Whoever has their birthday today, I wish you a very happy birthday love. May you achieve everything you ever wished for and so much more than that.❣️

The alarm started going off. Taani blindly reached for it and turned it off even before opening her eyes and when she did, she found herself caged with a hand beneath her head and one around her waist. He was so close to her that she could feel his breath on her neck. The way her back was flushed against Yuvi's naked chest was giving her butterflies but the slight headache she still felt reminded her of what all happened yesterday.

'I wonder when he came back and the audacity he has to sleep beside me after leaving me for someone else!? Fuck him!' She angrily thought, finally removing his arm from around her and quickly moved away from. Yuvi who was dead tired and went to sleep barely an hour ago did not even stir at her movements.

Feeling parched, she filled a glass of water for herself. 'Kaha tha loyal rahunga mai! Yahi loyalty hai inki!? Mann kar raha hai ye paani inke muhh pe fek ke maaru!' (𝑯𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆'𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒚𝒂𝒍! 𝑰𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒚𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒚!? 𝑰'𝒎 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆!) She thought glaring at him.

But even after being so angry and disappointed at him, she could not deny the fact that he was looking so cute with his dishevelled hair and a slight frown on his forehead because of the sunlight hitting his face, peeking through the blinds.

"Mann to karta hai saare ke saare parde khol du! Jal ke raakh ho jaayein ye is dhoop mai!" (𝑰'𝒎 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒑 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒔𝒉 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒏𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕!) She murmured, angrily pouting at him but still went to properly close the blinds.

Although she was very angry at him and was sure she would make him pay for it, she still somewhere felt like she should give him a chance to explain himself. She might be taking it in a very wrong direction because he seemed very genuine when he had told her that he would be loyal with her.

'Whatever be the reason Mr. Singhania, just be ready to grovel!' With that thought, she hurried to get freshened up as it was her first day in her in-laws' house and she had to prepare her first meal for them.

She was still in her wedding attire so she got out of it and put it aside for dry cleaning and then worked on removing her makeup which was completely ruined at this point with black streaks of mascara running all over her face.

After that, she took a quick shower, did her skin care and wore a red coloured net saree. She did minimal makeup and decided to keep her hair open as they were still slightly wet.

Her eyes filled with unshed tears as she tied the nuptial thread (mangalsutra) around her neck and filled the vermillion (sindoor) on her forehead. She truly looked beautiful, mesmerizing even but was so sad and unhappy from inside and it was just the first day of her marriage. Snapping herself out of that upsetting haze, she sprayed some perfume on herself and went downstairs.

The whole family except the Singhania brothers were gathered in the drawing room, and they welcomed her with huge smiles on their faces, it somewhat uplifted her mood as well.

Taani went and touched everyone's feet in respect and everybody gave her their blessings, telling her to always stay happy and married.

Meenal walked towards her and said. "Meri gudiya, kitni sundar lag rahi hai." (𝑴𝒚 𝒅𝒐𝒍𝒍, 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒚.) She even took out some kohl out of her eyes and put it behind her ear. "Bhagwaan tujhe har buri nazar se bachaye." (𝑴𝒂𝒚 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒍 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔.) She said and kissed her forehead.

Her affectionate tone and such sweet words reminded her of her Amma. She would do the exact same thing and always showered her with love and treated her like her little girl just like this.

"Shukriya Dadi ma." (𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝑮𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒎𝒂.) Taani replied giving her a tight hug. Then she hugged Divya and Aadesh as well feeling like home after a long time.

"Beti ho meri, aur Yuvraj se bhi pehle tum aati ho, to kabhi bhi kuch bhi bolne mai hichkichana mat. Mai hu yahan, theek hai?" (𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒅𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒀𝒖𝒗𝒓𝒂𝒋 𝒂𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍, 𝒔𝒐 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌. 𝑰'𝒎 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒐𝒌𝒂𝒚?) Divya said affectionately kissing her on her forehead. The tears which Taani was trying to hold back, started to fall from her eyes as she heard her mother-in-law's words.

"Aree rote thodi hain beta, is ghar ki shaan ho tum." (𝑶𝒉 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒄𝒓𝒚 𝒎𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆.) Said Aadesh as he caressed her hair. Taani just nodded her head with a tearful smile.

Just then, Rishi entered, wearing a pair of joggers and a t-shirt looking all tired and dishevelled. He came and touched everyone's feet, including Taani's.

"Khush rahiye dewar ji!" (𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚, 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓-𝒊𝒏-𝒍𝒂𝒘.) She said patting him on his head. She furrowed her brows in concern. "Rishi tumhari tabiyat to theek hai?" (𝑨𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝑹𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒊?)

