Chapter 55

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(🚨 Long chapter ahead 🚨)

"What the... When did you guys arrive?" Yuvaan snapped up from the couch and rushed towards the two women, who had entered our house with their luggage.

"Thanks a lot for coming on such a short notice," I said and touched the elder woman's feet.

She gave me her blessings and caressed my hair lovingly. "How could I say no when you asked so politely? And it has been such a long time since I met my brother."

Yuvaan grinned and hugged his cousin sister. She was older than us and had a fourteen year old daughter, who at the moment was staring at me and pulling Yuvaan's sleeve to gain his attention.

"Maamu (Uncle), I am here too," she complained.

Yuvaan gave her a bear hug and pulled her cheeks. She whined when Yuvaan teased her about her short height, while her mother laughed at the exchange. Both mother and daughter looked similar: round face, broad forehead, black hair, and dark brown eyes.

"I am still growing, Maamu. Don't make fun of me. By the time I turn eighteen, I will be taller than you," the young girl said.

"Sure, why not? I will also like to see you grow past 6ft, shorty." Yuvaan chuckled.

"Enough both of you," Yuvaan's sister scolded. "Mysha, are you going to shower all your attention on your Maamu only?"

Mysha stuck out her tongue in embarrassment and came forward to touch my feet. I stopped her before she touched my feet and hugged her. She stared at me for some time and glanced at Yuvaan, a mischievous smile playing on her lips.

"I like her. I approve of her to be my aunt," she said.

Yuvaan smacked her behind the head. "Did your brain stop growing since kindergarten? She is my wife; why are you giving your approval now?"

"Maa, Maamu is hitting me."

Mysha's mother, Navya, rolled her eyes and told me not to bother with the two weirdos. Even though Mysha was a lot younger than Yuvaan, he never held back from pulling her leg whenever both of them met. She was his niece, but he always treated her like his younger sister.

"Let them both do whatever they want," Navya told me, and we went upstairs to get their luggage set in the guest room.

When we came back downstairs, Yuvaan and Mysha were fighting over the TV remote, and Advait had arrived too in time for lunch. He was having fun watching both uncle and niece acting like cavemen over an electronic device.

I went inside the kitchen to prepare lunch, while Navya went to meet Advait. Just like Shruti Aunty had suggested, I invited Yuvaan's cousin sister and her daughter to let Yuvaan stop overthinking about other stuff. I thought that Yuvaan only had his mom and friends, but seeing him smiling with no care in the world around these two women, it was clear that he was very close to both of them.

"Wassup, Yuv?"

I glanced over my shoulder when I heard an unfamiliar male voice. Two men, in casual outfits, entered the house and roamed their eyes around with a smirk on their faces. Yuvaan pursed his lips and shook his head after seeing the two men behaving as if they were in an amusement park.

"Come on, boy. Aren't you going to welcome us?" one of them, with sharp eyes and pointed nose, asked.

I didn't remember inviting them. Who were they?

"They are my younger brothers," Navya informed me as she entered the kitchen. "Sorry, Reyna. I and Mysha were going to come alone, but these two idiots tagged along too. I am really sorry for the trouble."

Idiots?

"It is okay, Didi. They are your brothers, so they are always welcome," I assured.

She gave me a small smile and offered to help me in cooking. After a lot for convincing, I agreed, and we both prepared lunch for everyone. Once we were done, I went to introduce myself to the new guests and regretted it instantly.

"Wow, Yuvi. You got a nice catch, didn't you?" the other man, with wavy brown hair and crooked front teeth, commented as soon as he saw me.

"Really, bro. Why didn't you invite us to the wedding? Were you trying to hide your wife from us?"

"Rohan!" Navya warned her second brother.

"Come on, Didi, it was just a joke. Chill, okay?" her first younger brother, Vihaan, said.

He laughed to reduce the tension and glimpsed at me. He nudged Rohan, who was already glancing at me in between. I looked at Yuvaan, and he had clutched the TV remote in his hand tightly. He didn't say anything to his older cousin brothers, but the way he was burning holes in them didn't look pleasant.

Rohan and Vihaan tried to converse with Advait, but unlike his usual carefree self, Advait didn't entertain the two men. Mysha looked at his uncles in annoyance when they asked her about her studies. Before she could snap at them, her mother announced that it was time for lunch.

After everyone was seated on the dining table, I began serving food, but Yuvaan stopped me. He got up himself and served the lunch to us. His brother joked about him being acting like a lovesick puppy and me keeping him under control, but Navya managed to shut her brother up once again.

