The family stood at the entrance of the ancestral palace, while an old lady stood, glaring angrily at Rajlakshmi. She was Meenawati Devi, the window of her husband's older brother, and used to live there alone with all the caretakers as her daughters were already married. Despite Rajlakshmi several requests of going to Mumbai with them, she never went as she wanted to stay in her ancestral home till her last breath.
"Itne dino baad yaad aayi tujhe humari, haan?"she asked.
"Jiji, aap toh jaanti hi hain sab kuch,"Rajlakshmi said.
"Haan haan jaanu hoon. Mārō pautra kyāṁ chē?"(Where are my grandsons)
"Hum yaha hain badi Daadi,"Hardik said while walking towards them with Shubman, Ishan, Jagriti, Dityashri and Sitara,"charo ouhr dekh rahe theh isiliye peeche rehe gaye,"he added while touching her feet.
"Areh mara chhokra. Mara laade sar. Kitne dino baad dekha tujhe. Jab tu akhribar aaya tha tab chhay saal ka tha tu. Aur abb lamba chaura sundar chehero wala jawaan banke lauta hain,"Meenawati said while tears of happiness flowed down her eyes.
"Areh Badi Daadi, hum log bhi hain, humein bhi dekhiye zara,"Ishan said, while touching her feet alongside Shubman and Jagriti followed up.
"Areh mere bacche. Char itne sundar bacche rehete huye bhi yeh mahal khaali pari reheti hain saal bhar! Kiyu nahi aatey tumlog yaha? Tumhara ghar hain yeh. Meri yah apne badi beheno ki zara bhi yaad nahi aati hain na tumlogon ko?"Meenawati said and cried.
"Areh Badi Daadi, royiye matt na. Accha fine, abb se harr saal aayenge yaha. Promise,"Shubman said.
"Kiyu promise kare hum? Badi Daadi, Big B ki shaadi mein kiyu nahi aaye aap? Itni naraazgi?"Ishan asked.
"Areh nahi voh....areh haan, nayi bahu kaha hain?"Meenawati asked in a strict tone and four of them moved aside revealing Dityashri who was standing behind them, alongside Sitara.
"Jaa Shri,"Indrakshi said to her and she walked up to Meenawati and seeked her blessings by touching her feet.
"Hmm!"Meenwati said and checked her features and then added,"parhi likhi toh tu hogi hi. Maare Laade Sar ki patni jo hain. Ghar ke kaam kaaj aave hain na chhokri?"
Dityashri gave a nod and she asked,"sabka khayal rakhti hain na tu?"
"Sabka, Badi Daadi, sabka khayal rakhti hain humari Bhabi,"Jagriti said holding Dityashri's shoulder.
"Haan, humari sabse acchi saheli hain Bhabi,"Shubman said.
"Bilkul behen jaisi feel aati hain. Yaha toh Big B paraye bann jaatey hain kabhi kabhi,"Ishan teased Hardik, who passed him a look.
"Hmm! Saras. Re Lakshmi, saras chhe nayi bahu. Najar na lage,"Meenawati said to Rajlakshmi while making Dityashri stand beside Hardik.
"Jeh chhokri kaun hain re?"she asked pointing at Sitara and Ishan said,"Daadi yeh meri dost hain. Mere crew members bhi aayenge shaam ko. Ek shoot karunga yaha."
"Oh accha accha. Bohot accha kiya. Aaja chhokri,"Meenawati said to Sitara who came and touched her feet and she added,"pyaari bacchi hain. Kapde thode lambe pehena kar bass."
Ishan chuckled and Sitara glared at him and then replied to Meenawati,"jee Daadi."
Meenawati then called the maids and did everyone's aarti one by one, starting with the new couple, and asked them to enter the palace.
She brought a bowl of liquid red dye and a pot of rice grains and asked Dityashri to kick it and then step into the dye and walk into the palace.
"Nayi bahu kadam rakh rahi hain, lakhmi aayi hain aangan mein,"Meenawati said while Dityashri did as told. They walked into the palace and she looked around the huge courtyard.
"Sab kuch jaisa tha bilkul vaisa hi hain abhi bhi,"Shivendra said with a happy smile.
"Bohot yaadein juri hain iss mahal se humari. Hain na bhai?"Hitendra asked Shivendra.
"Haan Bhai Sa. Bachpan mein khela karte theh hum isi aangan mein,"Shivendra said.
"Haan, abb tum dono ke potey potiya khelenge bohot jald hi,"Meenawati said holding their arms.
Dityashri looked at Hardik and he looked at her before she looked away. Meenawati turned to the servants and said,"jao, sabka saamaan rakh doh jiske liye jo kamra taiyaar kiya gaya hain uss hisab se,"she then turned to Hardik and Dityashri and said,"tum dono ke liye ek sundar sa kamra taiyaar karwaya hain. Maare Hardik ko vah kamra bohot pasand tha bachpan mein. Jheel dikhta hain waha se. Jao dono."
"Badi Daadi...voh...main, main Jagriti ke saath rehena chahati hoon,"Dityashri said making her frown.
