Shaking his head at the girl, Rishi moved to join his parents who excused themselves after a few minutes, leaving Rishi to converse with Mr. Seb.

"Thank you Mr. Seb that means a lot " Rishi voiced out to him when he praised the work of the company.

He was always a shy boy who used to hide behind his Bela Mumma for which his jealous father always called him "Mummy ka chamcha". He disliked attending parties and socializing.

He sighed in relief when Mr. Seb went to attend one of his business partners.
He would have happily preferred sleeping in his shorts rather than attending a stupid party in a tuxedo smiling like a Quokka every now and then.

"This is all because of Mumma. She should not have dragged me here " He huffed, slouching on one of the corner chairs, glaring at his gorgeous Mumma and Dadda who were posing for a picture.

He smiled looking at his Dadda who bent down to correct his Mumma's saree plates. "Cute couple" He whispered sipping his orange juice.

"This is no fun" He looked here and there in the party to find some people talking, some engaged in 'sophisticated' eating, some dancing to god knows which tune, and a few sneakily making out.

He continued to sip his orange juice when a small girl came running and hugged his leg "Dad" She screamed excitedly.

Rishi choked on his drink. He started coughing vigorously.

"Sorry dad" The small girl patted his hand with her small hands.

He stopped coughing a few moments later.
The girl smiled looking at him "I missed you dad" She hugged his leg.
Rishi looked at her flustered.

He understood that the girl was mistaken but she was just too cute to resist her hug. He pulled up the girl in his lap. She happily sat on his lap in her pink gown and Minnie mouse hairband looking like a glass doll, blinking her big twinkling eyes.

Rishi hugged her back tenaciously. "But I am not your dad, doll" 

The small girl was clearly offended by his statement. She took his big hand in both of her hands, pinching his palm she said "bad Dadda." She furrowed her eyebrows making a balloon of her cheeks.

That was when Saanvi saw them. She smiled at Rishi who was treating Suchi so softly. She couldn't hear what they were talking but they were surely immersed in serious discussion as Suchi's extra chubby cheeks conveyed.

Shaking her head, she moved towards them with a small smile shining on her face.

Rishi could not help but chuckle at Suchi's cute antics. " Come here, we will find your parents " He stood up holding her.

She turned her head away.
"I will give you a chocolate " Rishi said trying to gain her attention.

And so happened, Suchi quickly snapped her head towards him expectingly.

Rishi gave her a bar of chocolate stolen from his Andy Dadu's pocket.

Her face shined with a beaming smile. He kissed her cheek. "Where is your Mumma? " He enquired.

"Suchi? I was scared, where were you? How many times I have told you not to run "  He snapped his head towards the feminine voice.

Saanvi said in a bit stern voice. She didn't want Suchi to go around and call everyone her father.

"Mumma"  Suchi in Rishi's lap jumped.

"Oh! So it's your Mumma" Rishi smiled at the munchkin, "Mam, your daughter " He said forwarding the girl to her Mumma.

Saanvi was about to take Suchi from him gladly when she noticed someone watching them with hawk eyes.
She saw his reflection on the decorative plate attached to the wall behind Rishi.

Her hands froze looking at his keen eyes. She was scared, her heart was thumping loudly beneath her chest. She didn't want to get more stalked and humiliated by him. She wanted a peaceful life for Suchi, no way she was letting him spoil her daughter's life of fun and peace.

The only idea she could come up with was to make him believe that she was actually married. Maybe then he would leave her?
Filing a complaint against him was of no use. Just like before, he would come out on bail with the help of his powerful father and trouble her even more. In fact, the court hearing will keep proceeding for a very long time.

She was exhausted from her past experience. Neither she had time nor energy left to fight with him now. She just wanted to run away from his clutches. 

Not having any other option left, she proceeded with her idea. She didn't know if he could hear them from the distance but she sure has to portray themselves like a lovey-dovey couple.

"My daughter? It's our daughter " She said casually to Rishi.

"what? " Rishi's face lost all its color.
"You are m... m... misunderstanding mam. " He tried to give her the baby and vanish away but to his dislike, she held his one arm. "What happened, baby? Why are you calling me mam? And you don't know me and Suchi? Baby are you still angry? " She pouted, making circles on his cheek with her forefinger.

