofa and left. Atharv now looked at Aashna and said, "I'm going to take a bath, you can set up your stuff in the meantime."
Saying that, he went into the bathroom, so Aashna took the shoppers and went into the changing room and, setting aside his stuff, started putting her clothes and sandals in half the space. She left the jewelry on the bed, set up her stuff on the dressing table. Then, as soon as she turned around, at that very moment, the bathroom door opened and Atharv stepped out.
As soon as Aashna saw him, she looked away because Atharv was only wrapped in a towel, his entire upper body was visible, on which the lingering drops of water looked like dewdrops. The drops of water were trickling down his long neck, sliding down to his waist, broad chest, and strong protruding muscles. He looked very hot.
While Aashna's face had turned red with shame seeing him like that, Atharv wasn't affected at all. Wiping his wet hair, he asked, "Is everything set up?"
"Yes, only the jewelry is left," Aashna said in a hurry. So Atharv said, going towards the changing room,
"Okay, I'll put them in the locker, let me change first."
Aashna nodded. Atharv left from there, so Aashna turned around and, looking at the closed door, put her hand on her chest and said, "Oh, saved, he was looking so hot, my breath was caught, and that man wasn't affected at all."
Remembering this, she made a face. She had already taken out her clothes for now, so she went to take a bath. About half an hour later, she came out and saw Atharv sitting on the sofa doing something on the laptop. Aashna went towards the dressing table, opened her hair, untangled it, and made a braid. Then, turning to him, she said, "I'm hungry."
"Yes, you must be hungry after talking so much," Atharv retorted again. So Aashna pouted and said, "Why are you taunting me like this? What else would I do alone all day? So I started talking to them, I didn't commit any sin, did I, that you've been on my back ever since you came?"
"The problem isn't with talking, it's with how you were sitting among them. Will anyone say that you are my wife?" Atharv said in a slightly angry tone. So Aashna immediately made a face and said,
"Just because I'm your wife doesn't mean I'll start flying in the sky. It's just my nature, I mingle with everyone. I don't care who is what and what they do. Anyway, they are also working, making a living with their hard work. They aren't doing anything wrong. Then why discriminate? I liked talking to them, so I started doing it. Anyway, I was sitting idle. What else would I do alone? And there was no one else, so I would talk to them, right?"
Atharv opened his mouth to say something again, but before that, Aashna said further, "Don't say anything to me now, I can't stay quiet. You weren't there, so what would I do? Talk to the walls? So that people would start thinking I'm crazy, so I started talking to them and I will continue to do so, you can't stop me."
"Good, spoil my image along with yours. You were sitting among them as if you were a servant, not the owner of the house. You had made yourself look so different that it was hard to recognize if you were the same person I had left behind or someone else? You were lying on the floor. But you don't care about these things, do you? You just have to talk. Go, what are you still doing here? Go and talk to them." Atharv glared at her and took the laptop and left the room. Aashna just kept looking at him.
Atharv left angrily. Ashna began to think about what he had said and realized that she was indeed at fault. There was a way to talk, after all. She felt bad thinking that Atharv's image might have been tarnished because of her. She sat down on the bed.
Around nine o'clock, Kaki came to call her for dinner. Seeing her, she asked, "Won't he eat?"
"No, Atharv Baba said he's not hungry. You go and eat," she replied. Ashna then asked, "Where is he?"
"He's in his study room. He said he's doing some important work, so he'll eat later. He told me to feed you and tell you to go to sleep if you're hungry," Kaki replied. Ashna smiled and said, "I'm not hungry right now. I'll eat with him. You all eat and go to sleep."
"But Sir..." she wanted to say something, but Ashna interrupted her with a smile and said, "I'm really not hungry, and I'll convince him. He won't say anything to you. You all eat and go to sleep."
At her insistence, Kaki left. Ashna leaned her head back on the bed and waited for Atharv to come. At one o'clock in the night, Atharv entered the room, and his gaze immediately went to the bed, where Ashna was sitting right on the edge, about to fall off. Seeing this, Atharv rushed towards her. Just as Ashna was about to fall, Atharv caught her in his arms.
Ashna clung to him in her sleep. Atharv glanced at Ashna and said to himself, "This girl is really crazy. When she knows she can't sleep on the bed, why does she sleep on the edge? And today, Madam is starting to sleep while sitting. How can a girl be so careless?"
