the next morning, naina got ready for work and went down to have breakfast when she realised that karan went to eat breakfast downstairs as well, with the family.
naina’s outfit: https://omgoutfitideas.com/assets/images/resources/110/278x/white-summer-high-waisted-pants-with-beige-tank-cami-top-blouse-the-most-popular-summer-office-attire.jpg
naina: good morning.
dadaji: good morning, naina bahu. are you ready for the office?
naina: yes dadaji. i’ll head out after breakfast.
nirmala: i made breakfast today. sit down, naina.
naina: really, ma?
nirmala: yes, that’s why karan also came down to eat.
nk: so, naina. what are you planning now, work wise?
they spoke about work all through breakfast; nk, kunal, meghna, and naina. once they finished with breakfast meghna and kunal got ready to leave.
naina: oh god, i forgot the car.
meghna: we can drop you today, it’s okay.
naina: no di, it’s okay. i’ll call rohit to pick me up.
just then, rohit came in.
rohit: good morning, i’m so sorry i came like this. naina, you forgot your car.
he tossed her the keys to her car and she was confused as to how he knew she was coming in to the office today.
naina: roh, how did you know i was coming today?
rohit: i just did.
naina hugged rohit and thanked him.
naina: thank you. i’ll meet you at the office.
after a long day of work for nand kishore, meghna, kunal, and naina all went back home and were eating dinner together. karan, however, was eating in his room.
nirmala: how was work, everyone?
meghna: amazing!
kunal: i don’t know how she loves it.
nk: i don’t how you don’t.
nirmala: and you, naina?
naina: um, it was busy ma. there were a lot of pending deals to approve but we managed to sign six deals today.
dadaji: that’s great, naina bahu. it’s good that you and meghna are both, really hard working. unlike kunal.
they all laughed at his joke. sandhya then decided it was the right time to inform naina about the gathering that was going to take place the following evening.
sandhya: yes, work is good, naina. but, not so much that you lose focus on what’s going on at home. if you didn’t spend so much time at work, you and meghna would both know that tomorrow we’ve decided to call over your father, rohit, and shardaji along with vishal for dinner.
nk: it’s just a small function for your father, naina.
naina: thank you for arranging all of this for him but i actually found out at the office today, masi ma. i also called di and told her about it. we were just going to ask you about it after dinner and see if we could help with any of the arrangements.
sandhya: i’ve arranged everything exactly how i’ve done with every other function in this house, you don’t need to do anything.
naina didn’t bother arguing with sandhya nor did meghna bother saying anything. they continued to have their dinner and the next day’s gathering came sooner than expected. the guests had arrived when naina went to her room to check if karan was ready. karan was putting on his shirt when naina entered without knocking.
naina: karan, everyone’s here already. are you ready?
naina realised he wasn’t and looked away.
karan: naina, what’s your problem? why can’t you just leave me alone for awhile? ever since you’ve come here, you’ve just disturbed me.
naina: i’m sorry, i just thought i’d tell you that everyone’s come. it’s okay, i’ll tell them that you’re changing. take your time.
karan: naina, i’m sorry. i’m not upset at you. i’ll be out in a minute.
naina smiled and left. once karan came out, they both went to meet vinod, sharda, rohit, and vishal. naina was talking to meghna and vishal while karan was standing alone, away from everyone. nk and sandhya were away from the hall having a discussion when rohit walked passed them and heard them talking about naina, karan, and the malhotras.
nk: sandhyaji, we were lucky naina agreed to get married to karan.
sandhya: yes, bhai sab. i told kunal that day as well, so he wouldn’t try and stop the wedding, that if naina didn’t get married to karan, no one would. naina was our only hope for karan.