Even though I met the two men for the first time, I didn't like their presence at all. They were always picking on Yuvaan, discussing his childhood and how he was a weakling in his school days. They commented that they still wondered how their weak and helpless younger brother managed to earn so much wealth.

"Why don't you worry about yourself instead of getting jealous of my Maamu?" Mysha grumbled.

"Hey, hey, little punk. Is that how you talk to elders?" Vihaan scolded.

"Is this what you learn at school?" Rohan added. "Don't forget we are also your uncles and older than your Yuvaan Maamu."

"So what? You just look older, but your brains are still pea sized," Mysha retorted.

Yuvaan and Advait choked themselves on their food, and I saw Navya trying to conceal her smile, but she fake glared at her daughter, who smirked at her uncles' annoyed faces and continued eating. Rohan and Vihaan kept quite after that, and after lunch, both of them retired to their rooms without saying anything.

Yuvaan patted Mysha's head, and she grinned when Advait taught her some more comebacks. Unlike her real uncles, she was more close with Yuvaan and Advait.

I decided to relax before getting some office work done. Around 5pm, Navya retired to her room, and Yuvaan and Advait went to Yuvaan's study room, while I stayed in the living room, working and watching TV at the same time.

"What are you doing, Reyna Mami (aunt)?" Mysha asked.

"Completing some pending stuff," I said.

"Wow. You have so much work... Don't you get tired? I get tired even after doing one assignment, and I still have to complete my 10th grade. What will I do with my lazy ass? If we were getting paid to sleep all day, I would have been a millionaire by now."

I laughed at her as she complained about her life and told me about her uncles. She mentioned that Yuvaan was her favorite, and she saw him as both father and elder brother figure. When I asked her about her real dad, she told me that her parents got divorced long ago, but she never felt her father's absence.

"You seem to love your Yuvaan Maamu a lot," I commented.

"Yup." She nodded. "Mom loves him too and is very protective of him. Whenever Maamu and I get in a banter, she always takes his side. I don't like my other uncles though. They always try to disrespect my Yuvaan Maamu only because they took care of him when he was in high school and didn't have anyone else to depend upon. They act all big, but in reality, they are just envious of Maamu's success, and now that you are his wife, they must be burning with jealousy."

"Did they bully Yuvaan?"

"I guess so. I always tell Maamu to teach them a lesson, but he doesn't do so. I don't understand why he listens to their shit when he is stronger than them. It is good that Mom is there, or I would have thrown Rohan and Vihaan uncle in the gutter long ago."

She seems to hate her uncles a lot. And she looks to be as protective of Yuvaan as her mother and Shruti Aunty.

Shruti Aunty...

"Umm... Mysha, do you know anything about your Maamu's father?" I asked.

"He is dead," she stated plainly.

"Dead?"

"Yeah. I mean no one ever talks about him, so he must be dead, right?"

"Does Yuvaan's mother have a second husband then? Have you seen him?"

She thought for a minute. "Nope. Come to think of it, I never wondered about that. But, Shruti Nani (grandmother) applies sindoor (vermillion), so she must be married, no? I guess she must have gotten in a fight with her husband, and now they are taking a break."

So she also didn't know much about Yuvaan's family. No surprise in that; she was really young.

"Why don't we go and directly ask Maamu?" Mysha suggested.

"No, it is okay. I was just curious." I waved her off.

She nodded and went back to her rambling. After chattering for one hour, she got tired and went to her room to rest. After she left, I also winded up my work quickly. I prepared dinner, and unlike during lunch, both Rohan and Vihaan kept their mouth shut instead of talking nonsense.

Everyone retired to their rooms, but Yuvaan asked me if he could go and talk to his sister. I told him to do as he wished because that was my main purpose of inviting his cousin and niece to take his mind off other things.

He grinned like a kid and exited his room after grabbing his cellphone. I smiled after seeing him happy and laid down on my bed. Since morning, I was waiting for Navya and Mysha's arrival and worrying about Yuvaan's reaction. Fortunately, he liked the surprise, and I could sleep in peace.

I closed my eyes, but what Mysha mentioned about Yuvaan getting bullied by his cousins kept ringing in my ears. Also, Navya didn't seem to be fond of her brothers as much she was of Yuvaan.

If Yuvaan was so close to Navya and his niece, then why didn't he mention about them earlier? Was he hiding it on purpose? Should I ask him then? I am getting curious now.

Don't do it, Reyna. You don't know how Yuvaan will react. He must not have told you about his relatives because it might be something sensitive or really personal. Don't worry. If he feels like it, he will tell you himself. You don't need to pressurise him.

I agreed with what my inner voice advised. My motive was to keep Yuvaan's mind calm and not to get him overworked by my queries. I opened my eyes when I felt thirsty. I saw that the jug on my bedside table was empty, so I went downstairs to refill it and drink some water.

