Chapter 5 : Friends' Questions and Tiya's Identity

Orion teased, "Hey! Enough already, we're all single here, and that's because of our big boss, but now he's married. And unromantic too, but our young madam must be romantic; she can seduce anyone, right?" Orion was Ashwath's chief bodyguard, sporting silver hair and small earrings, making him look quite handsome.

While this conversation took place outside Ashwath's room, inside, Tiya groaned in pain. Ashwath remained completely calm, staring at her without any expression. He asked, "Were you dreaming?"

Tiya didn't answer; her mind was elsewhere. "Who changed my clothes?" she wondered. She hadn't worn her wedding dress and clearly remembered falling asleep on the sofa while listening to Ashwath's rules and regulations in her bridal attire. Stammering, she said, "S-Sir, did you change my clothes?"

With no expression, Ashwath replied, "Yes, I changed your clothes."

Upon hearing this, she screamed, and the group waiting behind the door couldn't hold back anymore and rushed in without permission, storming into the room like terrorists. Seeing them, Ashwath was taken aback. Adit nervously said, "Sorry, bro, don't misunderstand us, but we couldn't help it. Why was Bhabi screaming? Did you do something to her?" Ohsa asked, "Big boss, what happened?"

Ashwath was getting angry at these people. Orion looked at Tiya and said, "Oh! We came at the wrong time. Let's go, let's go."

Adit refused to leave, asking, "How can we leave like this? First, we need to know what happened!"

Ashwath, irritated, snapped, "Nothing happened; your sister-in-law fell from the bed."

Understanding Ashwath's irritation, Orion shoved everyone out of the room.

Adit, being pushed out by Orion, protested, "What are you doing?"

Orion explained, "Hey, the young madam lives here too; we shouldn't barge in like shameless people anymore."

Adit joked, "So should we go in shame?"

Pratyush felt like hitting Adit. Adit had always been wired differently in his head.

Calming himself, Pratyush said, "Hey, my brother is now married; he has a beautiful wife. We can't disturb their personal time."

"But my brother is unromantic," Adit interrupted.

Orion scolded them both, "Shut up, now let's go." And everyone dragged Adit away.

Inside the room, Tiya yelled, "How could you do this? You could have lifted me; why did you change my clothes?"

Ashwath looked her up and down and calmly said, "Why? Can't I change your clothes? Maybe you're forgetting that you're my wife, so I have every right, right?"

At this, Tiya fell silent.

With a strange smile, Ashwath added, "No need to be so embarrassed; I was the only one who saw you; no one else did."

Hearing this, Tiya wished she could dig a hole and bury herself in it or that the earth would split open and swallow her.

Ashwath had dressed Tiya in a princess nightgown. Tiya's cheeks turned red with embarrassment as she stared at the floor while Ashwath shamelessly kept talking.

Ashwath sensed her discomfort and teased, "Don't think about digging a hole in my house, okay? And don't even think about dying."

Tiya was shocked that Ashwath knew exactly what she was thinking. Everyone in the world thought Ashwath was an unromantic person; even his friends and brother thought the same.

Little did they know that their friend could be so shameless, and Ashwath himself was astonished at what he was saying and why.

He looked at Tiya and said, "You know what you have to do, right?"

Tiya stood there silently, looking at him.

Ashwath explained, "You have to perform the first kitchen ritual today; you can't miss a chance to impress my grandfather. Do you know how to cook?"

Tiya replied, "Yes."

"Then go take a shower, and by the way, my crazy friends are out there. If they ask anything inappropriate, don't answer them; they're very rude." With that, Ashwath headed for the door.

Tiya thought to herself, "What are you so good at?"

Seeing Tiya still rooted in place, Ashwath prompted her again, "Are you going, or do you want me to join you in the shower?"

Before he could finish his sentence, Tiya stood up and hurried into the bathroom, locking the door and taking deep breaths.

Ashwath was surprised by himself, thinking, "When did I become like this? I'm just saying anything. People are right; a woman's influence does something to you. No—no—that can't be possible."

While Ashwath was troubled by his new behavior, Tiya was in the bathroom thinking, "Oh God! What kind of person did I marry? What bad luck I have; I'd have been better off without him."

Then she remembered that she had to cook and quickly began to get ready. The bathroom was already prepped; the bathtub was filled with water, and clothes were laid out. She just needed to get ready quickly. After bathing, when Tiya put on her clothes, she noticed they were from a very expensive brand.

As soon as Tiya stepped out wearing the outfit, she saw Ashwath sitting on the bed, still in the room. He gazed at her, saying, "You look beautiful."

