Chapter 1
The ride to Thakur Mansion was tense. Dev and Tara sat in the backseat, silent, while the grandparents were in a different car, behind theirs. Both looked outside the window, their bodies turned away from one another. While Dev was still like a statue, Tara only tapped her nail against her phone screen.
Dev knew if he opened his mouth, he would only receive a death glare from his wife. And they had already fought enough for the day, especially when they were on their way for something significant.
"For the record, I am still not on board with what you are doing," Tara said.
"I hear you." Dev nodded. "But it has to be done."
Frustrated, Tara turned to look over at him. "Not like this!"
"There is no other way."
"Yes there is," Tara said and reached over to grab Dev's hand. "There is the right way. The only way which will protect the peace of this family."
Dev shook his head. He understood where Tara was coming from. He knew exactly why she was worried. And she was right. What he was about to do, was completely and utterly wrong. The chaos that would ensue after this, would take a while to manage. And he was ready to do it. "In our world, chaos is the only way to peace."
Tara sighed.
This time, Dev turned to look over at her. "Will you be there while I sort the mess out?" He knew the answer to that question, but hearing it from her had always given him the strength to charge into the battle.
Tara squeezed the hand she was holding. "I will never not be there. If there is anything in this world you can count on, it's that I will always be by your side in every mess."
Dev smirked. "While saying 'I told you so'?"
Tara smiled, and said, "While saying 'I told you so'!"
Dev pulled her to him, and she slid closer. Tucking her under his arm, he placed his head on hers, and whispered, "I know that this is not the right way, Tara, but I know that this is the only way we can get him to do it."
"Well, he does take after his father in being stubborn," Tara said.
That made him smile.
Aryan wasn't sure why he had to have dinner with the Thakurs, especially, after, what happened the last time they had dinner together. But he knew something was up.
His father had set up this dinner for a reason, and he just knew that he had to be careful. Especially because keeping this dinner over at the Thakur Mansion, meant that the Thakur's were somehow involved in what his father was planning. It meant that Kethaki would be physically around, and not just be locked up inside the big corner of his mind, which he opened on very special occasions.
Kethaki and Aryan didn't belong in the same room, was a fact, that everyone knew. And yet, their families kept forcing them to be in close vicinity of each other. But he knew he didn't have a choice, so, he parked his car in the garage and stepped out.
His family's cars were parked and he could see the drivers, sitting there, in their respective seats. The backseat was empty, which meant they were inside. So, he walked out and made his way over to the stairs that led to the entrance of Thakur Mansion.
He knew prayers were as meaningless as begging for mercy, and yet, before he rang the bell, he sent a quick prayer to whoever was willing to listen to someone like him, and said, "Just give me enough patience to deal with whatever is about to happen today," and rang the bell, then continued, "And if that's too much, then at least let it fuck her up, as much as it would, me!"
Inside, Kethaki was happy to meet the Rathores, especially Tara and Vedika. She had always liked the women and admired their strength. She was also in awe of the relationship Tara had with Dev. The couples around her had shown that love could endure anything, including its worst enemy--indifference, and its twin--hatred.
Being around this couple was easy. They reinforced her ideology, that whatever their parents did to the outside world, was to protect the ones, who were a part of their world. She could also see it when her mother protected her father when he would come home after burning the world down to the ground, and her mother would sweep away the ashes, hiding every piece of evidence.
Of course, the world didn't know that. The world didn't know anything. And it was her job to ensure that, being her family's lawyer and all.
"So, how is your Om's new bride adjusting?" Meera, Kethaki's grandmother, sat with Sharda and Dhananjay, Aryan's grandparents, and opposite Kethaki asked, Vedika, who sat beside Kethaki.
"Akanksha didn't have to adjust, Aunty ji," Vedika started. "They had been together for years before getting married. She knows our place, inside-out!"
Meera nodded. "Did the post-wedding rituals take place at your home, or the one your son and Akanksha will move into next month?"
"Dev bhai," she said and pointed to her brother who sat in the adjacent sofa with Tara, and continued, "and I wanted the rituals to take place in their new home, but it's still being renovated, so we did it at our place. They are staying with us, for now," Vedika said.
