That evening, it was the haldi ceremony.
One by one, everyone applied haldi to Aanya and Kunal.
From a distance, Aryan silently watched Aanya.
His heart ached.
Unable to bear the sight, he turned his face away.
Meanwhile, Aanya also looked at Aryan.
Prerna quietly walked over to Devika.
"Mom... tomorrow is Aanya's wedding."
"You remember that, right?"
Devika looked at her but remained silent.
A little later, Aanya was chatting with her friends.
Just then, Kavya walked over to her.
"Aanya beta, could you please keep these things in Kunal's room?"
Aanya wasn't interested, but after a brief pause, she forced a smile.
"Okay."
She took the items and walked toward Kunal's room.
When she reached the door, she knocked.
"Kunal?"
There was no response.
She knocked again.
"Kunal?"
Still no reply.
Slowly, she opened the door.
The room was empty.
"Kunal?"
She looked around.
"Looks like he's not here."
Just then...
A phone started ringing.
Startled by the sudden sound, Aanya accidentally dropped a few of the items onto the floor.
She quickly bent down to pick them up.
Looks like Kunal left his phone here.
The phone continued ringing.
Aanya ignored it and finished picking up the scattered items.
She placed everything neatlyand was about to leave.
Just then...
The phone rang again.
Aanya stopped walking.
Looks like it's something important.
I should give the phone to Kunal.
She walked toward the phone.
The screen lit up.
Elena Calling...
Aanya frowned.
"Who is Elena?"
Meanwhile...
Kunal, who had gone outside with his friends, suddenly stopped walking.
He widened his eyes.
"Oh no..."
"I left my phone in my room."
He looked at his friends.
"You guys start the car."
"I'll bring my phone and come."
"Looks like I left it in my room."
Meanwhile, inside the room...
Aanya looked at the continuously ringing phone.
Kunal has gone somewhere.
Maybe it's an important work call.
I'll answer it and let the caller know.
After a moment's hesitation, she answered the call.
"Hello... Kunal isn't here. He left his phone in his room and went outside.
From the other side, a female voice asked,
"Who's this?"
Aanya then,
"I'm Kunal's—"
Before she could finish her sentence, Kunal entered the room.
The moment he saw Aanya holding his phone, he froze.
Aanya also looked at him and stopped speaking.
"Kunal..."
Hearing his name, the woman on the call immediately asked,
"Kunal?"
Panic flashed across Kunal's face.
He quickly snatched the phone from Aanya's hand.
Looking at the screen, he saw that it was Elena, who was still saying,
"Hello? Kunal?"
Kunal quickly replied,
"I'll talk to you later."
He immediately ended the call.
Then he turned toward Aanya with a serious expression.
Aanya looked at him.
"Kunal... you're here. I thought you had gone somewhere."
"And also... you left your—"
Before she could finish, Kunal interrupted angrily.
"What were you doing, Aanya?"
Aanya fell silent.
Kunal continued,
"Why did you come into my room?"
"And why did you touch my phone without my permission?"
"Were you doubting me?"
Aanya quickly tried to explain.
"Kunal, it's not like that. I was—"
But Kunal cut her off again.
"Then what, Aanya?"
"What were you doing in my room?"
Aanya took a deep breath.
"Kunal, I just came to keep these things here. Shreya Aunty asked me to bring them, that's why I came."
Kunal glanced at the items on the table.
Aanya continued,
"When I came in, I heard your phone ringing continuously."
"I thought..."
Again, Kunal interrupted.
"So you thought you could answer my phone without my permission?"
Aanya shook her head.
"No, Kunal."
"I thought it was your work call, so I was just telling the caller that you weren't here."
Kunal looked at her coldly.
"Stop it, Aanya."
His raised voice made Aanya flinch.
He continued,
"You may have done it this time."
"But from next time onward, don't ever touch my things without my permission."
With that, he turned around and walked away.
Aanya stood there silently, hurt by the way he had spoken to her.
Later, Aanya was sitting alone in the garden.
She was lost in thought, thinking about Aryan.
After a while, she stood up to leave.
As she did, her dress got caught on a nearby branch.
Rrrip!
She froze.
Looking down at her dress, she gasped.
"Oh no..."