Tiya suddenly felt awkward and went straight to the dressing room. After a while, she came out prepared, and Ashwath stared at her in amazement. Ignoring Ashwath, Tiya walked straight out of the room, where all the handsome hunks of the house were lined up outside. It looked as if they were waiting for their favorite superstar. They were all astonished to see her and wished her good morning in unison.

Adit exclaimed, "Wow! Bhabi, you look stunning. You're absolutely mesmerizing!"

Tiya was taken aback.

Ahim added, "Madam, you are looking gorgeous."

Tiya was at a loss for words in response to their compliments.

Adit adjusted his collar and said to Ahim, "So who does Bhabi belong to? Hurry up, Bhabi, you need to get to your kitchen; we are all very hungry. Please do us a favor and provide us with food." Tiya burst into laughter at this.

Just then, Jonsi arrived and took Tiya with her.

The rest of the guys barged into Ashwath's room, falling over each other in their excitement. Ashwath, witnessing the silliness of his friends, exclaimed, "You guys have no patience! Does anyone just barge into a room like this?"

Pratyush replied, "Oh, really, boss?"

Ojas, encouraged by Pratyush's comment, added, "What's the matter? Tell us, has anything happened between you and young madam?"

Adit excitedly chimed in, "Bro, tell us quickly; I can't wait to be an uncle!"

Hearing this, Ashwath glared at them, annoyed, and said, "Bad manners."

Abhram dismissed Ashwath's words, saying, "Forget bad manners; we want answers right now. First, you announce her as your girlfriend without telling anyone, then get married the next day. So, it's obvious you must have liked her before, right?"

Exasperated, Ashwath replied, "I don't know her; I can only say that right now, I have a solid reason to stay with her."

"That makeup shop, Charvi Sahay, am I right?" As soon as this statement echoed in the room, everyone turned to see who had spoken. It was Rachit. Ashwath shot him a furious look.

Pratyush, irritated, snapped, "What? You mentioned her name this early in the morning? My entire day is going to be ruined. Just looking at her face makes me feel terrible."

Adit, confused, asked Ashwath, "So, after getting rid of Charvi Sahay, are you going to leave my lovely and petite sister-in-law?"

Ashwath shouted, "Who said I'm going to leave her? Everyone knows once I hold someone's hand, I never let go."

Orion then asked Ashwath, "Don't you think young madam looks like a child?"

Supporting Orion's comment, Ojas said, "Yeah, find out her age; who knows, she might be only 18 or 19."

"She's 23," Ashwath yelled.

Orion replied, "Why are you getting angry? I'm just asking; you're 33, and she's 23—what a match!"

Ashwath was utterly annoyed by this and said, "What? Aren't you guys happy? You won't have to stay single anymore."

Pratyush laughed, "Bro, we will get married only after we see your kids."

Ashwath was fed up with his rowdy friends and wondered what good deeds he had done to deserve such obnoxious pals.

Rachit, with his mischievous attitude, asked, "Do tell us, boss."

The room erupted with laughter as Ashwath scolded, "Stop showing your teeth; she's still very young and hasn't even completed her graduation yet. Talking about all this right now is not appropriate."

Aheem understood Ashvatth's point and asked, "That's a valid point, but what is the young madam's name?"

Everyone turned to Ashvatth for an answer to this question. In response, Ashvatth handed over a file containing all the information about Tiya. Aheem opened the file and began to read, "Tiya Anand Agarwal."

Ojas asked, "What else is there?" Before Aheem could continue, Ojas snatched the file from him and started reading it himself.

"Name - Tiya Anand Agarwal

Father - Ridhay Agarwal

Mother - Ujjwal Anand"

"What?" Aheem exclaimed loudly, astonished, "Her mother's name is Ujjwal Anand? Oh my God, Ujjwal Anand?"

Hearing this, Orion said, "Ujjwal Anand! Oh no! That means the young madam is the daughter of the famous artist Ujjwal Anand. You know, my dad was a huge fan of hers. Every painting she created seemed so lifelike. My dad bought every single one of her paintings. But she disappeared suddenly years ago, just when she was about to become a world-famous artist."

Aditya, who was now very excited, said, "We have a lot of her paintings at home; my mom bought them."

Listening to everyone intently, Ashvatth said, "Ujjwal Anand is no longer in this world."

Everyone was shocked to hear that.

Aheem continued reading the file, astonished, "The young madam has a stepmother and a stepsister too. What's going on here? And Ridhay Agarwal turned out to be quite a scoundrel. He had an affair with Miss Anand while being married. Poor woman, she gave up her career for him. Oh my God! What does love make people do? And another significant thing, the young madam is his illegitimate child."