"It's like in that moment, the whole universe existed just to bring us together." - Serendipity
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The wedding hall echoed with the sound of shehnai and sacred chants. Crystal chandeliers glimmered overhead while cameras flashed endlessly beneath golden lights.
Guests drifted through the enormous venue wrapped in silk sarees, expensive sherwanis, and gossip sharp enough to cut glass.
The aroma of roses, incense, and rich food lingered heavily in the air.
Everything looked perfect.
Too perfect.
And at the center of it all stood the newlywed couple.
Only, something felt wrong.
Whispers spread quietly across the hall like wildfire.
"Isn't that Advik Oberoi?"
"I thought the groom was Aditya..."
"The wedding card said Aditya Oberoi." "What happened?"
The Oberoi family smiled through it all.
Polite. Controlled. Elegant.
But beneath those practiced expressions
shame bled quietly through every silence.
~ A A R O H I ~
It was my wedding day.
The day every girl dreams about at least once in her life.
I had imagined it a thousand different ways growing up....the music, the flowers, the man waiting for me at the mandap.
Love.
That was always the important part for me.....
Not wealth. Not status.
Love that stayed.
Love that chose you every single day.
To me, marriage meant knowing someone completely and still deciding to hold their hand afterward.
And with Aditya...
I truly believed I had found that.
Arranged marriages used to terrify me. The idea of spending forever with someone chosen by families instead of feelings sounded unbearably cold.
But Aditya made it easy.
He was kind. Patient. Gentle in ways that mattered.
He listened when I spoke. Remembered little things. Looked at me like I mattered.
And somewhere between family dinners, late-night phone calls, and wedding preparations....
I began falling in love with him.
Effortlessly. Painfully. Hopelessly.
I used to whisper my future name to myself sometimes just to feel how beautiful it sounded.
Aarohi Aditya Oberoi.
It tasted sweet.Like a promise.
Like home.
The ceremonies passed in a blur of colors and rituals.
Henna stained my palms dark with his name hidden carefully in the intricate designs.
Haldi covered my skin in yellow, marking me as his before I had even become his wife.
Everyone said I glowed.Maybe I did.
Maybe happiness really makes people shine. The night before the wedding, I barely slept.
I kept staring at the ceiling wondering
Tomorrow I'll belong to someone forever.....
The thought terrified me.
And thrilled me equally.
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Sometime ago...
I was getting ready in my room.
The hairstylist working on my hair, flowers tucked in. White. JASMINES, peonies.
My friends teased me about the wedding and wedding night .
About us. And , surprisingly I wasn't even offended.
"Aditya doesn't seem innocent though" Puja, grinned.
Aditya was the heir of his family business. The heir of Oberoi Corp.
Rich. Not just by money, but by heart . By actions. By power.
"I swear you are going to be parents before expected" Rupali teases, a sheepish grin on her lips.
"I would definitely bet on a daughter" Priya chimes in.
*"You are not betting on our future kids!!"* I almost say louder than intended.
But the idea gave a light flush to my cheeks.
I was drifted into my imaginations, as the makeup artist did her job. When the sudden sharp voice came from down
It was my Uncle.
"How dare that Son of A-!!!..??"--
He was never loud. Uncle Rajeev was supposedly the most calm person in our family, so hearing his rage, my heart sank in.
Something had happened. Something bad. I had this feeling in my gut, the knot forming inside me.
And then my parents, my uncle and a few relatives barged inside. Before i could process i saw my mother, desperate not to break down. It gave me chills all over.
My mother was a strong woman, she never cried. Never showed weakness. Seeing her on the verge of a breakdown indicated something inauspicious.
"Aruu-" she let out a muffled sound.
I gazed towards my father. Then at uncle. They had this guilt on their face.
"What happened..?" I asked, my voice was lower, " what's happening here...? Why is Maa like this..? Why are you tensed.."
I asked . Anticipating something bad, but nothing stung more than when my uncle said.
"He left"
Silence.
"Who..?" I asked again, hoping it's not what
I am getting a feeling about it.
Then one single name, it shattered me in pieces.
"Aditya". My father says, almost a whisper. A plea.
Then I saw it, a letter. Clutched tightly in my father's hand.
