Page 79

Story: Tainted Bride

"Ashu… Come out quickly. I have taken out your favorite dress, and today I will make you a princess by wearing it."

Avishka is making every effort to avoid glancing at Prakram, who is sitting in front of her wearing only shorts and holding Aashi in his arms. First, he saw Avishka, who looked very beautiful in her saree. While checking her out very well, he saw her waist, which is clearly visible in the saree today. He brings Aashi out with him and gives it to Avishka. Avishka takes Aashi in the towel very well. She leaves from there, but Prakram is not stopping his eyes from looking at her. As soon as she completely disappears from his sight, he also says this to himself while taking his towel and wiping his hair.

"There is a strange confusion; I don't understand what is right and what is wrong; I just feel good about what is happening.”

.

.

.

Avishka has kept Aashi sitting on her lap, and she is clinging to her very well. Avishka is swinging while laughing, and Aashi, who is holding her very well, is also laughing loudly while swinging with her. Both of their sounds are echoing in the backyard.

"Mumma higher..."

On her request, Aavishka is trying her best to swing as high as possible, but it is a very difficult task for her. She starts swinging just like this so that Aashi can keep enjoying it. Prakram, who had returned a few moments ago, had come to the garden after hearing their laughter. After hearing his daughter's words, he was approaching both of them when Aashi screamed loudly again.

"Higher... higher…"

Avishka is trying, but she's unable to make the swing any higher. Suddenly, she feels a hand pushing her back. She turns her face backward and immediately sees Prakram standing there, smiling at her. She smiles brightly at the sight of him pushing her to swing higher, because now Aashi is going to enjoy herself even more. Prakram starts pushing the swing very well, while many times Avishka starts looking at Prakram smiling. Prakram likes it very much to see her smiling like this, due to which he also starts smiling a lot. Aashi laughs with Avishka. Aashi and Avishka were laughing together, and now Prakram's laughter was also resonating in the atmosphere. Armaan, who had come with Prakram, is silently making a video of them, and he also has a very nice smile on his face. They kept swinging like this for a long time, laughing continuously.

CHAPTER 45

Prakram has taken Aashi in his arms and is holding Avishka's hand tightly, which is why both of them are walking in step. Avishka looks at her hand in Prakram's hold and feels happy, but in the second, she starts to stop herself from being happy. Aashi is very happy to see the twinkling lights all around, as they are ina very popular mall here. Prakram has brought both of them for shopping today because he has planned something very good for the next two days, so he wants to do some good shopping here.

“You have given Armaan a grocery list of whatever you need."

“Yes…”

Avishka consistently responds succinctly to his questions, a habit that has now begun to bother him. She always responds to his questions, but aside from that, she rarely engages in meaningful conversation. Gradually, everything about him has started making her realize that she is leaning too much towards him, but despite that, she is controlling herself and staying within a limit. This issue has become a significant source of concern for her. They are here for a few more days. After coming here, Prakram has made an effort to give his marriage a chance by following his father's advice. He feels that he cannot spend his entire life as a stranger, which is why he wants to talk to her. He tries his best to learn about her, but Avishka wrapped herself in a shell, which is now bothering him.

Within 15 days, his work will conclude here, and they will return to India. All he knows is that since arriving in Australia, he has felt a deep connection with Avishka, and he is thoroughly enjoying this closeness. But somewhere, there is still a lot of hesitation in Avishka, due to which she is not able to take her steps towards him, which has started troubling him in a very frustrated way. Because of this, he feels a strong urge to express his anger, but he also wants to contain it, knowing that it will only hurt the person in front of him, whom he does not wish to harm. He becomes completely engrossed in his thoughts upon hearing Aashi's voice.

"Papa, wait…”

Aashi immediately looks towards a shop and starts asking her father to stop. Prakram and Avishka avert their gaze from Aashi, directing their attention towards the shop. Prakram starts smiling after looking in front, because he has immediately understood all the intentions of Aashi and quickly responded.

"Good one…”

After hearing her father's words, Aashi smiles. Avishka is looking ahead; she immediately feels Prakram's grip on her hand again, but she grabs his hand to stop him and tells.

"There is no need for all these things, Aashi. Let's go; we have to buy some excellent gifts for your grandparents."

"But this is what Aashi wants; from now on, Aashi and Mumma will wear exactly the same clothes."

Prakram starts smiling at his daughter's insistence, due to which Avishka starts looking at him. Prakram looks at her and tells her.

"There is no problem in this; if Aashi wants both mother and daughter to wear similar clothes and look alike, then what is the problem with that? Do you have any problems with this?"

"I like to wear my simple suits, so I don't want to buy any clothes. It is just a waste.”

Prakram has never stopped her from doing any kind of shopping, but she never does any shopping; even the loose suits with full sleeves that she has, she likes to wear them only, whereas after coming here earlier, Sandhya had bought her many nice suits and different dresses, but he had never seen her wear any of them, on Aashi's insisting she wear a saree but on next again with her loose suit. The last time he had seen her wearing anything trendy and nice was at his last reception.Prakram signals Armaan to take Aashi to the shop, places his hand on Avishkaar's waist, and draws her closer to him. As a result, she looks into his eyes and begins to gaze at him with her hand on his chest.

"You want to hide yourself. From whom do you want to hide yourself? There is nothing wrong with wearing nice clothes, looking beautiful, or feeling beautiful. I'll say it again: The way the other person looks at you is the fault of his eyes... Not yours... So stop troubling yourself about these things."

Avishka just keeps looking into his eyes, which is giving her a lot of comfort. He guides her into the shop, gently placing his hand around her waist. By that time, Aashi had already tried on three or four dresses, which worried Armaan, but he decided to buy them because he knew she was Prakram Bundela's princess. Aashi tells Avishka that as soon as she sees the blue dress, one of them has asked her to take it.

"Mumma, wear this."