FF: Destined to be One part2 pg 2 updated

Hi Friends, my name it Shilpa.

"Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, by forces over which we have no control. It is determined for the insect, as well as for the star. Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible piper." ---- Albert Einstein

Part 1

Rahul looked up when his younger brother Jai barged into the study, obviously upset about something. He glanced towards his sister Koyal to see her raise an eyebrow at Jai.

"Jai what new problem have you in temper now?" Rahul asked mildly. He hoped he is able to diffuse the situation before Jai went out of control. His brother had a legendary temper, but only when he was upset about something to do with any of the family member.

He watched as his brother paced back and forth trying to calm himself. Jai stopped in front of Rahul's desk. "It's Ria's fianc Bhai." Rahul sat up straighter and frowned. Koyal also put her work aside to join them at the desk. "What about Ria's fianc Jai?" Ria was their cousin, only daughter of their father's sister. They are very close and just as protective of her as they are of their sister Koyal.

Jai placed his fisted hands on Rahul's desk and leaned down to speak to him. "I saw him with that same girl today again. I am telling you Bhai there is something not right about that family." Rahul thought about Ria's fianc, Amit, and thought he is a decent guy. He didn't seem like the type of a person who could be sneaky. Rahul hadn't thought much of Amit's mother and younger sister, would be beauty queen. His father also seemed decent but obviously controlled by his wife.

Parekh's moved to this part of North Jersey only few years back, no one knew much about their background but they were well respected in the Gujarati community in the area. Ria and Amit met a year ago and recently became engaged.

Amit was also in the hotel business like the Modi's. In fact Amit and Rahul are same age and had met at many business dinners and meetings before Amit met Ria.

"Jai what makes you think something is going on between Amit and this girl you saw him with? It could be business related." Koyal tried to reason with Jai. She did not want her brothers to jump to conclusions and hurt Ria in the process.

Jai turned to his younger sister. "Koyal have you ever seen Bhai or me hug a business associate or make plans to meet outside a Jewelry store in Edison?"

"What? And how do you know this?" This time it was Rahul who fired the questions at him.

Jai stood up straighter. "I was out with friends at the local bistro and I spotted Amit. I was about to go over and say hello when I saw him with the same girl, I've see him with twice before, at the local restaurants in the area. They were leaving the bistro so I followed them outside to see if I can find out who she is, all I heard was about meeting tomorrow in Edison at the popular jewelry store to buy something for her. They hugged each other before she left. Amit watched her get in her car safely before waving and turning towards his car. What I found strange was the obvious loving look he was giving her and the sadness once she left."

Even Koyal couldn't deny there might be something to worry about. "Should we tell the parents?" Both Jai and Rahul spoke up at the same time to say no. Rahul didn't want to inform the parent's yet. He sat back in his chair. "First Ria needs to know and she won't believe it unless she sees it with her own eyes."

Koyal closed her eyes and hoped her brothers know what they are doing because if they are wrong Ria will kill them all.

_______

Next day Koyal still wasn't sure about what they were about to do, but her brothers had reasoned, cajoled and begged her to bring Ria to the Jewelry store so they could show her what her fianc was up to.

She drove over to her Aunt's house two blocks away from the Modi house to talk Ria into going with her. She hoped Ria didn't give her hard time.

_______

Meanwhile Rahul and Jai waited outside the Jewelry store for the couple to come out. Rahul saw Amit come out of the store, followed by a petite, dark headed girl in jeans and a sweater. He couldn't see her face because her hair was covering half of her face as she looked down in her bag. She turned to Amit who was facing them and hugged him.

Rahul got out of the car and stormed towards them, with Jai following him. "Amit?" Rahul saw Amit glance at the girl who had stiffened when she heard Rahul call out to Amit.

Amit stepped forward to greet Rahul and Jai. "Rahul, Jai what are doing here?" Rahul knew Amit was trying to distract them, keeping the girl behind him. She still had her back to them. "This is what I want to know Amit. Does Ria know you are out dinning and buying expensive gifts for some floozy who is obviously using you?" Amit stiffened and held up his hand. "Hold it Rahul I respect you a lot as Ria's older brother but you are out of line."

