“I do not agree to this marriage.”, Meera said calmly yet firmly and Radhika looked tensed between her daughter and husband before she decided to intercede between them before the things go worst.
“Meera, at least let your father speak and hear for once that what he wants to tell you.”, Radhika said lovingly and Meera looked at her mother in disbelief as she exclaimed, “Mom, I thought that after whatever happen, at least you will agree with me in this. But even you are saying that I should say yes to this marriage?”
The look of disappointment and hurt in Meera’s eyes broke Radhika’s heart and she turned to look at her husband in hope that he will also understand their daughter’s pain.
However the stoic expression on Virat’s face said it all and Radhika sighed knowing that nothing can change Virat’s decision.
“I know you are not happy with my this decision but—“, Virat tried to insight Meera about the situation but this time Meera was not going to stand there silently listening to her father’s order and she cried more as she said, “Before also you had decided on my and Rehan’s marriage without asking my wish. But still I made my heart agree to what you said. And now, again you are doing the same thing. You have agreed to get me married to an unknown person whom I have not even seen just for your business. You did not even bothered to ask for my wish or opinion. How can you do this, papa!?”
“I can understand that your heart is broken right now, Meera. But Vivaansh is a very nice man. I am your father, Meera, and I can never take a wrong decision for you.”, Virat said caressing Meera’s hair whereas Meera cried more turning her gaze towards her mother who herself was not able to stop her tears.
“You said the same thing when you were deciding on my and Rehan’s Marriage. But what did he do!? He broke this marriage even without thinking about me even for once.”, Meera argued with her father, probably for the first time and Virat shift his gaze down after not having any answer to his daughter’s question.
“I will not say yes to this marriage and this is my final decision.”, Meera pronounced firmly after wiping her tears harshly as she gazed at her mother and then her father before running back into her room.
“you should have atleast discuss with Meera before taking such a big decision. After all, she is the one who has to spend her whole life with that unknown person and she has all the rights to take her own decision for her own life.”, Radhika said coming ahead in front of her husband with disappointment clear in her voice.
Virat looked at the closed door of Meera’s room behind which probably his daughter might be crying, before shifting his gaze on his wife as he said, “our company is on the verge of going bankrupt. Investors and Debtors are asking for their money back. No other company is ready to help us or work with us anymore. Wedding invitations are also sent to all the relatives and now Meera’s marriage is also broken. In all these chaos, what do you want me to do!? But if this marriage happens, then atleast Meera’s future will be safe and secure.”
“But we don’t know anything about him or his family. How can we just let anyone marry our daughter.”, Radhika argued and Virat sighed before replying, “we had inquired everything about Goenkas before deciding on Meera and Rehan’s marriage. But look what happened. Their Marriage still go cancelled. And today I met Vivaansh Malhotra and trust me he is a perfect choice for our Meera. Meera will be happy with him. He will never let anyone harm our Meera. He will never break our Meera’s heart.”
“But—“, Meera tried defending however Virat intervened saying, “Radhika, Even he had not seen Meera or met her. Even after knowing that Meera’s engagement is broken and we don’t have anything to give him and still he agreed for the marriage without any second thought. “
Virat tried making his wife understand the positive side but Radhika still looked reluctant as her heart was still not ready to agree with her husband again.
“Radhika, Meera is still not big enough to understand all this but atleast you try to understand. Meera’s engagement is broken and even there is no more hope for our business to get stable. Amidst all this problems, how we will find a suitable and nice guy for our Meera!? Right now Vivaansh is the only person who can make everything all right in our daughter’s life. You talk to Meera and make her understand that whatever I am doing is for her own good. I am sure she will understand and agree to whatever you will say.”, Virat said as he knew that Meera always obeys her mother.
“I think you are right. I will talk to Meera..”, Radhika said as somewhere she knew that even her husband is right in this argument.
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“Marriage? But why suddenly you want to get married?”, Tejaswi asked flabbergasted as soon as Vivaansh broke the news of him getting married.
“I know it is a sudden decision but yes I am getting married.”, Vivaansh said calmly as he was sitting in front of Tejaswi on another sofa while reading some business magazine.
“But why suddenly you took this decision that too such a haste decision? You did not even talk or discuss with me. And we even don’t know that who the girl is or how her family is.”, Tejaswi said worried and Vivaansh spared a glance at his mother before going back to flipping the pages of the magazine as he replied, “It is a business alliance, Mom. And this marriage will be profitable for Malhotra Group of Industries.”
“But Vivaansh, everything in life is not only about business and profits. You have not even seen that girl. What if you would not like her after meeting or talking with her? And love is important in any marriage. Without love, Marriage do not work for long time.”, Tejaswi argued and Vivaansh’s hands stopped flipping the pages as the memory of his first encounter with that mysterious girl came as a flash in back of his mind.
Even though he had not seen her face and may be she might not be as beautiful as other girls he met for blind dates, but somewhere his heart knew that he would not regret his decision for agreeing to this marriage.
