𝟒: 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐞?

"kisse humare nazdikiyon ke, kam toh nahi hain?"

The police constables rushed into the garden where the celebration was going. The citizens who were excited to know who their new leader was, were now astonished to see the police officers rushing towards Aryan Arora.

"Mr Aryan Arora, you are under arrest!" the head officer shouted, pointing his gun at him.

Aryan Arora climbed down the stage, looking at all of them with pure anger, "What the fuck is happening here? I won the elections! I'm your new leader now, how dare you raise your voice against me? Do you want to lose your jobs?"

"How do you know you won the elections when the results are not yet announced?" A familiar voice was heard, while Nirwan Malhotra slowly emerged from somewhere behind the police.

Aryan Arora gritted his teeth, his fists tightening at his sight.

"I knew you would pull out this move. I knew you would trap me because you were losing the elections!" Aryan Arora roared again, while Nirwan Malhotra chuckled.

"You know you can't compete when you opt for an illegal way to make yourself win. You were paying the vote counters to increase your votes," Nirwan roared, while Aryan shouted.

"Fucking rubbish! Where's the proof I paid them? Where is the evidence that I did it illegally? Don't waste my time and obey me, I'm in power now!"

Nirwan smirked at the way he was getting hyper, but before Aryan could think of something else to fool everyone, Nirwan called out the woman who Aakriti rescued.

The woman walked slowly, her body covered with bandages. Aryan's eyes widened when he saw her, wondering how Nirwan found her.

"Ms Geeta, please tell everyone what he did with you," Nirwan said to the woman, who broke into tears.

"Sahab, I went to his place to seek help because my husband used to force my family for dowry. The police weren't helping me so I went to Aryan sahab, but he instead harassed me and took advantage of my condition," the woman narrated the story while crying, and every citizen present there listened to her words.

"Jhooth hai, sab jhooth hai! Is aurat ko tune paise diye honge yeh sab bolne ke liye!" Aryan shouted at Nirwan, who let out a chuckle.

[Lie, it's all a lie! You might have given money to this woman to say all this!]

"Kya inke jism ke ghaon bhi jhooth bol rahe hai? And if so, let's have a medical checkup," Nirwan roared, while the police officer tied handcuffs around Aryan Arora's hands.

[Are the wounds on her body lying as well? And if so, let's have a medical checkup.]

"And also, there are sixteen other harrassment cases filed against you, which were not recognised by anyone because you pushed them down!" Nirwan finished, signalling the police officer to arrest him.

Vivek Arora tried to stop them from taking him away, but the police didn't listen.

"Vivek ji, we cannot take any action without Ashish or Nirwan sir's orders," the police officer told Vivek Arora and left the place with Aryan Arora in their custody.

The entire crowd was shouting Nirwan's name, who joined his hands in front of them in pride.

Nirwan was now chosen as the official leader, because he didn't have any competitor in the elections now.

He looked towards the VIP section and spotted Aakriti, who was standing alone. Everyone from the Arora Supremacy went after the police to free Aryan Arora, but only she was remaining behind, staring at Nirwan Malhotra.

He walked towards the stage to deliver his speech and address the gathering.

On the other hand, Aakriti's phone rang while she walked out of the venue, receiving the call, "Ji, papa?"

"Aakriti, where are you?" she heard her father's voice from the other end.

"I'm still here at the garden, papa. And I would request you to please leave bhaiya and come back. He got what he deserved," she spoke harshly, while her father got annoyed.

"First come to the police station with a guard," her father spat before hanging up the call. She sighed and asked one of the guards to take her to the police station.

☆

"Ashish ji, please, please take your case back! It's a question about our party!" Vivek Arora begged in front of Ashish Malhotra, who was sitting on his chair, unbothered.

"I'm ready to fulfill all your demands, Ashish ji, please take the case back!" Vivek begged in front of him again, sitting on his knees.

"Papa! No need to stand for bhaiya!" Aakriti's voice echoed in the office of Malhotra Realm, while her father turned around to face her.

