Chapter 50: Wife

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Chapter Fifty

Wife

“Good luck Dr. Gupta. I’ll be ready with the cameras.”

Arnav watched Khushi roll her eyes and depart to the front of the auditorium to take a seat with the rest of the resident doctors. He had no trouble understanding why she refused to believe she deserved an award; her whole life had been about unfulfilled hopes and wants. She had learned not to expect, not to dream. She stuck to her ground, in what was tangible and real. 

And that’s why he insisted on coming. To remind her –not that she needed it– that it’s okay to hope, because sometimes, you do get everything you had wished for and even more. And those moments far outshine the disappointments. 

Of course, it was another thing she didn’t want to trouble him. Arnav’s fractured leg was inconvenient, no doubt, in fact he had purposefully avoided telling her how painfully his bone was mending back together in the last two days. She had fussed so much merely about his meals, she would probably faint if she realized he was in pain. Thank god, Ved was prescribing him pain killers anyway. He was a good doctor in that sense. Like Khushi, he genuinely cared about his patients. 

“Is this seat taken?” said a familiar voice.

Arnav looked up, stunned, to see none other than his father-in-law, the very same Alok Raj Gupta he had spent most of the previous night thinking –no, fuming– about, staring back at him. 

What on earth was he doing here?!

Alok, however, surprisingly appeared concerned. “I apologize for coming here unannounced. You can imagine my shock when I found out just yesterday that you were in an accident. I assumed Khushi would inform me of such things… but perhaps this generation doesn’t believe in etiquette.”

Oh. So this was a customary visit. 

As if on cue, the lights in the room dimmed, signaling the commencement of the ceremony.  Alok took a seat beside Arnav and continued the conversation, disregarding the introductory remarks being given out on stage. 

“Anyway, how are you feeling now? I remember Shankar once telling me your family donates to this hospital. Have they been taking care of your treatment appropriately?”

Arnav tried his best to keep his infuriation at bay. It was neither the time nor place to confront his father-in-law. 

“I’m fine, thank you for asking,” he answered curtly. “If Khushi didn’t inform you, how did you know I was admitted here?”

“I had gone to your company yesterday for a board meeting,” Alok replied with a sigh. “And lucky I did, otherwise–”

“Doesn’t Vihaan usually attend those?” Arnav interrupted shrewdly. 

Alok averted his eyes. “Vihaan was… preoccupied. So, I had to step in.”

Something was definitely amiss. Arnav could see it from a mile away. It was no secret that the Gupta family was a stickler for societal obligations; they took their public image much too seriously for comfort. 

So then, what had kept Alok so occupied that he didn’t even realize Arnav was admitted in the hospital? And more importantly, what had gone wrong between him and his prized heir? 

Applause suddenly rang through the audience. Arnav vaguely registered the hospital’s director on stage, preparing to speak. 

“But I must say,” Alok said, skeptically eyeing the crowd. “I was very surprised to see the receptionist point me this way when I asked for you at the front desk… why are you attending these awards? Shouldn’t they let you rest?”

“What do you mean, it’s for Khus–” Arnav broke off, realizing suddenly that Alok had no idea about his daughter’s reinstated practice.

Alok narrowed his eyes. “What about Khushi?”

Before Arnav could answer, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to his left to see a member of the administrative staff crouching down beside him. 

“Can you please be quiet? If not, I’ll have to ask you both to leave.”

Alok answered: “Sure, we’ll go–”

“No,” Arnav cut in. “We’ll stay… sorry for disrupting.”

Thanking them, the administrator disappeared into the shadows near the exit.

Alok frowned. “I didn’t think this was important–”

“It is,” Arnav said pointedly. “It’s important for me. I’ll understand if you have other appointments, however, and need to leave.”

Alok didn’t move, perhaps realizing that he had no right to expect Arnav to drop everything and attend to him.

Good, Arnav thought. If his father-in-law expected the same amount of unquestionable obedience as his two children, then he should think again. Arnav wasn’t as gullible as Vihaan nor as accommodating as Khushi. And now when he understood the full truth, there was no way he was going to continuing taking Alok’s orders as the gospel truth. 

