The morning sun was in full force. It was already 8 AM, but inside a lavish room, a twenty-year-old boy with perfectly sculpted biceps was still lost in dreams. Golden rays filtered through the curtains, falling gently on his face. Annoyed, he turned to the other side, burying himself deeper into the pillow.

His phone kept buzzing nonstop. He ignored it. Sleep was more important.

The door creaked open softly, and a delicate hand touched his forehead. A gentle, loving voice followed—

"Beta, it's already 8. Wake up... Ruhan."

The moment he heard that name, Ruhan shot up with a jolt, rubbing his eyes. Startled, he exclaimed—

"What! 8 already? Maa, why didn't you wake me up? You knew I had to get up early today! I even set my alarm!"

His mother smiled, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

"Beta ji, today you forgot to inform the sun to rise late. You woke up on time... it's just the sun who got up early."

Ruhan froze, no comeback ready. With a sheepish smile, he rubbed his head.

"Maa, you always pull my leg. But tell me—where's Purav? He must've reached by now."

Shanaya, still amused, replied, "I told you yesterday—we sent the driver to pick him up. But someone insisted he would go himself."

Like a guilty child caught red-handed, Ruhan's face fell.

"Maa... please just tell me where he is. Don't say you didn't send the driver."

Shanaya didn't reply, just kept smiling. That was enough for Ruhan to panic.Panic can clearly be seen in his blue droopy eyes. e jumped out of bed in a hurry, muttering under his breath, "I'm dead... Purav is going to kill me."

As he rushed out, he stumbled—but before he could fall, a pair of strong hands steadied him.

Ruhan looked up and immediately pulled the boy into a hug.

"Purav! My brother! I knew you were here! Bro, I'm so sorry, yaar. The car ran out of petrol, otherwise I would've definitely come to pick you up."

He said it in the most dramatic, over-friendly tone, the way only best friends do.

Purav—around the same age—wasn't fooled for a second. He was Ruhan's cousin, but practically his shadow since childhood. He shifted lucknow to live with ruhan for completing his higher studies.  Pulling away, Purav smirked.

"Yeah, right. All five of your cars suddenly ran out of fuel? Your phone mysteriously stopped working? Your alarm didn't ring... oh wait, you even set a clock this time. Let me guess—the battery died?"

Shanaya burst out laughing at Purav's sarcasm. Ruhan groaned, throwing his hands in the air.

"Great! Now you two team up against me. Perfect. Bas karo yaar, tang khinchayi ki.

The laughter in Ruhan's room was still echoing when suddenly—

A scream.

All three—Ruhan, Purav, and Shanaya—ran toward the sound. They pushed open the door and found Riya, standing on her bed, shrieking at the top of her lungs.

"Riya! What happened? Why are you shouting?" Shanaya rushed in.

Riya, in her best Gen Z tone, cried, "Mom, there's something on the floor... something that absolutely does not belong there!"

Ruhan groaned, rolling his eyes. "Wait a sec... let me open Google Translator and figure out what that even means."

Before he could, Riya screamed again.

Purav bent down, peeking under the bed—and then burst out laughing.
"Seriously? It's just a lizard! Next time, Riya, say it properly—chipkali! Don't make it sound like some horror movie monster."

Riya gasped dramatically. "You get it now, right? Just make it go away!"

Ruhan smirked. "Or... better idea—we all just leave you here with it. Quality bonding time, you and the lizard."

"Not funny!" Riya squealed, running straight into Shanaya's arms. "Maa! Tell them to stop! I hate lizards. Why do they even exist? Why are they walking on the floor when they have a whole wall?"

Purav chuckled. "Good question. Let's all leave and let you find the answer for us. Floor research duty—Riya Thakur."

"Purav dada!" Riya pouted, hitting his arm lightly. "Don't you dare join Ruhan bhai's side."

The room filled with laughter again. The lizard, of course, had already disappeared—but the drama stayed alive, exactly like every morning in the Thakur house.

From the living room, a thunderous voice echoed across the haveli.
"Abhishek! ... Abhishek! ... Where the hell are you? Aaj iss nawabzaade ka bhoot utaarta hoon pehle!"

Startled, Shanaya, Ruhan, Purav, and Riya hurried downstairs, only to find Thakur Shiv Pratap—towering, furious, and calling for his youngest son.

Abhishek.
The most pampered, most loved... and, ironically, the only one who could trigger Shiv Pratap's temper in seconds. His antics were legendary, his excuses unmatched. But of course, he had his protectors—his elder brother Ruhan being the strongest shield. One glare from Papa, and Ruhan would already be planning Abhishek's rescue.

