Page 95

Story: Tainted Bride

"Because I love you so much."

"That means you love my grandmother very much, because you kiss her a lot."

On hearing Aashi's words, Digvijay's eyes get big, and he starts looking at her. Prakram turns his face to the side and starts laughing softly. Sandhya is shocked, and Avishka quickly hides her face by turning it to the opposite side to smile fully, but Aashi responds immediately.

"But Papa does not love Mumma at all, so he does not even give her a kiss."

Both Prakram and Avishka's eyes suddenly turn to Aashi. They quickly share a surprise look with each other, then they start looking at Aashi with their mouths slightly open. Digvijay looks at Prakram, smiling very nicely, and says to Aashi,.

“This is very wrong.”

On hearing Digvijay's words, Prakram starts looking here and there. Simultaneously, Avishka expresses her desire for Prakram to look in all directions, but not at her. She is finding it very hard to look anywhere because this has created a very strange situation where Sandhya is sitting in front and smiling. Prakram is on the other side, where she cannot see, and she is not daring to look anywhere else because all the bodyguards present there are smiling very softly after listening to Aashi. But Aashi continues to complain to her grandfather here.

"Absolutely, this is very wrong; papa neither kisses mumma good morning, nor gives her a good night kiss, nor gives her a goodbye kiss. Papa kisses me so many times while playing, but he does not kiss mumma even once. Mumma would feel bad, I am sure.”

“Of course this is something to feel bad about.”

On hearing Digvijay's answer, Sandhya cannot stop herself and starts laughing. Similarly, Prakram and Avishka's condition is such that they are unable to say anything here or do anything else immediately. Avishka quickly gets up from there and starts going inside. But Aashi continues.

"See how bad Mumma still feels that you did not kiss her even after speaking."

Avishka closes her eyes because Aashi is not keeping quiet at all, and she does not want to stay here at all, so she immediatelygoes inside, taking long steps. Seeing her go like this, Digvijay and Sandhya start laughing loudly, whereas Aashi starts looking only at her father. Prakram starts going inside, Ashi tells him.

“Are you going to coax Mumma?”

"Yup, kissing her.”

As soon as Aashi poses this question to her father, Digvijay promptly responds, causing Sandhya's laughter to intensify even more. Prakram, who was on his way inside, instead chooses to sit quietly, folding his arms around his chest in deep thought.

Prakram and Digvijay spend a considerable amount of time outside, engaging in extensive discussions. He wanted to go back to the room and stare at her, which is his new hobby, but it was very important to discuss something, due to which he just wanted to end the discussion completely. Aashi, too, is unable to sleep because she woke up very late in the morning, a condition that can also be attributed to jet lag. But when there is more time, everyone goes inside and goes towards their respective rooms. As Prakram enters his room, he notices Avishka dozing off on the couch, causing him to clench his teeth slightly. However, he understands that without Aashi's presence, she will not sleep close to him, so he moves to stand near her after closing the door. Looking at her, it seems that she is in a very deep sleep. He gives her a gentle smile and brushes her hair behind her ears, which are now falling onto her face. He feels immense happiness after seeing Avishka, and he has been sitting near her for a long time. Again and again, he felt like seeing Avishka only meant he wanted to hug her tightly. After some time, he just softly smiled, then went to the closet to change his clothes.

CHAPTER 56

IN HER DREAM

*Avishka smiles as she looks at her father, who is smiling beyond limits today. As she sits in front of him, dressed as a bride, she smiles and turns to look at Rajeev, who is smilingly holding her hand and preparing to chant mantras with her. It looks like that's what the priest is telling both of them, which they are gladly repeating. Avishka is definitely reciting the mantras, but her eyes are very clearly on her father and mother, who appear to be extremely happy because today is their daughter's wedding. This is a big achievement for every parent. This enables them to witness their children's marriages. Her eyes start searching for her brother Advait, whom she has not seen for a long time, because she knows that he must be hiding his face somewhere and crying.*

Prakram comes out while carrying his t-shirt with him after changing and first looks at Avishka, who is smiling brightly in her sleep. However, upon witnessing her radiant smile, Prakram abandoned his t-shirt and moved closer to her. This smile is very different and completely natural, and happiness is visible beyond limits. Upon witnessing her smile, he too breaks into a smile, but in an instant, Avishka's expression begins to shift.

*She starts moving forward smilingly with slow steps. She is not in a good condition at all; she is just moving forward, holding her stomach, and enduring the pain. She is sure that nothing can happen to her now; she just wants to quickly hide herself in her mother's embrace, which is the safest place for anyone. Wiping her tears with the back of her hand, she starts moving while increasing her speed. But suddenly she hears a loud bullet shot from her house, and her eyes become stuck towards the front as if they were like stones. She fears some untoward incident, dueto which she increases her speed and starts running so that she can see her mother and brother as soon as possible. However, just as she is about to enter the house, a sudden blast turns everything into ash.*

Mumma...

Avishka suddenly wakes up screaming and calling her mother, and she is terrified that she is just looking for her mother. Prakram immediately moves forward to hold her, but she pushes him back and tries to run outside.

Mumma...

Prakram has understood very well that some very scary dream has frightened her, and perhaps she was remembering her mother in that scary dream, due to which she is searching for her. He takes her in his arms, hugging her tightly before she runs outside. Prakram suddenly hugs Avishka while picking her up from the ground, causing her legs to hang in the air. Immediately sensing Prakram's presence, Avishka wraps her arms around his neck, holds him tightly, and begins to breathe deeply. Prakram feels quite relaxed after seeing this. He is certain that she has at least regained some sense of reality, but based on the way her heartbeat has increased and her whole body is trembling, he can guess her fear quite well. He tenderly strokes her back and gently positions her on his lap as they sit on the coach. Avishka is crying, and Prakram can feel her falling tears on his body, too.

"Mummaaaaaa"

“Shhhh… You are alright.”

Hearing Prakram's voice, Avishka suddenly stops, moves away from him a bit, realizes their position, and immediately gets upfrom his lap. Prakram does not feel good about her moving away from him. Avishka wipes her tears, bows her head, and tells him.

"I am sorry..."

Prakram has observed her closely and understands that she has not yet fully overcome the influence of her dream. As a result, she is extremely nervous, and the act of hugging him further exacerbates her discomfort. Here, her trembling form forced him to do something. Right from the moment he grabs her hand and pulls her to sit back on his lap, the very next moment he places his lips on her lips.