Chapter 25

Chapter 25: An Eye For An Eye

Thank you for all your comments... I know I am writing on a very sensitive topic and right now you all are very angry with me or Arnav...😳 But there are more twists in store and here's a tiny one...

Khushi came down to the kitchen and she and Payal prepared lunch for every one. As the family sat to eat, Payal and Khushi served everyone. Anjali signalled Khushi to serve Arnav some halwa. Khushi quietly picked up the bowl and walked to Arnav with the sugar free version.

"Mr. Raizada would you like some halwa?" She asked in a flat tone.

Before Arnav could respond Anjali spoke up. "Khushi? Why do you address him as Mr. Raizada? He's your husband."

Arnav's head snapped up to look at Khushi but her face betrayed no emotion.

"Would you like some halwa Arnav?" She asked in the same flat tone as if there had been no interruption from Anjali.

Arnav stared at her for a moment and then nodded. She served him and moved away but he kept looking at her. It was like she didn't care about anything anymore. She blindly obeyed to whatever she was asked to do. He remembered when they had gone to that party in Mumbai and he had asked her to address him by his name for the first time. She had been so shy and reluctant. She had blushed so beautifully. His name had sounded so wonderful in her voice. And today when she said his name, it didn't hold any emotion, it just sounded dead.

Khushi spent the rest of the day with Anjali and rest of the family. There was a little moment of awkwardness when Anjali brought up the topic of Honeymoon but Arnav knew Khushi would never be comfortable staying alone with him. So he flatly refused.

"But Chote, how can you not have time for your own honeymoon?" Anjali asked perplexed.

"Di, I've already been on a leave for long enough. I need to get back to work in a couple of days." He said firmly.

"Fine Bhai then even we won't go." Akash said and Payal nodded in agreement.

"Don't be a fool Akash." Arnav shot back. "Both of us can't go out at the same time. One of us has to be there to take care of work. You guys go now and I and Khushi can go later when I have time."

"At least think about Khushi Bitiya's feelings Chote." Nani pressed her point.

Arnav sighed, her feelings was the only thing that he was thinking of. He was about to reply when Khushi spoke up.

"It's alright Naniji. I understand." She smiled. "If Arnav has work we can go some other time. And I too have to get back to work. The wedding season is on and my assistants must be having a hard time without me around."

No one objected after that. Anjali walked away suddenly as her phone rang while the others sat chatting casually. She came back after a while and looked extremely worried and shaken. "Chote..." She said and one look at her face, Arnav was instantly by her side with his arm around her shoulder.

"What is it Di? Why do you look so worried? Who called?" He asked full of concern.

"It's your Jijaji, he's not well. He has asked me to come over." Anjali sobbed.

"Jijaji? Why what's wrong?" Arnav asked concerned.

"I don't know. But that's why he couldn't be there for your wedding. He didn't tell me as he knew I would worry but now that the wedding is done he wants me to be with him." Anjali explained.

Anjali's Husband Vikram was a lawyer. He and Anjali normally stayed in Delhi but currently he was in Bangalore for the past 6 months for a particularly important case.

"Chote I need to go there immediately." She said extremely worried.

"Yes Di, I'll arrange it all for you. You can leave with Akash and Payal for the airport." Arnav replied and rushed away to his room to organise for Anjali's travel.

~~~~~~

By evening Anjali left for Bangalore and Akash and Payal unwillingly for their honeymoon. And Khushi soon realised that the other members of the family were hardly any company. Mamaji was busy with work as Arnav and Akash were not working. Mamiji was too full of herself and spent most of the time admiring herself in the mirror. Nani was good company but she too spent a lot of time reading spiritual books and liked to be left alone at that time.

It was almost like living with Arnav all alone in the large mansion. She tried to keep herself busy in the kitchen but there was only so much time you could cook when you had three helpers to who did all the chopping, peeling, cleaning and kneading for you. She decided since Arnav had said that he would be getting back to work the day after, she too would do the same. Work would keep her mind occupied.

After dinner she tried to prolong going back to her room but HP and other servants wouldn't let her help with the cleaning. So after taking Nani to her room and bidding good night, she came back to her room. She saw that Arnav was working on the laptop and just looked up to acknowledge that she had come in and went back to his work. She changed and got into the bed.

It was easier to fall asleep knowing that he was not next to her... at least not yet. Arnav waited for her to fall asleep and then stopped his work. He hoped that maybe if he didn't talk to her before she slept she might not get nightmares. But he was wrong, as he moved to switch off the light, she started mumbling restlessly. He stepped back, from last night's experience he knew that if she saw him when she woke up, it would disturb her even more. So as she began thrashing in the bed, he quickly walked away to the poolside, where she couldn't see him.

When Khushi woke up shaken with the nightmare, she immediately realised where she was this time. The lights were still on, which comforted her. After catching her breath she looked around but Arnav wasn't there. She got up and drank a glass of water and walked towards the French doors to get some fresh air but stopped on seeing Arnav there. He was sitting on a chair with his face buried into his hands. She came back to the bed and lied down. After about half an hour she felt the other end of the bed dip and knew that he had come back. She fell asleep after a while.

~~~~~~

"I think I will resume work from tomorrow as well."

Khushi and Arnav were the only ones remaining at the breakfast table as everyone else ate quickly and left to give the newly weds some time alone.

Arnav's head snapped up suddenly and for a moment Khushi thought he was going to forbid her from going to work any time soon. But then his expression softened.

"That's alright, I'll drop you, it's on the way." He said.

That was the last thing she wanted, "No, I can manage. You don't have to..."