"What have I done?"
"It tore so much..."
Just then, she heard a familiar voice.
"What happened?"
She turned around.
It was Aryan.
She looked at him in shock.
Aryan walked closer and noticed the torn part of her dress.
"How did this happen?"
Aanya didn't answer.
She just kept looking at him.
After a moment, Aryan quietly removed his jacket.
"May I?"
Aanya silently nodded.
Aryan gently tied his jacket around her waist so that the torn part of her dress wouldn't be visible.
Once he finished, he looked at her.
She was still staring at him.
"What happened?" Aryan asked softly.
Looking into his eyes, Aanya said emotionally,
"Why do you do this, Mr. Aryan?"
Aryan remained silent.
Aanya continued,
"Whenever I try to go away from you... you come close to me."
"And whenever I try to come close to you... you never let me."
Aryan didn't say anything.
He simply looked into her eyes and felt the pain she was hiding.
Tears slowly filled Aanya's eyes.
She quickly looked away and wiped them.
Meanwhile...
Aanya's grandmother was searching for her.
She went to Aanya's friends.
"Have you girls seen Aanya anywhere?"
Nisha replied,
"Grandma, Shreya Aunty asked Aanya to keep some things in Kunal's room earlier."
"Maybe she's still there."
Meanwhile...
Aryan looked at Aanya with concern.
"Aanya... are you alright?"
"Did something happen?"
"Did someone say anything to you?"
Aanya looked at him sadly.
"Why, Mr. Aryan?"
"Does it even matter to you?"
Aryan fell silent.
Aanya continued,
"Why do you always care about me?"
Aryan simply looked into her eyes.
"I know you don't love me..."
"But still, Mr. Aryan... why do you care about me?"
"Whenever I'm in trouble... you always appear like a solution."
"Aanya..." Aryan began.
She stopped him.
"No, Mr. Aryan."
"Please... let me speak."
Aryan stayed silent.
Aanya took a deep breath.
"Mr. Aryan... I want to hate you."
"But I really don't know why I'm not able to."
"No matter how much I convince myself that I hate you... in the end, I just can't."
After a long pause, Aryan finally spoke.
"Aanya... tomorrow is your wedding."
Aanya looked at him angrily.
"Yeah, I know."
"I know, Mr. Aryan."
"You don't have to remind me."
Aryan lowered his gaze.
Then Aanya asked emotionally,
"You'll come to my wedding tomorrow... right?"
Aryan suddenly looked at her.
Aanya continued,
"At first, I thought you shouldn't be there."
"But now... I think you should come."
"You should come and see how happily I'm going to get married tomorrow."
Aryan looked at her, trying his best not to let his pain show on his face.
Aanya continued,
"And one more thing..."
"Everything I said today came straight from my heart."
"But every hurtful word you ever said to me is still in my brain."
"One day... I'm sure my brain will convince my heart to hate you."
With tears in her eyes, she turned around and walked away.
Aryan remained standing there, silently watching her leave.
He couldn't stop thinking about everything she had just said.
Just then...
He heard an elderly voice behind him.
"Why are you hurting my granddaughter?"
Aryan immediately turned around.
He was stunned to see...
Aanya's grandmother standing there.
Aryan immediately straightened himself.
"Grandma..."
She looked at him calmly.
"I know everything about you two."
Aryan looked at her in shock.
Aanya's grandmother continued,
"My granddaughter told me that you rejected her."
"I'm still not able to understand... how could you?"
Aryan remained silent, unable to say a word.
She continued,
"Aanya is not like everyone else."
"She is truly a wonderful girl."
"You should have considered yourself lucky that she liked you."
Aryan lowered his head in silence.
After a brief pause, she said,
"You don't love her, right?"
"Then it's better to stay away from her... instead of hurting her again and again."
Aryan slowly looked up at her, but he still couldn't bring himself to respond.
Without waiting for an answer, Aanya's grandmother quietly walked away, leaving Aryan standing there in silence.
Later, Devika went around asking everyone,
"Have you seen Aanya anywhere?"
One by one, they replied,
"No, we haven't."
After a while, she spotted Radha.
"Radha ji, have you seen Aanya?"
Radha nodded.
