Kavya and her cousins sat in front of Yuvraj, with the box of his shoes in her hands. "Jija ji, ab to jeb khaali karna hi padega, warna hum didi ko nahi le jaane denge." (𝑩𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓-𝒊𝒏-𝒍𝒂𝒘, 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒑𝒐𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚.) She said making everyone laugh.

Yuvraj smirked looking at Taani sitting beside him. "Inhe to chhor kar jaane se rahe, ab aap hi bataiye saali sahiba, kitne rupaye chahiye hain aapko?" (𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅, 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓-𝒊𝒏-𝒍𝒂𝒘, 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒚 𝒅𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕?)

Kavya excitedly looked at Taani, who just smiled and encouraged her to speak. "Pure 5 lakh!" (5 𝒍𝒂𝒌𝒉𝒔!) Yuvraj raised his eyebrows in surprise and was about to comment on it when Taani turned to give him a puppy look, pleading with her eyes.

He sighed in helplessness. 'Ab itne cute se chehre ko kese mana kiya jaaye?' (𝑵𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂 𝒄𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆?)

"Chalo pure 5 lakh aapke naam kiye." (𝑨𝒍𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏, 𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 5 𝒍𝒂𝒌𝒉𝒔.) He was about to sign the cheque when Rishi held his hand. Yuvraj looked up at him in confusion.

"Bhabhi jaan ke ishaaron se pighal kar inhe paise de to rahe ho bhaiya, inse puchho to sahi inke paas joote hain bhi ki nahi." (𝑩𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓-𝒊𝒏-𝒍𝒂𝒘'𝒔 𝒈𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒔𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒊𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒓 𝒏𝒐𝒕?) Rishi commented with a smirk.

Taani's cheeks burned red in embarrassment as everyone laughed at them.

Kavya narrowed her eyes at Rishi. "Of course we have his shoes." She said opening the box but loudly gasped the very next moment because instead of shoes, the box was filled with sweets and there was a note which said 'Joote na sahi, mithaayi se hi kaam chala lo.' (𝑰𝒇 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒅𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚.)

She looked up at Rishi in anger, who was laughing along with Karan and his friends. "You!!" She shouted, angrily pointing her finger at him.

"Ji humne kya kiya?" (𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝑰 𝒅𝒐?) He said widening his eyes in fake innocence.

"Joote kahan hain?" (𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒆𝒔?) She asked narrowing her eyes.

Rishi shrugged his shoulder in nonchalance. "Jahan aapne rakhein ho." (𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒌𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎.)

They both started arguing, blaming each other. Rajveer and Vanika tried to calm their daughter down while Divya told Rishi to return the shoes.

Everyone was enjoying their banter when Kiki wobbled behind Rishi and his friends and pushed the actual box of his shoes forward. "Bua! Bua!" She shouted opening the lid of the box.

Kavya's eyes widened and she ran towards the shoes and so did Rishi, all the while cursing his friends for not being able to take care of a shoe box. They both stopped at either side of the box at the same time and Kavya kept a hand on his chest to stop him from moving forward, that was enough to make him freeze and accelerate his heartbeats. He was still lost looking at her hand on his chest when she bent and took the shoes out and shouted "Got it!"

He snapped back to reality and looked at her with a smile as she danced all around with the shoes in her hands. "Bas kar de bhai bohot ghoor liya." (𝑬𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓.) Karan said bumping his shoulder with Rishi.

He rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment and looked back at the newly wed couple and found that Yuvraj was looking at him with a smirk of his own. "Badi aasani se de diye joote aapne dewar ji." (𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒚, 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓-𝒊𝒏-𝒍𝒂𝒘.) Taani gave him a taunt.

"Ab kya karein bhabhi, apne hi dil se to nahi lad sakte na." (𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏'𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒚 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕, 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝑰?) Kavya blushed at his comment but decided to ignore it and placed the shoes near Yuvraj's feet.

"Aapke joote jija ji, ab humare paise dijiye." (𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓-𝒊𝒏-𝒍𝒂𝒘, 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒚 𝒏𝒐𝒘.) She extended her hand towards him.

