Page 56

Story: Tainted Bride

"This is a wedding dress; get ready to wear it tomorrow.”

Avishka definitely has a veil on her face, but she turns towards Prakram with a jerk, due to which he tells her.

"Before saying anything, remember that I have both Vishnu and Padma; I neither want to hear yes from you nor, about saying no, forget it. Tomorrow, a girl will arrive to assist you. If you're under the impression that you should flee or consider doing something similar, I must remind you that Vishnu and Padma are by my side. It's not a significant matter for me to take someone's life; this will occur tomorrow night, and you will fully comprehend the situation. This time, you won't need to watch in secret, as everything will unfold right before your eyes."

Prakram abruptly gets up and begins to leave, but upon hearing the wedding's name, Avishka becomes deeply engrossed in contemplation. She puts her hand around her neck and speaks suddenly, taking breaths with great difficulty.

"Marriage… NO… No… please…"

Prakram's steps stop hearing her trembling words. He looks back at her; her body is trembling more than before. He goes and stands in front of her and tells her.

"You probably didn't hear that I told you that I did not expect any kind of answer from you. Aashi has given you the place of her mother; she is only being given a form now."

He starts to turn when Avishka suddenly says:.

"I AM TAINTED. HE RUINED EVERYTHING."

She is saying everything in a very low voice, but Prakram hears these words very clearly. She is not sure about anything; she is regularly ranting in panic, but he turns and walks away from there immediately. Avishka wants to say a lot, but he is not ready to listen to anything. Prakram stands on the balcony for a long time and keeps smoking cigarettes. Avishka's words echo in his ears, and to a great extent, he now understands the yearning to keep her face covered like this, her trembling, her panic—everything bothers him, but he doesn't want to budge from his decision at all. He says.

"You love Aashi, and she loves you... Other things are useless for me."

PRESENT TIME

Prakram is seated in front of the fire. Nearby is Avishka, who still has a veil on her face.

"Put your hand forward, and the girl should do the same, forming an alliance with both hands."

"One minute…"

Prakram's voice echoes there. Avishka, sitting nearby, also gets scared hearing his loud voice, but the next moment the veil is removed from her face, and she looks at Parakram with scared eyes, and Parakram whispers to her.

"Now that you are going to become Prakram Bundela's wife, you should have no fear of any kind; if there should be any fear of anyone, then it is only me."

He moves his hand forward, and Avishka starts looking at everyone present there with scared eyes because everyone is looking at her. Prakram holds her hand and keeps it in his hands, while Aashi, seeing all this, begins to clap and jump excitedly.

Avishka's hand remains extremely hot, prompting Prakram to realize that she has not taken any of her prescribed medicines. Slowly, the marriage rituals start to take place. Prakram wears a wedding chain around her neck and vermillions in the middle of the hair partition. She is crying continuously. Aashi quickly asks Armaan

“Why is mommy crying so much?"

“Don't you see movies where girls cry after marriage?"

“But she cried in between marriages."

“She is sick, maybe because of this."

“Oh yes…”

Tears are flowing continuously from Avishka's eyes, due to which her vision has become completely blurred. She starts feeling very dizzy, and in the next moment, everything goes dark.

CHAPTER 32

AVISHKA'S POV

Avishka is continuously looking at Aashi's face and is not able to understand anything at all. There is a wedding dress lying in front of her, which is doing nothing except scaring her. She closes her eyes tightly, and like every time, Kailash's smiling face appears in front of her.

Papa, help me... I am afraid...

Sometimes we choose what we want to do for ourselves. Sometimes God knows for us what he wants to do with us, and the truth is that what we choose for ourselves also includes God's will. So whatever God chooses for us, it will only be for our benefit.