Chapter Twelve( Just another one left for the Devil's dozen. š )
Shaadi!!!.
Somewhere in the Bella View Hotel in the heart of Delhi....
Dev and Naintara Khurana stepped inside the hotel like the perfect society couple, handing over their coats to the doorman-it was a cold night-and walking up to the receptionist, arms linked together, asking about the Grand Ballroom preparations.
"You will find Dadimaa doing the preparations in the ballroom," the receptionist said sweetly. As the couple turned their back, she rolled her eyes. Dev and Naintara Khurana were not exactly well-liked by everyone, especially Naintara due to her impulsive and suspicous nature. Dev had not exactly reached the pinnacle of success either. They were just hanger-ons to Maan. And Naintara greatly resented that.
She had flown down to India from Canada on the pretext of attending her brother-in-law's marriage, but in reality, she had come to break up Maan's marriage. Her ambition in life was to see Maan grow old and weary, till he had no choice but to hand over the property to their children. But despite two years of being married, Naintara had failed to get pregnant. And with each miscarriage, her insecurity increased. She did not realise that the reason for the miscarriages was her negative thoughts.
Dev was not interested in Maan's property, as long as he got his weekly pocket money, which was still not enough though to pay off his gambling debts. Therefore he assisted Naintara in her plans, more though out of fear of her wrath than greed for the Khurana fortune.
Dadimaa was busy arranging flower decorations, telling the assistants to put up garlands of roses, on the insistence of Maan. Dadimaa was puzzled-Maan hated roses, because that's what he'd always serenaded Lianna with. But she remembered talking to Maan about the wedding plans, and Geet passing by with a bunch of roses in her hand to give to a flower-seller, whose roses had been dirtied by Maan's car and the puddles on the road. Geet had handed over the flowers to him, along with some money she had, and Maan had spent the entire disucssion staring at her, while Dadimaa blabbered about the plans.
Dil pighalne mein waqt nahin lagta! Bas thoda naram hona chaahiye.
Seeing Dev and Naintara, she hurried to them, and they respectfully touched her feet. Giving them her blessings, she said, "Maan and his fiance will be making their appearance any moment. I've already sent some helpers from the salon to dress up Geet."
The color drained out of Dev and Naintara's faces.
"What happened?" Dadimaa asked. "Oh, Geet? Yes, that's Maan's fiance. Geet Handa. For some strange reason she doesn't use her last name, but who cares, now she's going to be Geet Singh Khurana."
They simply nodded their heads, horrified into silence. That was not possible! She was supposed to have been killed by that maniac brother of hers! At least that's what her family said. "Geet hamaare liye mar chuki hain" when Naintara had gone to their house to enquire whether she had had the abortion or not.
This could not be happening. Geet was already pregnant with the second heir of the Khurana family. On top of that she was marrying Maan. God had given her all the rights to becoming the lady of the Khurana house.
"Maan definitely doesn't know about this," Naintara thought. "If he did, he would have never accepted that stupid girl. She should have just aborted the kid and lived her life normally. But she came to Delhi-and look now, she's practically usurped the fortune that was [i]my[/] right!!
"Maan is marrying Geet?" Dev thought. "Good for both of them. Perhaps Naintara will finally stop suspecting me. But if Geet tells Maan about me then? No she must have told him before only. But if that's the case bro wouldn't have invited me..what's going on?"
"I think the jet lag has got to you," Dadimaa said kindly. The worried couple nodded their heads and went up to their suite, just as a group of women brought in Geet.She was followed by a grumpy Maan looking dashing, but with a strange mix of both frustration and excitement on his face. As they sat down at the mandap, Dadi decided to call Dev and Naintara back, but decided against it. They were too tired. She would call them during the reception.
Dadimaa tied the knot of the couple and did the kanyadaan. Maan looked at Geet when the pandit called out for her parents, and for some strange reason, the sadness in her eyes did not please him at all.
As they took seven rounds around the holy fire, and as the guests, an assortment of celebrities, businessman and top-notch reporters threw flowers at them, along with Adi, Pinky and a absolutely devastated Sasha and Tasha, Geet's parents watched quietly behind a pillar as they saw their daughter marrying for the second time, and that too to a man they hoped would always love her.
Oh, he would. But not if Naintara had her way.
Debate Mansion