"We are out of line?" Jai took a threatening step towards Amit but Rahul held him back. Jai stepped forward and grabbed the girl's arm to turn her towards him before either Amit or Rahul could stop him. "Why are you hiding your face now? You didn't feel any shame earlier when you hugged our cousin's fianc."

Rahul froze in place when he saw the girls face, and turned to Amit to blast him. "Amit, this is the girl you are breaking Ria's heart for? You couldn't even find a prettier girl to cheat with instead of this plain looking creature?"

He saw the girl grab Amit's arm when he took a threatening step towards Rahul. He could see the girl's hand was trembling and the obvious pain on her face. Rahul stepped back; he couldn't believe what just came out of his mouth. He was usually more controlled than this. Usually Jai was the more temperamental and spoke without thinking. He took deep breaths to calm himself.

He was about to ask Amit again what is going on when he heard his cousin calling out to Amit.

They all turned to see really mad Ria move towards them and panicked Koyal following her. Ria ran straight to Amit and hugged him, shocking Rahul and Jai. "I am so sorry Amit, if I knew what they were up to I would have stopped them." Ria moved back to see Amit's angry face and turned to glare at her cousins. Amit moved away from Ria and turned towards the girl who had stepped back from the group and was starring at the ground. Ria also noticed and rushed to the girl. "Mansi I am so sorry, please excuse my obviously over protective cousins. I apologize for whatever they said to you."

Mansi hugged Ria back and murmured something softly in her ear. She looked up to see Rahul watching her and looked away. Mansi moved back, she turned to Amit with tears in her eyes. "I am so sorry." Amit shook his head. "Mansi no..listen to me.." before Amit could continue they heard another girl from behind them. "Mansi, what is going on? Are you okay?"

Mansi turned to her best friend Roshni in relief. She grabbed Roshni's arm before she said anything and shook her head. "We are finished here. Let's go back to the house." Mansi turned back to Amit and Ria. She handed the bag to Ria and hugged her before turning to Amit. "I told you this would happen. Why didn't you listen to me and leave it alone? I told you both, it didn't matter to me if I didn't attend your wedding but you both insisted and now you will have to explain to Ria's family. What if they don't approve of your alliance if they know the truth?"

Rahul wondered what kind of Pandora's box they had opened. It was obvious Ria knew about Amit and Mansi's relationship, whatever it may be. He waited to find out.

Amit moved close to Mansi. "I don't care. It was bound to come out sooner or later. I am not going to sweep you under a rug as if you are something awful that should be hidden from the world." Mansi staggered back and would have fallen if her friend hadn't been holding her arm.

She turned to Ria. "Ria make him understand why this shouldn't have come out now. You don't know the consequences if she finds out." Ria shook her head. "No Mansi. I am going to tell my family. Your mother is not going to control who we want at our wedding and who we don't. You are Amit's sister and you shouldn't have to attend the wedding as a stranger. You are family. You are estranged from your parents but not your brother."

"Oh shit!" Jai spoke without thinking. Ria turned to her cousins. "Now you know. Mansi is Amit's younger sister. And don't ask why she was not present at our engagement; I will tell everyone at the same time." she turned back to Mansi.

Rahul felt numb, he thought back to the insulting words he spoke without thinking and cringed. He wanted to kick himself for speaking without thinking.

Roshni had stayed silent but she could see Mansi's obvious distress. She is going to break soon if she stayed around a moment longer. She decided to intervene. "Bhai I think Mansi and I should leave." She turned to Mansi. "I believe it's my turn to drive, so give me the keys." Mansi handed her the keys and thanked Roshni silently. She hugged her Bhai one last time and left without looking at anyone else.