Thinking this, he laid her down in the middle of the bed. When he moved away, Ashna turned and wrapped her arms around her stomach, holding it tightly and curling up. Atharv glanced at her; her face was completely sad and withered. She was restlessly tossing and turning in her sleep, holding her stomach. Atharv was watching her intently.
Ashna grimaced in her sleep and said softly, "How much does he get angry? He's such a stubborn bull. He got angry over such a small thing and left, didn't even come to eat. He doesn't care about me at all. Here I am, starving, and he has to show his anger. Now I'll also get angry with him, won't even talk to him."
She kept mumbling in her sleep, and Atharv watched her in astonishment. Then he said to himself, "She was hungry, and she hasn't eaten yet." Then he looked at Ashna, who was pressing her stomach in her sleep, probably because it was hurting from hunger. Atharv said, looking at her, "That's why she was holding her stomach. What a strange, stupid girl, she should have eaten when she was hungry. What's the need to stay hungry? Now, if she doesn't eat, she'll be troubled all night, and she'll keep me troubled too."
Atharv thought to himself. Then, taking a deep breath, he moved towards her.
"Ashna, wake up, let's go eat." Atharv patted her cheek, trying to wake her up, but she didn't wake up. She turned over and went to sleep. Atharv woke her up two or four times, but Ashna didn't wake up. Finally, he took some water and sprinkled a few drops on her face. Ashna opened her eyes in a panic and said, "It's raining, run..."
She suddenly sat up and started getting off the bed quickly. Atharv was watching her reaction with wide eyes, but when Ashna started getting off the bed, he grabbed her wrist and stopped her. Ashna turned to look at him, and he said calmly, "You're in the room, so how can it be raining here? I sprinkled the water to wake you up. Now get up and wash your face, let's go eat."
Hearing his words, Ashna remembered that she had fallen asleep hungry while waiting for him. Remembering this, she got angry. She jerked her hand away from Atharv and said angrily, "I'm not hungry."
Saying this, she lay back down and closed her eyes. Atharv picked her up and made her sit up again, saying, "Ashna, stop acting unnecessarily. Hunger has gone to your head. You were saying 'hungry, hungry' even in your sleep. Quietly get up and go eat, otherwise I'll pick you up and carry you."
He said threateningly, but it didn't make any difference to her; she remained lying down. Atharv waited for her for a while, then bent down and picked her up in his arms. As soon as he picked up Ashna, Ashna opened her eyes in shock and, trying to break free from him, said, "Leave me, I told you I don't want to eat. Put me down. You can't touch me like this without my permission. I said put me down. Can you hear me or not? Put me down."
She kept saying this, but it was as if Atharv wasn't hearing anything. He took her out of the room while carrying her, and, annoyed by her wriggling, said in a stern tone, "Sit quietly, otherwise I'll throw you straight down. You've gone mad with hunger, quietly go and eat. There's no need to act so much."
"I'm not acting. When I was hungry and I even told you that I was hungry, you still left me alone to show your anger. You didn't even come down at dinner time and told Kaki to feed me. Do I look like a ghost to you that I would eat alone? I kept waiting for you, but you didn't come. I don't know where you get so much anger from. You didn't think about me even once. You kept showing your anger, and here I was, waiting for you and falling asleep hungry. Why have you come now? Go, go do your work, show your anger. Half the night has passed, and then you remembered that I'm hungry. You brought me to this house, so how can you do this to me? Don't you have any responsibility towards me?"
She kept speaking non-stop in anger, and Atharv, carrying her in his arms, was silently listening to her. Ashna now grimaced and said, "You're very bad. I agree I made a mistake, but you could have explained it to me lovingly, right? But no, you had to show your anger. You brought me to this house and dumped me here, but you don't care about me at all. Do you know how hungry I was, but you didn't come? I don't want to eat anything now. Leave me, I don't want to eat anything, and I don't want to talk to you either. Go, go show your anger."
She started struggling to get down. Atharv, who had been listening to her silently until now, now glared at her and said, "If you want to get down, you'll have to listen to me. Quietly go and eat. Anyway, I didn't tell you to stay hungry, you stayed hungry of your own will. Despite that, I woke you up to eat, that too with so much difficulty. You should be grateful to me. So now stop your acting and say whether you'll go and eat or not? If you say yes, I'll put you down, and if you don't agree, you'll go down like this and have to eat forcibly too... Tell me, should I put you down?"
