Veer's pov

"YOU!" Nani is shocked after seeing Noor. Does she know her? When did they meet? Or where?

Noor gulped and looked towards Maa. As if searching for some answer. Which indicates she doesn't know Nani at all.

But then what did Nani mean? All I want right now is for Nani to hate her. She already stole Maa and Dad. So not Nani now.

"Kon hai bai ye? (Who is she?)" Nani asks.

"Meri Vohtti Nani. (my wife Nani)" I replied, jumping towards Noor and holding her by her shoulder. "Come Noor. Let's meet Nani." I said loudly but then whispered in her ear, "Tumhari ulti ginti shuru Begum. (Begum, your countdown begins.)" I whispered happily, and Noor gulped.

Which gave me eternal peace.

"Aah, teri Vohtti hai? (She is your wife?)" Nani asks in disbelief, giving me vibes of dislike. Yes!! Yes!! I'm doing a happy dance mentally.

"Haa Nani. (Yes, grandma.)" I replied, grinning like an idiot, but Nani's next work crushed all my hopes and dreams.

"Pehli war zindagii ch koi chaj da kaam kitta veeru tu. (For the first time in your life, you have done something good and sensible.)" Nani said, caressing her head, and my mouth hung open in shock.

She likes her? WHY????? GOD WHY??? I'm screaming in my head but plastering a fake smile on my face.

"I know Nani." I replied, flashing my fake, toothy smile.

"Noor ye meri Maa hai tumhari Nani (Noor, she is my mother and your grandmother)". Maa said, and Noor nodded.

Noor joined her hands and said, "Namaste."
"As-Salaam-Alaikum." But Nani spoke at the same time, and Noor smiled.

"Wa ʿalaykumu s-salam Nani ji," Noor replied, smiling, and a broad smile appeared on my Nani's face. Which is hard to see.

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?

"Nani ji?" Nani asked, narrowing her eyes.
Yes! Nani. Yes! Get angry with her. "Nanijaan bol bhai (call me NaniJaan). Nani said, and my jaw dropped. "I really love Urdu. Such a beautiful language." Nani said, flashing her teeth.

Noor nodded her head, smiling and pouring acid into my heart. My only hope is snatched.

"Woh to theek hai per? (Everything is alright, but?)" Nani said, looking at Noor and then me, then her feet.

She is indirectly indicating that Noor should touch her feet.

I looked at Noor and tried to gesture with my eyes, but she arched her eye brows, asking what I was saying.

I bend my neck a little while showing her my eyes, but she is all clueless.

"He means to take my blessings." Nani interrupted our eye-talking game. But my idiot Begum is still clueless.

Defeatingly, I hold her hand, and we both bend over and touch Nani's feet.

"God bless you both. Stay happy and give me my great-grandchildren soon." She blessed, and Noor's eyes wide open hearing her blessings, but I smiled, faking everything being cool and normal.

Oh, my cruel fate.

Then Nani took out a bundle of notes from her bag and rotated it over mine and Noor's heads.

"Ira distributes it between servants and the poor." Nani said this while giving money to Maa. Then she held Noor's hand and took her to sit with her. "I'm so impressed with you. What you have done today." Nani said to Noor:

Impressed? For what? Now what did she do? Someone, please shoot me in the head.

"How do you know?" Noor asks meekly.

"My taxi was also stuck in that crowd. I was there when I saw you. You did great to help that poor girl. I wanted to meet you right there, but my idiot taxi driver drove away. All I was thinking was how to find you and make you my bahu. Only if I knew that I already had you." Nani said, smiling.

How on earth does she make my Nani smile too much?

"I did what should be done, Nanijaan." Noor replied, and Nani caressed her head lovingly.

"What, Noor, did Sasu Maa?" Dad asked, and Nani told us how bravely she helped that girl, and Nani asked Noor about that girl. Noor told her how her stepfather was harassing her and had killed her mother, but now he is in jail, and that girl is now in one of Maa's orphanages. Under our protection.

But hearing all this, my blood boiled. How humanity is dying, and a girl is not safe in her own house

But I'm also impressed with my fearless Begum. Not everyone has guts like her.

"Waah bai Veeru sherni viyah k lyaya (wow Veer, you married to a lioness)" Nani praised her, and a proud smile appeared on my lips.

Yes, I'm proud of her. She is feisty, but for her own good. Girls should be like that.

"Dekhya for Nani. Vohtti v ta meri aa. (Have you looked, Nani? After all, she is my  wife.)"I said proudly, but Noor gave me a narrowed eye. Eat you alive, look.

"Maa, what do you like to eat for dinner?" Maa, ask Nani.

'' jo bi bahu bna le. (Whatever Noor cooks.) I want to eat food from her hands. But Noor, please make chicken biryani. I know Muslims cook splendid non-vegetarian food." Nani said, and we all looked at each other because we didn't know if she knew how to cook at all.

"Ira I'm going to freshen up in my room. Till then, start preparations for dinner." Saying that Nani disappeared in her room.

"Noor.." Maa was about to say something, but she cut her off.

"I will manage Maa." Saying that she disappeared in the kitchen.

"I will go and help her." Saying that Maa also disappeared in the kitchen after Noor.

"Ira!! Ira!!." After a few minutes, Nani calls Maa from her room, and Maa goes to Nani.

Taking it as an advantage, I stepped inside the kitchen and saw Noor all engrossed in work.

"Keep showing that you are cooking, and I'm ordering food......."

"Veer?" She cut me off while making faces. "I'm not pretending to cook. I'm actually cooking. So you don't have to fake pretend to care and order food from outside to save me like a cheep cheesy daily soap drama." She said that, and I gasped.

