6 hours later...
Ved's wedding eve...

Ved was standing in front of the mirror, while Vansh was helping him to adjust the stole over his golden black sherwani, his dress was designed by his aunt Radhika, who unfortunately was unable to attend the wedding as she had an urgent fashion meeting in Paris, so her son Adhiraj  who had a faint idea of fashion was helping them or rather just repeating what his mom asked him to do.....

'I think this goes on the left shoulder....' Adhiraj said, looking at the image of the model who was wearing a similar Sherwani like Ved

'But Bhai, he won't be able to hold it longer, you see his shoulders aren't that broad, the stole will fall...' Aayan said looking at the image first and then at Ved

'I told you to come to the gym with me, see you are thin as stick even on your wedding day..' Vansh hits Ved and  he chuckles

'I have required amount of muscles okay... Unlike you and Aayan, who look as fierce as Bulls....' Ved defends himself and adjusts the stole again

'Girls find muscles attractive...' Vansh says proudly and hi fies Aayan

'Yeah, that's why you don't have a girlfriend and Aayan had a arranged marriage, while this lean boy is having a love marriage...' Adhiraj says sarcastically and Ved starts laughing

Aayan and Vansh look at Adhiraj shocked and then pretend that their chest pains, and Ved rolls his eyes at this...

'That was way cruel Bhai...' Vansh says pretending to be sad

'Leave it Vansh, Ved was always his favorite...' Aayan says sadly, while Adhiraj chuckles

'Drama Queens...' Ved muttered, and again tried to adjust the stole

'Soooo Princess... Excited or Nervous...?' Vansh asked, now adjusting Ved's hair

'It feels Weird, to be Honest, that I won't be all by myself from tomorrow...' Ved says

'Your life is going to change, Vedie boy...! From now on it won't be only you, but it will be you and Deepika, marriage is a huge responsibility, where a lot of sacrifices are expected from both the partners, but giving up on small things for the happiness of your beloved one, is a solace in itself....' Adhiraj smiles seeing his deceased wife's photo

'You miss Nisha Bhabhi, don't you...?'  Aayan keeps his hands on Adhiraj's shoulders

'There hasn't been a single day, that I haven't missed her kid... she was my everything, I wish we had more time, I had a lot of things to say...' Adhiraj's eyes fill with tears

'She is in the better place now Bhai, be happy for her...' Vansh said softly and Ved nodded

'You know boys, let me share something with you today, this will help you to keep a healthy relation with your partner and cherish every moment in your marriage...' Adhiraj said, the boys nodded and sat beside him

'See, when a new person enters into our lives, we have a hard time to adjust with the fact that now this person will be with me most of the time, and I can't be myself anymore, so you become repulsive to that person, without realising that the other person is suffering too... This is what happened with me and Nisha, we were married at the young age of 25, none of us were ready for this, our 1st year together was the worst....! Constant fights, arguments, silent treatments were common....' Adhiraj said , and Aayan found this relatable..

'But soon we realised that, we love each other, in spite of the differences and oddities  between us, we accepted each other...our second year together was wonderful...' Adhiraj smiled and so did the boys

'Even though, I was not that expressive about my feelings for her, but we didn't need that, she would understand what I wanted to say, without me even saying...' Adhiraj said and Ved smiled remembering Deepika

'Our happiness knew no bounds when we found out that Nisha was pregnant with
Aditi, but little I knew that this happiness was going to end soon...' Adhiraj said, wiping his tears and Ved held his hands tightly..

'Nisha couldn't survive Aditi's birth... she left me alone with my child who was so unfortunate that her mother didn't even held her once... she still craves for mother's love...' Adhiraj's voice cracks and boys were silent, they didn't know what to say

'All I want to say boys, cherish your partners, because you never know which moment is your last moment with them...' Adhiraj says and Aayan-Ved had goosebumps all over their body

'It's okay to have differences and arguments, but holding on to them just aggravates the things, better sit together and sort them immediately, because once the person leaves forever, you regret it.... you regret it so badly that you wish to have just another minute with them...' Adhiraj says and Aayan gets scared at this, he looks down thinking about his marriage, his behavior towards Ananya and their challenge of who leaves who...

What if something happens to her...!

