Diksha’s POV:-

My eyes widened at the scene. Three of them fell above each other on the ground. An involuntary call of his name escaped out of my mouth. 

“What the hell, man? Can’t you stand straight?” Neev growled, getting up first, then Vidyut, and then Aakarsh. 

“Excuse me? For your kind information, it was you leaning on us.” Snapped my husband.

“But because of you both, I tripped.” Vidyut chipped in, stressing the word 'I', throwing a pissed glare at his brother and Neev. 

“Shut up, it was his fault,” Neev grumbled again,

“Yours!” retorted Aakarsh, shrugging his coat.

Now they aren’t getting late! I rolled my eyes and signalled Sejal to walk. Let them bicker here the whole night. We took our clutches and walked ahead of them. I don't need to turn back to see their eyes poking out of their heads as we left them behind. 

"Hey, wait!" As expected my husband shouted the loudest and strode behind us along with the other two.

"We were supposed to go together," Aakarsh held my hand as we stepped down the stairs.

"Yeah, but with the leisure you guys were arguing, I thought it's better to utilise the time." I gave him a tight-lipped smile. 

"And, Jiju, she will go with me!" Sejal interrupted, but before Aakarsh could come in his Hulk mode and make his claim on me, she was dragged back by Neev. 

"Oh, hello, you're coming with me, and no arguments," Neev said in a final tone, before pulling her fastly ahead of us.

"How does he even tolerate her?" My husband dearest made a bad face looking at the way Neev took Sejal. 

I didn't pay any heed to his annoyance towards my best friend and headed towards the hall. I saw my parents as well as Aakarsh's parents all ready and waiting for us. Perhaps, the rest of the guests have already left. Mumma Papa opened their arms seeing me.

"Nobody ever looked as pretty as my daughter." Papa kissed my forehead, patting my head, as we three broke the hug. Some warm tears welled up in my eyes; I saw them tearing up as well.

Today, I met them after two days, though I might have talked to them over phone calls many times since I came here after the wedding, meeting them in person made me emotional.

And this one thought pricked my heart again that, hereafter, I won't be able to see my parents as often as every morning, every night and every day. Hereafter, I will be staying miles away from them for the rest of my life and would probably need to wait long hours to see them. And Hereafter, I won't be able to run to my parents immediately if I feel low, for they will be staying away from me.

Mumma understood my emotions. She pulled me to her chest and patted my head. "Shhhh... Why are you crying, my child? See, we are here with you." 

"I missed you both!" That was all I could muffle in her chest. I wrapped my hands tightly around her.

"We missed you too, beta!" She replied, caressing my hair. I felt Papa's hand too on my head.

"Okay, I don't want to interrupt and spoil the moment, but, you see we are getting late and the cars are ready. So, can we please leave now?" Vidyut's voice interrupted the moment and I wiped the corners of my eyes before pulling myself away from Mumma.

"And you need to keep your makeup fresh for the next few hours!" Krishna Maa said in a light tone making us all chuckle.

We left our home with Roger driving Aakarsh, Vidyut, and I to the venue, and both our parents came in another car. Within ten minutes we were outside the beautifully decorated hotel — Grand Empire, which was the venue of our reception.

"Sir, the media is waiting at the entrance. They are eager to meet you both. Would you like to see them now or shall I ask them to wait?" Leo asked as we stepped down from the car. I saw four more bodyguards surrounding us apart from Leo and Roger.

Aakarsh turned to me, "You okay if we meet them now?" 

"Yeah!" I nodded, looking sceptical at him. This was my first ever media interaction that too when we will be their centre of attraction. Thus, all I can feel is my palms sweating and nervousness creeping through every pore of my skin.

"Alright, we'll see them now. But tell them to keep it short, we have guests waiting inside." Aakarsh ordered Leo and he left to inform them. 

"I'm going to join our family inside. Come soon." Said Vidyut as soon as we started to walk inside. He left us there and Aakarsh pulled me closer to him by my waist. I don't know why I was sweating too much even in this cool weather.

Perhaps, my husband got an idea of my nervousness as he muttered near my ear, "Relax, they are not going to eat you!" His thumb made circles on my waist, as he tried to ease up my tension.

"It's just…" I trailed, unable to say anything. I gulped a lump down my throat, gathering some confidence.

"I understand. You just smile, answer to their greetings and leave the rest to me, okay?" 

"Hmm!" I nodded and in the next minute was welcomed by quite a large number of media people taking our pictures.

"Congratulations on your wedding Sir, Ma'am!" Some of them shouted as they started to flash their cameras on us. I snaked my right hand around Aakarsh's waist before turning to them. Subconsciously, my fingers clutched his coat tighter as I smiled, trying to look confident to them. 