"Arre Mantri ji," Shanaya teased lightly, trying to calm the storm, "why are you so angry? What has my innocent son done now?"

"Innocent?!" Shiv Pratap thundered. "Aur yeh tumhara beta? Mahashay g kahaan hain? Aaj tumhe dikhata hoon unki 'masoomiyat' ke daant!"

Without waiting for another word, he stormed toward Abhishek's room. The entire Thakur clan, like a royal parade, trailed behind.

Inside, Abhishek was still fast asleep. Shiv Pratap's voice shook the walls.
"Abhishek! Get up!"

Half-asleep, the boy mumbled lazily, "Tu jaanta nahi hai mera baap kaun hai... meri neend kharab mat kar... warna teri naukri chali jaayegi..."

The room went silent. Everyone's eyes widened. Then—suppressed chuckles. But no one dared laugh out loud; after all, Papa was still fuming.

Shiv Pratap's voice dripped with sarcasm. "Accha... bada baap hai tera. Zara usse mujhse mila do, main bhi dekhun kaisa hai woh aadmi!"

By now, Abhishek's brain finally connected with reality. He blinked, sat up abruptly, and froze.
"P-papa? Aap? Agar aapko bulana tha toh keh dete... ap sab yahan kyun aa gaye? Koi urgent kaam tha kya?"

Shiv Pratap folded his arms, his glare sharper than a sword.
"Beta, maine toh maid  ko bheja tha... ki woh Shree Shree Shree Abhishek ji ko jagaye. Lekin usse tumne dhamki de ke bhaga diya. Wah, kamaal ka beta hai mera apne hi baap ko dhamki deta hai baap ki ."

The entire family looked at each other, struggling not to burst into laughter. 

Abhishek instantly slapped his hand over his mouth, as if some dark secret had slipped out.
"Haww! Papa... how could I even dare to say something like that to you? Must've been someone else sleeping in my place... copying my voice to mess with you!"

Before he could finish, Shiv Pratap twisted his ear sharply.
"Aahhh... papa, it hurts! Leave me, please! Sorry papa, I swear I didn't mean it!" Abhishek cried out dramatically, looking more hurt than guilty.

Shanaya rushed forward, shielding him like always.
"Arre, what are you doing? He's just a child! What could he possibly have done? Stop scolding him so much."

"Why am I scolding him?" Shiv Pratap's voice boomed through the room. "Ask him what he did at school yesterday!"

"What happened yesterday, Abhishek?" Shanaya frowned, half-annoyed, half-curious.

Papa gave a deadly glare, "Better confess yourself... or should I reveal your masterpiece to everyone here?"

Abhishek immediately put on his cutest, most innocent face.
"Me? I did nothing, papa! Yesterday was the rangoli competition... what else could I do? And you know my art—it's so good!"

A sarcastic smile curved on Shiv Pratap's lips.
"Of course. Amazing. In fact, it's so amazing that your mother is too old for school, I'm already a graduate, your brother and sister are done with school too... nobody has actually seen your genius art skills. Why don't you show it to them too, hmm?"

He turned to Shanaya, tone dripping with sarcasm,
"Congratulations, Shanaya ji. Looks like our family has produced the next Leonardo da Vinci!"

Abhishek, sensing danger, quickly switched to buttering mode.
"Papa, you're exaggerating! My art isn't that great..."

The whole room was trying hard to hold back laughter, while Abhishek stood there with his classic 'save me, papa's gonna kill me' innocent face.

Riya suddenly screamed again.

Everyone snapped their heads toward her.

Shanaya, Purav, and Ruhaan, in unison:
"What happened now, Riya? Don't tell us you saw another lizard—this time inside your phone?"

Riya rolled her eyes.
"Naaah... I saw something else. Like, you know... people use colors on the floor to make it? Like... umm..."

Shiv Pratap looked up at the ceiling, muttering in pure frustration,
"Oh God, did you really have to send every weirdo into this house only?"

He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, and asked,
"Beta, listen, I'm the Education Minister of this state. I know multiple languages... but whatever language you're speaking? I don't understand it at all!"

Purav chuckled, "Mausa ji, she means rangoli."

Ruhaan snatched Riya's phone from her hand to check, and the moment he saw the WhatsApp status, he burst out laughing.
It was a picture uploaded by Riya's friend, whose brother happened to be in the same class as Abhishek.

Ruhaan passed the phone to Purav... who showed it to Shanaya... and soon the entire family was giggling.

But then their eyes landed on Shiv Pratap's fuming face.
Instantly, everyone straightened up, struggling to hide their laughter.