Atharv asked, and Ashna glared at him angrily. Just then, her stomach started making noises, and pain also started. Ashna held her stomach and squeezed her eyes shut. Atharv saw her in pain and started walking downstairs quickly. At Ashna's request, all the servants had gone to sleep, so Atharv took her straight to the kitchen. He made her sit on the slab and took out the food from the refrigerator, heated the food in the microwave. Then, quickly taking it out on a plate, he held a piece towards her and said, "Open your mouth."
Ashna opened her eyes now, and Atharv's worried face came into view. She stared at him. Atharv gestured to open her mouth. Ashna now opened her mouth easily. Atharv fed her a few bites at a time. Only then did Ashna's pain subside, and she stopped him, saying, "I'm fine, I'll eat myself."
As soon as she said this, Atharv gave her the plate and said, looking at her, "What happened to you? Even while sleeping, you were holding your stomach, and the expressions on your face were exactly the same as they are now. As if you were in a lot of pain."
At his question, Ashna's gaze went to him once again. Atharv was looking at her with serious eyes. Ashna now pointed towards the water, and Atharv handed her the glass of water. Ashna drank a little water, then put the glass down and said, "I've had this problem since childhood. When I'm very hungry and don't get food, I start getting severe pain in my stomach, then I start feeling dizzy, and if the condition gets worse, I faint. That day, when I met you at night, I had also fainted because of hunger."
Ashna finished her sentence, bowing her head. Atharv listened to the whole thing, then picked up the plate and handed it to her, saying, "If you had such a problem, why did you stay hungry? I had said that it would take me time, so you could have eaten and gone to sleep."
"You did say that, but you left after getting angry with me, so how could I eat alone?" Ashna said, pouting, "I'm sorry, I argued with you over the wrong thing. You're right, your image is also associated with me now. If I behave like this, what will everyone think about you, that what kind of wife you have? Who doesn't know anything, has no class at all. I'll be careful in the future."
Atharv listened to her and stared at her, wondering if this girl was really so innocent or if it was all an act. He was thinking this when Ashna raised her eyes and looked at him, saying, "You're not angry with me now, are you? I don't like it at all if someone is angry with me."
Hearing her words, Atharv came out of his thoughts and shook his head in a no, saying, "I'm not angry, you eat your food, and there's no need to stay hungry like this in the future."
"You're not hungry? Won't you eat?" Ashna asked again, and Atharv looked at her. Ashna was looking at him with hopeful eyes. He was about to refuse at first, but then, looking at her eyes, he also took out a plate for himself. So a sweet smile spread across Ashna's lips. She happily started eating her food. At the same time, Atharv was standing there and eating his food, and also looking at Ashna's blooming face; how innocent she looked at this moment.
After some time, both of them ate the food. Then Ashna washed the dishes, and both went back upstairs. Ashna started lying down on the edge, but Atharv stopped her and said, "Not there, you fall down while sleeping. Sleep inside."
Ashna now glared at him with strange eyes, so Atharv got irritated and put pillows in the middle and said, lying down on the other side, "Don't worry, I won't take advantage of you. If I wanted to, you've been sleeping with me for two days, you wouldn't have remained untouched until now."
Hearing his words, Ashna glared at him angrily and averted her gaze, then slid inside towards her side and went to sleep. After some time, Atharv got up and went to her side and put pillows. Then, looking at her, he said to himself, "I'll have to think of something else for this problem of hers."
Thinking this, he went and lay down in his place and closed his eyes.
The next day, Atharv woke up early. His gym was on the same floor, in the corner. Atharv went there and started exercising. Aashna woke up about half an hour later. She went to the bathroom to take a bath, then came back to the room and sat on the bed. Something was going on in her mind. She sat silently for a while, then got up and started looking around the room. Luckily, she spotted the music system; her eyes lit up. She quickly turned it on and tuned into FM, where this song had just started.
"Raghukul reet sada chali aayi
Pran jaye par vachan na jaai"
Aashna wrapped her dupatta around her waist; her feet began to move to the rhythm of the song.
