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Author's POV

In the study, Niranjan glanced at Rajvardhan, who stood silently by the door. He raised his hand, gesturing for Rajvardhan to sit on the sofa as he settled himself down. However, Rajvardhan remained standing, his gaze momentarily drifting behind him as he heard footsteps approaching.

Antara entered. "Ji, aap khade kyun hain? Baithiye," she said kindly, urging Rajvardhan to sit.

Rajvardhan nodded slightly, smirked at niranjan. "Ji ab aap itna bol hi rahi hain toh main baith jaata hoon," he remarked with light smile.

Niranjan muttered under his breath, "Ab itna bhi nahi bola." She, left the room quietly. She had come for some reason, lest something goes wrong. But on seeing them like this she leaves.

As the room fell into silence, Rajvardhan let out a sigh. He could feel the weight of disappointment in Niranjan's eyes, though the man tried hard not to show it.

"Look, Niranjan," Rajvardhan began, "there's a huge difference between the past and the present. We can't change what happened back then, but... Trisha isn't like us. She takes after Anuj. She doesn't even have the shadow of the Agnihotri family in her."

Niranjan remained silent, his expression unreadable.

Rajvardhan continued, "The children are already married. We can't undo that."

"When did I refuse?" Niranjan finally said, his tone calm yet laced with an undercurrent of frustration. "Once they're married, who am I to interfere?"

Rajvardhan studied him for a moment, sensing the emotional turmoil beneath his calm exterior. "If possible, don’t repeat what happened with Kabir." His words were gentle but carried the weight of history.

For a brief second, something flickered in Niranjan’s eyes. The mention of Kabir stirred a memory, the same unresolved feeling he'd carried since hearing about Aadir’s sudden marriage.

Seeing Niranjan's reaction, Rajvardhan decided to lighten the mood. "Well, I must admit, one Agnihotri always seems to fall for you Singhania ," he said, attempting to inject some humor into the situation.

"You people have a Khandani disease." Niranjan's expression remained stoic, but the faintest twitch of his lips suggested he wasn't entirely immune to the joke.

Rajvardhan chuckles as he stands up. "Alright, let’s go check on the kids before they start fighting again." Both men leave the room together.

Meanwhile, in the hall, Trisha, Aadir, Angad, and Riya are sitting, staring at the elders with their jaws dropped.

A few moments earlier, when Siya came with water to calm everyone down, they were arguing over whose fault it was—Aadir’s or Trisha’s. Anuj, thanked Siya for the water, picked up the glasses, and threw water at both Abhimaan and Vyom.

Vyom stood there, jaw dropped, having not said a word the entire time, trying to remain calm. But Abhimaan didn’t hesitate—he grabbed a mug full of water and threw it right back at him.

Siya looked at Abhiram, who just shook his head, thinking to himself, Thank God Prithvi and Kabir aren’t here. Otherwise, it would’ve turned into a WWE match by now.

Just then, Swati walks in and says, “What are you doing, Anuj?”

She glances around and, folding her hands, says, "Please, meri beti ka khayal toh rakhenge na aap log?"

Abhimaan looks away, running his hand through his hair, trying to control his frustration.

Before anyone can respond, Drishti speaks up, her voice sharp, "No, we will make your daughter do all the work in this house." She glares at Swati, clearly irritated by her gesture of folding her hands.