Kashvi-

The whole house looked lively, kids were playing around, delicious aroma of sweets and desserts filled the whole house and relatives chattered around. The engagement preparation was going on with full swing, everyone was happy.

After all, marriages, festivals and occasions were the only rare occurrence when life seemed easy, apart from the daily chores and work, entertaining and capturing memories with one another.

" Ahhhhhh! " Just then a shriek from upstairs made everyone go quite .

Rolling my eyes, I walked upstairs and found Deepti standing across the mirror, grabbing her hair and glaring at the reflection.

" Why did you shriek!? " Rushant Bhaiya (elder brother) ,my cousin asked her and she just groaned loudly.

Her attention seeking got my mother,brother ,badi ma and all the cousins surround the doorway, looking at the drama girl who was going to get engaged within next two hours or less.

" My hair," she said, " they aren't done yet. "

Badi maa smiled and walked towards her, "Awe, wait my bacha ( my kid) the stylist is on her way, " trying to calm her down placing her hand on Deepti 's shoulder but she pushed it away.

" I'll sue her, " she yelled.

She was always like this.
Badi maa always over-pampered her, as a result, she still behaved like a spoiled teenager.

Only God knows how her husband would deal with her.

Reesha rolled her eyes and grabbed my hand, " Di, let's go downstairs, " I nodded and followed her.

Reesha was younger than everyone in the house but she was far more better than Deepti and much much mature, to be honest.
" You look pretty, by the way, " she complimented looking at me.

I wore a black long skirt and beige crop top with a black dupatta trimmed with golden dangling pearls.

My dark brown hair were sprawled around my both shoulder reaching out to my waist, giving me sense of confidence.

" You look beautiful too, " I complimented Reesha and she grinned big. Her red gown making her look like a cherry.

We sat around the garden taking in the decorations, " She's finally getting engaged, " Aryan stated and took a seat near us.

" I'm just wondering how her groom is like! " Swati , my maternal cousin exclaimed and Vinay, more a friend than cousin nodded.

No-one knew about the groom.

The only ones who met him and the family were our elders and Deepti.

When we asked her how he looked, she just smiled big and said, " He's handsome,"

Typical Deepti.

We just knew his name -Danish Singhania.

As far as I've heard from the elders, her marriage alliance was fixed by our late grandfather to get a business deal with his best friend's grandson .

For years , our elders kept this as a secret which got exposed to us only few days back when the groom's family had contacted our bade papa.

We were all a little impatient to see him!!

I was midway to a food stall when my phone rang.

" Hello! "

" Kashu, come here right now! " I heard my father order on the call. (kaa-shu)

I hanged up and walked towards the house looking around for him.

" She's here, " my mother said as I finally made it inside.

" The guests are here and you will welcome the Singhania family, " Bade papa said sternly and I nodded.

He was the head of our family and the most strict person. According to him, everyone should be disciplined and obey his rules or you regret it. No one ever raised there voice in front of him. Not even my own father . The respect we gave him was undoubtedly too much.

I walked towards the main entrance with my brothers and Ree.

There were two cars parked already.

An elderly man with his stick stood there with a beautiful girl around Reesha's age and a guy older than her . A beautiful lady, like my mother stood with another guy. Since I was standing at the back, I couldn't see their faces clearly.

" Hey! I'm Rahul, Danish's friend and this is Advika, his sister, " the guy was wearing a kurta, his hair gelled and he looked well groomed.

" And this is Sameer, " another boy said glaring at Rahul, " You didn't introduce me! "

A smile broke out on my face as I nodded at them, " I'm Kashvi Deepti's cousin sister! " I introduced and looked behind them for the groom.

" That's Danish Bhai! " Advika said pointing towards the guy who touched feets of elders.

The moment my eyes met his, my smile vanished.

What the hell was he doing here?

He blinked once and looked away.

He dared to ignore me! Not that I was interested either. Instead, I felt so happy that he didn't remember me.

