16. Homecoming - IPK anniversary & Birthday OS- June'25

Celebrating 14 years of IPKKND and wishing many happy returns of the day to my dear Pridqrshi9. May your year be filled with boundless joy, cheerful laughter, and moments that feel like poetry. ❤️💫

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Ever since Arnav had discovered the real reason Khushi returned to Buaji's house, not because of her health, but to escape him until the end of their contract marriage, he had been livid.

She thought she could leave without him knowing about it? That she could fool him, and he wouldn't find out? Hadn't he told her, actually warned her, that she wasn't allowed to walk away from him?

He had been trying to make things right. Trying, alright, in his own broken, clumsy way, to woo her back. Couldn't she see that?

Yes, fine. Agreed, his methods were little- ok-erm- more than a little, 'unusual' (his brain added stupid and heartless, but he shut it off).

So what if he had mentioned the contract again, thrown it in her face like a weapon? He hadn't meant to. He had only done it to stop her from leaving.

He would make it up to her. His brain (once again asked), like you had tried to that night by using the contract to stop her? To make it up to her for blaming her for what Di had done?

Whatever. He had promised himself that before the contract ended, he would bring her back to where she belonged. That was by his side.

And thus, he had been working so hard in the past few days!

First, he bought the property where her buaji was living and increased the rent two times. Then, as she tried to seek help from Happy ji or the canteen owner, he ensured no one else would lend her money, crushing her self-respect to come to him to ask for money. So romantic, isn't it?

She didn't think so!

So, she refused to take money from him. And he had to use other backhanded methods.

Not his fault, you see?

So, then like a good 'romantic gesture', he asked her to be his personal servant for 24 hours! Ha! Beat that flattering tactic!

He could see how she was getting frustrated, annoyed as he gave her childish tasks one after another. Dancing for him, being a TV, massaging his back (ok, that one wasn't so bad, you can't deny the shy smile on her lips as he had flipped her on her back and looked into her eyes).

And then, he made her gift wrap random things.

What was the problem? She was like a child-bride anyway, and children liked such things, didn't they?

Apparently not. His self-respecting wife, Khushi Kumari Gupta Singh Raizada, clearly didn't see any of it as an effort to court her.

And thus, finally he had to use the biggest weapon. Threaten to throw her and her family out of the house if she didn't return to him!

He knew that she knew that he was unlikely to follow through with that threat. Because everyone in Delhi (and other parts of India with access to media) knew by now that wherever Mrs. ASR went, Mr. ASR went. So, chances were if she were to live on the street, he would build a hut beside her, or better still share her hut!

As expected, she didn't even give a second worth of time to his threat. She told him on his face that he was welcome to demolish her house. she would wait for the bulldozer!

Obviously, that plan was dropped!

And thus, he resorted to using her weak point. Her amma-babuji and buaji. If she was using his weakness i.e. herself, so could he, use her weakness that is her family! So, like a good, 'romantic' man, he cut water and electricity supply to her house so her family will suffer. She won't let it happen and agree to go with him.

Indeed, she resisted for a bit.

And finally, finally, she agreed to come with him! Asking him to come pick her up in 2 hours, she defeatedly walked back to her house...

Phew!

His ego got a huge boost, or as one wise woman Usha pointed out, Jupiter-sized ego!

In 1 hour 58 minutes, he was there. 2 minutes before time with doli-err- SUV, to get Khushi back!

But alas. If only his woman made it easy victory for him.

She pretended to have gotten her ankle hurt and bandaged. It scared the life out of him!

But thankfully, his Harvard brain came to help and he saw through her lie!

Pretending to have got his foot hurt, he winced in pain and as expected, forgetting about her drama of hurt foot, she came running to check on him.

"Arnavji, where are you hurt? Are you ok?" she asked, inspecting his foot.

And he had it! She had tested enough of his patience. She HAD to return home. And NOW!

Letting go of all the pretense, he bent down and picked her in his arms, deciding to end the drama for once and for all!

She wriggled in his arms.

"Aap kya kar rahe hai (What are you doing)?" she asked, as if not understanding exactly what he was doing!