"You know what? Make your tasteless food in your arrogance, because if Nani is going to hate your tasteless food, then it's only my  victory."I replied and came out.

Why is she so arrogant? I was trying to help her; that's it, but if she takes my help, then doomsday will come.

Come out and ask dad, "Dad, let's play a video game."

"Na yar (no dude), your Nani is here. Noor ne too bas wires, Kati thi. Teri Nani to mujhe kaat k dinner mai khaa jae gii (Noor had only cut wires. But your grandma will cut me and eat me at dinner,)" Dad said.

I sighed and started watching TV. Nothing watchable is showing. I'm just changing channels when Nani and Maa come back.

"I'm going to help Noor," Maa said.

"Ira, let her handle it. Now you should retire and give her responsibility. After all, she has to handle her house," Nani said.

"I know Maa, but she already does so much hard work in the office," Maa replied and left.

"What does your wife mean by office?" Nani asks Dad.

"Noor is the CFO of our company." Dad replied.

"Did she have experience, or is Veeru just keeping her close?" Nani asked, and I looked at her with frowning brows.

"The post is far too low for her experience, Sasu Maa," Dad replied proudly. "She was the CEO of her brother's business abroad. She established and alone handled business in Europe and Australia."

"She is a gem, but how come she fell for our copper?" Nani mocked me, dad laughed, and I gasped.

"Nani yar? Are you my Nani or her?" I ask

"Whoever is right and responsible, I'm on their side," Nani replied.

Then Maa called us for dinner, and we all settled on the dining table. Noor helped with serving and sat beside me.

"Khusboo to achi hai (Aroma is great)." Nani complemented, and seriously, it smells delicious.

Dad took the first bite and moaned, "Umm, kya bat hai Noor. (It's delicious)" Dad complemented.

"Ira ye insaan to sadiyon ka bhukad hai (Ira, your husband is a hungry man from centuries)" Nani said something about Dad, and I laughed. Dad gulped his bite quietly.

Then Nani ate her first bite and praised her: "It's actually delicious. Your mother taught you well." Nani complemented, and Noor stiffened hearing about her mother.

I know how much she missed them. I held her hand and gave her an assuring squeeze.

She nodded and blinked her tears away.

I don't know why, but her tears started affecting me.

"Noor, everything is delicious." Maa also complimented She made chicken biryani, mutton, and kheer for dessert.

"Veeru? Aren't you going to say anything?" Nani asked me suddenly.

I cleared my throat. The food is delicious, but I don't want to confess in front of her, but at the same time, in front of them, I'm madly in love with her.

"Yeah, it's yummy." I replied, "After all my Begum made."

"Pratap, where has your bar gone from the garden?" Nani asks out of the blue and spreads salt on my wounds.

"Noor burned it to the ground." Maa replied proudly, and Nani gasped in surprise.

"Why?" Nani asks.

"Your Veeru started drinking too much. So she has to do something." Maa said, and I narrowed my eyes.

"You did a great job. How many times are you going to make me proud within a few hours?" Nani asked, and Noor gave her a shy smile.

But I know how much she is happy from inside. Genghis khan ki poti.

Then, after dinner, we had dessert. Then Nani gave Noor Shagun money.

"Nanijaan, no, please." She denied.

"Keep it." Nani said sternly, putting money in her hand, "This is shagun, and we never say no to shagun. It's a gesture of blessing by your elders." Nani said.

Noor, take it quietly.

After dinner, we all excused ourselves to our rooms. I had some work with my dad to study, so I came in a little late and saw the room empty.

Where is she? That's the first thing that comes to mind. I come out of the terrace garden, and here she is sitting on the edge of a swimming pool with her feet inside the water.

She is quiet and looking at the sky. That means she is upset about something. I know she always looks at the sky quietly when she is sad.

I sit beside her and ask, "Ghar ki yaad aa rhi hai? (Missing your home)" I ask.

"We miss them whom we forgot, but they are here." She replied, gesturing toward her heart.

"Then why are you upset?" I asked, and she looked at me, astonished. How should I know?

So I changed the topic to "My plan backfired on me. Nani liked you at first sight...." I was saying, and she started laughing to her heart's content.

The laugh suddenly sounded like the most melodious sound to my ears. I started laughing with her.

"Yaah Allah!" She controlled her laugh. "I haven't thought about it for a second. How you were  planning... " She started laughing again, and I'm also laughing, throwing my head back.

"But that doesn't mean it's over, Begum. I will take my bar's revenge." I said when we both stopped laughing, but hearing my words, she started laughing again, and I also couldn't control myself.

"Oh Godddddddd!! Stop it, Veer." She hit my bicep, and somehow we both stopped laughing.

She wiped the tears from her eyes, which formed during laughter.

"What were you thinking?" I ask

She took a deep breath and said, "I was thinking about that girl. What would have happened to her if I hadn't helped her?" She said that, and I sighed.

"Why have humans become monsters, Veer? In her own house? And moreover, those people who were watching the show instead of trying to stop that man? You know that they are the real culprits. They should punish too."

"Indeed. But every girl should be brave like you. They should know how to protect themselves without anyone's help." I'm saying, and she is looking at me with an open mouth like I have grown two heads. "But the real problem is with parents as well. Instead of keeping their daughters in the house, they should teach them to take care of themselves. Instead of telling their girls to behave, they should teach their sons to not be monsters." I said my heart's content, and Noor is blinking while looking at me.

"Who are you?" She asked, and I chuckled. I know I wasn't having the same thoughts before. I was an asshole as well.

"I know you think I'm still an asshole, but people change." I said that and came back into the room.