"(Jai Raghuvanshi Ayodhyapati
Ram Chandra ki Jai
Siyavar Ram Chandra ki, Jai
Jai Raghuvanshi Ayodhyapati
Ram Chandra ki Jai
Siyavar Ram Chandra ki, Jai)"
"Raghuvar teri raah niharein
Raghuvar teri raah niharein
Saaton janam se Siya
Ghar more pardesiya
Aao padharo piya
Ghar more pardesiya
Aao padharo piya"
Lost in herself, she was moving her feet to the rhythm of the song. Her expressions, each and every pose, were amazing. She was doing classical dance to the song, and she was great at it. The sound of the song reached Atharv's ears, and his hands stopped hitting the punching bag. His eyes widened in surprise, and his steps moved towards the sound. As he moved forward, his expressions kept changing.
Reaching outside her room, his steps stopped. His eyes were fixed on Aashna, who was dancing to the song. She was dancing with so much energy that the beads of sweat on her face were shining like dewdrops. Her small hair, soaked in sweat, was sticking to her forehead and neck; there was a different kind of peace on her face, as if she was in this world and yet not. Atharv's gaze was fixed on her; he stared at her intently.
"Maine sudh-budh chain gawa ke
Maine sudh-budh chain gawa ke
Ram ratan pa liya
Ghar more pardesiya..."
"Gayi panghat par bharan bharan paniya diwani
Gayi panghat par bharan bharan paniya
Ho naino ke, naino ke tere baan se
Murchhit hui re hiraniya
Jhoom jh na na na na
Jhana na na na na
Bani re bani main teri joganiya
Ghar more pardesiya..."
The song ended, and Aashna's steps stopped with it. At this moment, her pose and expressions looked amazing; a sweet smile was spread across her lips. She looked extremely charming at this moment. After the song ended, she stood in the same pose for a while, then stood straight and her eyes fell on Atharv standing in front of the gate. Seeing him there suddenly, Aashna was shocked. In a flurry, she said, "Yo... you... he... here..."
Hearing her voice, Atharv also snapped back to his senses and, averting his gaze from her, said, "I came here hearing the song, you dance quite well, so I started watching."
By now, Aashna had recovered. She unfolded her dupatta and wore it properly and said with a slight smile, "Thank you."
Atharv had also recovered now. He said "Welcome" and turned to leave, when Aashna said from behind, "Listen."
Hearing her voice, Atharv turned around and looked at her, saying, "Yes?"
"I wanted to go to the market, not your mall, a small market, and I needed a little money too." She hesitantly completed her sentence and looked at Atharv, whose face was expressionless. It was difficult to tell what was going on in his mind.
Atharv looked at her silently for a few moments, then took steps inside. Aashna was still looking at him. Atharv picked up the shopper lying on the table and held it out to her, saying, "Take it."
Aashna first looked at the shopper in confusion; it was the same shopper that Atharv had given her yesterday too, but she had refused to take it. Then she looked at him with questioning eyes, and Atharv gestured with his eyes for her to take it. Aashna took the shopper from his hands. Then she put her hand inside and two gift wrappers came into her hand. She kept the shopper aside and started opening them. When she opened the first pack, a beautiful golden-covered Apple phone came out of it, which looked very expensive. Aashna looked at it in surprise, so Atharv told her to open the second pack. Aashna opened the second pack and a beautiful clutch came out of it.
"Open it and see." Seeing Aashna staring at the clutch, Atharv gestured for her to open the purse. Aashna opened it; it contained cash and cards. Aashna now looked at him in surprise, so Atharv said further,
"I don't have time, I will send Arnav. Go with him wherever you want to go, stay with him. If you need anything, call me. My and Arnav's numbers are saved in the phone. The card's PIN is our wedding date. The card's limit is 5 lakhs, there is some cash too. If you need more money, withdraw it. There is 1 crore rupees in the account, so feel free to take whatever you want and just give me a call if you need more money deposited. I have started searching for your belongings and documents that were stolen; your documents will be with you soon. If you need anything else, tell me, you will get that too."
Atharv completed his sentence, then started looking at her. Then Aashna, putting all the items on the bed, said, "I can't take all this."
"Why? You are my wife, you have a right to all this, then why can't you take it?" Atharv immediately questioned. Aashna now said in a low voice, "If I use your money, you will think I am greedy, right? I am not greedy, I just need a little money. When I start my dance academy, I will return your money to you."
