Riya showing up the next day in the virk house and introducing herself as tejo’s friend made both Sandhus and jasmine understand the reason for tejo’s sudden change of heart to move on. They were very such sure that Riya had prompted tejo. The virks were specially warned by Sandhus about Riya.
” She kept instigating tejo against jasmine and us when she was in india. We were so relieved when she left india” satti said to the virks.
” What’s the use Mummy?! Now she has come back” jasmine hissed remembering how Riya had murderously glared at her before walking towards tejo’s room and jasmine remembers the last time Riya had glared at her like that, jasmine had gotten herself into a huge trouble. Cursing her fate, she stood here not knowing what would happen now that riya was back. Fateh stood next to jasmine fighting his own frustrations.
After about an half an hour, tejo had come out of her room looking completely different. She had worn a pink saree with a simple jewellery set, her makeup was kept natural but that did not stop tejo from looking beautiful. Fateh looked on mesmerized by his ex-wife’s beauty.
” Aaryan’s family would be here like in ten minutes ” Riya informs looking at the family members who looked quite unhappy.
” Well I hope you people would serve them well!” Riya adds in her polite tone.
” We know how to serve our guests. We don’t need you to tell us that” khushbeer snaps at Riya sternly. Tejo was about to defend her friend when Riya stops her from doing so. The Sandhus looks on at khushbeer with pity knowing what was about to come now. They all had been victim of Riya’s sharp tongue.
Riya smirks,” They are not only your guest uncle ji, they are going to be your ex daughter in law cum daughter’s in laws now”
” I have heard that you consider tejo as your daughter now. So I hope you will treat your daughter’s future in laws very well. Am I excepting anything wrong uncle ji?”
Khushbeer singh virk stares in shock as he was left tongue tied by riya’s words, he nods at her and understood why the Sandhus kept their mouth shut in front of her. Riya smiles smugly and makes tejo sit on the sofa. She then turns her attention to the virks and Sandhus and quickly starts directing them to do some or other work. Fateh got annoyed at her and almost yelled at her but to his shock, Tejo got up from her sofa and looked at him warningly.
” Don’t you dare use that tone on my friend again Mr Fateh Singh virk because I will not think twice before walking out of here with her and mind you, this marriage will still happen without anyone”
Fateh looks at tejo in disbelief but shuts his mouth hearing that she would walk out if he speaks against her friend and the last thing he wanted now was her leaving his house, Nimmo who wanted to open her mouth to add some taunts closes her mouth quickly sensing tejo’s mood. Tejo takes deep breathes to calm herself down and then sits back on the sofa. Riya hides her smirk and sits next to her friend checking her watch for the time. The sound of the car noise coming out of the virk house had everyone stiffening in the house.
” Looks like they have come” Riya exclaimes, ” I think we should go and welcome them”. Khushbeer and Rupy unwillingly follows riya to welcome the kapoors whereas the others stayed in the hall.
” Tejo puttar, please think once again puttar” satti says to her daughter almost in pleading voice.
” I have already decided Mummy ….”Tejo stops in mid sentence when she sees aaryan entering with his family. Satti suddenly becomes quiet seeing the family and gets up to welcome them. Aaryan had arrived with his parents and his younger sister.
” Hi Tejo ma’am! Do you remember me?” The young girl who seemed to be aaryan’s sister smiled at her. Tejo scrutinized the familiar face trying hard to remember the face.
” Soumya” tejo finally exclaimes in suprise after a moment as she remembers one of her favourite student from her earlier teaching days.
” So you do remember me” Soumya smiles at her cheerfully.
” See bhai she still remembers me” soumya says to her brother. Aaryan smiles a bit at his younger sister’s excitement and nods at her.
” We can do all this introductions while sitting too” Riya tells.
” Kyun nahi” yashoda kapoor says agreeing with Riya and sits on the empty sofa, her daughter and husband sits next to her and Aaryan deliberately sits next to tejo.Fateh clenched his fists seeing Aaryan sitting next to tejo whereas Jasmine’s eyes were on shagun tallis placed in front of tejo, she widened her eyes seeing the various ornaments and gifts placed on it which the kapoors had brought for tejo.
