34. Celebration
I was sitting in my room, lost in my thoughts, replaying everything that had happened today.
I had wished for this day to end well.
And technically… it did.
The truth came out. Bhai was safe. The criminal was exposed. Yugant won the Gala.
Everything unfolded without disaster.
Then why did it feel like something was missing? Like I had lost something I couldn’t even name.
The loud music and bursts of laughter rising from downstairs only made it worse. Every cheer echoed through the walls, stabbing at the silence in my room.
They were celebrating.
Yugant’s success.
And the newly announced alliance between the Kingsleys and the Raizaadas.
The word still tasted strange in my mouth.
Dhrithika had come earlier, knocking softly, asking me to join them. I forced a smile and refused. I said I was tired. She didn’t argue.
I didn’t want to stand there watching them celebrate.
At the venue, I had thought I would come back to my room and immediately fall asleep. But the moment I lay down, sleep disappeared completely.
My body was exhausted.
My mind was not.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw him under those flashing lights. Confident. Victorious. Slipping a ring onto Olivia’s finger.
And then, I saw him in the washroom. The way he looked at me. The way he said it was the last time.
Was that before or after he knew this announcement was coming?
I pulled my knees closer to my chest.
You said you didn’t love him. You said it was just an attraction. Then why does it feel like someone quietly removed something from your chest… and left a hollow space there? I asked myself, but got no answer.
The door opened softly. I straightened instantly as Bhai entered first, followed by Rajvardhan Uncle and Nandini Aunty. The warmth from downstairs didn’t follow them; instead, the room felt quiet… serious.
I swung my legs off the bed, and stood. My heartbeat picking up.
I knew Bhai loved me unconditionally. But his parents?
To them, I was just a stranger who appeared in the middle of their broken story.
“Mom, Dad wanted to meet you.” Bhai asked lightly, ruffling my hair like he used to.
I nodded, forcing a small smile.
“Dhwani…” Nandini Aunty stepped forward and gently took my hands in hers.
Her palms were warm.
Steady.
“You don’t know what you did for Samarth,” she said softly. “We never thought we would see our son again. But today we did. And it happened because of you. Thank you, beta.”
My lips parted in surprise.
“I… I didn’t do anything,” I murmured. “It was Yugant.”
Rajvardhan Uncle shook his head gently.
“We know what Yugant did,” he said calmly. “But he did it because you came into his life. You were ready to risk yourself to save Samarth.”
His gaze softened.
“You proved not all blood relations are truly ours, sometimes, the bonds we choose… the ones we fight for… become stronger than the ones we are born into.”
My throat tightened. He was right, not all blood relations are ours. I felt that very closely.
“We always wanted a sibling for Samarth,” Nandini Aunty continued, her voice trembling slightly. “But life had other plans. We complained to God for years.” She smiled faintly through moist eyes.
“We never imagined that God had already written a sister for him.”
My vision blurred.
I wasn’t someone who cried easily over emotional speeches. I usually rolled my eyes at sentimental lines.
But this…This wasn’t dramatic.
It was real.
I swallowed hard.
“I’m not perfect,” I whispered. “I lied. I pretended. I made mistakes.”
“And you survived,” Rajvardhan Uncle said firmly. “That is not a mistake.”
Nandini Aunty pulled me into a gentle hug.
“From today,” she whispered against my hair, “you’re our daughter.”
My breath caught.
“We are going back to Rajasthan tomorrow,” she continued softly, “to reclaim everything that was taken from us and when we do… you won’t stand beside us as a guest.”
She pulled back slightly, cupping my face.
“You will stand there as the princess of our world.”
The word princess almost made me laugh — not because it was funny, but because it felt unreal.
Me?
Princess?
I had spent years running. Hiding. Surviving.
And now someone was offering me a throne in their heart and family Legacy?
Rajvardhan Uncle stepped forward, placing a firm but affectionate hand on my head in blessing.
“You fought like a Rathore,” he said. “Without fear. Without surrender. You’re our daughter officially and you can call us your parents just like you call Samarth your brother.”
My eyes filled again. I wasn’t someone who believed in destiny, but tonight made me believe in that too.
“Come on, stop crying now,” Bhai said, wiping my tears with his thumb. “There’s so much more ahead of us. Our good days are just starting.”
