Lavanya woke up with the sun rays reflecting through the french windows. She blinked and rubbed her heavy eyelids before finally opening them. She jerked up in shock when she realized she was in a bedroom which from it designs knew it belonged to a man.

She panicked but after a few seconds she relaxed remembering how she rum away from her forced marriage and how Akash saved her and brought her to RM. She smiled remembering her time with Shivani and Aarushi.

She then looked around for Akash and saw him sleeping face down on blanket and his head on the pillow on the floor.

Lavanya started drooling his back and cursed herself for drooling at a man who will never be hers.
She has been confused since yesterday's hug with Akash. She felt safe and at home in his arms something she had never felt in her life before and come to think of it he was a really handsome shy and quiet guy something she liked about him.
She shrugged her thoughts off and got down from the bed only for her feet to hit a shopping bag.
She loved down and saw numerous designer bags with clothes and shoes on the floor and a toiletry bag and makeup kit.

And a note attached to it saying.

She smiled with tears in her eyes. No one has ever done anything like this for her before. She stood up from the bed and quietly walked over to Akash,  kneeled and kissed his cheeks and Akash smiled in his sleep.

She then tiptoe to the bathroom and took her shower. After half an hour she came out and started detangle her hair with her hand when she felt a gaze on her and looked up only to find Akash wide awake and leaning on the wall shirtless.

Akash was staring at her intensely and instead of feeling uncomfortable she felt good. She also couldn't take her eyes of her and neither could he.

Their reverie was broken by the ring of Akash's phone and he picked it up and spoke to the person. After he was done, he turned and said.

"Lavanya.... It's bhai.... He called us to hurry up for the Pooja..... Today is Raksha Bandhan.... And we are all celebrating it.... I want you to come with me only if you want to. " Akash asked nervously.

"It will be my honour to come with you..... And thank you for the clothes and everything. " Lavanya said blushing.

"No I should be thanking you for supporting me with Shivani..... You can use the walk in closet.... I will use the bathroom.... And again thank you. " Akash said and Lavanya nodded with a smile exposing her dimples.

Akash then walked in to his closet and came out with his outfit and shoes and some necessities and entered the bathroom.
Lavanya then took at some of clothes and instantly fell in love with them. She then walkes into the closet and got dressed. Both of them came out at the same time and were mesmerized by each other's look.

Lavanya's outfit.

Akash's outfit.

Both moved towards each other in a trance and looked deep into each others eyes. Akash leaned forward to kiss Lavanya and she also closed her eyes waiting for the kiss. They were an inch away from kissing each other when their reverie was broken by a knock no more like a continuous banging on the door. They pulled out embarrassed at what they were about to do.

Akash move to the door only to see his princess smiling at her, he was about to pick her up when she run pass him right into Lavanya's arms.
Akash shook his head and closed the door. Shivani who was in Lavanya's arms touched Lavanya's forehead and asked.

"Mummy..... How are you feeling? "

"Am fine after seeing you. " Lavanya replied and kissed her cheeks making her giggle. And she wiggled to get out of Lavanya's arms.

"Mummy.... Do you like ma dress. " Shivani asked twirling around.

Shivani's outfit.

"Ooh My.... I love it and you look so beautiful in it.... And it the perfect dress for a gorgeous princess. " Lavanya replied making Shivani blush in shyness.

"My girls are looking drop dead gorgeous..... And it's time to show them off. " Akash said and picked Shivani up in one arm and held Lavanya hand in his other hand and walked out of the room to the hall.

Shivani who saw Aarushi ,wiggled out of her father's arms and run over to Aarushi who was stuffing ladoos in her mouth and joined her in eating.

Aarushi's outfit.

Akash got down with Lavanya who sat at the corner away from the other. Akash was hurt when Lavanya left his hand. This didn't go unnoticed by the entire family who knew Akash has feelings for Lavanya. They also understood Lavanya was avoiding them.

Dadi's outfit.

Shashi's outfit.

Rohan's outfit.

Arnav's outfit.

Khushi's outfit.

Aman's outfit.

Meera's outfit.

Dadi called all of them for prayers and offered a small Pooja at the house's temple.

After the prayers dadi made the guys sit on a platform with rangolis around it.

She then called Khushi, Meera and Lavanya who was surprised but went closer and hand them three plates.

Khushi moved to Akash, Aman and Rohan and applied a tilak with the kumkum on their forehead and tied the rakhi on their right wrist and waved the plate in a circular pattern in front them and offered them sweets. Meera did the same for Arnav, Rohan and Akash while Lavanya did the same for Arnav, Aman and Rohan.

