Aditya and devyani cuteness #2
The fragrance of jasmine floated through the air.
Downstairs...
The entire family had already gathered.
Suitcases stood neatly lined beside the entrance.
Staff members hurried around loading the final luggage.
Virendra checked his expensive wristwatch for what had to be the hundredth time.
He looked toward the staircase again.
No sign of them.
He sighed dramatically.
"Where is he?"
Rudraksh shrugged.
"Probably convincing Bhabhi to leave her ice cream behind."
Payal giggled.
Aradhya added,
"Or Bhabhi is convincing Bhai to pack another freezer."
Reyansh leaned casually against a pillar, sipping coffee.
He looked completely relaxed.
"Five..."
He glanced at his own watch.
"...Four..."
"...Three..."
"...Two..."
Virendra frowned.
"What are you counting?"
Reyansh smiled.
"The exact moment they appear."
Right then
Footsteps echoed from upstairs.
Everyone instinctively looked up.
There they were.
Walking together.
Hand in hand.
Virendra immediately folded his arms.
"There they are."
His loud voice echoed through the foyer.
"Rivan!"
The couple stopped halfway down the grand staircase.
Virendra looked up impatiently.
He dramatically pointed toward the main door.
The entire family looked toward Rivan.
Rivan slowly continued descending the stairs.
His face remained perfectly calm.
Not a single emotion visible.
But...
A very dangerous thought crossed his mind.
He glanced sideways.
Toward the humming woman beside him.
She was still smiling.
Still happily swinging their hands.
A slow...
Almost invisible...
Smirk appeared on his lips.
You embarrassed me...
Now my turn, Kitten.
He looked toward Virendra.
Then answered in the most casual tone imaginable.
He looked briefly at Devyani before adding,
("Yeah... I was getting a little kid ready. That's why we got late.")
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Every conversation stopped.
Even one servant froze while carrying luggage.
Then...
As if controlled by the same invisible string...
Every single head slowly turned...
Toward Devyani.
Twenty pairs of eyes.
Locked.
On her.
Devyani blinked.
Once.
Twice.
Then realization struck.
Her humming stopped instantly.
Her smile disappeared.
Her entire face slowly...
Very slowly...
Turned bright red.
Not from shyness.
From pure...
Nuclear...
Outrage.
Little kid...?
Little... kid...?
After everything she had done inside that bathroom...
After making the mighty Rivan Thakur nearly lose his sanity...
After making him surrender...
He had the audacity...
In front of everyone?
Her eye twitched.
Then the other one.
Her jaw clenched.
Her nostrils flared slightly.
She slowly turned her head.
Very.
Very.
Very slowly.
Toward Rivan.
Rivan met her gaze.
He knew that look.
He had seen dangerous assassins.
Gang leaders.
Politicians.
None of them had ever frightened him.
But...
This expression on Devyani's face...
He quietly accepted...
He might not survive today.
Her eyes narrowed into two perfect daggers.
Without saying a single word...
She aggressively snatched her hand out of his grip.
THWACK.
The sound wasn't loud.
But emotionally...
It echoed through his soul.
She shot him one final murderous glare.
Turned sharply.
Her hair swished dramatically behind her.
"Hmph."
Then...
Like a deeply offended queen...
She marched away.
Straight past him.
Without even looking back.
The entire family silently watched.
No one dared interrupt.
She walked directly toward Reyansh.
Stopped beside him.
Folded both arms proudly across her chest.
Lifted her chin.
And deliberately stood facing away from Rivan.
The message was crystal clear.
Reyansh slowly lowered his coffee cup.
Looked at Devyani.
Then...
Looked toward Rivan.
For a few silent seconds...
Nothing happened.
Then...
Very slowly...
The corner of Reyansh's lips lifted.
A rare.
Dangerously amused.
Smirk.
His eyes practically screamed
Payal bit her lip.
Aradhya turned around completely.
Everyone was desperately trying...
Not to laugh.
Virendra looked between both of them.
Then scratched his head.
Yashodha sighed knowingly.
Virendra nodded sympathetically.
Reyansh calmly took another sip of coffee.
Without taking his eyes off Rivan, he murmured,
Rivan stood alone on the staircase.
Hands in his pockets.
Face expressionless.
Only his soul knew...
He had made a catastrophic mistake.
He looked toward Devyani.
"Kitten."
No response.
He tried again.
"Devyani."
Nothing.
She didn't even blink.
Instead...
She looked at Reyansh and asked sweetly,
Reyansh looked directly into Rivan's eyes before replying,
Rivan's left eyebrow twitched.
"No."
He answered immediately.
Devyani ignored him completely.
Reyansh nodded with complete seriousness.
