chapter 5

After their tense morning at home, Pragya and Anika arrived at their office, greeted by their friend Aryan.

"Hello, Saxena sisters," Aryan greeted warmly.

"Hello, Aryan," they both replied with a smile. Working together in the same cabin, they soon found themselves joined by their teammates Nishchay and Rohan.

"Hey, girls, will you go for coffee?" Rohan suggested, and they both nodded in agreement.

At the cafe over steaming cups of coffee, Nishchay couldn't help but shower them with compliments.

"Girls, you two are amazing. Whoever you marry will be very lucky. One is a poet-writer, and the other is a romance writer," Nishchay remarked with admiration.They both exchanged a fake chuckle

"Pragya, would you write poetry for your boyfriend or your husband?" Nishchay inquired, his curiosity piqued. "Well, if my husband turns out to be a total jerk, then of course not. Why waste precious language like poetry on him?" Pragya responded bluntly, causing Nishchay to nervously chuckle.

"Anika, would you write your love story with someone in the future?" Rohan directed his question to Anika."Well, considering it's likely to be an arranged marriage, what if my husband reveals that he only married me for the family's sake and isn't ready to take our relationship to the next level, or worse, doesn't even talk to me? In that case, I would write, but it wouldn't be a love story. It might turn out to be a family drama with a mother-in-law like an actual mother and a cool and dashing father-in-law," Anika replied with a hint of sarcasm.

"A headache bua ji, their children, and daughter-in-laws who are nothing good," Pragya added, sharing Anika's sentiment.

"If you don't mind me asking, is your mom surrounded by this type of family? I mean, the way you are talking about it makes it seem like that's the case," Rohan ventured cautiously, sensing a deeper personal connection to the topic.

"Ummm, actually, it's just a new daily soap we started watching," Pragya clarified, relieving the tension with a light-hearted explanation. "Ohhhh, let's go back to the office then," Nishchay suggested, and everyone agreed with a nod.

"We should control ourselves in the office," Anika reminded them, and Pragya nodded in agreement.

Around 4:00 PM, they returned home and headed straight to their room, feeling exhausted from the day's events.

Advik entered the room and noticed Anika sleeping, which was unusual as she rarely slept during the day. Concerned, he approached her and checked her temperature, but everything seemed normal.

Advik returned to the couch and resumed his work, immersed in his tasks for about an hour. Suddenly, he heard a knock on the door. Opening it, he found Avni standing there.

"Mummy is asking bhabhi to prepare tea and snacks," Avni informed him.Advik's expression hardened as he regarded her sternly.

"And why would my wife do that? Where are your MUMMY'S daughter-in-laws? She is not your servant," he asserted firmly.Avni's demeanour shifted as she began to retreat, but before she could leave, Advik added decisively

"And my wife will not cook tonight." With that, he closed the door, leaving Avni to ponder his words.

As Anika opened her eyes, she spotted Advik in the room and assumed it was morning. "You didn't go to the office?" she questioned, still groggy from sleep.

"It's evening. See the time," Advik replied, gesturing towards the clock, which read 5:30."Oh, god, I have to cook," Anika exclaimed, panic creeping into her tone.

"Stay here. you are not the maid of the house who has to cook every time. If some people live here as if it's their own house, then they should contribute to household chores too," Advik stated indirectly, referring to Saanvi and Ishaani.

Anika stood up, taking the hint. She grabbed her laptop and began working on her story, refusing to be burdened by the expectation of being the sole caretaker of the household.

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Pragya stirred awake around 5:55 AM, realising she had overslept."Ohhhh god, I slept," Pragya muttered to herself, not initially noticing Ishan's presence in the room.

"Are you like that old man in the story? If he sleeps, then all the monsters come out," Ishan quipped, his words causing Pragya to pause and process each one before shaking her head in confusion.

"What the hell is this man saying?" Pragya wondered to herself, unable to decipher Ishan's strange analogy.

"Then why are you panicking about just sleeping a little more?" Ishan pressed, his question leaving Pragya momentarily speechless.As she struggled to come up with a response.

Ishan continued, "About cooking, Advik bhaiya said that others will cook today and let you and bhabhi rest." Pragya nodded, grateful for the unexpected relief from kitchen duties.

Pragya's shock was palpable as she stared at Ishan, processing his words carefully.

"What?" Ishan asked, confusion evident in his tone. "Dad, give us 5-5% shares of the company. Do you both brothers want to take our shares?" Pragya questioned, her voice tinged with determination.

"What the hell? We already have 40-40% shares, and do you think we'll become Ambani with just your 5-5% shares?" Ishan retorted incredulously."Boond boond se ghada bharta hai," Pragya replied calmly, a Hindi proverb meaning 'one by one, drops fill the pitcher' implying that even small contributions add up over time.

"Talking to you means a headache," Ishan grumbled, clearly exasperated by their conversation.

"Your nickname is headache," Pragya muttered under her breath.

"What? What did you say?" Ishan asked, catching her words."Nothing, let me sleep more," Pragya dismissed, feigning sleepiness as she lay back on the bed, while Ishan retreated to the balcony.

Later, during dinner time, they all gathered downstairs.

"Sorry, Mom, actually we were tired and slept for too long," Anika apologised to Ranya."It's okay, beta. No need. Ishaani and Saanvi prepared the food," Ranya reassured them.

"Okay, Mom," both Anika and Pragya replied in unison, expressing their gratitude.As they settled down to eat, the atmosphere was filled with a sense of warmth and understanding, despite the earlier tensions.