As Kairav descended the staircase slowly, the crowd erupted with applause. Both the grooms looked like a power couple. Kairav took Veeransh's hands and they walked down the stairs together.
The sacred fire crackled while the scent of rose and incense drifted. Every eye in the villa remained fixed on the two grooms. The tilak ceremony was done and then both were led to be seated before the agni kund. Veeransh sat with Kairav still holding his hand. Both the grooms' sherwani shimmered in the soft lights.
The pandit continued chanting mantras while the family gathered around them. Lalita wiped her emotional tears. "My son is getting married today." She took flower petals and threw them across the entire mandap in excitement.
After some time, the pandit stood up and asked the grooms to stand up for the phera. Smruti tied the gathbandhan and the grooms took phera around the sacred fire.
Each phera, a promise was taken.
For a vow of duty, promise of strength, commitment to prosperity, pledge of love and respect, prayer for progeny, request for health and peace and a swear of friendship and loyalty.
The crowd kept showering the grooms with flower petals, as they watched with admiration. The photographers clicked endlessly.
The pheras were done, and then, came the last ritual. Kairav picked the mangalsutra kept beside the agni kund. The black and gold beads glimmered as he tied it carefully around Veeransh's neck. Then, Veeransh took the other mangalsutra and tied it around Kairav's neck.
The pandit smiled warmly. "The marriage is complete. From this moment onwards, you both are bound in the bond of marriage for the next seven lifetimes."
The hall erupted with cheers and claps. The grooms were about to leave the mandap to take the blessings of the elders. When suddenly—
BANG!
The bullet fired struck the chandelier, sending it crashing down in a shower of glass and sparks, which scattered everywhere across the floor. The hall now erupted with a different sense of shock. Veeransh flinched violently and instinctively grabbed the groom beside him.
Standing infront of the mandap, was Kairav. The actual Kairav. He was bleeding from his head, as his face was sweaty and he was breathing heavily. The gun in his hand was wavering.
Veeransh's breath stopped. No. If not Kairav, then who—? With shaking fingers, Veeransh ripped the shehra away from his own face before turning desperately toward the man beside him. His hands trembled violently as he pulled away the pearl shehra covering the other groom.
The beads scattered onto the floor. Gasps echoed throughout the hall.
Krishav stared back at him.
Veeransh gasped in horror. "Krishav…?" The sacred fire crackled between them.
The weapon trembled in Kairav's grip as he stormed up the steps of the wedding mandap. His sherwani was creased and his pearl necklace was swinging wildly against his chest with every step. "Tell me this wedding is a joke!" He walked fiercely towards the agni kund, where Krishav stood, his fingers were loosely intertwined with Veeransh. The gathbandhan was still tied between them. Kairav's eyes moved from his brother's face to that knot of cloth binding Krishav and Veeransh together in front of the holy fire, and something in him went very still before it shattered.
"YOU MARRIED MY VEERANSH!" Kairav raised the gun and pressed it against Krishav's chest, his hands steady as he aimed it at his own younger brother. "Why?" he shouted. "Why would you do this to me, Krishav?" Kairav's fingers trembled around the gun.
Krishav stared back silently. Veeransh could barely breathe. His mind spun violently. This entire time… the rituals… the dreams... the pheras… the mangalsutra—
He had married Krishav. Not Kairav.
"KRISHAV!" Another voice erupted. "What about me?!" Jhanvi cried out as she stumbled forward in her emerald-green lehenga, the heavy jewellery swayed with every shaky breath.
"We were supposed to get married tomorrow!" she screamed, rushing towards him and grabbed onto the collar of his sherwani with trembling hands, tears spilling down her face. "You said you loved me!" Her voice cracked into a desperate sob. "I loved you so much, Krishav!" She glared at Veeransh. "Why did you marry this guy?! WHY KRISHAV?! WHY-"
"Because I couldn't stand there and watch Veeransh become my brother's," Krishav snapped. His chest rose sharply as his eyes locked onto Veeransh. "Not when I had already started falling for him," he shouted. "Not when I began noticing how precious Veeransh truly was. When I saw him beside bhai, it used to burn something in me. It felt so unbearable."
"I tried to ignore it," Krishav admitted. "I tried convincing myself it was nothing. But the closer the wedding came…The more unbearable it became."
Kairav's expression twisted, "So you ruined my life for this obsession?"
"It's not obsession!" Krishav shouted back instantly. "I love him!"
The confession echoed through the villa.
Veeransh's fingers instinctively moved toward the mangalsutra resting against his chest. His breathing was slow. None of this made sense. None of this felt real, but it was real. He was now married to Krishav Singhania.
Krishav suddenly reached for Veeransh's hands and clasped them tightly before anyone could stop him. "But, now.." and raised them.
"He's mine."
