"Oh my my. Look at the Chipmunk." One said and the other two laughed making Zara scowl.

"Why? I look good in ethnic okay?" Zara huffed twirling around.

"I am impressed. You normally look like a homeless person." Vedant said.

"That's called fashion you doofus." She glared at him.

"Sure sure. Whatever you say bally." Karan laughed.

"Bally? Where did that come from?" She exasperated.

"Because you've started looking like a damn ball." Hredhaan replied making Zara grit her teeth.

"Zayan!" She shouted in full force who quickly came towards them with a tired expression.

"Why don't you understand losers? Stop troubling her for God's sake. She's your elder sister in-law." He gritted out.

"And you Zara, if they trouble you that much then stop spending so much time with them." He turned his head towards her who pouted.

"But-" She couldn't even complete as Zayan had already started her dragging towards the dining room where the elders were already seated.

"Good morning my child." Anjali said patting her head who touched her feet for taking her blessings.

Doing the same with every elder, she finally seated herself beside Zayan who was looking at her with a proud smile making her grin back adorably.

"I want to talk about something important with you guys." Anjali said.

"What is it Mom?" Zayan asked.

"Let's have the breakfast first. We'll talk later." She said making everyone nod their heads.

//////////

"What is it Aunt? It's been 30 minutes and all you've said is I want to talk about something important." Karan huffed and the Quadro nodded their head showing the irritation.

"Okay okay. I am telling you." Anjali said.

"Great."

"I've gotten a proposal." Anjali said and everyone frowned.

"Proposal? For what?" Vedant scrunched his face.

"A marriage proposal for our Hredhaan." Anjali grinned and everyone's eyes went wide.

"What?" He shrieked like a girl and jumped from his seat in shock.

"Eeeee! Stop behaving like a goddamn girl. Specially Zara." Karan slapped Hredhaan's back making Zara and Hredhaan glare at him.

"Whatever." He said slumping down on the seat again.

"Yeah so I think the girl is perfect. A perfect match for Hredhaan and perfect for our family as well." Anjali said nodding.

"Who is this girl Aunt?" Vedant asked with deep interest.

"Here's the photo. But I want Hredhaan to see it first." She said handing the photo over to Hredhaan.

Hredhaan had a blank expression. No one could tell his opinion about the proposal or the girl as he didn't show any emotion yet.

The photo was now passed onto the Quadro who was desperate to see the girl. All the elders were satisfied with the girl while it was only them left.

And as soon as the photo was passed onto Zara, she felt as if the world had slipped beneath her foot.

This cannot be happening, was the thought running in her mind.

"Shocked right Zara?" Anjali grinned at her daughter in-law.

"But see, it'll be beneficial for each one of us. I even remember how you didn't use to even step into our house when Shanaya used to come for staying at your mansion." She continued and by now Zara's heart was beating loudly.

"It'll be so good to have two cousins married to two brothers of this family. And the fact that my two daughter in-law are closest to each other will be the best part." Anjali said smiling.

And till now no words had come out of Zara's mouth.

"What do you think Hredhaan? Should we call them back saying we agree to this marriage proposal?" Anjali asked looking at her son expectantly.

"Mom-" Hredhaan started only to be cut off.

"No!" A loud voice came and it was none other than Zara.

"Zara- what are you doing?" Zayan asked with raised eyebrows who was sitting beside her.

"Why my child? Is there any problem?" Anjali asked.

"No! Mom please don't agree to this proposal." Zara pleaded and everyone frowned looking at her look.

She had a scared expression. But why?

"Zara-" Anjali started, but she didn't let her complete.

"No Mom! I don't think Shanaya would be a good choice for Hredhaan." She hurriedly said.

"Zara stop it. Let the elders talk with Hredhaan." Zayan butted in making Zara sit back beside him.

"So I think we should agree-"

"Mom! Please say no. She's no good for the family. She's a real bitc-" Zara was whining when got cut off by a loud voice.

"Enough Zara!" It was Zayan's yell.

"Enough of the childishness of yours. When I have already told you not to speak in such a matter then why don't you understand? Do you think you're so intelligent to speak in between? Or do you think you know everything important regarding this matter?" He yelled and she looked at him horrified.

"Z-Zayan-" She stuttered looking at his hard as stone expression.

"Stop right there! And why do you think Shanaya isn't right for Hredhaan? Do you think it'll be bad for you because another girl will come in this house and your importance will lessen down? Don't tell me you're jealous of your own cousin because all you keep is complaining." He continued yelling while looking at her with raging eyes.

Zara was shocked at his outburst would be an understatement.

"I am tired of your childishness and complaints. I am f*cking tired. This isn't a bloody topic for you to put up your childish reasons and problems."