So, with a shrug, he turned his attention back to the stage. The hospital director had finished with his welcome and was now immersed in explaining his plans for expansion. 

Arnav couldn’t care less.

If he had hoped Khushi would win an award a few minutes ago, now, he downright prayed for it. It was time her father saw just how capable she was, how brilliant. There would be no bigger reply to his outdate views. 

It was more than an hour later when they began presenting the awards. Arnav watched with bated breath as the announcer introduced the resident awards and spoke at an excruciatingly slow pace:

“Next, we have the award for the best first-year resident.”

Arnav sat up higher in his wheelchair, crossing his fingers. 

“It goes to Dr. Khushi Kumari Gupta.”

“Yes!” Arnav cheered, elated beyond words as a deafening din rose in the auditorium. He clapped loudly with the rest of the audience, feeling as though he was soaring high into a sunny, cloudless sky.

What he wouldn’t give to see Khushi’s face right now! For the first time since his accident, Arnav wished his leg hadn’t been fractured. He wished he could just run up to her and pull her into a hug. 

The announcer continued: “Dr. Gupta joined us a little later than usual, but not once used that as an excuse to remain behind. Just in the past one month, she has worked more hours than any other resident. She is the first to respond to accident cases, that is on top of handling her own patients, approaches difficult cases with utmost sensitivity and maturity and is always seen learning and improving. In fact, I have yet to meet to someone who has a bad review about her. 

So, everyone, please welcome Dr. Gupta on stage to accept this honor as a small token of our gratitude. I can only hope, her determination and sincerity will inspire not only the interns, but some of our senior doctors as well.”

Arnav grinned, wondering if the impudent Dr. Dayal was listening closely. He needed to take many leaves out of Khushi’s book, not just one. 

When Khushi finally appeared on stage, looking picturesque in a white coat thrown over her silvery saree and her hair in a low bun, Arnav couldn’t help but turn smugly to watch Alok. The senior Gupta was frozen in his seat, looking ashen and petrified, as though he was seeing his worst nightmare come true.  

Arnav was almost tempted to take a photo of him. Almost. 

Smirking to himself, he turned his attention back to Khushi to find her standing at the podium, looking for something. Her eyes had just bounced in his direction when she suddenly paled, looking equally as flummoxed as her father.

Could she make out Alok’s frame in the darkened room? 

He didn’t have to wait too long for an answer. 

“When I was a little girl, I once broke a rather expensive vase while playing a game of hide-of-seek with my older brother,” Khushi said in a ringing voice. 

Arnav saw Dr. Awasti let out a sigh of relief behind her.  

“Predictably, we both received a good amount of scolding in return,” Khushi continued. “My brother, for coming up with the idea of playing instead of finishing our homework, and me, for not airing on the side of caution. Don’t you know better, my mother asked me. Girls are supposed to be mature and responsible; if your brother doesn’t want to do homework, you should correct him, not agree with him.”

Arnav had no trouble understanding where she was going with this. From the corner of his eye, he saw Alok hanging on to her every word. 

“It didn’t take me long to figure out what being mature and responsible meant. It meant serving tea when guests arrived. It meant helping my mother with chores when she wasn’t well. It meant liking piano instead of football. It meant not going abroad for college. It meant coming home by sunset. Being mature and responsible meant accepting the unequal playground girls are pushed into since the day they are born.”

Khushi paused, letting the audience grapple with the seriousness of her words.

Beside him, Alok’s hands were curled into fists.

“So, it goes without saying that when I started my medical practice, I thought I would be required to be ‘mature and responsible’ here too. That I should understand if I wasn’t hired for a residency out of the assumption that I won’t put in as many hours as a male colleague. That it’s okay if I wasn’t given important cases in the expectation that I will not make my job a priority. That I shouldn’t feel bad if I was passed over for a promotion in fear of an impending maternity leave.” 

Another pause. Alok shifted uncomfortably in his seat, as though the truths jabbed on his face were too much to handle. 

