Aryan fell silent. After a pause, he said,
"I didn't change my decision… I was—"
Aanya cut him off.
"You were what, Mr. Aryan?" she asked, holding back her emotions.
Silence filled the room for a moment.
Then Aanya spoke again, looking straight into his eyes.
"You don't even know what you're saying, do you? First you say one thing, and then you completely change it. You don't have any stability in your words. You just say whatever comes to your mind without thinking."
Aryan felt hurt hearing this.
Aanya took a deep breath and continued,
"Mr. Aryan, please don't interfere in my life. Now, I don't like you at all, so it would be better if you stay away from me as well as my family.
Aryan stood speechless.
"And also," Aanya added, "don't say anything bad about my fiancé, because there's nothing wrong with him. You are wrong—because you always see the right things as wrong and the wrong things as right. So if you're saying Kunal is not a nice guy, then he definitely is a nice one."
Aryan tried to control his emotions.
"I can give a hundred percent guarantee," she said firmly.
Aryan looked away, took a deep breath, and replied,
"Okay. I understand… I'm always wrong."
Aanya looked at him, pain visible in her eyes.
"And now I also understand," Aryan continued, "that you are very wise. You understand everything very well… just like the way you understood me."
Aanya kept looking at him silently.
"And… congratulations on your wedding. I hope you'll always be happy."
Aanya held back her tears.
Aryan continued,
"And don't worry—I won't attend your wedding, as you said."
He picked up his bag and walked out.
Aanya stood there as tears fell from her eyes, one by one.
Meanwhile, downstairs, Radha and Naveen were talking when they suddenly saw Aryan coming down with a bag.
Radha immediately stood up.
"Aryan babu, where are you going?"
Aryan looked at them and said,
"Aunty, I'm leaving."
Naveen frowned slightly.
"But Aryan babu, I thought you would stay till evening."
Without any expression, Aryan replied,
"No, Uncle. The deal issue is solved, and I have a lot of work in Mumbai, so I need to go."
"At least have lunch before you leave," Radha insisted.
"No, thank you, Aunty. I'll go now," Aryan said, and left.
Radha and Naveen exchanged looks—they could sense something was wrong.
After a while, Aanya came downstairs.
Radha asked,
"Aanya, do you know what happened to Aryan babu? He looked very serious."
Aanya, already hurt, replied harshly,
"How would I know why he is angry, Mom?"
She turned and went upstairs again.
Radha sighed.
"Now what happened to her?"
Naveen replied,
"Well, how would she know?"
Radha said,
"I was just asking normally."
At the Mehra house, Aahil's family came to see Prerna.
Aahil's mother asked,
"How are you feeling now, Prerna?"
"Much better, Aunty," Prerna replied softly.
Asma said,
"We were really worried about you, Prerna."
Prerna gave a small smile.
Nandini then said sarcastically,
"Looks like you were very busy… I mean, you didn't even come to the hospital."
Ahad and Aahil exchanged a glance.
Devika quickly intervened,
"Sister-in-law, please…"
Asma spoke politely,
"Actually, I wanted to come, Aunty, but Ammi's health wasn't good, so I stayed with her to take care of her."
Nandini rolled her eyes.
Devika then asked,
"Salima ji, how is your health now? You should have taken rest instead of coming here."
Salima smiled gently.
"No, Devika ji, I'm better now."
Asma added,
"Yes, Aunty, Ammi is feeling better now."
Devika smiled.
"Well, Aahil took care of everything."
She looked at him and said,
"Thank you so much, Aahil… and you too, Ahad."
Aahil shook his head.
"There's no need to thank me, Aunty. I just did what I could."
Devika smiled.
After a pause, Aahil asked,
"Aunty, where is Aryan ji?"
Devika replied,
"He went to Pune for some work. He will be back by tonight."
"Oh," Aahil nodded.
Meanwhile, Aanya's friends—Tara, Nisha, and Meera—were on a group call.
Tara asked,
"Guys, has anyone talked to Aanya these days?"
Meera replied,
"No, Tara. I called her, but she didn't pick up."
Nisha added,
"I tried too, but no response."
Then she said,
"And she's not even active in our WhatsApp group. She hasn't seen any of our messages."
Meera asked,
"Tara, when did you last talk to her?"
Tara thought for a moment.
"I think three days ago. She told me that she was going to propose to Aryan… but after that, I called and texted her, and she didn't respond."
Nisha said,
"Maybe Aryan rejected her."
Tara frowned.
"Even then, she would have told us what happened."
Meera suggested,
"What if we call her mother?"
Nisha nodded.
"I think that's a good idea."
Tara hesitated.
"Guys, I don't think that's a good idea. Aunty might find it strange that we're calling just because Aanya isn't picking up. Let's wait for today."
Meera agreed,
"Yeah, you're right. Also, what about classes? When will she come back to college? Will she stay in the hostel again?"
Nisha said,
"Yeah, I think so too. I mean, there's no way she would stay at Aryan's house."
Tara suddenly said,
"Guys, I got an idea. Let's ask our HOD. Aanya's parents would have informed him about when she'll return. If even he doesn't know, then we'll have no option except calling Radha aunty."
Nisha and Meera agreed,
"Yeah… that's the only way."
After some time, at the Mehra house, the doorbell rang.
Devika went and opened the door—and was shocked to see Aryan.
