Siddarth's POV
Today my wedding was supposed to take place with Neha Shekhawat. There is no chance that I have fallen head over heels for her but from the options, my mom gave me this was the only way to escape. My mother threatened me to choose between her sister's brother-in-law's daughter and Neha Shekhawat as she was fed up with me rejecting every other prospective marriage proposal. Moreover, in a single meeting with that chatterbox (sister's brother-in-law's daughter), I got irritated like hell. She speaks a lot and it's not that I mind girls speaking but the problem was she spoke only about two things. The first was her so-called achievement of helping the poor by offering her leftovers to them and the second was my fan following. She just crammed whatever is written on the net about me and dictated to me line by line. If this wasn't enough, she tried to impress me by boasting about my qualities (instead of her qualities) and after every two minutes, she checked her phone to tell me that a new follower just liked my profile. This made me crazy and I chose to meet Neha instead.
When I met Neha, I thought how can somebody be so arrogant but it was still better than the second option. Neha and I spent time together and had been on several dates. However, her attitude and the way she is so possessive about her stuff made me rethink my decision. She threatened waiters and shop owners with her power on several dates, and I had to intervene to resolve the situation. Even though I tried to convince mom, she was very happy and I had to give in. My mom had the impression that she came from a wealthy business family and that she was successful in her career. She also was able to flatter my mom with her sugar-coated talk. The fact that my family was happy with my decision and Neha was not a malicious person made me feel okay.
I was sitting on the Mandap (Dias) thinking about all of this while waiting for the bride to descend the stairs when another chaos ensued. Mr. Veer Shekhawat came down to the hall sweating looking at me and my family, and I feared the outcome. Then, Neha strode in with a tall figure and pronounced herself his wife in a proud, arrogant tone. I went and stood with my family and we all were equally shocked. As opposed to explaining, the Queen of the Seven Seas (notice the sarcasm) started the media circus by claiming she married the guy, what was his name, ya, Jayant, because she loved him. I became blind with anger as she spoke those words and a battle started in my mind. I was just thinking about how my mom would get hurt and our reputation would be affected due to her silly things. Everybody in my family was there at the wedding except Diya and Jiya. Because they had departed to submit their important submissions and were about to reach here after some time, Chachi stopped them and ordered them to return home immediately. I just knew one thing: this day was going to be difficult and something unexpected was going to happen.
"Dad, I am back just in time to attend the wedding"
A sweet voice drew our attention to it. As I turned around to look for the owner of the voice I found a pretty girl with long black hair, striking black eyes, and a stunning personality. She stood at the door. It instantly clicked in my mind that I had seen her before but I don't remember where. Additionally, since she calls Mr. Shekhawat her dad, then she must be the hidden sister. Don't wonder why I call her hidden. This is because whenever my family asked about her presence Mr. Shekhawat tried to keep us away from this topic. He told us that we could meet her at the wedding as she had departed on a business trip. Dad asked him whether she helped him in business. The answer was always, 'No she helps me with nothing and you can ask her the rest.' We ignored this topic.
Everybody looked at that poor soul as if they had seen something extremely weird like a horn on the head of a monkey or a dragon breathing fire. I thought she must be nervous but her eyes didn't match my thoughts. When she entered, she walked to her father and comforted him, but she also looked equally puzzled as her eyes seemed to scan the situation. After a minute of whispering with her father, she made a suggestion that was the need of the hour and took him to a nearby study room. We all followed them as this conversation or the much-awaited confrontation was our right. As we entered Neha and her so-called husband entered behind us.
"Wait, hear me out first" Neha screamed and my anger was lost in thoughts due to the new entry being back, hearing her quacking.
I stood there still in my place trying to calm my head before I did something that I might regret later. She continued to torture us with her voice and spoke,
"This marriage is a deal which I had to do to gain a contract with the fashion star Jayant Kumar. It's all for one year and then I can leave him and return to the love of my life, Siddarth. Can't you guys even wait for me for a year to improve my modeling career?"
Her new revelation wasn't shocking as I knew her money-minded nature but then she turned to me and said "Trust me, I will come back to you. One year is all it takes, and then we can live happily. Please wait for me for a year, baby"
My mind laughed at the word trust. The girl who broke the trust of my family for a contract was talking about trust. I won't wait a second for such a cheap girl, and she is asking me to give her a year. The thing that made me furious was the word B.A.B.Y.
How dare she call me that. I hate that word from her ridiculous mouth. If her quacking wasn't enough to make me angry, the new voice of her so-called husband started to intensify my anger. Thank God, she shut him up or I would have dug them both twelve feet under the ground for playing this stupid contract game. I just wanted to storm out of this place but Neha continued to utter nonsense as if she didn't know she was playing with the fire.
I couldn't handle this anymore and now it was my turn to speak.
