Author's POV

As the first light of dawn gently filters through the grand windows of the Singhania mansion, a quiet morning unfolds. In a luxurious bedroom, a man sleeps on his stomach, the blanket draped casually over his waist, exposing his bare back. The clock on the bedside table reads 5:00 AM.

Suddenly, the shrill ring of an alarm pierces the tranquility of the room. He stirs, immediately reaching out to silence it. Blinking away the remnants of sleep, he pushes himself up and shuffles to the washroom. Moments later, he emerges dressed in jogging attire.

Descending the ornate staircase from the third floor, he steps out into the crisp morning air, preparing for his routine jog. Though his mind is clouded with disinterest, the familiar path calls him forward.

---

As the morning sun filters through the grand windows of the Singhania mansion, another room wakes to the sound of an alarm ringing persistently.

In the dimly lit room, a man sleeps soundly, his breathing steady and undisturbed. Meanwhile, on a plush sofa in the same room, a girl stirs awake, clearly annoyed by the noise.

“Who sets the alarm so early in the morning?” she grumbles.

“Your... husband,” her mind answers.

Hearing this, she opens her eyes and looks at Aadir. “Why set the alarm when you don’t have to wake up...” she mutters to herself.

With great difficulty, she gets up and is about to turn off the alarm but pauses, looking at her husband. She takes the ringing alarm in her hand and moves closer to him, placing it near his ear.

Aadir, sleeping peacefully, is jolted awake by the loud noise in his ear and immediately sits up. Seeing him awake, Nisha quickly moves away.

He looks around in shock, his eyes landing on Nisha, who is standing a little away, holding the still-ringing alarm.

Staring at her, he pulls the blanket off his body and gets up from the bed. He approaches her, and Nisha stands frozen like a scared cat. He forcefully switches off the alarm in her hand and walks away.

Embarrassed, Nisha smacks her forehead and mumbles to herself, “Stupid, you love embarrassing yourself.”

She places the alarm back on the table, then quickly retreats to the sofa, burying herself under the covers.

A few minutes later, Aadir reappears, glancing at her with a shake of his head before leaving the room again.

---

As the morning unfolds, the mansion comes alive with activity. Siya, dressed in traditional attire, is preparing for the puja with her mother-in-law, Amrita, in the home's temple. Meanwhile, Amrita’s youngest daughter-in-law, Drishti, is busy in the kitchen, organizing the day's cooking.

Angad returns from his jog and is about to go to his room when Siya appears. He stops and touches her feet. Siya smiles and blesses him.

“Good morning, Maa.”

Siya, with a playful tone, asks, “Jogging today?”

“Hm, I wasn’t in the mood for exercise today,” he replies calmly, wiping away sweat with a towel.

Siya glances at him and thinks, “What’s the use of building such a wonderful body if he doesn’t let anyone come near him?”

“Okay, you take a bath. I’ll go wake up those two monkeys, or they’ll be late for school.”Angad chuckles, amused by her scolding tone, which he finds endearing.

Just then, Drishti arrives and says, “Bhabhi, I’ll go upstairs and wake them.” Siya agrees.They both take the lift to the third floor.

Angad heads to his room while Drishti goes to the children's room. As soon as she opens the door, a loud alarm sounds.

“Oh God, what should I do with these two? The alarm is blaring, and they’re sleeping like it’s a lullaby,” she says, turning off the alarm.

“Come on, dear, get up,” she says, caressing their heads. After some time, they stir and open their eyes.

“Mummy...” they groan.

“What mummy? Get up and come down quickly for puja, or Badi Maa will scold you.”

Hearing this, both immediately get up and run towards the washroom. Samar gets there first and closes the door.

Drishti giggles and says, “You go to the other room.” Divit makes a face and walks away with his clothes.

---

Angad steps out of the washroom, wrapped in a towel, his hair still damp from his bath. He moves to the cupboard and selects a crisp white shirt, pairing it with blue pants and a matching blue coat. As he meticulously adjusts his clothes and styles his hair, he casts a satisfied glance at his reflection.

Picking up his phone, he dials a number. The call is answered almost immediately.

“Khanna, change the meeting time to now.” Angad commands.

