62. Love Demands Truth. #3
Well... who was complaining? Definitely not me.
"So," Ms. Arora spoke again while rolling the pen lazily between her fingers, "what exactly happened that made you refuse to marry Kingsley's daughter and pushed him toward this legal circus?"
Me and Ishaan exchanged one glance before I finally answered.
"I fell in love."
God knows why suddenly I felt like I was sitting in front of some strict school teacher giving viva examination.
"Well," a faint amused smile appeared on her lips, "interesting."
She opened her notepad and wrote something down calmly.
"As much as I know," she continued while briefly glancing toward Ishaan, "you were already getting married to Mr. Kingsley's daughter. So how exactly did you end up marrying the love of your life instead?"
I rubbed my jaw slightly before answering.
"The woman I loved replaced Olivia at the pavilion."
That finally made her brows lift properly.
"And my whole family knew about it except me."
A soft chuckle escaped her. "Very interesting."
"But why did things even reach the wedding stage if you already knew you loved someone else?"
I sighed internally.
Now how exactly was I supposed to explain that the woman I loved realized her feelings approximately two days before my wedding?
Not that I was complaining.
Mostly.
"The woman I loved realized her feelings late..."
"Wait." She lifted her hand lightly, stopping me. "It'll be easier if you start using names instead of 'woman I loved,' 'that person,' and 'those people.' Otherwise this will start sounding like a crime podcast."
I nodded. "Yeah. So Dhwani..."
"Wait...What did you just say?"
"Dhwani," I repeated normally. "That's my wife's name."
"Dhwani.." she repeated. For a second she stayed unusually still then finally nodded slowly.
"So Dhwani realized her feelings late," I continued, "but by then everything had already reached the wedding stage. Kingsleys knew that too, but they still didn't cancel anything because my brother was involved with Olivia and they wanted to keep using that situation for their advantage."
I leaned back slightly before continuing the mess calmly.
"Then my brother kidnapped his daughter himself, tried hurting her, blackmailed me, and basically turned me into the sacrificial goat for everyone's drama."
Ishaan rubbed his forehead tiredly hearing the summary again.
"But eventually my friend saved Pihu, Dhwani replaced Olivia at the pavilion, Olivia and Adhvait got exposed publicly, and everything changed after that."
I exhaled finally after saying everything in one breath.
"That's why Kingsley filed this case now."
The room turned quiet afterward.
But strangely... Ms. Arora wasn't writing anything anymore.
She looked somewhere lost for a second.
Like my words triggered something much deeper inside her head.
"Ms. Arora?" I called out carefully. "Did you hear what I said?"
"Yeah..." She blinked once before looking back at the file. "Yeah, I did."
She quickly noted something down before looking toward me again.
"So Dhwani..." she paused briefly, "your wife. What's her family background? Where is she originally from?"
"Rajasthan."
She nodded slowly again.
"And how do you know her? How did you both meet?"
My brows frowned slightly.
"That has nothing to do with the case. So I'm not really interested in explaining my love story during legal consultation."
Ishaan coughed softly to hide his laugh.
"But for your kind information," I added, "she's my best friend's sister. That's all."
The moment I said that, the woman sitting in front of me gripped her pen just a little tighter.
"Alright..."
She closed the file calmly before picking up her belongings.
"I would like to discuss this matter further with your family," she said while adjusting the end of her saree gracefully. "Basically everyone who was directly or indirectly involved in this entire mess."
Then her gaze slowly shifted toward me.
"Especially your wife."
I frowned slightly.
"So... are you inviting me to your house for dinner tonight?" Then she added with suspicious innocence,"Maybe cooked by your wife?"
I actually laughed this time.
"My wife doesn't cook."
"That's alright," she replied smoothly. "A dinner cooked by chefs will work perfectly fine for me too."
God.
What a brilliant way to invite herself into someone's house without technically asking permission.
Even Ishaan looked mildly impressed.
She turned toward him afterward.
"Send me the address, Mr. Awasthi. I'll meet you all tonight. After that we'll discuss the case further in detail."
Ishaan nodded professionally and shook her hand. "Sure."
Then both of them walked toward the cabin door together.
Right before leaving, Ms. Arora looked toward me once again.
I leaned back slowly in my chair before looking toward the closed cabin door.
"Scary woman," I muttered under my breath.
I called home and informed Dadi to get dinner prepared properly because we were having a guest tonight.
I could've told Dhwani too.
But absolutely not.
There was no way I was letting that woman enter the kitchen.
Honestly, I was still traumatized from her first kitchen encounter.
Who the hell puts a fork inside a tea cup.
I rubbed my forehead remembering it.
God.
That girl walked into kitchens like they personally offended her existence.
I loved Dhwani exactly the way she already was.
Messy. Dramatic. Emotionally chaotic. Completely hopeless in kitchens.
And honestly?
I'd rather die hungry than watch her force herself to become someone else just to fit expectations she never even created.
Because the moment love starts feeling like performance... it stops feeling like home.
?????
"Yugant... who is coming for dinner?" Dhwani's voice reached me the moment I walked out of the washroom after taking a shower.
I had returned early today, along with Ishaan.
"Advocate Arora," I replied while rubbing the towel through my hair. "She wants to discuss more details regarding the case, so she's coming over."
Dhwani nodded slowly, but she didn't look pleased.
More than that... she looked lost somewhere in her own thoughts.
I stepped closer and pulled her lightly toward me. "What happened now?"
"Huh?" She blinked before forcing a small smile. "Nothing. I'm just stressed about the case, that's all."
"You don't need to stress yourself," I murmured softly. "I'm here."
She smiled again, but this time too it didn't fully reach her eyes.
Then quietly, her hands moved toward the towel around my neck. She took one end of it and went slightly on her toes to dry my hair properly. Since she was still too short for this angle, I leaned down automatically toward her.
"Hmm..." she mumbled softly while rubbing my hair dry. "Good boy."
A small laugh escaped me but at that moment I felt weirdly guilty.
We had just gotten married. This time should've been filled with stupid dates, late-night drives, honeymoon planning, teasing, peace...
Instead, we were stuck between legal case.
"Done," she said softly after a while. "Now go wear a t-shirt. I'm going to keep my colors and canvas aside."
She turned to leave, but I held her wrist gently and pulled her back again before cupping her face.
"What happened, Dhwani?"
"Nothing, I told you. Just stressed."
"You're lying." I brushed a strand of hair behind her ear carefully. "Something is bothering you. You can tell me."
For a few seconds she stayed quiet. Then finally, she prepared herself to speak. "Actually..." she hesitated softly, "I wanted to tell you something, but I didn't know how to."
"You don't need to think so much before speaking to me. You know that, right?"
She nodded slowly and held my hand tightly.
"You asked me many times about the medicines I take," she whispered. "But I never answered properly."
A small smile appeared on my lips unconsciously.
Honestly, I had been waiting for this moment.
Not to know about the illness. But to hear her open that locked part of herself willingly.
"Yeah," I replied softly. "What are they for?"
"Actually..." She swallowed nervously, as if saying the word itself carried some huge weight.
But I knew this fear wasn't about thyroid.
It was about vulnerability.
About letting someone see the fragile parts of you and trusting they wouldn't look at you differently afterward.
"Your thyroid medicines, right?" I said quietly.
Her eyes widened instantly. "How do you know?"