Chapter 19 - Closure

Dhruv stood by the door of Nani’s room. Everyone else was inside, gathered around Khushi. But he had no strength to face them. Especially after remembering every word, he had spoken the night before, every single thing he had done.

When he woke up some time ago in panic and guilt and set out to search for Khushi, he had not imagined his first challenge would be facing her like this, with everyone present, not alone.

If it had only been Khushi, he knew what he wanted to say. He knew how to apologize. Yes, getting her forgiveness might have been difficult, but at least there was a path he knew. Afterall she was the closest person to his heart, and he had never kept any barriers between his mind and hers. To him, she was an extension of his soul. So, speaking to her, no matter how grave his mistake, did not leave him blank.

But her parents, Anjali Di, Shyam jiju, Arnav, and most of all Nani. He had no idea how to face them.

Especially Nani. The one woman who had stood by him, cared for him, and wished only good for him all along. Perhaps that was what made it more tragic, that he realized it with such clarity so late. In the last 5 years, when he had left that house, it was only Nani who spoke with him, who genuinely asked if he was doing well, who prayed for his success. And that’s why it hurt him to realize he had hurt her too. So badly!

.

It was Khushi who noticed him first. And for a moment her breath hitched, seeing him look so defeated, so lost. The Dhruv ji she knew was always smiling, cheerful. Someone who had stayed calm and patient during the most difficult times of her life, of their lives. So, seeing him like this broke her heart.

“Dhruv ji, please come inside.” She said softly. And every pair of eyes turned on him.

He looked unsure for a brief moment. But then again, he had lost the privilege to avoid her or anyone else there now.

So, he stepped inside, taking slow steps.

Shyam, who had arrived just minutes ago but was aware of everything that had happened as Anjali had been on call with him almost the entire night, cleared his throat and said, “I think we should leave Dhruv and Khushi alone to speak with each other.”

Arnav looked up then, with his bloodshot, sleep-deprived eyes, feeling uncomfortable at Shyam’s suggestion. He had been standing in the corner with folded hands, waiting for Khushi to be ready to speak so he could as well. He himself had so much to apologize for and clarify. But he did not think leaving Khushi alone with Dhruv right now would be a good idea.

Thankfully, Garima spoke then, “I am not leaving my daughter’s side.”

“Amma, Shyam jijaji, thank you for speaking for me.” Khushi’s voice cut through the tension that had started building in that room. “But I am going to request you all to please stop doing that from now on. Don’t think I am being disrespectful or rude. However, I need to be able to say what I am okay with and what makes me uncomfortable myself.”

“But Khushi-“ her father began to object when she still persisted and continued her words.

“Besides, I need to say something that needs to be said in front of you all as well.”

Dhruv held his breath. What was she going to say? Was she already going to declare her decision to leave him? To break their marriage? He needed at least one chance to prove how he regretted last night and how he will never do something like that again.

But Khushi did not let him dwell on his thoughts for long. She stepped closer to him and said, “Dhruv ji, before you say anything, I need to confess something. Can I?”

Dhruv silently nodded. The rest of the family waited to hear what she wanted to say.

She gave him a weak smile that didn’t reach her eyes, “Thank you. Dhruv ji, when I married you, I had decided that I would always do my best to keep you happy. You were already such a good friend to me, and I respected you so much. Besides, my parents had taught me that my main responsibility was to give my marriage my hundred percent effort and loyalty. And all these years, I tried my best to stay true to those values. To not stray from them. I genuinely tried to build our house, our world.” She said, with sincerity as Garima’s eyes watered despite no direct accusations in Khushi’s words.

Khushi continued, “I admit that perhaps, in a small corner of my heart, my past still lingered. Perhaps because it had given me the most important part of my life, my child, who was my flesh and blood. Or perhaps because of the way it ended, without me being able to explain why I stayed silent that night despite questions on my character. And maybe those unanswered questions, that incomplete chapter, probably made it difficult for me to erase my past and its memories from my mind.” She said, swallowing briefly and Arnav, who now knew the entire truth, found himself engulfed with her pain.

“But trust me that I never let it create any space between us, Dhruv ji. I wanted to make our marriage work; I wanted to truly move on with you. That is why I made sure to keep my distance from Di, Shyam jijaji, and Arnavji when we met in Lucknow last month.” She said and Dhruv instantly reached out to hold her hands.

“Khushi, I know all this. Why are you telling this to me again? There’s no need-“

“There is a need.” She said, freeing her hands. Meanwhile everyone listened with bated breath, held by the honesty in her voice as she laid bare the last 5 years of her life.

“When we came here a week ago, I had decided with all my heart to find complete closure from my past. When I told you that I wanted us to take a vacation together, I truly meant it. I thought it would be the perfect time for us to start building our life together. And although I was not ready for a baby yet, I would have been open to that possibility in our future.”

