Shahana's P.O.V

Love. It's so simple to spell yet so complicated to understand. Many, think about the that love is between a girlfriend and boyfriend or a husband and a wife but has anyone ever thought about the love between a brother and a sister? A father and a son? A mother and a daughter? 

The answer, no. However, I have come to appreciate these beautiful relations overtime. Having had my parents leave me at a young age, I truly understand what love means. No definition will be enough to truly explain it but I will try anyway. Love is something unexplainable, you trust the people you love. You'll trust them to keep your secrets, you'll trust them to stand by through thick and thin. This applies to any relation in the world. The most important relationship, is one between a child and their parents. Why? They're the ones most likely to stand by you, most likely to help you. They'll by your side, even if the whole world abandons you. If they care for you that is. A while back, I had lost my faith in love. It was due to him and now I'm loosing my faith in love, again. I'll still love my parents but I won't believe in any other relation with love again. It'll always cause me pain, cause my parents pain. 

I was beyond devastated as my groom, who just happened to be only love, broke my trust and my faith. It seems that love isn't so pure after all. It will cause you pain, no matter what. Today, when we were so close to completing the rituals of our marriage, a girl came accompanied by my 'enemy'.  My heart thumped loudly, I was scared of what my enemy would do. It would effect my relation with Aryan, that I knew but I never thought it would effect it in such a drastic way. 

Just a couple of minutes of ago, my enemy and the girl with her had asked us to stop the marriage. Reluctantly, Prachi Di and Ranbir Bhaiya had agreed to do so. They started playing a video on the screen, the happenings in the video left me shocked and disappointed.  Aryan was shown pushing my sister, the person closet to me, off a cliff. At first I had refused to believe what was going on however the look on Aryan's face suggested otherwise. I shared a look with him, silently asking if it was true he nodded was about to start explaining himself when I quickly interrupted him. 

"Aryan, how could you? How could you take the life of an innocent little girl?! How could you kill my sister?!" I whisper, trying to keep my tears at bay. 

Why was my life so full of betrayal? First my 'enemy', and now, Aryan too. I frowned and couldn't help but feel upset as recalled what happened only last week. I thought there were no more secrets between Aryan and me, it seems that I was wrong.

* Flashback *

I took off my blanket, feeling extremely warm. How I hated the sun! I groaned as it disturbed my beauty sleep. I wished there would be a world in which we could sleep all day long, without anyone or anything disturbing us. I already feel slightly awake when my alarm rings. I think I should just break it someday, the sun is already enough to annoy me! I frown as I saw someone at my door. 

"What are you doing here so early, Aryan?" I mumbled, wishing to sleep more. Aryan giggled, sounding extremely unlike himself. I frowned, why was Aryan sounding so much like a girl? 

"Aryan leave me alone." I said groggily. I frowned more as I heard even more giggling. 

"Shahana, if you're done thinking about your fiancé , then would please wake up. I am your best friend," Aryan said. Wait! Why would Aryan say that? He is my fiancé not my best friend.

I then realised who was actually speaking, Prachi Di, my best friend and soon to be sister-in-law. I slowly got up, internally groaning as I knew as was going to be in for a non-stop teasing session. My doubts were instantly confirmed as Prachi started giving me a teasing smile. 

"Not bad, already dreaming about your future husband," Prachi Di smiled, cheekily, and I mentally cursed myself for teasing her before her marriage. If only I could reverse time, that way I would have the clear memory of teasing Prachi Di and Prachi Di wouldn't, so I would be spared of teasing! 

I huffed as a response to Prachi's teasing, and my own thoughts. 

"You know, I would love to keep you here, and let you have your beauty sleep but you wouldn't want to keep your future husband waiting," Prachi Di said. A frown remained etched on my face. 

"Since when are you so good at teasing?!" I shouted, while Prachi Di just continued smiling. 

"Tumhara asar hogya." 

I grunted and not wanting to wait around with Prachi Di, I got up and ran, acting to be not too eager, to meet Aryan. However, when I reached the living room, I frowned, again. Aryan was nowhere sight. That's when I noticed Prachi Di giggling. 

"Shahana, looking for someone?" She teased, again, and I knew  at that moment that it was just one of her tricks to wake me up. 

"Prachi Di!" I shouted on the top of my voice, annoyed and started chasing her with a pillow. Prachi Di giggled, and I when I attempted to throw a pillow at her, it backfired as I hit Aryan's Mother instead. 

I stopped in my tracks, my face solemn for once. There was no telling how Pallavi Aunty would react. 

"What is this behaviour?! Prachi, I thought you said this middle class would be a good influence on Aryan, but it seems that she's a bad influence on you. You know that the daughter-in-law of the Kohli family shouldn't be so immature, this is this girl's first and last warning. If I see her acting immature or causing you to do so then I will cancel this marriage. Not only is she middle class, she's an unwanted child too. What good is a girl who's own parents didn't even want her?" Pallavi Aunty said, while she gave me a death stare I could feel the venom which she said those words. Every word was so full of hatred, for me, and my class. I stifled my tears as I recalled how my parents left me just because I was born a girl; I ruined my father's bloodline of boys only, and my mother too seemed disappointed. 

"Pallavi Aunty..." I began only to be interrupted by Pallavi Aunty, who asked me to address as mam at least until the wedding happened. 

"Apologies Mam, but things aren't as they seem," I was about to lie about the situation that Pallavi Aunty saw when I was again interrupted by her. 