It was a subdued group of five that arrived at the Modi house. Ria had called her parents to tell them to meet at Modi house. None of them knew how to explain the latest trouble they have gotten themselves into to the parents. It was Ria who angrily turned to her cousins. "Why couldn't you tell me before going over to play the over protective brothers?" Ria's mom, Savitaben, put her arm on her obviously distressed daughter to calm her.

"Ria calm down and tell us what happened, instead of getting mad at your cousins." Ria sat next to Amit and held his hand. "Go ahead Rahulbhai, Jaibhai, and Koyalben explain to everyone what you just did." Rahul, Jai and Koyal looked at each other and then at Ria apologetically.

Rahul glanced at his mom who did not look any happier than the rest of his family. "Phoi we thought Amit was cheating on Ria, and went to confront him, but it turned out the girl is his sister." Now the family looked really confused. His mom was first to speak up. "Rahul explain to us how you mistook Avni for Amit's girlfriend when you already met her at Ria and Amit's engagement."

Rahul couldn't meet his mom's eyes. "Woh Kakiji, it was not Avni, this is Amit's other sister, her name is Mansi, and it was me who misunderstood and told bhai." Jai also couldn't face his family. Rahul looked at Ria and Amit, who seems to be sitting with them physically but his mind was miles away. "Amit please forgive us but we didn't know, you never mentioned having another sister." Ria glared at her cousins, but couldn't completely fault them either.

Her mom looked at Ria in confusion. "Ria is this the same Mansi we met recently, when we took Baa for some tests at the hospital?" Ria looked at her parents guiltily, she has never hidden anything from them, but this was too important for Amit and Mansi. "Yes mom it's the same Mansi. She is a nurse and has been working at the General Medical Center for two years now." Savitaben turned to Kiran and Hina. "Bhabhi remember I told you about Mansi? She is very sweet and although she was born here, she is very much an Indian. She knows so much about puja, wedding rituals, and she knows the whole Bhagavad Gita by heart."

Modi family was very impressed by this and turned to Amit. Everyone had only one thought, but Kiran was first to speak up. "Amit dikra, why didn't you or your parents tell us about her?" She turned to Ria. "And Ria why didn't you mention this to your mom when you introduced her."

Ria and Amit looked at each other then at her family. Amit decided he needed to tell them about Mansi, he had no choice, but he couldn't tell them the whole truth either. He had to protect his sister at any cost. He couldn't let anyone point fingers at his sweet sister who never caused anyone any harm. Life had not been fair to her, and he couldn't snatch away the little bit of peace she has in her life. Even with revealing Mansi as his sister, it will cause her problems with his parents, but he couldn't lie to Ria's family either.

*~+~*

I end part one here.

Next update will be longer in coming since I am going on vacation, but will update as soon I return.

Thank you.

Wow relii nyc luv da concept
Plzz cont soon fanx 4 da pm x

loved it... waiting for more :)))))

Nice one. Waiting for next part.

Thanks everyone, you won't see much change to the previous story yet, but as I update, you will see added on contents in each part, and I may even split the parts.

Here is part 2

Part 2

Ria knew Amit needed time to think about how much he wants to share with her family. She had tried to tell him it wouldn't make a difference to her family, but he didn't want to take the chance. He didn't care for himself, but he didn't want to hurt Mansi.

"Mamiji, Mansi was not yet ready for us to reveal her relationship to Amit. She didn't want to complicate things for Amit with his parents." Ria felt really sad for Mansi. Initially she thought Mansi didn't like her, but found out Mansi stayed away because Amit's mom wouldn't approve. Amit and Ria didn't give Mansi a choice and finally she started to spend time with Ria.

"Ria forget all that for now and tell us why Amit and his parents have kept Mansi hidden all this time." Ria's father, Balraj Patel, spoke up from the other side of the room. He walked over to them and stood in front of them with a disapproving expression. "May be I should call your in laws here so we could clear this up."

Amit's head snapped up and he shook his head. "No Uncle please don't call my parents, it will only complicate things. I will tell you everything and then speak to my parents later."