"Start to adjust. If you think that Shanaya will divide the attention everyone gives to you, then let me tell you it's absolutely correct. She might be everyone's new priority, but you need not to make a fuss out of it. Stop acting like a bloody child and grow up."

"Grow up because everyone is f*cking tired. Why shouldn't they choose Shanaya as the new daughter in-law of their family? You think she's better than you so that she'll take away everyone from you?" He screamed at the poor soul whose tears were now not stopping.

"Zayan, stop." It was Anjali.

"No Mom. Let me speak this time because she needs to know that things change. Her life won't be a perfect fairytale every single moment. She bloody needs to learn to accept the changes." He gritted out looking at her.

"I don't know how everyone deals with you, but I am tired. I am tired of this attitude of yours for getting things done by your ways all of the time. You need to adjust and stop complaining about petty issues." He continued.

"And I don't know why I agreed to marry you. Where I had such great expectations, all that came in my life were your complaints and mischief. I didn't know that I would have to deal with a child this soon!" He hissed and as soon as she heard his last sentences, she got up from her seat in a haste only to run outside the mansion, not even glancing behind for once.

She was just heartbroken by his words and tears were something that she didn't try to stop. They were flowing like a damn river.

//////////

Sniff

Sniff

Sniff

Was the only sounds heard from an hour.

"Zara."

"Didn't I tell to you to go away?" Came her hoarse whisper.

"Well we aren't leaving our bestfriend alone. All you had been doing since an hour is crying." Vedant said and took a seat beside her on the hard concrete.

It was a place where the Quadro used to spend most of their time in their childhood. A small pavement behind their mansion, covered with trees.

"What else do you want me to do?" Came her desperate whisper.

"A lot more than crying." Hredhaan said sitting on her ther side while Karan seated himself in front of her.

Sniff

Sniff

"Stop crying na Zara. You know I've denied to marry Shanaya." Hredhaan said making Zara's head snap up in his direction.

"You shouldn't have. I don't want someone to put the entire blame on me. She might be good for you even though-" She started only to be cut off by him.

"I trust you Zara. I believe you, doesn't matter if anyone else does or not. You might be the youngest in our family, but I know you won't joke about such a topic. You're always honest." Hredhaan said in a comparatively stern voice.

"Still some people don't think that." She shrugged tiredly in a low voice.

"Doesn't matter. And I know there must be a big reason behind why you said all those things back there." He continued making her nod to herself.

"Guys, he hurted me." She whispered all of a sudden.

"He said I act childishly. And I am jealous of my cousin because of which I am not agreeing to this proposal. How can he even think about me like this?" She continued in desperation.

"H-He regrets marrying me. I know he does in a way." She finally let everything out and sobbed.

She sobbed like a child.

"He's tired of me this early of our marriage." She whispered with tears flowing out of her eyes.

"You guys have been with me since the childhood. I know for that matter that you guys tease me and everything, but you never made me feel like you're tired of me or my behaviour. Do you people hide that?" She turned her head over the three.

"No Zara. We are not. We can never be tired of you and even Zayan Bro isn't." Vedant butted in.

"Don't lie. There's no benefit of lying. I finally know his honest opinion about me." She said while hiccuping.

"Zara-" He started, but stopped himself right there when he saw Zara's expression.

Her lips were badly quivering, eyes swollen with redness evident and soon a sob broke out her lips.

"My intentions were never bad. They were never." She cried and Hredhaan immediately engulfed her into a bone crashing hug.

The trio could never see her crying.

Her level of crying was so much that she was even having problems with breathing.

"Zara, relax. Breathe." Karan said patting her back.

She kept on crying while they kept on consoling her and didn't even realize when she'd fall into a deep slumber, her head resting on Hredhaan's shoulder and feet on Karan's lap.

Deciding to take her inside the mansion, Hredhaan lifted her in his arms and soon they were in the mansion, taking their way through the staircase for her room or more like Zayan and Zara's room.

Zayan was coming down the stairs with a blank expression and as soon as he saw Zara in Hredhaan's arms, his jaw clenched.

"Give her to me." He straightaway got to point, standing in front of Hredhaan, easily giving an arrogant aura.

"Bro-please-" Hredhaan started only to be cut off by him.

"I want my wife now. It's our matter and we'll discuss our problems amongst ourselves." Zayan gritted out.

"Wife? You didn't treated her like one back there. And I doubt you'll discuss anything with her because all you did was yelling at her without even listening her perspective." Saying this, Hredhaan calmly placed Zara in Zayan's arms who stood there dumbfounded at his younger brother's words.

With a deep sigh, Zayan placed a sleeping Zara on their bed.

Her red nose, swollen lips and stains of dried tears were clenching Zayan's heart, but he held himself back.

