chapter 1

Bride’s Room

Nikita (rushing in, slightly breathless): “Didi… Didi… chaliye, aapko pandit ji ne bulaya hai… sab intezaar kar rahe hain. Chaliye na…”

(She stops in her tracks, noticing Shanvi sitting on the edge of the bed, tears streaming down her face.)

Nikita (softly, concerned): “Didi… aap ro kyun rahi ho? Abhi toh aapki shaadi bhi nahi hui… sab kuch theek toh hai na?” 🥺

Nikita (blinks in surprise as she notices someone else in the room): “A-ap? Arya bhaiya? Aap yahaan? Main toh aapki bhabhi ko lene aayi thi… toh phir…?”

(Arya stands silently near the window, his expression tense. Shanvi suddenly breaks down.)

Shanvi (in a trembling voice): “Mujhe yeh shaadi nahi karni hai!” 😭

Nikita (alarmed): “Par Didi… aap kya keh rahi ho? Abhi… abhi kuch der mein varmala hai… sab log neeche…”

Shanvi (interrupting): “Main Arya se pyaar karti hoon, Nikita… main usi se shaadi karna chahti hoon…”

Nikita (shocked): “Kya? Aap… Arya bhaiya se…?”

Shanvi (crying harder): “Haan! Main Arya se pyaar karti hoon! Aur agar meri shaadi kisi aur se karwa di gayi, toh main apni jaan de doongi! Main zeher kha lungi!”

Nikita (panicked): “Didi! Aap yeh kya keh rahi ho! Aapko pata bhi hai neeche kya ho raha hai? Maa, Baba… unka kya hoga?”

Arya (finally speaking, voice low but conflicted): “Shanvi… yeh tum kya keh rahi ho? Yeh koi hal nahi hai…”

Shanvi (angrily): “Toh yeh sab kehne se pehle sochna chahiye tha Arya! Mujhse pyaar karte ho, par jab samay aaya toh peeth dikha di?”

Nikita: “Yeh sab… itne dino se chhupaya gaya ?”

Arya (looking guilty): “Main abhi bhi tumse pyaar karta hoon, Shanvi… par meri family… mere bhai… unka kya? Yeh sab unke liye bhi bahut bada jhatka hoga.”

(Shanvi suddenly looks up, her voice barely a whisper.)

Shanvi: “I am pregnant…”

(A moment of stunned silence fills the room.)

Arya (in disbelief): “Kya…?”

Nikita (eyes wide): “Ky-----”

????? (from behind): “Kya…?”

(They all turn sharply towards the door. Vishu, the younger sister of shanvi, stands frozen at the threshold, equally shocked.)

Shanvi (startled): “Vishu…”

Nikita: “Didi… aapne… yeh... yeh sab humse chhupaya?”

Vishu (confused and overwhelmed): “Didi… yeh baccha… Arya bhaiya ka hai?”

????? (from the corridor, a stern voice): “Kaunsa baccha? Kaisa baccha…?”

(Everyone turns toward the door again as Mrs. Thakur, their mother, enters with a grave expression.)

Shanvi (faltering): “Maa…”

Vishu: “Maa…”

Nikita: “M—”

Arya (cutting in nervously): “Aunty…”

(Nikita glares at Arya, clearly annoyed by being interrupted again.)

Mrs. Thakur (voice cold): “Yeh sab kya ho raha hai? Shaadi ka mohurat nikal raha hai, aur tum log yahaan…?”

Shanvi (on the verge of breaking): “Maa… main… main aapse kuch kehna chahti hoon…”

Mrs. Thakur (sharply): “Kya ‘main-main’? Seedha bolo, Shanvi.

Arya: “Aunty, main bataata hoon...

Arya: “Aunty… galti meri hai. Mujhe yeh sab pehle keh dena chahiye tha… main aur Shanvi—”

????? (calling from the hall): “Yeh sab kya ho raha hai upar? Neeche sab intezaar kar rahe hain!”

(Mrs. Thakur, Shanvi, Arya, Nikita, and Vishu all look toward the door again.)

Voice (from outside): “Mrs. Thakur, aap sab ko neeche bulaya gaya hai. ”

Mrs. Thakur (turning to look at the voice): “Aap…”

Shanvi: “Aunty…”

Vishu: “Aunty…”

Nikita: “Aun—”

Arya (again cutting in): “Mom…”

(Nikita narrows her eyes, angry and fed up with Arya’s constant interruptions.)

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