CHAPTER 37
The beautician is grooming Avishka, and she is just sitting quietly without saying anything. Aashi is thrilled to see her. Just as her grandmother applies a little kajal behind her ear every time she looks beautiful, she too applies the kajal on her finger and puts a dot behind Avishka's ear, due to which she is suddenly forced to laugh. Prakram, who was passing by, hears the sound of her laughing and starts looking at her through the window, and through the mirror, he can see her properly. His eyes are not on anything else but on her smile the most, seeing which he smiles a little and walks away while talking on the phone.
"Mumma, you are so beautiful."
"Yes, ma'am, you look so beautiful."
Avishka greets her with a gentle nod of her head, and since Aashi's grandmother had instructed her to call her as soon as Avishka was ready, Aashi hurried out to do so. Sandhya and Prakram come into the room, due to which Avishka suddenly stands in front of them and lowers her eyes. Prakram's eyes stop on Avishka, who looks like the epitome of beauty today, and he keeps watching her. Sandhya, who turns to Prakram to say something, finds him looking at Avishka like a statue and is unable to say anything except smile.
“Prakram…”
It appears that Prakram has forgotten everything since meeting Avishka. He is also not able to hear his mother's voice in some way because he has seen Avishka many times, but today Avishka is looking beyond beautiful, and he is looking at her even from very close. Because of which, a strange feeling has knocked on his heart, which he never felt while looking at her. This time, he is completely restraining himself to stop, but it is not possible. Avishka can hear Sandhya's voice and feel Prakram's gaze on her, but she is unable to look away even if she wants to, as his gaze has suddenly begun to tickle her more intensely than she has ever felt before. She is not afraid of these eyes, but rather, she is experiencing a strange sensation throughout her entire body, akin to a tickling sensation or butterflies in her stomach.
Sandhya suddenly places her hand on his shoulder. Prakram looks at his mother, and both Aashi and Sandhya start laughing. Sandhya holds Aashi's hand and says to Prakram:.
"After covering your wife's face properly with a veil, help her to bring her downstairs, and there you yourself have to lift her veil in front of all the elders.”
After listening to his mother, Prakram takes a look at Avishka, and his eyes go to her hands, which are made into fists due to nervousness.
"You know very well that I don't like this show at all."
"You have no idea what is happening here, and neither I nor your father want to trouble you about anything at this time, but just listen to me: today only a few relatives have come here, and tomorrow is your reception. You already know that a lot of people will be here tomorrow. If you have gotten married, then the whole family will definitely want to meet your bride. You are well aware that in our family, we often avoid presenting our daughters-in-law and daughters to the public for their safety, but everyone in the family is eager to meet them. I am pleased that you did not say anything to Vishwajeet(Uncle), and I expect you to tolerate him for two more days. It would be better if we remained silent at this time.”
Prakram has no other option except to nod his head. Sandhya holds Aashi's hand and starts taking her from there. Aashi utters these words to Sandhya as she departs.
“My mumma is looking very beautiful today, isn't she?”
"Of course your mother is looking very beautiful, and now when she will sit with your father in front of everyone, she will look even more beautiful.”
"Both Papa and Mumma will look very beautiful together."
“Of course, always..."
Sandhya looks at them with a smile while leaving. Prakram looks at Avishka, who is standing silently with her head bowed and holding both her hands tightly. He starts coming near her, and she also holds her stola to take the veil off her face. It seems to be quite heavy and requires someone's help to adjust it on the head. Prakram gets a better look at the mirror, and he looks at her back. The beautician had tied her hair in a bun with flowers, allowing him a better view of her full, bare waist, accentuated by the blouse with strings tied at her back. Seeing this, he gets very angry, but he cannot say anything to Avishka because she has not bought this dress for herself.
Avishka does not want his help at all in this matter, so she is trying to put her dupatta on her head herself, but the strings of the blouse are tied very tightly, due to which if she moves her hands up and down too much, the upper part of the blouse will tighten more, and she can flaunt her bosoms quite well. Prakram's eyes are seeing everything very well. He approaches her and grasps her heavy stola, causing her to suddenly turn her gaze towards him. He covers her face with the veil while looking into her eyes. Till the dupatta comes over her eyes, she keeps looking at Prakram continuously, and after covering her face, she bows her head again. Prakram looks at the mirror again because of the heavy stola with design; now her back is not visible. Because of this, he smiles lightly and then tells her while holding her hand and walking out of the room.
"There is no need to respond to anyone's words. Although I will be sitting near you, everyone will try to talk to you alone, and your effort should be that you do not say anything to anyone."
After listening to his words, she is feeling very strange; an unknown fear has started to emerge in her mind, causing a slight trembling in her hands, but Prakram immediately reassures her.
"We are the Mafia."
On hearing this, Avishka immediately frees her hand and moves back. They were still in the room; hence, Prakram moves towards her with slow steps, but she starts to step back. Prakram immediately held her hand without delay. He pulls her into his arms, removes the stola from her face, and looks into her eyes.
"Whatever is in front of you is true; now you are my wife, so you have to understand many things now. The man whom you saw being killed that day has come to harm me and my daughter because another gang wants to take my position.”
