Chapter 82 :

Back in their hotel room, Advay leaned against the headboard, his arms wrapped around Ananya, who was hugging him tightly, resting her head against his chest. Neither of them spoke for a while, just scrolling through their phones, watching the world explode over what had just happened.

Twitter was in absolute chaos. Instagram was flooded. The whole world was talking about one man.

@RCBForever: "ADVAY RAI. LAST BALL SIX. TROPHY. PROPOSAL. WHAT A NIGHT. WHAT A STORY. 😭🔥 #RCB #Champions"

@OfficialIPL: "This isn't just an IPL final. This is a MOVIE. 🏆💍 #AdvayRai #RCB #Fairytale"

Ananya kept scrolling, laughing as she showed him a meme—a side-by-side image of him hitting the last-ball six and then kneeling down for the proposal. The caption read:

"Advay Rai doesn't miss. EVER."

Advay smirked, shaking his head. "They're not wrong."

Ananya lifted her head slightly, raising an eyebrow. "Oh? Feeling yourself, are we?"

He chuckled, pulling her closer. "Just stating facts."

She rolled her eyes, but she was still smiling. "God, you're impossible."

Another post caught her attention—a video of the tea stalls, the bars, the streets of Bangalore erupting the second he hit the six. People were screaming, hugging, crying, fireworks bursting in the night sky. The city had lost its mind.

She pressed play, watching as a man in a bar, still in tears, yelled into the camera, "I CAN DIE IN PEACE NOW! RCB HAS FINALLY WON!"

She laughed, showing it to Advay. "Look at this! You've turned people insane!"

Advay watched, his smirk softening. "They waited a long time for this."

She looked up at him, her expression gentler now. "And you gave it to them."

He let out a small breath, running his fingers absentmindedly through her hair. "Yeah... we did."

She snuggled in closer, wrapping her arms around him. "This was the best night ever."

He kissed the top of her head, his voice quiet but certain.

"Yeah… it really was."

The next evening, the RCB team gathered for a celebratory dinner and party, the energy still electric from the previous night's historic win.

Advay walked in wearing a sleek black cashmere t-shirt, a leather jacket, and denim, his usual effortless confidence on display. Beside him, Ananya matched his vibe, dressed in a fitted black t-shirt-like top, a leather jacket, and denim.

As they entered the venue, the team cheered, raising their glasses.

Chahal smirked, nudging Virat. "Look at this power couple. Black leather jackets? Matching outfits? You guys planned this, didn't you?"

Ananya rolled her eyes. "Pure coincidence."

Advay smirked. "Or maybe we just have great taste."

The atmosphere was lively, electric, and full of joy as the RCB team laughed, ate, and celebrated together.

At one end of the table, Chahal grinned, holding up his phone. "Alright, guys, we're going live!"

The screen showed thousands of fans pouring into the Instagram Live, comments flooding in.

"CHAMPIONS! 🏆🔥"

"ADVAY RAI SUPREMACY!"

"VIRATTTTTT KING KOHLI!"

"CHAHAL TV IS BACK LET'S GOOOO!"

Chahal turned the camera toward himself. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the most epic RCB party in history! We finally did it!"

The players cheered in the background, raising their drinks, and Chahal panned the camera around the room.

He stopped at Advay, who was sitting beside Ananya, casually eating.

"Okay, okay, we got the man of the moment here! Advay Rai, say something to the fans!"

Advay smirked, leaning slightly toward the camera. "Hope you guys enjoyed that final. We told you we'd win, didn't we?"

The comments exploded.

"YOU DID ITTTTT!"

"ADVAY RAI FOR PRESIDENT!"

"BRO YOU ALMOST GAVE US A HEART ATTACK 😭😭"

Advay chuckled, shaking his head. "Yeah, yeah, I know. But you all knew I wasn't going to let you down, right?"

Chahal laughed, turning the camera to Virat Kohli, who was chatting with AB de Villiers. "Captain saab, say something to the fans!"

Virat smirked, raising his glass. "You guys waited a long time for this. This one is for you."

The screen was flooded with love.

Chahal then walked around, showing Maxwell and Morris arguing over who danced better, Padikkal waving at the camera, and Dube doing an impromptu celebratory dance.

The comments went wild.

"RCB FAMILY IS ELITE!"

"DRUNK CHAHAL INTERVIEWS WHEN???"

"TELL ABD TO COME LIVE!"

Chahal then turned the camera back to himself. "Alright, guys, we're signing off! But tonight… WE CELEBRATE!"

