Finding Forever, Together ~

Chapter 9

Reaching home immediately after what he saw, Shivaay just took off his coat and sat down at the edge of the pool.

He knew today was not going to be easy. But he had no idea that it was going to be this difficult.

The day that he lost his Annika, the love of his life had been rated as the most heartbreaking day in his life by him - and he really didn't think there would be anything else that could surpass the pain he felt that day and make him feel even more hurt.

Clearly, he was wrong - as he got to know after today.

Today had, somehow, managed to make him feel more pain than he ever did before.

He knew through the meeting that his Annika was lost somewhere - but what he saw in her cabin had only affirmed his thoughts. Whatever was going on in her life was against her will.

She was clear very upset at having broken his heart, although that doesn't fix anything - the question still lingered. According to the invitation, the wedding was in a week.

One week later, she was getting married to someone else. And he could not believe that she had a reason strong enough to break everything they had and just accept the proposal, even if she was being forced into it.

Raising his hand, he looked at the ring on his finger. The ring that she had given him.  He still had it. He hadn't taken it off, ever.

Each and every day, it broke something in him to think about the fact that they weren't together. In his head, he had planned so much for them after they got engaged.

An extravaganza of every pre-marriage ritual their had to be, and yet a simple but beautiful wedding, just how she liked it.

And then, their happily ever after.

Wiping the tears that had now started flowing from his eyes, he came back to the present.

The fact that they weren't together hurt him every moment. But now he knew, that she was in a probably worse condition. Seeing her breakdown over giving up on their relationship made him realise that she didn't do this on purpose and that she was being forced into it.

And that only increased the extent of his pain. Seeing her in pain, hurt him even more.

At this moment, he was fighting an inner battle which he knew he was clearly losing.
And he couldn't help it.

"Annika," he whispered to himself, "yeh kya haalat bana rakhi hai tumne, haan?" He asked himself. It was a message to her, but can he ask these questions to her, face to face?

"Mujhe toh laga tha yeh decision lene ke baad tum khush rahogi. Par main galat tha, Annika. Tum toh puri tarah toot gayi ho,"

He stood up, and took her ring from the table drawer. At this moment, a thought struck him.

What did that wedding invitation mean?

She was marrying against her will. It was obvious looking at her condition. But what was it, in her personal life, that was making her take the decision?

He had refrained from asking anyone about it. But now, he felt like he needed to.

Could he ask Gauri? She was practically his best friend since that incident.

But will she be willing to tell him about it?

He thought of a plan, and went ahead to execute it instantly. With Annika, he knew he had to listen to his heart. And it was screaming at him, telling him that she needed him.

One week later

It was the day of the wedding. Shivaay hadn't slept the whole night. He was extremely restless. Over the past week he had done a lot of things that had told him about what was going on in Annika's personal life. And from whatever he had got to know, he had decided to put it to work today.

He had just got ready when Rudra walked into his room. He was on phone with Harsh, Annika's father.

He handed the phone to Shivaay.

"Good morning, papa," he said with a smile.
"Good morning, Shivaay. Tum taiyaar ho?" He asked him. Ofcourse he was, ready as ever.

"Main bilkul taiyaar hu," he said, "always have been." He said, making Harsh smile.

"Shivaay," Harsh called him out, "thank you."

"Kaisi baatein kar rahe hain aap?" He asked him seriously, "aapko pata hai na, Annika mere liye kitni important hai? Yeh sab kuch bhi nahi hai," he said, "in fact, main hamesha se yeh karna chahta tha. Iss tarah se nahi, par atleast yeh ho raha hai,"

Harsh smiled. "Yeh bhi hai. Chalo, tum jaldi se yahan aa jao. Isse pehle kuch aur drama ho," he said, making Shivaay smile. He disconnected the call, and rushed to the wedding venue.

His wedding venue.

Reaching there with his family, he met everyone else there. Harsh, Avantika, Gauri and Bhavya. All of them knew about his plan, and were happy with it. They just wanted to execute it without Nandini getting to know about it.

Shivaay went ahead and touched Harsh and Avantika's feet. Looking back up, he raised his eyebrows at them. They knew what he was looking for.

Avantika turned to Gauri and Bhavya, who went inside, to bring out his bride. This was a moment he was waiting for, desperately. It wasn't turning out exactly the way he wanted to, but atleast it was happening. After the past year, this was the only thing he wanted.

He looked up at the huge staircase of the wedding venue, from where she walked down with a veil covering her face. Gauri had told Shivaay that he won't be able to look at her face because she didn't want to show her pain-filled and tear-stricken eyes to everyone, and fill any stranger without doubt about her consent to this wedding.

Shivaay had agreed. She didn't know who she was marrying, yet. And her veiled face was going to make things easier for him.

When she walked down the stairs, he went to her and tried to hold her hand, which she jerked away. She clearly didn't want anything to do with Nandini's chosen groom for her.

He smiled slightly. Atleast everything is going to be sorted soon.

They both sat down at the mandap, as the wedding rituals began.

_________________________________________

Surprise surprise 🤩💫

How's the twist? 😏