"Everything."
Rivan inhaled sharply.
Reyansh looked toward him innocently.
"What?"
For the first time in years...
The great Rivan Thakur realized something terrifying.
Underworld empires...
Were much easier to control...
Than one angry kitten.
The grand gates of the villa swung open as the fleet of luxury cars lined up in precise formation.
The entire family settled into their respective vehicles, dividing the lively chaos across the convoy.
Zaid took the driver's seat, with Aradhya sitting right beside him in the front passenger seat.
In the spacious back row, Rudraksh and Payal settled in, already bickering over the music playlist.
Virendra, Yashodha, Samarveer, and Rekha all piled into the second car, the two elder couples settling into a rare, relaxed conversation.
Devyani and Rivan took the third car a thick, icy tension hovering between them as Devyani stubbornly stared out the window, still strictly boycotting her husband.
Bringing up the rear were Reyansh and Jinal and Aditya riding in a quiet, composed fourth vehicle.
The lead car pulled out onto the main road, Zaid navigating the sleek SUV smoothly through the morning traffic. Glancing over at the front passenger seat, he noticed the seatbelt hanging loose beside her.
"Little girl," Zaid murmured smoothly, his eyes scanning the side mirror as he adjusted his grip on the leather steering wheel. "Put your seatbelt on."
Aradhya's posture instantly went rigid. She turned her head toward him, her cheeks flushing as she glared at his calm side profile.
"Excuse me?!" Aradhya huffed loudly, crossing her arms defensively. "Look, Mr. Zaid, I am not a little girl! I am a fully grown adult, so stop treating me like that"
Zaid didn't even flinch. He simply shifted gears, a subtle, highly amused smirk playing on the corner of his lips.
"Ahhh!" Aradhya threw her hands up in absolute frustration, her voice rising an octave. "I am not a kid either! Stop giving me childish titles!"
Zaid brought the car to a smooth stop at a red light.
He slowly turned his head to look directly at her, his deep, intelligent eyes locking onto hers with sudden, quiet intensity.
The playful teasing evaporated, replaced by a low, smooth cadence that vibrated in the quiet cabin.
"Alright..." he murmured softly, leaning a fraction closer as his hand reached across the console to pull the seatbelt strap for her. "...Miss Aradhya."
The moment the formal, low-pitched address fell from his lips, Aradhya's breath caught completely in her throat.
An unexpected, violent swarm of butterflies erupted straight in the pit of her stomach.
The sharp, witty comeback she had primed on her tongue completely vanished.
Her heart hammered wildly against her ribs as Zaid's arm brushed past her shoulder to click the metal buckle securely into place beside her hip.
He lingered for just a split second, his masculine cologne entirely wrapping around her senses, before pulling back to grip the steering wheel as the light turned green.
Aradhya swallowed hard, nervously licking her dry lips as she stared straight ahead at the windshield, her hands clutching her purse so tightly her knuckles turned white.
Her face was burning and this time, it had absolutely nothing to do with anger.
While Aradhya sat frozen in the front passenger seat, her heart pounding like a frantic drum, the backseat was a completely different story.
Rudraksh and Payal, who had been in the middle of a heated debate over who got to pick the playlist, went dead silent the moment Zaid leaned across to click Aradhya's seatbelt.
They slowly exchanged a look of pure, unadulterated shock before leaning forward in unison, resting their chins right on the gap between the two front seats.
"Well, well, well," Rudraksh drawled out, popping a piece of gum with a wicked smirk.
"Shut up, Rudra!" Aradhya squeaked instantly, her face burning hotter than a freshly baked furnace.
She didn't dare look to her left, keeping her eyes glued strictly to the highway ahead.
Payal giggled loudly, resting her chin on her hand as she stared at the back of Aradhya's flaming red ears.
She whispered in Aradhya's ear "Aru, sweetie, if you blush any harder, the traffic lights are going to complain about the competition. Look at you! You look like a ripe tomato!"
Zaid, on the other hand, remained the absolute picture of unshakeable cool.
He kept one hand effortlessly on the leather-wrapped steering wheel, his dark eyes casually checking the rear-view mirror as he caught the duo's teasing expressions.
"If both of you back there don't sit back and put your seatbelts on in three seconds," Zaid said in a calm, dangerously smooth voice, "I am going to pull this car over right now and make you both walk to the private jet terminal."
Rudraksh instantly threw his hands up, falling back into his seat with dramatic flair. "Whoa, whoa! Easy, big guy!"
"I'm buckle-bound! See? Fully buckled!" Payal squealed, snapping her seatbelt tight around her waist while snickering under her breath.
Zaid let out a low, amused huff, but his eyes briefly flicked back toward Aradhya.