He stood up, walking towards Aakriti with rage filled eyes. Without any second thought, he raised his hand and slapped her.

"Sharam aani chahiye tujhe! Tera bhai jail mein hai aur tujhe koi farq nahi padta?" her father roared at her, while a lone tear escaped her eye.

[You should be ashamed! Your brother is in prison and you're not even bothered about it?]

"Papa, why can't you understand? Didn't you hear what Mr Nirwan Malhotra said? He had sixteen cases filed against him!" she protested back.

"You're taking their side? Bhool mat tu meri beti hai, samjhi? Jitna kaha hai utna kar!" Vivek shouted back and held her arm tightly, dragging her outside the office.

[You're taking their side? Don't forget that you're my daughter, understand? Do as I say!]

"Papa, what are you doing?" Aakriti winced in pain, to which her father paid no heed.

☆

"I feel sorry for her, Nirw. She is standing for the right. I can't believe how she can have a family like that?" Ashish Malhotra said.

"Exactly, and it's surprising that she has such an unsupportive family when she has an open mindset," Anandi Malhotra, Nirwan's mom added.

Nirwan remained silently seated on the couch in front of his parents, pretending to be engrossed in his phone.

It has been five days since that incident, and since then, there are no news reports about the Arora's.

And certainly no news about Aakriti either. What happened after her father took her back forcefully after she was trying to stand and fight against the wrong, nobody knows anything.

Ashish and Anandi exchanged a look, before Anandi cleared her throat, gaining Nirwan's attention.

"Nirw, I would like to talk to you about something. A few days ago, your dad talked to you about remarrying you, and we know a girl who you might be interested in," she said, while Nirwan glared at her.

"Mom, I'll never be interested in anyone other than my Aakriti!" Nirwan snapped, while his mother nodded.

"I know, but we have our eyes on a girl who we want you to get married to. Me and your dad have been discussing this for the last two days, and we decided to share this with you," she continued, while Nirwan closed his eyes to calm his temper down.

"Who is she?" Nirwan asked, his mind racing into multiple thoughts all at once.

"Aakriti Arora," his parents replied in unison, and Nirwan opened his eyes at the mention of her name immediately.

"What the fuck, why her?" Nirwan spat, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Nirw, there are many reasons why she is good for you. Her family is so ruthless towards her, and she always stands for what is right. I even got to know she is preparing to become a lawyer. Trust me, she will get along with you, even if it's hard for you," his mother said with hope in her eyes.

"But I don't want this marriage. This way, the Arora's will be a step closer to us. I hate their presence," Nirwan roared, standing up from the couch.

His mother held his hand and forced him to sit down again, "Nirw, please try to understand! This can also make the Malhotra Realm grow stronger!"

Nirwan raised his eyebrows in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, we will put two demands in front of them. One, to give Aakriti's hand in marriage, and second, join the Malhotra Realm and close the Arora Supremacy party permanently," his mother said, making Nirwan's eyes widened.

"You clearly know they will give Aakriti's hand in marriage, so why give them the second option?" Nirwan asked, making his mother laugh slightly.

"Idiot! Aakriti will deny this marriage proposal and then they will have no other option than to give up and join our party. And if Aakriti agrees, it's for your own good. And in turn of this, we will take back our case on Aryan Arora," his mother finished with a hint of mischief in her eyes.

My mind was racing, my heart beating.

After my conversation with mom and dad, I can't help but wonder if I should agree on their plan.

I looked down at the photo frame of Aakriti in my hand, my heart pounding in my chest.

"Jaan, I don't want to get married again. But mom has been requesting me constantly for the past five years, I don't know what to do. I don't want anyone to replace you, jaan. I can't even dream of doing that," I muttered, tears welling up in my eyes again.

But maybe she will deny this marriage proposal, and I'll have the Arora Supremacy crushed under my shoe.

I will make sure to take the revenge from them once they're in my control.

I pulled out my phone and called Nikhil, while he received my call in a few rings.

"Yes, sir?"

"Ask Vivek Arora to visit and meet me tomorrow," I said before hanging up the call, resting my head on the headrest of my bed.

