Chapter 10

"Naksh...?"

"Naksh..."

"Naksh, stop pretending like a dead fish. Can't you hear me?"

"NAKSH...."

"What?" He irritatedly said.

"What's wrong with you? You can hear me still not replying." Pihu said in a little annoyed tone.

"I'm just not in the mood to talk..." He nonchalantly said.

She rolled her eyes at his reply and said,

"Then you think I'm interested in talking to you? I just want to tell you that, Dad wants you to submit documents."

"Yeah..." He said and left the room.

"Gosh!! What's wrong with him? Why he is behaving so weirdly? Did he go through mood swings? But neither he can have a period nor he was able to pregnant?" She sighed.

" Did his mind Swing inside his brain? Or maybe jump out? Goodness!! Something wrong with him..." She concludes.

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(Naksh Pov)

"ARGH!!" I groaned in frustration while kicking the wall.

"Damnit!!" I take a deep breath while running my hands over my hair.

I just ran out of the room. It feels like too much in the room like I'm losing control over my emotions. And I don't want to create a scene before knowing the complete truth.

I am struggling to understand what's happening to me. Ever since I learned a few details about Pihu's past from Sidharth, I find myself unable to focus on anything else. It doesn't make sense why this should be affecting me so much.

I mean, I'm not emotionally attached to Pihu, and our relationship is hardly one of mutual affection. We were brought together by circumstance, not choice. So why is it that I'm so bothered by the thought of her having been with someone else before me?

I know it's none of my business, and I have no right to judge her for her past. But for some reason, it just doesn't feel right. I feel like something is suffocating inside me like I'm being smothered by a weight that I can't quite understand.

And worst of all, my heart is praying that whatever relationship Pihu and Aahan had in past should be never there.

These thoughts and feelings are confusing and unsettling, and I don't know how to deal with them. I just wish I could make them go away and get back to my regular life.

I stood there for a few more hours, my mind was jumping from one thought to another. I sighed.

But my conclusion was clear,

"If there was some kind of relationship between them, It's going to be the end of a relationship."

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(Author Pov)

Mrunali sat on her bed, hugging her knees tightly as she clutched her fist on the fabric of her clothes. The feeling of betrayal enveloped her, leaving her with the sense that the people she trusted the most had callously toyed with her emotions.

"It could not be true, right?" She mumbled to herself and continued,

" Pihu and Aahan... How could it be possible? Are not we engaged at that time? Are we...?" She frowns her eyebrows.

"I know Pihu is pretty but still, how could Aahan and her?"

There was a hint of pain in her eyes as she struggled with the confusion of her feelings deep within her heart.

Despite years of misunderstanding and neglect, she and Aahan had finally started putting effort into their relationship.

Suddenly, Why do the ghosts of the past seem to emerge out of nowhere, throwing everything into chaos.?

"What if Sidharth's words were true? What will I do? I love both of them... What will I do?" She mumbled to herself, her voice barely audible as tears welled up in her eyes.

"Please, God! I just wish this was all in the past. Nothing is going on between them now," she cried.

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In the Sidharath room, a range of emotions played out on everyone's faces, reflecting the diverse thoughts in their hearts.

Mrunali appeared gloomy, while Naksh exuded a palpable sense of anger.

Sidharth, on the other hand, seemed to be in a playful mood, sitting on the couch with the carefree demeanour of a child who had just received their favourite game.

Meanwhile, Shivay and Janvi wore expressions reminiscent of parents dealing with a mess, seemingly without reason.

"Are we going to spend the whole night here?" Janvi broke the silence.

"I don't mind beautiful girl in my room..." Sidharth replied.

"Can you stop flirting with my girl?" Shivay scoffed.

"Your girl?" He retorted, " I can't see your name tag on her."

"People like you needed a name tag for your girl, who fears that she might run away. For me, my love is sufficient to ensure that she will stay mine."

Shivay calmly replied making Sidharth speechless.

Janvi chuckled, " When Playboy meets the winner of the love game."

"Whatever" Sidharth scoffed.

"Let's start telling whatever you know..." Janvi said.

"So basically, I had a lot of analysis about them but I can't be sure what relationship they had in past..." Sidharth said.

Now everyone's attention completely shifts to him.

"So what do you want? " Shivay asked.

"Let's find the truth..."

"Any plan?" Janvi asked.

Sidharth nodded while running his hand over his hair.