” Hi” Aaryan whispers sitting next to tejo
” Hi” tejo smiles nervously.
” Waise, you look beautiful” he says to her. Tejo flushes a bit at his compliment and then turns her attention towards the elders who seemed to be discussing something very urgently.
” I think we can start doing the rituals after two days” aaryan’s mother suggests.
” But isn’t it too early” khushbeer says to her not at all liking the urgency.
” What is early in this ji?” Yashoda asks ” both the boy and girl have agreed for the marriage, what should we wait for now?”
” But …” Rupi tries to intervene, Riya nudged at tejo to say something sensing that the families are trying to delay the marriage.
” Aunty ji is saying the right thing! I would like to get married as soon as possible with all the rituals” Tejo declares shutting down every argument which was going to be raised by both the families.
The Sandhus and Virks helplessly slumped down their shoulders in defeat after hearing tejo’s decision and agrees to start the ritual after two days.
” See this is a good thing, we should seal this decision by feeding sweets to each other” Ramesh kapoor says and instructs one of the servants to take the red cloth off the sweets which they had brought in one of the plates. The Sandhus and the virks ate the sweets still in sour mood unhappy about the alliance. Tejo looks on as fateh grits his teeth and closes his eyes, she also looks at jasmine who kept glancing at her shagun talli greedily. She twists her lips in disgust seeing that jasmine still wanted everything she got but she could not help herself from the satisfying smile crepting up on her lips looking at both her culprits state right now, starch that not only her culprits all the people who were partial and accepted Fateh and jasmine after what they did to her were also unhappy.
” Tejo” aaryan’s calling her name distracts her and she tiltes her head towards him to see him holding sweet in his hand to fed her waiting for her permission, she opens her mouth giving him the permission to feed her. His happiness shines through his face when she gave him the permission to fed her the sweet and tejo almost wonders for a moment that did she bring this much happiness to him. She almost could not believe her one small yes could bring someone this much joy.
” Awe! How sweet” Riya exclaimes in the background breaking tejo out of her trance. Tejo lowers her eyes trying to hid her embarrassment when she feels everyone looking at her.
Nimmo who was clearly unhappy with everything happening thought of adding some tension in the atmosphere.
“Bura mat manne hai ji, our boy left tejo that’s why you are getting her” Nimmo tells in a mocking tone to aaryan’s mother. Jasmine smirks evily hearing it and Tejo looks away hurt and humiliated by the words, Aaryan was about to snap back at the woman for her taunts but his mother’s interruption stopped him, “ho kya hai na ji, some people don’t realize the value of diamonds and throw it away for shiny rocks but we know to differentiate between a diamond and ordinary shining stones, yeah na Aaryan”
” Yeah mom absolutely” Aaryan agrees with his mother glancing at tejo who smiles down at him.
Yashoda takes the jewellery box which soumya was holding in the hand and walks towards tejo. She slowly opens the box revealing a set of diamond bangles.
” Tejo puttar, apna haath do”
” Ha bhabhi haath badhao na bhabhi” soumya prompts her. Mahi glares at her brother hurt hearing someone else calling tejo as her bhabhi.
” But Aunty mujhe ae sab nahi chahiye” Tejo says, ” mujhe bas apke aashriwad chahiye”
Tejo earns affectionate glances from her future mother in law who puts her hand on tejo’s head and pats her head affectionately.
” Pata hai puttar par hai rasam hai puttar, This jewellery has been passed from decades from the eldest daughter in law of kapoor family to eldest another daughter in law” yashoda says, ” my mother in law had passed it to me when she first came to see me, I’m doing the same and one day I hope you do the same too”
Tejo nods at her understandingly getting little emotional. She extends her hand towards aaryan’s mother who makes her wear the bangles quickly. Riya and adhiraj clap around with happiness, jasmine sneers at the scene and fateh was struck between heartbreak and shock. The virks were genuinely upset realising that tejo would no more be theirs and it doesn’t matter if fateh ever sees Jasmine’s true face because they could never have tejo back now. The Sandhus were in dilemma of being happy for their daughter or unhappy that tejo has taken this decision alone but in the end they decided that if tejo was getting married to a better family and the guy loved their daughter truthfully, they should let her be.