Sighing at his mother’s worry, Vivaansh closed the magazine and sat straight before looking at her and declared, “Whatever it is, but I have already agreed to this alliance and being a businessman now I cannot back out from my words. So this marriage will be happening anyhow. And moreover, you always wanted me to get married so now I am getting married. You should be happy, mom.”
“If you still think that your decision is not wrong then even I an okay with it. But still I want to meet the girl first. By the way, What is her name?”, Tejaswi asked still in dilemma whether she should agree with Vivaansh’s decision or not.
“Meera. Meera Maheshwari.”, Vivaansh said and Tejaswi did not miss that small smile on his face even though it was just for few seconds before his expressions changed back to being blank.
“And you can meet her anytime you want. About rituals and other things, I will let you decide all this. You can meet with Mr. and Mrs. Maheshwari and you can finalize the dates and other arrangements. I am okay with everything.”, Vivaansh said after getting up from the sofa and buttoning his suit as he was yet to get changed after coming from the office while Tejaswi frowned but then nodded her head in disbelief as she kept looking af his retreating figure and exclaimed to herself, “Is this a marriage or some kind of business meeting!!”
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Meera was feeding red chilies to the parrots in the cage hanged in the balcony of her room when a knock disturbed her and then saw her mother walking to her.
Radhika came to her however even before she can try talking to her, Meera kept the red chilies away as she said, “Mom, if you are here to talk about that marriage thing, then I don’t want to talk anything about this.”
Radhika sighed at the stubbornness of Meera but she needed to handle her and make her understand that whatever they are doing is for her own good.
“Meera, You know that I will never let anything wrong happen with you. I know whatever Rehan did with you is wrong and even your father was wrong in this. But that does not mean that he does not love you or care for you. He made a mistake but he will never take any wrong decision for you. And how can you take the decision of not doing this marriage even without meeting Vivaansh. You meet Vivaansh for once and even after that, if you think that he is not a right person for you then no one will force you for this marriage. But atleast meet him first and then decide. Don’t let the past ruin your future, okay?”, Radhika lovingly tried making Meera insight her view while caressing her hairs and Meera looked at her mother with helplessness.
However, before, Meera can argue with her mother they were disturbed by a knock and Anshika came in, much to Meera’s relief.
“Meera, once think properly about whatever I have told you right now.”, Radhika said before going out of the room to give privacy to two friends.
“Meera, you are fine, right?”, Anshika asked genuinely worried for her friend and Meera gave a small smile.
“I know about the problems going on in uncle’s business but don’t worry, everything will be fine. Have you talked with Rehan? May be he can help you with these problems?”, Anshika suggested and Meera sighed before whispering, “My marriage is cancelled. Rehan’s father broke mine and Rehan’s engagement.”
Anshika looked shocked at her and Meera told her everything that happened since the morning. Virat’s business, Goenka’s decision to break the engagement, Her meet with Rehan and then Virat’s decision about getting her married to some unknown person.
“But how—I mean this is wrong. How can they cancel the marriage like this and even Rehan did not oppose to this?”, Anshika said in rage and Meera nodded in no with disappointment.
“So, what will you do now?”, Anshika asked and Meera said, “I don’t know yet. But I will never agree for this marriage.”
“Meera, I have an idea.”, Anshika said and Meera looked at her excited while Anshika continued, “You elope from here.”
Meera’s head snapped at Anshika on her suggestion as she looked extremely shocked with what she suggested and Anshika immediately tried calming her down as she tried clearing herself, “What I mean is you come and stay with me at my place for few days. Anyways you have got an appointment letter from such a big firm for internship. And you can return whenever everything is settled here. I am sure even uncle aunty will understand your situation right now.”
“No Anshu, I can not do something like this. This will not only affect their reputation but also they will be heartbroken and their trust on me will also be affected. And the last chance to save our business will also slip out of their hands.”, Meera said frantically nodding in negative, not agreeing with Anshika’s suggestions.
“Then I have one more idea. Indeed you cannot deny for this marriage but he surely can.”, Anshika said and Meera looked at her frowns and Anshika continued saying, “What I mean is that you meet him and tell him that you are not ready for this marriage. Tell him that you don’t want to marry him. And if he is a genuine person then he will definitely understand your problem and may be he say no to this marriage. In this way you will never be held responsible for this broken marriage.”
“But he said yes to this marriage even without meeting me or looking at me. Will he agree to say no this marriage!?”, Meera asked more to herself and somewhere Anshika also agreed to her reasoning.
“So now?”, Anshika asked and Meera looked at her for a minute before saying, “I have to find a middle way for this problem. I have to do something so that even this deal does not get cancelled and I don’t even have to marry him.”
Anshika nodded and Meera stared at nothing particular with a determination to fall out of this marriage alliance.