While I was gulping down water, I thought about what I was going to do about Lokesh and Himesh. I had managed to get Raghuveer to make a deal with them about infrastructure projects, but I had to be present on the field to know more about their current activities.

After my first meeting with Lokesh's wife, Geeta, I met her a few more times and got close with her. Thanks to her, I was able to extract a lot of information about his business models and partners, schedule, and where he traveled to in his free time. But I had to do something about Himesh. He wasn't married and was low-profile unlike his friend. And I knew he was suspicious of me.

I have to work fast, or the prey will get cautious.

"Aren't you such a nice piece?"

I felt a pair of hands on my waist and looked over my shoulder. Vihaan winked at me and increased his hold.

"Let's go to my room," he suggested.

"Get your hands off me," I warned.

"Come on, girl. Don't act so shy in front of me. We will have a nice time. I promise it will be more fun than what you do with your husband."

I pushed him back and grabbed a knife. "One more step, and I will behead you."

"Stop fooling around, will ya? I know Yuvaan got lucky, but if you come with me, you won't regret. What are you afraid of? Even if Yuvaan finds out, he won't be able to do anything." He shrugged. "That weakling can't even utter a single word against us."

Weakling?

I stepped forward, but before I could slice Vihaan's neck, a belt got wrapped around his throat, pulling him back in a flash. Vihaan choked and tried to free himself, but Yuvaan tightened the belt around his neck and threatened him that he would kill him for sure today.

"Vihaan bhaiyya!" Rohan yelled and came for his brother's rescue. "What are you doing, Yuvaan? Leave him!"

"Not this time," Yuvaan growled.

"Help..." Vihaan cried.

Rohan tried to push Yuvaan off and glanced at me in worry, but I crossed my arms across my chest and leaned my back on the kitchen counter. Rohan's eyes widened when I smirked at him and shone the knife in his direction.

"Why don't you leave before you get butchered too?" I asked him.

"What the hell?" Rohan yelled.

Vihaan's face kept getting paler by each passing second, and when Rohan couldn't do anything, he called his sister for help. Navya and Advait rushed downstairs, and I thought that Navya would stop Yuvaan, but she didn't.

She asked me what happened, and when I told her that Vihaan tried to assault me, she narrowed her eyes at her brother.

"I had already warned them to behave themselves," she mumbled.

"Didi, do something. Vihaan bhaiyya will die at this rate. Why aren't you doing anything?" Rohan complained.

Navya waited for some time and then told Yuvaan to leave Vihaan. My husband loosened his grip instantly, and his cousin brother crawled on the floor to get some air in his lungs. Rohan clenched his fists and helped his brother. He glared at Yuvaan and pointed at me.

"You were going to kill your brother for that slut?" he accused.

Yuvaan kicked him across the face, and punched him again. When Vihaan saw his younger brother getting beaten up, he intervened, but Yuvaan beat him too.

"You think I will tolerate your nonsense again? I was letting you off the hook because of Navya Didi, but if you dare to even look at my wife again, you are dead," Yuvaan said.

Rohan and Vihaan didn't take his warning and started saying bad things about him and me. Yuvaan cracked his knuckles and glanced at his sister. She gave him a short nod, and it was enough for Yuvaan to break his older brothers' bones.

"Aren't you worried Navya Didi?" I asked.

"They deserve it," she said.

When Yuvaan got tired, he told Advait to take over.

"With pleasure," Advait said.

He smiled cynically and had a good time beating Vihaan and Rohan for what they did. Meanwhile, Navya bandaged Yuvaan's hands, and once her brothers fell unconscious, she applied the ointment to Advait too.

"Are you okay?" Yuvaan asked me.

"Yes. Thank you for saving me." I smiled.

He nodded, and Navya told us to go to our room. Yuvaan and I left upstairs, while Advait and Navya got Rohan and Vihaan treated and transferred to their rooms. Once we were in our room, Yuvaan hugged me and apologized for what his brother did.

"I am okay. It wasn't your fault, so don't blame yourself," I said and patted his back.

"No, it was my fault. I should have told them to leave in the afternoon itself. I am sorry you had to go through that."

"But you took care of them pretty well. I am proud of you."

Yuvaan broke the hug and stared at me intensely. I repeated what I said, and he crushed me in his arms after kissing all over my face.

"I promise it won't happen again," he said. "I will protect you."

I hugged him tightly and relaxed in his embrace. I knew he wouldn't let anything happen to me, but I couldn't always depend on him to save me.

Some fights are meant to be fought alone.

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