"Don't look at me like that. I am not the one who insisted on this deal. Your father insisted on this so that your sister won't have any trouble with this marriage. He was sure that my family won't let this marriage happen. He made this deal so that my family cannot stop this marriage. The legal documents are already in court, so no one can stop the consequences of this marriage doesn't happen. He did it in such a way that my family can't turn their back on your sister as well as this deal gives financial support to your sister so that she doesn't have to depend on me or my family" he fumed at me.

"Now your sister ruined her own marriage and left everyone in this chaos. So stop your drama of being me your sister's love and so you don't want to marry me. Cut all this crap, get ready and come to the mandap if you don't want your family to pay", he commanded me and left the room.

I just stood there gaping and realized that I don't have any choice other than to marry the devil.

I don't know how much time I stood there like that. I came back into the world when Sid hugged me. I don't remember how many hours I cried and he consoled me. Once my crying is done, Sid and I just sat there without talking. Srikanth didn't even come inside, I know he is feeling guilty.

"Can we run away?" I asked Sid after some time.

I know what will happen after this marriage. Sharanya will come after her shooting and I have to get a divorce. This whole marriage is pointless. And also Sharanya and I will never be on even talking terms. She will hate me forever. I will lose my sister again because of him. Sid understood my feelings.

"If you want to run away, I will help you. But do you want to really?" he asked me softly.

"The Ananya I know will never run away from her problems. She will face it. You know I will always support you no matter what."

It is almost 8 PM and the marriage has to start in a couple of hours. Just then my mom entered the room.

"Pinky, Lakshmi asked to change the marriage time to 2 AM. She went to Delhi just now", my mom told me.

"Listen Pinky, I know you are angry with me. I am sorry that it is happening like this", she left my room.

Sid and I sat in the room and my cousins joined me after some time. No one spoke anything. We all slept there like that. My mom woke all of us and asked me to come to my room. I looked at the watch. It is midnight. Just two hours for my destruction.

When I entered my room Kavya and Lakshmi Aunty are already there.

"Ananya, I am sorry that you have to get married in this situation to the man you don't love. We can't do anything about it. You are saving both our families. I don't want to insult you further by asking you to wear your sister's wedding dress. It is insulting enough to ask you to marry your sister's fiancée", she explained to me softly.

She then handed me a bag and told me, "This is the wedding dress and some jewelry of my mother-in-law, Golu's grandmothers'. I know this is also another woman's dress. But it is better than wearing your sister's wedding dress. I can understand how you feel about this marriage. I don't want you to feel like you are snatching your sister's life. I want you to know that you are my daughter and I want you to feel welcome in the family. Please wear this dress."

So this is the reason she postponed the marriage. She went to Delhi just to get this dress. I am touched by her gesture. I looked at the lehenga. It is a very beautiful blood-red lehenga with gold embroidery. I am worried that it might not fit me. I looked at the jewelry. It is a simple emerald necklace with matching earrings.

The rest of the marriage happened in a blur. I don't even remember what happened. I only remember being uncomfortable in the lehenga as the blouse is one size smaller than mine. I didn't even glance at the devil because I am feeling guilty for sitting in my sister's place and angry at him for taking away my choice.

And just like that, I became Mrs. Devil. Staying married to the devil is not exactly an easy task. There goes the peace of my life.

Once the marriage is completed and we signed the marriage certificate, we went to take blessings from Amit dadu first. He hugged me and told me that I am very beautiful in dadi's wedding dress and that if she were alive, she would be happy to see this.

Once we took all the blessings and said goodbye to my family and Sid, we started to Delhi. The devil's parents live in Delhi around thirty minutes from our hospital.

Kavya and one of the devil's cousins accompanied us in the car. I am squeezed between the brother and sister. There was an awkward silence throughout the journey. The devil and I didn't talk throughout the journey.

I am not trying to think that I am sitting beside the devil as his wife.

I got married to the devil.

Maybe someone will wake me up and this all will be a nightmare. But it didn't happen.

When we reached his home and after a gazillion rituals, I was sent to kavya's room to freshen up for Satyanarayana Vrat. It is almost 9.30 AM.

Oh god. The alarm on my phone went off reminding me of my work.

I forgot that I have a shift today at noon. It will be impossible to find another replacement now. What to do now?

Just then Lakshmi Aunty entered the room with a bag.