He ended the live, laughing as the party carried on, the night still young, and the memories still being made.

As Ananya chatted with Anushka, laughing over something, Advay leaned back in his seat, scrolling through his phone.

He opened Instagram, smirking slightly as he pulled up the photo Chahal had taken after the final—him standing behind Ananya, arms wrapped around her, holding the IPL trophy, while she proudly showed off her ring, both of them laughing.

He typed a simple caption:

"Champions. 💍🏆❤️ #RCB #Forever"

And hit post.

Within minutes, his notifications exploded. The comments section was already flooding with reactions—cricketers, celebrities, and fans losing their minds.

Virat Kohli commented first. "Lifting trophies and lifting her… well played, champ. 😏🔥" Yuzvendra Chahal was right behind him. "Main photographer hoon, credit de do atleast. 😤📸🔥" AB de Villiers joined in. "A six to win the final AND a proposal? What can't this guy do? 👏🔥" Rohit Sharma added, "Damn, you really took everything from us that night, huh? 😂 Congrats, bro!" even Jasprit Bumrah joined in, teasing, "The real question is, was the proposal pre-planned or was that an in-the-moment decision? 👀🔥"

It wasn't just cricketers. Ranveer Singh commented, "Bro made RCB fans cry TWICE in one night. LEGEND. 😭🔥" Samantha Ruth Prabhu wrote, "Most wholesome thing ever! Congratulations you two! ❤️🔥" Karan Johar couldn't resist, "Someone needs to make this into a Bollywood movie ASAP! 🎬✨" and even Shreya Ghoshal added, "This moment will go down in history. Literal fairytale! 😍❤️"

Fans were losing their minds. "I have watched the last ball a million times and I will watch it a million more. ADVAY RAI, YOU ARE A LEGEND." Another wrote, "This man really made me go from SOBBING to SCREAMING in the span of five minutes. 😭❤️🔥" Someone else added, "Advay Rai said 'I am taking EVERYTHING tonight.'" and one fan summed it up perfectly, "You know how in movies they say 'You couldn't have written this better?' YEAH, THAT'S THIS."

Ananya, noticing his smirk, nudged him. "What's so funny?"

Advay chuckled, turning the phone toward her. "Instagram's losing its mind."

She scrolled through the comments, laughing. "God, Ranveer Singh's comment!"

Anushka, peeking over, smirked. "Karan Johar's already planning the film, huh?"

Advay leaned back, shaking his head. "I just hit a six. The world thinks I directed an entire movie."

Ananya nudged him again, grinning. "Well… it was pretty cinematic."

He smirked, locking his phone and wrapping an arm around her. "Maybe. But I only cared about one happy ending."

As the night of celebration continued, the laughter and chatter filling the air, Virat Kohli stood up, raising his glass. The room gradually quieted down, all eyes turning toward him.

Advay, sitting beside Ananya, smirked slightly, already knowing that Virat had something special to say.

Virat took a deep breath, looking around at his team—the ones who had given everything, who had waited years for this moment. His eyes stopped on AB de Villiers, his longtime partner-in-crime. He glanced at Chahal, who had been there through all the ups and downs, at the young guns like Padikkal and Dube, who had stepped up, and then finally at Advay, the man who had turned heartbreak into history.

He lifted his glass slightly, his voice filled with emotion.

"You know, we've waited a long time for this."

A murmur of agreement ran through the team.

"Every year, we heard the same thing—'RCB can't do it.' 'RCB will choke.' 'RCB will never win.' And every year, we kept coming back, fighting harder, refusing to give up. We took the pain, the heartbreak, the near-misses—and we turned it into something unstoppable."

The team listened in silence, the weight of those words sinking in.

"Tonight, we proved them wrong. Tonight, we are champions."

The room erupted in cheers, some players banging their hands on the table, some raising their glasses, others simply nodding, too overwhelmed to speak.

Virat smiled, waiting for the noise to settle before continuing. "To every single one of you—you didn't just play this tournament. You owned it. We stood by each other through everything, and this trophy? It belongs to all of us."

He then turned to Advay, smirking. "And to this guy, who apparently wasn't satisfied with just winning an IPL final—he had to go and win a fiancée too."

The team burst into laughter, Chahal nearly spitting out his drink, while Ananya covered her face, shaking her head as everyone clapped and cheered.

Virat chuckled. "Seriously though, Advay, I think we all knew from the start that if anyone was going to win us this trophy, it was you."

