Author

Continuation of chapter 26,

A few hours before Ashrit came to pick up Noor.

📍 Grave estate, Banglore.

It was a serene morning at the grave estate. People came to pay respect to their loved ones who passed away. The place wasn't rushed, just calm and serene —just the way the souls love to stay in.

Inside the grave estate, a woman sat across a grave named— Arshika Agnihotri. The woman's eyes held nothing —no emotions, no sympathy and definitely not pain. She just sat there blankly staring at the grave.

She lifted her hand and with her soft fingertips she traced the bold letters of the name.

“ What a shame.. that you had to leave so soon, didi.”

She said, now, her fingers resting on the name.

“ The curses are too… cruel.” she shook her head, as if she was really sad about that person's death.

“ But don't you think the curse is a good thing?” she tilted her head, “ At least it gave you a peaceful death and you don't have to witness your dear sister's evil deeds.”

Her lips curved up into a sinister smile. The woman clapped and a man came running to her and handed a bouquet full of black roses— the ones Arshika despised the most. The woman kept the black roses on her grave, right below the name.

“ Happy birthday, didi. I hope you don't rest in peace.”

With that she turned around and walked out of the grave estate.

Outside a black Mercedes waited for her.

The guard opened the back door, and she got in.

Inside, a man dressed in a crisp black suit waited for her.

“ Is that why you came here? Devika Raghuvanshi?” He asked, with a brow raised.

“ To mock your dear sister on her birthday?”

Devika turned to him, her own eyebrows raised up, “ is that the way you talk to your mother now, son? Without any respect?”

The man scoffed, “ mother?” He leaned forward facing her, his tone emotionless.

“ You out of all people shouldn't say that word, Devika Raghuvanshi.”

Instead of feeling hurt, Devika smiled. Her eyes became dark and serious.

“Of course, my son knows me well—better than anyone else,” she said, turning to see herself in the mirror.

The man nodded, his lips twisting into an evil smile.

“ So, why did you summon me from Russia, in such a hurry?” he asked, picking up the iPad from his lap.

“ Get ready to get your revenge, son. Soon Ashrit will be out of our way.”

The man raised a brow hearing her.

“ You have a plan, mother?”

Devika smiled— a smile that sent shivers down everyone's spine, the one that scares people.

“ Soon, it will be a full moon day.”

“ So?” He asked,

“ Not just a full moon day. It's a day, when the power of curse increases tenfold. It becomes so strong that no one —not even the person with the special Rashi Kundali can save Ashrit.”

The man smirked, his eyes turning dark matching Devika’s.

“ If Ashrit dies that day.. then we will be able to conquer the Raghuvanshi and will destroy their name from this world.”

Devika nodded. “ Yes, so be ready to destroy those who took your family away from you.”

As they finished talking, Devika's guard sitting on the passenger seat turned to her,

“ Mam, your flight is in an hour. Should we go to the airport now or do you want to return to the suite?”

“ To the airport,” she said, making the guard nod.

“ You are leaving?” The man asked, “ so early?”

“Hmm,” she hummed while looking at her face in the mirror, fixed to the back of the passenger seat.

“ I can't let the Raghuvanshi's live in peace for such a long time. It's already been three weeks. I can't let them be happy for this long.” She said, while correcting her makeup.

“ As you know their happiness is like a thorn in my heart.” She continues, dabbing her lipstick.

“It stings deeper into my heart whenever I see them happy.”

*

📍Raghuvanshi Palace.

Afternoon.

It was a serene afternoon, the elders gathered in the living to have a peaceful tea— their routine thing. As Ashrit, Harsh and darsh took over the business, Ranjeet and Ranveer were retired and were stress free and are having a good time by spending time with their respective partner and their beloved parents who are aging faster.

“ So, how are the preparations going?” Abhiraj asked while taking a sip of his tea. Ranjeet looked up from his own tea cup.

“ Everything is going smoothly, baba.”

“ Haa, baba saa. Palace ki decoration bhi sham se shuru ho jayagi.” Ranveer added, making him nod.

(“Yes, baba saa. The decoration of the palace will also begin in the evening.”)

“ Sab kuch theek se aur dhan se karwana. Humare bhade pote ki Reception hai, Dhoom Dham se honi chahiye.” he said, keeping his tea cup on the glass table.

(“Get everything done properly and with attention. It is our eldest grandson's reception, it should be grand.”)

“ Ji baba saa—” Ranjeet was cutted off.

“ sab theek se aur dhan se, tab hogi na baba saa, jab ye dono dur rahenge!” Prisha jumped in, glaring at her husband and brother-in-law who messed up with the decoration of the garden and now were sitting here peacefully having tea, like they didn't destroyed the whole garden.

