AUTHOR'S POV
Everyone at the table was undeniably happy about shrishti's impending marriage yet looking at shrishti himself it seemed as if she was the only one who truly wasn't
The meal continued in a quiet solemnity that soon became unbearable for kritika an impish glint entered her eyes and a faint smirk played on her lips
" ache di " kritika began her voice dripping with mock innocence " jab aap chale jaoge to kya main aapki scooty aapka pura cupboard or wo pom pom wale slippers main rakh lu " before shrishti could even react kritika continued her voice laced with pure mischief " are rakh lu kya wo sub to an mere hi hai "
" don't you dare! Khabardar agar mere kisi bhi chiz ko haath bhi lagiya to chor kahi ki " shrishti shrieked her earlier sadness instantly replaced by righteous fury " wo sab meri mehnat ke kamiye hue paiso ke hai tere sasur ji ne nahi diye the mujhe jo main tujhe de du "
" main lungi i'm going to take them what are you going to do about it we kept you in this house for so many years I'm entitled to something in return aren't i " kritika taunted
" what do you mean ' you're house ' is this your house, i wasn't living off your scraps this is my papa and mumma's house and who are you to ' keep me here ' we picked you up from the temple steps and we bought you here " shrishti retorted her voice rising in outrage
" yeah because mumma and papa knew that their eldest child was completely useless " kritika declared already anticipating the chase her body poised to spring from her chair
" ab bhot hua tumhe to main abhi batati hu " shrishti roared leaping from her seat she snatched a slipper from her foot wielding it like a weapon and began to chase
kritika around the dining table the two sisters a blur of motion raced through the house their shouts and laughter echoing, pratap ji and nupur ji watched their face softened fond happy smile a silent testament to the chaotic love that bound their family
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Ayesha was sitting on her bed in her room completely lost in thoughts there was no expression on her face as she quietly stared out the window suddenly her room's door open and geeta ji walked in, ayesha was still deep in her thoughts geeta ji came and stood next to ayesha gently stroking her head as soon as geeta ji did this ayesha snapped out her tm thought
She looked at her mother and smiled geeta ji sat down beside her and she rested her head on her lap geeta ji then began to run her hand through her hair after a moment she looked up at her mother
" maa, they set the wedding date for just 1 week from now right how will everything get done so quickly " she asked, her voice a little worried
Geeta ji listened then smile gently " don't u worry about any of that bache everything will be fine, nitya ji your mother-in-law said she'll handle everything and guess what she even agreed to have your wedding and shrishti's in the same mandap
Hearing this ayesha suddenly sat upright " what are you serious maa " she asked, a little shocked
" haa sachi bache " geeta ji confirmed " bache i know you only did this for your father......" Geeta ji started but ayesha quickly interrupted
" no maa, it's not like that at all i'm marrying him because i want to, please don't think too much about it and why don't you sleep here with me tonight " ayesha said hugging geeta ji tightly geeta ji smiled and sleep with ayesha
IN SINGHANIA MANSION
The entire singhania family was gathered in living room nitya ji dhruv ji ashok ji and priya ji sat on one sofa while opposite them rudra shivansh ruhaan and manvi were comfortably eating ice-cream suddenly ayansh spoke his voice low but filled with barely controlled anger
" mom how could you do this to me, i said yes to the marrige but i never said I'd do it now you fixed my wedding without ever asking me and that too within a week and you're only telling me about it now " he said his eyes were red with fury
Shivansh always quick a joke whispered " wow bhai congrats this is the first time ayansh bhai has said more than two lines, another ice-cream is definitely in order " he started eating more ice-cream
" Young man, keep your voice down everyone here is older than you " dhruv ji said calmly
But ayansh was still furious even so he forced himself to calm down, through his voice became low, deep and menacing
" i'm not getting married now dad, and definitely not this soon "
Dhruv ji's expression turned serious " alright then resign from the ceo position "
This made ayansh even angrier he clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles turned white and he stared intently at dhruv ji
" what, don't look at me like that i'm not afraid of you either get married or leave the ceo position the decision is in your hands now " dhruv ji said standing up from the sofa
Ayansh closed his eyes, then opened them grinding his teeth he said " okay fine I'll get married " he was about to leave when dhruv ji spoke again
" young man where are you going before you leave listen to one more piece of good news, rudra wedding will also be in the same mandap both wedding will happen together now aren't you happy "
Ayansh looked at rudra a little confused and rudra quickly avoided his gaze
" rudra come to my study room now " ayansh told rudra, then walked out
" bhai what did you do that bhai was looking at you like that ? " ruhaan asked rudra
" i don't know, i just said yes to the marriage " rudra replied
" because of the marriage is ayansh bhai going to kill you now " shivansh asked, enjoying his ice-cream
" i don't know and you eat less ice cream or it might get stuck in your throat " rudra said with a smirk, then left
As soos as rudra was gone shivansh started coughing violently manvi started patting his back and his coughing subsided
" bhai's tongue is cursed, the ice cream really did get stuck, panauti kahi ke " shivansh said
Everyone started laughing
" wow bhaiya kya acting ki hai aapne main to aapka fan ho gya " ashok ji exclaimed
" i know i'm good actor you don't need to tell me " dhruv ji said sounding proud
Nitya ji just rolled her eyes and went to the kitchen with priya ji
3 DAYS LATER
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Ayesha sat in her room wearing a green lengha staring out the window her hands decorated with mehndi but her face showed no emotions she was lost in her own thoughts she looked at her mehndi covered hand the heena has completely dried and was starting to peel off just then shivi come into the room
