Chapter 29

Waiting at the corridor, Vihaan saw a neatly dressed up Virendra moving out of his own room and hurrying to reach downstairs for the ceremony. "Dad!"

"Did you return so soon? How was the Burhanpur trip?" Virendra asked, adjusting the collar of his long tunic.

"Dad, are you going to attend the ring ceremony downstairs?" Vihaan asked in surprise when he saw his father dressed unusually for the occasion.

"Of course, yes. What's the harm?"

"It means you know everything! The Ringers' Park, the engagement, Arjun and...Nobody told me." Vihaan was astonished.

"You don't like parties and gaudiness in life so we didn't feel the urge to inform you. But now since you're home, you may join us," Virendra spoke casually.

"Are you really kidding, dad? How could you forgive Sanchi for all her plotting behind our back? She planned so many things and put up the engagement drama tonight!" Vihaan uttered in disgust.

"She didn't plan anything behind our back. She took our permission before moving ahead. I know you have reasons to be pissed at her because you were not told the truth. But your rudeness is something the poor child couldn't gather courage to face." Virendra laughed.

"It means you are supporting her in whatever she did or is still doing!" Vihaan snapped, sweat trickling down his forehead.

"We do support her. How can we allow marriage between wrong people when the other two are truly and madly in love!"

"Nonsense!" Vihaan gasped.

"No more of your anger, son. It's time that you forgive her now. When you fall in love one day, you'll realize what true love is and you'll understand why she supported true love." Virendra squeezed his son's shoulders and left for the ceremony.

"I will never forgive her," Vihaan muttered before storming into his workroom and locking the door behind him.

*****

Sanchi took the stage along with Arjun, announcing the engagement ceremony to the audience. "I know it's awk-ward but lucki-ly true. Arjun being Dhee-raj bro's best fri-end and I being Vidya's best fri-end, and also beca-use of our dual eff-orts that we could unite Vidya and Dhee-raj bro toge-ther in life."

Arjun continued, "So wasn't it right for us to first announce the engagement of our beloved friends before calling them on stage?"

Everybody clapped as Vidya and Dheeraj joined them on the stage. The rings and vows were exchanged smoothly before Virendra took a spot beside them.

"Hemant and I, we both have met the pundit to decide on a marriage date. The best date is found to be twenty five days hence, that is on the twenty-fifth of August. We have chosen to finalise the same date for them and the preparations are supposed to commence from tomorrow itself. There is no room for more delay again," Virendra announced, a broad smile appearing on his lips.

Everyone was clapping and giggling while Sanchi looked up at the corridor. She knew she was missing Vihaan at the ring ceremony but his party hating habits had kept himself locked in his workroom.

Sanchi moved to the kitchen and grabbed the less spicy food plate from the counter, which she had especially cooked for Vihaan. She was sure that he wouldn't even come down for dinner.

Leaving the crowd behind her, she walked her way to their room only to find Vihaan missing. She realised that he would be present at the workroom since it was already ten in the night.

*

The workroom was as usual locked and Sanchi contemplated to knock on it. Gathering a lot of courage, she banged the door lightly. When he didn't respond, she knocked again. "Vih-aan, ple-ase open the door."

Sanchi waited for a couple of minutes before speaking again, "I know you are inside. I wa-nt you to move out ri-ght now."

When she lifted her hand to knock again, Vihaan flung the door open, standing facing her, fire flaming in his eyes. "What do you need?"

Sanchi bit her lower lip. "I... I brou-ght din-ner for you. I know you haven't eaten any-thing and..."

"Did mom send this for me?"

"I brou-ght it myself, I actu-ally... coo-ked it myself... I..." Sanchi fumbled seeing the anger in his eyes.

"Where did you find my cellphone? It was lying on the nightstand and I am sure you found it." Vihaan was trying to be polite.

Sanchi couldn't afford to tell him the truth since she had herself accused him for trying to intrude in her personal space. Though he might have accidentally seen her message and deleted it, but she had purposely unlocked his confidential door and seen every other detail.

"It was ly-ing in....the gar-age." She lied.

Vihaan nodded and turned to disappear into the room when Sanchi interrupted again, "And din-ner?"

"I don't need your compassion, you may have it all to yourself," he uttered, gritting his teeth.

"Sorry but I am not try-ing to sym-pathize. I am here to..."

"I already know why you are here, to bloody apologize! You are here with the food because you believe food is the road to a person's heart and I'll forgive you easily for whatever you've done. You are a liar and cheater, I'll never forgive you for whatever you've done," Vihaan's voice thundered across the corridor.