Rahul thought it was odd that parents would try to hide their own child. What could be so bad about Mansi that her parents would disown her? He waited for Amit to explain, but he had a feeling that whatever he revealed would complicate things for his family also.

Amit looked around at all the expectant faces and thought where to start. It is best to start at the beginning so he can leave some things out. "Mansi is four years younger than me, she and I were both brought up by my father's mother mostly. After I was born she at least stayed home with me for a year but when Mansi came along she refused to take unnecessary time off." Amit felt Ria's hand on his leg and felt relief at her support.

"My grandmother and mother never got along but it got worst after Mansi was born. My grandmother did not like the fact that my mother ignored Mansi. When Mansi was three my younger sister Avni was born and mom decided to quit her job and raise Avni herself. So my grandmother decided to take Mansi and go live with my dad's older sister who was not married. Dad also agreed since he was tired of all the arguments all the time." Amit stood up and moved to the window to get his thoughts in order.

He turned back towards his in laws and could see the disbelief on their faces. He knew he made the right decision about keeping the truth from them. "My grandmother wanted to take me also, but mom refused to let me go. Mansi and I have always been close and I also begged mom to let me go but mom wouldn't budge. My aunt didn't live too far from us so I still got to spend time with them after school and on weekends."

It was thanks to his dad that he had been able to stay close to Mansi and his grandmother. "Mansi graduates from nursing school when she was twenty one. My aunt had married and moved away so Mansi continued to stay with my grandmother. Just before Mansi was to start her first job grandmother passed away." He needed to get this part out quickly but more believable.

"My grandmother had a will made year before she died leaving everything to Mansi. This upset my mother and she decided to contest the will. When it was all said and done the distance between my mother and sister was unbridgeable, not that they ever achieved the closeness that a mother and daughter should have, even before my grandmother died." Amit closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He, at least, had known what it is to have a mother and a father but Mansi was deprived of both of her parents love.

"I had never intended to hide anything from you, I just needed time to convince Mansi to be part of the wedding. She doesn't want to upset my parents and ruin the happy day for Ria and me." He looked at Ria's parents apologetically.

Everyone had listened to Amit silently but now no one knew how to react. "Would it help if we made the request to both your parents and Mansi?" Ria's mother asked.

Amit wished it was that easy and he could say yes. "No mom because Amit's mom does not want Mansi at the wedding at all. Only way she would agree to let her come is to just attend the wedding but not participate in any of the rituals." Ria saved Amit from answering.

Amit needed to leave from there and check on Mansi then go talk to his parents to let them know his in laws know about Mansi, but not everything.

He took everyone's leave and pulled out his phone to call Mansi, unaware of Rahul who followed him out he door. Amit cursed when her phone went straight to voicemail. He dialed Roshni's number next.

"Roshni, this is Amit. Where is Mansi?" Amit didn't even greet Roshni.

Amit closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead as he listened to Roshni tell him that Mansi went into work. "She was supposed to be off today. Why can't she relax for one day?" Amit felt his frustration rise when Roshni told him why Mansi went to work. "Okay Roshni I will come see her tomorrow." He put the phone in his pocket and clenched his hands.

"Is everything alright?" Amit blanked his expression before turning towards Rahul. "Yeah everything is fine."

Rahul knew Amit was lying but let it go for now. "Amit I am really sorry about earlier. We didn't want Ria to be hurt, and I should have talked to you instead of going along with Jai." Amit nodded. "It's okay Rahul, I should have told your family everything from the moment Ria and I decided to marry. None of this would have happened if I had been honest." Rahul could see Amit genuinely regretted not saying anything in the first place.

Rahul went back inside after Amit left and could see that Ria was still upset. He went to sit beside her and she glared at him. "Ria please don't be upset, we were just worried about you. We didn't know because neither you nor Amit mentioned another sister." Ria just shook her head. "That is no excuse, you should have talked to me first." Ria stood up and blinked back the tears. How can she make them understand what Mansi and Amit were going through. It took her long time to gain Amit's trust and then Mansi's but now because of her overprotective cousins Mansi is going to cut contact with her.