No no ! What the hell am I thinking... he scolds himself internally

'Don't make the mistake I made boys...' Adhiraj chuckles and they smile weakly at him

'And you my boy, don't worry if she is not here yet, sometimes best of the persons take time to come, and trust me they are worth waiting....' Adhiraj turns to Vansh and he rolls his eyes

'I am better off like this Bhai, sometimes you just don't need, 'The one' in your life, all you need is to love yourself and that sorts everything... Loving someone else makes you weak, but loving yourself, makes you stronger...' Vansh smiled and they all chuckled

'Jai ho Baba Vansh ki (All hail Saint Vansh...)' Ved says

Vansh dramatically raises his right hand in the air, pretending to bless them, maintaining a even face

'Tathastu (May All your wish come true)' he says and they all laugh except Aayan who was engrossed in deep thinking...

He was horrified to the core, with the thought of losing Ananya...

Ananya's room...
Same time...

Ananya was dressed in a teal blue lehenga, her hair neatly plaited on one side, she wore a matching gold necklace set, along with her mangalsutra and vermillion on her forehead.... she was dressing Amayraa in a pretty light blue lehenga which she absolutely loved, though she was jumping with excitement, which was giving a hard time to Ananya who was trying to make her wear the skirt...

'Baby stand straight, let me tie this naa....' Ananya says to Amayraa

'Annnieyyy, it's so pwetty, Amyraa is a doll....' Amayaraa says cutely while jumping

'Indeed my Amayraa is a doll, but how will a doll look if she does not wear her clothes properly...?' She asks Amayraa in a baby voice...

Amayraa stops jumping and stares at Annie with her big black eyes, and Ananya kisses her cheeks

'That's like my good girl....' she smiles and adjusts Amayraa's skirt and then pins her stole on the upper garment so that it doesn't fall... 

Amayraa looks at the stole and her eyes sparkle seeing the sparkly silvery design on the stole and she starts playing with it..

'Anniieeyyyy pwetty....!' She smiles, showing her little teeth and Ananya pulls her cheeks

'Yes, but not pretty than my princess...' she says and brushes her dress,adjusting the skirt, blouse and stole properly...

'How do we do your hair now...' Ananya says scratching her chin, and looking at Amayraa's hair

Just then Aayan's older sister Nitaara walks in and Amyaraa gets excited seeing her...

'Buuaa (Aunt) .... ' She says and jumps on Nitaara

'My baby... ' Nitaara smiles and picks her up in her arms, kissing her cheeks

'You look so pretty my princess....' Nitaara says and Amayraa giggles

'How do I do her hair Di...? You suggest something na.. ' Ananya says and Nitaara looks at Amayraa's hair

'I think, kitty will do something better with her hair, she is doing Shivalikaa's hairdo too... I'll ask her to do Amayraa's too... ' She says and Ananya nodded

'Meanwhile, don't go anywhere, I need to talk to you... ' Nitaara said with a serious expression and then left her room taking Amayraa along with her

What does di want to talk about...?
Ananya thought

Then she started fixing her own appearance in front of the mirror, and adjusted her necklace and then she realised that she didn't put on a lipstick

She takes out a nude pink lipstick, but then her eyes land on her lips and she remembered the kiss that took place in the morning...

This was their second intimate moment in 2 days, she could feel heat rising her cheeks, but then Aayan's deeds came in front of her eyes

His trick to marry her, for revenge..
His constant hatred..
He kissing Ritika in front of her...
He promising her that he will ruin her life...

She closed her eyes in disappointment and let the thoughts pass..

This is not a normal marriage, and I can't give in so easily...
He has to realise that this wedding is not a game, he has to understand the sanctity of this bond, it's not a contract that he can get out after sometime...

She opens her eyes and then keeps the lipstick inside and then searches for a red one, when Nitaara enters her room again and closes the door behind her

'Ananya...?' Nitaara says

'Yes Di... ' Ananya looks at her questioningly

'I need to talk to you about something very important... ' she says looking straight at her and Ananya stops her work and turns to Nitaara, indicating that she is ready to listen to her

'Why don't you sit with me...?' She says and Ananya sits on the seat front of Nitaara

'What is it Di...?' Ananya asks

'How are your relations with my brother...?  I mean are you happy in this marriage...?' Nitaara asks

Ananya's expression changes to a worried one, but then she quickly composes herself and smiles

'I am very Happy Di...! Aayan takes a good care of me.... I couldn't ask for more...' she smiles and Nitaara narrowed her eyes at her

'Then why was Aayan sleeping on a couch, the day I entered your room...?' she raises her brows and color on Ananya's face drained