“Luckily, that wasn’t the case. And it’s for that, that I want to say thank you today. Thank you Dr. Awasti, my mentor, for expecting nothing less of me than my very best, for teaching me what it truly means to be a doctor.” 

Arnav couldn’t help but smile, wondering how proud Dr. Awasti must be to see her prodigy on stage.

“Thank you to my colleagues, my family now, for accepting me so warmly, for teaching me that what matters in the end is not where I came from, or how many hours I worked or how many cases I solved. I’m indebted to your friendship.”

Khushi was looking at him now, direct and unafraid. Her eyes held a life of their own as she finished her speech:

“And finally, thank you to the board. Thank you for being the air under my wings. Without you, I would never have dared to fly.”

Arnav’s heart skipped a beat. He had never gotten her an appointment in the hospital with the intention of doing her a favor. In fact, he owed her big time for saving his mother that day. Whether anyone accepted it or not, the truth was Khushi deserved everything she had today, she had earned it fair and square. He was just the medium through which the results flowed in. 

But despite knowing all that, to hear her address him in front of the whole auditorium in gratitude... words weren’t enough to describe the feelings overtaking him. 

It was really a mark of how hard hitting Khushi’s speech was when a thundering applause –the loudest one so far that evening– carried through the hall. Arnav even saw a few women from the row in front of him turn to look at each other in understanding, in strength and in pride. Khushi’s words had deeply resonated with them, such was the effect she had on people. 

And it affected the unforgiving Alok Raj Gupta too, it seemed, for he abruptly stood up and walked out of the auditorium without a backward glance. 

Arnav didn’t hesitate to follow. Pushing his wheelchair out of the darkened room, he found Alok sitting down on a hospital bench not far from the auditorium, his face buried in his hands. 

It was odd to see him so… human. 

“Are you okay?” Arnav asked quietly.

Alok’s head snapped up, his expression hardening. “I should be asking you that.”

“I don’t understand.” 

“Don’t you have any objections with my daughter’s profession?”

“None at all,” Arnav answered evenly. “Why should I? She is brilliant at her job… Didn’t you hear what the whole hospital thinks of her? Your daughter has made you proud.” 

“On the contrary,” Alok said bitingly. “I am quite disappointed in your family… I thought I made it clear that Khushi does not want to work post the wedding.”

There was a pause before Arnav spoke again, his voice many notches colder. “She doesn’t want to or you don’t want her to?”

Alok stiffened. 

Arnav boldly continued: “It must have been too easy for you, right? Telling us she didn’t want to work, when in reality, it was all your idea.”

“I am not sure what you mean.”

“Your plan might have worked Mr. Gupta, but I think in your haste to get the marriage over with, you completely underestimated me.”

Alok was quiet. 

“How could you lie to my family that Khushi had no ambitions?” Arnav asked stonily. “How did you assume that something like would even stay hidden–”

“It was a precautionary–”

“Precautionary of what?” he interrupted. “Of your fragile reputation? Or better yet, of your son’s iron clad claim to the business? What were you being precautious about?”

“I don’t expect you to understand–”

“Good, because I don’t. But the icing on the cake wasn’t figuring out that we were lied to, it was figuring out that Khushiwas lied to. You lied to her that my family did not want a working woman as a daughter-in-law? You created a wrong impression about us even before she stepped foot into our house? And all for what? To keep her from getting a job?!”

Alok neither denied nor accepted the accusation.

“What kind of a father does that to his own daughter?” 

Silence.

Alok didn’t appear even the slightest bit moved, acting as though Arnav’s words were inconsequential. It was infuriating. 

So, abandoning all caution, Arnav said angrily: “How did you think our marriage would work if she can’t ever be herself? Do you really not understand how much her profession means to her? You are an educated man Mr. Gupta… I am sure you know by this point that relationships are built on trust, so how did you grossly miscalculate this?!”

Alok finally spoke. “If you are judging my daughter’s character, on what some professors have trained her to do, then I am afraid you have learned nothing about trust… yes, I did intentionally hide her education from you and your family, because it has nothing to do with how she was brought up.”