Hearing her innocent words, Atharv's lips stretched slightly; Aashna's innocence and truthfulness touched his heart every time. Hearing her, Atharv said with a smile, "I will not think you are greedy. Anyway, it is a husband's duty to fulfill his wife's needs and I am your husband, so I am just doing my duty, so you can freely take everything; you have the right to all this. Now no arguments, quickly take a bath and get ready, it will be breakfast time in a while."
Saying this, he left from there; Aashna was looking at all the things. Then after keeping everything safely, she went to the bathroom. In a while, she came out, then went towards the dressing table. Atharv was not here at this time. Aashna quickly started getting ready because there were only 10 minutes left for 8 o'clock. She quickly gathered her hair and tied it in a light bun and ran out of the room. She started running down the stairs.
Downstairs, again at the dining table, Atharv was sitting in the big chair at the head of the family in a very stylish manner and was reading the newspaper with a very serious look on his face.
As soon as the sound of the anklet on Aashna's feet fell into his ears, his eyes rose towards the front and stopped at Aashna. Her bun had opened due to running and Aashna, worriedly trying to tie it, was running down. A grey-colored designer umbrella suit, churidar at the bottom, a dupatta worn tightly around the neck; the mangalsutra was peeking out from under it. A small bindi on the forehead and nude lipstick on the lips, bangles given by grandmother in the wrists and a thin anklet in the feet that Atharv had given her yesterday, small gold earrings in the ears. Today she was looking even more beautiful.
Atharv kept staring at her; her worried face looked even more lovely and beautiful. Aashna reached him running and, sitting on the chair next to him, said, "Am I late today?"
Here she asked the question and the clock struck its hour. Her voice fell into Atharv's ears, so he also removed his gaze from her, then said comfortably, "No, you are perfectly on time."
"Thank god, in a hurry, I couldn't even do my hair." Aashna said with a sigh of relief and gathered her hair and tied it in a bun again, so Atharv's eyes narrowed. Aashna now started looking at the food, so the servant came forward and served them the food.
Aashna started eating quickly, so Atharv, picking up the spoon, said, "You can eat slowly too, no one is going to run away with your food."
"You don't know how hungry I get after dancing, rats have been running around in my stomach for so long, so now I am giving them food quickly so that they calm down."
Aashna replied while eating. Everyone started smiling at her words; while Atharv said in his mind, "Glutton."
He said it slowly but his words reached Aashna's ears; with this, her hands stopped. She glared at him with slanting eyes, saying, "What did you say?"
"Nothing, did you hear something?" Atharv asked her in return, so Aashna, glaring at him angrily, said, "Look, I don't like it at all if someone stops me when I am eating, so from now on, no matter how much I eat, whenever I eat, however I eat, it would be good if you don't say anything to me. Anyway, I am a human, not a monster like you who walks around drinking other people's blood, I need food for energy, just like you get energy by getting angry, exactly like that."
Hearing Aashna's words, Atharv started glaring at her angrily; while Aashna said her words and then got back to eating. Atharv glared at her for a while, so Aashna said while eating, "Keep glaring at me later, I will be here with you, eat your food now."
Hearing her words, Atharv started to get up angrily, so Aashna suddenly said, "Don't get up, I don't like eating alone. I will be hungry again like last night."
She made a cute face and looked at him, so Atharv, glaring at her, sat back down because he did not want to see her starving again and he had also understood by now that the girl sitting in front of him is crazy, there is no telling what she will do when, so he thought it was better to listen to her.
In a while, he said while eating, "You have gotten ready very well today..."
Saying this, he silently looked at Aashna; while hearing his words, Aashna also raised her eyes towards him and said with a smile, "Today I am going out, right."
She looked very excited, so Atharv asked the next question too, "You look very excited, is there any special reason?"
"Yes, today I am going to do what I want and I am going to buy a lot of things too, I will show you too when you come." A different glow was scattered on Aashna's face. Atharv now started eating silently, so this time Aashna asked the question, "By what time will you be back?"
"It will be 8 to 9 o'clock." Atharv gave a small answer while eating, hearing which Aashna became sad and, sliding the plate, stood up, so Atharv looked at her in surprise.
