Author's POV

The fire glowed in her eyes, welled up with tears, as she stared aimlessly while the Vedic mantras echoed in the silence of the night with her hand held along with his. 

"You lied," she murmured, her voice hoarse due to constant crying as she realized the fate she is going to be tied to within a few hours, her voice rising as she snapped, "You told me I was going to marry Akash, not Manik!" 

"Be grateful for wh–" her Chachi, Samta, started, snapping her mouth shut, her eyes blazing in anger as Nandini yelled, "Just shut up! You can do whatever you want but I won't marry him."

"You do know what the consequences will be if you don't do as I say, don't you?" her Chachi gritted out, trying to rein in her anger.

Nandini let out a humourless laugh and said, "What will you do? Beat me to death? Do it! It isn't like I have anything to lose."

The twenty one year old girl, Nandini, stared in her aunt's eyes, refusing to back away as she proceeded towards her in rage before a sharp sound resonated throughout the room. 

"Mind yourself when speaking to me, you ungrateful bitch," Samta whispered lowly in warning before her lips twisted in a sick smile as she said, "And you say that you don't have anything to lose. But, think clearly about the treasure that is in my custody, why don't you?"

"You wouldn't dare," Nandini gritted out, as tears welled in Nandini's eyes as she held her cheek yet refusing to give up, before she winced as her Chachi gripped a few chunks of her hair, snapping her head back, her next words breaking away the last will that had kept Nandini together since the death of her parents at the tender age of five. "I won't allow you to meet him any longer if you don't do as I say."

Her breath hitched as she raised her head, looking at him as his Daadi, Shanti, shakily helped him get up, whispering something in him and making him smile from ear to ear. She looked at his hand questioningly, her heart frantically beating, as he held it out for her. Releasing a shaky breath, she placed her hand in his and he helped her get up. 

With her dupatta tied to his stole, she encircled the sacred fire along with him, her eyes tearing up as the last vow for a life filled with blissful love and sacrifices, bounded her forever to him for the seven lifetimes to come. 

Sitting back, her eyes lowered, tears rolling down her cheeks as she felt her hair being filled with vermilion before the sacred thread– mangalsutra, tied them together in all phases of their life.

•◇•◇•◇•

"What the hell did you do? He was already set to marry Shanaya," Niharika Sharma, Manik's Maami, yelled, watching her dreams crash before her as Manik along with his new bride and his Daadi stood on the front door. 

Nandini stood frozen, unfazed by the screams directed towards the old woman by Manik's family, who stood before them dauntingly, unafraid while Manik held Nandini's dupatta tightly, fearing the mad woman's wrath. After a few minutes of yelling, silence gripped them before every family member retired towards their rooms while his Daadi turned towards them with a smile, happy to finally have protected the innocent soul of the five year old that resided in her grandson.

One of the women in her late forties brought in a pooja thali and quickly made the rest of the preparations for the new bride's Griha Pravesh. As per their instructions, Nandini gently pushed the kalash filled with rice with her right toe.

"Now, Nandini carefully walks on the cloth after placing your feet in the plate," Daadi instructed, pointing to the cloth laid before the thaal filled with alta and milk. Cautiously raising her lehenga, she entered the house with Manik walking beside her, curiously watching her every action. 

"We will do the rest of the rituals tomorrow. You might be tired now. Come, let me take you to your room," Daadi said, leading them upstairs to a room. 

"Daadi Nanni Mumma mere saath soyengi?" Manik asked, holding his breath and trying to keep his excitement at bay while Nandini swallowed, hearing him address her like his mother for the first time, the harsh reality of what her life is going to be slapping her on the face. 

(*Grandma, will Nanni Ma sleep with me?)

Manik frowned as Nandini cleared her throat and murmured, "Can I sleep with you, Daadi, please? I need some time."

Daadi nodded as she stared at her with hope that she didn't make the wrong decision of choosing Nandini as her Manik's bride and forced a smile as she welcomed her in her room just beside Manik's. Staring at Manik, the old woman's heart constricted in agony as he stared down on the floor, disappointed before he quietly moved in his room.

•◇•◇•◇•

"Did he had his food and medicines?" Nandini heard Manik's grandmother ask someone at the door as she laid down on the bed after changing into a simple nightgown. 

"Yeah, he did. But, I think we need to take him to a doctor. He has been losing so much weight and his appetite is declining day by day," a woman informed Daadi, making her mind whirl with stress for her grandson's health. She looked at Nandini over her shoulder, who was already asleep, tired after the days events and the turmoil of emotions whirring in her mind. 

"How do I do this?" Shanti asked, letting out the distrust towards her decision of going against her family and marrying Manik to Nandini after seeing Nandini's response towards Manik. "I thought that she will be accepting him wholeheartedly the way he is after Samta, even though I don't believe her. However, Nandini, herself, assured me that she agreed to this marriage. But, now, what if I judged her wrong? What if she was just after his money like everyone is? What if–what if I destroyed my grandson's life with my own hands?"

The older woman's eyes filled with tears as she voiced out her greatest fear, "I don't know how long I will be able to fight between my life and death and the moment something happened to me, they will kill him. Maybe not with their hands but with their words. They will turn him into a shell of a person and I can't bear him leaving this world like that, Riya. I wanted him happy. Is it too much to ask for?"

Riya, the helper who had raised Manik like her own his accident, shook her head, reining on her optimistic attitude as she said, "Tell me one thing, after going through numerous girls, why was it Nandini that striked you as the right one for Manik?"

Riya watched, slightly smiling, as Daadi's lips turned up in a beautiful smile, remembering the first time she saw Nandini, "I saw her with a small baby for the first time. Despite losing her parents at such a long age and living with an aunt, who treated her no less than a servant, it was her strength to light up her surroundings with her laughter as if she was the happiest person alive. Her hope for a bright  future despite the obstacles life presented her with made it seem like she is the right one for my Manu."

"And that's where you get your answer," Riya said enthusiastically, happy to know about the girl that Manik was married to, and hopefully added, "Even if she was coerced into this marriage, despite that, if she has a pure heart like we believe from what you saw, she will gradually come around and accept him and maybe her care and affection can heal him the way most of us failed to."

Nodding, Daadi smiled at that possibility before Riya bid her a good night. Shanti moved towards Manik's room where he was sleeping peacefully, covered under the duvet. Sitting beside him on the bed, she moved his hair from his forehead, her feeble hand gently patting his cheek as she promised, "I promise, mere bacha, I won't let anyone harm you anymore and help you get the happiness that you deserve."

Thank you for reading! Do share your views in the comments section and don't forget to vote.