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1. It's No

Ram was lying on his bed thinking about Priya. Their Marriage, if she agrees.

Most of their meetings went in either misunderstanding each other, or arguments or fights. Except the meet on the office terrace where she yelled at him initially, but they ended up laughing together.

Even if they didn't share a great or at the minimum a decent start — thanks to the Sid-Shivina-Akshay situation and all the wedding chaos, strangely she was the first person ever to laugh on his lame joke. His joke made her, the Priya Sood, laugh.

And then today's date.

The date went pretty well. Better than what he had expected. Priya was totally different than him. They hardly had anything in common except their unconditional love for their respective families for which they agreed for this compromise.

And the truth which made things less complicated. Neither Priya expects love in a relationship nor he had any love to give her, rather anyone, cause he promised his love shall remain for Vedika forever.

He agreed to marry Priya for sake of Shivina. Not just because he promised his Dad to take care of his family but he loved Shivina a lot. She was more like a child to him.

And then, it was about love. Love which he had lost in his life. Hence marrying her wasn't that bad idea. If nothing, in her he would find a person to laugh with him on his jokes.

He spent rest of the night thinking about Priya and them. In other words, preparing himself to marry someone else than Vedika.

****

"So??" Akshay asked eagerly, "How was your date? Did you like him? Is it a yes?" he bombarded her with questions.

She went into the kitchen and poured some water for herself.

He continued, "Di, whatever you decide will impact all of us. Bua is concerned for you."

She remained silent.

"Di kuch bolo. Are you marrying Mr. Kapoor?" he asked in frustration.

"I will accept whatever you decide for me," she answered, deadpan, and headed to her room.

He followed her, "What do you mean by that? Who am I to decide? It's about your marriage, it should be your decision."

"My decision??" she glared at him. She shut the door of the cupboard and continued in distress, "This doesn't seem to be my decision. First, you put forth a condition of not marrying Shivina until I marry someone. Then Shivina experiences pregnancy symptoms. Worried about this, her Mom proposes my marriage with Mr. Kapoor and in the same vein he too agrees for it. What choice do I have?"

He tried to defend,"But Shivina's not pregnant!" Seeing her scowl, he mended, "I'm sorry."

He sat beside her, held her hand and tried to convince her,"I know it's my fault but look at the bright side. Now, you'll marry Mr Kapoor."

This annoyed her. How could a stranger agreeing to marry her owing to his sister's almost pregnancy be a bright side? It was wrong.

"Di, I'm telling you, he is a great man. He accepted me because I cared for you more than myself. Trust me  I would have never forced you if it wasn't him," he said sitting down with appealing look.

"So you agree that you are forcing me into this?"

"I just want you to be happy"

"Akshay, do you want me to be happy or married?" she questioned.

"Di, I want you to be happily married", he replied instantly.

"And taking advantage of Mr Kapoor's love of his sister to get us married would make me, rather us happy. That's what you think?"

He didn't know what to say.

Whatever little Priya had known Ram, she had realized his unconditional love for Shivina. The reason he agreed to marry her.

"And what about Shivina? It doesn't matter if she's pregnant or not. She called off the wedding, fought with her family for you. It might be right on your part as a brother but what about your commitment, responsibility towards her?"

"Di, I love Shivina. I'd never leave her. But before that I want to do something for you," he said.

"For me?" she chuckled.

"Yaad hai, your anger when Maitri married Neeraj. In fact, till date you don't even talk properly with them. If that was wrong, then this is wrong too." Trying to explain she continued, "Akki, try to understand. I appreciate the efforts you're taking but..." she sighed and walked towards the window, "but Shaadi is a big thing."

She opened the window and folded her arms.

"You don't marry someone cause of their goodness. Marriage is more than that. It's not just about two people. Apart from that, Mr Kapoor and I hardly know each other."

"And did you considered the possibility of things not working out between us? In some way or another, it will affect you two."

He tried to convince her harder, "But what if things work out between you two? What if you two are happy together?"

She turned to him and said, "Okay. Imagine this. Mr Kapoor and I are very happy together, living a great life but supposedly, just as an example, some problem emerges between you and Shivina? Will things still remain the same, unaffected then?"

She had a point. Kapoors were literally strangers for them. If at all Ram and Priya marry each other they will be marrying for their siblings. So, Akki-Shivi's relationship would affect theirs and vice-versa.

Besides this, her experiences regarding relationships and marriages, marrying someone for some condition even for Akshay or for that matter Meera's sake was a terrible idea. She knew, in the end it was about her. And if she agrees then about them.

"Akki, Mr Kapoor is a good man. He loves his family more than anything and that's enough for me. But I want you to think through this, about everyone and every possibilities. No matter what you decide, I'll accept it wholeheartedly."

****

"Congratulations bhai!!!! Tu meethai kha," exclaimed Vikrant breaking in into Ram's room. Adi and Kunal followed him.

Before Ram could ask anything he fed him the Kajukatlis and they hugged him tightly. They were talking among themselves randomly.

Finally breaking the moment and calming them, he asked, "Itni subh tum log yaha? Koi kuch batayega??"

Stuffing a kajukatli Adi told,"Tujhe nahi pata. Nandini Aunty just told us about Shivina's Roka with Akshay."

"Finally, they will be marry and most importantly, you are saved!!" Vikrant said blissfully.

"She.. she agreed to marry me?" Ram asked fretfully.

Keeping his arm around Ram, Vikrant said,"I said you're saved. Bach gaya tu shaadi se."

Ram stopped eating. Did Priya refuse to marry him? Did Akshay agree to marry without their marriage? Was he truly being saved?

Adi clarified things for him. Meera informed Nandini that Akshay agreed to marry Shivina without any condition. They discussed over call and decided to get them engaged today.

"Kya hua Ram? Tu khush nahi?" Aditya asked.

"Of course. I.. I'm happy. I'm really happy for her. Shivi will be marrying the person she loves," he said.

He was relieved but confused. Snatching the sweet box from Kunal's hand, he said, "Okay. Now get back to work. It's Shivi's Roka. Bohot kaam hai."