To say his breath got hitched would be an understatement

His sweetheart....his riddhima.....looking soo ethereally beautiful sitting on their marital bed, all decked up in that black lengha, the dim lighting of the room, curtesy the scented candles, making her radiate even more as his heart swelled with something soo damn warm and precious .....something like
LOVE........

Sitting right infront of her, watching her as if watching a dream come true, he slowly lifted her veil to come face to face with her angelic face, shining with her essence, her innocence making his heart thump......

He leaned forward, brushing his lips over her forehead as his fingers intertwined with hers....basking in the the feel of her in his arms....

If it were in his control, he would have paused this moment for eternity.......

"I love you sweetheart.....i love you soo damn much....."

His confession did no help in controlling the butterflies in her stomach as they soared high on their power, making her feel giddy with warmth....

"I love you..."

She didn't had to add "too" to her confession....because that would have felt as if she were merely agreeing to him......because she wasn't.....she wasn't saying it just for the sake of formality....

She was saying it with all her heart, body and soul....

She loved this man.....

With all his flaws....

And that...

That was her reality

Pulling out a square red velvet box from his pocket he forwarded it to her......and waited.....waited for her reaction

And she opened it....her beautiful hazel orbs gleamed with tears seeing the thing nestled in it....

It were her BANGLES....

The one he had gifted her on karwachauth, when the entire family including her had thought that he would fail to get her perfect size, making way for a sick satisfaction for some people, but he defied them all.....

"This...vansh...but...."

Her words choked....

If these bangles had good memories associated with them....they had worst of them too.....

Because....these were the same bangles she had to give up to clear off her bill from the hotel, so that she could go out to search for her husband, totally unaware of what was waiting ahead for her....

"I know....you had to give them away....because of ME......

Because of the unacceptable things i did.....

Thats why i brought them back.....to their rightful owner......

I know i had apologised and you had forgiven me for all of it and that too wholeheartedly.....

But....my apology.....

It didn't satisfy me riddhima....not even one bit.....

For all that i did...for all that i said....for all that i implied.......that apology didn't ease the pain, the distress, the humiliation, the tears even an ounce.....

And i wanted to prove it to you or rather to myself ....that if i were sincerely guilty...i need to make amends....for all the pain i put you through

But this time..... not through words....

Instead through my actions......

I wanted to give you back all those rights that i had snatched from you.....

That is the reason i proposed you for remarriage........

If that day....you would have rejected me....i would have let you go....

Because i had come to realise that nothing ends well if its forced....be it marriage or love.....

I would have set you free....because i had reached that point where your happiness had become my top priority.......

I would lay down my life before being the reason of your tears......

Because thats what love does.....

Love doesn't cage....it flourish.....

There's no price in love....

For a one that demands a price....isn't love at all......

But you accepted me....with all my flaws.....something i had never experienced in my life.....

And your acceptance killed the last ounce of selfishness in me, to bind you with me by hiding the truth from you....

So i bore my heart and soul to you....

Revealing each and every dark secret of my tainted soul, including your parent's death mystery, and heard yours........

We came clean infront of eachother and that....that was our true NEW BEGINNING......"

By the time he had finished, both their orbs were soaked with tears as they clung onto eachother, hiding in eachother's embrace.....flourishing in the glory of their love....

THEIR TRUE LOVE.....the one without the stains of the past....the one with no hints of mistrust and misunderstanding.....the one that was PURE....the one that was ETHEREAL......