Aryan looked at his mother.
"About what, Mom?"
Devika hesitated.
"Well, Aryan... actually, I called Pandit Ji today. He said he'll come tomorrow, so it would be better if you stay home."
Meanwhile, Prerna signaled to Devika through her eyes.
"What are you asking?"
Devika ignored her.
"Okay, Mom," Aryan replied. "I'll stay home tomorrow."
Devika smiled.
Prerna immediately signaled again.
"Ask him!"
Devika took a deep breath.
"Well, Aryan... how was your day?"
Aryan looked at her strangely.
"It was nice, Mom."
Devika smiled.
"Was it nice... or more than nice?"
Aryan frowned.
"Why are you asking like that, Mom?"
"No reason," Devika replied casually. "It's just that you seem happy today. Did someone call you?"
"What are you—"
Suddenly, Aryan remembered Aanya's phone call.
Immediately, he understood.
His expression changed.
"So, you guys told Aanya all that?"
Devika and Prerna instantly exchanged excited looks.
Devika tried not to smile.
"So... Aanya called you?"
Aryan turned his face away in frustration.
Then he looked back at them.
"What have you done, Mom?"
Devika blinked innocently.
"What did we do?"
"Why did you tell her all those things?"
"We didn't call her," Devika replied. "She called us."
Aryan sighed.
"Even then, Mom... why did you tell her that? I'm fine.
Prerna couldn't help speaking.
"It doesn't look like you're fine, Bhai."
Aryan looked at her.
Prerna immediately became quiet.
Devika nodded.
"Prerna didn't say anything wrong.
Aryan remained silent.
Devika continued,
"From the day Aanya came to our house, you've been acting differently."
Aryan turned his face away.
"And you're not even telling us what happened."
"Because there's nothing to tell."
Devika sighed.
"Really?"
She pointed at his plate.
"Is this how you normally eat?"
Aryan didn't answer.
"Have you ever eaten this late before?"
Still silence.
"And what about your sleep?"
Aryan's eyes immediately shifted toward her.
Devika continued,
"For the past few days, I've seen your room light on even at two in the morning."
Aryan looked at her.
"When I came downstairs to drink water, you were still awake."
Aryan's expression tightened.
"At first, I thought it was only for one day. But then I saw it again another night."
She folded her arms.
"Now tell me. What exactly were you doing awake so late?"
Aryan stayed silent.
Devika slowly stepped closer.
"Aryan... there is still time."
Aryan looked at her.
"You can tell your feelings to Aan—"
Before she could complete the sentence,
Aryan suddenly stood up.
His chair scraped loudly against the floor.
"I DON'T HAVE FEELINGS FOR AANYA, MOM!"
The room fell silent.
Aryan took a deep breath.
"And please don't bring up this topic again."
Devika stared at him.
"Last thing," Aryan added.
"Don't call Aanya and tell her things about me."
His voice softened slightly.
"You're confusing her."
He paused.
"She is getting married... so please stop."
Without waiting for a reply, Aryan walked away.
The room remained silent after he left.
After a few moments, Prerna looked at Devika and asked,
"Mom, what do we do now?"
Devika looked at her thoughtfully.
Prerna continued,
"It looks like the phone call plan didn't work."
Devika stayed silent for a moment.
Then she said firmly,
"No, Prerna. We still have four days."
Prerna listened carefully.
Devika continued,
"Whatever we have to do, we must do it within these four days. After that, there will be no use."
The next day, Aahil's family arrived at the Mehra house.
Aryan and Devika welcomed them warmly.
Aahil's family greeted everyone politely. They also greeted Nandini, but she barely acknowledged them and seemed uninterested.
Soon, everyone settled down in the living room.
Prerna and Aahil exchanged smiles from across the room.
Devika looked at the priest and said,
"Pandit Ji, please tell us an auspicious date for the wedding."
The priest checked the calendar carefully.
"There is a very auspicious date exactly one month from now," he replied.
Devika looked at Salima.
"Salima Ji, what do you think?"
Salima smiled.
"Devika Ji, if you're happy with the date, then we're happy too."
Devika then looked at Aryan.
Aryan nodded.
"Your wish, Mom."
Devika smiled happily.
"Then please fix that date, Pandit Ji."
Everyone felt relieved and happy.
Suddenly, Asma grinned mischievously.
"So it's just one month now, Aahil Bhai Jaan. After that, Prerna will be completely yours."