'Uh...  That day, actually Di..  Amayraa has a habit of kicking in her sleep, and you know Aayan needs complete silence and no disturbance when he sleeps.... So he... Slept on the couch... ' Ananya stammered not looking at her

'Hmm... Interesting, because that day Amayraa was sleeping with me and Shivaalika, I wonder how she disturbed Aayan from my room... ' Nitaara says with amusement and now Ananya has no counter to this

Nitaara holds Ananya's hands and smiled

'I know everything is not okay between you and Aayan... Not only me, even Papa has a faint idea about it... ' she says and Ananya looks at her shocked

'Di... I... ' Ananya began

'I am not asking you for an explanation Ananya, I know my brother is not an easy person to deal with... And I am sure he must've done something wrong to hurt you by now... ' Nitaara says and Ananya looks away

'Ananya, you are a smart girl, all I would say is don't give in so easily, you have to be strong for yourself, don't let his actions affect you... You have come this long, don't back off now...  I can see that only you can change my heartless brother... ' Nitaara smiled and Ananya looked at her teary eyed

Nitaara wipes her tears and Ananya hugs her tightly, and began crying

'Don't cry baby, always remember, no matter what, your Di will always be with you...' she said kissing her head and Ananya nodded

'Di, he doesn't want to understand that this marriage is not a game... He is hell bent to make me lose and leave him, because he thinks I am responsible for his miseries, I didn't do anything intentionally Di, but he doesn't want to hear that... ' Ananya cried and Nitaara sushed her

'That boy was always like this only, he always thought that whatever he says is right and what others think is stupid, Papa tried to make him realise to respect other people's opinion, but he was always backed by Maa... She is responsible for his stubborn nature to a very large extent... ' Nitaara says frowning and Ananya looks at her wiping her tears

'When Maa left, he became more aloof of me and Dad, because he thought Dad was responsible for Maa's departure, he would hardly talk to us, and would get angry and behave obstinately in petty issues, only person who was able to control him was your mother... ' Nitaara said and Ananya looked at her shocked 

'Yes and I very well remember how she would do that, she would not raise her voice on him, or get angry even on his worst behaviors because she understood that what was going inside a 8 year old kid's mind, she would always respond to his obstinance with love and patience and that's the only reason he listened only to her... ' Nitaara said and Ananya nodded

'I had Dad, Big Dad, Adhiraj, Naina Mom, Radhika Aunty and Chachu's with me, they would always listen to me, but Aayan, he was already an introvert and had no one except your brother Ved, and no matter how mature Ved is, he was still a kid... And Mom leaving us abruptly, was a shock to him, and Dad's impulsive decision of sending him to the hostel was another trauma on that innocent mind from which he hasn't recovered yet... ' Nitaara said and Ananya remembered the day when Aayan was crying in his dream

Ananya felt bad for Aayan, because as a child, he had gone through so much that she couldn't even imagine going through...

'Don't blame yourself for anything Annie, I know Aayan is being unreasonable, but I would say that please don't give up on him, because if you leave, I don't think he will ever recover from his miseries, I have seen changes in him, which are all because of you, you can heal that innocent child's heart in a 28 year old Man's body, which is still scared that everyone will leave him....' Nitaara said and Ananya smiled wiping her tears

'Thank you di, you have no idea how much your words have encouraged me... ' Ananya smiles holding Nitaara's hands

'Remember you can call me, anytime when you think things are going out if your control... I'll be there... ' Nitaara smiled

'Yes Di, I will, I am so glad that now I have you and Sameer both by my side...' Ananya says and Nitaara chuckles

'We will do anything to bring our stupid brother back on track... ' Nitaara joked and they both laughed

'By the way, I have a gift for you... ' Nitaara said smirking

'What is it Di...?' Ananya asks curiously

Nitaara gives her a big green envelope, with Ananya's name written over it, Ananya looks at it bewildered

'Open it... ' Nitaara says with a hint of playfulness in her voice

Ananya looks at Nitaara suspiciously and then opens the envelope and takes out a old yellowing chart paper and gasps seeing it

It was the greeting card Ananya made for Aayan asking him
Will you be my friend...? Which she crumpled and threw away after listening to Aayan and the girl in his room

She looks at Nitaara shocked, and she smirks at her

'Where did you... ' Ananya asked

'I always knew you liked my brother...' Nitaara teased her and Ananya blushed

'Don't worry your secret was safe with me all these years and it will be... ' Nitaara says and Ananya chuckles

'Thank you di... You are the best... ' Ananya said hugging Nitaara and she hugs her back

'Annie be strong, and you shall conquer my Sadu's heart.....' Nitaara said

The music and beating of drums made them jump in shock and then they leave each other

'Ved's Baraat is leaving, we better do your touch ups, we don't want Groom's sister to look like a crying witch in the wedding... ' Nitaara said and Ananya chuckled

Ananya nodded and smiled to herself, because now she knows what exactly she has to do...