Wait a minute, Danish ! Deepti's fiance

I always considered Deepti lucky.
Her parents loved her unconditionally, she was always pampered.
She was beautiful, with her model like body and most of the guys in college drooled over her.

But who would have thought, that her faith would chose a guy for her exactly like her. The guy was insensitive even though he looked good.

Not that I knew him, but our first meeting left a great impression.

He was the same man I almost crashed my bicycle into few days ago.

" Kashvi, " I heard my badi maa call,

I turned towards her and nodded at her. " Go and serve this to groom and his family, " she ordered handing me a tray of sweet fancy liquids.

What am I? A waiter.

I followed her order like one too.

" Hey Kashvi, thanks, " Sameer said followed by Advika.

The elders were not here to my luck.

I moved to the said groom and his best friend.

Rahul, I remembered, returned back the polite smile.

He didn't make my heart race.

The man next to him did.
His familiar coal black eyes fixed on me as I offered him the drink.

' Please don't remember me. We haven't met ever,' I internally wished.

" I must say if you are this beautiful then your sister might be also, " Rahul commented smirking and I just bit my lower lip blinking at him.

If he was trying to flirt I wasn't interested.

" She's my cousin sister but she is," I stated and he laughed a little when Sameer asked me playfully,

" He just complemented you and you just made out the comparison part? "

" Oh, " I smiled shrugging, as my eyes met the groom again.

He rolled his eyes which made me wonder again,

What exactly is his problem? Does he remember me?

I ran to Vinay who was helping my mother with some gifts and stuffs . " What's got you so pale? " he asked and I sighed, " Remember the man whose car I punctured few days back? " He remembered and grinned,

" What about him? "

" He's here, " I said and he laughed instead of saying anything which made me glare at my best friend.

" You got yourself in this! " he exclaimed and walked away as my mother called him suddenly.

Suddenly, two hands grabbed my wrist tightly and before I could react, I was pressed against the wall near the staircase.

The same eyes.

The firm grip of his rough hands on my wrist made me squirm.

His sharp rich cologne surrounding me.
We barely had distance between us,
the loud chatters could be heard in the background.

I was sure no-one would actually see us like this because of the decorations, the dark curtain acting as a barrier.

But if someone walked downstairs, they would see us clearly and misinterpret the situation.

I realised this and tried to pull away from him but he just kept glaring at me.
I felt cornered, an invasion of privacy.

" Leave my hand, " I stated but my voice came out lower than intended, losing it's ground.

" Why?" He scoffed,"So you can run again? "

His voice was deeper yet carrying sharpness.

And his demeanor was definitely intimidating .

I wanted to run away again from him.

" Look, It was unintentional ,just an act on impulse, " I tried to explain but his grip on my wrist tightened which made me hiss.

Gone Kashvi. This is it. Your end.

"You damaged my car," his voice felt on the edge.

" I was hurt too, "it was the best justification.

" You needed to pull brakes. It was not my mistake,"

The audacity of this man!

" And you couldn't even show some humanity? " I glared back at him.

" I didnt even hit you and I would have lost my deal, " he stated and I rolled my eyes at him

" And how does it concern me? "

" You got lucky I reached on time, otherwise,"

He took a step closer to me, and my breath sharpened.

A shiver ran down my spine.

" You won't be standing here intact ,"his words reached my ears.

His eyes empty of any human emotion.

Cold.

" Excuse me? "

" You are excused, " with that he left my wrist and backed away.

The absence of his touch, made me feel like I was finally breathing.

How did he even managed that!

I stared at my wrists, the touch lingered. The skin appeared red due to the impact which made me mentally cursing him for giving me an almost bruise.

I knew it already, he was insensitive.

My phone rang again, a sudden wave of fear washed over me as the screen flashed with ' Bade papa'.
( Father's elder brother)

" Hello, " I tried to sound calm but his next words made my calmness go down the drain.

" Come to Deepti's room right now! She's not here, "

I ran upstairs towards her room.

