♡Soul Met Soulmate♡ ✅

CHAPTER 19

Flashback
10 years back

It would have been a normal 16th year for Mallika if her mother, Ruby didn't visit the village where her maternal cousins live. Lakshmi Jadhav, Ruby's sister-in-law, was living there with her husband, Vishva Jadhav, and her two sons, Meghan Jadhav and Vijay Jadhav. Ruby was impressed by how the villagers followed the rules of those days by still having their surnames (as per this story). Ruby always wanted to have a surname, but due to the place she lives and her husband who is not the same race as she is, she didn't get to have a surname.

It was the first time in Mallika's entire life, to stay away from her beloved mother for 3 weeks. She didn't know how to contact her as those days, Ruby didn't own a phone. And this is when Mallika had no other choice but to call and text her stranger-like cousin, Meghan. Meghan is 7 years older than Mallika, which made him 23 at that time.

In villages, it's pretty common to marry one's cousin. Meghan, who had a crush on Mallika, found a way to talk to her for the first time.

"Hi" Meghan slid into her WhatsApp chat. Mallika felt awkward about receiving a text message from a man as she never spoke to anyone on chats. But she had to answer as her mom is staying at Meghan's house.

"Hello! How's my mom?" She asked.

"She's fine! But is this the city culture of not asking about others' well-being?" Meghan tried being sarcastic.

"Oh, I'm sorry. How's everyone there?"

"All are good. Your name is Mallika, right? Ruby maa told a lot about you!"

"Oh, I see!☺️" It was Mallika's first time chatting with a boy although he's her cousin. Meghan and Mallika continued to have good conversations. Meghan held his phone close to him, just to see if she was texting him and replying as fast as the lightning.

On the other hand, in the village, Meghan and his family took good care of Ruby and her sisters who visited them. Despite having a small house, they had big hearts. Ruby was impressed by Meghan's behavior and his friendliness. The 'special friendliness' that he showed to Ruby was with a little parasitism, which is her daughter Mallika. He wants to mingle with Mallika and thus he chose to impress Ruby first.

Meghan was truly a good person. He didn't have any bad habits like drinking, smoking, or even talking to girls. This is where Mallika and Ruby were amused by him. But to be in a relationship with a person, these qualities are not the most important ones, right?

To make situations even worse, Mallika's uncle who followed Ruby and her sisters joked about giving Mallika's hand in marriage to Meghan. Although it was a joke, Meghan, his mother, and Ruby were excited about it. And all these words were spoken WITHOUT Mallika's consent. The talk of marriage for a girl who is 16 years old only?

Three weeks passed by, and finally Ruby and her sisters came back to their home. Mallika crushed her mom with her hug as tears rolled down her cheeks. Ruby kissed all over Mallika's face. The beautiful bond of this mother and daughter was witnessed by their family members without knowing that Ruby's past words and decisions will leave a crack in it.

After returning home with her mother from the airport, Mallika unpacked a gift package that was bothering her. It was for her from none other than Meghan. Mallika requested Ruby to buy a few books from the village. But instead of her mother, Meghan bought a boxful of books with his money and gifted it to Mallika. Seeing a dozen books, Mallika's happiness was boundless. At that time, poor 16 years old Mallika didn't realize it was a lovely and unplanned trap for her.

Ruby told Mallika everything that happened in her 3 weeks trip to the village, including that she has decided to give Mallika's hand in marriage to Meghan. Mallika was dumbstruck at that situation.