They reached home. The guard opened the car door. As they arrived at the threshold, Apoorva stood there with an aarti plate, and a pot filled with rice was placed at the doorway. Apoorva performed the aarti, and then said sweetly, “Now gently knock over the pot with your right foot and enter through this tray.”
She gently kicked the pot and walked through the tray, leaving her footprints on the white cloth laid out.
After that, Subhi came forward with a plate of sandalwood paste, and Apoorva said to her, “Ask her to press her handprints onto this wall.” So she did exactly that.
Then Apoorva told Subhi to take her to the room and asked Shivansh to come with her.
Subhi guided Shritika to the room and said, “You should rest now. You must be tired.” She wasn’t cold or upset—just stunned, like everyone else, because everything had happened so suddenly.
Meanwhile, Apoorva took Shivansh to another room and said, “Look, the wedding has happened, but it shouldn’t have been like this. That girl must’ve had so many dreams—she probably never even thought about marriage this soon. But now, what’s done is done. She’s your responsibility now, take care of her. And please, learn to control your anger. Now go.”
Shivansh just listened to what his mother said. He knew that because of media pressure, he had made a wrong decision, but now there was no turning back. So he headed to the room.
When he entered, he saw Shritika admiring the room. He cleared his throat to let her know he was there.
Shritika turned around as soon as she heard him. While taking off the stole from his sherwani, he said, “You can sleep on the couch.”
To which Shritika stretched the "kyuuu?” annoyed.
Annoyed, he replied, “kyuki tum couch pe sogi aur mai bed pe."
Shritika walked over and sat on the bed, saying, “"mai kyu sou ?? Aap jake soyiye couch pe mai to bed soungi”
Shivansh said firmly, “jake so nai tumhara husband hu meri baat mano”
Shritika stood up, placed her hands on her hips and said, "ha to mai bhi apki biwi hu, aap bhi meri baat maniye aur jake couch pe soyiye”
Annoyed, Shivansh asked, "ja rhi ho ya”
Shritika stepped a little closer and said, "kya!! Ha kya!! Mai bulao aunty ko?”
At that, Shivansh grabbed her wrist, twisted it slightly, and pulled her toward him, saying, “Go ahead. But if she comes, she’ll see us like this.”
Shritika’s eyes widened and she started trying to break free, but Shivansh just smirked more and tightened his grip.
“What happened? Call her now,” Shivansh teased.
“A-a-are you… what are you doing? Let me go,” Shritika said nervously.
“Why? Are you… feeling something?” he whispered into her ear.
Shritika tightly shut her eyes, took a deep breath, and then said, “Look, let’s just both sleep on the bed and place pillows in between. Simple.”
“Hmm… good idea. But there’s a small problem,” Shivansh said with a mischievous smirk.
“What problem?” Shritika asked, still trying to pull her hand away.
“What if I accidentally hold you in my sleep?” he whispered again near her ear.
“I… That won’t happen! Besides, I… I have this weird dog smell from inside,” she blurted out whatever came to her mind.
Shivansh’s smirk only widened, and he pulled her even closer, so close that there was barely any space left between them. “I love dogs,” he said.
Shritika pouted and looked into his eyes. “Go away! I’m not talking to you anymore. I’m sleeping in the living room. Leave me,” she said and turned to go.
Shivansh said, “Hey hey, I was just joking. We’ll sleep with pillows in between,” and chuckled.
Shritika thought to herself, “Wow… he can smile?” Then quickly dismissed the thought: “Anyway, who cares. I just need sleep,” and went to the washroom.
Inside the washroom, she took off her jewelry, unpinned her dupatta, and let down her hair. That’s when she realized she hadn’t brought any clothes to change into. Panicking slightly, she came back out of the washroom and saw Shivansh sitting on the bed, having placed a line of pillows between the sides.
He looked up from his phone and said, “You didn’t change?”
She looked down and softly said, “I didn’t know I’d be getting married. I didn’t bring any clothes with me.” Her voice was so low, Shivansh didn’t hear her and asked, “What? I didn’t catch that.”
Then she realized he was sitting right in front of her and said clearly, “I didn’t bring any clothes.”
Without saying anything, Shivansh walked out of the room.
Shritika sat down on her side of the bed and wondered if she’d said something wrong.
Five minutes later, Shivansh came back with a set of clothes and said, “These are Subhi’s clothes. You can change into these for tonight. Your clothes will come tomorrow.”
Shritika felt relieved and a little happy that she wouldn’t have to sleep in that heavy bridal outfit and went to the washroom to change.
She came out after changing, now wearing an oversized t-shirt and full-length lower. Shivansh was already asleep by then. She quietly walked over and sat on her side of the bed, picking up her phone to check it.
There were a few messages from Atulya:
"Are you okay??"
"There’s no problem there, right?"
"No one said anything to you, did they?"
And go on.
She stared at the screen for a moment, a soft sigh escaping her lips.
Then she opened Instagram.
Her feed was full of edits—pictures and videos of her and Shivansh. Some were beautifully made, with music and transitions, showing them as a "dream couple." While many people admired them, expressing love and support, there were also others who seemed jealous, making snide or envious comments.
She scrolled for a bit, emotions mixed and heavy.
Finally, she placed her phone on the bedside table, turned off the screen, and lay down beside the pillow barrier. Within moments, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
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