"Kaaye? Apne pati ke kamre mein na reheke nanad ke saath kaaye javegi?"
"Daadi voh...Jagriti ko darr lagega akele rehene mein. Thodi der pehele hi bol rahi thi mujhe. Aur usey mere saath rehena pasand hain. Isiliye,"Dityashri lied.
"Vah re chhokri,"Meenawati said and chuckled before adding,"acchi baat hain. Thik hain, jaa. Waha Mumbai mein toh ek saath rehete hi ho dono. Yaha nanad ke paas rehe le."
"Bhabi yaar, maine kab kaha..."Jagriti went to protest but Dityashri held her hand and pulled her aside while the other family members started talking to Meenawati and Hardik looked away getting annoyed.
Hardik was muttering things to himself in an irritated tone while unpacking his luggage when Dityashri knocked at the door of his room.
"Why the hell are you knocking now?"he asked with a frown.
"You have asked me to,"Dityashri replied and he remembered that he had rebuked her for entering his room before.
"Get in right now. And stop behaving like things are same between us now,"he said and Dityashri came in and helped him with his luggage saying,"friends too knock before entering the room I guess."
"Taunt maarne mein na number one ho tum. And yeah, what was the need of saying to Badi Daadi that you will stay in Jagriti's room? She is very smart. What if she would have guessed something?"Hardik asked Dityashri, who was arranging his belongings in the wardrobe.
"She didn't. Aur vaise bhi mujhe laga ki since we stay in separate rooms in Hillcrest, we should do that here as well. Otherwise aap hi awkward feel kar rahe hotey mere saath room share karte huye,"Dityashri said.
"Who told you that? Did I?"Hardik asked.
"You don't have to. I have common sense,Mr.Raizada,"Dityashri said.
"Stop calling me Mr.Raizada. Call me Hardik. We are friends, not business partners,"Hardik scolded her.
"Aap hi ne kaha na naam se na bulane ko,"Dityashri argued.
"Areh kabka baat lekar baithi ho abb bhi tum yaar. You know what? Huh...forget it. Jao jao apne room mein jao. I'll do my work on my own,"Hardik said while snatching his blazer from her hand.
"Fine, I'll call you by your name. Why are you being so angry over little things?"
"Haan little things right. Accha hi hain. If Daadi guesses anything, you will handle it. I will not say anything,"Hardik said.
"Fine! I'll handle. Now freshen up and come downstairs. Lunch ke liye bula rahe hain sab,"Dityashri said.
"You don't have to think about my lunch,"Hardik said and she replied,"fine! Do as you please. God knows kaunse dohore parte rehete hain aapko."
Dityashri went to leave but slipped on the carpet. Hardik held her immediately and said,"dhang se chala nahi jaata hain tumse, badi aayi meri khayal rakhnewali."
"Huh! Nahi rakhungi na tab bhi aap hi chirhoge,"Dityashri replied, while Meenawati was passing by the corridor to see if everyone had settled down well in their rooms or not.
"Areh chhokra, darvajo bandh kar le,"she said and walked away while chuckling and saying,"aise hi prem bani rahe dono mein."
"Shit! Daadi ne kuch aur hi soch liya,"Dityashri said.
"Haan toh accha hi toh hain,"Hardik said and she walked away while saying,"haan haan, mere liye mushkiley barhate rahiye aap."
"Huh!"Hardik exclaimed and kicked the foot of the bed.
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In the evening, relatives and other guests had arrived for a small ritual as Meenawati wanted to perform a mood dikhai ritual for Dityashri. The family agreed at once since this ritual was not done after her marriage.
"Main toh soch raha hoon ki inki first anniversary pe dobara acche se shaadi karwau,"Hitendra said.
"True, aur humlog saare trends follow karenge iss waley mein,"Ishan said, while Dityashri said quietly under her veil, and people came to her and saw her face, and blessed her, giving gifts.
"Harry, you really want to get married to her again?"Jigyasa asked Hardik, who was standing there and staring at Dityashri.
"Mom, what's the point of that? We are already married,"Hardik said.
"You consider this marriage as..."Jigyasa went to ask but Shubman came and pulled Hardik while saying,"excuse us Badi Mom."
"Kya baat kya hain?"Hardik asked him as soon as he brought him aside.
"Big B, we want you to marry Bhabi again on your first anniversary,"Shubman said.
"Shubh, there's time in our first anniversary to arrive,"Hardik said.
"So what? We are excited. Also, jo jo nahi huya tha pichlibar, issbar sab karenge,"Indrakshi said.
Hardik walked ahead while the others discussed among themselves. He stared at his family and then at Dityashri and thought what should he do. He didn't want to make his family sad, neither did he want to make Dityashri feel uncomfortable.
After the ceremony was over, Dityashri ran back to her room, saying she wasn't feeling well. All these rituals, all this love, the growing expectations of the family regarding her and Hardik's relation, was making her feel guilty for hiding the truth from them. She was also being sad because though she had everything now, she didn't had the thing she wanted the most. That thing was Hardik's love. She wanted Hardik more than anything else, but he wasn't her's in true sense.