"Mat hi pucho bhabhi, kal ki raat jo guzri hai na...bata nahi sakta mai, itna zada thak gaya hu." (𝑫𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒔𝒌, 𝒚𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆, 𝑰'𝒎 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒘.) Replied Rishi, as he laid on the couch beside Meenal and kept his head on her lap, with his eyes closed. The mention of yesterday's night peeked her interest quite a bit, she wanted to know what exactly happened.

"Kya hua kal?" (𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒚𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒅𝒂𝒚?) Asked Aadesh as everyone made themselves comfortable on the couch.

"A very important project was about to come to a halt because a US based company suddenly withdrew." Mumbled Rishi giving a loud yawn. "Yuvraj bhaiya ne turant sabko bulaya aur situation sambhal li warna to wo deal haath se chali hi gayi thi. Subha 4 baje wapis aana ho paya hai. Agar itni tez bhook nahi lag rahi hoti to mai bhi so raha hota abhi." (𝑩𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒀𝒖𝒗𝒓𝒂𝒋 𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒎𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒍. 𝑾𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒂𝒕 4 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑰𝒇 𝑰 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏'𝒕 𝒔𝒐 𝒉𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒓𝒚 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍.)

'Ahhh so that's what happened!' Thought Taani. 'But how difficult was it to inform your wife who was waiting all night for you!?' She bitterly thought yet again, still very angry with him but glad for the fact that it wasn't how it seemed.

"You both weren't at home all night!?" Asked Divya in a bewildered tone. "And why the hell did Yuvraj go? He was supposed to be with Taani!" She yelled yet again.

"Why did no one inform me? I would have gone instead." Aadesh said while simultaneously trying to calm his wife down.

"Dad, you don't know anything about this project and it was truly an emergency or he wouldn't have gone. And I'm sure he must have informed bhabhi about it." Everyone looked at her for the confirmation but what was she supposed to say now?

"Taani kya usne tumko inform kiya tha jaane se pehle?" (𝑻𝒂𝒂𝒏𝒊 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈?) Asked Divya, looking very angry at her son.

"Umm...nahi maa. But I'm sure it must have been an emergency, that's why." (𝑼𝒎𝒎...𝒏𝒐 𝒎𝒐𝒎.) She mumbled. Although she wanted to seem like an understanding wife, she was feeling upset and emotional since yesterday so she couldn't do the best job of keeping her expressions in check, all those heart-wrenching feelings of last night hit her once again and at last a tear slid down her cheek.

Divya's eyes widened when she saw her crying and rushed to hug her tight to herself, all the while murmuring soothing words. "Chup ho ja mera bachcha ese rote nahi hain." (𝑪𝒂𝒍𝒎 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅, 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒄𝒓𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔.) She said wiping her tears. "Yuvi ki to mai khabar leti hu achche se! Aur tumne kisiko bataya kyu nahi kuch? Akele hi baithi rahi room mai! Mujhe pata hota to mai aa jati na tumhare paas." (𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒀𝒖𝒗𝒊 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇! 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕? 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒎 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆! 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕.)

"It's alright maa, hota hai." (𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒂, 𝒊𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒔.) Taani weakly replied.

"Bilkul nahi hota hai aur aage se kabhi hoga bhi nahi! Us badtameez ko to mai dekhti hu!" (𝑵𝒐 𝒊𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒆𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓. 𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒓𝒖𝒅𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇.) She said turning to walk towards their room but Taani clutched on to her hand, stopping her on the way.

"Maa let him sleep, he must be tired as well." She tried to calm Divya down.

"I'm so sorry bhabhi mujhe bilkul nahi pata tha ki esa kuch hai warna mai khud hi aapko bata deta." (𝑰'𝒎 𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓-𝒊𝒏-𝒍𝒂𝒘, 𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒐𝒓 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇.) Rishi said feeling extremely guilty. He had made himself promise not to make her upset and here she was, crying on the very first day.

"Ye teri nahi Yuvi ki galti hai, shaadi uski hui hai aur ab zimmedari bhi wahi lega!" (𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒀𝒖𝒗𝒊'𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒖𝒍𝒕. 𝑯𝒆'𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒆'𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒕.) Said Meenal, feeling way too disappointed at Yuvi.

Taani stayed quite not knowing how to respond. "Aap sab baithiye mai sabke liye halwa bana kar laati hu." (𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒊𝒕, 𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒖𝒔.) Meenal nodded her head in acknowledgment.

"Mai kuch help karu?" (𝑴𝒂𝒚 𝑰 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈?) Rishi asked getting up to follow after her.

"Nahi Rishi it's okay, tum thak gaye hoge aaram karo." (𝑵𝒐 𝑹𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒊 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅.) But he still followed after her saying. "Then I'll just keep you company bhabhi jaan." Taani gave him a smile, her mood brightening up once again.

As soon as Taani and Rishi walked away, Divya got up as well, making her way towards their room. "Divya let it be now." Aadesh called after her, asking her to come back.