"Ria what is it? Why are you so upset?" Ria turned towards her Rahulbhai, her most perceptive cousin. She couldn't believe he behaved the way he had earlier. Rahul is kind, gentle and loving, and until about three years ago very happy. He changed so much in three years; he stopped living and withdrew into himself. Now days he hardly spent time at home, instead moved from one place to another. Traveling to one hotel site to next. He would be the one person to understand her dilemma if she could share the secret that Amit had told her.

Ria smiled at her cousin. "It's nothing Bhai, just hope Mansi is okay." Rahul frowned. "So why don't you call her?"

Ria sighed. "I did, but I only got her voicemail. She is probably at work." Rahul wished he had thought before acting. "Ria is there anything I can do to make up for what I did earlier?"

Ria sat next to her cousin she knew he would feel guilty unless she reassured him. Her Rahulbhai didn't like to hurt anyone intentionally. "Don't worry Bhai, I will go talk to her tomorrow."

Rahul hesitated for a moment but he needed to do this. "I am going back to Denver tomorrow, but I would like to apologize to her before I leave. Do you think I can come with you?"

Ria was taken back by the request. He didn't meet her eyes when she looked at him. She was about to ask him why he wanted to apologize to Mansi but her mami entered the living room and interrupted them.

"Rahul, did I hear you say you are leaving tomorrow?" Ria watched her cousin stiffen and completely close off when his mom spoke to him. Why Rahulbhai? What happened to make you withdraw from the one person you love most in this world?

Rahul turned towards his mom but didn't look at her and missed the flicker of pain in his mom's eyes. "Yes mom I am going back to Denver tomorrow." He needed time to think and decide what he was going to do next and he couldn't do that at home. He stood up and looked at his cousin. "Are you meeting Amit tomorrow?" When she bobbed her head up and down to indicate a yes, he also nodded his head. "Okay you can come with me and Jai then you can come back with Amit. My flight is at noon, but we should leave from here at nine." He turned to go to his room but his mom's voice stopped him again.

"Rahul dinner will be ready in an hour, finish your packing and come down to spend time with the family. Who knows how long you will be gone this time." Rahul flinched, why can't they understand he wanted to be left alone? Isn't it enough that he gave into their demands and pressure once and has been paying the price for it for more than three years now? He left without answering his mom.

He went up to his room and went straight to his walk in closet to take out his clothes for packing. Just as he turned to go back in his room his eyes landed on the shoebox on the top shelf. He tightened his hand on the hangers to keep from reaching for the box, but in the end he couldn't resist, not today. He reached for the box and took it with him out in the room. He placed all his clothes on the bed and sat down on the bed with the box.

He clenched the box tightly in his hands to stop his hands from trembling. He slowly placed the box on the bed and reached for the lid to open the box. Memories of the time spent collecting the items and the face of the person whom he collected the items in the box with, flashed through his mind, bringing the pain and regret to surface.

Immediately his mind conjured up the first moment when he saw her. He had dismissed her at first but when she put one of the girls in her place he couldn't help but admire her guts. Then she had turned towards him and he had been lost in her eyes. The dark depths of her eyes conveyed so much yet had hidden so much from the world too. He had instantly fallen head over heels in love with her.

In that moment, he hadn't cared if anyone believed him or not, but he knew that some day she would be his. If only-.

Mansi entered the house silently at half past midnight. Her shift had been long and hard today, but it had kept her from thinking about the events that took place earlier in the day. The house was silent and she breathed a sigh of relief to know that Roshni hadn't waited up for her. She was not yet ready to share her feelings with anyone, not even her best friend, whom she shared everything with.

She slowly walked up to her room and closed the door quietly. She went straight to the bathroom to freshen up. Forty-five minutes later she lay on bed unable to sleep. She hoped everything was okay with Ria and her bhai; she didn't want to be the cause of any problems between them. She had avoided them successfully today, but knew it won't last long. One or both will show up first thing in the morning and she needed to be prepared to convince them to drop the idea of her participation in the wedding.