Meera.
Arnav gave her Lamborghini.
Akash gave her an apple laptop.
Rohan gave her chocolates.

Khushi.
Aman gave her an expensive one of a kind Cartier bracelet worth a million dollars.

Khushi almost fainted in shock when Rohan disclosed the price.

Akash and Rohan together gave her a beautiful saree.

Lavanya.

Arnav gave her a Rolex watch.

Rohan and Aman gave her a box of chocolate.

After the distribution of gifts Dadi and Shashi blessed them.
At the corner of the house stood the outcasts. Some in happiness and others in anger.

"Amma... Look at how Khushi and Meera has snatched our position from us.... And this Lavanya where did she came from all of a sudden.... Arnav, Aman and Akash bought such expensive gifts which should have been ours for them.... I thought Akash didn't have money but here he is spending crores on gifts from those whores...... Amma do something before we lose our positions forever. " Anjali cried to her mother who was fuming in anger together Payal who was not liking the closeness of Akash and Lavanya.

Madhumati and Mami looked at them in disgust. Mami who was happy to see her son genuinely happy for the first time decided to rub salt into the three witches wound.

"Hello hi bye bye Miss Tiptop and my son looks soo good together.... I won't be surprised that they will get married soon. " Mami said and winked at Madhu who understood what she was doing and went along with it.

"You are right Manu..... Even Shivani is calling Lavanya her mummy.... This will make it easier for them to get married.... And you know men with kids love women whom their kids love and warms up to. " Madhumati exclaimed and the trio were shocked at this new information.

Payal stumbled backwards in shock and Anjali held on to her while glaring at Mami and Buaji who were least affected by it.

Garima who wouldn't stand the pain of her daughters marched up to Shivani and Aarushi who were playing hide and seek not knowing this move will cause her pure pain.

"Shivani baby.... Come to grandma. " Garima said grabbing everyone's attention.
Shivani who never liked Garima run to Lavanya and she picked her up.

"Miss Kashyap.... Let my grand daughter come to me. " Garima demanded and Anjali and Payal rushed to her trying to dissuade her but she won't listen.

"Mummy.....  I don't want to go to her she bad. " Shivani said with a teared up eyes almost on the verge of crying.

"Don't cry princess.... Mummy is not going to let you go anywhere. " Lavanya said to Shivani who smiled and hugged Lavanya's neck. Akash who got mad marched up to Garima.

"Stay away from my daughter and fiancee or else I will break you beyond anything.... Mark my words. " Akash said shocking Lavanya and the others smiled at his indirect proposal.
Payal who couldn't digest the fact that Akash had replaced her so soon marched up to him and held him by his collar. Shashi and Dadi who knew this will end ugly took the kids away from there.

"How dare you replace me like that..... So you were having an affair.... An affair with her.... She is nothing but a whore and a gold digger who will bed any man for money first Arnav and now you.... Akash open your eyes..... She is after your money since she couldn't seduce Arnav a few weeks ago. " Payal spat out venomously

Garima marched over to Lavanya and slapped her but the next thing she felt after that was a hard slap making her fall to the ground.

She raised her head to see Akash with blood shot eyes, she squirmed out of fear seeing him like that.
Akash pulled her up by the hand she used to slap Lavanya.

"You will regret ever touching my fiancee with your filthy hands. " Akash yelled and dragged her to the kitchen. Making the others follow.
Payal and Anjali tried to free their mother but failed miserably against Akash's 6 foot 2 large frame.

He turned on the electric stove and placed Garima's hand on it. Making her yell in excruciating pain.

"Hari Prakash.... Make me a mixture of salt and chilli pepper in water now " Yelled Akash to Hari Prakash who gladly mixed up everything in seconds.

Lavanya was tried to stop Akash but remembered what Akash had told her last night about them. A crying Payal and Anjali was begging Akash to let their mother go but he did listen and pressed Garima's hand harder to the stove.

Garima breathe a sigh of relief and closed her in pain when Akash removed her hand from the stove but it was short lived when Akash placed it in the mixture making her yell out in pain in more pain. Akash then shoved her to the ground and she held on to her blistered hand crying. Within seconds of impact to the ground her daughter's were beside her. Akash marched up to them making them shiver in fear. They now understood the phrase “the more silent the more deadly”.

"You dare call my woman a whore and a gold digger.... When you and your daughters are the whores and gold diggers..... Anjali here had an affair with a married man and snatched not only a husband but  the life of an innocent woman just like you did Garima.... And Payal here was married but still choose to have an affair with her ex for years behind my back (this shocked Payal and the others who didn't know)..... And you have the nerve to call a good wanna like Lavanya a whore.... The three of you are nothing but filth..... And as for you Payal if I ever find you badmouthing her again then get ready to have your tongue chopped off. " Akash yelled making them shiver.

