Rehearsal
"But when I think about it, this is not about my feelings. This day is about the two of you, and irrespective of how I feel about the groom, Vendy is still important to me. So, I think I will be joining your wedding after all," she replied, smiling. Her reply left everybody else shocked for a moment; neither Ishaan or Arjun could ever have guessed this, despite claiming vehemently that they knew everything about her. Neither had thought that she would be convinced so easily, and would be willing to join the wedding after one just push, or getting just one apology.
Ishaan looked at her in disbelief and asked, "What did you just say? Sorry, but could you repeat yourself? I think I misheard you."
"Nope, you heard me correctly! I will be joining your wedding, so don't stress about my attendance there. Instead, go and take care of the preparations for your marriage."
Vendy stepped forward and said, "Thank you so much, Manya. I am really happy you decided to accept this invitation, and grateful as well. I promise, you won't regret it "
Manya, trying to hide her shyness behind a smile, said "Now you are embarrassing me, Vendy. I have always respected you as my own elder sister. So why would I ever regret being a part of your happiness?"
"Still, after all these things-" Vendy started her explanation, but Manya cut her off in the middle, saying "Can't we just leave this behind, and look ahead to happier times?"
She squeezed Vendy's hand, to signify that everything was good; and turned towards Shambhav.
She gestured that they should hurry and said, "Let's get it started, kiddo!"
Without wasting a minute over Shambhav's whining about how he was not a kid anymore, she stepped forward to check the preparations and the set-up.
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Within two hours, the room had been transformed beyond anyone's imagination. The models were ready to walk the ramp, the decoration was complete, the sequence of events was decided, and here it started.
Manya announced for the practice to start, and the models started their catwalk in the order they had been briefed about. Everyone was enthralled by the performance and amazed at the skill at the same time. No one could have guessed that it was even possible to come up with this entire collection in such a hurry and what had been a very little amount of time.
Arjun looked around the room, trying to spot Manya, but she was nowhere to be found. Her unexplained absence from her own show added a temper of spices to his panic. He was freaked out, but he couldn't make an announcement of his emotions right at that moment, because the rehearsal was still going on.
He needed to figure out where she had gone, because he was sure that no one could invade the security arrangements made by him- so she must have gone somewhere on her own.
*But what if?! These two words and the many possibilities they lead to, were enough to make his spine tingle in anticipation; making him feel prone to a panic attack. What if Roy's accomplice had found out about her memory? What if someone had taken advantage of the gathering to whisk her away? There were some models from different agencies as well, what if one of them had been used as a way to get to her? Beside the models, a lot of other people were there for the rehearsal, any of them could want to harm her after gaining entry with valid ID's!*
He stood up from his place and was about to run backstage to look for her and ease his mind, but he stopped halfway through the hall as he heard a collective hush fall over the room. He turned toward the stage, feeling like Time itself had stopped in order to appreciate the sight- Manya entered the stage in a red dress as the showstopper. The dress was breathtaking, but he knew that the person wearing it already had this effect on him. He just wanted to live in that moment, he could and was definitely willing to spend his whole lifetime looking at this view.
He was forced back to reality by the sound of claps erupting around the room. As he made his way back to his seat, he noticed Ishaan's expression as well. 'Wasn't this guy going to marry Vendy soon?' He remarked to himself, and shrugged off the thought just as quickly, scolding himself that this was not the right way to think about someone, he must have been mistaken.
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After the duo had left the building, the man was engaged in the many preparations he was supposed to do. It was true that he was also related to the Arena's, but he was not fortunate enough to have gotten their names associated with his. But it was enough for him, that Ishaan had always considered him like an elder brother; and he treated him like his own younger brother for whom he was willing to do everything- he wouldn't even think twice before killing someone for his sake.
He took out the pills, making a mental note that from this day on, Vendy must compulsorily be taking these on the daily. He then made his way to where the new package lay, which had just arrived a few minutes ago.
He opened the packet and a smirk formed on his face as he said, "So, Miss Manya Rahal...if you are not willing to be my sister-in-law by yourself, I will be making sure that you will become my sister-in-law by any means possible. You just wait and watch, all I need to do, is to find a way to feed you these. And then, it would be time for our next step to commence."
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The pages of the diary held many stories, buried within themselves. And the man intended on re-living them that day.
He remembered how his father used to be so fond of Swara in her childhood, despite his numerous disagreements with her father. He had often heard his father plead his case to his best friends, who sat still, as immune to his words as a block of wood. "Why can't you understand that once this gem will be out with a design in the market, nobody will be ever able to stand in our competition!"
But only God knows why some people like Mr.Prajapati, were so adamant on sticking to their beliefs and honesty. Everytime he accompanied his father there, he always got to hear different iterations of the same thing over and over again: that this gem needed to go to its real owner, and that was the Treasure Reserve of our government.
Even a child like himself had been able to see what a stupid idea it was to opt for this plan. The last time he had witnessed that row, he had been a teenager. Thirteen and very sure of himself, he had mocked Mr.Prajapati in front of his dad. "Like, seriously, what is to be gained after submitting everything to the government... merely scraps of the profit we can make,by claiming the precious thing as ours!"
But he was still happy, that maybe now, his Baba would finally notice him. His own son was ready to stand by him, even as everything had gone against his will. But no! He had still gone on to praise Swara on their way back, as if his words of support and tirade against Swara's father had meant nothing to him.
His father had always projected her as the perfect child on the earth. And that was the day he had resolved to himself, "Fair enough! If she was the perfect angel on earth, then here he was, the perfect demon on earth."
And that was when he had offered his first sacrifice to the Devil, at the age of thirteen. The perfect boy of his class- it was not his fault, he had already warned him to not be so perfect and score less marks than him. But apparently, some wood-headed creatures could never understand the advice of a wise person like him. And the day before he had died, he had clearly made him understand that his father was also coming to watch the match, so he must lose to him and let him be the hero for that day. But no! The stubborn person had to win…so he had chosen to suffer the consequences himself. And then there was the matter of Swara...she also had to be perfect at everything she did, so he just sacrificed the person who was less important at that time. The boy was destined to die, and the foolish investigating officers- how would they find any fingerprints when he already had wiped everything clean. And this was why chemistry was his favourite subject in school!
He chuckled evilly to himself, remembering the day all over again. How interesting had it been, to not get caught by anyone. After that, he had killed the next few people just to chase the thrill of it! He had just wanted to experiment with new methods for the murders, and hiding as well.
But then, his Baba had left him- he had left him forever. And what had his supposed best friends done? They had taken everything for themselves, and built the Prajapati empire. And there he had been left back in that village, newly orphaned and with some pieces of land in foreign country and a few millions as a recompense, when they had treated themselves to much more luxurious lives. All three of the families had moved from the place, vowing to never return, leaving him with his old mother.
So he had just made it easier! He had killed each and everyone of them, whenever he got the chance. He had even managed to manipulate the clause, making them believe that he had wanted to kill Manya next, because after that he would get the property. But all along, his real target had been Sia from the instant he had laid eyes on her. How could he spare someone, who could fight with Shambhav for his love? Or property for that matter, or even claim to be equal to him. So now, the time had finally come to reveal himself, just the day after the launch.
"See, darling, aren't I the best husband you could ever hope for!? I will be sending you the next gift soon enough! Just wait for her to complete her 18th birthday."
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