nk: with his skin condition, who would get married to him, sandhyaji? after the horrible allergic reaction karan had, we thought he would get better soon. the doctors also said he would get better within a week. but no, it’s been years since that incident and karan’s condition is worse. he locks himself in that room of his, carries an umbrella everywhere, doesn’t even eat with us. karan can’t even touch anyone, neither can anyone touch him. sandhyaji, if anyone knew about his condition, they wouldn’t even look at him. karan is the black sheep of this family, nothing like kunal.
rohit was shocked. they cheated and lied to naina. they got naina married to a man who could never touch her, nor could she touch him. a man that would never be able to give her a husband’s love. rohit continued listening to their conversation.
sandhya: but bhai sab, we thought we could control meghna and naina. meghna i understood was going to be hard to manage but naina, she turned out to be a malhotra. her family name is now bigger than ours. she’s bigger than us, bhai sab.
nk: i know. i can’t believe i have to bend down in front of these people. naina can never be one of us, she’s still a boondi girl and so is meghna. sandhyaji, i trust you to put naina in her place – show her that she’s no better than us.
rohit turned around to leave when he saw karan standing there. karan was listening to the whole conversation and he realised that now rohit was going to tell naina everything and he wanted to stop him. naina deserved to know the truth, yes, but karan didn’t want her to know. karan didn’t want anyone else to know that he had a disease, one that kept him away from everything and everyone he loved. rohit was about to walk way to tell naina but karan stopped him.
karan: rohit, please. you can take naina away, but don’t tell her or anyone anything.
rohit: you ruined her life and now you want me to keep quiet? i can’t believe you didn’t tell naina.
karan: i tried to keep her away from me, even before the marriage. please don’t do this in front of everyone.
rohit didn’t listen to karan. instead, he continued walking. karan stopped rohit with his umbrella and before you know it, they were in a fight. everyone gathered around them and saw what was happening. rohit almost hit karan with a chair when naina stopped him, standing in front of karan, protecting him.
rohit: naina, get out of the way, this is between karan and i.
naina: roh, what are you doing? will you please tell me what’s happening?
rohit: you can’t stay here. you can’t stay in this house anymore. come on, we’re leaving.
vinod: wait, rohit. what’s the matter?
rohit: i heard nand kishoreji and sandhyaji talking earlier.
naina: what were they talking about?
karan: rohit, please.
rohit: karan has a skin condition. a few years ago, karan had a horrible allergic reaction that was supposed to be cured within a week. but instead, it got worse. karan can’t touch anyone and neither can anyone touch him. they said that they were lucky you agreed to get married to karan because if you wouldn’t, no one would ever get married to karan. then, they spoke about how they thought they could control you and meghna di. sandhyaji said she realised that controlling meghna was going to be hard but naina? you were easy, until you turned out to be a malhotra. nand kishoreji then agreed, saying that he couldn’t believe he had to bend down if front of your father and sharda ma, that you can never be one of them and that you’ll always be a boondi girl and so will meghna di. nand kishoreji said to sandhyaji that he trusts her to put you in your place by showing you that you’re no better than the chauhans. i was going to tell you all of this when karan stopped me, he didn’t want you to know the truth, naina.
karan: naina,
naina stopped karan from saying anything when nirmala questioned sandhya.
nirmala: sandhya, you told me naina knew everything.
nk: nirmala, how dare you question sandhya?
dadaji: nand kishore! enough is enough. you’ve said and done a lot already, now i beg you to keep quiet. vinodji, sharda betaji, i’m very sorry. i didn’t know that naina was not informed earlier. in fact, i didn’t know that they got married. please, forgive us.
sharda: dadaji, please don’t apologise.
vinod: shardaji is right, dadaji. if anyone should apologise it’s your son. you want to put my daughters in their place, right? instead, i’ll put you in your place today. if you think you’ve ruined my daughters life, you’re wrong. naina will never be ruined because she has her dad, her mother, her sister, and most importantly, rohit. you know, i never mentioned nor did i show or act in anyway that we were richer or more powerful than you because in my eyes, we were equal. but today, you’ve proved that we are much bigger than you. i’m not saying this because of money or power, i’m saying this because your thought is smaller. a person’s class, status, or power doesn’t mean anything but their personality does.