My parents, bade papa, badi maa, Rushant Bhaiya ( elder brother) , Reesha and groom's mother, they all were present there.

No sign of Deepti , indeed.

' This is so not good, ' my subconscious told me.

" Do you have any idea about her whereabouts? " Bade papa asked his voice hard.

I lowered my gaze, " No , " I answered instantly.

" I am asking you both for the last time, " he shouted at me and Reesha, making us flinch at the sudden outburst.

" We don't know anything dad, " Reesha was in tears already, and I was sure within seconds I would cry too.

He glared at her and yelled in her face,
" I'll kill you both if you don't tell us now."

Then he turned towards me.

His fingers gripping my hairs tightly as he gritted his teeth at me, " Tell us now. Kashvi " Tears formed in my eyes and the pain shot through my roots.

" I really don't know, I swear, " I mumbled afraid he would hit me next.

" Don't be angry on them, Mr. Chahal, "
A firm voice interrupted.

The lady, groom's mother held a look of disappointment in her eyes.

" We are really sorry Mrs. Singhania, we are really ashamed of our kids, "bade papa said, and with that sentence a tear escaped my eyes.

He had always been the strict one in the house.

The respect we all had for him ,the way he held his head high with pride and made sure no-one ever dared to go against him, not even my own father . But today his head was low due to shame.

Deepti was his daughter, his biggest reason to be proud because she always followed his path and he always expected us ( my other cousins, me and my brother) to be like her and Rushant Bhaiya.

She was a spoiled but still a good girl in his eyes and to him she was sincere and disciplined.

Today, when he let his head down, it wasn't just him who was affected but everyone was beyond disappointed.

Except me, of course.

I always knew he had spoiled Deepti a lot , I was just surprised that she went to this limit.

" Mr.Chahal, it's not your mistake, " Mrs. Singhania said as she held his hands while I looked at her brightly.
At least she was understanding.

" But there are so many guests how are we going to face them? " he asked.

" If not the elder one then we'll get our son engaged with the younger daughter of this house, " she stated confidently and my eyes squinted and I turned to look at Reesha who started at me with same expression.

Reesha was too young .

What did she mean by younger one?

" We have so many guests and business partners, the media might be there too, " she reasoned, " so we can't let our image get affected. It's good for both the families."

Rich people and their reputation.

Bade papa turned towards me and I shivered ,the room turned silent.

" I'll tell my son, Danish, " she said and left.

Danish.

Oh. The man hated my guts while I hated his behaviour.

Bade papa kept his hand on my head and for a second I thought he was going to hit me but he gently patted my head.

Huh! What a switch.

" Get her ready within next fifteen minutes, " he ordered before leaving and my breath knocked out.

This can't be true!

" if not the elder one we'll get our son engaged to the younger daughter of this house"

They meant me.

Why me?

Why the hell me!!! God

What did I ever do wrong to you!

" Kashu Di, " I heard Reesha say as she walked closure to me and I noticed there was no-one around and everyone left the room.

" Why did she do this Ree!!! Why!? " tears continuously flowing down my eyes, " She was so happy about this.Why would she betray us!? And why I am paying for her mistake! " I complained loudly sitting on the bed trying to stop my tears.

She walked towards me slowly, and grabbed my hand. Her fingers slowly kept a crumpled paper in my palm.

" What's this? " I asked confused.
She sighed while rubbing her own tears away.

" She left your answers. "

I quickly tried to flatten it and stared at it for a few seconds.

It was her writing.

Dear Papa,

I know you might be hating me by now and I know that I deserve it. I did a big mistake Papa and I can't even ask for forgiveness.
I didn't want this marriage in the first place but I couldn't refuse you. I know you will never accept me after this.
I'm pregnant Papa. I'm so sorry , please I'm so sorry. I know you won't accept my child but I can't let you kill him.
I want to raise my child as the independent woman you have made me.
I'm so sorry Papa.
I'm so sorry Papa.
-Deepti.

Deepti

What the fuck!

She got pregnant!

" Hell! Where is she Reesha?? " I asked Reesha throwing the paper away.

