His Silent Butterfly

ABHIMANN POV:

Today is the day I'm going to get married to someone whom I have known for years now, it was not completely an arranged marriage but done for amalgamating both the family's company "The Singhania Corporation and Dreams Company."

As Dream Co. deals with recruitment, helps certain types of employees to find their dream job, our company Singhania Corporation being the major investor in Dreams, emerged the idea of both the company becoming one but for that my dad wanted me to marry Dream Co. CEO Ms. Arohi Sinha, the daughter of the director of Dream's Mr. Naresh Sinha.

I agreed with my father to marry Arohi because this was the first time he demanded something from me but here I'm standing, dressed up like a groom in the room with all my family members along with her family except the one who should be in the room, getting ready for me, for our marriage, but there was nothing like that except a letter by Arohi saying that she can't marry me in my hands.

I held that letter for a long time, and yet, I wasn't feeling anything. No anger, guilt, disappointment, nothing. Yes, I knew Aarohi from before, from college days, but we never had a special connection. There was nothing intact between us, no bond that mattered. My heart remained indifferent, even as the reality sank in.

Ofcourse, I agree this was an arranged marriage, but it was never seen by her behaviour that she was unhappy with this alliance. Even in our engagement, she seemed very happy, showing the ring to her friends, dancing with me. We even talked to each other almost every day but she never gave even a hint that she didn't want to marry me.

Yet now, she is gone.

"What are we going to do now Naresh? You said your daughter agreed to this marriage then why the hell did she run away?" My father, Aman Singhania, asked Naresh uncle angrily. It could be seen both anger and guilt in his eyes anger because now what about his reputation and guilt because his only son's marriage was getting ruined like this.

"Now what is going to happen next? What are we going to tell all the guests, the paparazzi? Our reputation is going to get doomed, bhaisab! And what about Abhimann's life?" My uncle (chachu) Mr. Shawdin Singhania said to my father. At this point, no one knew what to do but I had already made a conclusion, "No wedding is going to happen and there will be no more bond between the Singhania's & Sinha's."

I was about to say this to everyone when Mrs. Madhuri Naresh Sinha entered the room with a girl beside her. The girl was wearing a simple pink kurti, her face held no emotion but it said a lot of things at the same time.

"I know that Arohi ran away from this marriage and I also know it's my fault as a mother that I didn't know my daughter would pull this stunt," Arohi mother said with sorrow and tears in her eyes, but her next sentence shocked everyone.

"I know about the situation we are in right now and that's why I want to tell you all that instead of Arohi, my elder daughter can marry Abhimann."

The room went silent and then filled with gasped.

Elder daughter.

I didn't react outwardly. In my mind, I already knew. I had seen Aarohi with her in college many times, always in the background. The quiet strength, the soft expressions, Drishti Sinha. Everyone else might have thought she was invisible, a silent shadow behind Aarohi, but I had noticed her when no one else had.

I knew that she was their daughter, yet she had been hidden from the world. No one has seen her in single public event, not a single function, not even in our wedding ritual had she attended. The Sinhas had always kept her away, carefully erasing her presence from everyone's memory.

I glanced at her now, standing silently beside her mother and yet, she commanded my attention in a way that no one else had.

"What are you saying, Mrs. Sinha? Isn't Arohi your only daughter?" My mother, Aruna Singhania, asked in shock.

"No. She is Drishti Sinha, my elder daughter," Mrs. Sinha said calmly.

"We didn't want to hide her, but circumstances made us. Drishti had an accident as a child and lost her voice, and we were afraid that revealing her condition would affect Aarohi's marriage alliance," Mr. Sinha explained.

"We were unable to fix her alliance because of her condition, so when Abhimann's alliance came for Arohi, we thought it was better not to reveal Drishti," Mrs. Sinha added.

"How can you think that our Abhimann will marry this girl? Now that your one daughter ran away, you want to give your damaged daughter to marry our Abhimann?" My aunt Mrs. Arpita Singhania said. What damaged, how can she say that. I was about to say something.

Before I could stop her, my grandfather, Mr. Vedansh Singhania, interrupted sharply "Be quiet, Arpita. You have no right to talk about anyone like this."

Then he walked toward Drishti and said, "Abhimann will marry Drishti, and the marriage will happen today. I hope Mrs. Sinha, if you have proposed this idea, you have already taken Drishti's consent, and I take it as yes from her side as well."

I wanted to say something, but Dadu's hand stopped me. "One hour later, the marriage rituals will start. Let's get the bride ready. I have made my decision, and no more discussion about this matter. Everyone, let's go downstairs and wait for the wedding to start."

As everyone left, I glanced at her the girl who was to be my bride. For a moment, the room, the chatter, the chaos around us all of it faded.

Drishti Sinha. The silent, poised, observing everything without a word. And yet, I felt drawn to her in a way I couldn't explain. Something about her presence was unsettling, stirring something quiet inside me. I couldn't name it curiosity, recognition, intrigue, but it was real.

The years in college, seeing her quietly with Aarohi, noticing her resilience and grace, it all made sense now. She had always been there, yet invisible, and now she stood in front of me, the centre of the storm.

I stepped outside and called my secretary, Siddharth. "Prepare a contract," I said. "Half an hour. Make it precise and deliver it to me. I will send the details."

"Yes, sir," he replied, surprised.

I needed to know her, to understand the girl who had somehow captured my attention without a word, and to ensure that this sudden marriage didn't spiral into chaos for either of us.

When I hung up, I looked at Drishti once more inside the room and for the first time in days, I felt something familiar stir inside me a faint pull, a whisper of curiosity I couldn't ignore.

Maybe some things in life arrive silently, and when they do, you can't help but notice them.

I don't know if it feels cringe then sorry this is my first story 🙏🏻

Bye see you in the next chapter 🌷