Everyone burst into laughter.
Prerna blushed.
Aahil smiled shyly.
The only person who didn't laugh was Nandini.
She looked irritated and suddenly stood up.
"Excuse me."
Then she quietly left the room.
Aahil's family looked at her in confusion.
Devika quickly covered the situation.
"Sister-in-law hasn't been feeling well these days. She's probably gone to rest."
Aahil's family nodded.
"Oh, okay."
Meanwhile, at Aanya's house, everyone was practicing for the sangeet ceremony.
The choreographer clapped his hands.
"Okay! That's the bride's team. Now where's the groom's team?"
Kunal raised his hand.
"We're only four people."
The choreographer looked shocked.
"What? Only four?"
Then he looked toward Aanya's side.
"But the bride's team has almost nine people!"
Kunal laughed awkwardly.
"Well, I don't have many cousins in my family."
"No problem," the choreographer said. "We'll move some people from the bride's team to the groom's team."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Then the choreographer looked around.
"By the way, where's the bride?"
Everyone pointed toward Aanya.
"So you're the bride?"
"Yes," Aanya replied.
"Good. Bride and groom, step forward."
Aanya and Kunal stepped forward.
The choreographer smiled.
"Now I'm going to teach you the steps one by one. Just follow me."
He began demonstrating.
Aanya quickly copied every step perfectly.
Meanwhile, Kunal struggled.
"Wait," Kunal interrupted. "These steps look difficult. Can we change them?"
The choreographer stared at him.
"Difficult?"
Kunal nodded.
The choreographer folded his arms.
"I'm literally teaching you one of the easiest steps right now."
Kunal immediately became silent.
"The bride is doing perfectly fine," the choreographer added.
Kunal scratched the back of his head.
"Well... I don't dance often. And we only have today and tomorrow. It'll be difficult for me to remember everything."
The choreographer sighed dramatically.
"Even a small kid could remember these steps. They're that easy."
Everyone tried hard not to laugh.
Aanya simply looked at Kunal.
Realizing everyone was staring at him, the choreographer smiled.
"Okay, okay. Let's focus on dancing."
He started teaching again.
Meanwhile, at the Mehra house, Prerna was in her room.
She picked up her phone and called Simran.
Simran answered immediately.
"Hello, Prerna Ma'am."
"Hi, Simran."
"Prerna Ma'am, Aryan Sir didn't come to the office today."
"I know," Prerna replied. I didn't call for that.
"Oh."
"Actually, do you have Dev Raichand's phone number?"
Simran nodded.
Yes, Ma'am. I do.
Can you send it to me?
"Of course."
Then Prerna added,
"And one more thing."
"Yes, Ma'am?"
"Don't tell Bhai that I asked for the number."
Simran replied.
"Okay, Ma'am. I won't tell him."
Later that night, someone suddenly knocked on Aryan's bedroom door.
Aryan opened it and was surprised to see Nandini standing outside.
"Aunt? What are you doing here at this hour?" he asked.
"I need to talk to you about something, Aryan."
Aryan frowned.
"About what?"
"About Prerna's wedding."
Aryan immediately became serious.
"If it's about that, then sorry, Aunt. I don't have time."
He was about to close the door.
"Aryan beta, please. Just one minute."
Aryan paused.
Nandini continued,
"I'm happy that Prerna is happy and getting married. But... to whom?"
Aryan looked at her silently.
"Maybe Aahil is a nice guy," Nandini said, "but he's not even from our religion. What will people think about Prerna?"
Aryan's expression hardened.
Nandini continued,
"Recently, her marriage was canceled. Now people might think that no one wanted to marry her, so she had to marry someone from another religion."
"So what?" Aryan replied calmly.
Nandini fell silent.
Aryan continued,
"People always talk nonsense. We don't have to take their words seriously."
Nandini listened quietly.
"Aahil is a good man. He loves Prerna, and most importantly, Prerna loves him too."
After a brief pause, Aryan added,
"And I think nothing is more important than love."
Nandini lowered her eyes.
"It's late, Aunt. You should get some rest."
Aryan was about to close the door again.
Then Nandini suddenly said,
"So you don't care about people's opinions?"
Aryan stopped.
Nandini looked directly into his eyes.
"If you really don't care about what people say, then why are you staying away from Aanya?"
Aryan froze.
Nandini continued,
"I know the truth, Aryan."
His jaw tightened.
