“Good morning, Miru,” Miraya heard his voice and she smiled as her eyes flickered open to see him staring at her with eyes full of love and admiration.

“So I'm your Miru now? Not wifey?” She asked before pulling him closer and pecked him.

“Well, it depends on my mood. When I'm in romantic mood, I'll call you Miru, When I'm in funny mood, I'll call you Wifey. When I'm sad, I'll call you Mira. And when I'm angry, I'll call you Miraya Shashank Agnihotri.”

“Ooh, that's quite... thoughtful of you,” She chuckled.

“Thanks, Miru!” He pulled her both cheeks.

They stayed like that for some time. Naked in each other's arms.

“Shashu, why did you pretend to dislike me all these years?” Miraya asked him as his hand roamed on her upper body.

Shashank thought for a moment before he replied, “Angana and I were best friends since we were babies. But then you entered the picture and I lost my best friend. So the little me began disliking you.” 

“And when did you start liking me?” She asked while stopping his hand from going down between her thighs. Shashank tried again, to touch her between her thighs but she held his hand again.

He sighed and replied to her question, “Ten years ago. When I saw you in a bikini for the first time,” And she punched him on his chest. Shashank groaned in pain.

“Bikini? You fucking sex maniac!” She pushed him away and got up from the bed. Naked.

Miraya ran inside the closet. Shashank quickly followed her inside.

“Miraya, baby, I was joking. But I did feel attracted towards you when I saw you in a bikini. And the fact that you had abs at the age of eighteen. I couldn't look away from your abs,” He tried to explain his earlier words.

Miraya had worn a t-shirt by then. She turned around to look at him. Shashank went closer and pulled up the t-shirt from her belly.

“You still have abs,” He looked at her toned belly.

Miraya looked up at him, “Then when exactly did you fell in love with me?”

“When you poured beer on my ex-girlfriend seven years ago,” He smiled and pulled down her t-shirt.

“Ah, don't remind me of that bitch. She acted so rude with Angana after you broke up with her. She deserved it.”

“I wanted to throw my drink on her. But you did it,” He chuckled.

“And you fell in love with me?” She asked in amazement and disbelief.

“Yeah,” He agreed confidently.

“That's quite hard to believe,” She made a confused face.

“I know. Even I was in denial. How could I fell in love with this barbarian?” And he pulled her cheeks again.

Miraya hit his chest, “Barbarian, huh?”

“Just joking, wifey. C'mon, let's have a shower together,” He offered expectantly.

“In your dreams. I know what you will do if we bathed together. Cover yourself,” She spanked him before walking away.

Shashank gaped his wife's audacity to spank his naked butt. It's not even been twenty-four hours to their marriage and she spanked him!

“You... spanked me?” He asked in astonishment.

“Yes, I spanked my disobedient husband,” She smirked and ran to the bathroom before he could grab her.

“Just come out, Miraya Agnihotri. I'll spank the hell of you,” He warned her loudly, though he didn't mean those words.

He wore his boxers and took his phone from the nightstand. He had switched it off so they don't get disturbed on their wedding night. When he turned it on, he saw several notifications of a particular news. He grew serious after reading that news and immediately made a few phone calls.

Fifteen minutes later, Miraya exited the bathroom in a white bathrobe. She instantly felt a change in Shashank's demeanor as he walked the length of the bedroom in distress.

“Shashank, you look tense. Did something happen?” She asked him.

Shashank sighed, “Sandhya Anand was murdered last night. By her daughter Kiran Anand.”

And earth slipped from beneath her feet.

🦋🦋🦋

Miraya and Shashank reached the police station where Kiran was temporarily kept under custody. The police officer asked their relation with Kiran. Miraya without a second thought replied, “She is my sister. Half-sister.”

Sameep Anand who was talking to a higher official at a distance was shocked to hear that. He quickly ended the conversation and followed the couple inside the custody room.

Kiran was sitting on a chair, her head resting on the table.

“Kiran...”

She heard Miraya's voice. Kiran looked up and saw Miraya and Shashank. Her father was also present.

“Why did you tell the officer that you are her half-sister? Are you Sandhya's daughter?” Sameep Anand asked in confusion and disbelief.

“Uncle, let's talk outside. I'll explain everything to you,” Shashank told the old man, who agreed and both of them left the custody room.

Miraya sat down on a chair beside Kiran. Kiran was staring down at the wooden table with a gloomy face.

“What happened last night, Kiran?” Miraya put a gentle hand on Kiran's shoulder and asked her softly. It took Kiran only a mere second to break down. Miraya hugged Kiran, trying to comfort her.

“She... she wanted to harm me... again,” Kiran sobbed, “She wanted to inject me with a drug that would paralyze me for weeks. Because she wanted to delay the divorce proceedings now that her business was doomed,” And she kept crying her heart out.

Miraya caressed her back and let her cry. She was feeling guilty. If she hadn't short sell Sandhya's brand then Sandhya wouldn't have tried to harm Kiran and then Kiran wouldn't have killed her mother in self-defense.

She was safe from legal charges because it was an act of self-defense. But what about the trauma? She killed her mother. Even if she hated her, she never wanted to kill her.

Soon Shashank and Sameep Anand returned. Sameep was relieved to see Kiran finally letting out her emotions. He had never imagination his child was going through mental torture all these years at the hands of her own mother. He was glad that Sandhya had died. She deserved to die for doing all this to her own child.

🦋🦋🦋

Miraya was exhausted, both physically and emotionally. They reached home late at night after staying at Anand Villa to look after the father and daughter. Shashank had his arm wrapped around Miraya to support her. It looked like she would faint any moment from the emotional burden.

When they entered the bedroom, he immediately laid her down on the bed. He removed her sandals and then covered her with duvet. And then he gently removed the Mangalsutra from around her neck and put it on the nightstand.

“Are you hungry?” He asked. Miraya shook her head and closed her eyes.

Shashank kissed her forehead before heading to the closet. He changed into something comfortable before joining her on the bed and pulled her against his body. Miraya put her head against his chest and sighed in content.

“Mira, you can cry. Don't control yourself,” He told her softly.

“I don't feel like crying. I'm just sad for Kiran. She went through a lot.”

“How are you feeling? Sad, angry, shocked or confused?” Shashank asked her, curious to know how she felt about Sandhya's death.

“I feel disappointed. If she was destined to die from her daughter's hands, then it should have been me, not poor Kiran.”

“Don't say things like that. Forgive her now that she is dead. There's no point in harboring hate against a dead person.”

Miraya didn't say anything. She had no heart to forgive Sandhya even if she was dead. She just hoped Sandhya directly land in hell where she is thrown into boiling oil or fire pit.

Shashank began caressing her head, making her feel sleepy. Soon she fell asleep in his arms. He too closed his eyes. The first day of their married life was nothing short of emotionally exhausting.

•••

Sandhya is dead! Yayyy💃

And Kiran's story is decided.
How many of you are interested in reading her story?