I nodded, forcing a smile that slowly became real.
Rajvardhan Uncle looked at us and clapped his hands lightly. “We got our daughter today. Why don’t we celebrate this as her birthday? What do you say?”
Bhai immediately nodded and pulled out his phone.
He scrolled for a moment, then looked up “Cake’s booked.”
I blinked and glanced at the clock.
11:40 PM.
They had no idea.
They were actually about to celebrate my birthday on the very night I was born.
For a second, I considered telling them.
But I didn’t.
Maybe some things were better left as quiet miracles.
“Will you call us Mom and Dad… like Samarth does?” Nandini Aunty asked gently, her eyes searching mine.
My throat tightened. That word carried weight. It carried memories. Pain. Absence.
It carried everything I had once lost.
It wasn’t easy. But I couldn’t keep standing at the door when someone was inviting me inside.
I had spent years complaining to God about what I didn’t have. Now that something was finally being placed in my hands… I couldn’t run from it.
“I’ll try,” I said softly.
Her smile widened, and she pressed a kiss to my forehead.
At this point of my life trying didn’t feel scary. It felt like hope.
They didn’t leave immediately. Instead, they sat down as if they had all the time in the world.
They started talking about me.
What I like to eat.
Which color I prefer.
Do I like cities or quiet places?
Morning person or night owl?
Tea or coffee?
Simple questions.
But the way they listened made them feel important. It wasn’t interrogation. It was a curiosity. It was… care.
And I answered. Almost everything.
I told them I like mild food more than spicy, though I pretend otherwise. That blue has always been my favorite color because it feels calm. That I prefer quiet balconies over crowded parties.
Bhai listened quietly, occasionally adding, “She’s lying, she hates waking up early,” Then somehow the topic shifted.
“Toh, what do you like doing?” Rajvardhan Uncle asked.
I hesitated for a second. “I paint.”
Bhai looked at me instantly. Because I had never said that in front of anyone else except bhai.
“What do you paint?” Nandini Aunty asked, leaning forward slightly.
“Mostly… emotions,” I said, surprising myself. “Faces without eyes. Places that don’t exist. Things I can’t say out loud.”
“That’s beautiful,” she said simply.
I realized I had never spoken this freely about myself.
After a few more minutes of talking, Bhai’s phone rang. He glanced at the screen and picked it up.
“The cake’s here,” he said after a short pause.
“Let’s go downstairs,” Nandini Aunty suggested warmly.
I hesitated. “Can we… celebrate it here? Just us? I don’t want crowd.”
What I meant was: I don’t want to see him celebrating.
She smiled gently. “If we were in our own house, we would. But we are guests here. It wouldn’t look right to celebrate separately.”
My face fell for a second, but I nodded. She wasn’t wrong.
If it had just been Bhai, I could’ve convinced him. But this wasn’t just about me.
We walked downstairs together.
The moment we entered the living area, several heads turned toward us. Bhai moved toward the entrance to collect the cake.
“Finally! You guys came,” Dhrithika said cheerfully, holding a glass. “Come celebrate with us.”
“No beta, we don’t drink,” Rajvardhan Uncle replied politely. “You all continue.”
She smiled. “Then at least fruit wine or juice?”
“Not now,” Aunty said softly, pulling me slightly closer. “We’re here to celebrate something else.”
“Celebrate what?” Dhrithika asked.
My throat tightened. Every eye felt like it was on me.
“Yugant, of course,” Aunty said with a gentle nod. “And our daughter. It’s her birthday.”
Daughter.
The word warmed me instantly.
“Dhwani’s birthday? Really? You didn’t tell us?” Dhrithika gasped as if offended.
Before I could answer, Bhai returned carrying a large cake box.
“It’s almost twelve. Can we cut the cake first?” he asked.
“Of course, Samarth. Put it here,” Daadi said, pointing to the table.
I noticed how everyone was trying to talk to Bhai to include him but he kept his replies short. Polite, distant. Avoiding depth.
I didn’t know why. I’ll ask for sure.
“Come beta, cut the cake before the clock strikes twelve,” Dadu encouraged.
I nodded and walked toward the table.
That's when I saw Yugant.
Sitting on the couch.
Olivia beside him, legs crossed elegantly, that ring shining under the lights.
