Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.
Tara glanced at Vedh, hesitated for a second, and went to open it.
A group of Maya's classmates crowded in. All of them. Everyone was there—except Lav. They all started asking Maya questions at once, none of them waiting for an answer. Poor Maya just wanted to sleep, but her classmates wouldn't let her. Watching the chaos, Vedh and Tara quickly stepped in. They told everyone firmly to leave and give Maya some rest. "Leave, let her sleep," Vedh said. At last, the room quieted down, and Maya could finally rest. "After a while, Maya woke up, her throat was dry. 'Vedh… water?' she whispered."
Vedh handed her the glass of water, pushed his chair closer, and said, "Now, continue your story."
Maya took a casual sip, thinking she had a moment to gather her thoughts.
Suddenly, a shocking question ran through her mind. Her eyes widened, and she spilled the water from her mouth.
"Vedh… how do you know Uncle Sham? Wait… are you and Veer… somehow related?!" she screamed, panic rising in her voice.
In a sudden burst, Maya threw off the quilt and ran around the room. Books fell, papers went everywhere, and chairs got pushed over." In the chaos, she accidentally messed up Vedh's hair and let out a loud, frustrated, "Arrghh!"
Vedh just sat there, frozen, his face blank. He didn't move or say a word, trying to process what had just happened while the room turned into a mess around him.
Tara rushed over and gently grabbed Maya's arm. "Calm down, Maya! Stop moving," she said softly.
Tara shook her head and said, "Do you really think Vedh is part of the mafia or something? Look at him—such a coward!"
Vedh cupped his face, eyes widening in an innocent, cute expression. "Yes, I am… but a cute one," he said, letting out a small giggle.
Maya blinked and realized Tara wasn't lying. She lightly spanked Vedh on the head and then crawled back under the blanket, finally settling down.
Vedh leaned back slightly, a small smile on his face. "Oo, my dear Einstein, listen up," he said playfully.
Maya raised an eyebrow, curious to hear. "Tara and I read two different letters. He explained everything that was written in them."
Maya laughed in frustration, "Hahaha!" Then, suddenly, she stopped laughing and stared blankly. What should I do now…?. She grabbed a strand of her hair, pulling lightly in frustration.
"Just trust your secret admirer," said Tara.
"Do I have to?" Maya sighed.
"Do you have any other option?" Tara replied.
Maya pressed her pillow against her face, frustrated. "Okay, bye. I'm sleeping again," she muttered, dragging the quilt over herself.
Tara left both of them and sat quietly in the hall.
A few moments later, there was another knock on the door.
Maya groaned loudly and sat back against her pillows. "Is this a house or a circus?"
"Why does everyone keep coming in? Someone comes, someone leaves… and now the letters too!"
She clapped her hands together in frustration.
Vedh stood up, but Maya immediately yelled, "Noo! You aren't going anywhere!"
"Let them keep knocking—no one is going to open the door!"
But Tara was in the hall when she opened the door. It was Lav's girlfriend, Neha. Tara quickly shut the door as soon as she saw her.
A moment later, there was another knock.
This time, Vedh went to open it. He froze when he saw Lav standing there—with Neha. Without a word, Vedh shut the door on their faces again.
From outside, Neha's voice followed, confused and annoyed."This is a joke right?"
They knocked again. This time, both Lav and Tara opened the door, clearly a little annoyed.
"What?" Tara snapped.
"I want to see Maya," Lav said.
"No need," Tara replied, already about to shut the door again.
But this time, Lav held the door.
"Leave," Tara warned, trying hard to push it closed. But Lav's grip was strong—too strong. He didn't loosen his hand, not even a bit. "Okay, fine. Go," Tara said, rolling her eyes. Lav and Neha headed toward Maya's room, while Vedh and Tara watched TV in the hall.
It hit Tara all at once. They had told Maya that Lav was out of station. If he told her any other reason, we're cooked.
"Tara said, "Vedh, let's go."
"Go where?" Vedh asked.
"Didn't we tell her he was out of station?"
"Oh yeah," Vedh said, realization hitting him.
They hurried toward Maya's room.
By the time they reached the room, Lav was telling Maya that he was out of station—which completely shook Tara and Vedh.
"You were actually out of station?" Tara asked suddenly.
"What do you mean?" Maya asked, confused.
Vedh facepalmed.
"Nothing," Tara said quickly. "I'm just joking around, you know—haha." She let out a fake, forced laugh. "I'm just being silly. And then—ta-da!—someone knocked on the door again. Maya let out a long, exhausted sigh and muttered, "Mom, tell Dad to just break the door already."
Neha went to open the door—she already knew who was waiting on the other side.
A random guy walked in. Neha and the random guy went to Maya's room.
Neha smiled casually and said, "He's my boyfriend—Zayn."
Tara blinked, then burst out, "How many boyfriends do you even have, girl?!"
"Then what about Lav?" she added, folding her arms.
Neha shrugged. "Oh, him? He's just my fake boyfriend."
Everyone froze.
"Our parents forced us to date," Neha continued. "And when I first met you in college, Tara, they were actually spying on us. I had no choice but to say he was my boyfriend." "Our parents forced us to date for some business purpose. All I really knew about him was his name. So Lav told me to come here and clear things up for you all."
Neha and Zayn were leaving. "Everyone went to send them off and say goodbye." Meanwhile, Maya, in her room, was completely confused—what could have happened in just a few days?
"Ahh, one sec, I forgot my wallet," Zayn said, heading to Maya's room."Hey Maya, how are you?" he asked. Before she could even reply, he simply said, "Uncle is a good guy, isn't he?" He winked and left without any further explanation, leaving her even more confused. At that moment, no one else was around—it was just him and Maya. Both Neha and Zayn had left. Tara and Lav came into Maya's room again. Maya folded her hands and stared at Lav. "What's happening?" she asked. Lav let out a slight chuckle and was about to answer when Vedh entered the room, hit Lav's head, and said, "Why didn't you tell her she was your fake girlfriend, huh?". Lav rolled his eyes. "As if you'd let me! I was trying so hard to tell you, but you were like, 'Hey, shut up!'" Then Lav hit Vedh on the head. Maya yelled, "Hello? Excuse me? Do you people want to explain anything to me?"
Lav then started to explain. In all this chaos, she completely forgot to mention to Lav what Zayn had told her.