"Are you out of your mind Neha? You have put my and my family's reputation at stake. I could have waited for you for more than a year if you told me the situation beforehand but now everything is over between us. My family will have to bear insults because of you and I cannot forgive you for your mistake. For the first time my family name is under threat because of your selfishness" I spoke these words trying to be calm but my tongue didn't follow my mind. These words sounded drenched in anger.
Now looking at Neha I could easily judge that she was up to something evil and as she stared at her sister my doubts were getting confirmed. She erupted "Okay, I get your point Siddarth that you want to save your reputation so I have a brilliant idea."
Neha and a brilliant idea are two words that can't be spoken in the same sentence and my mind chuckled at this fact. I still wanted to hear what this shameless girl had to offer after stooping so low.
"What's your brilliant idea now?" I asked in a sarcastic tone, attempting to put pressure on the word 'brilliant' since it didn't suit her at all. To my surprise, she moved towards Riya and grabbed her wrist, and spoke "You want a bride for a year who can marry you right here, right now at this Mandap so here she is- My sister Riya will marry you in my place for a year and after the contract is complete you can divorce her and get me back in your life."
I tried to process what she said with my eyes glued to Riya's beautiful face. As I tried to understand her expressions, I understood that she wasn't ready for this and her eyes were full of expectation that her father would stand by her. Then her father spoke in favor of this idea and the pain of shattered hope could be seen in her eyes.
How can I even expect her to agree? Is there some deal going on? No! It's my life and I can't marry a stranger for the so-called pride of people.
One of my thoughts was that Riya is beautiful. Another thought was, 'even this creepy model seems beautiful on the outside, but it's not the same on the inside.' Suddenly, I had another thought: 'but Riya seems to be above fake beauty.' I instantly suppressed these thoughts and decided that my marriage couldn't be like this. I hate the entire Shekhawat family.
"I am not interested in this deal" I exclaimed in my typical rude tone.
"I won't take Neha back in my life after her insulting actions. I won't destroy my life for the image of my family." I almost shouted these words and Riya seemed to agree with me but my father agreed with this stupid idea and this made me shocked for a moment. Then Riya tried to say something but Mr. Shekhawat asked us to let them alone for now, and I just hoped that she would reject this proposal. We all left the room and waited outside for some time. Then Mr. Shekhawat came out of the room with her. I was already waiting impatiently in the hallway to get my phone that I had left in that room by mistake. I had to make important calls to my friends who could calm me at this moment before I turned this place upside down. I rushed inside that room as they came out, got my phone, and headed outside to make some phone calls.
As I returned, I heard that she had decided to marry me. My mind shouted how can a girl agree to wed a stranger in just a few minutes? She is definitely like her sister and has agreed to marry me because of the business deal. I just wanted to destroy everything in my way and I looked at her with an angry face that I couldn't hide anymore. Her face possessed an unafraid expression, but there was a tinge of nervousness in it. Even though my father had a tinge of fear in his mind when he looked at my face, she stood unfazed. This made me think again that she doesn't care about my feelings and she is only doing this for financial benefit. Now my angry volcano was ready to burst but my mom dragged me from that place and I had to follow her quietly.
Mom said, "Siddarth calm down son, Riya is a nice girl and you should accept this marriage." I tried to deny it but she insisted "Marry her for your parents dear and especially for the business that you built with so much effort". I denied doing this and mom said: "Please beta, do it for me. I love you my son and you can trust your mother's decision. Right?"
I was still angry with this decision but this decision seemed to be the need of the hour. We went back and I declared "I am ready for the marriage, and let's complete this quickly because I don't have time to waste anymore." I just wanted to finish this drama that has been lingering for a long time and my ears were done with listening to suggestions from everybody. I could sense that Riya wasn't happy but neither was I so I decided to ignore all these thoughts and carry on with this wedding. I don't know if we will be able to keep this marriage. I don't know if I can handle another money-minded girl like Neha but now, I am done with this thinking task.
The next thing that took place was the wedding. As we sought the blessings of the elders Riya made an unusual request to mom to let a lady called Veena stay with her. Mom agreed without much persuasion. I don't know what Riya was thinking but I am not willing to ask. Then the Vidaai took place and like any other girl, Riya started crying. Seeing her cry, my heart prickled for no apparent reason. Her father didn't show any emotion and even Neha was standing emotionless and I could feel the tension in the environment. Two people, maybe her cousins, cried a lot and this gave me a hint that Riya was really close to them. After a few minutes, her father made her sit in the car and I don't know why but I feel he was a bit rude.
I sat in the car and she sobbed continuously during the drive but suddenly after 10 minutes, I couldn't hear the sobs anymore. I didn't try to console her as I wanted to give her some space and I can't trust her after what recently happened. My heart tried to tell me to say a few words of assurance but my anger decided against it.
I turned to her as the sobs stopped. I wanted to see what made her stop crying suddenly but as I looked at her, she was speaking to Veena on the phone.