(“Everything will be done properly and attentively, Baba Saa, but only when both of them stay far away!”)

Both brothers stiffed hearing her and glanced at each other from the corner of their eyes.

“ Please tell them to stay away from the decoration works, Reshmi and I can take care of it.” saying that she left not before smacking both the brothers on the head.

“ Owww” both groaned in unison.

Abhiraj signed and shook his head at them being disappointed.

“ Socha tha, bhade hoke sudhar jayenge par nahi. Phir socha Shaddi ke baad hojayenge par nahi. Aab toh tumhare bache ki bhi Shaddi ho gayi hai, phir bhi tum dono badal ne ki nam hi nahi le rahe ho!”

(“I thought you both would change after growing up, but no. Then I hoped marriage would bring some improvement, but still nothing. Now even your son is married, yet neither of you is willing to even talk about changing!”)

Abhiraj shook his head with sheer disappointment at his son's.

He knows that his sons could crack complicated business deals, can deal with the biggest losses in stocks yet they could never do such small work like decorating a garden properly without messing up things.

Compared to the other Two Royal families in Rajasthan—Rathod’s and Agnivanshi’s. The Raghuvanshi's have many rituals which only the direct descendents of the families can perform.

Like decorating the garden and the abandoned garden which are the entrances to the D & C-Wings —As they can't let people discover these places so they had to made up many fake rituals so that people could never get to know about the family secrets.

And there are not many people who knew about this curse and those who know about it, willingly offered a hand to support them. So like that, Raghuvanshi's secret is kept hidden from the world.

But now seeing how things are going, it won't take much time for the new generation to uncover the secret soon just like their father's generation did.

*

As the father and sons got engrossed into a deeper conversation, they heard loud footsteps approaching them. They looked at each other and nodded, preparing themselves to face the person.

Outside, a black SUV parked and Devika Raghuvanshi came out of the car.

She raised a brow as soon as her eyes fell on the decoration items placed at the side of the parking lot. She glanced around and saw the workers decorating the entrance and the bushes of the driveway.

Devika clenched her jaw, her face turned red as soon as she realised what those items were for.

Rage surged through her veins and she walked inside, her steps hurried and loud making everyone working in the hall way stare at her at the intensity of her steps.

“ Itne din palace mein shaant thi, aab toh sab ki khushiyon barbaad hojayenge ” One of the maids whispered to the other one, making them nod.

(“The palace was peaceful for so many days, now everyone's happiness will be ruined.”)

“ Inko wapas aana zaroori tha kya?” The other one whispered.

(“was it necessary for her to come back?”)

“ Aab phir se, ghar me mayusi hogi” they nodded.

(“Now again, there will be sadness in the house”)

“ Haa, mujhe lagta hai ki yeh Kala jadu karti hai!. Dekho puri Mahal ek minute Mai kesi apni chamak kho gayi hai!”

(“Yes, I think she does black magic! Look, the whole palace has lost its shine in just a minute!”)

The maids nodded and returned back to their respective works before Devika could catch them whispering about her. After all, they don't want to get on her bad side and lose their lives.

As Devika reached the main living room her eyes fell on her father and brothers. She walked to them.

“ Yeh kya ho raha hai baba saa?” She demanded, her eyes burning with rage.

(“What is happening Baba saa?”)

“ Andi ho? Ya phir dimaag ko samajh mein nahi aaraha? Reception ki taiyari hora hai.” Ranveer replied, and kept his right leg on his left one.

(“Are you blind? Or is your brain just not getting it? The reception preparations are going on.”)

Devika gritted her teeth at his reply.

“ mujhe pata hai yeh kis cheez ki tayari ho rahi hai!, main puch rahi hu, yeh sab kyu ho Raha hai?”

(“I know what these preparations are for! I’m asking—why is all this even happening?”)

Abhiraj glanced at her, his eyes cold yet held a bit of warmth in them, which obviously was unseen by Devika.

“ Kyu ka kya matlab hai Devika?” He asked, his voice calm.

“ Ashrit ki shaadi ko pure do mahine ho rahe hai aur Jodhpur ki logo ne apni nayi Rani ko dekh be ke liye zidd kar rahe hai. Isiliye humne socha, unki Mannat pure kiya jaaye aur Noor ko humare nayi Rani bana ke parichay karte hai.”

(“What does ‘why’ mean Devika?”)

(“It has been almost two months since Ashrit's wedding, and the people of Jodhpur have been insisting on seeing their new queen. That’s why we thought their wish should be fulfilled—and Noor should be presented as our new queen.”)

