"Please stop. You are stepping on Dev... Dev's stone." Chandni bent down to his feet, and grabbed the stone lying right next to his shoe.

"What?" Advay watched in confusion, as she scrambled to get the stone from the ground. For a second, he was dazzled but the moment he saw the stone and the eagerness with which she grabbed it, he felt astounded.

As he watched, Chandni held the stone close to her heart first and then gently kissed it. The relief that he felt to realise that Chandni still didn't know about his identity was such that he relaxed immediately, and temporarily forgot the anguish and pain he was feeling just then, as he walked away from her. But was there a tiny bit of regret too somewhere? He dismissed that thought from his mind quickly, as he observed how preciously she was guarding a mere stone that he gave her 16 years ago...

Is she still the innocent Chandu of his childhood? Somewhere deep down, he felt immensely proud of his girl and a rare, happy smile spread across his face!! As she slowly raised her eyes to him, feeling flustered and embarrassed at the same time, he quickly changed his expressions to a smirk.

"What the hell was that?" He hissed.

Chandni became more flustered but thought it was inevitable to explain.

"This stone, you were about to step on it, so I shouted at you to stop; because it is very precious to me... It was given to me by my friend Dev... Dev Kashyap. He told me that whenever I feel stressed or afraid, this stone will help me and it still does. Even on Maha Aarti day, when I was feeling too scared and lost, I just held this stone to my heart, and it gave me tremendous strength to come back and finish the Aarti. Whenever I touch this, I feel as if Dev is with me, supporting me." Her voice turned emotional.

"I have never heard anything funnier, seriously speaking!!! A mere stone giving you courage. It must have some supernatural powers or something... and who is this Dev, another suitor of you like that idiot PP?" Advay said mockingly.

 Just as he expected, Chandni's nostrils flared in anger,  and his mind went back to their childhood, when he used to tease and mock her mercilessly for every small thing. How he wished things were the way they were, back then!!

Chandni first opened her mouth to give a sharp response, but then held back. Why should she explain who Dev was to him, and what special place Dev had in her heart?

"This stone may look like a mere stone to you, but it is special for me because of the sentiment that is attached to it, and the trust I have in my friend Dev. But what would you understand about such feelings? You are from a foreign country..."

All the tender feelings he was experiencing towards her evaporated in a second.

Advay cut her off midway as anger rose in him sharply.

 "You know it sounds funny, and even insulting to listen to you talk about trust and sentiment. You are nothing but a liar, who doesn't care what damage you do to others around you, by your behaviour." He retorted.

"When did I ever lie to you? Why do you keep accusing me of being a liar? Please tell me once and for all. I don't even know you, till you came here few weeks ago. And now you want to marry me, against my wishes and especially against my mother's wishes. Please don't do this to me and to my family. I beg you, once again, stop all this!! My Maa has given word to PP ji's family that I will be their daughter in law. I don't want to disappoint my mother at any cost. She means the world to me. How many times do I have to explain that I don't want to go against her wishes, and I don't want to marry you. Please!!! For the sake of honour of my family..."

Advay's blood boiled as he heard Chandni talk about the family honour. Who was that little boy in the orphanage then? She lied through her teeth, when he confronted her about that lady from the orphanage. He still couldn't believe that the baby was hers, even though the orphanage records were saying so. She was definitely protecting someone very close. He had already decided how to deal with her when the right time comes. But first, he must make sure that his plan goes ahead without any hitch.

He interrupted her halfway.

"Of course Chandni Yash Narayan Vashisht!!! It is always about your family and its honour isn't it? As if other people and their family honour counts for nothing...such double standards... and speaking of double standards, why are you saying you don't want to marry me Chandni? Just a while ago, you didn't seem too averse to me.... so why this façade of being a good girl who won't go against her dear mom's wishes?" He snarled at her.

"What do you mean?" Chandni whispered back, as her heart sank, suddenly trying to decipher the meaning of his slur.

"Well if you want me to elaborate... then your wish is my command." He slowly advanced towards her again, and she walked back and hit the pillar this time. He bent down and blew slowly in her face, and she closed her eyes in half, as the same tingling sensation spread from her core, whenever he was near her.

He touched her chin and slowly raised her face back to lock his gaze with hers. Placing both his arms on either side of her, he whispered back, " You were melting in my arms just a few moments ago when I was applying Haldi to you, have you forgotten Bhagyavan? Do you want me to remind you again?" He bent towards her, and she was horrified with shame at his blatant suggestion.

Advay stopped and smirked, as he observed the myriad of emotions going through Chandni's eyes.

"I am not a hypocrite Chandni, I know what I want, and I have been straightforward with you from the beginning . I wanted to marry you. I proposed to you long time ago, if only you had accepted my proposal then, all this would have never happened. Even you Baba had blessed our union and gave your hand to me. Doesn't his wishes and blessings mean nothing to you?

I have said this before 'main tumhara bahuth purana ashiq hoon'  and you are mine, how much ever you fight this or try to run away from this, you must know that I am your destiny, and I will not stop till I get what is mine.

