"Happy Married Life, Shivya Pathak" I weakly smiled seeing my condition, mangalsutra dangling in my neck, vermilion in hair and both hands filled with gold bangles.
"Come out quickly or do you want me to break the gate," my husband knocked again...
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एक डर दिल में, दिल मुश्किल में मानूँ या ना मानूँ मैं तेरी बातें
"Mumma..." Shivya stood awkwardly at the doorway of her mother-in-law's bedroom with two carry bags hanging from her hands. Her fingers tightened around the handles unconsciously while her eyes hesitantly lifted toward Apurva, who was sitting quietly on the bed.
With a small gesture of her hand, Apurva signaled her to come inside. Shivya slowly walked in, her steps hesitant as though her feet had suddenly become heavy. She stopped near the edge of the bed, staring at the floor beneath her feet.
She had rehearsed so many things in her mind before coming here.
She wanted to apologize for taking her son away from her.
She wanted to tell her how grateful she was for raising Vedant with such beautiful values, for teaching him love, respect, and loyalty.
She wanted to thank her for treating her not merely as a daughter-in-law but like a daughter in every sense.
But standing in front of her now, all those words disappeared somewhere. Instead, she quietly placed the bags she had brought in front of her mother-in-law.
Confused, Apurva frowned slightly and bent forward to peek inside them, her eyebrows furrowed. "Yeh kya hai?" she asked softly.
Shivya slowly sat down beside her and folded her hands together tightly in her lap as if trying to gather courage. "All my wedding jewellery and the gifts I got during the post-wedding rituals..."
Apurva blinked twice, her mouth opened slightly in surprise before closing again. For several moments she simply stared at Shivya as if trying to understand whether she had heard her correctly. "Beta..." she spoke softly, unable to hide her confusion anymore. "Why are you giving me all your jewellery?"
Shivya lowered her eyes and stared at her own fingers while her voice came out smaller than usual. "Even if they are mine... I don't want them."
She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. "Please return them to dadi or keep everything with yourself because I don't want anyone tomorrow saying that I left this haveli carrying the things they spent money on for me."
For a moment Apurva stared at her silently. Then suddenly a flash of anger crossed her face before it quickly disappeared and turned into helplessness. "No one will say anything. And they weren't bought for you by anyone else."
"Every single piece of jewellery you wore at your wedding I bought them myself."she said while placing her hand over the bag, a faint smile appeared on her lips.
"Well, according to everyone else it was your father-in-law's money..." she said with slight amusement in her eyes, "but I own half of what he has. So I spent my own money on my daughter-in-law and not on someone else."
