MISHTI'S POV
The engagement was over but the guests were still there. Naira di and Abhishek were attending the guests. I wanted to talk to di. So I walked towards her and grabbed her hand.
"Sorry aunty ji...but I wanna talk to di", I said and dragged her to the corner.
"What's your problem Mishti?", she asked irritated, jerking my hand away.
"Di...what's my problem? I should be the one asking you this question....what's your problem di? Why are you marrying this jerk?", I asked her pointing towards Abhishek.
Di sighed and looked at me.
"I've told you Mishti. Why are you still asking this question?", Naira di asked.
"Because I care for you and I know that Abhishek is not good for you. You're gonna hurt yourself by marrying him. He and his family are looking for self advantages. They just want a daughter in law who listens and agrees to every stupid demand they make. They think that you are the one. Di....didn't you find it strange? They didn't have any objection with your pregnancy....your early life. As far as I know....Indian families have hundred percent objections for these things. They are doing this only for their selfish needs", I tried to explain her, hoping she would understand.
"Mishti....I can understand your concern but maybe it isn't anything you're thinking. Its not necessary no that everyone's mentality should be same. They must be open minded. I'm thankful to them that they accepted me", Naira di cupped my face and tried to explain me. I scoffed.
"Thankful! Are you serious di? Where's my sherni di? I'm telling you, you'll regret this decision. I've seen the horrible things Abhishek has done with you. I wonder how low he can stoop after marriage", I said and di's eyes got wide. She held my shoulders tightly and looked directly into my eyes.
"Mishti...please don't say it to anybody. Please sister....I beg you", Naira di pleaded.
"Why? Because he warned you that he'll destroy this family...come on di you supposed to be so brave...what happened to you? He's just trapping you", I removed her hands from shoulder and talked to her eye to eye.
"Di...you still have time. You can change your decision. I'll talk to maa papa. You can go to your Kartik", I said holding her hands.
"Mishti enough is enough. Kartik is past. Everything's past now. There's no going back. Why can't you forget him?", Naira di asked frustrated.
"Because you can't forget him. You won't be able to forget him because you love him", I said cupping her face.
"But he doesn't love me", Naira di said with a straight face.
"He lov-", I was gonna complete my sentence that someone called di.
"Yes aunty ji....I'm coming", she replied and turned towards me.
"Mishti....we won't speak about this ever again. Please forget Kartik and lemme forget him. We'll never speak anything about Kartik or any topic related to Kartik. Kha meri kasam?", she said and I looked at her wide eyed.
"But di-", I started to say but she interrupted me.
"Mishti", she raised her voice and I nodded unwillingly.
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KARTIK'S POV
It was afternoon and I was sitting in my study working on a presentation. I picked up the mug of coffee and took a sip. My eyes caught sight of Siya. She was sitting on the swing alone. Her head was hung down and she drew something on the ground with the stick.
I sighed and rubbed my forehead.
She's still upset!
I stood up and walked out into the backyard through the glass door. I walked towards the swing and sat beside Siya. Her glance fell upon me with a distant swift disinterest and she again looked down at the ground and continued with her business.
"Are you still upset?", I asked her.
She nodded, her eyes still fixed to the ground.
"Hey kiddo....daddy's sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I was just explaining my point", I said as I placed my hand on her back.
She looked up at me and turned towards me.
"Do you wanna apologise more or I can apologise now?", she asked.
God....this girl and her attitude!
"Yes you can apologise now Miss Goenka", I granted her the permission and she nodded.
"So I'm sorry dad for throwing a tantrum at you and walking away last night. I was already frustrated with that Abhishek guy and again....(sighs) leave it off. But trust me...I was just trying to expose him. I'm sorry if I hurt you but I found it as the only way to bring his true colours out", she explained her point and I nodded.
"I also have some proofs against him", she said and picked up her phone.
"Naira's younger sister Mishti called last night", I said and she turned towards me sharply.
"What? Why? Is everything okay?", she asked worried.
"Yes everything is okay. It seems that Naira loves me", I told Siya in one go and she gave me a "duh" reaction.
"So I had been speaking the same thing since many days but you won't listen to me. Was I speaking in Spanish or German that you won't understand me!", she said frustrated.
"I'm sorry Siya but you know I wasn't in my senses", I said and she nodded.
"What else did she say?", Siya asked looking at me.
"That Abhishek... he's not right for Naira. He raises hand on her and tortures her. Naira's doing this marriage under family pressure", I said the whole thing and Siya's eye widened.
"How dare he? Dad...why are you sitting here like nothing happened? Aren't you supposed to break his teeth? Does your black belt in martial arts have no value?!", she asked and I sighed.
"Siya...even I wanna break his teeth okay? But we need to do things carefully. Abhishek is a smart guy. We do a mistake here, he comes to know and does horrible things with Naira. So we have to be careful. We have proofs against him. Mishti is gathering proofs for us....we just need a game plan to make Naira escape from there. I'm gonna make Naira mine, okay? I'm gonna bring her back. But I need your help....will you be my partner?" I forwarded my hand for a handshake.
"Oh come one dad....I'm your partner since the day I was born", she said and hugged me tightly. I hugged her back and kissed on top of her head.
We released the hug and I looked down at her drawing on the ground.
"What are you drawing?", I asked her.
"Our family. This is you,me, Aatish, Ahana and Sahil", she said pointing the stick at the drawing.
I took the stick from her and drew another person beside me.
"Who's this?", she asked.
"Naira", I replied and both of us smiled.
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NAIRA'S POV
It was evening. My Mehendi/Sangeet was going on. Everything's going so fast. Day after tomorrow is my wedding. I can't wrap my head around it. I was tired of plastering a fake smile 24/7 on my face.
Mehendi hai rachewali
Haanthon mein gehri lali
Kahe sakhiyaan ab kaliyaan
Haathon mein khilne wali hain
Tere mann ko jeevan ko
Nayi khushiyan milne wali hain
My friends and cousins danced in front of me as mehendi was being applied on my hands.
"Now lets right Abhishek's name here", Karishma chachi sounded excited.
She pressed the tube of mehendi and began to write the letter 'A' in the middle of my right palm. Just then a little girl came running and bumped into her. The letter 'A' changed into letter 'K'.
"Mishti....I've told you to look after the kids then why are they running?" Karishma chachi scolded Mishti.
"Kids can't be stopped maa. By the way, Mrs. Gupta was looking for you", Mishti informed her.
"Oh....I'm coming Naira", Karishma chachi said and walked away.
I looked at my mehendi. The letter 'K' was written in the middle. I smiled looking at that.
Kartik....
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KARTIK'S POV
I was walking towards my study that I received a "ting" on my phone. It was a WhatsApp notification from a new number.
"Hi...I'm Mishti", the message said.
"These are the proofs", she sent one more message and some videos.
I played the videos. My blood boiled seeing them. They were the videos of Abhishek torturing Naira. I closed the videos unable to see anymore.
"I'm coming Naira", I said determined.
PRECAP: Goenkas ki sena haazir ho....Attack!!