She had been trying to avoid an official introduction to Ria's family and knew Ria was not going to give up, but she never expected to meet three of her cousins the way she did. She said a quick prayer to Kanaji to give her strength to get through the next few weeks, because from tomorrow on, she knew she would not be able to avoid the inevitable.

She closed her eyes, and the pictures of some of the best time of her life started flashing in her mind. She clenched her hands on the sheet to keep from crying out at the injustice of it all. She had only wished for one thing in her life and even that had been snatched away from her.

Mansi got up from the bed and walked to her closet. She pulled out the memory box from the top shelf of her closet. She opened the box as tears flowed out of her eyes and ran down her cheek. Her hands shook as she touched the dried up flower on the top. She put it aside and pulled out the next item. One by one she pulled out each item and placed it beside her. She reached for the picture at the bottom of the box and traced the face in the picture with trembling fingers. She then hugged the picture to her chest and cried for the lost dream.

She wiped the tears from her face and put everything back in the box except for the picture. After putting everything away she lay back down on the bed, hugging the picture close to her. She closed her eyes and sighed, feeling peace come over her and slept dreamlessly.

Next morning Mansi went down to the kitchen and was surprised to see Roshni up and dressed already. She was standing by the kitchen sink staring out the window, lost in thoughts. "Good morning, you are up early this morning."

Roshni came out of her thoughts and studied her friend. She knew Mansi had needed the time to gather herself yesterday, but she needed to tell her best friend something and knew this was going to further stress her. Before she could say anything Mansi spoke up. "I know you are upset with me for leaving yesterday when you wanted to talk, but you know I needed that overtime, I hope you understand."

Roshni took Mansi's hand and walked out of the kitchen and straight to the sofa in their small living room. "Mansi don't apologize for anything, and yes I do know you needed the overtime. I am not upset about that, but there is something I have to tell you that might upset you."

Mansi looked at her in concern. "Are you okay? You sound so serious." Roshni couldn't meet her eyes. She knew she was about to cause her friend more pain by revealing her secret. "Mansi, Ria's other cousin Jai Modi, he is my boss and he and I have been dating each other for few weeks now."

Mansi was shocked; she hadn't known Roshni was seeing anyone. "Actually Jai's father and my father are friends, and thought it would be nice if Jai and I got to know each other." Roshni glanced at her friend and saw the surprise on her face. "You know how my mom is, once she heard about it she was relentless, so I said I would meet him outside of work to see if we are compatible and it turns out we do have many things in common. He is a bit arrogant, temperamental and doesn't trust easily, but underneath it all he is very caring and gentle." Roshni hoped this doesn't upset Mansi.

Mansi felt as though she was sliding down the mountain without anyway to stop. Things couldn't get any worse than this, but she couldn't worry about that, if Roshni is happy with this then she needed to stand by her friend. Roshni has always been there for Mansi, now it was her turn to stand by her friend. "Roshni why didn't you tell me this before? It's great that you like him so much. How does he feel?"

Roshni hesitated before answering; she wanted to make sure this was not going to cause more pain for her friend. "He also likes me and wants me to meet his family, except for his father no one knows about us, not even Ria." Mansi smiled at Roshni. "You know she is going to be upset with you for hiding your connection to her cousin."

Roshni rolled her eyes and laughed. "I will have to claim to not know that they are related." Mansi also laughed, and knew Ria won't be easily convinced. She hugged Roshni, "I am very happy for you my friend." She sat back and asked, "So when do you meet the family?"

Roshni cleared her throat. "Soon, but we are not making anything official yet. There are other issues to deal with first." Mansi looked at her questioningly so Roshni continued. "His older cousin is not yet married and refuses to marry and family is still trying to convince him." They both fell silent and became engrossed in their own thoughts about the reason for the older cousin's refusal to marry.

Mansi stood up and broke the silence. "I am sure it will all work out Roshni, don't worry. Come on I am in the mood for Gobi parathas today for breakfast." Roshni also stood up. "Okay, you go start I want to call my parents quickly." They both went in the separate direction.

