Forced to make me Hate You

GIVE ME ONE REASON TO STAY

Aavya gasped, the air leaving her lungs, "Vedant!"

"See how the 'sweet' Aavya Chaturvedi sells her loyalty for a stack of cash?" Vedant shouted to the crowd giving a glance to Aavya, raising a thick stuffed envelope.

He turned to Sameer’s family, his voice ringing with cold triumph. "We were in love for four years. But the moment we graduated, she traded me. She sold our love for fifty lakh rupees. She used me, she took everything I had to offer, and when she was done, she tossed me aside for a 'peaceful' life with you."

Sameer’s family stood frozen, paralysed by the scandal. Ashok clutched his chest, his hand trembling over his heart. Mahima let out a choked sob, and young Rohan watched with wide, terrified eyes as his sister's world crumbled.

The guests began to jeer.

"Gold-digger!" a voice shouted from the back.

"Shameless!" another cried.

Aavya felt the world spinning. The camera flashes felt like physical blows. She looked at Vedant, pleading one last time with her eyes from the veil but he only watched her with a look of bored satisfaction. He had dismantled her entire life in exactly twelve minutes.

He didn't love her anymore. He truly, deeply hated her.

And

-as the "Gold-digger" insults rained down on her, she realised the man who used to be her sanctuary had become her greatest nightmare.

-As she looked at the photos burning in the sacred fire, she realised that the girl who believed in "happily ever after" had just died in the ashes.

Sameer stumbled back as if the photographs were shards of glass. He didn't look at the shouting crowd or the cameras; his eyes pierced through Aavya’s red veil.

"Aavya? Is this true?"

He knew nothing of the "Scholarship Girl" who had survived the shark tank of elite colleges. He knew nothing of the billionaire heir who had once held her heart.

To Sameer, Aavya was the quiet, brilliant girl he had fallen for over coffee and shared dreams.

"I am asking you, Aavya!" Sameer’s voice cracked, filled with a raw, bleeding anger. "I don't care about the noise. I want to hear it from you."

"Sameer... I..." Her voice was a broken whisper.

"Goddamn," Vedant’s voice cut through the air, smooth as a razor. "With all the proof at your feet, you still doubt my words? These aren't photoshopped, Sameer. They are as real as the lie she’s been telling you."

Vedant stepped closer, his smirk never reaching his cold eyes. "Well done, Aavya. Truly. Even now, he’s trying to protect you. What tricks did you use to blind him? Don't worry, Sameer. I’m here to clear your vision."

Vedant tapped that thick envelope against Sameer’s chest. "Here is the receipt for her soul. Fifty lakhs to walk out of my life. I wonder... how much did she charge to enter yours?"

Sameer snatched the envelope. His eyes scanned the bank transaction—the cold, hard evidence of the fifty-lakh withdrawal. The paper crumpled in his fist.

"I didn't realise you were so cheap, Aavya," Sameer whispered, the words hitting her harder than any physical blow.

Aavya couldn't defend herself. The guilt was a physical weight in her throat.

She had lied by omission, burying the worst chapter of her life to build a future with a good man.

Now, the past had dug itself up to bury her instead.

Riya stepped forward, her heels clicking like a judge’s gavel. "What are you waiting for, Sameer? Do you still want to bring a gold-digging actress into your home as a daughter-in-law?"

Sameer’s mother let out a scream of visceral disgust, a sound that sliced through the heavy silence of the hall.

She lunged forward, her fingers clawing at Sameer’s arm to yank him away from Aavya as if the bride were a carrier of a deadly plague.

"Never!" the woman shrieked, her face twisting into a mask of pure, unadulterated rage. "I will not allow my son to be shackled to a woman who is already tainted! I did not raise him to pick up the discarded remains of a billionaire’s plaything!"

She stepped into Aavya’s personal space, her breath hot with fury. "Look at her! Standing there in her red silk, acting the part of the innocent bride! This fabric wasn't bought with love—it was bought with the blood of our family's dignity!"

Aavya bowed her head, the red veil trembling with her jagged breaths, but Sameer's mother wasn't finished.

"Still hiding?" the woman hissed. "Still playing the shy, modest girl? No. Let the world see the face of the woman who put a price tag on her soul!"

In one violent, blurred motion, Sameer’s mother reached out. Her hand gripped the edge of the delicate fabric and wrenched it upward.

The veil didn't just fall; it was torn away, snagging on Aavya’s hair jewels before fluttering to the dusty floor like a wounded bird.

Aavya’s face was suddenly exposed to the harsh, unforgiving glare of the hall’s fluorescent lights.

Her skin was deathly pale, her kohl-lined eyes smudged with tears, and her lips were trembling.

She stood there, stripped of her protection, while the cameras of the reporters flashed frantically, capturing every ounce of her shame for the world to see.

Vedant looked at her, and for a fleeting second, his heart stuttered. He had wanted to hurt her, but seeing her standing there, exposed and trembling, triggered a ghost of an old protective instinct.

Their eyes met—his burning with fire, hers drowning in disappointment.

"Sameer, let’s go!" his mother commanded, dragging him toward the exit. "This marriage is cancelled! Ashok-ji, we thought your daughter was a reflection of your values, but she is a shame to your blood. We don't want trash in our family!"

"No... please!" Ashok and Mahima cried out, reaching for Sameer’s family.

"Maa, wait," Sameer hesitated, his heart torn.

"We should at least listen to her side."

"What side?" Vedant interjected, his voice poisoning the air. "Sameer, are you sure she won't leave you the moment a better offer comes along? She played me for four years and sold me for fifty lakhs. When she can leave a Vardhan, she will definitely leave a Malhotra."

"Sameer, don't listen to him! It was a misunderstanding!" Aavya sobbed.

"Why not listen?" Vedant’s voice was a silky, dangerous purr that seemed to coat the room in poison. "She’s a high-end actress, Sameer. A professional. She’s just standing at this altar waiting for her next lead role—and it looks like you were cast as the fool."

"Sameer, please..." Aavya’s voice trembled, her eyes searching his for a single spark of trust. "He is manipulating you. He’s twisting the truth to destroy us!"

Sameer didn't look at Vedant. He didn't look at the cameras. He stepped into Aavya’s space, his breathing ragged, his heart visible in the frantic pulse at his throat.

"Fine then. You tell me," Sameer demanded, his voice dropping to a gravelly, broken whisper.

"Is what he said a lie? Tell me you never loved him. Tell me you didn't cheat. Tell me to my face that you didn't take a single rupee of that money. Tell me, Aavya! Give me one reason to stay!"

The air in the hall seemed to vanish. Every guest, every reporter, even Vedant himself, held their breath. Aavya looked at Sameer—the man who represented her last chance at a normal, quiet life—and then at the cold, triumphant silhouette of Vedant.

The truth was a jagged blade in her throat.

She couldn't lie anymore; the weight of the evidence was crushing her.

"I did."