"I am done, I am going to do my hair." Saying this, Aashna left from there and Atharv remained looking at her in surprise and confusion that what was the reason for the sadness on her face?
Aashna left from there looking sad. Atharva just kept watching, wondering what the reason for her sadness was. What had happened that her cheerful face had suddenly wilted? He was thinking about this when the events of a few moments ago started playing in his mind. He stood up abruptly, washed his hands, and headed towards the stairs.
Aashna was standing sadly in front of the mirror, combing her hair. Just then, Atharva entered. He glanced at her, then, putting the laptop and files from the table into his bag, said, "I'll try to be back by seven. If you get bored alone, you can go to Mom's, but come back before evening. I want you to be here when I get home."
Hearing him, Aashna's eyes widened. She turned to face him and said in surprise, "What did you say?"
"What you heard. I won't say it again, I don't have a habit of repeating myself." Atharva's voice still had a harshness and stiffness, but Aashna was only hearing his words. Her face lit up with happiness, and she said chirpily, "Really? Will you come back early?"
"I'll try." Atharva gave a short reply. Now Aashna asked the next question, "And I can go to Mom's? You won't stop me?"
"No, but remember to be back here before I arrive, or I won't let you go there again." Atharva said threateningly. Hearing him, Aashna jumped with joy, ran and hugged him, and said chirpily, "Thank you so much! You'll see, I'll be back soon. I won't give you a chance to complain."
Atharva's eyes widened at her sudden hug. He looked at Aashna in surprise as she clung to him. Now Aashna pulled away from him and ran towards the dressing table, saying, "Now I'll get ready quickly, I have to go to Mom's after shopping, and then come back quickly too."
Atharva just kept watching her in surprise, while Aashna was unaffected. She started combing her hair again. Atharva watched her for a while, then shook his head and left the room with his bag. Aashna quickly braided her hair into a French braid, then picked up her phone and called Arnav.
Arnav had left for the office. He was riding his bike. When his phone rang, he stopped the bike on the side and looked at the phone. He was shocked to see Aashna's name. He blinked and looked at the phone two or three times. He had bought the phone number and everything else for Aashna, so he had her number. He had saved the number after thinking about it, but he hadn't thought that Aashna would call him.
At first, he couldn't believe his eyes, but then he composed himself and answered the phone in a controlled voice, "Hello."
"Hello, this is Aashna speaking, your friend." Aashna replied quickly, and a smile appeared on Arnav's lips. He smiled and said, "I know."
"Yes, well you should! You befriended me, promised to be with me for the rest of my life. If you forgot me, I would do such a thing to you that no one would recognize you." Aashna started up again, and Arnav was listening to her with a smile on his lips. When he didn't say anything even after Aashna stopped talking, Aashna said irritably, "Can you hear what I'm saying or have you gone deaf? Are you ignoring me?"
Saying this, Aashna became angry. Hearing her, Arnav smiled and said, "I'm not ignoring you, I'm listening to you."
"Then say something, don't just keep listening?"
"Yes, I like listening to you." Arnav said absentmindedly. Hearing him, Aashna's eyes widened. She said in surprise, "What did you say?"
Arnav now realized what he had said, so he corrected himself, "I heard your… oh, sorry… your voice after a whole day, so I was just listening. You have a very sweet voice."
"Hmm, that's true! My voice is so sweet that whoever hears it just keeps listening." Aashna said proudly, and Arnav burst out laughing, but he controlled himself and said with a smile, "Why did you call? Was there something you needed?"
"Oh yes, I forgot! I called to tell you that you are taking me shopping today. Mr. Singhania himself told me this and I'm waiting for you, so come quickly wherever you are." Aashna quickly told him everything. For a moment, Arnav was lost in thought, then he said "Okay," and Aashna continued, "One more thing, you can call me 'tum,' I would like that."
Aashna said with a smile, and hearing her, Arnav also said with a smile, "Then you'll have to stop calling me 'aap' too."
"Okay, done." Aashna said chirpily and happily, then both of them said bye and hung up the phone. Arnav headed back to the office because even though Aashna had told him everything, how could he go with Aashna unless Atharva said so?
He reached the office and went to his cabin and got to work, but his mind was stuck on Aashna, thinking that she would be waiting for him. After a while, the intercom in his cabin rang, so he quickly picked up the phone and said "Hello." Atharva's commanding voice came from the other side, "Come to my cabin right now."