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Vivaansh was silently leaning back on the chair in his study room while surfing about something related to the project on his laptop when he heard a knock on the door and then saw Tejaswi entering the room with a mug of coffee in her hand.
“Your coffee.”, Tejaswi said with a smile while keeping the mug on the table and Vivaansh looked at her and thanked her before focusing back to his work.
“Vivaansh are you free right now?”, Tejaswi asked and Vivaansh closed his laptop before getting up and walking towards couch in the room and sat there followed by Tejaswi who sat in front of him on other sofa.
“Tell me mom, what do you want to talk.”, Vivaansh said while sipping on his coffee and Tejaswi asked, “Vivaansh, are you sure about this marriage? I mean I understand that you are doing this marriage just for our business but still, marriage is a huge decision. And it will be very difficult to handle a marriage which has no love in it.”
“I know Mom that you are worried about the future of my marriage with Ms. Maheshwari. But I am not the first person to get married through business alliance. And even though this is a business alliance, that does not mean that there is no chance of this marriage to get successful. This is just like any other arranged marriage and I will try my best to get this marriage work for us just like every other marriages.”
Tejaswi smiled widely looking at Vivaansh grown up into a perfectly responsible gentleman who knows how to respect the girls around him. Now she was sure that even though Vivaansh took the decision in haste but he will not let this decision go wrong.
“If this is your final decision Then we will have to do your and Meera's engagement as soon as possible. Vivaansh, you talk to her parents and we need to look for an auspicious day as well for all the rituals for the marriage. You are finally getting married and I am going to arrange a grand marriage in Punjabi style. We need to buy engagement rings for both of you and shopping and other arrangements and—“, Tejaswi could not hold onto the excitement in her heart and she said all with such a wide smile that even Vivaansh could not stop himself from smiling after looking at his mother’s excitement.
“Mom, you need to control your excitement. And I already told you that you can meet with Mr. and Mrs. Maheshwari about the marriage things and finalize everything.”, Vivaansh said composing himself and Tejaswi took a deep breathe to control the jitters in her heart before she said, “You inform them that we will go to their house with shagun ( ritual of gifts while finalizing the marriage) on the day after tomorrow as it is auspicious day and till then even Sheetal didi will be back from her trip. We can also meet Meera on the same day.”
“I will inform them and then will let you know”, Vivaansh said and Tejaswi smiled before going from there while Vivaansh smiled looking at the huge smile on his mother’s face. After his father’s death, it was very rare for his mother to smile whole heartedly and today was one of those days. He saw her smiling loud and genuine and he was happy about this.
He came out of the reverie when his cellphone went off with Rajeev’s name on the screen and he accepted the call.
“I am sorry sir but there is something I needed to report you.”, Rajeev said and Vivaansh asked him to continue as he again opened the laptop to work on it while Rajeev said further, “I got a call from Mr. Maheshwari and he said that Ms. Meera Maheshwari wants to meet you.”
Vivaansh frowned while getting up and walking to the french window in his study room while sipping on the coffee while Rajeev continued, “He said that Ms. Maheshwari is ready for this marriage but she just wants to meet you and talk to you before your marriage.”
“Tell him to convey my message to Ms. Maheshwari that I will meet her tomorrow evening for dinner in our seven Seas Hotel.”, Vivaansh said after a minute and Rajeev agreed before bidding him goodnight.
However, even before he can disconnect the call, Vivaansh commanded, “Also convey my message to Mr. Maheshwari that my mom wants to meet them for discussing more about the marriage dates and the rituals.”
Disconnecting the call, Vivaansh sighed looking up at the half moon in the sky with thousands of thoughts in his minds.
Even though he took the decision merely for his business profits, somewhere he had a feeling that just like every other decisions, he would not regret this decision as well.
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Radhika entered Meera’s room and saw her in the balcony looking up in the sky before standing beside her as she informed, “Vivaansh is ready to meet you.”
Meera looked at her mother with gloomy eyes before nodding slightly at her and Radhika sighed as she caressed her hairs saying, “I know that after whatever happened, you are not ready for this marriage. But you atleast meet him for once. May be you genuinely like him.”
The ray of hope In her mother’s eyes did not let Meera refuse her request and she nodded slightly with a smile before shifting her eyes to gaze at the nothingness in front of her with turmoil deep into her heart.
“Meera, I want to ask you something.”, Radhika said and Meera looked back at her mother before nodding and Radhika asked, “do you still love Rehan?”
“Mom, I never fall in love with Rehan. But in this two years of our engagement period, somewhere I had started liking him. And if this marriage would have happened then may be one day I would have even fallen in love with him.”, Meera whispered with a small smile and Radhika’s heart pained looking at her daughter in sufferings.
“I know that you don’t want this marriage but I cannot do anything for you, beta. Because may be this time your father is right. May be this marriage can bring happiness in your life. And I am sure that Kanhaji (Lord Krishna) has planned something good for your future.”, Radhika thought in her mind while looking at Meera.