" ayesha come downstairs aunties is calling " shivi said
Ayesha gave a faint smile and nodded both of them went downstairs, where everyone was gathered shivi's family kritika's family
Dev, vihaan and aryan were all there the house was full of joy because it was shrisht and ayesha's mehndi ceremony today
" kittu it's good you're here come quickly I'll put the sugar water solution on your mehndi too " shivani ji said to ayesha
Who was currently applying the solution to shrishti's hand
" ooh aunty humara naam ayesha hai kittu nahi hume kittu mat boliye " Ayesha said
" acha acha thik hai ayesha aaja jaldi ab " shivani ji said , chuckled
Then geeta ji arrived and took a little kajal from her eyes onto her finger applying it behind ayesha and shrishti's ear
" maa please don't start crying again you're been crying for three days straight " ayesha told geeta ji
" there are tears of joy " geeta ji said
" look at them their tears of joy never end " kritika exclaimed and everyone laughed
" come on bache let me put the solution on your mehndi now " shivani ji said applying the solution to ayesha's hand
Kritika dev vihaan and aryan felt a little sad but there was nothing they could do
The days flew by and before they knew it the wedding day has arrived
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Ayesha sat a breathtaking vision her wedding attire, the simmering with soft movement seemed to embrace her making her glow from within on her mehndi covered hands, a cascade of bangles jingled faintly catching the light as she nervously smoothed her dress, her face framed by the delicate tendrils of her hair wore only a touch of light natural makeup she looked in that moment not just beautiful but utterly radiant a bride ready for her new beginning
But then her gaze drifted to the mirror across the room as her eyes met her own reflection
A single simmering tear escaped and traced a silent path down her cheek she quickly wiped it away with the back of her hand almost as if she could erase the emotion before anyone saw
Just the soft cream of the door announced their arrived piyush ji and geeta ji stepped into the room their eyes immediately finding their daughter seeing her so utterly transformed a radiating a bittersweet beauty
Geeta ji's eyes instantly welled up with tears a silent river of joy and poigant farewell
Beside her even piyush ji's eyes became mosit his usual stoicism giving way to the profound emotion to the moment
But he controlled himself they slowly walked toward their daughter seeing them ayesha couldn't hold her own tears and they hugged her
" my princess truly looks like a princess today " piyush ji said placing a soft kiss on her forehead
Geeta ji took kajal from her eyes onto her finger and applied it behind her ear
" may no one's evil eye falls on my child geeta ji said also kissing her forehead
Just then dev, kritika, aryan and shivi arrived seeing aysha in her wedding attire they all became a little emotional they were happy for their friend they came closer to ayesha
" wow she actually looks pretty today doesn't she arayn ? " dev teased playfully
" yeah i don't know how but she looks alright today " aryan replied
" shut up you two don't you have any shame don't tease her today of all days " shivi scolded aryan and dev
" hey we're just joking " dev said
" you looks exactly like a fairy " aryan told ayesha his eyes filled with tears she smiled and hugged all of them
Then vihaan rushed in panting heavily looking very worried everyone was surprised to see him like this
" vihaan are you okay what happened, why are you panting so much " piyush ji asked
" uh...uh...uncle pratap uncle is calling everyone " vihaan said, his voice full of worry hearing vihaan everyone looked at each other
" shivi you stay here with ayesha we'll all be right back " geeta ji told shivi she nodded and then everyone left leaving shivi with ayesha
They quicky went to a room downstairs as they entered they saw pratap ji and nupur ji and shivani ji they all looked very worried and nupur ji was crying seeing her crying geeta ji quickly went to her and started comforting her
" bhabhi why are you crying please someone tell us what happened " piyush ji asked
" Sh-shrishti ........ She's been kidnapped " shivani ji stammered clearly distressed her word shocked everyone
" shrishti di has been kidnapped " kritika murmured to herself completely in shock
" how did this happen how was she kidnapped " piyush ji asked
" i..i went to her r-room to check on her and...and she wasn't there so i came downstairs then i saw from the window that some people were forcing her into a car and...and they took her away " nupur ji said crying loudly hearing her, tears came to kritika's eyes and kept falling she went forward and hugged nupur ji tightly
" what do we do now the groom's procession must be arriving any moment " piyush ji said to pratap ji
Pratap ji was silent for a moment then he put his hand on kritika's head and said " kriti beta your dad has never asked you for anything but today i am asking please beta marry rudra please uphold your father's honor please " he joined his hands in front of her tears streaming down his eyes
Everyone was surprised to hear pratap ji dev vihaan and arayn looked at eachothers nupur ji looked at kritika with hope seeing pratap ji crying kririka immediately hugged him tightly closing her eyes for a moment
" i will do this marriage papa " she said pratap ji smiled faintly and kissed her forehead
" forgive me beta i had to do this " pratap ji thought to himself
" shivani bhabhi please take kriti and get her ready " pratap ji said " I'll go and talk to dhruv ji and geeta ji about this we can't hide the truth from them now " pratap ji said then left with piyush ji and harshit ji
Kritika's tears fell one after another as Shivani ji led her into the room.
"Kriti, don't do this, please! Please don't. I'll talk to Uncle, okay?" Vihaan said, a hint of fear in his voice.
"No one will say anything to Papa, understood?" Kritika stated, devoid of any emotion or expression, and walked away.
Dev, Vihaan, and Aryan watched her leave, feeling terrible. Dev looked as though he was about to cry
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To be continue..........
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