Advay nodded, his smirk softening, the respect between them unspoken but clear.

Virat then raised his glass higher. "To RCB. To history. And to finally shutting up everyone who doubted us!"

The entire room roared in agreement, glasses clinking, voices rising in celebration.

This wasn't just a toast.

It was a moment RCB would never forget.

On November 16, 2020, Advay and Ananya returned to India.

After landing, Advay took Ananya to meet his family. She had already met Aditi, his sister, but this was the first time she was going to meet his parents.

Sitting in the car beside Advay, Ananya was unusually quiet. She kept fidgeting with the edge of her sleeve, her mind running through a thousand possibilities.

Advay, noticing, smirked. "You're nervous."

She shot him a look. "Obviously! I'm meeting your parents for the first time. What if they don't like me?"

He chuckled. "Trust me, that's not possible."

She exhaled, leaning her head back against the seat. "You say that now, but what if your mom secretly hates me? What if your dad is super intimidating? What if—"

Advay reached over, grabbing her hand and squeezing it. "Ananya." She turned to him. He smirked. "You just survived a stadium full of screaming fans, thousands of cameras, and a live proposal. You think my parents are scarier than that?"

She let out a nervous laugh. "When you put it that way…"

He chuckled, still holding her hand. "Relax. They're going to love you."

She wasn't sure if it was his words or just the way he said them, but somehow, her nerves started to settle.

As Advay pulled into the sprawling Rai Estate, Ananya stared out the window, familiar with the place but feeling a different kind of nervousness this time. She had been here before, but today, she wasn't just visiting—she was meeting his parents for the first time.

Advay parked the car in the garage, unbuckled his seatbelt, and turned to her with a smirk. "You look like you're about to face a bouncer from Bumrah."

Ananya exhaled sharply, shaking her head. "I've been here before, but now it actually feels… real."

He chuckled, reaching over to take her hand. "You'll be fine. They already love you."

She narrowed her eyes. "They haven't even met me yet."

He smirked. "Exactly. You'll see."

Taking her hand firmly in his, he led her toward the main house. The estate was as breathtaking as ever—the golden evening sun cast a warm glow over the perfectly manicured lawns, the towering trees lining the stone pathways, the grandeur of the Rai family's legacy standing tall before them.

As they stepped into the living room, the warmth of home wrapped around Advay. His father, Arjun Rai, his mother, Ilana Rai, and his sister, Aditi Rai, were sitting comfortably on the plush couches, tea in hand, chatting and laughing. The energy was relaxed, welcoming.

The moment they saw him, Ilana's face lit up, and she was the first to rush forward and hug him tightly.

"My champion!" she beamed, cupping his face for a second before hugging him again. "You did it!"

Arjun clapped him on the back, grinning. "That six, son. That was something else."

Aditi, however, crossed her arms, her expression unreadable.

Before she could say anything, Arjun smirked and turned to her. "You should've seen her during the match, Advay. She was crying after you hit the six."

Ilana chuckled, shaking her head. "Crying? That's an understatement. She was screaming."

Aditi's jaw dropped as she gasped in horror. "I was not crying! I was just… very invested!"

Arjun wasn't done. "Oh, and when you proposed? She nearly broke the sofa, jumping up and down."

Aditi groaned, covering her face. "Dad! Stop embarrassing me in front of Ananya!"

Ananya, watching the interaction, was trying not to burst out laughing.

Advay, laughing openly now, finally turned to his sister—only for her to smack his arm.

"You hid this from me?!" Aditi accused, eyes wide. "You were going to propose, and you didn't tell me?!"

Advay grinned, rubbing his arm. "Would you have kept it a secret?"

Aditi opened her mouth, then paused, narrowing her eyes. "…That's not the point!"

Ilana finally stepped forward, her kind eyes settling on Ananya. With a warm smile, she took Ananya's hands in hers.

"It's so wonderful to finally meet you."

Ananya felt her nervousness fade just a little as she smiled back. "It's wonderful to meet you too, Aunty."

Ilana squeezed her hands. "None of that 'Aunty' business. Call me Ilana."

Arjun stepped forward, shaking Ananya's hand with an easygoing smile. "And me? Call me Arjun. But fair warning, I talk a lot. Once I start, it's hard to stop me."

Ananya couldn't help but laugh, her earlier tension melting away.

She already knew Aditi well, but seeing this side of his family—the warmth, the teasing, the effortless love—it felt like home.