Deepa parked her car in front of the hotel she was staying in as her apartment was put up for renovation and she didn't want to go in yet.

It's good to be back in Mumbai after a long time, she mused and slowly made her way inside the hotel lobby for checking in as she couldn't wait to get a room and settle in.

"Deepa?" She gave a start of surprise and stared at the person in front of her as he called out her name.

"Oh my God!"she exclaimed, genuinely pleased "Amit? It's such a long time!"

He gave a wide smile and approached her "I know! It's so nice to see you". She nodded with the same enthusiasm "how you've been? You're still in the city?"

He replied with an affirmative "so far I'm stuck here in Infy...I'm in the PRO department, heading public relations".

"Wow! Finally achieved what you worked hard for" she said, genuinely pleased. "What about you? The last I heard from Apeksha was that you were pursuing a course as a makeup artist".

"Yeah...I have my own salon in Delhi" Deepa said, observing him after a long break of six years. It felt like a flood of memories had been opened and she couldn't help but reminsice the old times. And seeing Amit also opened up the memory of his twin brother Aman whom she was close to, or atleast that's what she had thought.

After the party, he had completely shut her out and had disappeared. Even though she had wondered what went wrong, there was no sign of him and so she had assumed there was nothing between them.

"Hello? Come back to earth!" Amit teased and she blinked "sorry..were you saying something?"

"Yeah...I asked if you're free...we could catch up at the cafe across the street..." he looked around "I was here for a meeting with a client".

"Sure...but can you wait so I can check in?"she said with a nod. He agreed.

As they sat across each other on the cafe and chatted about good old college days, Deepa felt refreshed as she needed a change from her work routine.

"I'm glad we met" she said in earnest "I can't believe life has changed so much".

Amit nodded in agreement "yeah...I'm engaged and we're getting married in a couple of months"he said in a shy tone. She beamed "that's great Amit! I'm so happy for you".

He blushed and showed his fiancee's photo to her. She stared at the phone screen. Even though the girl wasn't that great looking, she looked shy and modest and suited for Amit. "She's nice" she said with a smile.

He didn't reply to that but stared at her in amusement "I was wondering...
you never asked about Aman..you guys were..pretty close, weren't you?"

She hesitated for a moment "yes we were" she admitted as it would look too obvious if she didn't "what is he upto?is he engaged as well?"

Amit let out a chuckle "nah...he's still single" he gazed at her relaxed eyes "he's probably pining for the girl he had a huge crush on since his college days".

She raised a curious eyebrow and caught his smirk "really?I didn't know that".

Amit shrugged "everybody knew except the both of you". Deepa blushed at that "he never told me.. and he totally disappeared. How could he do that?"

"I don't know..listen" Amit leaned in closer "you're coming to Akhil's party right? Aman's coming too. Why don't you guys clear the air?"

"I don't know" she shrugged "things have changed". He patted her hand "of course they haven't! He still thinks about you. Talk to him".

Deepa bit her lip, deep in thought. Should she dig the old well which was buried?

Maybe the party wasn't a bad idea after all...

◇◇◇◇◇

The moment he saw her, Aman knew there was something amiss.

Her tattered phone lay on the floor and she looked like she had been crying.

On an impulse, he grabbed her hand in concern "hey what's wrong?"he asked, pushing her messy hair back "are you alright?"

"Yes!"she exclaimed in anger "why shouldn't I be?" He stared at her in confusion "tell me what happened" he gaped at her.

"Why do you care?"she pushed him again when he approached her "shouldn't you be shopping for your wedding?"

He blinked as if he had heard her wrong "wh..what wedding? What are you talking about?"

"Don't play me Aman!"she gritted her teeth "I'm not a fool to fall for your charms like I already did...when you were busy getting laid with your dead brother's fiancee!"

"Shut up!"he bellowed, pressing a hand over his head "what's gotten into you?"

"You're getting married to her, aren't you?"she demanded "you came here to take my blessing?" He stood frozen to the spot, unable to comprehend what had just conspired.

"Who told you all these things?"he asked in utter amazement. Deepa stood her ground "doesn't matter...it's the truth right?"

He shook his head "I don't understand what was being said to you...but I was about to talk to you regarding the circumstances...."

