50
Her father blinked at his audacity in appearing here after everything and proposing marriage. And as if that weren't enough, he was sitting right there in their living room like he owned the damn space.
"Sasur ji, please don't waste your energy cursing me in your mind. Trust me, I myself am amazed by my own audacity. But it isn't my mistake. Your daughter has done this to me. I was a man with a lot of pride, and that daughter of yours crumbled it right beneath her pretty heels,
bringing me to this condition," Raghav responded, leaning back comfortably and offering a charming smile to everyone.
"Do you even know what you are saying? Our daughter isn't some commodity. After everything she has gone through today, I am not going to let her get married to you," Anjali stated, standing her ground.
She wouldn't let anyone make decisions for the life of her precious daughter—no matter how strong and powerful that man was.
Raghav gave her and her husband a long look before smiling again.
"You know, I just happen to know what you people need. I know Jayasvi is kind of hard to handle. I don't blame you for ending up like this—so worried and panicked about everything. But trust me, I'll take over the responsibility from here. You both should start focusing upon yourselves.
I don't think my wife would mind a younger sibling. You don't have to worry about me either. Trust me, I would be the happiest with the news," he stated.
"What the hell did you say?" her father snapped at him, getting up from his place.
"Chill, sasur ji. Your blood pressure will climb through the roof if you continue screaming like that. I am just saying you both should start thinking about having another child. I assure you, you both have done a great job in making our Jayasvi," Raghav continued,
successfully adding fuel to the fire of her parents' rage.
Karan tried to control him when Jayasvi stormed out of her room, glaring daggers at him.
"Get out of my house, Raghav Hooda," she stated, her eyes wide, her shoulders moving with the deep breaths she was taking alongside the trembling of her body. The makeup artist rushed out, trying to pull her inside, not wanting to make Raghav angry. They couldn't afford that.
"Don't touch me," Jayasvi struggled, glaring at the poor woman.
Nobody was wrong in the situation; everyone's motive for the moment was survival and a hope for a better future.
But at the moment, except for Raghav, nobody was actually sure of their future.
Even Karan—he was sure he would be in jail because of his friend soon.
And the worst thing was that Raghav's father was the government itself, while poor Karan would have no one to help him.
Who would marry him after he turned out to be a convict?
Would he have to stay single for all of his gorgeous, luxurious life?
What about the kids he thought he would have one day?
And the dreams of playing the strict father with them?
What kind of joke was this? He had endured his father's strict punishments for years, hoping one day he would hold that authority as well.
And his dear friend was busy burying his shining future in a pit of dirt. At least it deserved a good funeral.
"Brother, I think bhabhi is right. We should be going. You can use various other ways to express yourself," Karan offered to Raghav, clutching his elbow and shaking him up.
"And what would those be?" Raghav spoke, raising an eyebrow at suddenly being shaken up by his friend in such a serious situation.
"You told me you had a way to make bhabhi happy. I thought you were going to get some teddy bear or book a movie theater like a sane man, not stride into her home telling her about a surprise marriage! Have you realized what this is? It's crazy," Karan spoke,
trying to help Raghav come out of his daze and see the truth.
Raghav got up from his place, taking slow yet measured steps toward Jayasvi. "I have handled everything. You just have to get ready and be my bride. I will take care of everything else," Raghav told her.
"Do you not understand my language? I said I don't want to marry you. If you can't understand that, I don't know what language you need. I can't tattoo a 'no' on my forehead for your comfort," she thundered at him. He tilted his head to the side, pushing a loose strand behind her ear.
"I didn't ask if you want to marry me or not. I am telling you that after everything that happened today, I am not letting you stay a minute away from being my wife. Just behave until the marriage. I promise you after that, Jayasvi, I will not let that woman and her grandfather live peacefully,
" Raghav pledged, looking into her eyes.
Jayasvi blinked a few times. It was the most absurd thing she had ever heard.
Could today get any worse? Whose face had she actually seen first thing in the morning?
Why was everybody acting like they had lost their heads at a kumbh mela and weren't even ready to file a missing person report?
she wondered. His words had no effect on her.
She moved closer to him, rising onto her toes. Her parents, her dadi, and even Karan were shocked at her sudden action. For once, Raghav gulped, his Adam's apple moving at the unexpected movement. She moved closer, looking dead into his eyes before dipping her head.
"Jayasvi, what are you..." he spoke in a low voice, only to hear the faint sound of her sniffing his neck. He frowned at the unexpected movement.
She backed up and looked at him. "You don't smell like you have been drinking. Then why are you speaking such delirious things?" she questioned, still flaring her nose for a moment without catching any whiff of alcohol on him.
"Bhabhi ji, don't worry. You don't have to worry about him drinking. My brother is a very magnanimous person; till now, he has lived like an ascetic. I vow for that," Karan interjected, immediately jumping into the conversation.
Jayasvi looked at him immediately, watching the bright smile lighting up his face.
"Do you sleep in his room?" she questioned him. His eyes widened dramatically, and he shook his head quickly. Raghav's fist clenched at the idiotic line of questioning.
