'Are you sure boarding a flight to Goa and crashing the wedding is necessary?, a confused Tejaswi asked her husband.

Introducing Shweta Basu Prasad as Tejaswi Dhanrajgir, Tapasya's mother:

Kunal Dhanrajgir took a sip of his coffee and said,

Kunal: Yes, it is. It's our daughter we're talking about.

Tejaswi: Yes, but just because Kabir Shergill did you bad doesn't mean his son will do the same. I mean, come on Kunal, we have known Ruhaan for ages. Do you really believe he could be a threat  to Tapasya?

Kunal: Tejaswi, we knew Kabir for so many years, but still he turned out to be a backstabbing scoundrel,right?

Tejaswi kept quiet. She did not have an answer to that.

Kunal: His son might be different from him but I'm not going to take any chances. Especially with Tapasya.

Tejaswi: I understand your concern but don't you think you should have talked to Tapasya about this first? I mean, how are you going to explain why you are at the wedding uninvited?

Kunal: I'm not exactly uninvited.

Tejaswi: What do you mean?

Kunal: I called the Dean of her college yesterday. He is an old batchmate of mine. And I also did many favours for him when he was struggling with his school funds. So he kinda owes me this.

Tejaswi: Well, I guess then we can go to the wedding after all.

Kunal smiled and took her hand in his and whispered,

Kunal: Yes we can.

Tejaswi smiled and rested her head on his shoulder while a devious thought crossed Kunal's mind,

'Ah.... it's finally payback time Kabir. Your son doesn't know what's coming his way.'

Devious much?

                   ~~~~~~~~~~~~

As soon as the function was over, Mitali and Shanu followed Ananya back to her room or wherever she was headed to. And sure enough, after a lot of sleuthing, they found her standing in the poolside area. They decided to wait by the bar to keep an eye on her and to find out who she was waiting for here.

And sure enough, after a while, Ishaan sneaked his way to Ananya. He had a plate of food in his hand and was constantly watching his back the whole time. He went up to Ananya and they both hugged each other.

Shanu gasped witnessing the scene.

They then went on to sit down in a nearby table and Ishaan started feeding her. Shanu and Mitali watched as Ananya giggled and talked while feeding him some bites as well.

This was it. Shanu couldn't take this anymore. She stumped her way to the duo with Mitali at her heels.

Ishaan gulped and stood up watching Shanu approach them. Ananya had her back faced to them.

She followed his line of sight and found Shanu and Mitali standing in front of her.

Anu: Shanu.....I.....

Shayantani slapped Ananya across her cheeks. Ishaan rushed beside her. She fell on his chest with her hand on her cheek. Mitali widened her eyes and looked at Shanu nervously.

Shanu immediately pulled back her hand in shock.

Ishaan: Wha....why did you do that?

Mitali: Shut the fuck up, okay? We'll deal with you later. Now get lost before I knock the shit out of you!

Ishaan: No..... I'm not leaving Anu's side. God knows what you might do to her if I go.

Shanu looked at Ananya with tears in her eyes. She was enraged by her behaviour but more importantly, sad and guilty for slapping her.

Mitali: I swear to God, Ishaan, I'll count till ten and if you're not gone , I'll pin your ass down and kill you.

Ishaan gulped at the threat.

Mitali: Ten!.......Nine!........Eight!........

Anu: No!

The trio looked at her questioningly,

Anu:(turning to Ishaan) Go. Just go. Please, trust me.

Ishaan hesitatingly nodded and left after eyeing Mitali.

Mitali: Okay.......(turning to Ananya) What the hell do you think you're doing?

Anu: What?

Mitali: Anu, this is not the time to play dumb, okay? Tell us! Why?

Anu: I don't think I understand you. What are you guys implying?

Shanu: What we are implying is that why on EARTH are you fooling around with somebody else's fiance?! Tell us! What's wrong with you? Have you lost it?!

Anu: Look guys, I can explain......

Mitali: Well then do! Cause we are hella confused!

Anu: I am, I am, okay? I swear guys, I didn't want you guys to find out this way.

Mitali: Well it surely didn't seem like it! You were literally with us the whole day today! And you didn't utter a word! If we hadn't seen you guys being all Romeo and Juliet in the morning, we would have never found out!

Anu: In the morning? Wait...... you guys knew about this since this morning?