The Wedding Hall..

Ved's car halts in front of the most expensive hotel of the town and he gets out, followed by Vansh and Aayan

Their cousins were already dancing on tunes of the band and as soon as Vansh got out, he joined them...

Aayan too danced with them, and when Ananya's car halted in front of the venue, Nitaara, her sisters joined their brothers too...

Ved stood away from them smiling and Ananya joined him

'Won't you dance.. ?' Ved asked, moving very close to her ears as the noise was too high

'I don't feel like... ' Ananya replied, raising her voice a bit so that Ved could hear

Ved pouts at her and Ananya hit's him on the shoulder

Aayan spots Ananya and his hand and legs turn cold remembering Adhiraj's words, he stops dancing and walks out of the crowd to calm himself down

After few minutes of the celebration, Ved was welcomed by Deepika's father, Sid and Vikrant, who hugged Ved and everyone smiled at this, but Ved - Vansh were shocked

Naina and the ladies of the house were welcomed by Deepika's mother and younger sister Anushka...

'Finally accepting him as Jiju bro...?' Vansh asked

'Do I have any choice bro...?' Vikrant said playfully and Ved chuckled at this

Soon Ved's welcome ritual was done and it was the time for the wedding, the priest asked them to move towards the mandap...

Aayan was nowhere to be found, Ved asked Ananya to look for him, and then they all proceeded towards the mandap, where the wedding was supposed to take place

Ananya looked around but Aayan was nowhere to be seen, she walked out of the venue to find him, he couldn't be seen anywhere

'Aayan...?' Ananya called, no response

'Excuse me did you see a man, about 6'2" tall, wearing the same color kurta which I am wearing....?' she asks the security guard, he nodded and pointed towards the garden which was adjoining the hall

Ananya walked towards the park and saw Aayan sitting on a bench, his hands over his face and he was slouching, putting his weight over his shoulders, she frowned and walked towards him

'Aayan what are you doing here...?' Ananya asked and Aayan lifts his face to see her and Ananya gasps seeing tears in his eyes

'Aayan...? What happened ! Why are you...?' Before she could complete, Aayan got up from the seat and hugged her tightly and she was shocked at this...

'What happened Aayan...?' She caressed his head and he held her more tightly, almost chocking her

'Aayan... ' she was scared now

'Promise me you won't die... ' Aayan cries and Ananya is shocked

'What ! Why will I die... What's wrong with you...?' She says trying to get out of his hold

'Just Promise me damn it, say that you won't die...' Aayan cries further

'How can I promise something that is not in my hand... Don't be silly... ' Ananya said but Aayan held her tighter

'Say it...! ' Aayan said angrily and Ananya got scared

'Yeah okay... I won't die, now stop crying... ' she says and he relaxes a bit

She leaves him and wipes his tears

'What's up with you, from where you get these stupid ideas....?' she says and he doesn't say anything just sniffs

'You won't leave me ever... ' Aayan declares angrily and she looks at him shocked

'What...!  But you challenged me... ' Ananya began

'Fuck the challenge... You are not going anywhere understand, you are stuck with me now, for life...!' he says and she doesn't know what to say

'Aayan... ' She begin

'No arguments... ' he declared and she sighed

God knows why is he behaving like this, but he will be back to his stupid self by tomorrow I know...  Ananya thought

'Okay... ' she says trying to calm him down

'Promise...?' he asks like a small kid and Ananya feels bad for him

'I promise... ' she smiled holding hands

'I don't believe you...' Aayan said crying

She gets close to him and tip toes to reach his height and kisses him on the forehead, cheeks and then a small peck on his lips and he closes his eyes as her touch made his stomach churn

'Now do you...?' She asked and he nods like a kid

She chuckles at his antiques and hugs him..

'You can be worst than Amayraa you know... ' she says and Aayan sighs

'Now, let's go inside, Ved bhai is asking for you... And wipe these, or else people will think you are sad that your lover is getting married... ' she said and Aayan chuckled and wiped his tears..

They held each others hands and walked inside the venue

Inside the hall...