"Aryan? I thought you would come at night," she said.
Aryan walked inside.
"The issue was solved, so there was no reason for me to stay."
Just then, Nandini came and saw him.
"Aryan, you're back!"
Aryan didn't respond. He just looked at her seriously.
Devika asked,
"How is Aanya?"
Nandini frowned in confusion.
Aryan replied calmly,
"Everyone is fine."
Devika continued,
"Have the wedding preparations started?"
Nandini interrupted sharply,
"Seriously, Devika? Aanya?"
Devika looked at her.
"What are you talking about?"
Then she said,
"Sister-in-law, Aryan stayed at Aanya's house in Pune yesterday."
Nandini was shocked.
"What? At Aanya's house? But why?"
Aryan looked at her coldly.
Devika said,
"What's wrong with that, sister-in-law? Both families know each other. I told him to stay there."
Nandini replied irritably,
"Devika, aren't there any hotels in Pune? Why did Aryan have to stay at their house? Have you forgotten what they did?"
Aryan clenched his jaw, suppressing his anger. Not wanting to continue the conversation, he quickly changed the topic.
"Mom, how is Prerna?"
Devika answered,
"She's upstairs, resting."
"I'll go see her," Aryan said and walked away.
Meanwhile, Nandini moved closer to Devika.
"Why did you do that?" she whispered.
Devika frowned.
"What's wrong in it?"
Nandini said irritably,
"I mean, Devika, we should stay away from Aanya and her family."
"Sister-in-law, please don't say that," Devika replied.
Nandini then asked,
"By the way, what preparations were you talking about?"
Devika suddenly remembered.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you—Aanya is getting married."
Nandini was stunned.
"What? Aanya is getting married?"
Just then, Aryan came back downstairs.
"She's sleeping. I didn't wake her up. You can talk to her later."
Just then, Aryan came back downstairs and said,
"She's sleeping. I didn't wake her up. I'll talk to her later."
Devika said,
"You must be tired. Go and take some rest."
Aryan replied,
"No, Mom, I—"
Nandini quickly cut in, smiling,
"Yes, Aryan, go and take some rest."
Aryan looked at her seriously.
"There's no need. I'm fine."
He walked to his room.
Nandini turned to Devika, barely hiding her excitement.
"Are you serious, Devika?"
Devika nodded, a little sadly.
"Yes, sister-in-law. The wedding is on the 21st."
Nandini's eyes widened.
"The 21st? That's just eight days away! So soon?"
"Yes," Devika said.
Nandini smiled, unable to hide her happiness.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
Devika looked at her carefully.
"You seem very happy… even though you don't like Aanya."
Nandini quickly controlled her expression.
"Of course I'm happy, Devika. It's Aanya's wedding. She stayed with us… I'm happy for her."
Devika found it strange but didn't say anything.
"I'll go to my room and rest," Nandini said and left.
Inside her room, Nandini smiled to herself.
"Aanya is getting married… Devika, why didn't you tell me earlier?"
She let out a soft laugh.
"It's not like I like her… but finally, she'll be away from Aryan. No need to worry anymore. Even if Aryan stayed with her yesterday, it doesn't matter now."
She smirked.
"Aryan and Aanya will never be together."
Meanwhile, in Aryan's room, he was working on his laptop.
Suddenly, Devika entered and closed the door.
Aryan looked at her.
"Did you talk to Aanya? What did she say? I didn't ask you earlier because your aunt was there," Devika asked.
Aryan turned his face away.
"Does she really want to get married?" she continued.
Aryan said firmly,
"Mom, please stop. I'm not interested in Aanya or anything related to her. How many times do I have to tell you? I don't like her."
Devika paused, then asked softly,
"What about her? Does she like you?"
Aryan took a deep breath.
"She doesn't like me either, okay? She wants to get married, Mom."
"But Aryan—"
"Mom, stop," he said, his voice tense.
"If you want to talk about something else, fine. But don't talk about Aanya."
Devika fell silent.
She looked disappointed and quietly left the room.
Aryan closed his eyes and pressed his hand against his forehead, stressed.
That evening, at Aanya's house, Kunal sat with Aanya and her family, finalizing the wedding card designs.
"I really like this one. What do you think, Uncle? Aunty?" Kunal asked, showing them the design.
Radha smiled. "Yes, it's really good."
Kunal then turned to Aanya. "Aanya, what do you think?"
But Aanya didn't respond.
She was lost in her thoughts… replaying Aryan's words from earlier.
"Aanya?" Kunal called again.
Startled, Aanya looked up at everyone.
Radha frowned slightly. "I've been watching you since morning. What are you thinking about? Kunal has been asking if you like the design."
Aanya glanced at the card and forced a small smile. "Yeah… it's good."
Kunal smiled back, satisfied.
Naveen looked at her carefully. "Is everything okay, Aanya?"
"Yes, Dad," she replied quickly.
Kunal clapped his hands lightly. "Well then, the card design is finalized. I'll inform my friend that we've selected this one."
Naveen nodded. "Okay, beta. I'll come with you."
Kunal shook his head. "No need, Uncle. I'll take care of it."
"Alright," Naveen said.
Kunal stood up. "Okay then, I'll leave now."
Radha and Naveen smiled. "Okay, beta."
Kunal turned to Aanya. "Bye, Aanya."
Aanya gave a faint smile in return.
---
End Of Chapter 72.