Arnav said "Yes Sir" and with that, he headed towards Atharva's cabin.
"May I come in Sir?" He asked for permission while standing outside the door, and Atharva said "Come in."
"You called me, Sir?" He asked while standing in front of him, and Atharva glanced at him, then, focusing his eyes back on the file, said, "Aashna wants to go shopping and I don't have time. Anyway, she wants to go to some local market, so it would be better if you went with her, got her whatever she wants, and take care of her. No one should hurt her and she shouldn't do anything stupid. No one should know that she's my wife yet, I'll reveal our relationship to the media at the right time. Take the car from home and take her in that. She shouldn't have any trouble, remember that."
Atharva said the last thing while glaring at him, and Arnav nodded in agreement, saying, "Okay Sir."
Atharva gestured for him to leave, so he quickly left from there and ran straight to the elevator. He went to the parking lot, started his bike, and left from there. He reached Atharva's mansion at full speed. As soon as he stopped his bike in front of the gate and took off his helmet, his eyes went to Aashna standing in front, who was angrily glaring at him with a puffed-up face.
"Aren't you a little too early? I've been standing here ready and waiting for you for so long and you're coming at your leisure." Aashna said angrily while looking at him, so Arnav got off and walked towards her, saying,
"Sorry, I had to ask Sir, how could I come here until he said so? That's why I was a little late."
Aashna glared at him first, then, moving forward, said, "Now let's go quickly, I have to go home to see Mom too."
She walked towards the bike, so Arnav said in surprise, "Where are you going there? Sir told me to go by car."
"Your Sir's job is to give orders, but how can it be possible for me to obey his orders? I'll do what I have to do, and right now I feel like enjoying a bike ride with you. Come on, let's go quickly, it's already very late." Aashna said proudly and stood next to the bike. Arnav was still looking at her worriedly, so Aashna smiled and said, "What are you thinking so much about? He won't even know. Let's go quickly."
Arnav had to give in to Aashna's stubbornness. He sat on the bike, and Aashna quickly sat behind him. As soon as she put her hand on his shoulder, Arnav looked at her in surprise, so Aashna smiled and said, "What happened? Drive."
Arnav's heart started beating fast. For the first time, a girl was sitting behind him on his bike, that too the girl who he had liked at first sight. On top of that, Aashna was sitting close to him, her hand was on his shoulder. He somehow composed himself, reminding himself that Aashna was just his friend and now his boss's wife. He took his attention away from her and started the bike. First, he took a helmet for Aashna, then left from there.
Aashna was enjoying the cool breeze with her arms spread wide, and Arnav was driving the bike while looking at her in the mirror, a slight smile on his lips. After about half an hour's drive, they reached the Lokhandwala Market Complex. Arnav parked the bike on the side and walked towards the market with her.
There were only shops and showrooms there. Beautiful clothes and jewelry were visible through the glass walls of the shops, which were put up to attract people. Aashna's eyes sparkled. She grabbed Arnav's hand and walked towards a shop where beautiful clothes were displayed on dummies kept outside. Arnav was shocked by her holding his hand and looked at his hand first and then at Aashna in surprise, who didn't care about anything. Seeing the sparkle in her eyes and the smile on her lips, Arnav didn't say anything and started walking with her.
Going inside, Aashna started looking at the clothes. After that, their shopping started. Aashna kept holding his hand and going from one shop to another, buying simple and cheap clothes of her choice, but they didn't look any less than expensive clothes. Aashna bought suits, kurtas, jeans, tops, one-pieces, all of which could be worn daily. After that, she went to the men's section, and after much thought, she bought a navy blue shirt and white jeans, then went to the saree shop, where she bought two beautiful Banarasi silk sarees, and then bought something for the servants at home as well.
Her and Arnav's hands were both full of shoppers. Aashna was still walking forward while looking at the shops, and her chatter was also going on, but Arnav's lips were smiling. Suddenly, Aashna's eyes fell on a watch showroom, so she shouted, "Arnav, let's go there, I want to buy a watch."
Arnav silently walked with her. Aashna went inside, both sat on the sofas, and all the shopping bags were kept on the side. At Arnav's request, the salesman started showing them watches. Aashna liked two identical watches, then liked a slightly expensive watch and paid for all three. She took one of the watches and turned to Arnav, smiling and saying, "Hold out your hand."