"Then how can you vow so proudly for him? I had asked him numerous times who Aneri was. If he had told me, then there would have been no problem. But no, he has to maintain a mystery about everything. You think I believe her absurd story of being his beloved and what not?
But what affects me is the fact that I was kept in the dark despite everything," she stated, turning to Raghav.
"You tell me, Raghav. Why wasn't I informed that this girl wanted you? Why wasn't I informed that she would go to this limit just to break our relationship? You always talk about truth and belief, but when have you been truthful to me? When have you given me a reason to believe you?
You think this is easy?" she snapped at him.
"I don't care whose son you are. I don't care what your identity is. I only know I don't want to marry you," she stated, glaring daggers at him, for once letting the full intensity of her anger fall over him. He stood frozen in place after her words.
She let out a deep breath, in no mood to stroke his masculine ego. She gave him another look before turning her back on him and marching into her room.
"Get her into the lehenga," Raghav spoke calmly to the other women who stood frozen in their places. "I don't care how you do it, I want her right in front of me in the next hour. Not another word," he stated. Jayasvi froze at his words.
"You are going to force me?" she gasped with narrowed eyes.
"I wasn't going to. But you want to make it hard. Get ready; I am done listening to you," he stated, his voice cold, as were his eyes. She gritted her teeth as the stylist pulled her inside the room.
Gajraaj had hastily rushed back to his son's hotel when he learned about the sudden marriage from his wife.
He caught sight of his son entering the lobby, clutching the arm of Jayasvi, who was dressed in a pink bridal lehenga with a veil covering her head and her long tresses in a braid adorned with flowers.
She was adorned with ornaments of all types, yet she was being pulled toward the back of the hotel where the mandap was set by Raghav, who was dressed in a Jodhpuri suit.
"Please, make him understand. This isn't the way it is done," Vandana tried to get her husband to see reason. Their son had truly lost his mind.
"It isn't about Dhara any longer. He wants to marry Jayasvi. A lot has happened recently. And he is sure that if he gives too much time for her and her family to think about this marriage, it won't ever happen," Gajraaj told his wife.
"I understand that, but they are her parents. It's their wish whom they want their daughter to marry. I can't believe you are supporting him in this. He isn't some street goon; he is our son. We haven't given him this kind of upbringing," Vandana argued back,
panicked as she watched Raghav take Jayasvi to the mandap.
"When have we ever given him any upbringing, Vandana?" Gajraaj stated, turning his head to look at his wife, who shut her mouth at that.
"Let things happen the way they are going. Things have gone way out of hand. Raghav is a burning reservoir of coal right now. Anyone who tries to calm this fire will only end up burned the most," Gajraaj stated, moving toward the decorated pavilion.
"Vivaah Sampanna hua." The moment Jayasvi heard the voice of the Pandit ji, she was trembling in rage, looking at Raghav, who had finally gotten what he had promised. But before she could respond, there was a lot of chaos in the distance, pulling her attention away.
She looked back, seeing some tall men dressed in black pulling an old man into the garden along with another woman. She narrowed her eyes to look closer, only to freeze upon realizing it was Aneri and her grandfather.
Jayasvi's family was seated beside his under heavy security so they wouldn't interfere in the rituals.
"I told you, the moment you are mine, I'll handle everything," he stated, but this time there was no warmth in his words as he stood up, adjusting his Varmala adorned with beautiful red roses.
"What is the meaning of all this, Raghav? Do you and your people have no respect for elders?" the older man snapped at him, watching Raghav step down and walk toward him.
"Mr. Kashyap, it is out of my respect alone that you are still standing on your feet after the dirty warnings you directed toward my wife. Did you really think I would ever marry your granddaughter?"
Raghav questioned, standing right in front of him.
The air felt like it was freezing from the intensity.
Because of the gathbandhan, Jayasvi had to follow his steps, helped by his mother due to her heavy clothes.
"You are doing this for this common girl?" Subhash Kashyap snapped at him, his old face twisting in disgust, his long beard shaking from the thunder growing inside him.
"Beware, Kashyap. That common girl is my wife now," Raghav snapped, for once making even his mother flinch for a moment alongside the others.
"Tell all our allies that from now on, cockroaches and Kashyaps aren't allowed around us. And anybody having associations with them will be our natural foes from now on," he told his assistant, who nodded immediately,
taking action and typing whatever emails were required for the process to go smoother and faster in the most professional way possible.
"You can't do this, Raghav. I thought of your own good. My Aneri is a much better choice for you—a better family and upbringing. She comes with the Kashyap family name," Subhash spoke, clearly losing his footing now.
He couldn't let years of his hard work and business go in vain.
They were still relatively new to the market in India, and having enmity with the Hoodas was absolute poison to their work.
"You think I don't know my own heart?" He let out a sharp, humorless laugh—like the crack of a whip.
"That I wouldn't burn your whole world down for what you did to her?"
He dragged Jayasvi against his chest, her body pressed to his as he leveled the old man with a look that could melt steel.
His voice dropped to something lethal. "Accept it or not, I will never give up what's mine—not to anyone. And if you ever thought I would marry one of you, you're sorely mistaken."