"You said your aunt has changed. She hasn't changed a bit. She bought the eleven percent shares from my uncle in retribution to what I asked from her son. I was right. She is ruthless and aggressive." Prakash fumed at Amar. Both the families met to discuss what happens next.
"You do realise that you are shouting at my nephew for no fault of his?" asked Shambhavi.
Prakash realised what he was doing. "I didn't mean to." He said awkwardly. "But you proved me right. You cannot be trusted." He spoke to Shambhavi angrily.
"That man offered to sell them to me. I accepted the offer. Where does the question of distrust come from?" Shambhavi asked him.
"You did it for vengeance" said Prakash. "Now you have a say in all my company's decisions. You own eleven percent shares." He said bitterly.
"Not me Mr. Dhanunjaya. Your niece owns eleven percent shares" said Shambhavi shocking everyone.
"What are you saying?" asked Vennela.
"I didn't do it out of hatred. I did it for you Vennela. I knew Narayana garu was trying to buy it himself. But his brother was blinded by hatred. He wanted to sell it to an outsider. I approached him and told him how much I hate the Dhanunjaya family. He was foolish enough to believe that. Now I return the eleven percent shares to you. That way they would remain in your family. And now everyone can concentrate on your wedding without any distractions. You deserve a happy wedding." Shambhavi told Vennela.
"I don't know what to say" said Amar.
"Then say that you have forgiven me. I didn't do it for the Dhanunjayas. I did it for you and Vennela. I want my nephew back." Shambhavi held Amar's hand.
"There is nothing to forgive aunty" Amar squeezed her hand.
"Don't look at me like that Mr. Prakash. I'm still the same ruthless Shambhavi. I don't care about your company. It's just that my love for Amar and Vennela outweighed my anger for you" said Shambhavi.
"I might have, er, misunderstood you. I am sorry" said Prakash.
"Yes. You are sorry. Now that she has given you what you value the most, you definitely are sorry. You disgust me" said Lasya.
"Keep your mouth shut Lasya." Prakash ordered.
"Why should she? She has told the truth. The only thing you value is money." Vennela supported Lasya. "You sold your niece for a business deal."
Prakash looked as if he has been slapped.
"You refused to give Surya bava a chance because he wasn't rich enough for you. You forced me to marry Amar because you were more worried about the stock prices than me. Now you are willing to apologize to a woman who threatened to send you to prison because she helped you retain your money. You disgust me." Vennela held Lasya's hand. They both gave Prakash a furious look.
Amar asked Vennela to calm down. "Uncle, you were so worried about these shares that you didn't even notice that Shruthi has been missing since morning."
"What! Where is she?" asked Prakash.
"She said she doesn't want to go home. I begged her not to do anything stupid. Right now she is in our penthouse. The twins are with her" said Amar.
Prakash and Nanditha rushed to meet Shruthi. They came back two hours later. "Call Anirudh. Tell him I request him to come here."
Amar did as told. Anirudh came to meet them.
"Anirudh, I am sorry. It was very selfish of me to ask you to leave the city and go somewhere else. I free you from the promise. Please attend your brother's marriage." Prakash requested Anirudh, who nodded immediately as if waiting for that word.
"Finally. Everything is fine." Bharat sighed.
"Not everything. I still haven't given my approval to Shruthi and Anirudh's relationship. She is just 21. Let her complete her MBA. We will think about it after that. She agreed to this" said Prakash.
"That's okay sir. I am sure I will get your approval." Anirudh was confident.
"Excellent! We all have kept our promises." Amar exclaimed.
"Let's not prolong this. Let's get dispersed to our respective homes and meet tomorrow for shopping" said Lasya.
"I agree with you" said Shambhavi. She then realized what she said. "It doesn't change anything. I still dislike you."
"Trust me, the feeling is mutual" said Lasya.
"Wow!" Vennela clapped. "Once more."
"Shut up Vennela. Come let's go." Nanditha dragged her along.
"What did you tell uncle that made him change his mind?" Vennela asked Shruthi after reaching home.
"I told him Lasya akka was right in eloping. I told him he is the poorest man in the world because he lost both his daughters and his niece. That seemed to do the trick. Thank you for letting me stay in your penthouse. I just wanted a break from everything that's happening." Shruthi explained.
That night Vennela stayed awake for a long time talking to Lasya and Shruthi, reminiscing their childhood memories.
