"I give my number only to people who are close to me."
Aryan was shocked. He looked at her seriously and said,
"What? What did you just say? You give your number to people who are close to you?"
Aanya replied calmly,
"Yes. Didn't you hear what I said?"
Aryan's expression hardened.
"Since when did you become close to that man?"
Aanya snapped,
"That's none of your business, Mr. Aryan. Anyway, I don't want to talk to you."
She turned to leave.
But suddenly, Aryan grabbed her hand.
Aanya gasped as she was pulled toward him. Aryan held her hand tightly.
From a distance, Aanya's friends were shocked. Some guests noticed too.
"Mr. Aryan, what are you doing? Leave my hand," Aanya said nervously.
"I'm not done talking," Aryan said firmly.
"Mr. Aryan, please leave my hand. It's hurting," she said, trying to pull away.
"I won't leave your hand until you listen to me," Aryan said.
"From now on, you will not give your number to anyone. Do you understand?"
Aanya struggled to free herself.
"And don't ever talk to that Rahul again. Do you get that?" Aryan continued.
"Leave my hand!" Aanya said angrily.
"Do you get it? Yes or no?" Aryan demanded.
"Everyone is looking at us, Aryan. Leave my hand," she whispered.
"I don't care," Aryan replied. "Say yes first."
"Yes! Okay," Aanya said quickly.
"I won't give my number to anyone, and I won't talk to Rahul. Now leave my hand."
Aryan finally looked around and noticed everyone staring at them.
Realizing what he had done, he slowly released Aanya's hand.
Aanya touched her hand and said angrily,
"Seriously, what is wrong with you, Mr. Aryan? You're being so arrogant. Instead of Mr. Aryan, I should call you Mr. Arrogant."
Aryan scoffed.
"Oh really? Then instead of Aanya, I should call you a stupid girl. You don't even know what you're doing."
Aanya was stunned.
"Seriously… what?"
She paused, then said coldly,
"Well, you're right. If anyone stays with you for too long, they'll definitely become just like you."
Aryan stared at her, his expression hard.
From a distance, Devika noticed them and hurried over.
"Aryan? Aanya? What is happening here? Are you two fighting again?"
Aryan and Aanya stayed silent, staring at each other.
Devika turned to Aanya.
"Are you both fighting again?"
"No, aunty," Aanya replied quickly. "Nothing happened. We were just talking."
She said it while glancing at Aryan.
Devika then asked,
"Aryan, did you say something to Aanya?"
"No, Mom. Nothing happened," Aryan replied.
Devika was about to say something more when Aanya suddenly spoke,
"Ah… aunty, I just remembered something. I need to do something."
Before Devika could respond, Aanya walked away.
"But—" Devika started.
She turned toward Aryan, but he quickly said,
"Mom, I have to talk to the decorators. They called me earlier, and I completely forgot. I'll go now."
He left before she could say anything.
Devika stood there, watching both of them walk away in opposite directions.
She murmured to herself,
"Something is definitely wrong between these two… and I have to find out."
Meanwhile, at the hospital, Aahil slowly came into consciousness.
Ahad, Asma, and their mother felt a wave of relief. Tears filled their mother's eyes as she thanked Allah.
"Aahil, beta… you're awake," she said happily.
In a weak voice, Aahil murmured,
"Ahad bhai…"
"Yes, Aahil," Ahad replied softly.
Aahil swallowed and asked slowly,
"Prerna…?"
Ahad, Asma, and their mother exchanged uneasy glances, unsure of what to say.
Again, Aahil whispered,
"Where is Prerna?"
Asma quickly covered up, forcing a smile.
"Aahil bhai, Prerna is on her way. She'll be here soon."
Ahad looked at Asma sharply, but she avoided his eyes.
"Really?" Aahil asked faintly. "Prerna is coming for me?"
"Yes, bhai," Asma said gently.
Suddenly, Ahad turned away in anger and walked out of the room.
Asma noticed and followed him outside.
"Why did you say that to Aahil?" Ahad asked angrily. "Why did you lie to him?"
"What else could we tell him, bhai?" Asma replied, her voice trembling.
Ahad fell silent.
Asma continued,
"When he woke up, the first person he asked for was Prerna. If we tell him she's not coming, then…"
Ahad interrupted her, frustration spilling out.
"But you know she isn't coming. And when he asks again, what will we say? She's not even answering our calls."
He clenched his fists.
"And we should stop talking like fools. Even if she answered, how would she come? Today is her wedding."
His voice broke as anger turned into pain.
"Because of her, all this happened. She left my brother… and now she's living happily."
Asma stood there in silence.