Aayan and Ananya walked inside the venue and Ved and Deepika were already seated near the holy fire

They spot them and give them a questioning look, to which Ananya nods her head to no, saying nothing important...

The priest were chanting the hymns and Ved and Deepika joined their hands in front of the fire to pray...

Vansh stood a bit away observing all the rituals, Arjun from the distance gave him an assuring smile and he reciprocated it

Suddenly someone kept their hand on Vansh's shoulder and he turned around to see the person and his heart fluttered seeing the person

To his surprise, it was Khushi and his office staff...

Khushi wore a simple baby pink saree and her hair open, she smiled at Vansh and he was lost in her beauty

'Sir..?' His assistant shook him

'Yeah.... Thank god you guys came, I thought you won't come at all... ' he says looking at them, specially Khushi

'How can we deny your invitation, sir... ' his assistant said and they all smiled and Vansh smiled back

'Thanks a lot guys... Please make your self comfortable and you come with me... ' he says to Khushi and his staff controlled their smiles

'My mom wanted to meet her... ' he says rolling his eyes and they nod, while Khushi blushes a bit and follows Vansh

They reach the place where Naina and Arjun were seated and Vansh happily walks towards his parents

'Maa, see who is here...' Vansh said and Naina looks at him questioningly and so does Arjun

He steps aside and Khushi comes forward looking at them nervously and smiles

'Hello Ma'am, Hello Sir... ' She greets them politely

'Khushi beta, what a pleasant surprise... ' She says and hugs her, and Khushi gets nervous at then hugs her back

Vansh smiles at them, and Arjun gets happy seeing Vansh's mood brighten, he senses that Khushi has something to do with this

'Arjun she is Khushi, the girl I told you about... ' Naina introduced Khushi to him

'Nice to meet you beta, good that you can make it to the wedding... ' Arjun greeted her politely

'Thank you sir...' Khushi replies nervously

'Come...' Vansh guides her towards his staff and Arjun looks at the pair

'Is something going on between them...?' he asks Naina

'What..!  No..!  She is his assistant, but I really like this girl though... ' Naina said and Arjun saw Vansh laughing with Khushi and smiled

'Me too... ' he said

Vansh and Khushi walk near the wedding set up and Khushi stands beside Vansh, and Vansh says something to her and she nods

Ved and Aayan see the mysterious girl with Vansh and raise their brows

'Ved Baba, put the alm into the fire... ' the priest says and Ved's attention which was on Vansh and Khushi is broken and he looks at the priest embarrassed

'What are you doing Ved...?' Arjun says and Deepika also looks at him questioningly

'Sorry...' he mutters and then follows the instructions and the rituals continue

'Who is this girl with Vansh...?'He whispers to Aayan after some time and he shrugged his shoulders saying he doesn't know

Ananya who was seated beside Deepika and her sister spots Khushi and waves at her excitedly and She waves back too smiling

Aayan looks at Ananya questioningly and asks
'Do you know her...?' he asks and Ved also looks at her with corner of his eyes, simultaneously doing the rituals

'Yeah, she is Vansh Bhai's assistant Khushi, a good friend of mine too and don't tell him that I told you, but Bhai has a huge crush on her... ' she says and giggles

Ved - Aayan look at Vansh - Khushi and smirk at them

Vansh looks away in embarrassment, while Khushi is confused what is happening...

Ved smiled and continued with his wedding rituals, Ananya - Aayan smiled at each other and then looked at the ritual, and so did Vansh - Khushi

Again, Arjun and Naina's children's lives were changing...

This time for good...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next update : Saturday...

A humble request...

I understand the excitement of you guys to read the further parts, and I cannot thank you guys enough to give this much love to the story...

But please....
Kindly don't spam my inbox, message board and comments section, getting impatient guys...

I am really grateful that you guys are giving your precious time to the story

But since I am updating, once in a week, the chapters are longer than usual, and it takes time to type them...

And constant nagging is not helping :( ,it's kinda distracting and sometimes irritating...

I am typing this since afternoon and the constant notifications which are in 100s mind you, asking me to update and persuading me to do ASAP, makes me forget what I wanted to type...

My hand and brain has limitations guys 😂 believe me If I could, I would've finished the story long back...

And yes this story will have some cliche moments because the whole concept of Romance and romantic moments is Cliche...

There is no innovation in showing romance, it is what it is, so kindly bear with them... :)

Trust me I am working on this since 2 p.m, It's that long :(

See you guys next Saturday :)
Take care...