Those two words echoed again and again inside Kairav's head until rage finally snapped whatever control he had left.
Before anyone could react, Kairav grabbed Krishav violently by the collar and punched him straight across the face. "YOU TRAITOR!"
Krishav stumbled backward near the agni kund, nearly losing balance as blood appeared at the corner of his lip. Veeransh grabbed him. Their eyes met. Krishav with eyes full of desperation and guilt, whereas Veeransh's was full of pain and betrayal.
"Kairav!" Lalita screamed. But Kairav did not stop. Years of brotherhood, trust, and love had shattered in one moment. He lunged forward again and slammed Krishav against one of the mandap pillars.
"How could you do this to me?!" Kairav roared. "You're my brother!"
Krishav shoved him back just as hard. "And what was I supposed to do? Stand there smiling while you married the person I loved?!"
"You stole my identity!" Kairav shouted. "YOU STOLE MY WEDDING!" Another punch landed.
Ananya cried out sharply. "BHAI STOP IT! BOTH OF YOU STOP IT!"
But neither brother listened.
Krishav finally snapped and punched Kairav back across the jaw. The impact sent Kairav stumbling into the edge of the mandap. Flower garlands crashed beside him. "You think this was easy for me?" Krishav shouted hoarsely. "I hated myself every second!"
"HATED YOURSELF?" Kairav laughed bitterly. "You married my Veeransh!" And then Kairav raised the gun again.
This time directly at Krishav's head. The entire villa froze.
"Kairav bhai—" Prem stepped forward.
"Stay out of this!" Kairav barked without looking away. His chest rose violently beneath his sherwani. "Tell me one reason I shouldn't pull this trigger right now."
Krishav stared at him silently.
Then suddenly—
Veeransh stepped in front of Krishav. The movement shocked everyone.
Kairav's eyes widened instantly. "Veer…"
"No," Veeransh whispered shakily. His arms spread protectively before Krishav despite his own fear. "Don't do this."
Kairav looked devastated. "You're protecting him?"
Veeransh's breathing trembled. "He's still your brother. You can't kill him."
"He stole you from me!" Kairav shouted. The gun shook harder in Kairav's grip. Blood from the wound near his forehead slid slowly down his temple. "You promised you'd marry me…" he whispered.
Before anyone could speak again, Lalita suddenly walked forward. Her face pale with horror and humiliation. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she looked between both her sons. "What have you both done…" she whispered.
"Maa—" Krishav tried stepping toward her.
"DON'T!" Lalita shouted so loudly the entire hall fell silent again. "Don't call me Maa right now!"
Krishav froze.
Lalita pointed at the sacred fire. "Do you even understand what happened tonight? This marriage happened before agni. The pheras are complete. The mangalsutra has been tied. This bond cannot simply be erased!"
Jhanvi let out a broken sob. "No… no, this can't be happening…"
Sonia finally stepped forward and wrapped an arm around her daughter protectively. "This wedding is invalid," Sonia snapped immediately. "This was deception!"
The pandit, who had remained frozen until now, spoke hesitantly. "The rituals were performed properly…"
Sonia turned toward him sharply. "Then undo them!"
The pandit looked horrified. "Such marriages are not undone so lightly. Breaking a completed marriage after sacred pheras is considered an apshagun."
"Apshagun?" Sonia repeated furiously. "My daughter's life is ruined!"
Jhanvi suddenly looked toward Veeransh, with pure hatred. "I had told you." She stepped at him. "If you never entered this family…" she pointed, "…none of this would've happened."
Veeransh felt small infront of the eyes.
"Kairav left my sister because of him. And, now Krishav ruined our marriage because of him too." Her eyes glistened. "Do you destroy every relationship you touch?"
"Jhanvi," Krishav warned softly.
"No!" she snapped. "Not you Krishav. You loved me. What's with this new boy?" Jhanvi's eyes went to the mangalsutra. "That mangalsutra was supposed to be mine," she said stepping forward to snatch it.
But, Krishav stopped here. "Jhanvi! I warned you." Krishav moved beside him protectively. "He is my husband now," Krishav held Veeransh's hands.
That only made Kairav angrier.
Then suddenly—
Clap.
Clap.
Clap.
Slow applause echoed through the ruined mandap.
Tamas smiled from the corner while smoke curled around him.
"How emotional," he mocked. "Love, betrayal, broken engagements, fake marriages…" He tilted his head with amusement. "This family truly knows how to entertain."
"What a fascinating twist of destiny," he murmured. "The wrong groom married the right obsession."
Kairav glared murderously at him. "Shut up."
But Tamas only smiled wider. "You should be careful with that anger, Kairav. Anger makes people weak. And weak people lose everything." With that he left the villa with his men. Veeransh kept looking at him as he left. He twisted his fist.
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Guide:
tilak - sacred forehead mark