“Sir, right now?” Khanna responds, clearly taken aback.

“Yes, right now. And make sure no one is late. I’ll be there shortly.”

“Understood,” Khanna replies, and the call ends.

---

Everyone has gathered for the puja. Nisha stands quietly with the pallu of her saree over her head. The room is filled with the soft hum of prayers and the aroma of incense.

Angad arrives and takes his place among the attendees. Siya begins performing the aarti, her movements serene and rhythmic.

Aadir stands next to Nisha with folded hands, noticing Divit and Samar silently joining with folded hands. He smiles.

After the puja, they take aarti and prasad one by one. Samar and Divit come forward to take the aarti, their eyes lighting up at the sight of the laddu. However, they quickly notice their Badi Maa’s watchful gaze and exchange innocent glances.

“Sorry, Badi Maa, but samar has come here after a long time, so we played games late into the night.” Her expression softens.

____♡

Everyone moves to the dining table for breakfast. When Nisha passes the paratha to Samar, she notices Aadir’s plate is empty and quickly puts one on his plate when he isn’t looking.

Aadir is about to take his paratha when he notices it on his plate. He looks at Nisha and stares at her intensely.

Seeing him stare, Nisha thinks, “Oh God, I pretended to be a good wife in front of the family and served him food, but he’s looking at me as if I’ve taken his entire property.”

“Where is Angad?” Siya’s voice interrupts, and they look away.

“KHANNA!” they all respond in unison, chuckling.

In a few minutes, Angad arrives, sits down to have breakfast.

Samar and Divit finish their breakfast and leave for school after saying goodbye.

Aadir puts down his spoon and starts speaking, “Chachu, I wanted to tell you something about that hotel.”

“The one with some problems?”

“Yes, I thought the portraits didn’t match the hotel’s design, so I prepared a sample.”

“That’s great, but why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Before he can respond, Angad interrupts, speaking tauntingly.

“Why would he tell us, Chachu, when he can get married without telling us!”

Aadir closes his eyes and opens them. Nisha shifts uncomfortably in her seat.

Vyom looks at Angad, who is sitting comfortably and enjoying his breakfast. His lips curl into a smirk as he thinks, “Here the drama begins.”

“No, Chachu, I didn’t tell you because I wanted to make sure I could do it properly first,” Aadir replies, ignoring the taunt.

“Oh, so this is the most famous artist in the city... so famous that people are eager to work with him,” Angad says, half-praising, half-mocking. “Who doesn’t even have confidence in his work... tch tch tch, so sad, right Chachu?”

Aadir wonders if Angad is praising or criticizing him.

He starts to say, “Bha---”

“I’m done. I’m leaving, Maa,” Angad interrupts, taking his phone and leaving. Aadir watches him go silently.

Siya immediately follows him.

“Angad...”

He looks at her and takes the box from her hand.

“He’s upset, son. Talk to him properly.”

“Please, Maa...” Angad says, stopping her.

Siya changes the topic and says, “By the way, his call came.”

“Whose?”

“Your special one.”

“Maa, please, he does his work properly. Why are you after that poor guy?”

“He is not poor. At this age, there should be a girl you lovingly call baby, darling, sweetheart... but you just keep saying ‘Khanna, do this. Khanna, do that.’ she jokes.

“Arey buddu, even if a girl comes near you, she’ll run away thinking you’re... that way.”

“What am I?” Angad asks, confused.

Siya looks around and softly says, “That you like Khanna.”

Angad looks at her in shock. He regains his composure and tells her, “First of all, there’s nothing like that...”

Just then, Vyom and Aadir come in. “You haven’t left yet?”

“I’m just leaving,” Angad says, then pauses. “Chachu, you should look at the design more carefully. The rules are the same for everyone—come to the office to show your designs, not at home.”

He puts on his sunglasses, gets in the car, and drives away.

“Aadir...”

“Yes, Maa?”

“You must not miss your saas, right?”

He looks at her, confused.

“Because Angad taunts you so much like a typical saas.”

Vyom chuckles.

“Yes, Maa. Now it seems as if I am the daughter-in-law of this house and Angad is my mother-in-law, who keeps taunting me for every mistake, or even without one.”

They all laugh.

                        
                           ******

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