At the wedding, Tara said softly,
"Aanya, I think you're misunderstanding Aryan."
Aanya looked at her.
"What do you mean by misunderstanding?"
"I mean," Tara continued, "it's clear that he was jealous. That's why he couldn't control his anger and ended up being harsh with you."
Meera nodded.
"Yes, Aanya. Even I feel the same."
Aanya shook her head.
"I don't think so. At first, even I thought he was jealous, but no… he wasn't."
Her friends looked confused.
"He just doesn't like Rahul," Aanya continued, trying to convince herself. "Or maybe he got angry for some other reason. It wasn't jealousy."
All three of them reacted at once.
"What?"
Nisha frowned.
"Are you serious, Aanya?"
"Come on," Tara said gently. "We all know Rahul works under Aryan. Why would Aryan be jealous of him?"
Meera added,
"And if Aryan didn't like Rahul, he would've removed him long ago."
Aanya replied quickly, avoiding their eyes,
"I don't know about all this."
From a distance, her gaze drifted toward Aryan. He was standing there, talking to Ankitha.
Aanya's heart sank as she watched them together.
She turned back to her friends and said quietly,
"I used to think he liked me… but no. He doesn't."
Her friends were about to say something, but at that moment—
From a distance, Aryan also glanced at Aanya. He saw her standing with her friends, her face unreadable.
After a brief look, he turned away again.
In Prerna's room, she was fully dressed and ready. One by one, everyone left, saying,
"Prerna, we'll come back soon."
She only smiled.
After they left, the room suddenly felt quiet.
Then, all of a sudden, she remembered something.
Someone had called me…
She got up immediately and started looking around.
"Where did I keep my phone?" she muttered.
She searched here and there, and finally found it.
The moment she picked it up, her breath caught.
So many missed calls—from Asma.
Prerna stared at the screen in shock.
when did my phone go on silent.
"Why did Asma call me so many times?" she whispered to herself.
"Or… did Aahil call me using her phone?"
She hesitated.
Should I call back?
"No… no, Prerna," she scolded herself. "You can't do that. Today is my marriage with Dev."
She took a deep breath.
"But… what if something really happened?"
She shook her head again.
"Oh no, why am I thinking like this? Nothing would have happened. I'm just overthinking."
She paused.
"Wait… let me call once. Just one last time—to clear my thoughts."
With trembling fingers, she dialed the number.
At the hospital, Asma's phone suddenly rang.
She froze when she saw the caller ID.
"Ahad bhai," she whispered urgently, "Prerna is calling."
Ahad looked at her in shock.
"What?
Then Asma answered the call.
"Prerna—"
"As-salamu alaykum, Asma," Prerna said. "Why did you call me so many times?"
Asma's voice broke.
"Wa alaykum as-salam, Prerna…"
She couldn't control herself anymore and started crying.
Prerna's heart sank.
"Asma, what happened? Why are you crying?"
Asma took a shaky breath.
"Prerna… Aahil bhai is in the hospital."
Prerna felt the ground slip beneath her feet.
"What? Aahil is in the hospital?"
"Yes, Prerna," Asma cried. "He drank poison."
Prerna went numb.
Asma continued through her tears,
"He's asking about you. We didn't know what to do. We called you so many times, but you didn't answer."
Tears filled Prerna's eyes.
"Aahil is in the hospital…" she whispered. "How is he now? Is he… is he alright?"
Asma wiped her tears.
"He just came into consciousness, Prerna. But he keeps asking about you. Please… please come here once. I don't want anything bad to happen to Aahil bhai."
Prerna didn't think twice.
"I'm coming," she said firmly. "Tell me the hospital name. I'll be there soon."
Asma's face lit up with relief.
"Really?"
"Yes," Prerna replied. "Please tell me the hospital name."
Asma told her.
"I'll be there soon," Prerna said.
"Khuda Hafiz," Asma replied.
"Khuda Hafiz," Prerna said back, and ended the call.
Asma turned toward Ahad and said,
"Ahad bhai jaan… Prerna is coming."
Ahad looked at her in shock.
"What?"
Asma nodded.
"Yes. She said she'll come here soon to see Aahil bhai jaan."
Ahad immediately turned his face away, his expression turning serious.
"Ahad bhai jaan, I thought you would be happy like me," Asma said softly.
Ahad looked at her and said,
"Happy? Like you? Do you really think she will come?"
"Yes, bhai jaan," Asma replied. "She herself said she will."
Ahad shook his head.
"Asma, today is her wedding… and you think she'll come here?"
Asma hesitated.
"But bhai jaan—"
Ahad cut her off coldly.
"She's just acting. She won't come here."
To be continued...
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End Of Chapter 53.