Aditya pulled the car outside Siddiqui Mansion. It was evening when they reached home. Upon entering the house, they got a little more than a surprise. Before their eyes, there were around 30 people working upon the decoration of the house. Some were involved in the flower decoration while others were busy fitting the lights. In the middle of them was Arjun, instructing them and looking upon their work.

"Bhaiya saare flowers fresh hone chahiye. Aur thoda jaldi kijiye. Yeh sb kaam aaj hi khatm krna h", he called out.

His eyes then fell on AdiYa standing at the door with a surprised expression on their faces. He smiled and went near them.

"Chote yeh sb?", Aditya asked pointing towards the work going in the house.

"Bhai, yeh sb aap dono ki Shaadi ki preparations chl rhi h. Waseem Uncle ka order h saara kaam aaj hi khtm ho jana chahiye. Kal se aapki Shaadi ke functions start ho rhe h", he told them.

"Maa-Paa kahan h?", Aditya inquired.

"Woh dono bas thodi me der aa rhe h. Aap dono thak gye honge, jaa kr fresh ho lijiye", Arjun said looking at Zoya. Without a word, she left for her room while Aditya stood there.

After reaching her room, Zoya shut the door and marched straight to her bathroom. Without bothering to remove her saree, she turned the shower on and stood under it. She felt relaxed as the cold water touched her.

After about 15 minutes, Zoya came out of the shower wearing her bathrobe and a towel covering her head. She wiped her wet hairs with the towel and walked to the closet to get a dress for herself. That's when she heard Waseem's voice coming from the hallway downstairs. She quickly dressed up and went out to check.

Waseem, Roshnaq, Harsh and Anjana had come back. They were sitting on the sofa in the hall. Arjun and Aditya were also there. They seemed to be discussing something and looked happy. She went near the stairs to hear properly.

"Roshnaq sbke liye chaai le aaiye. Beti ki shaadi h, bahot kaam krna h", Waseem ordered & Roshnaq happily went to the kitchen.

Waseem's eyes caught Zoya standing idly on the stairs. He called her turning every eye in the room towards her direction, "Arre Zoya, aap wahan kyu khadi h. Yahan aaiye hume baat krni h aapse".

Zoya suddenly felt more conscious of herself as everyone's attention turned towards hers. She nodded and slowly made her way downstairs walking up to where they were sitting.

"Yahan baithiye", Waseem pointed to the place next to Aditya.

Zoya silently obeyed and took the seat next to Aditya. Waseem exchanged some happy glances with Harsh & Anjana before speaking to Zoya.

"Zoya bete, jaisa ki aap janti hi h ki Aditya ko apni duty jldi join krni h. Issliye humne tay kia h aapka Nikaah hum agle do dino mein krwa denge", Waseem proudly announced. He paused to look at her reaction and continued, "Kal subah aap ki haldi h. Aur shaam ko Mehndi aur Sangeet h".

Just then Roshnaq came with the trays of tea & snacks. She took the seat opposite her husband. Waseem exchanged a silent glance with her before proceeding, "Parso subah Maulvi sahab aapka aur Aditya ka Nikaah padhenge. Phir shaam ko hi aapki Bidaai hogi", he said getting little emotional with the last words.

Zoya kept listening quietly without complaining even once. It was taking every ounce of her self-control to keep herself calm. She tried to maintain her facial expressions to not show what she was feeling from inside.

Taking control over his emotions, Waseem said in an energetic voice, "Roshnaq sbka muh meetha karayein".

"Jii, hum abhi laate h", Roshnaq said and brought 'Doodh ke Laddoo' from the kitchen.

Roshnaq fed the first bite to Aditya and then to Zoya from the same laddoo. She then fed to everyone one by one and they fed her & Waseem in return. The Siddiqui Mansion was gleaming with happiness. Everybody was happy for the upcoming wedding except for one person, the bride herself.

It was already too much for Zoya to handle and tears were threatening to come out of her eyes. She wanted to elope to her room. After a while she got up and finally said, "Abbu hamare sar mein dard h. Hum apne room me jaa rhe h".

