Torn Heart's

chapter 20

It was their mehendi ceremony, and the henna artists busy in decorating  Ridhima’s hands. Her friends had made sure to give the artists strict instructions to hide Arjun’s name so cleverly that it would take him hours to find it.

"It will take him forever to find his name. All night, he’ll be busy searching, and you two won’t even have time to..."Ridhima's  friends teased her and others burst into giggles.

Ridhima’s face turned bright red as she realized what her friend was implying. “You’re so shameless” she shouted,but this made the girls laugh even harder.

Another friend joined in,“Poor Arjun. By the time he finds his name, it’ll be morning, and you'll both be too exhausted for anything else”

“You all just wait. I’m going to make sure your husbands go through the same torture at your weddings,” Ridhima said

Later that night, Ridhima couldn’t stop herself from looking at her hands. The mehendi was still fresh, and she was eager to see if it would darken. She stared at the patterns, hoping for the deep dark brown colour

"Itni baar dekhne se mehendi dark nahi ho jayegi," one of her friends teased

"I’m just looking at it casually. And it’s all a myth anyway nothing like that actually happens," Ridhima replied, But deep down, she silently prayed for her mehendi to turn out as dark as possible.

"Oho, so you wouldn’t mind if it doesn’t turn red at all?" her friend continued, raising an eyebrow as she looked at Ridhima’s hands.

“I don’t think it’s going to get any darker than this,” another friend said, pretending to be serious as she inspected the design.Ridhima’s smile faded as she heard this

“No, it’s nothing like that. It will definitely turn out dark, just wait and see,” she said, trying to convince herself as much as her friends. But her friends couldn’t hold it in any longer they burst into laughter

"Ahhh, you people are so mean.Get out of my room” Ridhima shouted, realizing they were just pulling her leg.

The next morning, Ridhima woke up early, her first thought being her mehendi.
When she finally saw her hands, her face lit up with a huge smile. The mehendi had turned out beautifully dark, as she had hoped. She couldn’t wait to show her friends

Ridhima quickly got dressed and hurried out of her room, eager to find her friends. She found them in the living room, sipping on tea and chatting casually, but as soon as they saw her, they knew exactly why she had come.

“Well, well, look who’s up early,” one of them teased

Without a word, Ridhima proudly held out her hands, showing off the deep color of her mehendi. “See.I told you it would turn out dark,” she said

“It means your husband is head over heels in love with you"her friends again starts to tease her

Later

Ridhima's mother entered the room quietly, her heart full of emotions as she watched her daughter, who was now all dressed up as a bride. She walked over to Ridhima and gently took her face in her hands, pressing a soft kiss on her forehead. Her eyes were filled with tears, unable to hold back the emotions of seeing her little girl ready to start a new chapter in her life.

Ridhima noticed the tears in her mother’s eyes,she  wipe them away. “Arey, Senorita, I hate tears,” she said softly, trying to lighten the mood.

But her mother couldn’t help it. “Mera bacha, I’m going to miss you so much,” she whispered.

Ridhima felt a lump in her throat but didn’t want her mother to be sad. She pulled her mother into a warm hug, holding her close. “Mama, don’t get so emotional. I’m just a wall away, you know,” she said with a smile, trying to comfort her.