Dhruv looked down, guilt flooding him as he remembered how he had gone ahead and declared their “plans” in front of everyone, just to make Arnav jealous.

“But I made a mistake, Dhruv ji. I failed to keep my promise to you. I failed the values my parents gave me, and most of all, the sanctity of our relationship.” She bit her lip, the confession making her feel more vulnerable than she had expected.

And that was when they heard Arnav. “Khushi, wait. You do not have to do this alone.”

But she stopped him with her hand. “No, Arnavji. Let me complete what I want to say. Please.”

He sighed and nodded.

And although Dhruv already understood that she was going to talk about her and Arnav’s affair, he listened with attention.

Khushi closed her eyes briefly and said, “The next day of Arnavji and La- their engagement, I had gone to meet Arnavji one last time. Because I believed that neither of us could truly move on from our past until we acknowledged it and forgave each other. And that was what we both had agreed on.” She paused, her fingers tightening slightly as she steadied herself. “But I… I could not keep that promise. The evening of the sangeet practice… for a few moments… I forgot my promise, and my commitment.” she lowered her gaze, shame flickering across her face. Still, she forced herself to continue. “In those moments, we lost control and crossed lines we should not have crossed… not fully but enough for me to know it was wrong. I felt terribly guilty about it, Dhruv ji. And I had already decided that I would confess everything to you, after telling Arnavji that we should forget whatever happened between us. And he had decided the same.”

She swallowed hard. “But you must know this, and I swear on my late child… I never crossed the line of sanctity with Arnavji. I did not plan to cheat on you, Dhruv ji. But I still let my emotions lead me for a while. And for that… I am truly sorry.”

Anjali gasped in shock, while the others were equally stunned. When Dhruv had spoken about her and Arnav the previous night, they had thought it might be a misunderstanding.

And that’s when Arnav moved to her side, his voice rough with guilt, as he spoke “Khushi is not at fault here. It was me who initiated it. And I will always feel guilty about letting my feelings make me commit that mistake. But she is telling the truth. The next morning, that is yesterday, I had already decided that we would not continue with what had begun and she had done the same.”

Anjali leaned against Shyam’s shoulder for support. Khushi’s parents had already had an inkling when Dhruv had mentioned something like this the previous night in his drunken state but hearing it was still shocking.

And that was finally when Dhruv spoke, “If I forgive you, will you forgive me for last night Khushi?”

“What?” Khushi asked, confused.

“Look. I know I did a much bigger mistake…I – I cheated on you. But can you not let it go, once? I promise it will never happen again, Khushi. I was just so upset and angry after I overheard you and Arnav speaking about cancelling your plans. I assumed you both were going behind my back, and I - I just acted on impulse. I know I made a mistake, and I am taking full responsibility for it. But like you said… you also made a mistake, right? So can we just forget this… and continue our lives like before?” he asked, his voice almost hopeful now.

Everyone looked at him, stunned at his logic and justification. Arnav too clenched his fists in anger.

And Khushi… she just stared at Dhruv for a moment, trying to process what he had just said, and what meaning he had drawn from her confession.

And then she chuckled softly. “You still do not get it, do you, Dhruv ji? You think my confession about a momentary lapse in judgment with a man who was my ex-fiancé, the father of my child, and someone who I could not face sooner because of your lies, is the same as you sleeping with a hooker?”

Dhruv flinched at the venom in her words.

“No, Dhruv ji. It is not equal. Nothing justifies what you did to me, to our marriage. And I don’t just mean yesterday. When Arnavji came looking for me 4 years ago, why did you lie to him that I had indeed been cheating on him on our engagement night? Why did you not tell him that he had just lost his child? When you knew how much I was grieving our baby and how I blamed myself for loving and trusting Arnavji who turned his back on us, why did you let me carry that lie, let me believe he never came back for me? Because the truth is, while I may not have brought love into our marriage, I did bring honesty which you did not. And for any marriage to work, to prosper, honesty is the base.”

Dhruv openly started crying at that point. “Khushi- please. Please don’t say that…I really- I love you.”

And that was finally when Nani, who had been listening quietly until now, spoke. “No Dhruv bitwa. You did not love her. Kyunki jisse aap pyar keh rahe hain, woh pyar nahi, swarth hai, dhokha hai (Because what you are calling as love is selfishness, deceit).” She paused for a moment. “Aur pyar mein swarth nahi hota, samarpan hota hai. Ahem nahi, saadgi hoti hai (Love has surrender, not selfishness; humility not ego).” She looked at him; her eyes filled with pain. “And neither you, nor Chote really understood that.”