Mitali: Well, Daksh and I saw you guys . So spit it out! What's going on?!

Anu: Wait Daksh? Daksh saw us?!

Mitali: Why else do you think he skipped today's function for?

Ananya covered her mouth and sat down exhausted and in shock.

Mitali signalled Shanu to talk to her. Shanu bent down and held Ananya's hand and asked,

Shanu: Please Anu, please.......kya hua hai ? Batana..... please.........

Ananya looked at her best friend and said,

Anu: He said he still loves me, Shanu.

Shanu: What?

Mitali: What?!

Anu: Yes, he told me that he still loves me. And that he wants to get back together with me.

Mitali: And you believe him?!

Anu: Of course I do. I've known that guy all my life. I can't not believe him.

Mitali: Okay, you are not making any sense now, alright? That guy legit left you for another girl! And you believed him the second he told you that he loves you?! Are you out of your freaking mind?!

Anu: Mitali, you don't understand. (Getting up) I know that he's not lying this time. He really meant what he said. I know.

Shanu: How?! How do you know that he is telling the truth? How do you know he's not gonna abandon you like last time and leave you to fend for yourself?! Again!

Anu:(holding Shanu by her shoulder) Shanu, please you've got to trust me. I know it's hard to trust him again after what he did.  When he told me , I was quite oprehensive too. I didn't wanna believe him . But then he explained his situation. He told me why he did what he did.

Shanu: Okay then tell us! Why did he leave you three years back?! Why did he get engaged to someone else when he promised he would stay by your side?!

Anu: Because he was forced to , okay?! He didn't mean any of it. He didn't mean anything that he said to me. His father wanted to get him married to someone rich , someone who would match their family's standard. And he was forced under situations to get engaged to her! He didn't want to leave me but he had no choice.

Shanu looked at her, trying to process the new information.

Mitali: Anu , even if that explains why he got engaged, it still doesn't justify why he didn't try to tell you the truth for three years. And what tells you that he's going to stand up to his for you father this time? Or is it something that started and is going to finish in this wedding itself?

Anu: What?! No! Mitali, we are not fooling around, okay? We really love each other.

Shanu: Ananya, have you really forgotten everything? It took you half a year to get over that guy. You were miserable the whole time. You even tried to take your.......

Shanu stopped abruptly. Even remembering that day brought chills down her spine.

Anu: I know you guys are concerned about me. But trust me guys, I know what I'm doing. I really love him.

Mitali: That's the point, Anu. We know that you still love him. But does he? On an honest note, do you really believe that his love for you would stand strong in front of his loyalty to his father?

Ananya looked at Mitali and gulped. Why wasn't she feeling sure and confident about his feelings for her?

Anu: (clearing her throat) Yes,....... it will. I know...... that it will.

Mitali: You're not sure.

Anu: I.....I......am.

Shanu: No, you aren't. You can lie to yourself but not us.

Ananya kept quiet.

Mitali: We just don't want to go through that same pain again, Ananya. That's it.

Shanu: And one more thing, if..... you are going to this.........then I'm sorry,....... but don't expect us to be there by your side.

Anu: What?

Shanu: You are gonna have to do this without us because I'm sorry but I'm not going to sit back and watch you dig your own grave.

Mitali looked at Shanu nervously.

Anu: What do you mean........?

Shanu: You have to choose........

Anu: (quiet whimper) no.....

Shanu:(quivering voice) Us.......or him......

Anu: No..... please..... don't do this.... please......

Shanu: Us or him....

Anu sobbing uncontrollably , kept quiet.

Shanu's eyes were red due to crying. Even Mitali was at the verge of a breakdown.

Shanu: I thought so........

There was an uncomfortable silence following that. The air suddenly felt too heavy to bear.

Shanu: Let's go Mitu.

Shanu turned around and ran back to her room. Mitali looked at Ananya and sighed heavily before following Shanu to her room.

Ananya sobbed looking at the retreating figures of her friends, hoing far and far away from her.

              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Uh oh! Looks like there's trouble in paradise. Oh well, that's just the beginning!

Hey guys, so here's an update! So let me know in the comments below what would you have done if you were in Ananya's place?

And also make sure to hit the 'vote' button in the face if you liked the chapter!

Love you loads
  ❤️ Bosedisha ❤️