"You don't want to be with her because you're afraid of society's judgment."
Aryan clenched his fists.
"You're scared that people will mock your relationship."
"You're afraid that Aanya will suffer because of those judgments."
Aryan looked away, struggling to control his emotions.
"You're worried that if you two are together, people will hurt her with their words."
"That's enough!" Aryan shouted.
Nandini immediately fell silent.
Aryan's eyes were filled with anger.
"How many times have I told you to stay away from this matter?"
Nandini stared at him.
"Don't you understand?"
"Why, Aryan?" Nandini asked. "What did I say that was wrong?"
She took a step forward.
"She loves you."
Aryan remained silent.
"And you love her too."
His expression changed slightly.
"You're just afraid of society's judgment."
"I said stop!" Aryan shouted again.
Nandini became quiet.
Aryan pointed toward the hallway.
"Aunt, if you bring up this topic one more time, I will forget that you're older than me."
Nandini looked hurt by his words.
Without another word, Aryan slammed the door shut.
Inside his room, he paced back and forth restlessly.
He ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath.
"Don't forget what you've done, Aryan," he muttered to himself.
His voice was filled with pain.
"If Aanya comes into your life... she'll suffer forever."
He closed his eyes.
"You need to forget her."
The next day, at Aryan's office, Simran knocked on the door and entered.
"Sir, this is today's schedule," she said, handing him the file and explaining his appointments.
After finishing, she was about to leave.
"Simran."
She turned around.
"Yes, Sir?"
Aryan looked at her for a moment.
"I'm sorry."
Simran seemed surprised.
"Sorry, Sir?"
Aryan nodded.
"I was in a bad mood that day and lost control of my words."
Simran smiled softly.
"It's okay, Sir. I understood that you were upset."
Aryan nodded.
"Still, I shouldn't have spoken to you like that."
"Don't worry about it, Sir," Simran replied with a smile.
Then she left the cabin.
Later, at a café, Dev Raichand sat across from Prerna.
Looking confused, he asked,
"I don't know why you called me here."
Prerna took a deep breath.
"Dev, I called you because I want to apologize."
Dev looked at her quietly.
Prerna lowered her eyes.
"I know this apology isn't enough."
She paused.
"I'm ashamed of what I did. I should have told you earlier that I didn't want to marry you."
Dev turned his face away.
Prerna continued,
"I hurt you and your family. And I know you have every right to be angry with me."
"I'm not angry with you, Prerna."
Prerna looked up in surprise.
Dev continued calmly,
"It's true that you hurt me and my family."
He paused briefly.
"But I'm not angry."
Prerna looked confused.
Dev smiled faintly.
"Actually, I'm glad you told the truth before the wedding."
Prerna listened silently.
"Because if you hadn't told us the truth, then after the marriage, you, me, our families... everyone would have suffered much more."
Prerna lowered her head.
After a moment, she spoke again.
"You don't have to accept my apology."
Her voice trembled slightly.
"But I still want to say I'm sorry, Dev. You're a good person, and I feel guilty for everything that happened."
Dev remained silent for a few seconds.
Then he said,
"I've already moved on from that incident, Prerna."
Prerna looked at him.
"But if apologizing will make you feel better, then I accept your apology."
A relieved smile appeared on Prerna's face.
Dev smiled too.
"Everyone makes mistakes."
"And everyone deserves a second chance."
"Thank you, Dev," Prerna said sincerely.
After a brief pause, she added,
"Actually... I'm getting married next month."
Dev looked at her in surprise.
"Really?"
Prerna nodded.
"To the person I love."
A smile appeared on Dev's face.
"Congratulations."
"Thank you."
"I'm happy for you, Prerna."
Prerna smiled warmly.
"That means a lot."
After a moment, she added,
"If possible, please come to the wedding."
Dev smiled.
Yeah, I will, if possible.
Prerna smiled happily.
After finishing their coffee, Prerna stood up.
Okay, then. I'll leave now.
"And thank you for coming after I called."
Dev shook his head.
"No need to thank me."
Then he asked,
If you want, I can drop you home.
"No, it's okay," Prerna replied. "I'll go by myself."
"Alright."
Prerna smiled.
"Bye, Dev."
Dev smiled back.
"Bye."
Prerna walked away.
Dev watched her leave for a few moments.
Then a small smile appeared on his face.
Finally, he stood up and left the café as well.
---
End Of Chapter 78.