"Khushi... You will go to work with me. Everyday." He said flaring up. "I know you are used to Rohan picking you up and dropping you back. But that's NOT going to work anymore. You are MY wife and I will not tolerate it." He paused but she just stared at her plate. "I'll drop you and pick you up everyday and if I'm busy, a Raizada car will be there to do the job but under no circumstances will you come or go with Rohan. Is that clear?"

She didn't respond.

"ANSWER ME DAMMIT!!!" He slammed his fist on the table.

She flinched and then looked up at him coldly. "Why do you expect an answer? It's not like you are giving me a choice."

He slowly withdrew his fist from the table and looked away. She was right he wasn't giving her a choice but he didn't have much of a choice either. She HAD to be with him. She got up and walked away.

~~~~~~

Next day after breakfast Arnav dropped Khushi at work. Coincidentally, Rohan too arrived at the same time and came forward to them. Arnav got down from the car on seeing him.

"Hey, what luck the new Mr. & Mrs. Raizada!" He exclaimed smiling brightly.

Khushi smiled at him automatically but Arnav's expression remained grave.

Rohan shook hands with Arnav congratulating him again for the wedding. But when he turned to Khushi to do the same, Arnav held on to her hand not letting her shake hands with Rohan. A bit hurt Rohan pulled back his hand. Embarrassed Khushi looked away and thanked Rohan. Rohan quickly left them alone after that and Khushi glared at Arnav.

"That was ridiculous." She shot at him while pulling out her hand from his grasp.

"I don't really care." He replied calmly. "I'll not tolerate anyone touching you. I'll pick you up at seven."

Frustrated, Khushi stormed into the studio. She went straight to Rohan's cabin.

"Rohan, I'm so sorry for what happened outside." She apologised.

"You don't have to apologise Khushi. I know you can't help it." He said. "And good you have come here. Please sit, I need to talk to you."

"What is it?" She asked sitting down.

"Khushi there have been a few decisions I had to make while you were on your wedding leave." He took in a deep breath and continued. "You know I started this studio because my dad wanted me to prove myself."

"Yes ." she replied her heart sinking.

"Dad is very happy with Emerald's success. He thinks I have proved that I can take over RC Creations when the time comes. So I have decided to start working from the RC Creations head office." He explained.

Khushi was shocked. "But Rohan..."

"Of course, I'm not leaving you guys on your own." He interrupted her. "I will still fulfill all my duties, just not from here. I'm sure you can handle every thing here and I'll come whenever needed."

Khushi just nodded. She knew Rohan couldn't always be there, he had bigger responsibilities waiting for him. But somehow she couldn't help but feel that her marriage had fast tracked his decision. Suddenly she felt very lonely as if she had lost her close friend forever. The way Arnav had behaved today, her friendship with Rohan would never be the same again. She sighed and returned to her cabin, her insides filling with rage directed towards Arnav.

~~~~~~

She was so angry all day that when Arnav came to pick her up she got into the car without a glance at him and didn't speak a word to him. After asking a few generic questions about her day he realised that she was fuming and stayed quiet.

As they were entering Shantivan, Khushi's handbag's strap broke at the door and she fell back while Arnav entered. He saw Nani was talking to someone and smiled instantly.

"Sonya, what a surprise!" He exclaimed.

The tall woman stood up smiling instantly. "ASR, it's been ages." She came forward smiling and hugged him.

"You guys talk, I'll get refreshments sent." Nani said and left.

"You couldn't be here 2 days ago to attend my wedding, could you?" Arnav asked her.

"I had a meeting in Singapore. Even today I came here for a meeting in Delhi, I'm off to Perth in a couple of hours. So I didn't want to miss the chance to congratulate you and meet your wife." She explained. "I'm so happy for you ASR." She said and hugged him again. Just then Khushi entered and saw the scene. Her eyes narrowed and she walked forward in determination.

Arnav turned to Khushi with an arm still around Sonya's shoulder, "Sonya this is my wife Khushi..." He was about to introduce further but Khushi cut him off.

"Will you step away from my husband?" Khushi said looking straight into Sonya's eyes.

"Excuse me?" Sonya said a bit taken aback. Arnav's shock was beyond words.

"You heard me right the first time. Step away." She ordered not bothering to keep the rudeness out of her voice.

Embarrassed, Sonya took a step away from Arnav.

"That's better. I hope that doesn't happen again." Khushi smiled sarcastically and walked away to her room.

About 15 minutes later when Arnav entered the room practically breathing fire, he saw Khushi coming out of the bathroom. He walked straight to her and grabbed her arms.

"How dare you talk to Sonya like that?" He roared.

"You don't know?" She asked calmly. "I thought it was obvious."

"She's my college friend. She came here to congratulate us for the wedding and this is how you treat her?" He fumed. "And what's with all this sudden possessiveness?"

Khushi pushed away his hands and folded her arms across her chest. "Possessiveness? Are you kidding me? I was just following the rules set by you."

"What rules?"

"Don't be such a hypocrite Arnav. You stop MY friend from even shaking hands with me and then you go and hug YOUR friend? Why would I allow that?" She shrugged. "If you are setting up rules for ME then be ready to follow them YOURSELF."

"She was here only for 2 hours. She came here after 6 years. How could you insult her like that?" He glared at her.

Khushi did feel a bit guilty but she wasn't in mood to forgive. Thanks to Arnav she had lost one of her best friends. "She chose a bad day to come. You insulted MY friend, I just returned the gesture. And next time you set up a new rule, think about its outcome." Her tone had an edge of a warning. "An eye for an eye. That's how it's going to be from now." She turned and walked out of the room.

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Silent readers don't buddy me for PMs... It breaks my heart🥺 but I still reject the request...😈