"De dijiye bhaiya" (𝑮𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓.) Rishi said then slowly muttered. "Ek din to sab ghar hi aana hai." (𝑶𝒏𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚, 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚.) Kavya cleared her throat and wiggled her fingers in front of Yuvraj who at last handed her the cheque.

***

All the wedding shenanigans were done and now it was time to say goodbyes. Taani looked at her house one last time, all her childhood memories flashing in her mind one after the other. She walked up to the photo of her grandpa and stood transfixed in front of it.

"Baba! Rukiye hum bhi a rahe hain!" (𝑮𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒑𝒂 𝒘𝒂𝒊𝒕! 𝑰'𝒎 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈.) A young six year old Taani shouted running after her grandpa. He turned around with a huge smile and picked her up as she literally jumped in his arms.

"Meri gudiya rani, ese bhaagte nahi hain aap gir gayi to?" (𝑴𝒚 𝒅𝒐𝒍𝒍, 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒓𝒖𝒏 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕, 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍?) He replied lightly tickling her belly.

"Baba nahiii!" (𝑮𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒑𝒂 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕!!!) She said laughing loudly trying to jump back down from his arms.

He walked out in the garden with her safely tucked in his arms. He loved her with all his heart. She was his princess. He was a strict and ruthless businessman and everyone was feared by him, but not this bubbly little girl, oh no not her, she had him wrapped around her little finger.

"Baba hume bhi shaadi karni hai." (𝑮𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒑𝒂 𝑰 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅.) She said out of nowhere. He looked at her with slight surprise.

"Achcha? Aur ye khayal achanak se kyu aya meri gudiya ko?" (𝑶𝒉? 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒚 𝒅𝒐𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒖𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅?) He made her sit on the swing outside in the garden and then settled beside her wrapping an arm around her for safety.

"Hume bhi ek pati chahiye, jo humara khayal rakhe, jese aap Amma ka rakhte ho, jese papa mummy ka rakhte hain." (𝑰 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒂 𝒉𝒖𝒔𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒅. 𝑾𝒉𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒆, 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒎𝒂, 𝒅𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒐𝒎.) Taani looked up at him with wide innocent eyes.

Grandpa flicked her nose saying. "Aur ye kisne kaha tumse ki sirf pati hi khayal rakh sakta hai tumhara?" (𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒖𝒔𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖?)

"Humne mummy se pucha ki papa unka itna dhyan kyu rakhte hain to unhone kaha ki wo unke pati hain isliye. Hum bhi ek pati laenge, jo humara bohot khayal rakhega, hume hasaega, apne haath se khilaega aur hume har jagah ghumaega." (𝑰 𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒎 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒅𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒖𝒔𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒅. 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒉𝒖𝒔𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒆, 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉, 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆.) Her grandpa roared with laughter.

He looked down at her innocent face with a huge smile and said. "Theek hai hum khud aapke liye esa pati laenge jo aapki duniya ki saari khushiyan dega, aapki aankhon mai kabhi ek bhi aansu nahi aane dega. Aur agar hum tab tak na reh paaye aapke saath to aap khud ese insaan ko chunna jo aapko bohot khush rakhe, samjhi?" (𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝑰 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂 𝒉𝒖𝒔𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒇 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏'𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚, 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒅?)

Taani giggled and said "Aap kyu nahi rahenge baba? Aapko kahin jana hai kya? Hum aapko kahin nahi jaane denge, aap humesha humare sath hi rahenge." (𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚, 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒑𝒂? 𝑫𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒐 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆? 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒃𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒆.) Her grandpa who was suffering from cancer at the time, knew he didn't have a lot of time now and would succumb to his death at any moment.

His eyes watered as he gave a kiss on her forehead before picking her up again to go back inside. "Ek na ek din to sabko jana hota hai meri gudiya rani, ye to duniya ka dastoor hai. Par tum bilkul chinta mat karo, hum humesha yahan zinda rahenge." (𝑶𝒏𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒐 𝒎𝒚 𝒅𝒐𝒍𝒍, 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒚, 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆.) He said patting her chest where her heart should be.

"Hume pata hai koi hume yaad kare na kare aap hume kabhi nahi bhulaengi." (𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒏𝒐𝒕, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒆.) He said wiping a few tears from his eyes.