"I warned the three of you but you didn't listen..... And now you will face the consequences. " Arnav said in a deadly calm voice.

"Please Arnav..... Please forgive us.... We promise to behave.... Please" Anjali pleaded.

"Am sorry Miss Malik..... It's too late for begging..... Now you and Payal get up and face each other now (Arnav yelled and they did out of fear) Anjali slap Payal ( this shocked them but one glare was enough for Anjali to do it.) Payal now you slap her" ( Payal slapped Anjali making her cheek burn)  Now keep on slapping each other until I say it's enough. " Arnav said trying hard to keep himself from laughing but the other burst out in laughter seeing Payal and Anjali slapping each other.

Buaji and Mami were the ones who laughed the most. After almost two minutes of slapping each other Anjali and Payal cheeks and hands looked more red than the color red. Their cheeks and hands were paining because of the slaps.
Arnav then asked HP to bring over the mixture and forced them to place their hands in it and screams of pain followed next.

Akash then called the guards to drag them back to the basement and after they were gone Akash apologized to Lavanya.

"No need to apologize Akash....whatever they said about me was half the truth.... I was always a burden for my parent..... They tolerated me because my mother couldn't have anymore children because of the complications she developed due to my birth.... Most parents educate those children for them to have a better future but mine sent to me to the best schools to make it more easier to trap rich men.... An just to get a drop of love from them ....I agreed to be Arnav's paid fiancee..... I agreed to have a live in relationship with him..... They were so happy when Arnav and I were getting married and I was also happy not because of the marriage but because they started showing me love..... For the first time since my birth my parents said they loved me.... And that was the only reason I agreed to everything.... When Arnav and I broke up, I wasn't hurt by the break up but because I knew my parents will start hating me again.... And for almost five years they never left any stone unturned to hurt me because I refused to go back to my former self because Khushi's training made me realize I was worth more than my parents made me became.... They only spoke to me when they needed money for gambling or parties which I did give them money just for them to leave me alone but it  emptied my account..... I even found it hard to feed myself after that because all of my salary had to go into paying rents and my parents dept...... I was about to lose my house when Anjali call my parents and said she will give us a huge sum of money if I seduce Arnav and bring him under her control again.... So I and my parent came to India to fulfill it but trust me I vowed to never let them control me again if my plan succeeded and Anjali paid me the money..... But then it flopped and again they made me feel like a piece of shit..... So you see Akash ,Payal is right to call me a gold digger. " Lavanya said in tears and they all listened in tears as well.

"You are not a gold digger Lavanya.... I know how it feels to do the most craziest things just because you want love..... And for that you can go to any length to achieve it..... I have also done something pretty horrible things just to get my mother's love..... Trust me Lavanya no one is judging you.... I understand you perfectly well...... Some may think we are cowards but we are not.... So please don't take those women's words to heart. " Akash said to Lavanya while holding her hand. Mami looked down in shame and tears and run away to her room with buaji following her.

Khushi and Meera moved closer to Lavanya and said.

"Akash is right Lavanya.... We understand you....
And stop killing your self esteem... Okay" Khushi said and Meera nodded agreeing with Khushi and Lavanya let go off Akash's hand and hugged Khushi and Meera. The boys then joined them in for a group hug.

After a few seconds they broke the hug and started laughing.

"Welcome to the family Lavanya. " Arnav said with a smile.

"Thanks bhai... And all of you for accepting me into your family. " Lavanya said thanking them.

They all then hugged each other and was about to continue with the celebration when Jai Prakash rushed up to them panting and in process breaking their reverie.

"Akash bhaiya..... Lava... Lavanyaji is on TV. " Jai Prakash said trying to caught his breath.

This shocked everyone and Lavanya panicked.
Arnav turned on the television in the hall and on it was news of Lavanya being reported missing and her parent crying for their daughter to be returned. Everyone knew their tears were fake.

Lavanya started hyperventilating seeing her parents and was about to fall down when Akash held her on time. She started crying and held on to Akash as her life depended on it.

"Akash please don't send me away to them.... They are bad..... Please Akash please.... I don't want to go to them.... If you send me back they will send to that monster please Akash don't send me away. " Lavanya cried and then lost consciousness.

To be continued.

Here is another update and don't forget to hit the ⭐🌟⭐🌠⭐ and comment.

When I started the story I decided to give daily but now due to working from home I will have to give updates every two days instead.

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Bye for now.

xoxoxo.