She threw away her bridal scarf and opened her bun, letting loose her long hair, and cried in frustration while throwing away the necklace. She stood near the bed and removed her bangles and threw those away as well. The door of the room opened, a ray of light fell on her back.
Dityashri thought that Jagriti had come. Hence she said,"J, if anyone asks then tell them that I have fallen asleep. I will not go downstairs."
"You won't go downstairs, fine. But you can go to the terrace with me at least,"Hardik's voice startled her and he turned around as he switched on all the lights of the room.
Dityashri wiped away her tears while he picked up her jewellery while saying,"Diti, did someone ever told you how beautiful you are? Also, how less beautiful you look when you cry?"
Dityashri stared at him blankly and he walked towards her saying,"no, right? Well, that's the truth. Your beauty gets reduced whenever you cry."
"Why is it so difficult to understand you at times?"Dityashri asked looking at him as he slipped the bangles back into her wrists, carefully. He then made her wear the necklace while replying,"maybe because I am a perplexed fellow. Whatever I am, I don't want to see you crying. You always say you can do anything for my happiness. Then don't shed tears like this. That makes me sad. You want to see me sad?"
Dityashri nodded her head sideways and said,"no. Never."
Hardik smiled at her and adorned her shoulder with the bridal scarf and said,"come with me."
He held her hand and took her to the terrace of the palace where hundreds of sky lanterns were spread across the sky.
"Yeh lanterns?"Dityashri question and walked ahead while looking around the sky with mesmerized eyes.
Hardik brought a paper lantern and took out a lighter from his pocket while saying to her,"this is done for Ishan's shoot. But, I brought one for us."
"For us?"Dityashri asked as the pronoun 'us' made her feel a different kind of happiness.
"Yes! We will make a wish and let it fly into the sky. I used to do it with Maa, when I used to come here in childhood,"Hardik said making her feel special, and she held the lantern happily, forgetting all her frustrations at once. That was the effect he always had on her. He could turn her mood from good to bad or vice versa at any given time.
They held the lantern and closed their eyes, while making a wish for each other's happiness and then set the lantern free.
They looked at the sky for sometime before looking at each other. Hardik held her hands and said,"Diti, your presence in my life is like those lanterns in the dark sky. Don't ever think I don't care for you or you're not important to me."
Dityashri felt the same fluttering within her heart, despite knowing that he was telling everything as a friend. Yet she rested her head upon his chest and hugged him, closing her eyes. Hardik was taken aback at first, but he hugged her back, and rested his chin upon her head, while running his fingers through her hair.
Shubman was coming to the terrace to click pictures of the sky, but clicked their picture instead and ran away to show those to others.
"Ek baat puchhu aap se?"Dityashri asked still hugging him.
"Hmm...puccho,"Hardik replied.
"The girl you loved so much, left you, why? What was her problem?"
"She didn't leave me Diti. I left her."
"But why?"Dityashri asked looking at him.
"Because I found her...in a...I found sleeping with another guy. Who was rich and settled abroad. He didn't have a huge family like me and well, I was a possessive fellow, short tempered, barbaric at times, which made me unsuitable for being loved, according to her. She is married to that man now and they live in Canada,"Hardik said with a sly smile.
Dityashri understood the level of heartbreak Hardik had went through due to this betrayal. Given the type of nature he had, it was very obvious that he would never want to fall in love again.
"You're an excellent man. You deserve all the love present in this entire world,"Dityashri said holding his cheek and he leaned his face on her hand and replied,"you're an excellent human being. I don't want to lose you ever. Doesn't matter wherever our relation heads too. Doesn't matter you keep my surname or not. I want you as a companion always. I don't want you to consider anybody else outside the family as your closest friend."
"Nobody else will be my closest friend other than you Mr.Raizada,"Dityashri said and they shared a hug again, while a bit away from the palace, a guy emerged out of the river, and swapped back his hair.
"Chhote Malik, baahar aaiye, aapko thand lag gayi na toh Badi Malkin humare moochhe urwa dengi,"one of his bodyguards said to the guy.
The guy didn't pay any heed and looked towards the Raizada palace which could be seen from far.
"That's the palace of our favourite rival family, isn't it?"he asked in his heavy sonorous deep voice, which was similar to Hardik's.
A rudraksh moulded in a gold pendant, hung in his golden chain, along with a om sign attached underneath it, while he adjusted his emerald ring while coming out of the water while the bodyguard said,"yes it is. Now don't tell me you want to go there. Ek toh aise hi Idar na jaakey Junagadh agaye aap pehele. Aapki marzi samajhna bohot mushkil hain Chhote Malik."
"Kiyuki hum Rathores apne marzi ke maalik hotey hain,"the guy said and looked towards the palace again with a mischievous smile.
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So who is this guy? Any guesses? Do let me know through your comments. Keep Reading and Keep Vommenting Guys.😘❤️