" I don't know Di, I really don't know... Half an hour ago she was here only, all ready for her engagement, "

" She is pregnant, " I sobbed looking at Ree, " She has no-one, not even her family. She should've told us, at least,"

I was in a problem, not even a problem but a trap but she had it worse than me.

' You are in this problem because of her! ' my subconscious said.

' Yeah! But I'm a human, what she did was partly right ' I retorted.

If bade papa would have found out the truth while she was here, he would have killed her and I'm sure he would have done that exactly. One way or another, he would have disowned her.

God! Just let her be safe.

" Kashvi, " I heard my mother call and turned around.

" You aren't ready yet! " she exclaimed, not a little amount of worry on her face that her own daughter was unexpectedly getting engaged.

I wanted to say something. Scream in refusal but Ree cut me off.

" Give us few minutes, she'll be downstairs, " Ree said as she took a tissue and wiped on my face, my mother just nodded and walked out.

No big deal for her.

" Di (sister) are you really going to do this? " she asked with concern.

" Deepti did a mistake and she's all alone, she is already paying for it," I explained,

" Everyone is already hurt enough, and you saw your father's face minutes ago. I really don't want to see him and disappoint him. He won't let me get away anyway "

I applied the makeup again on my face and gave a final touch up.

" Let's go, " I said and turned towards the door when her hand stopped me by my arm.

" What about your life? " she asked sadly and I gave a humourless laugh.

" When was it even fair Ree? " I asked and she just looked down. Patting her shoulder I directed her to walk out.

Women in Chahal family, were raised like sacrificial lambs.

The daughters were educated to be admired as potential brides.
The mothers were restricted to household chores.
They had no life.

When Rushant bhaiya got married and Palak bhabhi came to this house , Bade papa killed her wishes and dreams of being an architect saying women belonged to kitchen as long as their man earned enough.

" Here she is! " I heard Rushant Bhaiya say and then he approached us.

" Smile, " he warned as he took me towards the man who had scared me minutes ago.

I wanted to scoff , "Mera janaaza nikalne jaa rhe aur hasu bhi mai hee" but I refrained myself.
(My life is falling apart and I'm expected to smile. )

I glared at the man, when we reached him, and then smiled sweetly. The bitter kind of sweet because that's what he deserved.

" Bro! " Sameer beamed happily as he handed his brother the ring. The way he grinned at me made me feel as if he was so happy for me to be his sister-in-law. Rahul just smiled and his sister Advika, well she just had this bored look.

Everyone just had a look that said 'let's - just-get-done-with-this.'

" Bachhe (kid) start, " the elderly man said with a warm smile, which was not at all fake.He genuinely looked happy.

I picked the ring, that my brother Aaryan gave me and I stared at it for few seconds.

The ring Deepti was supposed to hold.

The place she was supposed to stand.

The man she was supposed to marry.

But my fate and her choice were different.
She didn't run from the situation. She chose herself.

It wasn't her fault I was here, I tried to convince myself while placing the ring on his finger. Everyone clapped around.

He grabbed my wrist , the same way he did earlier but it wasn't tight and rough.

It was gentle but firm, after sliding the shining ring on my ring finger he left my hand. I glanced at the ring which was a bit tight around my finger.

" We'll get your size, " someone said in the background and I nodded, refraining from looking into his eyes.

This is how I got engaged.
To a stranger.
To a man I disliked.
To Danish Singhania.

After touching everyone's feet and getting there blessings, I excused myself away from the crowd.

I stared at the ring, which made me feel uneasy.

It made me feel trapped and all I wanted to do was throw it away.

I didn't want all this drama, I didn't want to marry, I didn't want to be caged and I didn't want to be a wife specially.

I wanted my marriage to happen at my terms not like this.

I tried to take off the ring, it didn't budge.

So I pulled it hard as hard as possible.

I hissed in pain, when it came off. The metal scraped against my skin and blood appeared.

I sobbed into my pillow.
.....