"Tomorrow, we're going to visit their former university.

"What's the name of the University?" Mrunali asked.

"It's Saint University..."

"Why didn't you go there earlier if you already knew everything?"

"Because I don't have any reason to investigate."

"Sure, enough..."

"Now, let's go downstairs and get some answers from those work-alcoholic people."

Sidharth said with a playful smirk.

Shivay and Janvi also turned to leave the room but turned to Naksh and Mrunali,

"You both, collect yourself. You can't act like this before knowing the complete truth."

Janvi said.

"Yep, you can't always judge people based solely on what you hear or read. Plus, it's important to remember that both of your partners are good people, so it's best to trust them until you have all the truth. Otherwise, you might end up regretting doubting them later," Shivay said in a firm tone.

Shivay's words resonate with them, prompting them to gather their emotions before heading downstairs, where Pihu and Aahan are engrossed in their work on the laptop.

"Sidharth teased, "You both seem to have nothing to do except work on the laptop."

Aahan retorted, "What do you want us to do? Wander around the house like you do?"

"How about playing a game?" Sidharth suggested.

"I'm not in a mood," Pihu replied without taking her eyes off from laptop.

"Come on Twin!! Don't ruin the mood" Mrunali whined.

"Seriously twin?" She raised her eyebrow at Mrunali.

"Yeah!! Please na!!... I'm bored..." She pouted.

"Fine." She sighed.

Everyone found their seats as Sidharth stood in the centre to explain the game rules.

"We're about to play truth or dare. The rules are simple: you have to choose between truth and dare. The only catch is that if you decline to do the truth or dare, you'll have to draw a penalty from the jar, which has been prepared by us."

He spun the bottle at the centre, which stopped at Naksh.

"So truth and dare?"

"Truth..."

"You really don't get some balls..." Sidharth mocked.

"I don't give a shit about opinion." Naksh rolled his eyes.

"Who is gonna ask questions?"

"Me..." Mrunali excitedly said.

"So Naksh, why do people call you Playboy when I've never seen you flirting with any girl?"

As the question was asked, for some reason, his gaze shifted towards Pihu, who was also looking at him with an unreadable expression. They locked eyes for a few seconds before Pihu looked away.

"Because I had a handsome face and girls like to join their name with me... Basically, I'm not a playboy but a bad boy..." Naksh proudly said.

Sidharth retorted at his words, "he doesn't flirt, he only fuck."

Naksh only sneered at his words. So nobody knows what Sidharth said is true or a joke.

There is an unsettled expression on Pihu's face after hearing Sidharth words but didn't speak a single word.

Again bottle was spun at the table and stopped at Shivay.

"Truth or dare?"

"Dare"

Sidharth smirked, "I dare you to kiss Janvi."

The room fell into an awkward silence as all eyes turned to Shivay and Janvi, the tension palpable in the air.

Shivay gazed at Janvi with a tender expression, his eyes filled with warmth as he offered her a sweet smile. Then, turning to Sidharth, he spoke in a gentle tone, "I will take the penalty."

"WHAT!!"

"Are you going to pass up this opportunity?"

"Yeah," He nonchalantly said.

"Why?"

Shivay sighed, " I respect her boundaries, and if she didn't want to, I wouldn't have used this dare as an excuse to kiss her. It's important to me to always consider and respect her feelings and wishes."

As he strode confidently toward the penalty bowl, he didn't even pause to wait for anyone's response. With determination etched in his every step, he reached down and plucked the chit from the bowl. All eyes in the room turned to Shivay, brimming with pride and respect, while Janvi cast a soft, affectionate smile in his direction.

"He is really something," Sidharth mumbled.

Again bottle was spun on the ground and and stopped at Mrunali.

"I will choose to dare..." She screamed in excitement.

"I dare you to do a 'cute' dare challenge from Instagram," Naksh said.to

"Why" she whined. "Nope change the dare" she throws a pillow at Naksh.

"Nahh... It's fixed"

Mrunali pouted because she didn't want to pick a penalty since she was eager for the dare.

"Do you wanna me get you a cat ear band, sister-in-law?" Naksh teased her.

"Shut up" she throws another pillow at him.

Everyone laughs at Mrunali's expression.

"Go ahead, little one... It will suit you because you're already cute," Aahan whispered near her ear, making her blush.

She walked in front of everyone and started dancing, feeling embarrassed as her cheeks turned red.

