Page 67

Story: Tainted Bride

"Prakram, everyone wants to see the face of your bride.”

Prakram turns and looks at Avishka, gently lifting her veil. With her eyes well bent, Prakram places her stola on her head, and as soon as everyone sees her face, they all begin to praise her.

"Beautiful...."

"Very pretty...."

"It was Prakram's luck to have such a beautiful bride...."

Prakram's gaze returns to Ranjeet, who is observing Avishka with a slightly open mouth. He immediately comes closer to Avishka by placing his hand on her shoulder, due to which Avishka immediately grabs her lehenga in her fist. He examines her fist and remains seated in close proximity to her. Vishwajeet, with his wife and son, comes near her and says this while placing the diamond set in Avishka's hands.

"You have brought a very beautiful wife; the children will also be born very beautiful. Please tell me the good news soon; I am waiting a lot.”

Prakram clenches his teeth, but Digvijay, who was standing near Prakram holding Aashi in his arms, tells him immediately.

"You eagerly wait for everything. Earlier, you were waiting for his marriage; now you are waiting for his children. Control your wait because waiting too much for anything sometimes becomes harmful.”

Vishwajeet gently smiles as he walks away, but Ranjeet's gaze remains fixed on Avishka. He sat at her feet, tried to touch them, and told her.

"Hello, sister-in-law, I am your brother-in-law; he does not have a younger brother; I am the only one. If you have any complaints about him, please tell me quickly; I will always be around you.”

Ranjeet wanted to touch her feet properly, but Avishka immediately moved her feet back as he was sitting close to her, and as soon as he started touching her, she showed her hand and completely prohibited him from doing so. Ranjit casts a glance at Prakram, who is merely staring at him, and remarks:

"You are very lucky to have such a beautiful wife. Keep her away from everyone's eyes because everyone will want to keep an eye on her.”

Prakram looks at her carefully, but Digvijay immediately places his hand on his shoulder; Still unable to control himself, he tells him.

"I will take out the eyes of anyone who wants to keep an eye on her... She is not for public display; she is my wife, not a subject anyone wishes to scrutinize."

As soon as she hears him, Avishka suddenly turns and looks at him, and Prakram starts looking into her eyes. Seeing both of them like this, Ranjeet immediately leaves from there because he cannot tolerate any kind of happiness in Prakram's life.

Aashi approaches her father, who persuades her to sit on his lap. As she sits close to him, they engage in a conversation about a variety of topics, eliciting a smile from Prakram and a faint smile from Avishka. Vishwajeet, sitting in front, is watching all this very well. He feels someone else's eyes on him, so he immediately looks here and there and finds that Digvijay is looking at him.

CHAPTER 38

Prakram is sitting among everyone and drinking alcohol because he cannot tolerate Vishwajeet and his son at all, but due to all therelatives being here, he has to tolerate all this. He starts pouring more wine into his glass when Armaan holds his hand.

"Sir, you should not drink too much alcohol.”

"Where is Aashi?"

"Aashi was sleepy, so Sandhya maam took her to her room. You should go to your room because no one comes on the third floor; hence, your sister-in-law will be alone at this time.”

Prakram had already picked up the glass, but Armaan stopped him. Upon hearing this, Prakram suddenly stopped his hand, placed the glass back on the table, and left. Avishka is getting very upset because no one is allowed to come on the third floor; hence, no one is around her, and she is not able to open the strings of her blouse at all, which has now started tightening her a lot. She knows that Prakram will come there after some time, and she does not want to be in front of him like this at all. She has untied her long hair, placing it on one side of her shoulder, and is attempting to open her blouse, a task that has become increasingly challenging for her. She tied two knots tightly before adding the flower knot to prevent the blouse from opening.

Sandhya had told her that she would come, but she has not come yet, due to which she is getting very worried. The continuous sitting has left her extremely tired, and the weight of the heavy attire is causing her significant distress. A sudden noise at the door prompts her to tightly wrap her chunari around herself and attempt to untangle the string from within. Prakram tries to find Avishka, who is not there, in the room, but he keeps hearing the tinkling of bangles, so he comes towards the closet.

When Prakram enters the closet, he finds her still struggling to open her blouse. He turns and starts leaving from there, but suddenly he notices that she is not able to open the strings at all. Suddenly, Avishka realizes that Prakram is staring at her, and as a result, she turns to face him. When Prakram starts coming towards her, she bows her head.

The strong smell of alcohol scares her enough that she starts to walk away, but Prakram stops her by holding her arm, then turns her to face the mirror. She has closed her eyes tightly. He removes her dupatta, places her hair on one shoulder, and carefully examines the strings. Without delay, he starts untying those strings. Avishka holds her blouse tightly. All the strings have opened up, and her entire waist is in front of Prakram without any barrier. He keeps looking at her flawless back carefully for a few moments, then looks in the mirror and tells her.

"It's too late; go to sleep.”

He turns and comes into the room. Avishka keeps watching him go from there through the mirror, and after he completely disappears from her sight, suddenly tears well up in her eyes, but a small smile appears on her lips. She quickly changes her clothes and comes into the room. Prakram is lying on the bed, and probably he has fallen asleep. She looks here and there, goes to the front, and lies down quietly. Prakram realizes very well that she has gone and laid down on the sofa. He often falls asleep after drinking alcohol, but today he is not able to sleep. He is attempting to fall asleep, but the presence of another person in the room is preventing him from doing so. Avishka is also in a similar situation; she is lying quietly, but despite being tired, sleep is far away from her eyes.

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