Lucky To Have You

Understanding

VARUN'S POV

Later that evening, after Kiyansh had gone to bed, I found myself lingering in the living room, hoping Ananya would pass by.

When she did, I called her over, surprising myself. She stopped, looking at me with mild curiosity, and took a seat across from me.

“Ananya… can I ask you something?” I began, my voice quieter than usual.

She tilted her head slightly. “Sure. What’s on your mind?”

I hesitated, choosing my words carefully. “Why did you agree to this… arrangement? I mean, not everyone would be okay with something like this.”

Ananya’s face softened, her usual guarded expression slipping. “To be honest, I didn’t have much of a choice. But… I figured, if I had to give it a shot, I might as well make the best of it.”

I nodded, understanding her more than I expected. “It’s strange, isn’t it? We barely know each other, and yet here we are, pretending to fit into each other’s lives.”

She smiled, a little sadly. “But sometimes, things that feel strange can turn out to be good, right?”

Her words hung in the air between us, and for a moment, I felt a connection I hadn’t anticipated.

She wasn’t just someone my family had chosen; she was someone with her own hopes, her own hesitations, her own quiet strength. And that intrigued me more than I cared to admit.

As we sat there in the quiet, a comfortable silence fell between us. Maybe, just maybe, this arrangement would lead to something unexpected, something real.

Only time would tell, but in that moment, sitting across from her, I found myself almost looking forward to finding out.

As the days passed, I couldn’t help but watch her when she wasn’t looking. The way Ananya moved through the house, bringing a lightness that I hadn’t realized I was missing.

Each time I caught her laughing with my family, each time I found her looking back at me with that quiet smile—I felt my own walls cracking, just a little.

One evening, after a family dinner, I caught her on the terrace again. She stood there, gazing out at the stars, lost in her own thoughts.

Without thinking, I walked up beside her, and we stood in silence for a while.

Finally, I turned to her. “Ananya… what do you want out of this?”

She looked at me, her expression a mix of surprise and curiosity. “You mean out of… us?”

I nodded, swallowing back the uncertainty in my chest. “I mean… if this marriage becomes real. What would you want it to be?”

She took a deep breath, her gaze steady. “If it’s real, then I’d want it to be honest. I’d want us to be partners, not just two people forced together.

I want someone I can trust, someone I can laugh with, someone I can build a life with.”

Her words hit me harder than I expected. And in that moment, I realized that maybe, just maybe, I wanted the same.

The silence stretched between us, charged with a promise we hadn’t yet spoken.

As I reached out, brushing a strand of hair away from her face, she looked up at me with that familiar spark in her eyes.

“Then maybe,” I murmured, “we have a shot at making this something real.”

And for the first time, it didn’t feel like an arrangement. It felt like a beginning.