As much as they wanted to talk to each other further, they were interrupted by Jhanvi. She had came to call them down for breakfast. The breakfast was a total silent affair. Annika was made to sit next to Shivaay while the others just settled themselves on the vacant chairs there on the huge dining table. No one spoke more than just the formal greeting and occassional passing of tray food from here and there, the clanks of cutleries, the table server asking them for more drinks and the swishing breeze that blew ever now and then. After their breakfast was completed, Dadi, the eldest member of the Oberoi clan informed the family that they would be leaving to their mansion after lunch and also that the rest of the post wedding rituals would be continued there. It was decided that Annika's bidaai would be done from the venue itself instead of bringing her to her house as it would be time consuming. Everything was being decided by the elders and Annika kept quiet to herself.

"All of you are deciding everything. What about Annika?" Shivaay asked casually, making her gasp in shock.

"What about Annika?" They asked him back, Annika's family mostly.

"Wouldn't she want to visit her house for one last time? No one asked her about it."

"Waah! It's hardly been a day since you both got married and she is making you dance to her tunes, already?" Her uncle taunted them.

"No, Uncle Ji! It's not about that..."

"She will go to her house for pagphere anyways. You don't have to keep asking her what she wants. Just instruct her to do as told."

Shivaay couldn't believe the way they were mistreating Annika. She had put her whole life in stake just for the sake of her family's name and reputation, but that family only cared less about her. They treated her like a trophy that needed to be passed down and that irked Shivaay. He was about to argue further when his mother shook her head, asking him to just obey the elders.

"Why didn't you say anything when they were instructing you?" Shivaay questioned Annika once they were inside the car, travelling to Oberoi Mansion.

"What can I say?"

"Your opinions! What you wanted?!" He raised his voice, being a little angry at how his wife was okay being neglected.

"It wouldn't matter to them, Shivaay. I had tried many times earlier, but neither of it worked. It doesn't matter anymore." She replied with a sad smile.

Shivaay knew that she had trained herself to camouflage her feelings. Last night and this morning, while talking to her, he felt a different vibe coming from her, but now, it was all gloomy. They hardly spoke anything after that as Annika dozed off in the car. Jet lag had hit her bad, but the poor girl had no time for a proper rest.

As soon as they reached Oberoi Mansion, the rituals to welcome the eldest daughter-in-law of the house was conducted in a grand manner. She was literally being celebrated by the entire Oberoi clan. She was amused by the bond that was shared by the whole family. It was very much unlikely from her family. If someone from her family had seen that, they would certainly blamed the younger generation having no respect for the elders at all. But, being an open minded person herself despite growing up in such a typical Indian family environment, Annika understood that the Oberois express their love and respect through their behaviour not by the way they act. One best example was sitting right next to her. Her husband.

While being shown around the house by her husband's younger twin siblings, she halted at her place when she heard his voice, it seemed as if he was arguing with someone. Rudra and Priyanka didn't realize that she had stopped and went on walking.

"How could you Mom? What kind of family are they? They didn't even regard her as human being and you fixed my alliance there?"

"Shivaay, it wasn't in my hands, you knew it from the beginning. Your Dadi had made a promise to her bestfriend that one of their grandchildren will get married to each other. What do you suppose me to do if the family turns out like that?"

Annika's heart sank, it was her family they were talking about. She knew that her family wasn't that great to be deserving praises and all, but, still, they were her family.

"Whatever it is! Annika is now my wife and I really don't want her to go back to her house tomorrow! I can't let her be humiliated further!" Shivaay decided.

"Shivaay, earlier you were getting angry that everyone is deciding for her and no one asked what her opinion was. Aren't you doing the same thing now? Beta, I know that you care for her and I'm very glad about that. She deserves all our care and love after what had happened to her, but there are some customs and rituals that has to be done. So, please bring her to her house. You'll have to be there only for a few hours and then before you know it, you'll be back here. Okay?"

"Alright Mom. But, if anyone misbehaved with her, I swear, I'll break their nose!"

"Shivaay!" Jhanvi sighed and walked away.

Annika, on the other hand, could hardly understand what was going on with her husband. They hardly knew each other for a day now and he cared that much for her? She was accustomed to the minimal care and love from her family that all this seemed very new to her. In a way, she was thankful to be getting such a wonderful husband and in-laws. But, in another way, she was freaking out. What if they found her unworthy of Shivaay? What if they didn't want her?

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Shivaay's voice brought her back from the thoughts she was lost in.

"Woh... Rudra and Priyanka were showing me around and then I got lost and I accidentally heard your conversation with your Mom!" She spilled everything out in panic of being caught.

"You wouldn't send me away because you don't like my family, right?" She asked him before he could explain himself.

"What? No! Of course not. Whatever it is, you're my wife now. We're married and I believe in making it work for lifelong. So, please, don't ever think like that again. But yeah, if you want to walk away, then I'm no one to stop you", Shivaay was about to continue but he received a deadly glare from her.

"You're my husband. You have the rights." She told him and walked away.

Shivaay smiled to himself, knowingly or unknowingly, Annika just let him know that she accepted their marriage and him. Now, he was more than sure that they can definitely make things work between them!

That night, when she was going to bed, she remembered how they were when they woke up this morning. Annika wanted to avoid that embarrassment at any cost and arranged a wall of pillow between her side and Shivaay's side.

"Err... Question... What exactly are you doing?" Shivaay asked.

"I'm making a pillow well between your side and my side!" Annika shrugged her shoulders and lied on her side.

