Avni slowly eased herself out of Karan’s hold. Her eyes went to their joined hands, to the way Karan and Mishti looked at each other, raw and aching, as if words were no longer enough.
She wiped her own tears and finally turned toward Mishti.
“You don’t deserve that hatred either, Mishti,” Avni said softly. “None of this is your fault. You’ve suffered too, caught between everything.”
Karan gently released Mishti’s hand as Avni stepped closer to her.
“And I’m glad,” Avni continued, “that the sister I had always searched for in you… is actually my sister-in-law.”
She cupped Mishti’s cheek tenderly.
“No matter what you believe, you should never feel guilty for that man’s actions. You are family. And you always will be,Mishti Bhabhi.”
The moment those words left her lips, both women broke down and embraced each other, sobbing freely.
Karan smiled as he watched them, his heart full in a way it hadn’t been in years. The two most important women in his life, united, holding each other, truly understanding the depth of each other’s pain.
*****************
The very next day, Mishti was summoned urgently to VK’s room, and she had no idea what it was about. She had just finished showering and, without wasting a moment, slipped into another ethnic kurta salwar. She did not bother with her hair,letting the damp strands fall freely so they could dry on their own, and limited her makeup to nothing more than a light coat of lip gloss. With that, she hurried out of her room.
When she knocked on VK’s door, it was Avni who opened it. Avni greeted her with a warm smile and ushered her inside. The moment Mishti stepped in, she saw Rajat and Abhimanyu were already present, along with Komal and VK. Everyone looked serious.
Before anyone could speak, the doorbell rang again. Avni immediately rushed out and returned moments later, almost dragging Karan inside with her. Mishti’s eyes lifted instinctively, meeting Karan’s. Even his gaze paused on her briefly, assessing her presence, before he turned his attention to VK.
“What happened?” he asked calmly. “Why are we all called here?”
VK let out a slow sigh, as though bracing himself. “Actually, we have a small problem,” he said. “Do you remember I told you about my close friends from Delhi who are coming for the wedding?”
Karan nodded, recalling the conversation.
“They are coming with their families now,” VK continued.
Karan merely shrugged. “That’s good,” he said easily. “They are all welcome.”
Avni shook her head at him. “You don’t understand, bhai.”
The word made Mishti smile instantly. The way Avni addressed Karan as bhai now, the ease with which she spoke to him, the comfort that flowed naturally between them, felt like the very definition of sibling goals.
She recalled the previous night when Karan and Avni had spent hours together in the garden, strolling side by side, walking and talking without hesitation. They spoke of their childhood, shared memories of joy and pain, filling in theemptiness of the sixteen years they had lost. Mishti had watched them quietly from her balcony, unable to look away.
She remembered seeing Karan literally chasing after Avni across the lawn, trying to catch her after she had teased him about something. The sight had been strangely soothing, almost healing. The way Karan smiled when he was with his sister, the way he laughed freely, made it clear that this was who they had been once, before everything had been taken from them.
Before life had stolen their happiness.
No. Not life.
Her father had taken it away.
Mishti brushed those thoughts aside just as Avni held up a sheet of paper and showed it to Karan.
“Look,” Avni said, pointing at the list. “The hotel is full. Almost seventy percent of the rooms have been booked by us, and the remaining thirty percent are already occupied. There are no vacant rooms left to accommodate any extra guests.”
Rajat cleared his throat before speaking. “So what, Dad? We can check them into another resort.”
Abhimanyu shook his head immediately. “No. That won’t look good. They can’t keep travelling back and forth between two resorts every single day for the wedding functions. We need to find another solution.”
Komal thought for a moment before suggesting, “What if a few of us stay double?”