Sidharth was recording the video.

Janvi and Pihu cheered her on, while Naksh and Shivay tried to stifle their laughter - siblings' behaviour

Aahan looked at Mrunali affectionately, as if she were a cute baby doing something adorable.

After finishing the dare, Mrunali sat on her place while stuffing her face in a pillow in embarrassment.

Shivay and Naksh burst into laughter...

"Sisteto r-in-law, you're really tiny..." Naksh said between his laugh while giving a high five to Shivay.

"You guys are very bad..." Her voice muffled inside the cushion.

Aahan throws a glare in their directions which make Shivay and Naksh stop laughing immediately.

"You did really great, little one," Aahan said while patting her head.

"Really?" She peaks out from the cushion.

"Yeah..."

Being satisfied with the compliment, Mrunali again properly sat on her seat... Her cheeks are still red but she is not looking nervous anymore.

Again bottle spun and stopped at Naksh.

"Dare..." He chooses.

"I will give him dare..." Janvi said.

Looking at Janvi smirked, Naksh said "Now I'm regretting my choice."

"But we will not..."

Janvi said while leaving the room and came back with something behind her back.

"I dare you to catwalk while wearing this." She showed him a pair of white high-heels.

"What the fuck!!" Naksh exclaimed.

"You're doomed, bro..." Shivay said while patting his shoulder.

"Go ahead, Devar Jii..." Mrunali teasing said.

With a huff, Naksh snatched the heels from Janvi and wore them.

As he takes the first step, Everyone in the bursts into laughter in the room.

Naksh's legs are wobbling like a newborn baby in those heels... As he took the first step, he fell on the ground on his face.

"Fuck those heels..." He cursed and again tried to walk with wobbling... His walk looks more like a drunken walk instead of a catwalk.

Everyone is dying from laughing in the room.

Shivay, Janvi and Mrunali were rolling on the ground while holding their stomach.

Sidharth was doing his best to hold the camera stable.

While Pihu and Aahan cover their mouth to control their laughter.

Finally, Naksh completed his walk with a lot of swearing.

"I got the best funny video of the year," Sidharth said.

"Wow bro, your octopus walk is freaking awesome," Shivay said between his laughs.

"It's so embarrassing," Naksh mumbled.

"Dever ji, you're selected for worst walk in the universe," Mrunali said holding her stomach.

"Sister-in-law, I need some respect for my struggles." He whined.

"Okay okay... Enough for today... Now next turn." Sidharth said.

The bottle spun again and stopped at Pihu.

"Dare..." Pihu chose.

"Me... I will give her a dare," Mrunali jumped in her seat excitedly.

"Twin, I dare you to sing a song for Naksh."

Suddenly the room fell silent. Naksh and Pihu looked at each other. Even though Naksh looked calm from the outside, inside he was nervously waiting for Pihu's answer.

"I will choose penalty..." Pihu declared calmly as she walked towards the penalty bowl, her voice filled with determination.

A wave of sadness washed over Naksh's face as he watched Pihu move towards the penalty bowl. He felt her words pierce his heart like a sharp dagger. What hurt him the most, however, were Mrunali's following words.

"Twin, you have such a beautiful voice. Why are you choosing to go with a penalty instead?" Mrunali asked, her voice filled with concern and confusion.

"I'm fortunate... Now my ears are safe from bleeding..." Naksh tease her only to hide his hurtful expression.

Pihu looked everywhere but neither she looked at Naksh nor she replied his words.

Nobody talks about it anymore, Again bottle spun and stopped at Aahan.

"Truth." He replied.

Before anybody could ask anything Naksh's questions made everyone look at him with wide eyes.

"Are you close with Pihu in America?"

"Yes..." Aahan replied.

"No..." Pihu replied at the same time.

Now everyone was dumbfounded sitting in the room looking at the duo who were glaring at each other. This is the first time they both see Pihu and Aahan looking at each other with anger.

"I said yes..." Aahan said while clenching his fist.

"But I said no..." Pihu replied with the same intensity.

"Then what about before going to America?" Naksh asked.

"I thought it was about the only question." Pihu and Aahan both said at same.

With a sigh, everyone thought,

'What could you expect from people with brains.'

"I think it's enough for today," Pihu said calmly while leaving the room.

Aahan also left the room in anger, leaving confused people behind.

"What's going on?"

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To be continued...

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