"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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"Aapko sach mein nahi yaad aaj kya hai?" Vedant asked for what had to be the hundredth time that morning. There was a hopeful glint in his eyes each time he repeated the question, only for it to dim a little whenever Shivya answered with anything but the words he had been waiting to hear.
Resting against the headboard, she knitted her brows together in exaggerated concentration before suddenly snapping her fingers. "Haan, yaad aaya. Kaam ke chakkar mein bhool hi gayi thi."
[Oh, now I remember. I was so caught up with work that it completely slipped my mind.]
The moment those words left her mouth, Vedant let out a quiet breath of relief. Finally, she remembered. Today was their first wedding anniversary.
For a fleeting moment, his mind drifted back to the nights when he had wondered whether they would ever reach this day. There had been a time when even imagining a peaceful life together had felt like chasing a distant horizon.
They had walked through misunderstandings that bruised their hearts, arguments that lasted for days, heartbreaks that left invisible scars, and circumstances that had threatened to pull them apart more than once.
Yet fate had been kinder than fear. Against every storm that had tried to break them, they had chosen each other but none of that mattered anymore. The only thing that mattered was that she was sitting right in front of him, safe, smiling, and still his.
Unfortunately, his relief vanished the very next second. "Aaj Purnima hai. Mumma ne bola tha aaj mandir chale jaana. Main naha kar aati hoon. Aap bhi jaldi se ready ho jaiye."
[Today is Purnima. Mom told me to visit the temple today. I'll go take a bath. You should get ready quickly too]
Without waiting for his response, she climbed off the bed and walked towards the wardrobe. Standing on her toes, she pulled out a neatly folded mint-green kurta along with a pair of white pyjamas before placing them carefully on the mattress.
Then she selected a fresh set of clothes for herself and disappeared inside the bathroom, the door clicking shut behind her. Vedant remained standing exactly where he was.
For several long seconds, he stared at the closed bathroom door before letting out a defeated sigh and running a hand through his hair. Shaking his head with a helpless smile, he sat down on the bed. For the next few minutes, he scrolled through her photos in his gallery.
His lips curved upward as his thumb paused over a picture Aakshi had clicked during their visit to the temple a few weeks ago.
The picture captured Shivya laughing without restraint, her eyes squeezed shut while the wind played with the loose strands framing her face. She was looking at the camera and he was looking at her.
