Tears streamed down Pia's cheeks as she sat in the wedding mandap in place of her sister Muskaan. Hidden beneath the veil, no one could see her face. Her hands trembled with anxiety as her mind was in turmoil.
"No, I can't do this. This is wrong. I can't betray him. What will he do when he finds out that the girl he dreamt of marrying has been replaced by her sister?"
The man Pia was thinking about was Aarav Kapoor.
Aarav Kapoor: The eldest son of the owner of AK Industries, India's top-ranked company, and its CEO. Aarav's marriage was arranged with Muskaan Agarwal, the only daughter of businessman Manish Agarwal. Although it was an arranged marriage, Aarav had fallen deeply in love with Muskaan and was genuinely excited about the wedding.
Seated in the mandap, Aarav looked so handsome in his groom's attire that every girl at the wedding couldn't take their eyes off him. Many even lost their hearts to him. But Aarav, lost in his thoughts and radiating happiness, remained oblivious to the fact that the girl beside him wasn't his fiancée but a stranger—or so it seemed.
Pia wasn't a complete stranger. She was the daughter of Sanjay Agarwal, Manish Agarwal's elder brother who is a father of muskan. However, when pia was 15, Sanjay and his wife tragically passed away in a car accident, leaving Pia alone. From then on, she mostly stayed in hostels and rarely visited home, as she never felt a sense of belonging there. Muskaan and her mother, Kavita, never liked her much, and after her parents' death, they seemed eager to distance themselves from her.
Manish Agarwal, however, loved Pia dearly. After Sanjay's death, he cared for her as if she were his own daughter, but he still couldn't fill the void of her loneliness.
When Muskaan's marriage was fixed with Aarav, Pia wasn't around. Consequently, Aarav and Pia had never met, apart from a few fleeting encounters with Aarav's family when they visited the Agarwals. Everyone was thrilled about the wedding, except for Muskaan, who had other plans.
On the wedding day,
Manish and Kavita Agarwal sat in Muskaan's room, their faces pale with worry. Muskaan was nowhere to be found. All that remained was her wedding outfit and a letter. The letter read:
"Mom, Dad,
I told you earlier that I wasn't interested in this marriage, but you didn't listen. Now, I have no other option. I'm leaving. I can't go through with this wedding. I'm tired of all this drama. If only you had understood me before, none of this would've happened. Please forgive me if you can."
As Manish read the letter, it felt as if the ground beneath him had given way. He clutched his head in despair. Kavita, upon hearing the news, was equally distraught. How could she not be? Their reputation and honor in society were at stake.
The groom's procession had already arrived, and Manish couldn't fathom how to reveal the truth to everyone. The first step, he decided, was to speak with Aarav's parents.
[Aarav's Parents: Avinash Kapoor (Father), Radha Kapoor (Mother)]
Manish mustered up the courage to call Avinash Kapoor and ask him to come to the room. When Avinash and Radha entered, they noticed the Agarwals' distress.
"What's wrong, Mr. Agarwal? Today is such a joyous day for our children, yet you look so worried. What happened?" Avinash asked, puzzled.
"Yes, Kavita Ji, why are you both so upset?" Radha added, sitting beside Kavita.
At this, Kavita broke into tears. Seeing her cry, Avinash and Radha grew anxious, sensing that something serious had occurred. Manish then folded his hands before Avinash and shared everything about Muskaan's disappearance and her letter.
The news shocked Avinash and Radha.
"How could she leave like this? Was this marriage against her will? But Muskaan seemed so happy with Aarav—what's going on, Mr. Agarwal?" Radha asked, her voice tinged with frustration. After all, she was a mother worried about how her son, Aarav, would react to such a revelation. Avinash echoed the same concerns.
Manish explained, "When the marriage was arranged, we asked her, and initially, she was against it, claiming she loved someone else. We asked who it was, but she refused to say anything. Later, when we discussed Aarav with her, she agreed on her own. We never forced her. I don't know why she did this now."
Avinash sighed deeply and said, "What's done is done. But we need a solution now. The procession can't return empty-handed. Our reputations are at stake, and the scandal would be unbearable. This wedding cannot remain incomplete."
Everyone fell silent, deep in thought, searching for a way to resolve the crisis.