Tum chaahe galat ho ya sahi ho...

Tum chaahe aansoon ho ya khushi ho...

Tum chaahe dard ho ya duaa...

Chaahat ho ya nafrat ho...

Jo bhi ho, jaisi bhi ho...

Sirf meri ho tum Chandni

Please stop fretting now. Be relaxed, happy and get ready for our wedding. You should be the most beautiful bride when I look at you tomorrow. And WE ARE getting married tomorrow just as I planned, and no one can stop this. You just remember that." Advay slowly drew himself away from her and walked off.

Advay's words had such finality in them that Chandni collapsed against the same pillar, exhausted and frustrated at her situation. She kissed Dev's stone again, but this time, Dev's stone gave her no solace either, and fresh tears started rolling along her cheeks.

=============================

Wedding day, many hours later....

==============================

Blood was trickling down Advay's forehead, and almost seeped into his eyes as he lay unconscious on the floor, after so many goons mercilessly beat him up in front of the mandap where Chandni was getting married to PP (Pratham).

Chandni watched helplessly at Advay as tears streamed down her cheeks. All the time he was getting beaten, he was just looking at her, as if waiting for her to say something, anything.... Why couldn't she bring herself to speak out her mind, was the question that was eating her mind... As he fell down finally, she cried for him and said his name out aloud, but it was already too late by then.

It was true that she was marrying PPji purely to comply with her Maa's wishes, and also in gratitude for what PPji had done to clear all their family's debts. But her heart was not in this marriage. She wasn't sure where her heart was or rather, she was actually sure but didn't want to admit to herself.

She was not free to follow her heart; she is the eldest daughter of Yash Narayan Vashisht, and it was her duty to do everything in her capacity to keep up their family honour.

She was in peace with herself till Advay came along. He disturbed her whole balance and mind, not to mention her heart. She gulped and drank her tears back, as she remembered every moment he made her heart flutter. As he correctly said, she actually performed every marriage ritual with him, not PPji. He should be the one sitting next to her, in front of the holy fire. But...

But seeing Advay lying on the floor, so helpless, made her heart bleed out for him.

Somehow in her mind, he always looked all powerful and invincible. She silently prayed for him to get up. Meanwhile the Purohit was giving some instructions for her and PPji. She mechanically did, whatever she was being asked to.

As the smell of the earth hit him, Advay was slowly coming back to his senses. But the pain at the back of his head was crucifying. Chandni had deceived him once again, and colluded with his Maa and PP to come here secretly and get married. And as he waited and watched her, she remained defiant, and didn't move while all those goons tried to overpower him.

When will he ever learn not to trust her again? She was the one who lied to the whole town 16 years ago about his mother, and thanks to her lie, her mother was burnt alive. And he watched her burn.... And he had been burning in his own hell ever since.

His sole purpose in coming back to Allahabad was to avenge his parents' death, and see the whole Vashisht family burn in hell. He can't lie or rest till that happens...His thirst for revenge fuelled him, it served as the last energy he could draw upon, no matter how badly beaten up he was.

He slowly opened his eyes and took in his surroundings. The goons have temporarily left the place, although he knew they will be back, they moment he got up. But he was beyond all that now.. He could see that sleaze PP was seated next to his Chandni. He seethed in fury. He had to stop this marriage.

He got up and slowly began to walk towards the Mandap. One by one the goons began to attack him once again, but this time, he didn't let them even raise their hand against him. He hit them so hard with hands or whatever weapon he could find there, and beat them all to pulp.

Indrani and PP looked at him with horrified eyes, as the tables just turned back against them. But he had his eyes only for his Chandni. He strode up to her at the Mandap, and looked straight into her eyes as she her eyes caressed him with relief.

"Chandni, didn't I tell you yesterday that no matter what happens, I am going to marry you and marry you today? How dare you leave the Mandap at our home and come here?" His voice was deceptively calm, even though the fire that was burning inside him was consuming him.

Chandni shivered as she sensed the rage in his eyes. With a lot of difficulty she found her courage and replied in a trembling voice.

"And I told you I can't get married to you because I won't do anything against my mother's wishes."

Advay he realised that he can't let Chandni get away with any excuse this time. It was time to make her and her family realise that, ultimately he holds all the aces in this deadly game.

He slowly moved towards the mandap and grabbed her hand. She looked on helplessly, as he pulled her out of the Mandap and led her towards the small out house in the premises.

Everyone in Vashisht family, PP and his mother looked at him in terror, but made no attempt to stop him or Chandni.

^ -----------------^

Hi everyone,

Haha Advay's secret is still safe for now. Sorry for misleading you all in the last chapter.

A quick update this time with the new chapter and you will notice the subtle changes in my story to the original show and as I have mentioned before, I will be only using certain moments from the show and my story will take a different course in later chapters too.

So what do you make of this chapter?

Please let me know with your comments.

Lots of love

Sesi