"Aunty, I forgot that I have a shift at noon today. Yesterday, I was not in my senses and now it will be impossible to find another replacement this late. I thought that I will be free today as I don't have to attend the Vrat, so I took only three days leave aunty", I explained to her hurriedly.

"Relax Ananya. Nobody knew that the situation will be like this. I can understand. We will postpone the Vrat as Kavya's dad too went to the hospital for emergency surgery. When will your shift end?" she told me.

"Tomorrow at 9 PM", I told her.

"Is it possible for you to take a leave on the day after tomorrow?" she asked me.

"I can ask my friend to take my shift and I can go for the night shift that day."

"Good. Then we will have the Vrat day after tomorrow. You go to the hospital. Anyway, the Vrat is for our family only, so we can postpone it without any problem. Here is the food, kavya will give you company. You go and get ready after eating. I will ask Golu to drop you in the hospital"

"No aunty. Sid is getting my luggage from home anyway. He too has the same shift. So I will go with him" I told Lakshmi aunty.

"Okay. As you wish. Everything will be fine with some time. Don't think too much" she left saying this. She might have understood that I am not comfortable with her son.

Kavya and I are alone in the room. She is the silent one among us. But, she is the killing with kindness type of person. She smiled at me and then left to the balcony to leave me to my own thoughts. She knows that I need some space alone.

I tried calling Sharanya. Her phone is switched off. I want her to listen to the situation from me rather than knowing from someone else.

I sighed and got ready for work trying not to think about what happened with my life.

Sid picked me up from the devil's house and he didn't speak throughout the journey. He knows that I want to be left alone for some time. When we reached the hospital, I removed my mangalsutra and kept it in my bag.

"You just got married", Sid commented seeing that and gave me a disapproving look.

"Nobody knows about this marriage. Moreover, the devil didn't want to tell anybody about his marriage. And I too don't want anyone in the department to know that I am married, that too with the devil", I explained to him.

Today it was busy at work as usual. I attended one diskectomy and one minor surgery and tried to do some work on the thesis. I also exchanged my next shift with Nidhi so that I can get a leave on the day after tomorrow for the vrat.

We were asked to fill the shift roster for next month. I booked all my shifts with Natasha mam and Deepak sir. Since the devil is still on leave, he wouldn't get a choice to book his shifts. I took advantage of that. I want to avoid him as much as possible. That's what I would do. I will avoid him until Sharanya comes back and then maybe we will get an annulment. That's the best thing to do in this situation.

I couldn't concentrate on my thesis work today at all. I am worried about Sharanya. She and I just now cleared our misunderstandings. Now her fears came true. I now understood why she didn't tell the devil about me working with him. I took away her happiness the first chance I got. Maybe she is right to hate me.

And also I am worried about how to face him. We have to see each other in the hospital. It would be difficult to pretend that everything is normal at work. It is uncomfortable enough to see him at work, now I need to live with him alone in the same house. Maybe I will convince him that I will stay in my hostel on campus as usual. Yes. That is the only way.

I went to lunch with Tanya and Hussain today to avoid having lunch with Sid and Karthik. When my shift is done, Sid is waiting for me in our department's residents' room to drop me at devil's home.

"Srikanth Bhai and your parents called me at least ten times. They are scared to call you. Call them and talk with them", he told me as we left to the parking lot to get his car. My scooty is in my hostel parking. I have to get it and my luggage too.

"I will talk to them tomorrow. I just want to sulk today", I told him tiredly. My mind is exploding from thinking.

"Are you not coming?" I asked him as he stopped walking and I followed his line of sight to see that the devil is leaning on his car and looking at us. I looked at Sid for an explanation. He must have told him about my shift timing.

"I swear I didn't tell him anything", he lifted his hands surrendering.

We then slowly walked towards the devil.

"Why did he come here now? Can I just ignore him and go with you? I don't want to be alone with him", I mumbled at Sid.

"You can't. He is your husband. And even I will be taking you to his home only", he chastised me.

He then suddenly grabbed my wrist and told me, "Don't be rude to him. Him coming here means he is trying to be cordial with you and he is making efforts for this relation. Remember he is also a victim in this. Listen to what he has to say and react".

I scoffed and told him, "If anyone listens to you they will think that I am a gangster"

"You and I both know your short temper. Just don't stab him this time", he told me very seriously.

I opened my mouth to give a retort to Sid but stopped as he gave me pointed look. We then started walking towards the devil.

****************