Shiv Pratap grabbed the phone from Shanaya and growled,
"Beta... come with me. Today I'm taking you to an ear specialist. Clearly, there's something seriously wrong with your ears!"

Abhishek blinked innocently.
"No papa, I'm perfectly fine! Why are you saying this? What happened?"

Shiv Pratap's anger cracked through his restraint.
"Was it a rangoli competition at school... or a black magic ritual? What the hell did you even make? And if that wasn't enough—you actually placed a skeleton from the bio lab on top of it!"

Abhishek mumbled under his breath,
"Umm... for real effect..."

That was the last straw. Shiv Pratap lunged forward to smack him, but Ruhaan quickly jumped in between, while Abhishek hid behind his elder brother like a cowardly kitten.

"Papa, leave it, na... I'll make him write an apology letter and send it to school," Ruhaan tried to pacify.

Shiv Pratap turned on him now, voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Wah! Look at this. I'm the politician here... but you're the one playing politics in my house? First make a mistake, then write an apology. Brilliant. Keep practicing, beta—you'll beat me in politics one day!"

Ruhaan lowered his head, silenced.

Just then, Shiv Pratap's phone rang. Duty called. He stormed out, still muttering curses under his breath.

And that... ladies and gentlemen... are the Ajjoobe of the Thakur Khandaan:

One careless elder son,

One sister living in her delusional Gen-Z bubble,

And the youngest little Nawab... whose rangoli stunt is just the beginning of his "legendary" disasters.

Stay tuned—because this small packet is about to deliver big explosions.

Purav's phone buzzed suddenly. He glanced at the screen and answered.
"Hey, Purav—guess what? I've decided what I'm going to study next." Aditi's voice sang through the speaker, all excited.

Purav smiled. "Yeah? Tell me."

"In BA Honours," she chirped. "I'm dead sure."

"Are you... sure?" Purav asked, trying to sound calmer than he felt.

"I'm damn sure," she said. "And I'm coming to Lucknow. Dad sorted the PG, and I managed to get into college through management quota. I got admission." There was a hopeful pause on the line — she expected him to jump for joy.

Purav's reply was flat, almost casual. "Okay. Fine. Come then. Join the same place." He hung up.

Ruhaan, who'd been listening, grinned. "Who was that?"

"Aditi," Purav said. "I told you about her. I thought — now that I'm here, maybe she'll get a break from all the chaos. Turns out she's following me even here." He sounded half-amused, half-annoyed. "Now what do I do?"

Ruhaan nudged him. "Dude, may be she had fallen for you."

Purav barked a short laugh. "No. Not like that. And if she does love me—then she's wrong. I've never looked at her that way. I don't have 'love' in my life right now. If she loves me, she'll just mess up her life for nothing."

Ruhaan rolled his eyes. "Bro, chill. I'm just saying — why are you getting so worked up about her? Come on, let's go out. I'll take you out — clear your head."

Purav hesitated, then managed a small smile. "Fine. But no mushy love-lecture, okay?"

"Promise," Ruhaan said, pushing him toward the door with a smirk. "Just some fresh air—and maybe a break from being followed by your personal shadow."

Purav didn't know whether to feel relieved or oddly disappointed. He followed anyway.

Back in Uttar Pradesh, at Aditi's house...

The Singh mansion stood tall — glass, marble, and a line of luxury cars outside. A family that had built an empire brick by brick, but inside, Aditi had never felt truly at home. Business deals, board meetings, expansion strategies — everyone in the family had their priorities, and emotions rarely made the agenda.

But today was different.

In her room, Aditi's laughter echoed. She was spinning around while packing clothes into a suitcase, carefully folding dresses but humming as if she were packing her dreams. Lucknow. The same college. The same course. The same city where Purav was.

Outside, her parents were talking.

"You really did this?" her mother asked, a hint of disbelief in her voice.

Her father looked up from the papers in his hand and gestured toward Aditi's room. "See her. Look at her face. Do you see how happy she is? That's why I agreed. She begged me, and I couldn't refuse."

Her mother sighed softly. "I know you love her too much. But she doesn't understand you, does she?"

"She will," he said, his voice calm, almost certain. "One day she'll understand. Right now, she's just a child in love... Let her chase it. Let her taste her own decisions. If we tried to cage her here, she would never smile like this."

Through the half-open door, Aditi twirled once more with a dupatta in her hand, eyes sparkling as if Lucknow wasn't just a city — it was a dream coming true.

Her mother shook her head. "Still... I hope she doesn't break herself for something that was never meant to be."

Her father placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "We've built empires out of nothing. She'll build her own world too. For now, let her fly".