Note the keyword 'trying'. 

"Thank you!" Aakarsh and I said together, smiling at them.

"Finally we get to see the beautiful bride of the most eligible bachelor of the country and I must say Mrs. Verma is looking absolutely stunning tonight. And you too. You guys look like a match made in heaven." A girl holding a mic said with a big grin. I couldn't help but smile shyly as I felt my face heating up at their words.

"Thank you and about the most eligible part, I believe you're exaggerating. But, yes I agree, Mrs. Verma does look stunning tonight." Aakarsh said, looking straight into my eyes with much intensity. He had this soft smile adorning his lips that made my heart flutter.

"But, we have a complaint, Mr. Verma. Why don't you let anyone know about your wedding dates? Everyone was waiting eagerly to see you get married." One of them complained, in a friendly manner which gave me an idea that Aakarsh knew him personally. 

Aakarsh smiled at him, before answering. "That's why this reception has been held, Ram, so that you all can be a part of our celebration!" 

And before they could say something else, Aakarsh wrapped up the interaction.

"And now, we both would like to take our leaves as we have guests to attend. So thank you all for coming. Please enjoy the party." 

We waved at them and walked inside, where the grand hall was full of the guests. Guards walked us to the stage and we were joined by both sets of parents. The host announced our name.

"Ladies and gentlemen, meet the star couple of the night, my son and beautiful daughter-in-law — Aakarsh and Diksha." 

The hall echoed with the clapping. The people cheered, grinning at us. 

We were standing in front of thousands of people and smiling endlessly.

Okay, this all feels a bit awkward!

"As you all know, the biggest happiness of parents is to see their children getting married. So as a father, all I ever wanted was the happiness of my son and I will always be grateful to Krishna and I's best friends and Diksha's parents, Mr. Mayank Shrivastav and Mrs. Annapurna Shrivastav, for making us the happiest people by agreeing to this beautiful alliance." Papa took the mic and thanked my parents, who were standing beside him and Maa, and got a big smile in return. 

As no one knows about our sudden wedding, it was necessary for business reasons to let everyone know how it was arranged by our parents. So, our elders decided to announce it at the party.

"And, as you can see the shine in their eyes, which is a sign that despite being arranged by us, our children are happy to be each other's better half, right kids?" Papa asked, looking at us for confirmation. Aakarsh smiled at me and pressed my hand which was on his arms as we nodded positively at him, muttering 'we are'. 

The people again cheered and we could hear them shout 'congratulations'. 

"Now, I would like to thank all of you for accepting the invitation and coming tonight for being a part of our celebration. As parents, Krishna and I request you all to please bless our children and pray for their happy, healthy and long married life. With that I'm ending my speech here. Please, enjoy the party." 

As soon as Papa ended his speech, people started coming over the stage. The host played a sweet song in the background while we interacted. The first ones were Aakarsh and I's grandparents followed by Sejal and Neev's parents. 

But where are they both lost? I tried to scan the crowd only to find my best friend laughing like a maniac at some joke cracked by Neev even Vidyut and Aakarsh's cousins were with them. These people! 

I couldn't get an opportunity to call her as our parents introduced us to the board members and shareholders of our company. Next, we continued to meet all the high profile socialites and other guests till next hour.

And please don't ask me how many aunties giggled and blessed me to bring a junior Verma soon. 

Like seriously? 

We just got married, people? 

And look at me, I'm myself a kid right now! I just want to scream this in their ears. But, look at my plight, all I can do right now is to look down, smile shyly — even when I'm not blushing — and say thank you. WTF! All this while my idiotic husband kept grinning at their words, replying positively. Idiot. Jerk. 

"I can see someone's blushing?" Krishna Maa teased me as soon as we were alone after both the fathers went down the stage to greet guests and ask them to start dining. 

"Seriously, Maa?" I whined, and heard my husband chuckle beside me.

Tum chalo aaj ghar! (You come home Today!)

I glared at him, making him stifle his laughter. Moron.

"No, we are just teasing you. Also, you don't have to think about their words. Just don't mind them." Maa said softly and patted my cheek. She then started talking about something to my Mumma and I turned my gaze at my husband who was just laughing a minute ago.

"Can't control your laughter?" I asked in a fake saccharin voice. 

"Can't help when my wife is getting such blessings already!" He laughed again. The nerve of this man. 

"I'm gonna —"

"Won't you introduce us to your daughter-in-law, Krishna?" A feminine voice interrupted me. We looked in the direction where the voice came from. There stood two women. A middle aged lady and a girl who seems to be of our age. 

"Niyati! I was just waiting for you." Maa squealed excitedly, hugging the elder lady.