"And, what are these for?"

"So that I won't disturb you again. I must have disturbed you a lot last night, right? It's really bad to disturb one's sleep! Hence, I made these so that if I turned around to hug something, I'll end up hugging the pillows instead of you." She truthfully answered.

"Oh! Alright, then! But, I'd rather have you to hug me than these pillows. I mean, we're married! Sooner or later, we will have to get used to each others embrace and these pillow is just adding up to the awkwardness that we are trying to break, don't you think?"

Annika nodded understandingly and looked up at him again.

"I know that these changes are all overnight for you, but trust me, I'm trying really hard to make things easier for you. Shall we remove these pillows then?" Shivaay asked again.

"Okay!" Annika giggled as she removed the pillow wall which she built just a little while ago.

"When will you roll over and hug me?" Shivaay teased her after they both lie on the bed.

"Huh?" She gasped loudly earning chuckles from him.

"I... errr... you... " She stammered, trying to find the right thing to say.

"Annika, relax! I was just pulling your leg."

"Oh!" She face-palmed herself.

"You're so gullible and cute, wify!" Shivaay exhaled, slightly blown over by how adorable she was.

Annika couldn't help but to blush at his statement. How more sweet can her husband get? She turned, letting her back to face him and tried to fall asleep when she felt his breath hitting her ears. Her heart began to pound on her ribcage.

"Good night, Annika!"

As soon as the whisper was gone, his breath was also gone. She felt him moving away and lying on his back. Smiling to herself, Annika barely managed to whisper a good night back to him and gave in to the slumber.

That morning, just like how it was the previous morning, Shivaay woke up to find himself completely caged. Before he could wake her up, the knocks on the door woke her. Apparently, she had her peheli raasoi in which, she has to prepare breakfast for the family and then, the newly wed couples would be heading to her house for pagphere. The rest of the day went uneventful for both of them as there were a lot of relatives to greet with and talk to. Shivaay loved Annika's cooking though. She made some kheer and aloo poori for the whole family.

"I thought you told me that you can't cook." Shivaay whispered to her as she served the meal.

"I only know how to make these and omelette." Annika grinned.

Shivaay smiled in return but before he could open his mouth to reply, his mother had literally chased them out of the mansion. Annika's home visit wasn't really a pleasant one. The only loveable experience that Shivaay had was in her room. He loved how lively she kept her room. With star string lights hanging from the corner of her room and the dreamcatchers which was her headboard. She had packed a few other extra things to be brought along with her and Shivaay helped her in that. But, him helping her, made the family to taunt her. Shivaay was about to lose his cool when Annika somehow realized him losing it and held his hand tightly. She remembered him telling his mother how he would break their nose. She feared, what if he was true to his words like the other time. Her touch, surprisingly managed to bring back the rationale in him. The journey back to Oberoi Mansion was a quiet one indeed. Shivaay was angry while Annika was worried for him but neither spoke a word.

"Do they always treat you like that?" He questioned her when they were settling on the bed that night.

"That's normal. There are days that is even worse!" Annika chuckled in an attempt of humour but only received glares from him in return.

"Why don't you speak up for yourself, Annika? I mean, I know that they're your family but that doesn't mean you should keep tolerating everything they say, right?"

"I know Shivaay but there's nothing I say or do will change it. Their perception and way of life is different and a bit orthodox. So, yeah! Gauri was the only one who had the guts to talk back to them. She was shortest one in the entire family but she had the worst temper too!" Annika chuckled remembering her cousin come best friend.

Shivaay uncomfortably shifted to lie down on the bed as he cleared his throat. That was when Annika realized that the person whom she's talking about was supposed to be in her place.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."

"I understand. To be honest, I haven't talked to Gauri that much too. I was told that she's a very shy person. That's all. I never knew that she had a boyfriend and pregnant that too! If she had told me, at least once, I would have helped her. It was my mistake as well, that I didn't make the initiative to talk to her" he paused for a minute when a strange thought came to him, "do you by any chance happen to have a boyfriend?" He questioned her with a much horror striken face.

Annika chuckled at his expression and shook her head.

"We are not allowed to have boyfriends and all. Besides, who would look at me? I'm just lucky that you married me!"

"And here, I was thinking the same. I'm lucky that you got married to me!" Shivaay replied.

Annika looked at him with a gasp to find him already looking at her. Their gazes locked. Neither wanting to break it. She was lying on the bed with her back rested on the tall pillows. Shivaay lifted himself up by balancing his weight on his right elbow and slowly took his left hand up to cup her cheeks. Annika's eyes followed the movement of his hand as she nervously anticipated his next move. After what seemed like an eternity, Shivaay finally brushed his palms against her soft cheeks, making her breath go erratic. Annika fisted the sheets tightly and shut her eyes tightly as he went near her. She opened her eyes when she felt the warmth from his hand moving away.

"You have a wish!" Shivaay exclaimed showing her a fallen strand of eyelash with a wink.

"I think I already have everything one could wish for." It was her turn to stun him. With a smile, she leaned back, wished him good night and slept off right away.

Shivaay scratched the back of his neck as he saw her peaceful face. He was clearly falling for her. He couldn't stop himself and he doesn't want to stop either. She was like the Pandora box to him. Unpredictable and surprising. As he kept looking at her lovingly, she stirred in her sleep and scooted closer towards him. Shivaay opened his arms right away, readily taking her into his embrace. Once she had settled herself down, he happily closed his eyes drifting into sleep.

* * *

To be continued...