Saanvi cursed herself looking at Rishi's scared face. "What if he is already married? His wife will surely chew me raw. I hope his wife doesn't come at least for a few minutes. I will explain everything later" Saanvi thought still pouting and hanging on his arm while he stood numb to react. His mouth went dry to even say a letter. He gulped his saliva, looking at her horrified.

"Baby? " Rishi heard his parent's voice behind him. Only if it could get more horrific, Rishi's eyes bulged out finding them just before him.

They came running to Rishi "what is this Rishi? " They asked the same question for which even Rishi didn't know what to say.

There was a horrific silence.

"Dadda" Suchi kissed his cheek when she noticed everyone was playing statue-statue.

Bela and Mahir gasped loudly, their eyes widened to the size of saucers.
"Dadda? " They both looked at each other and then at the trio.

Mahir glared at Rishi "what is all this rishi? I thought you were a decent guy" He fumed.

And it was enough to bring Rishi on the verge of tears.
"Mahir, he is still a decent guy" Bela quickly defended.

"Of course here comes Mother  India " Mahir taunted fuming at Rishi.

"Dad... Dad... Trust me " Rishi's voice croaked.

"Shut up. I don't want to hear anything. When did you become so shameless? And you hid your marriage for what seems like five years? I didn't expect this" Mahir gritted his teeth angrily.

" Mahir" Bela tried to calm him down.

"No Bela. Imagine searching for a girl for your son and then he unintentionally makes you meet his wife and daughter " Mahir whined looking at Bela.

"Mahir it's okay we will talk about it. Let them come home. " She rubbed his arm.

"Fine" He narrowed his eyes at Rishi " Come home like a human"  He fumed at him.

"Dad... I... Please... " Rishi tried to stop them from leaving.

"Just shut up Rishi! I am trying hard to not slap you! " Mahir glared at him.

"Mumma! " Rishi sniffed glancing at Bela with hopeful eyes.

Bela assured him with her eyes and signaled him to come home. She dragged Mahir with her who left only after caressing Suchi's cheeks.

Saanvi took Suchi from him after which Rishi collapsed on the floor sobbing. She was feeling guilty for spoiling his image in front of his parents. But she sighed in relief knowing he wasn't married. What if he had a possessive wife who would have made Saanvi bald for falsely calling Rishi her husband.
Saanvi shook her head at the terrible possibility.

"Why did you do this? See my parents are not talking to me " Rishi wiped his tears sniffing.

Saanvi rolled her eyes at him. "C'mon they look sweet. They will not say anything. You can explain them later"

"You say, I am not your husband" He sniffed again.

"You are... My husband" She quickly mouthed like a parrot. She was about to say 'you are not my husband' but she saw Man's reflection getting bigger, he was moving closer to them probably wanting to know why Rishi was crying sitting on the floor, she didn't want to take a chance.

"what? " Rishi sobbed harder looking at her.

Saanvi hit her head with her palm muttering a small "sorry".

Suchi got down of Saanvi's lap, went to Rishi, and hugged him " My Dadda"

"But I am not you Dadda doll" He sniffed again.

Suchi got out of the hug and pinched his cheek "bad Dadda", kissed his cheek, and again hugged him excited.

Rishi kept on looking at Saanvi expectantly making a cry babyface.

Saanvi turned her head away restraining herself to look at his vulnerable situation making her feel guilty. Sighing, she came near to him, sat on her knees before him, and gave him a quick hug. By the time Rishi could make out that he was engulfed in a hug it ended.
Saanvi clapped in excitement looking at the one-second hug her Mumma gave to her Dadda.

"Hope this makes us look like a couple" Saanvi thought to herself and stood up pulling Rishi on his feet.

"Let's go to your home. I will explain everything to your parents" Saanvi whispered in Rishi's ears.

"Pakka? " He said wiping his eyes with his shirt sleeves.

"Promise! " Saanvi muttered with a small smile.

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Please ignore grammatical mistakes.

(A quokka 🤭❤)

Thanks for reading ❤.