"Yes, that's why you didn't wait, aunty!" Complained the girl, eyeing us. Her tone was somewhat accusatory or did I sense much? I don't know why but I didn't get good vibes by the way she was looking at us. 

I looked at Aakarsh but he was just standing with a neutral face, the same one that he displayed while meeting all our guests. 

"There's nothing like that, beta, the party has just started." Maa replied, smiling awkwardly at her. Meanwhile, my mother and Niyati aunty hugged with a bright smile, which means they know each other.

Who are they? And most importantly why is she looking at us like that? 

"It's okay, aunty, I know what has been done in my absence." She continued to stare at us with an unreadable expression.

Okay, now this girl is making me uncomfortable! 

"Nayana, this is not how you talk to your elders, beta." Niyati aunty scolded her softly.

Nayana finally shifted her eyes away from us, "Sorry, Mom. Sorry, aunty. It's just that I was surprised to know that Aakarsh got married when I came back from London. So, that came out like this. Sorry again." 

Why isn't her apology sounding genuine? 

"It's okay, I didn't mind, beta. Come meet Aakarsh and Diksha." 

They walked to us and we greeted them. Niyati aunty smiled at me cupping my cheek, "Your daughter-in-law is very pretty, Krishna! She looks like a doll." 

I smiled but then frowned as I heard Nayana muttering something like 'bela' under her breath. 

What did she say?

"That she is. And, Diksha, this is Niyati Chauhan, my friend. She is a MP and a social worker. Niyati has helped us enormously in times of crisis." Maa gave me her introduction, being a bit emotional. Why? "And this is Nayana, her daughter. She had also been a junior to Aakarsh in college." 

I smiled at both of them when Miss Nayana again said something in her not so polite tone, crumbling my mood.

"Aakarsh had known me before you even came into his life, right Aakarsh?" Her voice came out as passionate as the intensity in her eyes. She looked at my husband like he was an open box of chocolates.

What the hell? 

"That's because we were in the same college and our mothers were friends!" Aakarsh replied in a polite tone, keeping his face as it is neutral. 

Thank God, he doesn't smile much in public! 

Her face dropped instantly much to my delight. I was pleased. Very pleased if you ask. 

But the exchange of words has thickened the atmosphere. I looked at the three ladies looking awkwardly at us.

"Diksha, Actually, Nayana wanted to tell you that she is no guest but a family as Krishna and I are like sisters. Aren't we a family, Krishna?" Niyati aunty, cleared her throat and tried to clear the air. 

"Yes, yes, of course. We are a family." Maa nodded, hesitated though. 

It was still awkward between us. Thanks to Vidyut who came on time.

"Bhaiya, your business partners are waiting for you to join them for a few minutes." 

"Yeah, sure. I'll just come!" Aakarsh agreed readily, as if he was ready to escape the moment. 

"Niyati, come let's meet our mothers. They will be happy to meet you." Mumma asked Niyati aunty to meet Aakarsh and I's grandmothers, and took her along with Maa. 

Now, I'm standing here alone with that Maina… I mean Nayana, who is by hell's fire glaring at me for God knows why? 

Writer's POV:-

Nayana shifted closer to Diksha making her more uncomfortable.

"Do you even know the meaning of this red thing?" She pointed at the line of sindoor (Vermilion) in Diksha's hairline partition. Her eyes were red, perhaps, in anger.

"What do you mean by that?" Diksha pulled her eyebrows down, 

"Do you even know how much it matters to me?" Nayana seethed again, shifting her gaze one at Diksha's eyes and then back at her sindoor. 

"Why would I know? Hell, I don't even know you. And why are you looking at my sindoor like that?" Diksha asked straightforwardly. She knew there was no benefit in ignoring the annoyance.

"Because you snatched what was supposed to be mine." Came Nayana's volcanic reaction as she glared at her and gritted her teeth.

"Excuse me —" Diksha started to say something only to get shocked at her words.

"Aakarsh would have gotten married to me had you not interfered!" She spat venomously, eyeing Diksha's sindoor. 

"What the hell? Mind, your language, Nayana. That's my husband you're talking about." Keeping her voice low so as to not grab attention of anyone, Diksha scolded sternly.

"He was supposed to be my husband. But you came between us. I — " 

"Nayana, come your father is searching for you!" Niyati called her from down the stage. 

"Coming Mom!" She replied to her mother and turned to Diksha again, "You should not have stepped in." With that she was gone but the tone and fire in her eyes told Diksha this will not end here.

'What does she mean by I stepped in? Is she any kind of ex of Aakarsh?' Diksha was suddenly thrown into the pool of dilemma.

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Kindly bear a couple of boring chapters as these are linker chapters. 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