Taani pouted angrily at his words, raising her hand to wipe his tears herself. "Nahi! Humne kaha na aap kahin nahi jaegnge, matlab kahin nahi jaenge! Baat khatam!" (𝑵𝒐! 𝑰𝒇 𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆! 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓.)

"Achcha baba hum kahin nahi ja rahe, ab khush?" (𝑶𝒌𝒂𝒚 𝑰'𝒎 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚?) He once again tickled her and she roared with laughter...

Tears were streaming down her face as she remembered her grandpa's words. Who would have thought he would succumb to his death just a year later.

She remembered each and everything related to him in detail, how he used to keep candies below his pillow and would give her some every time he saw her and when he wasn't at home then she would go and steal all of the candies and hide them below her pillow instead.

"You were supposed to find someone who'd make me the happiest, baba. What will I do now?" She whispered caressing his photo. She remembered each and every word ever said by her grandpa. 'He would have loved to see me as a bride.' She thought.

Aveer who came looking for his sister, saw her standing in front of their grandpa's photo, who was known to be a very powerful man in the business world in his time.

He patiently waited and gave her a moment of privacy before making his way towards her. Just as she realised someone was coming, she hurriedly tried to wipe her eyes but he stopped her from making a mess of her face and turned her towards himself.

She looked up with tearful eyes and as soon as she saw her brother's face, more tears started to fall down. "Aree aree ab chup bhi ho jao warna mai bhi rone lagunga, Taani. Tum bolo to mai abhi bhi ye shaadi khatam karwane ke liye ready hu, kal hi divorce paper le aunga mai." (𝑶𝒌𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉, 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒎 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆 𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒄𝒓𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍. 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒈𝒆, 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒕𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇.) Taani gave a tearful laugh and shook her head at her brother and his obsession with her cancelling this wedding.

"Esa nahi ho sakta hai bhaiya aur hum esa kuch karna chahte bhi nhi hain." (𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒏'𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔.) Taani assured him, placing her hand on his to comfort him. Avi slightly pouted at her. Oh how he wished to keep his sister with him forever.

"Maine kaha tha koi ghar jamai dhud lete hain, par meri sunta hi kon hai." (𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒔𝒐𝒏-𝒊𝒏-𝒍𝒂𝒘 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆?) He said wiping the last of her tears and she laughed yet again.

"I'm not going far bhaiya, I'll come back once in a while."

"You're moving out of this house and that is far enough already." His brave facade cracked as a tear slid down his cheek, and suddenly he was clutching her to himself sobbing his heart out.

Taani's eyes filled with more tears as she tried to console her brother. The one who never cried in front of anyone was sobbing in his sister's arms. They both wiped their tears and he gave a kiss on her forehead. "Come on it's time to bid farewell." Taani lowered her head in sadness and walked out with Avi.

Outside, while everyone was waiting for them, Yuvi, Rishi and Karan were also standing at the entrance with a row of cars parked behind them for their departure. "Itna time kyu lag raha hai inhe?" (𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈?) Muttered Yuvi impatiently.

"Bhai socho agar bhabhi ne jaane se mana kar diya to? Aveer bhaiya to ye shaadi ese hi tudwa denge." (𝑩𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒊𝒇 𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓-𝒊𝒏-𝒍𝒂𝒘 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒐? 𝑩𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝑨𝒗𝒆𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔.) Rishi said snapping his fingers in front of his face.

Yuvraj turned to glare at him, he was already panicked enough he didn't want this dumbass to panic him even more. "Saale muhh band kar le apna, panauti kahi ka." (𝑺𝒉𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒐𝒏.)

"Baat galat nahi hai wese, ye to hum sab hi jaante hain ki Aveer bhaiya is shaadi se khush nahi the." (𝑯𝒆'𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒘𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉, 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝑨𝒗𝒆𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒈𝒆.) Said Karan, high-fiving Rishi as Yuvraj turned to glare at him instead.

"Apni dulhan to mai leke hi jaunga!" (𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒆.) He murmured.

Just then Aveer and Taani came out together. Aveer had an arm around her shoulders, and it was quite clear that he had been crying as well.