“How can you–”

“Save me the speech. You can go on and on about how open you are to the idea of your wife working, but don’t think I will be fooled into believing that the day my daughter’s job becomes more important than you, or your family or your company, these same views of yours will not take a one-eighty degree turn.”

Arnav couldn’t believe his ears. What did Alok even know about him to conclude that? 

“Because they will… You cannot handle my daughter being more successful than you are. So yes, to save her the pain of quitting then, I made her quit now. I lied to her that you didn’t approve of a working woman. And so far, you have yet to prove to me wrong.”

“I already have,” Arnav retorted. “I was the one who got her the job.”

“And you will be the one to tell her to quit,” Alok replied, unperturbed. “I may seem orthodox and stringent, but there is a reason why my family has survived for more than two centuries now. The society might have changed, but people’s mindset hasn’t. It’s an insult to both you and me if my daughter has to work like any other commoner. I thought you and your parents would at the very least understand that.”

“We don’t,” Arnav argued. “And we probably never will. For as long as I am alive and actually even after that, Khushi is free to do whatever she wants. If she wants to work, then she will. It doesn’t matter how insulting you find it.”

“Don’t push me Ar–”

His eyes flashed. “Why? So that you can threaten me about destroying my father’s company once more?”

Alok was momentarily dumbfounded. He clearly hadn’t been expecting Arnav to be aware of his ploy to takeover Raizada Industries. 

“Didn’t think I would join the dots, did you?” Arnav asked frostily.

Alok, however, sighed, not at all apologetic “You’re clever for your age.”

“So it’s all true then,” Arnav confirmed, taken back to hear him admit it so easily. “You went after the company first to make sure we had no other choice but to accept the alliance when you came knocking? You were that desperate for me to say yes?”

“On the contrary, I remember you and your whole family being desperate. Desperate to save your company, desperate for the surety my daughter was bringing to your bank accounts.”

Arnav gritted his teeth. “It’s the point of principles–”

“Don’t mix business with your emotions Arnav.”

“You are guilty of that Mr. Gupta! If you wanted your daughter married, you should’ve put forth a proposal, not an ultimatum!”

Alok snorted. “And would you have said yes?”

“That’s not the point–”

“But it is,” Alok pressed. “That’s precisely my point. You would not have agreed to this alliance if your father’s business wasn’t at stake. And I couldn’t have my daughter married to a family who would be under the impression that divorce was an option.”

Arnav knew that, in fact he had guessed it weeks before his wedding. But it was nonetheless still shocking to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak.  

“Taking over your company was purely business,” Alok continued. “It was only in July of last year, when I started looking for a son-in-law that you even came in mind. It was then that I realized… what really is the difference between a takeover and a merger, especially if the latter ensured lifelong safety for my child?”

“So basically… you traded your daughter’s happiness for your grand schemes.”

Alok stopped short. “I didn’t–”

“Did you listen to anything you just said Mr. Gupta?” Arnav interrupted sharply. “You wanted to trap your daughter into a marriage where there would be no option of a divorce. It didn’t matter to you in the slightest if the marriage would be a happy one… as long as your daughter could not walk out of it, you were fine.”

Alok stared at him, all of a sudden fumbling with his thoughts. “I... I did what was best–”

“No, Mr. Gupta, say it like how it is. You did what you thought was best... not what was best.”

He didn’t answer. 

“You thought having a son-in-law indebted to you will keep your daughter happy,” Arnav said fiercely. “You thought blackmailing your daughter would work better than trusting her to stand by a husband of her own choice. You thought that a marriage of obligation would be more successful than a marriage of love. It was all you.”

Alok appeared stricken. 

“Not once in all of that was Khushi’s opinion –or mine– of importance to you. Did you ever bother to find out what your daughter even wants from a life partner?”

“It doesn’t matter–”

“Khushi’s career doesn’t matter,” Arnav snapped. “Khushi’s views don’t matter, Khushi’s choice doesn’t matter, Khushi’s happiness definitely doesn’t matter... so then tell me what does matter Mr. Gupta. Is your daughter even a human being for you?!”

