I was laughing wholeheartedly, clutching my stomach for a good 5 minutes when my mom reminded me about the word 'kitten' but my laughter stopped abruptly when I saw tears in her eyes.

"Why are you crying, mom?" I asked, going near her but she smiled at me. 

"It took me 6 years to hear my son's laughter again. You are changing, Veer. She's changing you." She said, giving me a contented smile while wiping her happy tears but my smile dropped immediately when the reality struck me.

"You're right, mom. She's changing me but I...I'm afraid. What if she chooses to leave me when she learns about the past?" I asked, feeling a lump in my throat. I couldn't stop myself from thinking about what would happen when she learns the truth about me and my sinful past.

"She won't leave you, Veer. Trust me she wo---" I stopped her and decided to change the topic as I didn't want to bother her with my negative thoughts.

"Mom, do you know about that guy who came today as Anu's friend?" I asked her indirectly about that Siddharth fellow and mom smiled at me teasingly.

"Are you asking about Siddharth Rajput?" She asked, emphasizing the word 'Rajput' and I gritted my teeth.

"So you allowed him to be Anu's friend even after knowing about him? Wait, since when you've known about him, mom?"

"I forgot to note down the date, Veer. I will do it next time when I meet anyone from Anu's friends list." She smirked at me and I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Tell me since when you know him, mom? Do you know what that rascal told me just now? He's in Anu's life with a motive. I'm not getting good vibes from him, mom. Please warn her to stop being friends with him."

"Don't worry, Veer. I know about him very well. He's not like what you think." She assured me but I sighed at her irritatedly.

"No, you don't know about him. He threatened me to----" She interrupted before I could let her know how did that fellow confess his motive to me.

"I trust that boy, Veer. At least his mom raised him correctly, unlike me who raised my son wrongly." She gave a sad smile while saying this and it made me feel a gnawing pain in my heart.

"Don't blame your upbringing, mom. You're the best mom one could ever have. It was all my fault. My love was weak enough to get manipulated by others." I clenched my fists, recalling those moments when the cunning witch manipulated me to turn against the love of my life.

Mom sighed at me and patted on my shoulder. She was about to say something but got interrupted by my phone which rang at that moment. I looked at the phone screen to see Anu's name there. I frowned in confusion and answered the call.

"What's the matter, Anu?" I asked.

There was no response for few seconds and I was about to speak again but stopped, hearing the voice which I recognised well. "It's Bani here." She spoke softly.

"Hey kitten, what's the matter? Why are you calling me from Anu's phone when we are under the same roof? You could've just come to the study directly." I told her and looked at my mom from the corner of my eyes to see her gaping at me. I knew she was shocked to hear me calling her kitten.

"Stop calling me kitten!" Bani raised her voice and I could hear her huffing angrily.

"Okay, relax and tell me why did you call me?"

"Hmm actually I...no.. I mean Sam asked me to call you and ask you to go back to our room as soon as possible as it's time to sleep already." She told me and I raised my eyebrow confusedly. Mom asked me why and I signalled her to hear the conversation before turning on the loudspeaker.

"You mean my mom asked you to call me and ask me to get back to our room as soon as possible. Did I hear it correctly?" I asked her to confirm it and mom shook her head while chuckling silently.

"Yes, you're right! So when are you going to our room?" She asked me impatiently and I smiled at her antics.

"Where are you now? You're not in our room?" I asked her back.

"No, I'm with Anu in her room. She is studying in the room and I came to the balcony to call you."

"Do you know where is my mom right now?" I asked again and I heard her sighing at my question.

"Look at the time, mister! It's going to be 11pm now so obviously she will be in her room."

"Oh really? But you just told me about mom asking you to call me to our room. What about that?" I asked her teasingly and I heard her muttering something under her breath.

"Yes, she is the one who asked me to call you otherwise why would I call you uneccesarily? I know you are busy in the study but you should sleep early too." She spoke like an old lady, making me feel amused.

"Okay, madam ji. Go to our room first. I will be there in 5." I chuckled at her and cut the call.

I turned towards mom to see her smiling at me but I could see a mischievousness behind that smile. I cleared my throat and looked away. "I didn't know that my son married a kitten instead of a girl." She giggled and continued, "And now that kitten is desperately waiting for your arrival until she has got the guts to take my name for a lie without my permission." She said, smirking at me and I rolled my eyes.

"She doesn't know that you're here with me that's why she lied, mom." I explained, trying to save the kitten from my tigress. I knew mom would definitely tease her the next day for the story she cooked up few minutes ago.

"Oh I see. Go to your room first, Veer, or else that desperate kitten of yours would come here searching for you." She teased me again and I groaned at her.