She didn't reply but collapsed on the nearby cushion chair, ready for another outburst. He waited for her to calm down a little and then knelt beside her, holding her hand in a firm grip. This time, she didn't push him away.

"I should have told you about Sakshi and the chaos that followed" he sighed, kissing her palm "but you can't blame me...we were just beginning to date. It wasn't like I owed you an explanation back then".

She locked her teary gaze with his "did you sleep with her Aman? Atleast you owe me this".

"The hell I didn't!"he burst out "how could I even think of it? She was going to be my sister in law...there's nothing between us!"

She seemed to digest the information and then finally spoke up "how did she get pregnant then?"

He simply shrugged "I've no idea" and narrated what Sakshi had told him and the aftermath of events that had occured while Deepa listened in stunned silence.

"I had no other choice but to take her in" he explained slowly, his eyes boring into her kohl stained ones "she was alone and no one to support her at that moment it felt right. But now things have taken a for the worst turn".

"You want to marry her?" Deepa asked in a dull tone. He wrapped his arms around her "you know I don't want to...but the situation isn't favourable back home. Everything is a chaos. Maa hasn't been happy since Amit's death and neither is baba... and Sakshi's father just had a heart attack and is recovering....we're both trapped in their agony".

Deepa slowly pushed him away "looks like you made your choice" she sniffed back a tear "even now you're worried about her father, her family, her. What's gotten into you Aman? Don't you get it?"she bellowed suddenly "they want to use you as a scapegoat in place of your brother. And you're letting them. Where's the Aman Shrivastav I've come to like huh? Whatever happened to his rebellious attitude?"

Aman bit his lip in agitation "I've rebelled against my parents once and left them out...but they had Amit. I can't abandon them now that they need me the most".

"They don't need you..they're using you!"she yelled angrily "let's get away from here, let's elope. We don't want all this mess".

"I can't just elope like that" he explained "try to understand". She got up and moved farther from him "you're a coward Aman! And a traitor! After everything I thought we had a chance and you had to ruin it! You betrayed me!"

"Will you stop it Deepa?"he snapped "you're acting like I tried to take advantage of you!"he shook his head "we both were just starting to date remember? I told you time and time again that I wasn't into relationships but you pursued me".

She raised her angry eyes at him "is that why your brother said you were still pining for me?"

He blinked in disbelief "what are you taking about? Why would Amit tell you anything?"

She looked at his stunned expression "so you didn't know I was in the city?" He shook his head "I don't understand at all...we bumped into each other at the party that's all. I didn't know anything about you before that. Amit told me you were in town and are coming to the party. What's going on Deepa?"he demanded.

She bit her lower lip in agitation. He moved closer to her and held her hands "what's wrong? Tell me".

He made her sit back and she looked at him after a brief moment and realized he wasn't pretending. He really was oblivious.

"Oh my God!"she gasped "he was trying to set us up". Aman stared at her, still not able to understand her words.

She explained to him the day she first met Amit when she was back Mumbai for a huge assignment.

Aman listened to her in stunned silence, unable to digest the information. There were so many things his brother hid from him.

"He never told me" he whispered "he only said you were in the city....I never pined for you..I mean" he stammered "I liked you and had a huge crush on you back then but all that changed when I saw you kissing a guy on the day of our college party...I was devastated and lost. I tried not to think about it but it was there...I finally let go of my feelings and moved on without telling you. And then you were back and I became that shy teenager again".

"Why didn't you tell me Aman?"she demanded "I never knew why you left without even saying goodbye because I thought you never had any feelings for me" she clasped his hand "it was a truth or dare". He blinked "what?"

She nodded "you saw me kissing a guy...it was my junior Sumesh" she explained a shocked Aman and continued "we girls were playing truth or dare on the backyard near the gazebo. It was my turn and Kiran gave me this dare that I was supposed to kiss Sumesh and it had to be a dare because he already had a girlfriend".

"I...don't know what to say" Aman gasped, realizing his folly. He should have talked to her, asked her then and there. It would have been cleared instead of..

"It was supposed to be discreet" Deepa  looked at him "but I guess you saw us anyway".

Aman avoided her gaze "It looked so real I thought..." he bit his lip in frustration "I should have talked to you".