Devika fisted her saree after hearing him.

“ Baba saa, don't you know what day it is?” She asked. “ At least you should have started the decorations tomorrow after didi—”

“ Devika buss karo!”

(“ Devika stop it!”)

They heard the loud voice of Kalyan and they all turned to look at the staircase where Kalyani, Ashrit, Prisha and the siblings were standing.

All of them were coming down to discuss the guest list but were stopped after seeing Devika, so they decided to hear from standing there but the moment she mentioned Arshika.

Kalyani couldn't stop herself but yelled.

Kalyani glared at Devika with sheer rage, the intensity made Devika take a step back but not scared.

“ Tumhaari jagaha nahi hai meri beti ki baare Mai baat karne keliye!!” She yelled.

“ Dobara meri beti ke baare mein apni gandi muh se baat maat karna, Varna mein tumhari muh Tod dungi.”

(“You have no right to talk about my daughter!”)

(“Don’t you dare speak about my daughter again with that filthy mouth of yours, or I’ll break your face.”)

Devika swallowed hard, her anger reached its peak now. She clenched her jaw so hard that it started to hurt and her nails started to dig in her palm through the fabric of the saree.

The topic of Arshika Raghuvanshi Agnihotri was a sensitive one for the Raghuvanshi's. She was the fourth child of Abhiraj and Kalyani. A truly pure soul. Her sudden but inevitable death left them devested.

Years passed yet they weren't able to cope up from her death.

And today was her birthday and her death day too—an occasion no one ever able to forget in the household.

The reason why they started the decorations today, when the Reception was after two days, was because they wanted to forget the fact that Arshika wasn't present with them. They don't want to face each other on her birthday and see each other relive the pain again.

“ Aap chahe kuch bhi kahe maasa. Mai ye Reception nahi hone dungi!” She gritted her teeth. Her face turned red as she tried to contain her anger.

(“Say whatever you want, Maasa, but I won’t let this reception happen!”)

“ Main, uss adi-angraz ko iss ghar ki Bahu aur Jodhpur ki rani hahi bane dungi!!” She yelled.

(“I will never let that half-foreigner become the daughter-in-law of this house and the queen of Jodhpur!”)

Ashrit let out a chuckle hearing her. Anger rushed in his veins, and a muscle in his jaw ticked as he descended the stairs calmly and walked to Devika and stood in front of her. His tall figure towers over her, making her feel small and surrender and Devika hates herself for it.

“ Adi-angraz?” He repeated, his voice calm but laced with a hidden threat.

The elders looked at each other and inhaled a deep breath.

“Lagta hai, koi apni jagah bhool rahi hai!” He said and glared into her eyes, making her flinch at the intensity of his blazing glare.

(“Looks like someone is forgetting their place!”)

Ashrit took another step forward, closing the distance between them. His voice was still calm—too calm—but it carried the weight of the rage inside him.

“Tumhe kis ne yeh haq diya ki tum faisla karo ki iss ghar ki Bahu kaun banegi?”

(“Who gave you the right to decide who becomes the daughter-in-law of this house?”)

Devika opened her mouth to say something but Ashrit raised his hand— not to hit but to silence.

“ You know why I have kept you in my palace despite knowing everything. So stop poking your nose in my family matters.”

He leaned in, voice dripping into a cold whisper.

“Jis din Noor ke maang mein maine sindoor bhara tha na, ussi din woh iss mahal ki aur Jodhpur ki rani ban gayi thi. Ab kisi ko yeh pasand aaye ya na aaye, yeh sach badalne waala nahi hai.”

(“The day I filled Noor’s hairline with sindoor, that very day she became the queen of this palace and of Jodhpur. Now whether someone likes it or not, this truth is not going to change.”)

Devika clenched her jaw but her eyes flickered

With hate, despite towards Ashrit and he saw it— clearly, vividly.

He leaned back, his eyes cold as ever and voice dripping with a threat.

“Stay in your limits, Devika Raghuvanshi. You have no right to talk about my wife, nor to offer your unwanted opinions about her. If you want to stay alive and continue living a luxurious life in this palace, then stay silent like a good animal.

Or else… you already know how that good-for-nothing husband of yours died.”

The elders exhaled sharply hearing him. And Ashrit walked away from there.

Pihu stuck her tongue out to Devika which earned a glare from her and Harsh, darsh and Daksh smirked seeing her trembling with rage and followed their brother.

Devika gritted her teeth and glared at the elders, especially her mother —Kalyani Raghuvanshi who didn't give a fuck about her. And left for her room.

Outside Ashrit snatched the car keys from his driver and slid into the driver seat followed by his siblings in passenger and backseats.