"She just went to her room."
"Really? Okay."
Devika immediately started walking toward Aanya's room.
Just then, she heard someone call out,
"Mom!"
She stopped and turned around.
It was Aryan.
He walked up to her.
"Where are you going?"
Devika hesitated for a moment.
"I... I was looking for Prerna."
"Prerna?" Aryan asked.
"She is at the event venue."
Devika quickly acted as if she had just remembered.
"Oh, really?
"I didn't see her."
Aryan nodded.
"Oh... anyway, let's go, Mom. It's getting late."
He started walking ahead.
Devika remained standing there, wondering what to do.
Noticing that she wasn't following him, Aryan turned back.
"Mom... what happened?"
Devika forced a small smile.
"Nothing."
"Let's go."
Later at Aryan's house, inside Prerna's room…
Prerna looked at her mother and said,
"Mom…. you still haven't ask Aanya."
Devika remained silent.
Prerna continued anxiously,
"Mom, tomorrow is Aanya's wedding."
"There will be no use of asking her after the marriage."
Devika signed.
I know Prerna.
"But what can i do?"
Prerna fell silent.
Devika continued,
"I know both of us want Aryan and Aanya to be together."
"But what if Aanya actually doesn't have feelings for Aryan?"
Prerna looked at her in disbelief,
"Mom do you really think like that?"
"Do you really believe that neither of them has feelings for eachother?"
Devika shook her head saying,
I do have my doubts.
"But still it's not confirmed, right?"
"And we can't ask her something like this in front of everyone."
"What if someone overhears our conversation?"
Prerna didn't say anything.
Devika continued,
"I really tired."
"But every time, either someone was with Aanya or she herself went somewhere."
Prerna looked at her mother and said,
"Even still, Mom…. you have to ask her tomorrow no matter what."
That night, Kunal and his friends were sitting together, drinking.
Yash looked at him and asked,
"Hey, brother, what happened?"
"Looks like you had an issue with Elena."
Kunal looked at him and silently took another sip of his drink.
Yash continued,
"I heard you saying her name a while ago."
"What happened?"
Kunal didn't reply.
He just kept drinking.
Dhruv frowned.
"Hey, why are you drinking so much?"
Kunal slammed his glass on the table.
"Don't stop me!"
"It's all because of that Aanya!"
Dhruv looked confused.
"Aanya?"
"What did she do?"
Kunal laughed bitterly.
"What did she do?"
"She answered Elena's call and even talked to her!"
Yash burst into laughter.
Kunal shot him a sharp look.
"You think this is funny?"
Yash shrugged.
"Well, you were the one who said she's very innocent."
You even said she'd never doubt you."
"So what was that today?"
Kunal looked away irritably.
Dhruv asked,
"By the way, what was she doing in your room?"
Kunal replied,
"She said she came to keep some items there."
Dhruv asked,
"Then... did Elena find out about Aanya?"
After a brief pause, Kunal shook his head.
"No."
"Thank God I reached at the right time and stopped Aanya before she could say anything else to Elena."
Dhruv asked again,
"Did Aanya find out about Elena?"
Kunal shook his head once more.
"No."
Dhruv smiled.
"Then what's the problem?"
"Neither of them found out the truth, right?"
Kunal sighed in frustration.
"Even then... because of Aanya, I had to apologize to Elena."
"And I had to explain everything to her for hours without letting her get suspicious."
"You know how many questions she asked me?"
"'Who was that girl?'"
"'Why was she with you?'"
"'Why did she answer your phone?'"
"She almost drove me out of my mind!"
Yash laughed.
"Girls aren't that easy to handle, brother."
"It's already difficult to handle one, and you're planning to handle two."
He chuckled and added,
That's why I always tell you to be careful.
Never underestimate girls.
They may look innocent, but they notice and understand more than we think.
Dhruv laughed as well and added,
"I also always tell you not to leave your phone lying around."
"Now look what happened."
Kunal's expression turned cold.
"What Aanya did today... I'll never forget.
"I underestimated that girl."
I thought she would never interfere in my personal matters.
"But because of her, I had to explain everything to Elena."
His eyes filled with anger.
"I'll make Aanya pay for what she did."
---
End Of Chapter 83.