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Third person's pov!

"Bhadra Bua," both the ladies looked towards the door when they heard the happy greeting.

There stood a man, probably in his early thirties, with a huge smile on his face.

"Viraj beta, come in, come in. I have been waiting for you." Bhadra Bua welcomed the man into her home with a huge smile on her face.

Viraj noticed the new face and pasted a smile on his face.

"This is Chandni. Priya and Nidhi's mother. Chandini, this is Viraj beta. He has been such a help for us." Bhadra Bua made the necessary introductions..

"Hello Aunty. Bhadra Bua has talked a lot about you. I have been wanting to meet you ever since." Viraj said very sweetly and politely.

The over-politeness struck a wrong chord in Chandni. She looked at the man with suspicion.

"Hello. Yes, didi told me about you too. You have been away for work?" Chandni said curiously.

"Yes. I have been to Ratnagiri. Ratnagiri is my native place, just like yours. And my grandmother lives there. I only have my nani. My parents passed away when I was a kid." Viraj said enthusiastically, trying to impress and also create some sympathy in Nidhi's mother.

"Oh. Will you be staying for quite a while?" Chandni asked.

"No aunty. Actually I have some important work. It's about a property deal. Oh by the way, out property deal is almost done, Bua. The buyer had been abroad for the last couple of months, that's why the sale got delayed. He is returning soon. I am very busy these days, aunty, but I was missing Bhadra Bua. So, I thought I would just drop by and meet her before getting back to work." Viraj said sweetly and Bhadra Bua fell for it.

"Hai bhagwan. What a sweet boy!" Bhadra Bua said, looking lovingly at Viraj.

Chandni frowned. She didn't particularly like this so-called sweet boy.

He is too sweet to her liking. It looked like a pretense.

"As I said, I don't have a mother. After meeting Bhadra Bua only, I started feeling like I have a mother," Viraj said, adding enough emotions to his dialogue/

"Silly boy. Don't think you are an orphan anymore." Bhadra Bua chided softly.

"No. Not anymore. Infact, I told nani about you. Nani was so happy that I was getting a mother's love. And don't ask me what happened next. She happened to see Nidhi's photo. She asked me who she is and I casually told her that she is Bhadra Bua's niece. Ever since Nani has been pestering me to talk to you all. She wants to ask for Nidhi's hand in marriage for me. She thinks, if I can marry Nidhi, I will get Bhadra Bua's motherly love forever. She said she doesn't want any dowry, all she wants is Nidhi." Viraj went in for the kill.

"Why do you have Nidhi's photo with you, Viraj ji?" Chandni asked sharply.

Viraj flushed at that. He didn't expect Chandni to react like that. He thought they would be happy. They are a traditional middle class family with two daughters to marry off. He thought they would be happy when they hear that someone is ready to marry their daughter without expecting any dowry.

"That's right. Why do you have our child's photo with you?" Bhadra Bua also asked, not particularly liking what Viraj said.

"What I meant is that I had the aadhar card copies of all of yours with me, Bhadra Bua. That is what my nani saw." Viraj said immediately.

"Well, anyway Nidhi is the younger daughter of the family. And she is young too. She had to to drop out of college due to some financial struggles. But once things get back to normal, I want her to complete her education. We will think about her wedding after that only." Chandini said sternly and Viraj bit back his anger because of the unexpected turn of things. This was not what he expected when he came today.

He and his partner had come up with the idea that marrying Nidhi first would be better. Then he can convince the family that they were moving abroad for some job related affair and thus handover Nidhi to Balvant Seth.

Viraj spent some time there, shamelessly having the tasty snacks prepared by Chandni.

He had to cut short his visit, because he was getting constant calls from Sandeep Datta, his partner.

"It's time for me to leave, Bhadra Bua. I will be back in a week." Viraj said and took leave.

A couple of minutes later, Laksh came.

"Laksh, Come in." Chandni welcomed him happily.

"Who was that aunty?" Laksh asked curiously.

"Oh! That was Viraj. He is a property dealer, helping Bhadra di with some of Anand jiju's property sale. He is close to didi it seems, so he visits her sometimes." Chandni said in disinterest.

"Oh okay." Laksh said.