She has become very worried just thinking about something untoward happening with Aashi. Avishka's breath starts touching his face as she starts breathing heavily while looking at him in fear. A few tears well up in her eyes, he says while picking up the glass kept nearby and giving her water to drink.
“The temple was also attacked by another gang, and this often happens with us. You have understood that Aashi is my life, and if anyone points a finger at her, I will cut the person into a thousand pieces. That man had thought of killing my Aashi, so I killed him. Each individual in this house is undoubtedly a member of a family, yet they are all affiliated with the mafia, a group that harbors less affection for one another and more animosity. We fight for positions, among other things. That's why I'm advising you to speak as little as possible, as this will be a new experience for you. When you have joined my life, you will gradually get used to this thing. The most important thing to remember is that Aashi loves you unconditionally. My parents had chosen a girl who was significantly younger than me. And she couldn't be Aashi's mother at all, and I want a mother for Aashi, especially when I saw Aashi and your condition. I understood that both of you cannot live apart from each other; I will not marry you, but I had no option left. I also knew that you had witnessed me killing that man, yet I still allowed you to flee. However, as Aashi's condition worsened, I made the decision to take you with me. I made the sudden decision to marry you because of sudden circumstances and Aashi. She holds a special place in my heart, and I am willing to go to any lengths for her. She views you as her mother, and you love her as if she were your own daughter. However, the importance of our relationship cannot be overstated."
Tears are ready to come out of her eyes. Prakram gently holds Avishka's face and lifts her up so that he can look clearly into her eyes. He very gently wipes the tears from her eyes with his thumb and tells her.
"Some decisions in life are taken suddenly, which you don't even realize. I had no option at that time, and all I could see was you at her mother's place. I made this decision very hastily, but I know this is as important as she is to me. I believe she is important to you. All I know is that you can give her motherly love.”
Avishka can only give a slight nod, and Prakram leaves her face. She immediately lowers her eyes and bows her head. Prakram covers her face, holds her hand, and starts taking her out. Avishka remains unaware of the Mafia's involvement in this matter. There is no problem that Prakram has married her for Aashi, because she has not lied about this, and she was also aware of this, but the fact that she is in the middle of the mafia is troubling her a lot. She is now more concerned about Vishnu and Padma than ever before. After some time, she hears Sandhya's voice, which makes her realize that she was so engrossed in her thoughts that she failed to notice when both of them came down.
“Both of you sit here."
Prakram sits with Avishka and takes a good look at his uncle, whose son Ranjeet is also sitting nearby and constantly smiling at him. On seeing him, Prakram gets angry and does not want to take his eyes off him at all, but Sandhya's voice distracts him.
"Prakram, everyone wants to see the face of your bride.”
Prakram turns and looks at Avishka, gently lifting her veil. With her eyes well bent, Prakram places her stola on her head, and as soon as everyone sees her face, they all begin to praise her.
"Beautiful...."
"Very pretty...."
"It was Prakram's luck to have such a beautiful bride...."
Prakram's gaze returns to Ranjeet, who is observing Avishka with a slightly open mouth. He immediately comes closer to Avishka by placing his hand on her shoulder, due to which Avishka immediately grabs her lehenga in her fist. He examines her fist and remains seated in close proximity to her. Vishwajeet, with his wife and son, comes near her and says this while placing the diamond set in Avishka's hands.
"You have brought a very beautiful wife; the children will also be born very beautiful. Please tell me the good news soon; I am waiting a lot.”
Prakram clenches his teeth, but Digvijay, who was standing near Prakram holding Aashi in his arms, tells him immediately.
"You eagerly wait for everything. Earlier, you were waiting for his marriage; now you are waiting for his children. Control your wait because waiting too much for anything sometimes becomes harmful.”
Vishwajeet gently smiles as he walks away, but Ranjeet's gaze remains fixed on Avishka. He sat at her feet, tried to touch them, and told her.
"Hello, sister-in-law, I am your brother-in-law; he does not have a younger brother; I am the only one. If you have any complaints about him, please tell me quickly; I will always be around you.”
Ranjeet wanted to touch her feet properly, but Avishka immediately moved her feet back as he was sitting close to her, and as soon as he started touching her, she showed her hand and completely prohibited him from doing so. Ranjit casts a glance at Prakram, who is merely staring at him, and remarks:
"You are very lucky to have such a beautiful wife. Keep her away from everyone's eyes because everyone will want to keep an eye on her.”
Prakram looks at her carefully, but Digvijay immediately places his hand on his shoulder; Still unable to control himself, he tells him.
"I will take out the eyes of anyone who wants to keep an eye on her... She is not for public display; she is my wife, not a subject anyone wishes to scrutinize."
As soon as she hears him, Avishka suddenly turns and looks at him, and Prakram starts looking into her eyes. Seeing both of them like this, Ranjeet immediately leaves from there because he cannot tolerate any kind of happiness in Prakram's life.
Aashi approaches her father, who persuades her to sit on his lap. As she sits close to him, they engage in a conversation about a variety of topics, eliciting a smile from Prakram and a faint smile from Avishka. Vishwajeet, sitting in front, is watching all this very well. He feels someone else's eyes on him, so he immediately looks here and there and finds that Digvijay is looking at him.