As they reached close to the palace Maya remembered that the devil is still present at the palace and she needs to be careful and reveal his true face in front of Karan as soon as possible.
After they reached the palace and went to their room Maya was still in thoughts of revealing Pratap's real face and Karan was reliving their first kiss again & again which made him blush and gave him a wave of mixed emotions filled with joy & excitement. He could now feel some different connection & attraction towards Maya which made him realise that some feelings have started emerging which is more than friendship.
Karan was lost in thoughts when he saw Maya sitting on the couch deep thinking about something with a worried expression on her face so he gave a pause to her thoughts "Maya, don't worry I won't do anything without your concern. Aaj jo hua uske baad that doesn't mean muje righs hai aapke saath kuch bhi karne ka." he said as he got closer to Maya.
Maya nodded her head with a smile on her face which was when she realised what Karan was trying to say after which she remembered their kiss and her cheeks turned red and she could not control her smile so she quickly left the room saying she'll go and fill the jug of water without noticing that the jug was already filled but Karan noticed that and laughed after she left in a hurry.
Maya reached the kitchen and saw that the jug was already filled and realised Karan might have seen this and now she was embarrassed to go back to the room. She thought of taking some food in the room because they did not have dinner due to rain. She was putting some chips in the plate when she felt a hand sliding around her waist, she panicked and quickly turned back and her worst nightmare came true as she saw Pratap.
"Hello rani sa" Pratap said, Maya pushed him away due to which some glasses fell from the kitchen counter and Maya was above to run but her hand was pulled by Pratap and pinned her to the wall, and was trying to kiss Maya's back which was when Shivang saw him and pushed him way from Maya who was struggling to be free from Pratap's hold.
"Bhabhi are you ok?" Shivang asked to which she nodded with tears flowing through her eyes. "Vo beta I-I was..." Pratap tried to explain but was interrupted by Shivang, "maine sab dekh liya hai, ab kuch kam nahi karega. Come with me." Shivang said while holding Pratap's biceps from one hand and held Maya's hand gently from the other and headed towards Karan.
Shivang smashed the door in anger, Karan was sitting on the couch he came towards the door "Ye kya ho raha hai? Ye kaise pakda hua hai tune Pratap ji ko chor unhe. Or Maya kya hua, ro kyu rahi ho?" Karan said coming close to Maya.
Maya could not speak anything, she simply hugged Karan and cried hard. Karan tightly wrapped her around his arms and asked Shivang what had happened. "Bhai he is a bastard aapko pata nahi hai isme bhabhi ke sath bahut galat kiya ha" Shivang said while pointing towards Pratap. Shivang took his phone out of his pocket and showed the CCTV camera footage of the kitchen to Karan. Seeing that Karan's eyes turned red and he was above to slap Pratap but stopped remembering Pratap's behaviour towards him "Aaj k baad kabhi bhi apni shakal mt dikhana hume. Kabhi bhi mahal mai ya kahi pr bhi mt aana varna mujhse bura koi nahi hoga Pratap ji or subha hone se pehle yaha se chale jaye varna abhi to ye footage kisi ne nahi dekhi subah hote hai sab ko aap ki sachai ka pata chal jayega." Karan said in a steady, manly & angry way.
Pratap soon left the room after which Karan & Shivang consoled Maya as she cried hard hugging Karan. "I'm so sorry Maya, vo insaan tumhe itne din se pareshan kr raha tha and mujhe pata nahi chala." Karan said, kissing Maya's forehead. "N-nahi Karan ye sab kuch dino se he nahi chal raha tha, he's been behind me since I was 16." Maya said.
"How?" Karan asked "Before starting his business, he was the principal of the school I studied at. I don't know if I was the only one or there were others but he always tried to t...touch me and do bad things with me." Maya said with tears in her eyes.
"Maya kabhi bhi kuch bhi ho jo tumhe bother krta ho just tell me, tumhe khud ko sahi prove karne k liye proof ki zarurat nahi hai. We trust you. Just say it and your problems will be solved." Karan said while rubbing Maya's head and giving her a forehead kiss.