"Stop wasting my time here, mom. Good night!" I told her and left the room after earning a smack on my head from her.

I walked into our room only to frown in disappointment as she was nowhere to be seen. I took steps towards the balcony but stopped, seeing a shadow inside the walk-in closet.

Oh so the kitten is now trying to play hide and seek with me. Let me accompany you, baby girl.

I smirked when a mischievous idea popped up in my mind. I stood near the walk-in closet, took out my phone and pretended making a call to someone. "Hello....hi honey.... I miss you too.... No, my wife is not here now.... Oh so sweet of you baby..... Really? I can't wait to meet you..... Sure, let's meet our private guesthouse tomorrow.... And I----" As I expected, the jealous woman appeared in front of me, fuming with rage. She snatched my phone from me and glared at the poor screen but soon her eyes softened when she realised that I didn't make call to anyone. I smirked at her and she bit her lower lip while scratching the back of her neck.

I took a step forward and she involuntarily took a step backward. I again took few steps forward and she repeated the same action of hers until we entered into the walk-in closet and her back collided with the mirror there. I caged her between my arms as I placed my palms against the mirror on either side of her petite body.

She was gazing into my eyes and suddenly her gaze shifted towards my lips. She licked her lower lip and bit it making me lose my mind there. I took a deep breath and inched forward towards her lips to which she closed her eyes with anticipation.

Her eyes shot open when I brought my fingers near her face and touched her lips to caress them. But what shocked me there was, she slowly parted her lips and bit my fingers. I winced, jerking my hand as a relfex action. She giggled at me and ran past me into the room.

"Hey wait there!" I shouted, taking long strides towards her but she started running all around the room making me chase her. "You are gone today!!" I shouted again when she climbed on the bed.

"I'm sorry I won't do it again!! Stop chasing me!!!" She pleaded me in her not so sincere tone when I climbed on the bed and grabbed her hand.

"You're getting naughty, baby girl. I need to teach you a lesson today." I smirked, pulling her down to the floor by her hand.

"Ahhh Veeru ji leave me please!" My eyes popped out and I tightened my grip on her.

"What did you just call me?"

"Veeru ji." She giggled at me, sticking out her tongue at me when I glared at her.

"Who taught you this word? My name is Veeranshu so it's either Veer or Veeranshu but not that word."

I know it's either one of the both idiots must have taught her this word to irritate me.

"Which word, Veeru ji?" She smirked at me and that was the moment I realised I wasn't holding her anymore. She escaped from my grip and stood 3 feet away from me, getting ready to run away again.

"Kitten, call me that word again and my punishment will be severe I swear." I smirked, stepping forward but she pushed me away and ran to the other side of the bed.

"I'm not afraid of you, Veeru ji!!" She used that word again to irk me and I narrowed my eyes at her.

"If you're not afraid of me then come and stand in front of me right now. Why are you running away from me like a scaredy cat?" I tried to provoke her.

"I'm not stupid to come in front of you, Veeru ji." She stuck out her tongue at me and I smirked at her as an idea struck me.

I looked behind her at the door making a confused face and spoke, "Mom, what are you doing here?" I asked and she instantly turned back towards the door. I grabbed that chance to run to her and scooped her in my arms in a swift movement.

"Ahhhh Veeru ji!!!!" She squealed loudly, wriggling in my arms.

"Call me using that word again and I swear baby girl, I will throw you to the ground floor from here." I threatened her by taking her near the balcony railing and she immediately clutched my shirt tightly.

"No Veeru Ji, don't throw me!!!" She screamed in fear and I moved more nearer to the railing to which she screamed more in my ear, almost tearing my eardrum.

"You used that word again so I'm going to throw you down now." I said, pretending to lift my arms in order to release her from my grip but she wrapped her arms around my neck and hugged me tightly to prevent herself from falling down.

"No!!!! I'm sorry I won't use that word again. Please don't let me fall down. I'm sure I will die if I fall from here. Please Veeranshu ji, don't throw me. Please!!!!" She pleaded me with her panic-stricken face and I smirked at her.

"Okay, promise me that you won't call me using that word again if you don't want me to throw you from here."

"I promise I won't use that word again. Please move back and put me down." She sneaked a peek at the ground and again hugged me more tightly by hiding her face in the crook of my neck when she saw us standing closer to the railing.

I will never let you slip out of my arms, Bani.

I moved back and walked into the bedroom with her in my arms. I placed her gently on the bed but she glared at me before standing up on her feet and started hitting me with her fists. "Why?!! Why are you trying to kill me? You did the same in the car and now you were trying to kill me again!!!" She grumbled, hitting me more and I laughed at her antics. She got more angry hearing my laughter and pushed me on the bed. I lost my balance and fell on the bed but not before pulling her along with me to which she fell on me and caged me between her and the bed.