No worries, he enlightened her, "Tumhe ghar le kar jaa raha hoon (Taking you home). Abhi utha kar le ja raha hoon, zarurat padi toh kheench kar bhi le jaa sakta hoon (Currently, taking you in my arms but if needed I can drag you home). Natak khatam ho gaya tumhara (Is your drama over)?" A chauvinist in him spoke!

"I am not doing any drama, Arnavji. I am really hurt. Woh aap waha gir gaye iss liye hum daude chale aaye, warna doctor ne humse kaha hai kam se kam (you got hurt that's why I came running, otherwise the doctor has asked me not to put my foot down for at least)-" she began resuming her previous drama and he finished that sentence for her, knowing exactly what she was going to say.

"Dus din (10 days). Right. Baat sirf dus dino ki hai, right (It is about only 10 days, right)? You are doing all this because of the contract right?" he asked, putting her down.

Her scared eyes and forlorn face were answer enough that he was right.

"You are here because you want to spend the remaining 10 days of contract here. So that you can get freedom from our marriage-" he couldn't complete that sentence, as the words got stuck somewhere in his throat. The end of the bond holding them together felt too catastrophic to even announce in his mind let alone loud.

But he had to ask her how she could do this so easily? Was she not even a little bit affected? Perhaps, if he was any less arrogant and ignorant, he'd have acknowledged that she was much MORE affected than him, and she expected a proper confession of love from him than those expressions of power he was showing since past few days...but he didn't and wouldn't acknowledge that.

And thus, he only focused on confronting her, "Khushi, ye hone dogi tum (you'd let all this happen)? Hamari shaadi yun hi khatam hone dogi (You'd let our marriage end just like that)?" he asked. A little voice in his head taunted him on his audacity to question her, as they say in Hindi, ulta chor kotwal ko daante or something...

Khushi's heart skipped a beat hearing those words. She was raised with traditional values, values that taught her that marriage was for lifetime! It didn't and couldn't have a 6-month expiry! But who'd tell her husband, Mr. ASR, that?

So, she pointed out in the words he understood, "Kaisi shaadi (What marriage)? Humne jo kiya wo shaadi nahi dhoka tha, ek sauda tha (What we did was not marriage but a lie, a deal). I had to follow through the conditions for 6 months which I did. Now in 10 days, deal will be over, conditions will be over and rest all also-"

"Over? Is it so easy for you?" he asked, again letting his heartbreak known to her. Yeah, he was perhaps being selfish, wanting her to take him in, accept him, come back to him considering his feelings but never returning the same favor for her! Never giving the same right to let her feelings matter in their relationship. What kind of balance was that?

Her quivering voice caught his attention, or more so the finality in it, "Ab hamara inn sab baato se koi matlab nahi hai (Now I have nothing to do with any of this)."

"Koi matlab nahi hai(Nothing to do)?" he asked, almost begged, 'almost' for her to take those words back. She was saying she didn't have anything to do with what he was talking about. In short, she was saying she had nothing to do with HIM! She must take those words back!

Only, she didn't. Rather she pointed out how he knew very well what she wanted, what she needed...

"Aap acchi tarah se jaante hai ki hum ye sab kyun kar rahe hai, yahi nahi aap sab jaante hai (You know very well why I am doing this, in fact you know everything)." she said, and he knew what all she meant in that one line. She was telling him he knew she loved him a lot, but she wanted to hear it in words. She was asking him to tell her that he would never break her heart again. She wanted him to promise that he would only cherish her, respect her here onwards. She wanted to hear that he never meant that contract to be there in the first place and it was a lifetime of marriage. Because he would love her. He knew she wanted to hear all that.

But hell will freeze before ASR said the right things at right time!

So he swallowed his emotions and threw up that wall in his mind again and said, "Fine. Let's not discuss anything. Let's wait till buaji and amma-babuji return. Unhe bhi toh batana hoga ki sab kuch kyun khatam ho gaya hai na (We will have to tell them also, right? Why things ended?)"

It worked. It always did. She jumped to her feet, alarmed,"No!" she said, feeling angry as well as scared as he was taking that blackmail route again!

He smirked, "Why not? They should also know why our marriage ended. We should tell them, it was a contract marriage, for 6 months and now it's over."

She closed her eyes, knowing very well that her family wouldn't be able to bear it. Why was he so heartless?