Mansi turned on the stereo in the kitchen and started gathering things to make the parathas. She was so involved in cooking that she didn't hear the doorbell ring over the music coming from the stereo. She jumped when she heard her soon to be sister in law's delighted voice. "Mansi, how did you know I was coming first things this morning? You are making my favorite food." Mansi turned with a smile on her face but froze when she saw the two other people enter behind Ria.

While she couldn't read anything on one brother's face, the obvious distrust on the other brother's face was easy to read. She glanced at Roshni who had also stepped in behind Ria's cousins then back at Ria. She realized everyone was waiting for her reply. "Hi Ria," Mansi glanced down at her hands and turned to the sink to wash them quickly. She flickered the stereo off and counted to five before turning back around.

Before anyone could say anything the doorbell rang again. "I will get at it, Roshni take everyone to the dinning room, I will make tea after I see who is at the door." Mansi escaped before anyone could say anything yet she felt the gaze piercing, dark brown eyes on her until she was out of site. Once she got to the front door, she paused to collect herself and stop the tremors in her hands. She opened the door to see her brother's angry face staring back at her.

He stepped in and closed the door firmly. "Why did you go to work yesterday? On your only day off." Mansi was taken back by his attack. "Hello to you too bhai, and my boss called to ask if I was available and I said yes and went to work."

"Mansi'" She interrupted him before he could go on. "Not now bhai, we have company." Amit followed her to the dinning room and was surprised to see Ria and her cousins at the table.

Ria jumped up from her chair and hugged Amit. He greeted everyone and pulled out a chair beside Ria to sit. Mansi went back to the kitchen without saying anything. Roshni followed her.

Amit looked at the Modi brothers. "What are you guys doing here?" He noticed Jai did not look happy to be there, and Rahul seemed tense. "We just wanted to apologize to your sister for yesterday." Amit nodded watching Rahul closely.

They all looked up when Roshni and Mansi came out of the kitchen with tea and the Parathas. Mansi placed the tea tray on the table along with milk and sugar bowls. Roshni went back to get other things for breakfast.

Once she passed the tea to everyone she had no choice but to take the sit next to Ria and a right angle from Rahul. Mansi had felt his eyes studying her from the moment she stepped out of the kitchen, and felt her nervousness increase. She didn't know why she was letting him intimidate her like this. And more importantly why were Ria's cousins here, at her house?

Ria saw the slight trembling of Mansi's hand and frowned, she looked up to see Rahul staring at Mansi intently and wondered what had gotten into her cousin. She glanced at her other cousin and was surprised to see the hostility in Jai's eyes as he looked at Mansi. She cleared her throat. "I am sorry I didn't call before showing up here first thing in the morning, but Rahulbhai is leaving to go to Denver and he wanted to apologize to you before he left." She glanced at Rahul to let him know the ball was now in his court.

Mansi flickered a glance at Rahul but looked away quickly. "It's okay Ria, and no apology necessary for yesterday. I am glad you cleared up the misunderstanding."

Rahul firmed his mouth and noticed Mansi was unable to even look at him. He frowned when he noticed her grip her coffee cup tightly. "Actually it is necessary, I am sorry about what happened yesterday, we didn't know you were Amit's sister, but still, it didn't give us a right to confront him out in the open and in the process insult you too. I hope you can forgive us."

Mansi turned and looked at him and nodded before looking down. "It's okay, I understand." Once again everyone became silent and Mansi noticed no one had touched breakfast. "Ria I thought you wanted the Parathas, and I had a feeling you would come by today that's why I made them." This broke the silence and after a while everyone relaxed and ate breakfast. Mansi noticed Jai avoided looking at Roshni and didn't touch the food either. She frowned and hoped everything was fine.

👏👏thanks..well done...👏👏

Loved if Shilpa. Pls continue soon

Dii, please continue ...


It was brilliant ... 👍🏼