"So you should have brought them along with you!" Kethaki said. Vedika, while drinking her tea, shook her head. But before she could start, Jaya interrupted, while coming out of the kitchen.
"They are newlyweds, Kethaki. They need to be given a formal invite before they can be invited over for dinner," she said and sat beside her daughter. "And besides, let them spend some time away from family."
She nodded.
"I still can't believe that Vardhan didn't show up to his son's wedding," Vinayak started, and Vedika froze upon hearing her husband's name. "He sent Shivanya to her brother's wedding, but didn't show up himself."
"Papa," Viraj said, who entered the living room from his study, and continued, "Why are you bringing that topic up?"
"Veer beta, people were talking all night!" Vinayak said.
"The wedding is over, Akanksha is home and Shivanya is back with her father," Viraj said, "so, what's the point in bringing this topic up now?"
"Okay. I won't open my mouth in my home again," Vinayak said to Viraj, then turned to Vedika, and said, "Sorry beta," while folding his hands in front of her.
His manipulation tactics didn't go unnoticed by everyone in the room, even by Adhrit and Arti, Viraj's younger brother and his wife, who were walking down the stairs, that led to the duplex floor.
But Vedika, being the softhearted woman she was, said, "No no, uncle. Please don't apologize."
"No beta, I should know when to speak, and when to keep my mouth shut," Vinayak said.
Before anyone else in the room could speak, and every single one opened their mouths, it was Meera who spoke. "Hanji," the old woman, who never spoke her husband's name, stared at him.
Vinayak turned to look away but didn't say anything.
Shivansh walked out of his room, which was closer to the main door, and sensing the tense atmosphere, paused. It was at that moment, that the doorbell rang.
Shivansh moved to open the door, but Viraj stopped him. "Not you, Shiv," he said and turned to look at his daughter, and said, "Open the door, Kethu beta."
She blinked, then pointed at herself, and asked, "Me?"
Viraj nodded.
Her father asking her to do anything, let alone open the door, was a little unsettling. They had very limited staff inside the house, and guards constantly patrolled the mansion grounds, so, they were never under the threat of their enemy showing up at their door.
So, Kethaki, got up, to open the door. The entire room was silent and just watched Kethaki make her way to the door. The way they watched her, unsettled her even more.
That should have been her first clue. Because when she opened the door, she didn't have second thoughts, didn't take her another second or even any extra effort; it was as though, her body was on autopilot, that the minute she opened the door, came face to face with Aryan, she banged the door close on his face.
It was interesting to Viraj, just how much she reacted to Aryan. The doorbell rang again, and Shivansh, moved, confused and a little delirious with what just happened. He opened the door, and when he saw who was at the door, he rubbed his temples, and let Aryan in.
Everybody else, other than the three kids in the house knew what was going to happen today. And other than Vinayak, Sharda, Dev and Viraj, nobody was on board with it. They hated the idea so much, that, they almost didn't come for dinner.
Adhrit and Arti gave up, trying to convince him to not go ahead with it, yesterday. Meera hadn't talked to him since he disclosed the news to them, and Jaya, agreed to accept his decision, only if Kethaki gave them consent, wholeheartedly.
Kethaki walked back over to her seat, while Shivansh and Aryan walked behind her, Shivansh, being the smartest of all his cousins, sat Aryan farthest away from Kethaki, ensuring that they weren't facing each other.
"That was rude," Viraj told Kethaki. She just looked down at her nails.
"It's alright, Uncle," Aryan said. "Nothing I am not used to, already."
"Dinner is ready, Ma'am," one of their domestic help exited the dining room and told Jaya.
"Then let's eat," Jaya said.
"Hopefully there are fewer broken plates this time," Arti commented, while the dinner was being served.
Kethaki paused in the middle of texting Maithili about the disaster that was already this dinner. Aryan, who was filling his glass of water, stilled and managed not to spill water on the dining table. Kethaki sat on one extreme of the room, away from the door, while Aryan sat on the other, closer to it.