She gave her instructions in a normal tone which sounded a bit cold but anything in her voice was sweet to my ears. Damn it! What am I thinking? I should stop it. After that, I sensed that she was fine and probably has a lot of strength. As she finished speaking on the phone, she looked at me and I think she saw me for the first time. Then I quickly turned my head to the other side, avoiding her gaze.
When we got to the mansion, I did not make any attempts that a gentleman should make like opening the door and stuff, but I went outside and waited for her to emerge. Mom would have eaten me alive if I dared to leave her outside.
Upon getting down, she looked at the mansion and I was expecting a reaction from her, but instead, she gave me the I-am-Richie-rich or maybe I'm Riya Shekhawat look, so I realized that I had watched some movies due to constant requests from Diya and Jiya, and I had to come out of their influence.
As we went ahead mom started with rituals and I had to attend them due to dad's order but she smiled and took interest in every ritual and I realized that this girl impacts my mind because whenever Neha gave that sugar-coated smile to mom, I could easily sense it and ignore her but she is different and her every action is noticed deeply by my heart. Don't think I will be fooled by her antics; I am just voicing my opinions.
After all these rituals which seemed meaningless at this point were done I began to walk to my room. She followed me as my mother instructed her to do so. The voice of Diya stopped us as she said "Who is this girl and where is our bhabhi?" and Jiya supported her.
I was in no mood to hear any more arguments and hence I shouted "Mom, I am off to my room" and went away. As I entered my room I couldn't control my anger and the urge to break something to calm myself down took over me. I broke almost everything that came into my hand and as I was about to smash a flower vase, she entered the room.
She froze at her place and stared at me for a while. I was already in a foul mood and her stare made me shout. "What are you looking at? Am I a beast? You and your family have ruined my life. She said yes to the wedding and ran away. You said yes and tried to compensate" I taunted her expecting a reaction but she stood there quietly making me more furious. I took two steps toward her and asked, "Is this a joke? Am I supposed to laugh or be happy that at last I have got married?"
I was distraught over what the sisters were thinking. Will I marry anyone standing in their way? My innocent mind said that Riya is not a regular greedy girl, but the idea of her agreeing to marry for a deal made me even more furious.
"Wait, did you marry me or the business king, Siddarth Roy? I yelled as this question had been bothering me for the past hour, and I don't keep my anger to myself.
Since I already knew the answer, I rudely replied "Of course, the businessman Siddarth Roy to keep the business deal between the companies alive, or else nobody would agree to marry a stranger within a few minutes". It was obvious.
This time she said "Calm down" and I hate these words when I am angry. I yelled again "After your sister destroyed my life and made it a living hell you are asking me to calm down".
Then as I looked at her she was peeping into her phone and this made me more furious that she was ignoring me. What was so urgent that she left the conversation in between? I was pretty sure that she was doing something related to her business and this thought alone was enough to put kerosene in the fire.
As she turned to look at me she made a blank face and I moved toward her and grabbed her wrist and twisted it behind her back. I expected her to yell in pain but she was quiet.
I was amazed but angry so I snatched her phone and said "If you don't check your phone for a minute will the earth turn upside down?"
She was still silent and her silence made me angry.
"I got it. It must be regarding your business....one sister is concerned about a contract and the other is concerned about a business deal. Is it all that you and your family know? Do you eat business in your meal?"
At this point, I thought someone had stolen her tongue. Why was she not arguing?
I couldn't bear this any longer and told her to get out. She left the room as she was waiting for me to say these words without even looking back. As she left, my phone started to buzz and I searched for it as I threw it in anger. I found it and picked it up to find Vicky my assistant on the line.
"Sir, as you were busy with your marriage I didn't want to disturb you but I had to call you as the investors saw the live telecast of your wedding," he said. The investors wouldn't have been able to know who is the bride as her face was covered with a veil and nobody has seen the grown-up version of Riya Shekhawat as per her father as she stays away from parties and functions.
"Cut it short and tell me the reason why you are calling me now," I yelled in anger. I was frustrated with the events of the day.
"Sir, you picked up the call that I placed at that time and I learned a shocking piece of information as a result. The call got recorded and I think you forgot the phone in the room where ma'am was talking to her father. This is related to your personal life so I am sending you the recording. Anyway, I would like to request you to take proper care of her."
I was about to deny it when he cut the call fearing my reaction. I received an audio clip in which the conversation between Riya and her father in that study room got recorded. I heard it and got to know the reason behind her approval of this marriage. I couldn't believe that a father could say those words and a daughter could hear them without any arguments. I realized my mistake and ventured out to search for her. I looked for her everywhere and found her in the outhouse crying in Veena's lap. I felt guilty for my outburst but I hope she will understand my situation. I just need to ask her why she has been quiet all the time.
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Hello guys...
Thanks for reading my story I think I updated a bit late so I have written a longer update for you all. This time I have written the chapter from Siddarth's point of view (I hope you like it) and the next chapter will be updated soon. Excuse me for the grammatical errors. Till then stay tuned and keep voting.
~~~PRIYA7755