Our eyes met for a second then I looked away.
Suddenly it felt strange. Watching him beside her. Knowing that the woman next to him now wore the ring that officially made her his. A lot of things chanceg in just few moments.
“Come on, Dhwani. Just three minutes left,” Dadu said, handing me the knife while Bhai opened the cake box.
“Bhaiya, you also come,” Dhrithika said, pulling Yugant up by his hand. “We didn’t cut cake for you earlier. Let’s consider this for both.”
“Bit it’s her birthday,” Olivia intervined finally. “Let her celebrate.”
“Yugant can join,” Nandini Aunty insisted gently. “We can celebrate both.”
Olivia didn't felt happy, but she slide it anyway.
I inhaled slowly, mentally scolding myself for standing like a statue, letting myself every possible thing here.
Yugant walked over and stopped beside me. Close enough that his shoulder brushed lightly against mine, then his hand reached out and covered mine.
My grip tightened around the plastic knife instantly.
They began singing “Happy Birthday” first, and then added congratulations for Yugant as well.
We cut the cake together. Together.
And the irony burned because right now, the faint warmth of his breath against my forehead felt foreign.
As if we hadn’t shared something reckless and intimate just a few hours ago.
As if none of it had happened.
As if I wasn’t pretending everything was normal.
Dhwani picked up a generous piece of cake and turned toward Samarth.
Not me.
She didn’t even look in my direction. Not once.
I shouldn’t have expected anything different. This is what she always wanted, distance. Clean break. Strangers again.
So I gave her exactly that.
Olivia stepped beside me, lifting a forkful of cake toward my mouth. “For good luck,” she said lightly.
I gently pushed her hand away. “I don’t like sweet things.”
My tone was controlled. Calm but her smile faltered instantly.
“You can at least take a bite for her, Yugant,” Adhvait bhai said sharply from the side.
I turned slowly and looked at him. Then at Vedika bhabhi standing beside him.
“People who don’t care about their own partners shouldn’t give relationship advice,” I replied coolly, the bitterness impossible to hide.
His jaw tightened. I’ve never liked him. Dhrithika doesn’t. Mom and Dad never did.
Even Dadu and Daadi only tolerate him.
But we endure his presence because of one fact—After our parents died, when I was drowning in debt and clueless about business, he was the one who connected me to Mr. Kingsley.
Kingsley invested. Saved the company and in return, there was an understanding. I would have to marry his daughter.
Olivia Kingsley.
And tonight, after the victory, the engagement was announced publicly.
Deal fulfilled and future sealed.
I didn’t want it like this. Not if Dhwani had chosen me. If she had said even once — try.
If she had told me she wasn’t ready but willing to see where it goes.
I would have waited.
Months.
Years.
Lifetime.
I would have found a way to break the deal.
Face the losses. Fight Adhvait. Handle Kingsley. But she didn’t.
She said we were nothing.
She said it was just a one-night stand.
She said she would leave.
So I did what I’ve always done.
Protected the business.
Protected the family.
Sacrificed myself.
If I had refused tonight, Adhvait would have faced massive financial damage. Kingsley isn’t a small man. He doesn’t lose quietly.
And I don’t let my family bleed for my heart.
So I buried it instead.
Engagement date already announced.
Future already locked. If there’s nothing between Dhwani and me, then there’s no reason to hesitate.
I’ll marry Olivia.
Just like I planned.
Just like I promised.
Even if somewhere deep inside, something doesn’t feel like victory at all.
After a few minutes, everyone slowly drifted back to their rooms. The laughter faded, music stopped. And the silence that followed felt… heavier than it should have.
I went to my room and grabbed two cans of beer. Tonight should’ve felt victorious.
Justice for my parents.
Justice for Mama and Mami.
The Gala we couldn’t win years ago—finally ours.
The Raizaada legacy was rebuilt from dust.
The family is together again.
Everyone was smiling.
Everyone looked relieved.
And yet—There was still that hollow space inside me. The same emptiness that had been sitting there for the past two years.
I stepped into the lawn, thinking a drink alone might quiet my head but I found Samarth there standing near the far corner.
Smoking.
I paused.
He never liked smoking. He used to lecture others about it. I guess many things have changed now.
He heard my footsteps and turned. Our eyes met briefly then he looked away. It had been hours since he returned.