"Let it be, my foot!" She murmured opening the door of their room with a bang which Yuvi slept through as well. She poured some chilled water in a glass and dumped it all over his face making him abruptly wake up with a loud gasp.

"What the fuck!?" He yelled.

"Aawaz neeche!" (𝑻𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏!) She yelled right back at him. He scrunched his face trying to put a name to the blurry face in front of his eyes.

"Maa aap?" (𝑴𝒐𝒎 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖?) He asked while rubbing his eyes to see clearly.

"Haan mai!" (𝒀𝒆𝒔, 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒎𝒆.) She clutched painfully on his ear and made him sit upright.

"Oww oww maa please leave me! What the hell are you doing!?" He yelled trying to pry her hand away from his ear.

"Kahan the kal poori raat?" (𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕?) She asked instead and he looked up at her with wide eyes, filled with panic.

"Bata raha hu na pehle mera kaan to chhor do please." (𝑰'𝒎 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒈𝒐 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕.) He said with literal tears in his eyes. She let go of his ear and slightly stepped back as well.

"Bolo" (𝑺𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌)

"It was urgent maa I swear I had to go or I would have never left like that, you know me!" He desperately replied.

"Aur jaane ke pehle Taani ko ye kon batayega? Tumhara bhoot!?" (𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎 𝑻𝒂𝒂𝒏𝒊 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈? 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒈𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒕!?) She asked angrily narrowing her eyes at him.

"I had thought of informing her after reaching there maa but it totally slipped my mind, what else do you expect me to do!? I never had to inform anyone about anything, it would take some time for me to get used to it as well." Yes he was disappointed and heartbroken to see her cry but it was also true that he genuinely didn't mean for it to happen.

"You made her cry on the very first day Yuvi! You know how shameful and upsetting that is? I promised her parents to always keep her happy and she was crying in my arms not even ten minutes ago!" Yuvi closed his eyes and gave a long sigh, face palming in regret.

"Fuck!" He murmured

"And you know the worst thing? She didn't even tell us anything about it, if it weren't for Rishi, we wouldn't even know anything ever happened, she still defended you." She continued to bury the knife deeper in his chest with her heart breaking words. "Make it right Yuvi." With that she walked out of there, leaving him surrounded by his own guilt.

"What the hell did you do fucker!?" He murmured hitting his own head and decided to get freshened up and go downstairs to check up on his wife.

In the kitchen -

Taani happily met the head cook (a woman named Asha, who must be in her early forties and who had been cooking for them for the past ten years or so) and met some of the other workers as well, who all treated her lovingly and addressed her as 'bahurani'.

Rishi sat upon a barstool in front of the counter where Taani was roasting the semolina. "Asha taai, elaichi, shakkar or mewa kahan rakha hai?" (𝑨𝒔𝒉𝒂 𝒕𝒂𝒂𝒊, 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒈𝒂𝒓, 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒔?) Taani asked when the semolina was roasted enough.

Asha taai came and gave her the things she needed, offering her help yet again which Taani kindly refused. "To bhabhi... matlab aaj hum bhaiya se gussa rehne wale hain?" (𝑺𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓-𝒊𝒏-𝒍𝒂𝒘... 𝑫𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒓𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒀𝒖𝒗𝒊 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚?) Rishi asked, casually resting his chin on his palm while chewing on the dry fruits.

"Gussa!? Mera bas chale to dobara muhh na lagau mai tumhare bhaiya ko!" (𝑨𝒏𝒈𝒓𝒚!? 𝑰𝒇 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏!) She grumpily mumbled to which Rishi gave a cute giggle, imagining his brother groveling at her feet for forgiveness.

"Aapka bas chalta hai bhabhi, bohot zada chalta hai. To decide ho gaya fir, aaj hum bhaiya se koi baat nahi karenge!" (𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓-𝒊𝒏-𝒍𝒂𝒘, 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏, 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚.) He said, raising his palm for a high-five which she happily complied.

"Wese khushbu to bohot achchi aa rahi hai bhabhi jaan." (𝑨𝒏𝒚𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔, 𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒆, 𝒎𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓-𝒊𝒏-𝒍𝒂𝒘!) He leaned forward to take a whiff of the sweet smell once again.

"Ab kha kar batiyega bana kesa hai. Wese koi gadbad honi to nahi chahiye." (𝑵𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔. 𝑨𝒍𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒕.) She first took out some halwa in a bowl as an offering to the deities and then gave him some to taste but he opened his mouth instead, gesturing for her to feed him herself. She playfully flicked him on the head before offering him a spoon full of halwa.

"Oh my God bhabhi! It's so tasty and buttery!" He said snatching the bowl from her hands.

