Rikara Short Stories Collection

Marriage Most Scandalous : Part One

Thanks to all for voting and commenting on the previous story.

"I am begging you, di. Please give him to me." Gauri cries as she fell at her sister's feet.

"Don't do this, Gauri." Anika begs.

"I love him. I have always loved him. Ever since we started playing house-house with him, I wanted to make my home with him. Please di. I will die without him."

Anika looks at her with tears in her eyes. Tomorrow was her wedding. She was going to marry her father's friend's son. It was an arranged marriage. It started as an arranged marriage but now she loved him, and he loved her. They all grew up together - Shivaay, Omkara, Gauri and her. Shivaay and Omkara were Tej uncle's sons. Their father's business partner and best friend.

"What is happening here?" Harshvardhan & Nayantara asks as they walked in hearing Gauri crying.

"Papa, please ask her to give him to me. I love him. I tried to forget him for all your happiness but I can't. I will die without him." Gauri begs him.

"WHO?" Harshvardhan asks confused and worried.

"Shivaay!" Gauri replies.

"HAVE YOU GONE CRAZY? Shivaay and Anika are getting married tomorrow." Harshvardhan shouts at her.

"Don't say another word!" Nayantara says.

"I love him." Gauri says in tears.

"But he loves Anika!" Nayantara reminds her.

"I will love him more than Anika can ever love him." Gauri tells them.

"Enough! This is no child's play. You should have told this earlier before everything was fixed." Harshvardhan scolds her.

"Anika, you come out. Don't talk to her." Nayantara says as she took Anika away from the room.

"Mama please..." Gauri cries.

"Don't be selfish, Gauri. She is your sister and tomorrow is her wedding." Harshvardhan reminds her.

He leaves the room, closing the door behind him and Gauri falls on the floor crying.

"Wake up, Gauri!!!" Nayantara says as she angrily shook her awake.

Gauri sits up groggily as she tried to clear her mind. Yesterday she had cried herself to sleep.

"Why did you do this, Gauri?" Nayantara asks in tears.

"Do what, Mama?" Gauri asks crying herself seeing her mother cry.

"Anika left because she couldn't snatch your happiness. She told you to marry Shivaay." Nayantara says as she handed the letter to her.

Gauri didn't know whether she should be happy or sad. Happy that she was going to marry Shivaay now or sad that her sister left home because of her.

"Harshvardhan has gone to look for her, if we can't find her, I will never forgive you." Nayantara warns her as she walked away.

Hours later, Harshvardhan had come home alone. There was no trace of Anika and before they could decide on their next action, guests started coming to attend the wedding. Harshvardhan had angrily told Gauri to get dressed as the bride.

Gauri was sitting next to the love of her life with her ghunghat all the way down effectively covering her face. She sat with bated breath as she followed the rituals that were binding them in holy matrimony. The moment he lifted her ghunghat to put sindoor on her mang she had looked down and all he could see was her mang and hair. She signed in relief when he filled her mang and put her ghunghat down. Gauri nervously looked at Shivaay to judge whether he was aware of the change in bride. She couldn't see his face because of the sehra but he seemed to do everything the pundit said without any questions. Finally, the pundit announced that the wedding was complete. Shivaay stood up and helped her up. The photographer asked them to put up their sehra and ghunghat so he could take their wedding photo. Gauri knew she had no choice, she had to reveal herself else people will talk and force her to do it. Taking a deep breath, she lifted her ghunghat and heard every single one of them gasp seeing her instead of Anika. She turned to look at her husband and he was staring at her in shock.

Then recovering he asks in panic as he shook her vigorously, "Where is Anika, Gauri?"

She stood in shock as she stared at her husband of mere minutes.

"Where is my Anika?" he asks her frantically.

She could hear everyone whispering. Their parents talking among themselves.

"GAURI!" her husband calls her again.

Finally, she found her voice and answers his question with a question of her own, "Where is Shivaay, Omkara?"

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- Lazy