He spoke to Ishaan. Spoke to Dhrithika, to his parents. Stayed close to Dhwani the entire evening — his arm around her, protective, possessive.
And she let him.
No.
She leaned into it.
They loved each other fiercely. It was obvious and I respected that.
She risked everything for him.
She gave up everything for him.
And he would burn the world for her.
That bond?
I admired it. The best siblings.
But what unsettled me—Was that he hadn’t spoken a single word to me.
Not once.
I walked over and sat down on one of the chairs before placing one beer can on the table and opened the other.
The hiss of the can opening echoed in the quiet night. I took a slow sip, bracing myself to start a conversation I never imagined I’d have to prepare for at least not with Samarth.
But tonight, it felt like we were strangers.
“Want a drink?” I finally asked, unsure what else to say.
He turned his head slowly, his eyes moving from my face to the can in my hand.
The look he gave me was sharp and distant. As if we had never once shared a drink from the same bottle before.
I thought he wouldn’t take it and he didn’t. Not from my hand.
Instead, he picked up the second can from the table, sat down in front of me, opened it himself, and took a sip.
“How are you feeling… after finally coming back?” I asked carefully.
“If you’re asking about jail,” he replied evenly, “then I’m feeling very good. But if you’re asking about this mansion of yours… I feel suffocated.”
I frowned slightly. “And why is that?”
He let out a quiet, bitter breath. “What do you expect? How do you think I’d feel knowing the man who was once my best friend couldn’t even trust me… and dragged my innocent sister into this mess? Without caring that she couldn’t even talk.”
The only word that echoed in my mind was innocent.
If only he knew how “innocent” his sister really was.
“I didn’t know she was your sister,” I said, taking another sip. “I thought she was your girlfriend or something.”
His jaw tightened.
“Even if she wasn’t my sister,” he snapped, his voice still controlled but laced with anger, “you had no fucking right to drag someone I love into this mess, Raizaada.”
He never raises his voice when he’s angry.
But the veins in his neck stood out, a clear sign of how hard he was controlling himself.
“Then what do you think I should’ve done?” I asked, my voice calm despite the storm inside me. “The man who destroyed my world disappeared, and the only person who could lead me to him was the girl he loves more than his life.”
I didn’t have the energy to fight him. Not tonight; and not when I knew I wasn’t completely right. I wasn’t ashamed to admit I made mistakes.
“That’s the problem,” Samarth replied sharply. “We’ve been friends since we were ten. And you still needed proof to believe I didn’t kill your family?”
His jaw tightened.
“You made my sister work like a servant. Did you even think what could’ve happened to her? I never let her step into the kitchen, and you…” His voice faltered with anger. “You tried to break her without understanding anything.”
“It wasn’t my fault she was pretending to be mute,” I shot back.
“She wasn’t pretending,” he snapped, his voice rising for the first time. “She actually couldn’t speak because of past trauma. She knows she can talk, but she can’t force the voice out. Do you even know her medical condition?”
Medical condition?
Was there something wrong with Dhwani that I didn’t know?
“I wasn’t in a state to understand anything,” I replied, frustration finally surfacing.
“My family was shattered. The Dhrithika you saw today was battling depression. Dadi and Dadu were just breathing, not living. Aryaman was in a mental asylum. And Adhvait…” I let out a bitter laugh.
“He took advantage of the chaos. And I’m going to pay for that for the rest of my life. What was I supposed to do?”
“Trust,” Samarth said quietly. “That’s all I wanted from you, Yugant. But if you couldn’t even do that… then nothing else matters.”
He finished his beer in one go and crushed the can in his fist before setting it down. Then he stood up.
“Can’t we just forget everything?” I asked, my voice lower now. “I’m trying. You can try too.”
“I’m trying?” he repeated, turning back toward me. “You’re trying because you know it wasn’t my fault. I’m not trying because I also know it was yours.”
The words hit harder than I expected.
“And besides,” he continued, calmer now, “we’re not teenagers anymore who need each other’s friendship to survive. We’ve grown up. It’s better we focus on our own families and goals.”
He stepped back.
“You stay here. Celebrate your engagement with your family. I’m leaving in the morning with mine.”
And just like that, he walked away, leaving the silence heavier than before.
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