The next day Ragini arrived from Mumbai. "Nanditha aunty. I got all the dresses and sarees Vennela has to wear for all the functions. If you say no, then I will design the prettiest dress for myself to look better than the bride. That attention seeking Vennela will blame you her entire life."
"Hello! You will never look better than the bride when the bride is Vennu akka" said Shruthi.
"I am going to ignore you this time. Go and study kid. Let elders do the preprations." Ragini and Shruthi argued for a long time.
"I hope nanna will at least be polite to Surya this time" Lasya expressed her wish to Vennela.
"Change doesn't happen in an instant. It is a gradual process. I am glad Prakash uncle has started considering" Vennela consoled Lasya.
"He was really funny when we were kids. Remember how he used to compete with all three of us in cycling? Remember all the fun we had in Bangalore? I hope he will treat our future kids in the same way." Lasya smiled.
"Look at you. Already dreaming about kids" Ragini and Shruthi joined them.
"You will be dreaming about kids too, a few years later" said Lasya.
The servant announced the arrival of wedding planners. "Oh! I completely forgot. Amar called this morning. He asked me to finalize the designs for decoration."
The wedding planners came in. "Everything will be color coordinated. The decoration will match your sarees." The wedding planners showed her a few designs matching the color of her sarees. "Ma'am, I feel you need to replace this particular saree. It is an uncommon color" said one of them.
"No. I like it. You don't have to find the exact match. Bring whichever flowers you find" said Vennela.
"It will look odd if the color of your outfit doesn't match with the decoration" said the wedding planners.
"What's the problem when we ourselves are telling you?" asked Ragini.
They argued for a while. Vennela sent them away saying she doesn't need their services.
A few hours later, Amar arrived along with a man. "This is the owner of the event management company. He has come to apologize to you for his employee's behavior. He is a good friend of mine."
"Hello Vennela garu. I am Dheeraj. I am sorry for what happened this morning. My employees were wrong to demand that you replace your sarees. I will personally make sure that the decoration will be as per your choice" Dheeraj requested Vennela. He presented the designs for a long time.
"That was really nice of you Mr. Dheeraj. I like your dedication. Please have coffee. You must be tired" said Ragini.
"Thank you Ms.?"
"Ragini. Vennela's cousin and fashion designer" said Ragini.
"Your designs are really good" said Dheeraj. "If you don't mind there is another client of mine who is looking for a good designer. Can I suggest your name?"
"Sure" said Ragini with a twinkle in her eyes. They started talking and didn't seem to realize that half an hour has passed. Ragini left with him to his office to meet his client. When she came back she seemed to be very happy for some reason.
"You understood the meaning of this bro?" Rishi asked Raj.
"This man Dheeraj stole the first customer of our matrimony website" said Raj. They grinned.
That night Shruthi teased Ragini about her new friend. "He is just a friend" said Ragini.
"Me and Surya were just friends too. It's a coincidence that we too had coffee together during our first meeting" said Lasya. "Unknowingly, we started our relationship with a coffee date."
"Coffee date? Okay. Me and Anirudh usually share French fries" said Shruthi. "But this coffee date seems to be a nice idea."
Vennela wasn't speaking. Lasya shook her. "I just realized. We never went on a date. We have been together for six months."
"You need to have courage to ask someone for a date. Sadly, my dear cousin, you lack it" said Ragini. "At this pace you will have your first date when you are fifty."
"Strange, but I agree with Ragini. You need to ask him. Remember how you proposed to him." Shruthi reminded her.
"Right. I will get what I want." Vennela called Amar.
"Vennela?" He said groggily. "Is everything alright?"
"I want to go on a date" said Vennela.
"Whoa! Wait. I thought Vennela doesn't like going on dates" said Amar. "I tried many times."
"Please. You agreed to be my boyfriend" said Vennela, in a sweet voice.
"You know my weakness. I can't say no when you request so sweetly." Amar chuckled. "You know what? This is the only thing I thought I couldn't do with you. It seems all my wishes are being fulfilled."
"So, day after tomorrow?" asked Vennela.
"Why? I can take you even now." Amar couldn't wait.
"Not now. I'm feeling sleepy." Vennela answered.
"You are very mean. You stole my sleep away. I won't let you sleep. Talk to me now..."
---***---
Now that we are nearing the end, tell me when exactly did you fall in love with Amar and Vennela (either individually or as a pair). Just wanted to know.