As Dev hoped, he reached 5 minutes earlier at the dinner.

The address was located in a different town, Dev was astonished to see a Villa at the given address. He was driving his luxury car, he entered the villa premises through the door.

The villa was painted all brown from the outside, it was made in the same design as ancient Indian palaces. Dev loved the Villa's design.

Dev parked his car, a guard was waiting for him. The guard helped Dev find his way toward the dinner location.

Dinner was held in the garden. At the garden gate, Dev saw the girl waiting for him.

The girl smiled after seeing Dev, a smile unknowingly came on his face after seeing the girl smiling.

When Dev reached the gate, the girl introduced herself, "Hello, I am Tara. Thanks for saving me that day."

"Hello, I am Dev. It's not a big deal, anyone would've done the same," Introduced himself Dev.

Tara smiled after hearing Dev, and said, "Thanks for accepting my Invitation. Let's go my parents are waiting for you"

Dev smiled and nodded. Tara asked him to follow her, he followed Tara. He saw a table in the center of the garden. Four people were already sitting on their chairs.

Tara introduced them to Dev, they were Tara's parents and maternal grandparents. Her parents looked to be in their late 40s, and her grandparents were in their late 70s.

Her father stood up from his chair, came up to Dev, and said, "Thanks for saving my daughter, young man. You have done an unpayable deed."

Dev looked awkward and said, "You're my elder, you don't need to say thank you to me, you're embarrassing me, Uncle."

Her father laughed loud and patted Dev's shoulder so hard that his shoulder got shaken. Her father commented, "You've got manners too, good."

Dev touched the feet of her grandparents, they patted Dev's head and gave him their blessings.

Dev said, 'Namaste' to Tara's mother, she also thanked him for saving her daughter. Tara only looked awkwardly at the whole event.

Dev sat down on the only empty chair left at the table. The chair was next to Tara's chair. Her family was pure vegetarian so the dinner was also vegetarian.

The table was filled with dishes native to Bihar, a state in India, the main dishes were Litti chokha, Dal puri, and sattu paratha. The desserts were Malpua, Balushahi, and Khaja.

Dev enjoyed all the dishes, a look of bliss appeared on his face, his appetite was more than usual today. He felt full after a month. After having dinner, He talked with Tara's family for hours.

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After talking with Tara and her family for so long, Dev decided to leave. While Dev was driving, he got a call from his mother.

He tapped on his watch to pick up the call. A Projection appeared in front of him. His mother looked very angry on the other side.

"Why didn't you open your house door last week?" Before, asked Isha even before Dev could greet her.

"A day with a girl is fine, but a week with two girls. Is that why you accepted the apartment?" sternly asked Isha while glaring.

Dev's whole face got red due to shame, he couldn't even look in her mother's eye after that. He said while trying not to look at his mother's eye, "I won't do it again."

Isha sternly said, "You better not, or you're moving back." She then noticed Dev was driving his car, her anger increased tenfold, she berated, "Why did you pick up the call, if you're driving? What if an accident happens?" Call me when you reach home, and she cuts the call.

Dev was dumbfounded, he was so into his moment that he forgot his mother would get angry if she saw him driving while talking with her. Dev facepalmed himself.

You wouldn't get into an accident if you talk on the phone while driving because of the self-driving option. Self-driving was even better than manual driving. Dev forgot to activate the self-driving mode, that's why his mother was angry.

Dev reached his home after 15 minutes. The first thing he did after reaching home: he called his mother, his mother berated him for a whole minute. It all only stopped when he promised her mother that it won't happen twice.

Few moments after his mother cut the call, he got an alert on his watch which made him dumbfounded. His mother sent him some extra money which he didn't require, due to his grandfather, but this gesture meant a lot to him. He was the one who committed the mistake, but his mother forgave him and sent a gift for berating him. His eyes got wet.

{Author's Note- That's how you spoil a child.}

Dev felt sleepy, he sent a text message, 'Thanks for having me for dinner. It was a great experience,' to Tara, and slept.

Tara was also preparing to sleep when she suddenly got an alert on her watch. It was a text message from Dev. A smile appeared on her face after reading the text, she replied, 'It was my pleasure. Did you enjoy the food?'

Tara waited a few minutes for his reply, but she didn't get any. She also developed a crush on Dev. He was good-looking, he had manners, he saved her, and the main point was that she didn't have a boyfriend right now. She fell asleep while thinking about him.

The next morning, Dev woke up, he freshened up. His timetable has been messed up for a week, so he decided to follow the timetable as usual from today.

Dev tapped on his watch to surf the internet for some time, he found an unread alert, he checked the alert and got happy after seeing the alert sender.

He read her text and replied, 'Yes, I loved everything, the food as well as the people I was talking to.'

He got a reply from her after a few minutes, 'Oh, and Who would be the most you loved yesterday night?'

He replied while smiling, 'I'll tell you only if you meet me at PQ restaurant.'

Dev didn't get the reply as early as he wanted, he started getting nervous, he got a reply after a few hours, 'Sure, I'll tell you the time for the meeting.'

Dev jumped up in jubilation after getting her affirmation. They talked the whole day by texting, at night Dev rubbed his forehead and thought, "My today's timetable got messed up too."

He decided to only check his watch after completing the study. After that Day, he started spending his day as per his timetable. It has been more than a week since Dev and Tara started talking. They were getting closer day by day. Tara still hasn't told Dev about when they'll meet.

While Dev was having days of his life, he got the tragic news that shattered him. His grandfather passed away due to heart failure.

He couldn't believe it, he became mute, after his grandfather passed away, he stopped talking to everyone. He would just look blankly at the sky every day from the roof of his villa.

Isha and Aryan couldn't see Dev in such a condition, so they took him to a pet rescue shelter to live there for a while so that he could cheer up.

Dev took time but started recovering by seeing happy souls around him, even though they were rescued in different kinds of horror situations, but as the animals got love and care, their situation started getting better, and they started living their life like usual.

Dev especially took a liking to a Bengal cat, which was in a very critical situation, the cat was a male and very old, it was rescued while it was being tortured, which even made the cat feel aversion towards others. Bengal cats are known for their high energy, yet that cat will just sit and stare blankly at the sky. Dev took a liking to the cat. It didn't look like the cat would live more than 3 months, even after all the expensive treatments.

Dev named the cat Lucky, as he felt that he was in luck to meet Lucky in this situation. He started sitting close to Lucky, then they would both stare at the sky.

As days passed by, Lucky also started noticing Dev. He started taking food from Dev.

Lucky still didn't let Dev pet him, but the rejection was getting less day by day. Finally, after a month, Dev could rub lucky's head. Dev felt proud of himself for decreasing Lucky's aversion toward him,

Lucky didn't play with anyone, either it was a cat or a dog, but he started playing with Dev. They would still stare at the sky, but now Lucky would stare at the sky from Dev's head. Good things always come to an end, Lucky's death came too. Dev was prepared for that, but it still broke his heart.

Dev's parents feared that he'll fall into depression again, but their fears were proven wrong. Dev cried but he got better the next day. Dev cremated Lucky, instead of burying him according to his religious customs. Dev did everything according to the customs, he held a 13 day funeral for Lucky.

After the funeral, he made an unexpected decision that stunned his parents.

What was the decision he made?

We'll find out next time...