Sumitra gave her a tight hug and said. "Shayad shaadi tumne humare khaatir ki ho, par hum dil se chahte hain ki tumhe duniya ki har khushi naseeb ho wahan par." (𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆.) She kissed her forehead one last time.

Now it was Siya and Ranveer's turn to bid farewell to their daughter. Siya clutched her daughter tight to herself and sobbed in her arms. "Pata nahi mai kese rahungi tere bina. Par kya karu ladki ki maa hu na, aadat to daalni hi hogi." (𝑰'𝒗𝒆 𝒏𝒐 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒂 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝑰 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒐? 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒍, 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒕.) Taani cried as she hugged her mother. Then she wiped her tears and told her to stay happy. Ranveer kissed her forehead and gave her his blessings as well.

She then hugged her uncle who loved her just as much as her own father. "Humesha khush rehna beta, aur yaad rakhna Yuvraj kabhi bhi tumhara dil todne ki galti kare to mai hu uska hisaab barabar karne ke liye." (𝑨𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒃𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚, 𝒎𝒚 𝒅𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒇 𝒀𝒖𝒗𝒓𝒂𝒋 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕, 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒆.) Warned Rajveer narrowing his eyes at Yuvraj, who gulped in nervousness as he didn't want to be rude to her uncle.

"Hum aapko shikayat ka koi mauka nahi denge uncle." (𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏, 𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒆.) Yuvraj dutifully said, and bent to touch his feet.

Rishi and Karan simultaneously walked forward and stood on either side of Taani. "Don't worry uncle, agar kabhi dhoke se bhi bhaiya ne esi galti ki to uska hisaab lene ke liye sabse aage unke dewar honge." (𝑫𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒆, 𝒊𝒇 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒚 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔-𝒊𝒏-𝒍𝒂𝒘 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒕.) Yuvraj smiled proudly at this. He loved that his brother and his best friend were so protective of her.

On seeing that Taani was crying, Kiki started crying as well, squirming in her father's arms, trying to go to Taani instead. More tears fell from Taani's eyes as she heard her niece's cries. She walked towards her and took her in her arms.

Kiki wiped Taani's tears, then gave her a kiss on her cheek. "Bua! Ro mat, chup ho jao." (𝑨𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒚, 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒄𝒓𝒚, 𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒄𝒓𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈.) She said making Taani sob even harder as she clutched her small self to herself.

Yuvraj came and tried to console her as well but that made Kiki angry as she thought he was making her cry. "Dur! Dur!" (𝑴𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚!) She shouted with a cute little angry expression on her face. Dhriti gently scolded her daughter not to talk to elders like that.

"He isn't making me cry Kiki." Taani said kissing her cheek one last time before handing her over to Dhriti.

"I will miss you Di." Said Kavya, hugging her sister tightly.

"I will miss you too chhipkali." Taani replied.

"Ise bhi saath le chalo fir." (𝑻𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒖𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏.) Rishi commented and giggled nervously as Aveer turned to glare at him.

Taani laughed, rolling her eyes and said "Shut up Rishi." Her laugh made the tense environment somewhat lighter.

Yuvraj didn't like the tears in his wife's eyes and wanted to see her laugh once again so he planned a little something for her and told Rishi and Karan about it as well, who excitedly nodded their head.

Yuvraj went and drove his car forward parking directly in front of Taani but as she made a move to walk towards the passenger seat, a song suddenly started blaring from it...

Aaja meri gaadi mein baith jaa

Aaja meri gaadi mein baith jaa...

Everyone started laughing as Yuvraj made his way out of the car and opened the passenger door for her.

"After you my queen." He said bowing his head in front of her.

"Come on bhabhi!" Shouted Rishi, cheering for the newly weds.

Taani laughed loudly at this random gesture of Yuvi, all the sorrows forgotten for the time being, she happily sat inside the car and waved at her family, who even with tears in their eyes bid her farewell with huge smiles on their faces. And just like that she was off to start a new phase of her life.

Hello there guys, hope you all are doing well and thank you for showering so much love on this book. I hope you keep doing this, I love reading and replying to all your comments!

One last thing, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to whosoever's birthday it is today. I hope you have a long and prospering life ahead✨

Shukriya❣️

-Your Taani