I think I have seen this film before, and i didn't like the ending
My mother grabs me before I can process the implication. Left ..? Where..? A meeting....? This world..? Or the marriage..?
"Maa. You are just trying to mess with me right..?" I ask, my breath is shaky, voice breaking, a sob upcoming. I can feel it.
My heart clutches as no one answered that question. The knot in my gut, tighter now.
"You must read this baccha...." My uncle says as he hands the paper in my palm. A letter. From...Aditya..?
I hasten to read it.
Aarohi, I am sorry I lied to you when I said that I do not have eyes on anyone else.
But i had. Sneha, the love of my life. You know her, my PA.
I tried to forget her, marrying you for yours and my family's happiness. But i was never happy. At all the dinners and all the ceremonies, Sneha was the only one in my mind.
But i still tried to forget her. Called off us. Broke us. And then, I found out. She's pregnant.
With my child.
My brain froze. I could not believe but the reality sank in.
Being a father has always been my dream. I was too afraid to fight for my love. But now I am willing to do anything for the sake of the woman I love and my child.
Am sorry.
Am abandoning you.
But I do not have a choice.
I can't be a coward now .
Aditya
Unknowingly, a tear rolls down my eye. Why. Why. Why me..?
What about my feelings, my love..?
I wanted to scream and rip this lehenga of my body. To cry my heart out and mourn about it all.
But the moment I saw my father, so helpless, so desperate. I couldn't move.
It was not just about me anymore, it was about the whole Malhotra family. My family.
If this gets out, it will ruin the company my parents worked their ass off to build.
And it broke my heart further. My father's eyes were dark, he never cried. Never once. but he could cry anytime now.
Then came the knock on the door .
My supposed to be In laws barged inside.
The entire Oberoi Clan .
The same people who looked at me with affection, now looked at me with nothing but guilt.
God.
I hated it.
Their heads hung low, from shame. The eyes which carried warmth for me, admiration. Now just stood there, gazing upon me with no other emotions other than guilt. Pity. Sympathy.
I hated it.
Dadaji broke the long stretched silence
" Aarohi beta. I am sorry -" someone cut him off
"don't. Don't apologise Mr Oberoi. The apology won't fix anything!!" My uncle burst in. His voice was harsh and striking.
"You have wronged our child. How are we supposed to accept an apology when it won't fix a thing" My mother adds in, her voice was shaky.
"No apologies could fix this . Aditya has broken something so fragile. Trust. And I am ashamed" Now, Aditya's Father said.
"But. We can still fix it" Dadiji adds now. Her voice is calmer than others .
"How..???" I ask finally.
"Advik. My son. He can take the place of Aditya. " Chachaji, Mr Vishal Oberoi said.
And my entire family went still.
Even his own wife, Swarna Oberoi looked dumbfounded.
"Vishal you can't say that. Our son-"
Vishal uncle didn't let her complete,
"That is the only way it can be fixed. My son will replace it. He will marry you"
"Are you Insane..? my daughter is not a doll who could be passed down to anyone"
My father stood to his ground.
"We know. But it's the only way to save her honour. To save this family image. And mostly to save her from hell which will haunt her entire life if this comes out." Dadaji sounds calm. Composed.
"'A woman left on an altar ', the society won't accept her. Her life will be ruined. With torment. No matter what. The society will blame her. " Mr Vivek Oberoi says.
Determined to prove his point.
"I know Aditya has wronged you, but I can assure you Advik is nothing like Him. He is more calm. young. sensible" Dadaji adds on.
I do not even know who the hell is this Advik. All I know is that he is Aditya's cousin. How could I just marry off to anyone!
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Present
And even after everything, I stood next to him. Advik Oberoi, now my husband.
I had tried to protest, but the reality soon sank in. The realisation that this wedding was no more about love and affection, it was now about saving one's honour. My honour. My dignity.
My place in society.
Because no matter what a man did, it was always a woman's blame.
"she must have lacked something"
"its her fault "
The notion made me gag.
And the biggest part, it was about the image of the company. The businesses both families had built. It was about that too.
And as I stood near him, someone about whom I had only heard in some conversations.
The rebellious cousin. The one who has zero survival instincts. The one who travels a lot and spends his life partying.
He was a laughing stock in the family.