Arnav looked at her in surprise, so she glared at him and said, "I didn't say to widen your eyes, hold out your hand."
"But why?" Arnav asked, still looking at her with confused eyes, so Aashna showed her eyes to him and said, "Because I liked your hands very much, so now I'm going to cut them off."
Hearing her, Arnav looked at her with wide eyes, so now Aashna said irritably, "Hey, I bought a watch for you, I want to see how it looks on you. Now hold out your hand."
"But what's the need for it? I already have a watch." Arnav still didn't hold out his hand, so now Aashna grabbed his hand and opened his watch, then started putting the watch she bought on him, saying,
"Because I'm giving this to you, consider it a small gift from me to you for our friendship, which you have to take and use, otherwise I'll be angry with you."
Aashna showed her eyes, then looked at his wrist and said with a smile, "Look, how good does it look on your wrist?"
Arnav also looked at his wrist now, and indeed, that silver-colored Titan watch was looking very good on his hand. Arnav now said with a smile, "Okay, I'll take your gift, but then you'll have to take the gift I give you too."
"Done." Aashna quickly agreed with a smile. Then both of them left from there with all the shoppers. There was a book shop a little distance away. Arnav took Aashna there and went to the counter to look for a book for himself, while Aashna looked around and said, "You like to read books?"
"Hmm, I read when I'm free. They say books are the best friends, so you should spend some time with them." Arnav replied with a smile while looking at her, so Aashna looked at the book in his hand and said, "Get me some good books too, I get bored sitting idle all the time."
"Okay, tell me which book you want to take?" Arnav asked with a smile, so Aashna quickly said, "I like romantic novels very much."
Seeing her excitement, Arnav smiled. He asked the boy to show romantic novels, then turned to Aashna and said, "You didn't want to get married and you like to read love stories, strange."
"What's so strange about that? Stories are just stories, they show pure love which is very difficult to find in today's world, so I like to feel that love only in stories." Aashna said, widening her smile. Just then, the boy brought a lot of books. Arnav liked some books and had them packed, then gave them to her, saying, "Here, this is a gift from me to you."
Aashna took the shopper with a smile. Both of them came out of there, and seeing the golgappa seller standing nearby, Aashna screamed with joy, "Golgappas!"
Arnav was startled by her sudden scream, so Aashna made a cute face and said, "I want to eat golgappas! Look, it's almost evening, I haven't even had lunch, I'm very hungry and golgappas are my favorite. Feed me, that too with your money, because the fun of eating golgappas comes only from other people's money. How much fun it is, eat as much as you want and don't worry about the money."
At this time, a different light was shining on her face, a deep smile was on her lips and she was looking at him with a sparkle in her eyes. Her innocence, which Atharva thought was a deception, made Arnav feel something different, it drew him towards her. Arnav smiled and agreed, so Aashna ran to the cart and said with a smile, "Brother, give me two plates of golgappas, make them very spicy."
The golgappa seller smiled and started making the plates. Both of them kept the shoppers near the cart. Aashna started eating golgappas, and Arnav just started looking at her face. As soon as Aashna's eyes fell on him, she put her plate down and picked up his plate and gave it to him, saying, "There are some for you too, eat."
At her request, Arnav smiled and started eating golgappas, and Aashna also started eating her golgappas. She slowly devoured five plates of golgappas, while Arnav was just looking at her after finishing one plate. After finishing the sixth plate, Aashna put the plate down and said with a smile, "Today was fun! What tasty golgappas were, my stomach is full."
Arnav paid the money and both of them left from there. Further on, Arnav bought water and gave it to her because she had eaten golgappas but now she was feeling spicy. Aashna's chatter was going on all the time, but Arnav liked her talk.
Both of them reached the bike, so Arnav handed her the shoppers and sat on the bike. Some shoppers were hung on both sides of the bike's handle, the rest Aashna held, and both of them left from there. Around five o'clock in the evening, they reached home, so Aashna called Arnav inside and gave him water, then he left for the office. Aashna gave everyone their gifts, which made everyone happy. She also gave a Banarasi saree to Kaki. After that, because it was late, she took the rest of the shoppers and went to the room. She put all the stuff on the sofa and went to freshen up with the clothes.