rohit: despite having your own daughter, you did this with someone else’s? i can’t believe you’d do something like this with naina. what if someone did this with khyati?
nk: enough!
vinod: see, you can’t even hear a word against your daughter but when it came to someone else’s, you easily tried to ruin her life? come naina, you don’t have to stay here anymore.
vinod took naina by the hand and started walking towards the front door when naina stopped before leaving and let go of vinod’s hand.
naina: i’m not leaving.
vinod: what?
naina: i’m sorry but, i’m not leaving dad.
vinod: naina, you can’t stay with a family that’s lied to you. besides, you can never have a proper relationship with karan either. how will you stay with him in such a relationship?
naina: none of this is karan’s fault, though. he didn’t lie to me. he was forced into this marriage too and dad, i’ve hid as much from him as he has from me. i can’t just leave karan because of a condition he has, it’s not his identity, it’s just a part of him. i’m not such a small person that i’ll get scared of a condition. i’m staying and i promise, i’ll be fine. i know how to take care of myself. i’ve been doing it since the last seven years. i can handle myself and others too, when needed.
vinod: i told you before, i’ll support you no matter what but this time, i don’t. i will let you stay however, because i trust you. i trust you enough to know that you’ll take care of yourself. please, take care of meghna too and meghna, take care of naina.
they both agreed and said goodbye to the four of them. sharda had this odd feeling of guilt in her stomach. naina’s life was ruined now because of her and meghna, who knows how they must be treating her there. at the chauhan house, they all went back to their rooms except nirmala, dadaji, and naina.
nirmala: naina, thank you for staying.
dadaji: i’m sorry you didn’t know about karan’s condition beta.
naina: ma, dadaji, please don’t thank me or apologise. i’m karan’s wife and as his wife, it’s my duty to not leave him no matter what the situation is. i promise, i won’t leave because of his condition.
naina went back to her room and saw karan sitting in the chair having his medicines. she looked at him for awhile thinking. now she knew why he carried that umbrella everywhere and why he would always stay away from everyone. naina now understood why he opened the gathbandan, he wanted to save her from him.
naina: karan, i’m really sorry for what happened today.
karan: naina, you’ve been given chance after chance and yet you never left but today despite knowing my condition, you still won’t leave. i don’t understand that, naina. are you just staying with me out of pity because if you are, please don’t.
naina: karan, i don’t understand why i would stay with you because of pity. i don’t need to pity you to stay with you. i’m staying because none of this matters to me. you’re still my husband and i’m still your wife.
karan: after knowing everything, you still don’t understand. naina, i can’t touch you, you can’t touch me. what type of a relationship is this? i can never give you a husband’s love. what’s the use of such an empty relationship. naina, we can’t continue living together in this empty relationship, it’s not right. i can’t stay with you anymore.
naina: you’re right, we don’t have a relationship but we can make one, can’t we?
karan: what relationship?
naina: we can be friends? there’s no harm in being friends, right?
karan: it’s impossible to talk to you, naina.
karan was about to get up when he realised he had to put medicine on his wounds. naina then helped karan with his wounds and they both went to sleep. both thinking about how they’d stay in such a relationship. naina lost in her thoughts, wanting karan to finally accept her or at least, agree to be friends and karan, wanting naina to leave and not get tangled in this mess that was his life. but, karan couldn’t deny this feeling he started to get for naina. after all, she was the first person who after knowing his condition, didn’t leave but instead stood by his side defending him and his condition.
thank you for reading! i hope the wait wasn’t too long this time around. i was really excited to write this chapter. the next bunch of chapters will be full of nairan and how their relationship goes ahead. also, i know vishal or sharda didn’t really say much but vishal being present in this gathering was very important. i hope you enjoyed and please comment any suggestions or scenes you’d like to see in the upcoming chapters.