"Did you see Nidhi and Priya?" Chandni asked.

"Yeah. I picked them up from Rey Designs, on my way. They got down at the Shiv mandir. As usual, they both seemed lost in their own thoughts." Laksh said, rolling his eyes.

"These girls! They walk around with their head in the clouds." Bhadra Bua said, making a face.

****

Nidhi and Priya got down at the temple.

Neither of them talked. Both were lost in their own thoughts.

Priya shivered, remembering the incident that happened today.

She was called in by Parth, to talk to her about the designs she submitted previously.

"Priya, please take a seat." Parth said and Priya did as asked.

Parth had his eyes fixed on the file, which contained the designs Priya made a couple of days ago.

"Priyai, I checked out your designs and I must say, they are very beautiful." Parth said and a small blush adorned Priya's cheeks at that compliment.

"Thank you.."

"I was thinking of going to check out the fabrics tomorrow morning. Would you like to come with me?" Parth asked, his eyes still on the file.

Priya's eyes widened in surprise.

"Me?" Priya asked in shock.

"Yes. They are your designs. Only you would know in which fabric they will look perfect." Parth said.

Priya thought for a moment and then nodded.

"Okay. I will come."

"Why did you look so worried when you thought dadi was talking about my proposal for Nidhi that day?" Parth asked in the same tone, his eyes still on the file.

Priya was shocked. Did he just ask her that?

"What? I didn't understand" Priya stammered.

For the first time, Parth looked up from the file.

He closed the file with a sigh.

"You know what I meant, Priya." Parth said.

"I don't know what you are talking about, Parth ji. If you don't have any other doubts regarding the designs, may I take your leave." Priya asked, standing up from the chair and walking towards the cabin door, without waiting for his response.

In a minute, Parth was in front of her, standing in front of the door, blocking her way.

Priya looked up at the supposedly shy man in horror.

"Parth ji?"

"Look Priya. I am already very nervous. Don't make me more nervous by giving me that horrified look," the bold facade Parth was trying to adopt failed miserably and he resorted to pleading with Priya.

This is more like the Parth ji I know, Priya thought.

"Priya, you remember the day we came to your house asking for Nidhi's hand in marriage. Everyone in your family thought, I am the groom. Even you did. And you looked hurt, when you thought so. May I know why, Priya?" Parth asked.

Priya played with the ends of her dupatta, not knowing what to answer that question..

" I didn't. You must have imagined that, Parth ji." Priya stammered.

"Please Priya. Stop making us both miserable. You know what I feel. I might not have been very vocal about it, but I am sure you have seen it in my eyes. Just like I saw it in your eyes that day." Parth said.

Priya let out a resigned sigh.

How long is she going to skirt around this?

She has known for a while now that Parth has feelings for her. She too has developed some kind of feelings for him. But she knows there is no future for them.

Sooner they both come to an understanding, sooner they can move on.

"Parth ji. I understand what you are trying to say. But you need to understand that there is no future for this." Priya said softly.

"Why not?" Parth asked.

"You know very well, Parth ji. We are living in India. Where marriage happens between two families. Not just two people. And do you think your family will be happy with your wish?" Priya asked.

"Priya, if you forgot, let me remind you. A couple of weeks ago, my family came to your house with a proposal for your sister. Why would they have a problem with our relationship?" Parth asked

"None of them were looking happy except Jeevika ji. We have seen it. It looked like they had come over under heavy pressure. And since it was for Siddharth ji, they might not have had any other choice other than obeying him. But your case is different. You have parents. Your mother will never agree to it. She will never accept me." Priya said.

Parth was short of words.

How is he going to defend that!

He had no argument on that score.

"And if I make my mother agree?" Parth asked.

Priya shot a sad smile at him. She knows that it is an impossible task.

"I have some work to manage, Parth ji. Excuse me," with that said, Priya walked out of his cabin, leaving him in despair.

Priya closed her eyes and prayed to Shiv ji asking her to show her the right path.

Beside her, Nidhi did the same.

Not realising that the Raichand brothers were behind them.

A/N

Here goes the next shot..

There will be no update tomorrow, as it is Eid. Next update will be on Tuesday..

Love,

SF❤️