Sanchi could easily figure out the cause of his anger. "So he kn-ew his mo-bile was here and rea-lized I was lying to him. Oh God! Why did I enter his confi-dential room?"

Sanchi opened her mouth to speak when he intervened, "Please leave from here."

"I am sorry for ly-ing but ple-ase list-en to me once. Don't I de-serve a chance to ex-plain my-self?" Sanchi pleaded, grabbing the food plate tightly to her bosom.

"You don't deserve anything, Sanchi! You are also a liar and cheater like every other woman in the world. I was trying to think whether to trust you beyond everything but... You made my confusion and decision easy. You know what I want from you now?" Vihaan's voice didn't sound the same as it had been always whenever he spoke to her. It wasn't an angry or raging voice, but there were some sort of pains in it.

"What?" Tears rolled down Sanchi's eyes.

"I really want to free you from the shackles of the remaining five months. Mom has already improved and the divorce application is already on the process. You may leave on your own discretion because..." Vihaan gulped. "Because I don't want to keep seeing a liar in front of me!"

Wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand, she held the food plate before him. "I will abi-de by your orders, Sir. But I can't have my din-ner unless you....it's a part of the rit-ual. Ple-ase don't in-sult the food at least. I'm plea-ding you for one last time, ple-ase don't."

Grabbing the plate from her hand, he uttered again, "I know I will not insult food willingly because it never betrays me. And that fasting, it wasn't necessary to pretend for something you never wanted to do. I did never tell you to do it. Now before I lose my temper and all the stacked up anger against you, get out of here. I don't even want to see your face again, ever. I mean it this time."

"I really want-ed to...keep the fast...beli-eve me I'm not lying. Ple-ase stop get-ting angry every now and then," Sanchi tried to explain because she knew she had to break the false arrogant wall around him and it could only be done with sober behavior from her side.

"Listen, stop pretending again. I'll tell you something tonight." Vihaan inhaled a deep breath. Moving closer to her, he bent forward to stare in her moist eyes. "Those who get angry are always honest but those who lie, they laugh behind others. I have heard that more emotions are written on people's faces than those written in books."

Vihaan turned towards the metal door and stepped inside. "And your face doesn't speak the truth today."
He locked the door right on her face, leaving her in utter devastation and loneliness.

*

Behind Sanchi, Vidya was standing in a dark corner, listening to the conversation between Sanchi and Vihaan. Vidya had reached the corridor searching for Sanchi so that she could have her dinner with her.

Storming out of the corridor, Vidya rushed to Dheeraj's room. "Dheeraj!"

"What happened to you? Why are you breathing hard? I just came to freshen up and then we'll have dinner together."  Dheeraj held her shoulders.

"I'm taking away Vanya to my house tonight and I mean it," Vidya uttered loudly, pain in her voice.

"What's the matter? I know she is your soulmate and you'll need her beside you during the marriage."

"I would have definitely asked her for it at least a couple of days before the finalised date. But now I have stronger reasons to take her away with me till the marriage is accomplished," Vidya shouted on the top of her voice.

"What's wrong with you, Vidya?"

"Nothing is wrong with me, it's with your brother's damned arrogance!" Vidya blurted, "We both know the truth of their marriage but I was positive with it, thinking Vihaan will change himself. But no, he and his arrogance were already full of bullshit earlier. In the process of showing his ego, he's hurting Vanya and she is a girl who wouldn't share her pains with anyone. I wonder if he has been hurting her all the days she has been with him."

"Relax yourself. I'll talk to Vihaan."

"You do whatever you feel like, Dheeraj. He's your own brother but I can't allow Vanya to suffer because of him. Especially not now after Shay and I are with her," Vidya remarked angrily.

"I have never seen you losing your temper, Vidya." Dheeraj frowned.

"Your brother just asked Vanya to leave the house and his life as soon as possible. How can I control myself? I don't know what happened, why he insulted her but he called her a liar and cheat." Vidya inhaled deeply. "He just crossed all his limits and I can't even imagine keeping her here for some more days."

"I understand your concerns and I'll speak to him as soon as he cools down. He doesn't utter anything without a purpose." Dheeraj tried to calm Vidya.

"Do you think Vanya can do anything to hurt him on purpose?" Vidya yelled again.

"Vidya!" Dheeraj held her shoulders tightly. "Why are we fighting for no reason? Isn't it our responsibility to settle everything between them? I don't think Sanchi or Vihaan, either of them can do anything on purpose. But I know his arrogance, so I'll talk to him."