Ouch that's painful.

She pulled back from me and sat on my lower body, making my breath hitch. She started hitting me again while cursing me in an unknown language and I frowned at her. "What are you even saying? I can't understand your words." I told her but she took the pillow and began to hit me with it. I dodged her every attempt and seized her hands to stop her.

"You are so bad!!! I will tell Sam about what you did in the car and just now at the balcony. I will tell her that her son tried to kill me twice and ask her to punish you for it." She whined with a pout making me chuckle at her cuteness but the next moment I frowned noticing something on her arm.

"What is this? Looks like a scar." I asked, examining the scar on her arm. It looked like it had started to fade but was still visible when taking a look closer at it.

"Oh that's nothing. It's an old one." She shrugged and I remembered something.

"Damn!! Jaanu, what happened to your face? What's with this new bruise? Did you get punched by your opponent?"
"That's nothing, Ansh. As usual that bitch brought one of her boyfriends to her room last night and father caught her so she lied to him saying that the guy was my boyfriend and he slapped me with such a force that made me fall down and hit my face against the table."
"What the fuck is this? You're a fucking boxing champion and how the fuck you could let him hurt you? Why are you acting so weak in front of that ruthless cold-hearted man?"
"Woah lower your volume, Ansh. You're swearing so loudly and grabbing unwanted attention now."
"Shut up!!! Look at your face! It's hurting me to see you with such bruises, Jaanu. Where the hell did that useless brother of yours vanish off when your father was hurting you?"
"Hey, just calm down. I'm used to it already. Take a chill pill, hubby."
"Girl, stop calling me hubby in public. I'm afraid you will put me behind the bars for marrying a 18-year-old teen without her parents' consent."
"Awww don't worry, hubby. I will come and pay you a visit when you're behind the bars."

"Veeranshu ji!!!" Someone shook me making me get back to the reality. I looked at the person who was sitting in front of me with a frown on her face. I composed myself and forced a smile at her. "Are you okay? You were lost somewhere. Is there any problem?" She asked worriedly and I patted her cheek, shaking my head no.

"Nothing. It's getting late. Let's sleep." Saying this, I laid on my side and switched off the lights when I felt the bed dipping on her side. Few seconds later, I felt her holding my arm but I didn't open my eyes and slowly we drifted off to sleep.

*****

Three weeks passed since I got married to her. I couldn't say that our relationship improved a lot but there were slight differences compared to my bachelor's life. I had a wife at home who loved to annoy me all the time. I had found the past week rather hectic for me as I was trying all the possible ways to escape from the prankster, also known as the naughty kitten who always used to pull an innocent face in front of the elders at my home. Only my siblings and I knew how much efforts we put while trying to escape from her pranks.

One day, she mixed some shower gel in apple juice before serving it to me and Roshan. Fortunately, I refused to drink it that day but unfortunately, Roshan fell into the trap and suffered from stomach trouble for two whole days. The other day, she wore a ghost costume and hid inside Anu's wardrobe and Anu passed out on the spot when she opened the wardrobe. Just like that she pranked all the youngsters at home and pretended to be an innocent girl when they complained to the elders.

I smiled, recalling those moments I spent with her when I heard someone calling my name. I looked up to see the interns standing in front of me to report their daily duties. I was engaged with them until 5pm and finally decided to leave for home since I had no patients to attend after that. I reached home around 5:25pm and was about to get down but stopped seeing my wife getting into another car.

Where is she going alone without the bodyguards?

I frowned and chose to follow her when the car started to move. Meanwhile, I dialled mom's number to ask her about Bani and she told me that Bani was going to visit the Phoenix Home but the route Bani's car took was not leading to the home she mentioned. I understood something was fishy and decided to follow her from a distance. The car came to a halt near a secluded park and Bani hopped out quickly before walking forward a few more steps. I was about to go little nearer but stopped when I saw another two SUVs halting in front of her.

That was the moment when I stopped dead in my tracks and I was taken aback to see the person who came out from one of the SUVs and Bani immediately flung her arms around him, taking him into a bear hug.

Does she know him? What the hell is she doing with him?

Hey sweethearts, I'm sorry for the late update as I was quite busy since the last few days. The next chapter will be based on Bani's POV and soon I will be revealing some secrets from their past 😉

P.S. I know till now Bani's character is similar to my previous book but trust me you guys will see a different Bani soon so keep calm and wait patiently until I take the story into the right track at the right time ♥️