Khushi gave her a grateful smile, while Arnav looked away in guilt. How he wished he could turn back time and undo what he had done back then. His one moment of anger had caused so much damage to almost everyone’s lives.

"Shyam jijaji, will you please help us connect with family lawyers?" Khushi asked.

And hearing that, Dhruv fell to his knees, breaking down. He had lost his mother early, had grown up in a family he always struggled to call his own, and had seen the girl he loved love someone else. So, when destiny gave him a chance, he did everything to get her…he had fought tooth and nail to keep her with him. So, now losing her felt like a catastrophe he could not survive.

“How can you do this to me, Khushi? I cannot live without you. I- I will die.” He said, hiccupping. “I will never sign the divorce papers.” He wiped his tears, losing control over his emotions. “You cannot leave me, Khushi. And if you think you and Arnav can reunite, then I won't let it happen. Did you hear me?”

Shyam held Arnav’s hand, stopping him as he was about to charge forward. This was not the moment to escalate things again.

But Shashi, who had been silent until then, finally got up and marched towards Dhruv, grabbing him by the collar. “I will see how you do that, you punk! My daughter has already suffered a lot. If you dare hurt her even a little more, I will make you regret your life.”

Garima too looked at Dhruv with disgust.

But Khushi stepped in quickly to stop her father’s anger. “Babuji. Leave him!” she said, pulling Shashi away from Dhruv.

Khushi then turned to look at Dhruv, exhausted rather than angry. “Dhruv ji, you are still getting it all wrong.” She paused, choosing her words carefully. “You are seeing everything through a tinted glass, and that is why nothing is clear to you right now. But please understand that our marriage was already built on lies, pain, and lot of hurt. It was never as pure or stable as you are trying to believe now. It was already fragile, already doomed in many ways.”

She took a slow breath, her eyes not leaving his face. “And the worst damage was that we both broke the commitment of our marriage, the sanctity of that relationship, in different ways.” She took a deep breath and continued, “We both have already wasted a lot of time in realizing this, Dhruv ji but a relationship should not feel like a burden, something we are just dragging for the sake of it and if it does, it is not right. After everything that has happened, I can't love you, Dhruv ji. And I cannot live with you.” Her voice softened slightly but remained firm. “Please don’t make it more difficult than it already is. It’s not easy for me either but freeing each other from this forced relationship is the only right thing for us.” She said, hoping he understood.

And they heard Arnav speak, “And as for me and Khushi, let me make this absolutely clear.” He stepped forward slightly; his gaze fixed on Dhruv. “There is nothing left between us in that sense, and there is nothing starting again either.” His jaw tightened as he continued, voice steady but stern. “So, stop assuming, stop threatening, and stop building stories in your head. Whatever happened in the past, or happens in the future, it is between Khushi and me to deal with, not for you to control or interfere in.”

And he meant it. He had long ago realized that he had made a mistake by letting Khushi go and had already caused her a lot of pain. Now he would be damned if he saw her suffer because of him. he would just stand on the side and support her in whatever way she needed…

.

Dhruv let out a long, broken sigh, as if something inside him had finally given up. But for the first time, he did not argue, did not plead. Maybe this was it. Maybe this was what destiny had always been steering him towards, no matter how tightly he had tried to hold on. Khushi had said it in clear words that she didn’t want to be with him, so he had to respect that. He owed her that much after everything.

And maybe it was his cue to turn this around and do something good in his life that would make Nani proud of him again. Maybe proving to her that the chance she had given him years ago, when she took him into her home, had not been wasted, would now become his life’s only purpose.

Meanwhile, Shashi placed a protective hand on Khushi’s shoulder. “We are with you, Khushi. Whatever you decide.” Garima nodded beside him, her eyes filled with tears, but also a determination to never coerce her daughter into anything again.

Khushi gave a small, almost invisible nod. Something in her had finally begun to heal, as if a weight she had carried for years had silently lifted off her chest.

For the first time in a long while, she did not feel torn. She felt free.

--*--

A/N – I hope this chapter gave the story the closure it deserved. I had considered all three possibilities while writing this, Khushi choosing to forgive Dhruv, Arnav and Khushi finding their way back to each other, or Khushi choosing herself and walking away from it all. But in the end, this felt like the most honest conclusion. because this is where Khushi’s journey led her, towards peace and clarity. Samarpan towards herself…We started with Arnav’s regrets and ended with Dhruv’s while Khushi was made as a side character of her own story. So, her finding herself and both men understanding their boundaries is where their story rests. There will be an epilogue, of course. And perhaps, the other possibilities could still exist. I’d still love to hear your thoughts, what you felt, what you hoped for, and what you think the future might hold for them. Thank you for staying with this story till here.