“Qabool Hai.”

Those two words escaped her lips.

Her mother and aunt hugged each other with tears of happiness in their eyes. Her father and uncle didn't bother hiding their excitement either as they hugged the life out of each other.

But the bride, Gauhar-un-Nisa Fakhri, showed no sign of happiness at all. Her veiled face remained downcast, not bothering to reply to the congratulations thrown at her.

Not so surprisingly, the scene was quite similar on the other side where the young groom was sitting silently with his best friend.

“You seriously married her?” His best friend Zeeshan asked him in disbelief.

“Yup. I was serious when I told you I am marrying Gauhar.” Rehaab said quite nonchalantly.

“Rehaab, you are twenty-five and she is thirty-five.” Zeeshan whisper yelled at him angrily.

“I know, idiot.” Rehaab glared at Zeeshan.

“Then why would you marry her? Unless you want her property.” Zeeshan sort of accused him.

“Zeeshan, my parents have left me a good fortune.” He rolled his eyes at his idiot of a best friend.

“Okay, then why did you marry her?” And that idiot was not going to stop anytime soon.

“I am into older women. Happy?” Rehaab passed him a tight-lipped smile.

“Rehaa-” But he was cut off by the groom.

“Shut up, Zeeshan. I don't want to talk about it. Your uncertain words are not going to change anything. Now go and eat Biryani before leaving. It's delicious.”

Zeeshan sighed and left to eat Biryani. Because now all he could was eat his best friend's wedding's Biryani.

✧✧✧

“Wait a minute! Rehaab Bhai, if you want to enter your bedroom, you'll have to give me your wallet.” Hayat demanded while blocking the path of her cousin.

“Oye! Your Gauhar Aapi is the CEO, not me.” He argued irritatedly.

“Oh, hello, Aapi gives me everything I ask for. You are the Kanjoos one here. Now, give me your wallet or you can sleep in the garden.”

“You are a spoilt brat, Hayat. I wonder why Zeeshan fell in love with you out of all girls.” Rehan uttered while handing her his wallet.

“Because your best friend is also a spoilt brat.” Hayat grinned while taking the wallet from his hand.

“Now am I allowed to enter my bedroom, madam?” He asked sarcastically.

“Sure! Have a good night, brother.” Hayat smiled at him while counting the notes in his wallet and walked away from there.

Rehaab shook his head at her and opened the door to enter the bedroom. Gauhar was already fast asleep on the bed. Her bridal attire and jewelry were neatly placed on the couch.

“I don't know what to expect from this marriage.” He mumbled while entering the closet.

✧✧✧

The next morning Gauhar, Rehaab and Hayat were sitting in together in a car like a regular work day. Rehaab was driving, Gauhar was sitting beside him and Hayat was sitting on the backseat and trying to figure out if anything happened between them.

They dropped Hayat to her university on the way and drove to the office of Fakhri Textiles. Rehaab and Gauhar had just put their feet outside the car when a young girl came running into Rehaab's arms.

“Rehaab baby, I'm so sorry for leaving you. I'm not going to leave you ever again,” The girl clung to his body tightly, not ready to detach from him.

Gauhar just looked at the scene with a confused face.

“Lubna, leave me!” Rehaab's voice came as a desperate plea rather than an angry shout.

“No, I won't.” Lubna refused.

“Rehaab, what is this?” Gauhar asked when it came to her mind that the guy in front of her is her husband.

“Lubna!” Rehaab pushed her away and continued, “Gauhar, she is my ex-girlfriend. And, Lubna, meet my wife Gauhar-un-Nisa.” He smiled at the end of his sentence and looked back at a very dazed Gauhar.

Lubna was left shocked at the revelation. Her mouth hung open as she stared between Rehaab and his seemingly older wife. She muttered ‘Fucking gold digger’under her breath and stomped away from the scene.

As the drama ended, Gauhar put on her glasses while walking to the entrance of the office. Rehaab followed after her once he came out of his trance.

✧✧✧

Rehaab was heading to his cabin when Zeeshan came his way with a file in his hand.

“Hello, Dulhe Raja, how was the wedding night?” Zeeshan teased him.

“Full of sleep.” Rehaab replied plainly.

“Means nothing happened?” Zeeshan asked in surprise.

“Did you expect anything to happen? This marriage is just a compromise for her.” Rehaab sighed while entering his cabin.

Zeeshan followed him inside and said, “Tell me the entire story of how both of you decided to get married.”

Rehaab looked at his best friend's concern-filled face and started, “This marriage was proposed by my Khala and her Chachi and, of course, your future mother-in-law Jannat Begum. Ten years ago, Gauhar had married the guy she loved. But a year later, they divorced. The reason was her ambitious personality. She wanted to take over her family business, but her ex-husband did not want that. Fast forward to the present time and my Khala found out about my crush on Gauhar through your idiot girlfriend.”

“Hey, don't call my girl idiot!” Zeeshan warned him. He could not bear someone calling his Cutie an idiot.

“You can't stop me from telling the truth.” Rehaab said back.

Zeeshan ignored his words and focused on the story,“So your Khala set up this whole alliance because she found out about your tiny crush on Gauhar?” He asked, not quite convinced.

“Not just a tiny crush, Zeeshan. I like her since my teenage. You know, after Mom and Dad died, I've spent my entire life with Khala and Khalu. They are very open-minded about these things, so their thinking ultimately passed down to me. Gauhar's age never really mattered to me.” He leaned against the office table.

“And you never told me about your not-so-tiny crush. Leave it, though. You tell me about Gauhar's reaction to this alliance.” Now Zeeshan was very interested in his friend's love life.

“She agreed, but I don't think this marriage really matters to her.” Rehaab told him with a sad face.

“Then make it matter. Express your love to her.” Zeeshan told him excitedly.

“I feel awkward, yaar.” Rehaab whined.

“Rehaab, you need to make some efforts. She has no expectations with this marriage, but you have. Your happiness is only upto you.” Zeeshan told him before patting his shoulder and exiting the cabin.

Rehaan huffed in confusion before sitting down to get some work done.