I closed my eyes and Aakriti Arora's face flashed in front of me again. No matter how hard I try to forget her, she has been clouding my thoughts since the first day I saw her.

And it's getting harder to forget her now.

☆

Vivek Arora sat in front of us, while me and dad sat on the couch facing him.

"Mr Arora, we have decided to take our case back from Aryan," I started, and before I could say further, he smiled widely and joined his hands.

"I knew you would do that! Thank you so m-"

"But I have a condition," I cut him off, and his smile dropped off his face, "W-what?"

"There are two demands, but you have to fulfill one to save your son," I said, while he nodded, listening carefully.

"One, either close the Arora Supremacy party permanently and join us," I stated the first and my most wanted demand, while his eyes widened.

"And the second one?" he asked while trembling slightly.

I tried to say the second demand, but my words got stuck in my throat. My Aakriti was constantly flashing in my mind, and I didn't like the fact that I have to say that.

"The second demand is, give your daughter's hand in marriage to Nirwan," dad said for me, while I nodded in turn.

He gulped, before speaking confidently, "I'll choose the second one!"

"No," I immediately snapped, while dad glared at me.

Vivek Arora looked at me confusingly, while I cleared my throat, "I mean, I can't marry her without her consent. I will agree only when she meets me and tells me to do it."

"Okay, she will say that to you on her own! But will you release Aryan then?" Vivek Arora asked, while I nodded slowly.

"But there's my other condition to that," I interrupted again, and dad looked at me with confusion this time.

"I will marry Aakriti and take the case back if both our parties file a political alliance. Since the beginning, I always wanted to take over as many citizens under my rule, and if you sign the alliance and join us, we may work together and add more governments in our group," I said, while he smirked and nodded.

"If it's only a political alliance that you ask, then I'm ready. I'm okay with this demand. When do you want to meet Aakriti then?" Vivek Arora asked, greed filling his eyes.

"Today itself," I said without giving it a second thought. Vivek Arora nodded, "Okay, she'll come and meet you today in the evening."

I nodded while Vivek Arora stood up and left. I turned to face dad, who was glaring at me.

"I wanted to grow Malhotra Realm on its own, I never expected you to take help from other parties-"

"Selfishness takes you nowhere, dad. I'm not okay with this marriage, so let me try to find some advantages for myself in this forced marriage," I replied, before making my way to my bedroom.

☆

I was nervous. I hate to admit that, but I'm not interested in marrying her, yet I'm so nervous.

This is a total forced marriage, and it doesn't have my consent. The political alliance is the only reason why I'm marrying her, and fulfilling the dreams of my mom of having her desired daughter in law.

And maybe, just maybe, remarrying will make the people forget the accusations they put on me regarding my Aakriti's murder.

Even when I admit a thousand times that I didn't murder my own wife, they all continued to find odds in me and blamed me.

I hate shedding tears in front of anyone but Aakriti only, she is the only one who saw my tears, dead or alive.

Just because I didn't cry in front of everyone at her funeral, they assumed I was the one who murdered her.

And sometimes, I feel I'm actually a cause of her death, because being such a powerful politician, I couldn't find her culprit even in seven whole years.

No matter how hard I work and where I search, I couldn't ever figure out who murdered my jaan. Who the fuck dared to snatch away my entire world from my arms.

But since I saw Aakriti Arora, I feel a familiar feeling enlightening inside me. She makes me feel confident and all the roughness inside me subsides when I look at her.

Just the mention of her name makes my mind go blank, and I couldn't utter a single word when she is in my mind, as if I'm an illiterate person who doesn't even know how to speak properly.

And now that I'm going to get married to her, I'm afraid.

Afraid of losing the love I have for my Aakriti.

My late wife, Aakriti Sharma.

The woman I cherished and worshipped like a God and it's blessing.

And that's the conclusion I come on now; I'll distance myself from Aakriti Arora and make sure I do not build relationships with her that might hurt me later.

And it will be good for her as well if she just remains to be my wife in terms and better not try to act like one.

That will be good for both of us.