Page 33

Story: Tainted Bride

"Give me one more."

"No way; now you won't get any ice cream.”

"I will tell my mom, and she will feed me lots of ice cream.”

Armaan is well-aware of the situation, which is why he stood close to Prakram. He anticipated a potential confrontation between Prakram and Avishka, which could lead to a dramatic scene. Prakram immediately glances at her, prompting Aashi to silently stare at him. Prakram's eyes dart around, searching for Avishka, and he informs her without turning to face Armaan.

"Where is Avishka?"

"Sir, I've told her that she'll only go with us because Aashi is with us."

Prakram nods his head, and he sits deep in thought. Aashi glances at Armaan, prompting him to immediately smile at her. She runs to her grandmother. She is in front of Prakram's eyes, so he is sitting quietly, and Armaan immediately asks him.

"Sir, what are you thinking?"

Prakram's gaze shifts to the front, where Avishka is approaching, her face covered, and he speaks to Armaan.

"This girl, who already faces challenges in her life, is not foolish enough to add to her existing problems. But the problem here is that someone has told Aashi that if she does something like this, then because of it, she will get her mother. Perhaps Avishka's presence was a mere coincidence, but I personally witnessed her leaping into the water without hesitation, despite not even knowing how to swim, and her only concern was for Aashi."

"So you want to say that you are sure that Avishka has not done this?"

"I don't want to say anything like that because doubting is in my nature, and at the same time, I don't blindly trust anyone. Even if I kill someone out of doubt, I have given up trusting blindly. Yes, I also have a doubt that this girl cannot say such things because of the way she remains scared all the time. I understand that she doesn't want to add more complications to her life, and she doesn't intend to have any issues with Aashi because of me, of course, which could potentially lead to more problems for herself."

Aashi runs to Avishka as soon as she sees her. Sandhya has called everyone inside who was present there because soon it will be time for them to leave, so she wants to confirm this. Has everyone eaten the food well or not?, and she is quite aware thatAvishka has not eaten the food. She asks her to sit there and eat the food, and then Aashi also sits near her while Avishka is eating the food. As soon as she feeds Aashi, she is not refusing her at all, but despite her stomach being full, she is eating food from her hands very comfortably. Otherwise, Prakram has noticed very well that Aashi never eats food very easily. She doesn't eat at all, and if her stomach is even slightly full, it becomes extremely difficult to feed her even a small morsel.

Prakram gets up from his seat and starts walking towards his mother, but his eyes are only focused on Avishka, who is sitting comfortably in his mother's saree. Mostly, she wears suits with full sleeves, and she tries her best to hide herself completely. Prakram says this to his mother.

"According to me, everyone has finished eating, and it is too late for you all. Aashi and her nanny will come with us, but tell all the rest of the workers to leave immediately."

"Okay…."

After listening to their conversation, Avishka starts getting up quickly, but Sandhya immediately stops her.

"Eat your food well; no one is going right now, and Aashi herself is sitting nearby.”

Seeing her leave the food and get up like this, Prakram looks at her food, she is hardly half finished; hence, he comments on her.

"Before we teach anything to the child, we should know ourselves—what we should do and what we should not do. By leaving so much food, you are making my child learn how to waste food.”

Prakram leaves immediately, but his eyes are always on Avishka, with whom Aashi is constantly smiling. After some time, everyone prepares to leave, and Avishka takes Aashi in her arms because she believes she has started feeling sleepy and will sleep soon.

Aviksha wants to sit in the passenger seat, but Armaan abruptly moves to take the seat, as always. Meanwhile, Prakram sits on the back seat, making it difficult for her to understand how she will sit with him. Despite this, Prakram looks at her and responds immediately.

"We don't have to go to the party that's happening here tomorrow, for which you're waiting outside."

Aviksha immediately comes and sits on the other side, holding Aashi in her lap. The car starts moving at its own pace, and Aashi starts sleeping with her head on Avishka's chest. Prakram examines her and informs Avishka of the situation.

“Avishka, I am not at all in the habit of beating around the bush, but Aashi wants to call you mom because you have saved her life because she says that when she drowned in the swimming pool, it was you who saved her first, so you are the one who saved her, so you are her mother because you love her very much. Can I know how such thoughts came to her mind?"

Avishka is very surprised to hear this. Because of this, she pulls back her saree a little from her face and starts looking at Aashi, who is now in a sleeping state. But this is a big thing, so Avishka immediately tells Aashi.

"Aashi, this is absolutely useless; who told you this?”

"This is not a useless thing at all; every mother loves her children very much, and you also love me. That is why you jumped intothe swimming pool to save me. That aunty had told me to go back and jump into the swimming pool and that "your mother will be the first one to come and save you.”

Hearing Aashi's answer, Prakram gets the shock that he knows very well that Avishka had not said this, but he was asking her on the basis of suspicion. It is extremely important to know who said this. He immediately draws Aashi into his arms and asks her, his voice slightly angry.

"If anyone talks nonsense to you, you will listen to her. Tell me, who said this?”