"I'm sorry but I don't recall asking you for your false justifications. I don't think that I'm that old that I forget  what I did a few seconds ago, and I will not be listening to anything that a middle class orphan has to say. Prachi, would you mind explaining the situation? As the Kohli family's daughter-in-law and a Rockstar's daughter, I'm sure you would know better than to lie about such pity matters," Pallavi Aunty said, faking a smile. 

"Mom, I am sure that this Shahana was teasing Bhabhi about Ranbir Bhayia. Then Bhabhi probably threw a pillow at her and Shahana was about throw a pillow back at her, when you came in," Mishti said, in an attitude much similar to her mother's. I frowned as I couldn't help but notice the hypocrisy of Pallavi Aunty. Here, her own daughter was speaking out of turn and she wasn't saying anything but when I spoke 'out of turn' she would always lash out at me and then somehow go on to the topic that I'm a middle class orphan. 

I would love to give this woman a piece of my mind right now, but I can't. The promise I made to Prachi Di is holding me back. I breathed in and out to calm myself down. However, the next words of Pallavi Aunty made me furious. 

"There's no doubt about that Mishti. Teasing is something useless, and it doesn't suit well if you're speaking to someone from a higher class than you. Prachi, this is Shahana's first and last chance. We don't give second chances in this family," Pallavi Aunty said and I could feel my anger rising. When it was Prachi Di's and Ranbir Bhayia's wedding, Pallavi Aunty had teased Ranbir till death along with Mishti, and now they're reprimanding me for the same thing! 

I could see that Prachi Di looked upset, and I knew she was about to shout at Pallavi Aunty. As much as I would've loved seeing Pallavi Aunty's face, I knew it would be bad for me and I would probably never be able to see Aryan, Prachi Di and Ranbir Bhayia again. I was grateful that Ranbir Bhayia, who had just come to take Prachi Di back to the Kohli's side of the mansion, heard everything and intervened before Prachi Di did something she would regret. 

"Mom, let it go please. It's Aryan's wedding next week, don't you think it'll ruin your relation with him if you insult Shahana?" Ranbir Bhayia said, caressing Prachi's hand in order to calm her down.

"Fine, but I am only accepting Shahana, as my daughter in law due to Prachi's insistence. If I think she becoming a bad influence on Prachi, I will instantly cancel the alliance between her and Aryan or make Aryan divorce her, if she's already married by then," Pallavi Aunty said, and the way she said my name with such venom made me furious. I would've snapped at her, finally giving her a reality check, and break my promise to Prachi Di, if weren't for Aryan. 

"Mom, Mishti, if you guys don't mind, I would like to speak to Shahana, alone." Aryan said, coming out of nowhere. I could sense the hesitance of Pallavi Aunty but she still left, and so did Mishti. 

"Bye! I guess we'll leave you two, alone." Ranbir Bhayia said, stressing the word alone and took Prachi Di away. 

"What is it Monkey?" I asked, and frowned on seeing the serious look on Aryan's face. 

"Look, Shahana, we're getting married next week and I don't want to keep any secrets between us. I have to confess something," Aryan looked at me solemnly. 

"What?" I whispered. 

"I - I've caused someone's death." Aryan said, tears brimmed his eyes and I looked at him in shock. 

I remain silent, and Aryan continued, "Kiara Di, she suicided because of me. She loved Kabir Jiju so much, and one day I decided to play a prank. I lied to Kiara Di about Kabir Jiju's plans by giving her false hope that Kabir Jiju loved her. Later that day when I Kiara Di thought saw Kabir Jiju kissing someone else, she was shattered. She suicided later that day and left a note. It could've been avoided if I just told her the truth to begin with, she wouldn't have expected anything from Kabir Jiju if I didn't give her false hope." 

I could sense that Aryan stifled his tears and I held his hand, in an attempt to comfort him. 

"Aryan, from the way you've said this, it wasn't entirely your fault. You just wanted to keep her heart from breaking. I'm glad you told me this. I also have a secret, but I can't reveal it to you until later. You'll die if you find out," I confessed as I didn't want my secret to get between us. 

"I understand. There was this girl, who is obsessed money. It's the reason why Mom hates you so much. She attempted to marry me, though she didn't even get close, and since then Mom loathes middle class people," Aryan finally told me the reason behind Pallavi Aunty's behaviour and I nodded understandingly. 

"I guess other than my one life threatening secret, there aren't secrets between us, right?" I said and Aryan nodded. The both of us tenderly smiled, even though I could still sense Aryan's bad mood. 

*Flashback Ends* 

"I thought we didn't have anymore secrets, Aryan! I guess I was wrong," I voice out my thoughts, not caring about the tears streaming down my cheeks anymore. 

"Shahana," Aryan began to say, ever so softly but I raised my hand, signalling him to stop. 

"I want nothing to do with the murderer of my sister. From this onwards I don't know anyone named Aryan Khanna, I have never loved a single person in my life and I was never engaged to anyone." I say and rush out to my room and quickly pack my necessary belongings not listening to a word anyone says. 

(2221 words!) Phew! That was a long-ish one after a long-ish time. 

There will be a leap of one year, in the next update. Also, I get that a lot of you may be disappointed that Arhana didn't get married but it's necessary or else the plot I have in mind won't work. 

I'd like to give my thanks to Sassy_Nightangle for the banners. 

Please leave your reviews! Criticism is always welcome.