"Hridhu, please tell him that it was never my intention. Never." She mumbled drowsy in her sleep, clutching onto Zayan's hand thinking its Hredhaan, not Zayan.

Feeling pain stricken at her condition, he laid himself beside her sleeping form and made her lie completely on top of him. Zara snuggled onto him like her life dependent on it and it was the first time Zayan didn't know what to do or what to feel.

Had he made a big mistake?

//////////

A drowsy Zara woke up with head pounding due to the terrible headache. The bright lights made her feel extreme pressure on her eyes and in reality it was because of the redness evident in them.

Her eyes frantically searched for the person she was deep down not hoping to see at present and in this process she realized she was in the same room in which she had been staying since a month of her marriage.

The bedroom door creaked open revealing a tired Zayan who had just returned from his office, late in the night. Zara, as usual got up from the bed to fill the glass of water kept on the coffee and proceeded to give the same to her husband like daily.

Zayan expected the same routine which consisted of them telling each other about the day's happenings with Zara sitting on Zayan's lap throughout, but what shocked him was Zara didn't give him a single glance while handing the glass. Where Zayan had been expecting that Zara would clung onto him like a baby and not leaving him for a single second, now instead she turned on her heels going out of their room leaving a dumbfounded Zayan.

But he had caused this.

She'd made up her mind that she wouldn't give Zayan any chance to complain about her childishness.

She will give him all the space he needs so that he doesn't feels pressurised because of her behaviour. She no more has any intention to trouble him or more like disturb him because of any problem related mainly to her.

And she was now seated on one of the bench in the garden of the mansion.

She felt as if she couldn't face any if her in-laws or her bestfriends. She was embarrassed. She was humiliated that Zayan had said such things in front of everyone.

"Zara." It was her mother in-law, Anjali Oberoi.

"M-Mom." She said, quite surprised with her sudden appearance.

"How's my child?" She asked sitting beside her and patting Zara's head in a motherly manner.

"I am good. Better than before actually." Zara replied with a small smile.

"You can't fool me Zara. I remember your expression at the time when Zayan had said all this and it's the same now. This expression so unlike all the times before." Anjali said with a known smile.

"Mom, I never knew my actions were so irritating to Zayan. Why didn't he say this directly to me? And was he so tired of me that he didn't even let me speak my problems? The only thing he did was yelling at me." Zara said, her lips quivering.

"What was the reason you said not to agree to this proposal Zara?" Anjali finally asked the question that was troubling her since the incident.

"Mom she-"

"Zara!" A loud voice was heard.

"Well, your husband is calling you. I guess we'll talk later." Anjali said mischievously, not able to see the turmoil inside of her.

"M-Mom, can you please attend him. I-I don't want to-" She cut Zara right there.

"Zara, I might attend him this time, but what will you do when he'll need his wife with him? You're going to send me at that as well? I know you're strong and most importantly you need to treat Zayan with his own medicine. Do whatever you want to do with him, but don't drag anyone else between you two." Saying this Anjali got up from the bench, back to going inside the mansion leaving a struggling Zara behind.

//////////

"Zara, where's my laptop charger?" Zayan showered the question upon Zara.

The fact that he wouldn't get to spend the precious time with Zara which lessen downs his worries and tiredness everytime, he'd decided to do his work instead on dwelling upon the fact much.

"Your drawer." Was her straight and strong response, not even looking at him.

"Zara, stop this and look at me. Whatever I did today had to happen someday or the other and it did today itself. It was for your own benefit so you don't have to be angry at me." Zayan said, coming in front of Zara.

She didn't bother responding him. Instead she just snapped her head up in bewilderment at his words, looking at him blankly.

"My own benefit? Are you for real right now Zayan? First and foremost, I was never the one coming to you to marry me. And secondly, now that you're my husband and is elder than me, it doesn't give you the right to tell me what's better for me or when should I speak or not."

"And most importantly, I know I am childish and you also knew it while marrying me. If you didn't want to deal with this, you shouldn't have married me."

"I also know that it's my fault that past this month I always bombarded you with my complaints and mischief for my best friends and your brothers but I didn't have a single clue that it was bothersome for you or you were always annoyed by it and didn't actually want to do it. The practices since childhood really made me forget that life could change after marriage which I hadn't really been expecting since I was marrying you and into this house."

"But like I said, I realised my mistakes and I also realised that I actually need to maintain my distance. If I was wrong, you weren't a saint either."

A shocked Zayan had cupped her cheeks and was about to embrace her when she grabbed his wrists with her hands.

"No. Don't come near me." She said, trying to push him away.

Keyword: Trying

Because he didn't even budge from his place a bit. The size difference was evident resulting in this.

"Zara." He said in a stern voice noticing her struggling in his arms.

"Don't. You're not the same Zayan." She huffed, getting away from him and this time he let her go. Away from him.