Without anyone could have said anything to stop her, Zoya quickly made an escape towards her room. Everyone again got busy chatting with each other & discussing their plans on the wedding and the functions. But Aditya silently watched her climbing the stairs to her room. A smile appeared on his face that was glowing thinking of the next day.

~~~~~~~~~~

When Zoya reached her room, her phone was ringing. She wiped her tears with the back of her hand before answering the call.

"Hello? Zoya mam?", Mona's voice reached her ears.

"Mona aap iss waqt call kyu kr rhi h?".

"Actually Mam aapki mother ne dresses order kiye the FASHIONISTA se. Mujhe inform krna tha ki delivery kal subah tk ho jaegi".

"Hum bata denge unhe".

"Sure mam!"

"Mona humne ek kaam dia tha aapko. Dr. Kabir ke hospital me cheque bhejna tha. I hope you have done that?".

"Mam cheque ussi din bhijwa dia tha".

"Ab humari baat dhyaan se suniye. Sahir ke hospital ke jitne bhi bills honge sb humari company pay kregi. Humare jaane ke baad yeh aapki responsibility h saare cheques time pe pay ho jane chahiye".

"Don't worry I'll not disappoint you".

"Ek baat aur.....yeh baat sirf aapke aur hamare beech hi rehni chahiye. Iss baare me Abbu ko kuch bhi pata nhi chalna chahiye. Am I clear?".

"Sure mam! I'll take care of that".

Zoya was about to cut the call but "Zoya mam woh....".

"Woh kya Mona?", Zoya asked.

"Mam woh Sahir sir ki mother ka call aaya tha. Woh aapse milna chahti hain, aapke ghar ka address maang rhi thi", Mona told.

"Mona aap janti h aapko kya krna h. Agar unka doobara call aaye to bol dijiyega ki hume unse koi baat nhi krni h aur naa hi hum unse milna chahte h", Zoya commanded.

"Ok mam", saying this Mona cut the call.

Zoya's heart pierced when she said those harsh words. She knew she was being mean & it's gonna hurt Sahir's Ammi but she was left with no choice. She was forced to do it for her parents' sake.

Zoya threw her phone on the bed and sank down to the floor. Things were happening so fast that she had no control over it. At first her wedding was fixed against her wish with the person she barely know. And now it's gonna happen in two days. In next two days she will be wife of a person she met just two days ago.

She was forced to leave the person she loves, the person she has thought to marry all the while. It wasn't her choice but she had no option either. She had to marry the person chosen by her parents because of their happiness, even if it meant to sacrifice her love. She had seen a glint of happy emotions in their eyes for seeing the marriage of their only daughter. And she can't destroy their happiness just for her selfish love.

Yet it wasn't as easy to explain it to her heart. She wanted to cry & cry till she empty herself of all the emotions. Zoya brought her knees closer to her chest and dug her head inside. She was crying silently when she felt something on her wrist and looked up to see the shining bracelet on her hand. And yet again, it took her into the memory of that day AND of him.

(Flashback):-

Zoya opened her seatbelt Sahir had just tied and got up from her seat only to sit on his lap. She kissed his cheeks, "Woh kya h na Mr. Aashiq, hamara boyfriend bahot hot hai. Ab jiska boyfriend itna hot ho usse khud ka dhyaan rakhne ki kahan fursat h", she said seductively and winked at him making Sahir lose all his anger.

When Zoya was about to got up from his lap to go back to her seat, Sahir pulled her closer to him by her waist. She kept her palms on his shoulders for the support. He leaned closer to her ears and softly whispered, "Apna tohfa nhi logi".

Zoya looked at him in surprise. Sahir took out a beautiful shining white bracelet fron the pocket of his shirt. "Hamari 6 month Anniversary ka gift", he said and tied it around her wrist.

Zoya lifted her hand to see the bracelet properly. It had star & moon attached with it. Moon as she was source of light for him in darkness and a star he wanted to spend every night of his life with. She kissed it and Sahir smiled watching her.

"Bahot khoobsurat h", she said flashing a beautiful smile.

"Tumse zyada nhi", he argued watching Zoya playing with it and earned another beautiful smile from her.

"Hmmm....So where is it?", Sahir asked extending his open palm before Zoya.

"What?", she asked confused.

"Mera gift?", he reminded her.

Then it struck Zoya that she didn't bought him anything. Sahir saw her expression change.

"Sahir....woh to hum....bhool gye", Zoya said sticking her tongue out in sorry.

Sahir held her hand & kissed her on it. "Ab galti ki h, to sazaa to milegi hi", he said kissing inside of her arms.

Sahir looked in Zoya's eyes and passed her a naughty smile. His eyes hovered over her lips causing Zoya to look down blushing. He brought his lips closer to her glossy pink ones and was about to taste them when Zoya put her hand on his mouth.

"SAHIR yahan pr log h", she said reminding him of their surroundings.

They were still parked outside the theatre. And being the Saturday night, it was over-crowded than usual as people were enjoying the weekend. Sahir leaned back realizing where they were and Zoya passed him a teasing smile.

(Flashback) continues.....

**********

Hello guys! Hope everyone is doing fine. Here's your next update!

What do you think of this chapter?
Tell me in the comment box below.

Don't forget to vote and support the story.

And one good news that we have crossed 5k views!

Stay safe and secure :)