"And hopefully, none of us storms out in the middle," Vedika said and clinked her glass of water with Arti's.
The adults chuckled.
"I highly doubt that," Adhrit said, in his wife's ear. "I don't understand why Veer bhai is doing this."
"Bhai is just scared, as a father. Everything he is doing, he is doing it because he is so desperate," Arti replied.
"I mean, knowing our Kethu, I can understand what he is doing. Only God and you know, how desperately I want to bring our daughter back and keep her as far away from her useless husband as much as possible." Adhrit's words were said with an eerie calm. And Arti knew just how dangerous that was.
"Kethu has shut herself off from the world. To the point that she just doesn't care about anyone else, other than those who live in this house and Maithili," Arti said, eyeing Aryan and Kethaki. How they are ignoring each other and just how much effort it took them to do so. "I mean, Veer bhai was right. She reacts to Aryan. He affects her."
Adhrit knew that. The once dramatic Kethu, who is now just a shell of who she used to be, reacts to Aryan with an intensity that reminds him of her past self. He understood his brother's plight as a father, but he also knew, that whatever he was about to do, Kethaki would react poorly, and in the battle of a desperate father and a headstrong daughter, who knew who would emerge victorious?
"That much is true. But what about after Bhai's announcement? How will he convince her?" Adhrit asked and looked at his sister-in-law. "I mean, Jaya Bhabhi would die before she marries her daughter to someone who she doesn't want to be with. She would even fight Bhai for it."
"Honestly? I think Bhabhi agrees with what Bhai is doing. She just wants her daughter to make up her mind and think carefully before she says no. We all know, how many eligible men Kethu has rejected," Arti said.
"Who could have known that the little girl who dreamt of finding her Prince Charming, would turn out like this?" Adhrit said and looked at his niece. The happy little girl who she used to be, was nowhere to be seen.
"Who knew that the father who was scared that his daughter's obsession with love, marriage and finding her Prince Charming, would steal her away from him, would be so desperately trying to get her married?" Arti said. She thought of how different Kethaki was when she first came to this home.
"Before we start," Viraj said and everyone looked over at him. "I have some news," he said, and corrected, "Actually, Dev and I have some news." He looked over at Dev and gestured at him to speak.
"I don't like to talk in riddles, so I will get straight to the point," Dev said and looked at his son. "I want you to get married."
Aryan, who was looking at his father, straightened. "We will talk about this when we get home. Why are--"
"No, son. We will talk now. Because I want you to get married to Kethaki."
The spoon in Kethaki's hand dropped with a loud clank. That brought Dev's attention over to her, while Aryan didn't dare to look at her. She looked right back at Dev, with her jaw dropped.
"I think it is a brilliant idea, and now, we would like you two, to think it over," Viraj said, and this time, Kethaki slowly turned to look at her father.
Her brain had shut down, and she had no thoughts, whatsoever. All she could do was to look at her father and fathom what they had just said. She thought she had heard the word 'married' being spoken, but that couldn't have been it!
She also couldn't work her throat to say something, anything. It was as though, her body had detached itself from her mind and all she could do was sit there and listen to what was being said.
"Papa?" Shivansh said. She could detect confusion and a slight warning in his voice, but she didn't look at him. She just stared at her father.
"It's done, Shiv. She is getting married," Viraj told his son, and then looked at Kethaki and said, "To Aryan."
That snapped her out of the confusing state she was in. She banged her hands against the table with such force, that it knocked the plate from the table and it shattered on the floor, then started walking back to her room.
What she hadn't realised, was that Aryan too was moving to the door and at the threshold of the dining room, both stood, their backs facing the rest of their family, and without any backward glance, or a word to each other, Kethaki and Aryan walked out of the dining room, where Kethaki went to her room, and banged the door close, while Aryan quietly exited.
The worst was over. Viraj looked at his wife. She was looking at the door, her eyes filled with sadness.
"Papa," Shivansh said, again. Viraj looked at him. "You shouldn't have done that to her." And with that, his son quietly got up, and walked away, to his sister's room, he was sure.
"Let's just eat," Dev said. "It's going to be a long battle, and we need energy."
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