Karan’s eyes snapped back to him.
“Are you planning to give her the same loveless life all over again?”
Karan glared at him.
Rajat raised both hands in surrender. “Fine. Figure it out yourself.”
With that, he walked away to take a few calls, leaving Karan standing there alone, his mind heavy with Rajat’s words, his eyes still glued to Mishti, as if looking away from her was no longer something he knew how to do.
For the first time, he wondered not how to bring her back, but whether he even knew how to keep her if she stayed.
Mishti, on the other hand, told Avni that she wasn’t going to try the bridal lehenga. She had already bought a few others, and she didn’t see the point of this one. This was meant for a bride.
“I know it’s for a bride,” Avni said at once, unfazed. “But I want to see you in it. I mean… someday you’ll be someone’s bride too, right? And I can’t wait for that day. Please try it on for me. And yes, pull the veil over your head, cover your face the way brides do, until the groom lifts it.”
At that, Mishti let out a small chuckle, “Why would I come out like that foryou?” she said lightly. “It’s silly.”
“I know it’s silly,” Avni laughed, grabbing her hand. “But it’s just for a picture together. I’m going to try the other bridal lehenga and come out too. Then we’ll click pictures—like two brides,” she said excitedly. “Waiting for their respective partners to unveil them. I’ll even caption it that way. What say?”
Mishti’s smile faltered for just a fraction of a second.Waiting for the groom to unveil her face?Her mind went back to her own wedding night—how she had sat there, dressed as a bride, veil drawn, heart pounding with nervous hope. Waiting for Karan to come. Waiting for him to lift her veil.
But nothing like that had happened.
Their first wedding night had been the most bitter and shocking moment of her life.
Avni’s expectant gaze pulled her back to the present.
Mishti swallowed, steadying herself. She knew wearing this would only drag those bitter memories back to the surface. Yet, Avni’s insistence left her with no room to refuse. She finally gave in, picked up the lehenga, and walked into the spacious dressing room.
She took her time while putting on the bridal lehenga, as memories of her wedding flashed in her head, when she had been getting ready just like this.
Back then, she had stared at her reflection with questions trembling inside her—what kind of marriage awaited her, what kind of man she was walking toward. A man she had never spoken to. A man whose eyes had barely met hers during theother rituals. A man she had believed she could grow into, slowly… patiently.
If only she had known then.
If only she had known why he was marrying her.
She pushed those thoughts aside, forcing them back, and looked at herself one last time in the mirror before stepping out of the dressing room for Avni to see her.
The moment she stepped out and said, “Avni, here I am,” her eyes lifted, and she froze. Standing there, with his back turned toward her, was Karan. Not Avni.
The instant her voice reached him, Karan turned around. Until then, he had been busy with his phone, typing quick messages, sending out last-minute replies to important emails, postponing work until he could return to the resort and continue from there.
Rajat had taken Avni to the other side of the boutique to shop for honeymoon wear, somewhere Karan obviously couldn’t follow, which was why he had been left behind, patiently waiting for the chaos to end so he could leave. And then he heard her voice.
The moment he turned and saw Mishti dressed as a bride, the world… stopped.
For a split second, his mind dragged him back to their wedding day when she was dressed like this, looked like this. She had probably even waited for him in something like this on their wedding night, while he never showed up.
Seeing her now, dressed so similarly again, her head covered, her face hidden beneath the veil, Karan lost whatever hold he had on his emotions. He couldn’t stop himself anymore. The pull toward her was too strong, too consuming, and before he could think better of it, he moved.
The way she held herself when she was nervous, the way her hands curled at her sides when she wanted to run, he could readevery bit of her reaction at the moment as he made his way towards her.
Mishti, on the other hand, couldn’t move a single muscle as she watched him approach her. Even though the translucent veil covered her face, she didn’t need to see his expression to know what he was feeling. His slow, almost predatory walk toward her was enough to make her body tremble. Why was he here? Where was Avni?
The moment he came closer, she instinctively stepped back and was about to retreat into the dressing room to change, when Karan caught her arm and pulled her back to where she stood. For a few seconds, they remained like that, facing each other through the veil, her heart pounding wildly, his own screaming at him to do something he had denied himself all this time.To unveil that beautiful face of his bride. His wife.
The very next moment, he released her arms. His fingers lifted toward the veil covering her face. Gently, slowly, inch by inch, he drew it back, uncovering her face, not stopping until her face was fully revealed to him.
