𝐑𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒: 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑎𝑔𝑎 𝑂𝑓 𝑀𝑎𝑓𝑖𝑎 𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒 || 18+

4.he missed her

Amaya was sitting in her room, talking with her grandmother, when she heard her aunt's voice. She came outside and asked, "What happened, Aunt?"

Her aunt asked her to sit. Amaya sat down, and her aunt said, "As you already know, I've fixed your marriage. Those people are really good. You'll get engaged to the man on Monday and be married to him within a few days. So, get ready. They don't want you to work any jobs because they are already so rich. And we don't have to," her aunt said excitedly, "we don't have to spend a penny on your marriage. Your in-laws are so rich that they are going to arrange everything. They just need a daughter-in-law. So, do you get that?"

Amaya said, "But Aunt, I don't want to get married right now."

Her aunt retorted, "You don't need to tell me. I will do whatever is decided. And they are very rich, you know."

Amaya understood that her aunt was marrying her off for her own profit. She said, "But Aunt, that man is almost twice my age. How can I marry him?"

Her aunt snapped, "So, what do you think, " koi rajkumar aayega tumare liye"? Don't get your expectations high. You are getting married. Just be happy with this."

Aarohi stood up and said, "But I don't want to get married to anyone right now." She tried to walk away.

Her aunt stood up, grabbed her hair, and said, "I said, you are getting married. If you say no, I will make your life hell, and not just yours, especially your grandmother's. You know what I can do."

After hearing this, Amaya felt sad because she knew how her aunt treated her and her grandmother, especially after her uncle died. She knew her aunt could do anything to make their lives miserable.

So, she just nodded and asked her aunt to let go of her hair as it was hurting her.

As she was leaving, her aunt said, "Oh, "Maharani", where are you going? Just go to the kitchen and prepare some food. We are hungry."

After preparing food, Amaya spent the entire day feeling tense, worrying about what was going to happen next, and lamenting why her life was so miserable. She didn't tell her grandmother anything, not wanting to upset her. The next day, Amaya woke up, got ready, prepared breakfast for everyone, and was about to leave when her aunt stopped her.

"Where are you going? Didn't I already tell you that you're not allowed to go to work anymore? Your future in-laws have already given me money for your use. So, just stay at home and do household work."

Amaya pleaded, "At least let me do my job until the marriage."

Her aunt, thinking it would be fine if she worked until the marriage and that she could get extra money from Amaya's salary, relented and let her go.

When she left, Amaya looked around as if searching for someone, but she didn't find anyone. She boarded the bus. As always, the front seat was empty, reserved for her thanks to an arrangement Viranshu had made with the bus driver. The conductor didn't take bus fare from her, and she spent the entire journey looking out the window, hoping to see Viranshu, but he was nowhere to be found.

She reached the college and, while working, thought, *Did he really leave? After that night when I asked him to stay away, did he really get it?* Then she thought, *It's fine, because I don't need any more problems in my life. It's better if he left me alone, whatever his name is.*

But she also felt a pang of sadness. In the past few days, she had grown accustomed to having someone around she could depend on. She behaved strong when Veeranshu was around because she knew he was there to help her, like he always did whenever she was in trouble.