Vidya hugged him. "You talk to him but for now, I'm taking her with me. He even insulted her for the fast she kept for him. If he really realizes his mistakes and apologizes to her, Vanya will happily return home. Or else she'll be returning with me after our marriage. I'll be here with her to protect her from his arrogance after that."

Dheeraj agreed. "I think you are right. They need to stay away for the time being or else they'll keep fighting and hurt each other. I'll take care of my brother's arrogance soon."

*****

After dinner, Vidya spoke in front of the family, "Durga aunt, may I take Vanya with me till the marriage? It's just a matter of a few days and I found her after so many years. I can't let go this opportunity. I need her beside me during my best days."

Durga was trying to decide whether to allow her when Virendra interrupted, "I think we should allow her. Sanchi is her soulmate first and then a member of this family. They met after many years and didn't even get enough time to spend with each other."

Sanchi smiled weakly before nodding in agreement. She thought to herself, "I was wondering how to go away from him after all that happened tonight. Vidya somehow saved me from the dilemma."

*****

Sanchi carried most of her luggage before leaving the house with Vidya and her family. She was completely devastated and tormented with whatever Vihaan had told her, in fact he had deliberately insulted her. She knew she was at fault for sneaking into his room secretly but his taunting words to her were unbearable.

After all the days they had spent together, Vihaan never blamed or insulted her the way he did that night. Lying down on the bed in Trivedi House's guestroom, she was sobbing profusely.

Her heart refused to believe whether he was the same Vihaan who had his heart of gold locked in a beautiful cage, if he was the same Vihaan who sacrificed so much for her to save her from Shakti or if he was the same man who had just embraced her a few hours ago when she had fainted from fasting for him.

Thinking only of Vihaan, she stayed awake on bed for a longer time that night before falling to sleep before the break of dawn.

*

Vihaan didn't care to move out of his workroom for the whole night. He did consume the food that she had fetched him, cooked with her own hands. He even realized that it had the same taste as the lunch at the bureau had tasted to him.

But he didn't realize the sin he committed for humiliating her, for insulting the only woman he wanted to trust after his mother had broken it years ago. It was all because he already knew he was insulting her, on purpose.

He wanted to free her from the bond of the contractual marriage so that she could move on easily without having to face the wrath of his family. He would take all the blame on himself for eliminating her from his fucked up life.

*****

Vihaan could not sleep even for a minute the previous night. He had never felt so worn out earlier in his life. The moment he thought of the worst conversation with her, he felt guilty, extremely pained for his lowly behaviour.

Moving out of his workroom the next day, he walked down the stairs and into the hallway. The litters of the after-party were scattered in heaps all around and he snorted his nose. He loved cleanliness but more than that, he couldn't stop himself from imagining the engagement that took place between Sanchi and Arjun.

Feeling dejected, he turned to leave the place that was tormenting his heart when the doorbell rang. When nobody came out to open it, he flung it open.

"What do you need early in the morning?" Vihaan spoke angrily to the unknown man.

"Dheeraj Sir requested for a few sample copies of these wedding cards to finalize the best one for his marriage. I thought of giving these to him before leaving the city for an another marriage function. Please inform him I'll be back next week," the man spoke politely.

"Whose marriage?" Vihaan was in for a huge shock of his life.

"Dheeraj Sir's marriage."

"Repeat once." Vihaan was awestruck.

"Dheeraj Sir ordered for these to finalize the best card for his own marriage," the man uttered again and Vihaan dismissed him.

"Dheeraj bro is getting married and I know nothing about it!" Vihaan wondered, as his limbs automatically accelerated towards Dheeraj's bedroom to face the biggest storm of his life!

To be continued...

A/N: Woooohhoooooo!!! It's one of my favourite days of every year... Happy Independence Day to all my Indian readers 🇮🇳!!

My whole day today will be spent sitting in front of my IPad writing the other two blockbusters and listening to patriotic songs 🇮🇳!!

When I was writing this chapter 29 today morning, I was listening to the heart touching patriotic songs and cried a little.. I'm damned patriotic😭😍!!!

The next two blockbusters will be coming up anytime today...
1) First blockbuster (Chapter 30) will add to Sanvi's relationship!!!
2) Second blockbuster (Chapter 31) will be solely dedicated to my nation but a major addition to this story...

A special scene for the Raksha Bandhan too for the special event today will be there in chapter 31... Isn't this festival of tying 'Rakhi' was used a means by Tagore in 1905 to voice against the Partition of Bengal 🇮🇳!!

Ouch! That author's note turned out to be so long but I'm damn too excited for today 🤗!!! Please keep guessing for the blockbusters.

Also don't forget to vote and comment... If I'm making your day by these updates, your activities will make my day too 💕...

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