Chapter 1

"The family is the first heaven that we get on the earth."

A sliver of moonlight spilt into the room, not enough to ignite the fiery hues of the Indian rug, but enough to steer between the rough wooden chairs to the exit beyond from where hush noises were coming off.

A little lamp was suddenly lit in the darkroom accompanied by the incursion of three shapes who were walking on their toes to minimise the rustle of their feet's noise against the linoleum floor.

"Payal, how much?" a man rustled in an extremely muffled voice and looked at a young girl who was having a very delicate thing in her hand along with a knife. "Dad, ssh, it has some time to go, now don't converse. I'll remind you," the young girl admonished in a coherent tone and skulked behind the thick drapes along with two other musketeers of her crew as she just saw a movement in the person who was the master of this room.

After a pregnant silence of five minutes, the three musketeers slide off the drapes and started chorusing in a joyful tone, "Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to Scoobydooo, happy birthday to our Dhruv". Because of their vociferous warbling and the sudden flash of glitter on his perceptions, Dhruv woke up abruptly and saw how his best persons were assembled in front of him with a chocolate cake in their hands.

Another astonishing birthday surprise, wasn't it?

He promptly got up from his pallet and embraced his parents in utter love and respect for them as they both wished him, affectionately, "Happy birthday, son". His sister was second in the row to be hugged by him.

Last evening due to sheer tiredness and overload, he had languished early and that's why he was completely oblivious of his birthday as his mind usually was filled with the thoughts of plots, buildings, hotels, restaurants and other real-estate stuff. Being the managing director of a real-estate company was a tiring responsibility, both corporally and psychologically.

And this birthday surprise was the gush of fresh air in his humid, tiresome life.

Even at twenty-eight, he was like a little kid for his birthdays. His mother would make him a chocolate chip cake and he'd bounce out of bed like he was still in grade school. And as if it was a legacy, he'd cut the cake with the companionship of his parents and sister, and then after having the sweet pastries, they'd all retire to their room, but not before giving him an exceptional gifts like always.

This was the lovely family of Dhruv!

Our hero!

****

Do you want to know him more?

Well, he was Dhruv Singh Rajput!

A brilliant & successful businessman! He was neither cold nor arrogant. He was just a little bit strict. A Royal by blood, but a good soul by heart. He loved his family the most and they were his first priority.

He was handsome! He was smart with beautiful eyes, high cheekbones, and a husky voice with perfect height. He was 27 years old.

Wanna know more?

Well, he was committed too. But it was a secret. He didn't tell his family about his relationship as his family had something for an arranged marriage thing, but they still didn't have any problem with a love marriage. But Dhruv was only worried that they'll never accept Chandani as their daughter-in-law because she was way much more modern than they could accept her as their daughter-in-law. And about that business tour, his girlfriend, Chandani also went with him. 50% work & 50% girlfriend.

But a life-changing event was waiting for him.

**~°~**

"You bl**dy! You b**ch! Can't you see and walk?" a loud voice shouted harshly at a girl who was crying miserably on the ground as she was beaten up badly by none other than her stepmother. A monster she was in the form of a human.

Her mistake was only that she mistakenly dropped a glass bowl on the floor and now after beating her up, her stepmother was using her 'already bad mouth' and only bad words were coming out her mouth.

"I'm sorry," that vulnerable girl spoke weakly and tears were pouring out of her beautiful eyes.

"Huh! Sorry? What will your sorry do to me? Han? Tell me? I want compensation. You'll do all the household chores, but I'll not give you food for three days. That's your punishment."

"Now stand up and do the chores. Stupid orphan," her stepmother abused her one last time and went away from there, leaving alone that bruised up girl whose heart was more bruised than her body after she heard that "orphan" word from her step mother's mouth, again. She was always devastated whenever somebody called her an orphan, which she wasn't, partially. She had a father for her step mother's sake. But he was a namesake father only. He was also very abusive to his own daughter.

Wiping away her tears and taking the help of the kitchen slab, she stood up.

"I won't cry. Nani (Grandma) told me to never cry. I know she's with me, always. And Maa is also with me. Don't cry Ayushi. Don't cry," she consoled herself and washed her face.

And then like always, she cleaned the house, did all cleaning chores and all other household works.

Although she was hungry she knew that even eating a bit of bread could be a very deathly thing as her stepmother was no less than a beast. A living form of a female beast.

After doing all the chores, she got into her room and locked the door. She opened her cupboard and pulled out a biscuit packet, which was hidden under the deep of her piles of clothes. Her stepmother was really a demon.

She was famished but more than that she was bruised too. So before eating the biscuits, she applied some healing cream on her wounds, and then she ate those biscuits which were her friend in hard times like this. She ate them fast before anyone could enter her room.

She was Ayushi!

Our heroine!

****

Do you want to know her more?

Ayushi was a beautiful girl with a beautiful heart too. She was intelligent. She was generous, kind, and a soft-hearted person. She was twenty-four years old. She couldn't even kill a fly, that much was her innocence. That's why she couldn't fight against her stepmother.

She was a software engineer by profession. But all her salary used to be snatched by her family. But she was smart enough to save money from her salary, hiding this fact from her so-called family. She couldn't argue with them. They were dangerous and more than that, greedy. She was now accustomed to all their beatings, swearing & abuses.

Wanna know more?

Once she tried to move away from them to a new place, but these people because of their greediness didn't let her live there too in her new rented house. They insulted her, humiliated her in front of the whole society, and took her back to their own house. There, she was beaten like a punching bag, and hence from that day she never tried to disobey their orders. They were dangerous & more than that, they could do anything for money. Such a manipulative & greedy family was hers!

But a life-changing event was waiting for her as well.

~**•**~

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