"Pakka achcha bana hai na? Jhooti tareef to nahi kar rahe ho!?" (𝑨𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆!? 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏'𝒕 𝒍𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖?) She asked narrowing her eyes at him in suspicion.

"Aree achcha nahi bohot zada achcha bana hai! Yakeen nahi to baaki sab se pooch lo!" (𝑶𝒉 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒚, 𝒊𝒏 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒚. 𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒎𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒔𝒌 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆.) He replied, more focused on eating the sweet dish.

She transferred the halwa in a large bowl and walked out in the dinning room where everyone was waiting for them, Rishi followed after her, still eating the halwa.

"Ye lo in maharaj ko to pehle hi bhog lag gaya! Isiliye gaye the kya help karwane uski?" (𝑺𝒆𝒆 𝒉𝒆'𝒔 𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚!  𝑰𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒆𝒓?) Meenal gave him a taunt.

"Just have it dadi, it's so worth it!" He replied, licking his spoon.

"Aree fir hume bhi chakhaya jaaye bhai!" (𝑶𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍.) Aadesh eagerly replied and Taani started to serve everyone.

"Haan aapko to sabse pehle chakhna hota hai meetha, diabetes hai iska koi khayal hai ya nahi?" (𝑶𝒇 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆, 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒔!?) Divya said giving him a look.

Taani looked up at him in concern. "Papa aapko diabetes hai? Mujhe kisi ne bataya kyu nahi? Mai suger free halwa bana deti." (𝑫𝒂𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒔? 𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒏𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕? 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒂 𝒔𝒖𝒈𝒂𝒓 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒉.)

Aadesh just waved his hand without a concern and slid a bowl of halwa in front of him, already digging in ahead of everyone. "Aree beta tum chinta mat karo I'm very fit, itne se halwe se mujhe kuch nahi hoga- Ohh woww! Ye to sach mai bohot badhiya bana hai!" (𝑶𝒉 𝒎𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝑰'𝒎 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒇𝒊𝒕, 𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒂𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉- 𝑶𝒉 𝒘𝒐𝒘𝒘 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒚!) He said closing his eyes in delight.

Divya and Meenal just shook their heads at him. Then they tasted it as well and showered her with a lot of praises. "Beta aaj se daily sweet dish banane ki zimmedari tumhari!" (𝑴𝒚 𝒅𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒏𝒐𝒘!) Said Aadesh, licking his spoon clean.

"Bilkul zarurat nahi hai iski, tum to 1 mahine tak dekh bhi mat lena meethe ki taraf!" (𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍, 𝑰'𝒎 𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒅𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒂 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒉 𝒏𝒐𝒘!) Divya narrowed her eyes at him, daring him to say otherwise, he just gave a pout and nodded his head at his wife's order.

Taani smiled at their playful interaction wishing for her life to be a fraction of what they had.

Aadesh called Taani to his side and placed a thick wad of cash in her hand. Her eyes widened and she looked up at him in pure shock. "Papa ye kyu...?" (𝑫𝒂𝒅, 𝒘𝒉𝒚..?)

"Rakh lo, tumhari pehli rasoi ka shagun hai." (𝑲𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒊𝒕, 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆.) He smiled lovingly at her.

"But it's too much..." She tried to give it back to him but he wouldn't have it.

"You deserve so much more than this beta." He said and gave her his blessings when she bent to touch his feet.

Just then Yuvi walked downstairs and stood at the bottom stair for a solid five minutes, mesmerized by the beauty of his wife in a saree. 'Hey bhagwaan please aaj rok lena, is bala ki khoobsurati se behka mat dena warna inke gusse se to aaj thappad padna pakka hai!' (𝑶𝒉 𝑮𝒐𝒅, 𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚, 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒚 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒎𝒆, 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒓!) He silently prayed and made his way over there. "Good morning." He wished and everyone turned to glare at him and one by one started giving excuses to walk out of there.

"Halwa bohot badhiya bana tha beta, khush raho." (𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒚 𝒎𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅, 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚.) Saying that Meenal got up from her seat and said that she was feeling tired and would like to rest in her room while Divya got up to help her and walked out hand in hand alongside her totally ignoring her son.

Aadesh filled his bowl with some more halwa and said that he'd have it in his room. Rishi also tried to walk away when Yuvi clutched on to his hand. "Aur tu kahan chala?" (𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈?)

"Meri pyaari bhabhi ka masoom sa dil todne wale se bohot dur!" (𝑨𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓-𝒊𝒏-𝒍𝒂𝒘'𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕!) He replied jerking his hand away and walked out of there with a flick of his head. Yuvi just rolled his eyes at his dramatics then finally turned to look at his darling wife who to no one's surprise was ignoring him as well.

He took a seat at the dinning table hoping to catch her attention when she started picking up the leftover dishes.

Hello guys, I hope you all are doing well. Show some love by voting and commenting✨

Shukriya❣️

-Your Taani