The uncontrolled, freak was my husband.
Aditya was always perfect. The eldest brother, the heir, the allrounder and now marrying someone who wasn't even half him....
What has happened to you Aarohi???
He looks nothing like Aditya. Grey eyes , which never met mine.
But they never met mine
In the entire ceremony, they were darted away .
I had failed him too. He was also just as messed up as me. As wronged as me.
And yet I felt that my sorrow was bigger than his.
In all ways ,that was only fair.
And now he was my husband. His mangalsutra around my neck. His named joined with mine now. Forever..? I don't know.
Now I was,
Aarohi Advik Oberoi
The mangalsutra felt heavier than gold should ever feel.
Not because of its weight.
But because of what it meant.
Forever was a word people used so easily. In vows. In promises. In wedding speeches drowned under music and blessings.
But standing there, beside Advik Oberoi, I realized forever was not always chosen. Sometimes it was assigned.
The hall was still loud. Still alive.
But I felt like I was standing underwater sound muffled, movements distant, faces blurred into one indistinct crowd of judgment and relief.
Relief.
That was the emotion everyone wore so comfortably now.
"Problem solved," they would say later.
"Aarohi is safe."
"Image is intact."
"Everything is fine."
Everything.
Except me.
A slight movement pulled me back.
Advik adjusted his sherwani cuff, calm, precise. Like this wasn't a wedding that had rewritten two lives in the span of a single morning. Like this was just another transaction completed properly.
Then, finally, his eyes met mine.
Grey. Still. Unreadable.
Not warm like Aditya's had been. Not soft. Not reassuring.
Just... present
Like he was observing a situation he didn't ask to be part of either.
For a second, I hated that I understood him.
The rituals continued. Someone handed flowers. Someone asked for smiles. Someone instructed us to stand closer.
Closer.
We obeyed.
Not like lovers.
Not like strangers either.
Something in between,more dangerous than both.
When the final ritual ended, applause rose. Confetti scattered. Music surged louder, as if it could bury what had just happened under celebration.
And then, just like that,
The crowd began to believe it was a wedding again.
People always believed what they wanted to.
Later.
The chaos dissolved into controlled silence inside a private room of the Wedding hall .
Heavy doors. Polished floors. Fragrance of flowers that suddenly felt suffocating instead of festive.
I stood near the window, still in bridal attire that no longer felt like mine.
Behind me, I heard footsteps.
Not rushed. Not hesitant.
Measured.
Advik stopped a few feet away.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then he said, "You don't have to act."
His voice was low.
Not unkind. Not comforting either.
Just... factual.
I let out a dry laugh without humor.
"Acting is the only thing I'm allowed to do today."
Silence again.
He didn't disagree.
That bothered me more than sympathy would have.
I finally turned slightly.
"Was this your idea?" I asked.
His gaze held steady. "No."
One word.
Clean. Absolute.
Truth, or at least something shaped like it.
My fingers tightened against the edge of the window sill.
"So I'm just... a replacement arrangement?" The words came out sharper than I intended.
Something flickered in his expression then. Not guilt.
Annoyance.
"Careful," he said quietly.
I blinked. "Careful of what?"
His eyes narrowed slightly, like he was weighing whether I was worth the effort of honesty.
"Don't turn this into something simpler than it is."
That landed differently than I expected.
Simpler.
As for my pain, my humiliation, my shattered wedding day was something that could be reduced.
I turned away again.
Because if I looked at him too long, I might start seeing not a stranger... but a mirror I didn't want.
Minutes passed.
Then he spoke again, softer this time.
"You can hate me if it helps. Just don't mistake me for him."
The room went still.
Even the air seemed to pause.
I didn't answer.
Because the truth was
I didn't know what he was yet.
But I knew what today had made me.
Not a bride.
Not a wife in the way I had dreamed.
Something newer.
Something sharper.
Something that didn't know where to break... so it hadn't started breaking yet.
And outside, the world continued celebrating a
wedding that had already ended in every way that mattered.
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[[Ignore the spelling mistakes and grammar just like your crush ignores you!!!!!!!!!!]]
The story may be too clichΓ© for your palate at start but.....good things take time and after a few chapters, you will surely enjoy... I can assure that!
Looking forward to your votes and comments!!!
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