"Achaa bhai mai chalta hu aap dhyan rakho bhabhi ka. Good night." Shivang said "Ha ja but dhyan rakhna ye baat ghar mai kisi ko pata na chale." Karan said after which Shivang left.
"Bs Maya, kitna rona hai ab mujse ye dekha nahi jata." Karan said while patting Maya's back and added, "You are my strong girl, cheer up mai hu na tumhare saath. Acha ab barish ruuk gayi hai icecream cone khane chalte hai come." First Maya refused but Karan insisted so she agreed.
Karan took Maya to his favourite icecream cone place, while eating the cone Karan intentionally applied the cone's cream on his nose seeing which a huge smile appeared on Maya's face and she said, "You look like a clown" while whipping the cream from Karan's nose with her finger and eating the cream. Seeing this Karan's cheeks turned red while Maya enjoyed the ice cream.
Maya's mood had changed on their way back home, "I want a promise from your side." Karan said and added, "No more secrets, no more hiding. Jo bhi hoga we'll share everything. Past,present ya future jo bhi baat ho we'll share it to each other, promise?" "Ha no more hiding I promise." Maya said with a smile.
[Next morning]
Maya woke up early and dressed up nicely in a beautiful green saree. When Karan woke up Maya was sitting on the couch reading the newspaper. "Good morning beautiful" Karan said as he stood up from the bed and headed towards Maya. "Good morning handsome," Maya replied. "I'm still feeling sleepy yaar, kya karu?" Karan said. Maya got up held Karan's hand and moved towards the bathroom and said, "Go have bath" "Arey kya yaar is situation mai ladkiya apne pati ko apni gooddi mai sar rakh kr sulati hai or tum ho ki, jao mujhe baat nahi krni." Karan got irritated and went to the bathroom.
After he came out he was heading towards the door but Maya pulled his hand making him come closer but Karan lost his balance and both of them fell on the bed. Karan's whole weight was on Maya but she could not feel anything as they were both locked in each other's eyes.
Soon a knock on the door distracted them and it was from a helper who came to call the couple for breakfast.
[At the breakfast table]
"Rukmani Pratap kyun nahi aaye breakfast k liye?" Vikram asked to which Rukmani replied, "Vo kal raat hai chale gaye. Pata nahi kya hua bole kuch urgent kam aa gaya to jana hoga." "Acha chalo theek hai shaadi pr vapis aa jayege. Kam bhi important hai." Vikram said listening to which Maya's heart skipped a bit and she looked towards Karan but Karan held her hand and nodded his head in refusal which gave relief to Maya.
"Acha Maya, Karan pandit ji ne shaadi ki nayi dates 5 din k baad ki di hai. Chalega na?" Jagruti asked. "Ha ha ma no problem." Karan said and Maya also nodded her head in affirmation. "Maya aaj 11 baje kuch jewellers ko bulaya hai jewellry lene." Sujata said. "Theek hai choti maa, I'll come." Maya replied. "Ha ha tum to aaogi he na tumne toh shaadi he iss liye ki hai." Rukmani whispered which was heard by Vikram but he did not react to it as he didn't want to hurt Maya.
After breakfast Vikram called Rukmani and said, "Tum jaisa sochti ho Maya vaisi nahi hai. Aaj k baad kabhi usse kuch bolna mt, varna mujhe bilkul acha nahi lagega." "Pr bhaiya mai galt to nahi hu na jo samaj mai sabko lag raha hai vo mujhe bhi lagta hai." Rukmani said. "Jo bhi ho hum sab jante hai sach kya hai, or tum bhi janti ho to fir uss bechari par shak karna bandh karo. Ye ak bhai ki request nahi Maharaja ka hukam hai, bs end of discussion." Vikram said in a steady voice and left.
In the afternoon the jewellers came and beautiful jewels were selected for Maya & Karan. Karan was very happy to see Maya smiling and blending with others. A beautiful mangalsutra was finalised for Maya which was selected by her very own husband. "Ma mujhe bhi ak gold chain chahiye, bhai ko he sab mil raha hai." Shivang said. "Teri or Khushi ki shaadi hogi tb tuje bhi sab millega chinta mat kr." Sujata said which left Shivang blushing. All the designs were finalised after which Maya went to her bedroom and had a small nap.