For how long will he keep doing the same? Refusing to tell her what he really felt for her than making her feel like a helpless girl? When will he treat her with love and respect that a wife deserves, that a basic human deserves than using these backhanded methods? She knew he loved her; he had shown her that in so many weird ways. But why was he always running away and taking help of these threats to save their relation instead of saying the things that would make her happy? Did he even want her to be happy? Or his idea of love was seeing her choose him on gunpoint?

Enough was enough. Today, she will not back down. If he wants to threaten her, let him follow through with it. If anything, he had more to lose than her! It was HIM who had blackmailed her with that 6-month marriage. So, her and his, both families, would stand by her, she knew that.

Arnav, meanwhile, felt more encouraged seeing her silent, "Let's not lie anymore. For a change, now we will speak truth." He said, hoping that this will be it, and khushi will instantly agree to go with him after this.

But instead, she looked up with steely eyes and said, "Ok."

Arnav's brows furrowed in confusion as he asked, "What?"

"Hum ne kaha, thik hai (I said ok). Let's tell them the truth. Let's tell my family and yours, about our 6-month contract marriage. Let's tell them why we got married, how you proposed it to me, how you threatened to stop jiji and akash ji's marriage if I said no. Let's do it, ok?" she asked with a tight smile.

And Arnav stumbled a step back, in shock. He had not seen that coming!

Khushi folded her arms in her front and asked coolly, "Kya hua Arnavji? I only agreed to what you said. You didn't like it? You wanted me to return with you, right?" she asked and chuckled a little bitterly, "After we declare about our contract marriage, be sure that that will never happen! And I don't have to tell you how Nani ji and Di will feel." Khushi said. Although she didn't want to stoop down to his level, sometimes it was needed to show mirror to the person who was too busy looking other direction. He was threatening her using her amma-babuji's feelings so could she!

And as he heard that, Arnav realized, finally, how it felt to be in her shoes! How it feels to hear someone blackmail you using your family! Although he knew his khushi would probably never do anything like that, she couldn't even hurt an ant, let alone their loves ones but he got the message, loud and clear!

He was wrong! His methods to win her were wrong!

This was not how he should bring her back. His love deserved better. Khushi deserved better! She deserved the world, which he was capable of bringing to her feet!

And now, this time, he would do just that!

Not by force, not by blackmail, but by real, actual wooing methods!

Yes, he would bring her back, win her back! And that too within those 10 days.

But without any threats!

Khushi watched in confusion as he turned back and opened the door of her bedroom to go out, wordlessly.

And just then buaji and amma-babuji returned from the front door.

"Arre Arnav babua, when did you arrive? And where are you going?" bua ji asked.

Garima meanwhile tried to switch on the fan which didn't turn on. "Bijlee nahi hai kya Khussi (Is electricity out, Khussi)?" she asked.

Arnav felt another blow in gut hearing that. He was the reason why electricity was cut off from their house.

He had to fix it. Not just electricity and water in their house. But a lot of things.

But first things first. He went near her babuji's wheelchair, Garima standing behind it and buaji close by and said, "Buaji, amma, babuji, I have to confess something."

"Kya hua bitwa?" Garima asked, confused, looking between Arnav and Khushi who was standing by her room's door, mirroring the confusion.

Arnav looked at Khushi, then back at them. "Is it okay if I invite my family here too? I need to tell everyone together."

"Zarur babua, par hua kya hai (Sure but what's wrong)?" bau ji asked.

"Kuch galatiyo ko sahi karna hai, Bua ji (I want to correct a few wrongs)." He said with a small smile and honest voice.

And without waiting, he walked out to call Aman.

To restore the power. The water. And everything else he had broken.

Khushi wiped the corner of her eye, a small, proud smile on her lips.

Today, she had taken a stand. For herself. For their marriage.

And it seemed he was listening.

Of course, knowing her husband, she wouldn't expect a 180-degree change in a few minutes, but she knew one thing, this time, her Arnavji wouldn't drag her back.

This time, he'd win her heart.

And then take her home. After all, her home was always where he was...

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A/N – Happy 14th anniversary, ArShi-nation! This is one such nasha (intoxication) that has been only increasing with years... I hope you liked this OS. I did want to have a book similar to bikhre moti- short stories- but show based, where I could explore some of these. But until that happens, enjoy this here. Eager to hear your reviews!