At the end of everything ,Jasmine was in a very terrible mood by aaryan’s indifference attitude towards her, he was still showing attitude towards her like in the college times and then there was his family who were totally gone case under tejo’s black magic and kept praising tejo as if she was something else. On top of that, Riya simply kept taunting jasmine at every chance she got. Riya kept telling jasmine that how much of a loser she was who always needed tejo to do things for her. Put together jasmine felt so helpless and bitter because fateh was not even defending her. Jasmine had always wanted tejo to get remarried to someone who was lesser than Fateh and from middle class family but never in her dreams she thought being married twice and then divorced too tejo would always get better than her. She realised bitterly that she would no longer could taunt tejo and show off in front of her. Depressed and saddened by that thought she went inside the room leaving behind her husband who had his eyes only for her sister today.
” Can we talk somewhere else?” Aaryan asks her still sitting next to her. Tejo nods at him, she needed to talk to him too but due family’s eyes on them she could not speak a word.
” We can go out and speak” Tejo says and gets up, Aaryan gets up following her. They were planning to slip out of the room silently.
” Tum dono kahan jaha rahe ho?!” Gurpreet asks narrowing her eyes at tejo and gaining everyone’s attention on her.
Tejo shrugs, ” ji aunty ji, we are going outside to talk with each other”and walks away with Aaryan. Aaryan smirks slightly seeing tejo’s straightforwardness. This was the tejo he knew, the one who knew to answer straight forwardly without being meek. Fateh silently follows the couple which mahi and amrik sees and sneers. They could never understand what was the problem with their brother. He was married with Jasmine but still could not keep himself out of tejo’s life.
Tejo and Aaryan sat on the bench. They sat silently for a few minutes thinking of ways to start the conversation.
” So how come I never knew soumya was your sister” Tejo says breaking the silence between them.
” Oh! After you rejected my proposal in the college. Soumya did not want to let you know” Aaryan informs ” she thought you would stop liking her if you come to know that I’m her brother”
” I would never do that” Tejo tells slightly shocked by soumya’s logic.
” Well I tried to make her understand but you know she is too stubborn”
” And your I can do everything for my sister type of brother” Tejo asks him in a little teasing voice. Aaryan nods at her smilingly.
“How did your family take the news of our marriage?” Tejo asked him little hesitantly.
Aaryan steals a glance at her, ” mom was
Super happy, you can already see the way she behaves with you. Dad was happy too but I don’t think both can beat soumya’s joy and delight. She literally ditched her best friend’s reception and landed here morning”
Tejo guffawed, ” seriously!”
” Don’t take soumya lightly, she literally loves you already so much” Aaryan warns her little seriously.
” Now that you have agreed to marry me, let me clearly warn you. You’re going to be pampered to the extent of getting irritated by my family”
” Okay” Tejo nodded wondering how that would be.
“How do they already like me this much? They don’t even know me properly” Tejo asks Aaryan little curious.
” Soumya knows you already and then about mom and dad, they have no reason to dislike you so they like you. Plus The whole ashiward emotion you put inside genuinely touched my mother’s heart and only made you more likeable to her”
” They are okay with my status of divorcee” Tejo asks.
” Yeah” Aaryan says,” They are more disgusted by your sister and both the families but they have no problem with you for something which is not your fault”
Tejo was little taken aback by aaryan’s families thoughts.
” You’re family is genuinely very good Aaryan” Tejo says
” I know tejo and now we are going to be super lucky since you’re going to be part of it” Aaryan states glancing at tejo intently. Tejo nods at him, her heart skipping a beat at his words.
Fateh stood hiding near the pillars angrily observing tejo’s smile directed towards some other man. He could not hear the words exchanged between them but he was already dismayed when he saw tejo smiling with someone else. Jealousy was running through his body and he was stopping himself with great difficulty from killing the guy who was snatching tejo from him. This marriage was not going to happen, fateh decided as he walked back inside the house.