Alok gritted his teeth. “You are misunderst–”

“There is nothing to understand! You were so busy portraying to the whole world that your daughter is perfect that you failed to see that she is not only your daughter. She is much, much more than a machine that doesn’t have the right to think, feel or express!”

Alok stared hard at Arnav, as though he was seeing him for the very first time. 

“You were in there,” Arnav continued in the same tone. “You heard what she said. Her whole life has been nothing but proving to you that she is worth something. But here you are, talking of honor and insults! Tell me Mr. Gupta, did your honor save your wife from falling down the stairs and slipping into coma? Did your honor save you from old age? And will your honor bring you happiness when both of your children don’t even want to be in the same room as you?”

Alok closed his eyes at that, looking –for the first time since Arnav met him– nothing more than a feeble old man, utterly alone. 

“Such rigidity for a man of your stature is not admirable Mr. Gupta!” Arnav finished hotly. “You have destroyed Khushi’s childhood, you sentenced her to a life of suffocation... please do yourself a favor and leave her profession alone. It’s not that she won’t be able to find her feet again –I think you know better than anyone how resilient your daughter is– but you might just never be able to forgive yourself.” 

A numbing silence followed Arnav's outburst. 

By the time Alok collected himself, the awards ceremony had culminated, and Arnav could vaguely make out numerous footsteps exiting the auditorium. He needed to get back to Khushi before she realized he was missing. 

“It seems I have misjudged you after all,” Alok said at last. 

Arnav didn’t know whether it was a compliment or an insult, not that he cared of course. 

Clearing his throat, he said: “No, you misjudged your daughter. I’m just grateful that I haven’t made the same mistake, no matter how hard you tried to make me do so.”

Alok ignored that. “You spoke so much about my daughter’s happiness, about her wants and achievements… Why is that exactly? If my daughter was nothing but an obligation thrusted onto your unwilling hands, then why do you care so much?”

Arnav wasn’t expecting that in the slightest. 

Never in his life did he ever feel the need to protect someone, to care for them. Myra was unneedful in her own way; his sisters and mother spent so much time fussing over him, that there was never any chance for him to indulge them.  

But Khushi was not like that. She was perhaps the strongest of them all, she had proved over and over again that she didn’t depend on him, and yet, the need to shield her, to pamper her, was real. He wanted to give her all the happiness that she unknowingly gave him.

So looking at Alok straight in eye, Arnav answered in earnest: “Because Khushi is my wife.” 

Alok –puzzlingly– smiled. “In that case, you have clearly underestimated me. True, the circumstances leading to your marriage were less than ideal… but my decision to get you both married was more than ideal. So you see Arnav, in the end, I do know what’s best for my daughter.”

Was he serious?! 

“No, Mr. Gupta,” Arnav replied sternly. “Only Khushi knows what’s best for her. What you and I think was, is and will always be irrelevant. Go ahead and revoke the merger, or Vihaan’s CEO position as you do best… but the fact is, Khushi no longer answers to you. And I will do whatever it takes to keep it that way. Not only today and tomorrow, but every single day from now on.”

Alok opened his mouth to object, but Arnav didn’t let him. 

“Have a nice evening Mr. Gupta. It’s time you took care of yourself.”

Alok narrowed his eyes at the dismissal, but there was nothing he could do standing in the hospital hallway now slowly filling up with people, chatting excitedly about the winners. So, he gravely stood up and left without another word. 

 ____________________________________________________________________

Firstly, very sorry for being a day late! Thank you for being so kind and patient! 

So contrary to popular opinion, Arnav didn't invite Alok, who was too caught up with Garima's letters to to keep track of Khushi's life (Alok first finds Garima's letters during Chapter 21, when Vihaan tells Khushi that their father spends most of his days locked up in his office). But Arnav does have the much anticipated showdown with Alok explaining just how unreasonable he had acted with Khushi all in the name of "doing what's best for her". 

Please like & comment! Your feedback is always much appreciated and a pleasure to read ❤️❤️❤️

Chapter 51 will be posted (hopefully) on Thursday evening, EST. 

Love,

Archi

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