[In evening]
Maya was reading a book when Jagruti came in and showed her some beautiful ancestral sarees and jewels which were soon gonna be given to Maya after their wedding. Maya was amazed to see beautiful sarees embroidered with gold and silver threads and beautiful motifs. "Ye sab to prewedding functions mai pehena hoga but shaadi ka jooda tum or Karan ja kr le aao aaj he. Or kal Khushi sari event ka schedule vergara samjhane wali hai to kl time nahi milega." Jagruti said while addressing the helpers to put all the ancestral things on the table.
"Maa aap bhi saath chalo na jooda final karne." Maya requested "Guests ki list prepare karni hai issliye mai nahi aa paugi but don't worry Karan ki choice bahut hi achi hai he'll help you out." Jagruti said with a smile and then left after discussing some wedding rituals with Maya.
Maya gave a call to Karan asking him to come early from the office to which Karan teased Maya by saying, "Kuch hours ki duuri bhi bardas nahi hoti mujse?" which left Maya blushing as she said, "Ji nahi aap rahe office mai he mai humari shaadi ka jooda khud pasand kr aaugi Shivang bhaiya k saath." Maya said "Shivang kyun? Humari shadi ho rahi hai vo tumhara jooda select karne kyun saath jayega? Main aaunga uss bandar k saath nahi jana." Karan said out of jealousy.
Soon Karan came home and asked Maya to directly come towards the parking. Soon they reached the showroom and Maya started trying different Lenghas: Blue,pink,golden every colour looked beautiful on Maya but for Maya shades of red were her dream wedding lengha colour so a beautiful Maroon lengha was finalised by Karan & Maya.
On their way from the town Maya saw her favourite chinese stall and she started to crave for it so all of a sudden she asked Karan to stop the car, "Stop! Stop! Stop!" she shouted. "Kya hua?" Karan asked while suddenly stopping the car. "Chinese" Maya said "What? What chinese?" Karan questioned. "Mera favourite chinese stall gaya. Mujhe waha k manchurian khane hai. Plssss" Maya said, making a cute face.
Karan laughed seeing her like that and said, "Haa theek hai pr hum aaise he kahi pr nahi ja sakte, kl ki deadline mai aa jayeda." "Haa to koi baat nahi hum face cover karke vaha se parcel la kr yaha car mai aa k kha lege, pr abhi anyhow mujhe chinese khana hai vo bhi yha ka he. Plssss" Maya spoke with the same cute expressions.
"Haa theek hai biwi ji. Aapki har icha puri karna mera kam hai. Chalye chalte hai aapke favourite manchurian laane." Karan said while tying a handkerchief on his face. Maya also covered her face with her dupatta and they went to get the manchurian.
Maya was overwhelmed and very happy. Soon they took the manchurian and were heading towards the car when Karan hit a man by mistake and his handkerchief fell down, the man was none other than Narsinh. He joined his hands in front of Karan and said, "Nameste rajkumar." "Namaster." Karan replied while Maya stood right beside Karan. "Kaisi ho Maya?" Narsih asked. "Theek hu" Maya said "Shadi kab hai aapki? Kanyadaan karne aana hoga na mujhe." Narsih said. "Koi zaroorat nahi hai dur rahe Maya se, ab uska aapse koi rishta nahi." Karan said, held Maya's hand and headed towards the car.
[On their way]
Maya silently sat in the car without saying a word. "Are you ok?" Karan said as he held Maya's hand. "Hh-haa I'm fine." Maya replied, still lost in thoughts. Karan took his hand through Maya's shoulder and pulled her close in a way that Maya could rest her head on Karan's shoulder.
Maya did not expect something like this from him so she was shocked and her cheeks turned red. After they reached home Maya & Karan were enjoying the manchurians and were discussing some decoration ideas for their wedding.
Note from writer
Hello beautiful souls, how are you? I hope you are enjoying reading Maya & Karan's love story. Things are going well in their lives but they are unaware of a huge problem that's waiting for them. Read the upcoming chapters to know what happens with our love birds.
Please please follow @inkedbymisha on Instagram for updates & spoilers.
~Misha
Write a comment ...