She didn't reply and slowly unclasped her hand from his "our ego won isn't it?"she said finally "we didn't even bother to communicate with each other and complicated matter entirely".

He cupped her face with his hands "I'm so sorry Deepa" he said in a low gasp "I wish we had more time for each other...there are so many things i wish I could change..."

"Then change!"she yelled "what are you afraid of? Be the rebel you are and get out of all this! There's still hope for us!"

He gulped for breath "I'm not doing this for me...I only agreed because of my mother. I can't betray her happiness once again...now that she's lost her son. I can't let her lose anything else".

He waited for her to yell once again but she didn't as she got up "if you've already made the decision, there's nothing much to say I guess".

"You think it's easy for me?"he demanded but she pressed her fingers on his lips "don't..stop explaining!"she snarled "you'll never be happy Aman...just remember that. You and Sakshi...it's not going to happen. You're going to lose with the sacrifice you did. You'll be left alone....after both of you are destroyed in this maze".

He didn't want to retort as he knew part of what she said was true; he truly was destroyed.

"I've a plane to catch" she reminded  by way of subtly dismissing him "you can leave".

He met her gaze for what felt like an eternity and then walked out slowly.

◇◇◇◇◇

Sakshi stared at her engagement ring and turned it, thinking of the auspicious day she was engaged to Amit. It wasn't a lavish one but neither too simple either. But it was one of the happiest days of her life.

She took her phone and opened the folder in which there were separate photos of their engagement. She saw Amit wrapping his arms protectively around her shoulders and beaming at the camera. He looked so happy...so was she.

She wiped the silent tears and yanked the phone aside. No! She wasn't going to delete his photos..she would keep his memories alive..no matter what. Even if she was getting married to his brother.

After the eventful phone conversation, they hadn't bothered to talk to each other. She didn't care; she knew what she had to do. It was for the best.

The knock on the door interrupted her frizzy thoughts. "Sakshi beta?" Soumya yelled on the other side "are you done wearing the dress?"

Sakshi stopped crying and took a deep breath "just few more minutes!" She heard a soft groan "oh God! You're not wearing a saree. How long does it take to wear a suit huh?"her mother said.

"Give me a minute" she replied, holding back tears "I'm almost done".

She wore the dress in hurry and wiped her face with the facial wipes. She didn't want to adorn herself and lightly applied foundation on her face and kohl on the eyes.

When Soumya entered, she didn't look pleased "that's it?"she demanded "you don't look like a bride".

Sakshi forced a feeble smile "I don't want to look like one". Soumya looked around and leaned on the bed next to her "you mustn't say that" she whispered "our family members and your father's friends are all outside. They shouldn't suspect anything".

Sakshi gave a small nod "I won't let them know...don't worry" she felt her stomach rumble "mama? Can you get me my medicine from that cabinet?"

Soumya gave her the medicine box and watched as she took one with a sip of water. "What is it for?"her mother asked in concern.

"Vomiting and nausea" Sakshi replied "I'm feeling giddy". Soumya raised a worried eyebrow "oh God! Please let nothing happen till the rituals end".

Sakshi sat back on the bed with a heavy sigh "I can't do this mama..I'm not ready".

Soumya stared at her for a brief moment and slowly hugged her "I don't want this too...but think beta" she explained "this is the only option left...considering the situation. You have to accept the reality".

This time, Sakshi couldn't hold the tears as they made their way down her eyes "I'm sorry mama.." she cried hugging her mother "I'm sure you must have imagined a lavish wedding and a grand party. I'm sorry for having to disappoint you..."

Soumya held her softly "I only imagined a happily married life for you ..a great future and a loving family" she kissed her daughter's forehead "but don't worry...I know deep down, Aman is a great guy. He'll keep you happy".

You don't know the half of it, she thought as she wiped her tears. He's in love with someone else and he's angry as hell. But all that would fade once she tells her decision to him.

"Sakshi?" Her father came in "it's time for the rituals beta...we don't want to be late. The priest is waiting. So are the groom's family. We need to go".

Sakshi forced a smile and nodded and with one last look at her engagement ring which she removed from her hand, walked out of her room with her parents.

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