ARDHIKA SS~ HERO~ Part Four Pg 8 UPDATED 10/10 - Page 5

Where are u gal?? Plzzz update dis story 😭 😭

HEy, all you beautiful people. I know I am damn late. but I don't know...I just wasn't in the frame of mind of updating. But I can't leave a story in the middle. And some of you have been requesting for an update. So here it is. This is practically the last chapter, although there is a short epilogue that I have written, a sum up of the entire story. And this is how manmarzian ended, but my story has a little change. Thank you for the love and your beautiful words. Sorry to have kept you waiting. Happy reading. And please press the like button and/or comment. It is the least you can do for the writers who write for you.. Lotsa love! 😊

CHAPTER 4: THE MEETING OF ENDS

"I knew it Arjun. I knew it already."

Nandini smiled at him, but the grief visible in her eyes made him apologize. "I'm sorry, nandu. I'm so, so sorry. I don't know how all this happened...I never wanted to hurt you."

She shook her head. "You did all that you could, Arjun. Trust me, I know what love is. It makes you do unimaginable things. Look where I stand today. It is all because of love."

She stood up from the bed and came up to him, placing both her palms on his cheeks. Arjun looked up into the eyes of his sister, the beauty of them diminished by the agony reflected in them. The agony she was trying to hide. A sharp pain wrenched his gut, tears falling from his eyes on to her hands.

"I'm a loser, Nandu. I really am. But trust me, I swear I did not do this on purpose. I don't know when I fell for her...but I'm hopelessly in love, Nandu. I...I can't even breathe without the assurance that she won't be snatched away. I'm helpless. I'm sorry...I don't know why it had to be her."

She laughed dryly. "That is the salient feature of love, little brother. Always with the wrong person, at the wrong time."

She wiped his tears off and made him look up from the floor. "Go, Arjun. Go. She's waiting for you. Now you don't have to do anything. I will do whatever has to be done."

"What? What do you mean?"

"Nothing, Arjun. I mean...I have to prepare myself to accept her. To let go of this revenge that has haunted me for years. I need...time."

"You have all the time you want Nandu. I knew how much my sister loves me. I knew you would always keep me before yourself. Thank you, nandu. You don't have the slightest idea what you have given me."

He smiled at her and turned and walked away, and NAndini? Her eyes were filled with tears, but behind those tears was cold triumph. A victory only she knew the worth of.

Arjun felt desolate. He felt like he'd betrayed the one woman in his life who'd loved him. The only person who'd supported a lonely, broken 8-year-old child who had thought his life would end in the orphanage. She took him to London, gave him the education he could never have dreamed off, loved him like a mother would love her child, fiercely protecting him from all things negative. But what she wanted in return...he wasn't capable of giving her that. He had tried his best. Made Sam fall for him again and again and again. Kept his own wants and desires to himself. Hurt Radhika at every chance he was given, just to remind himself of his mission. Just to show not only her but also himself the demon that resided within him. But still she'd managed to see through the harsh exterior and into his soul. She'd saved him from his demons instead of caring to save herself from his ruthlessness and gotten hurt so many times in the process. She'd lost her best friend, her family had looked down upon her, her fianc had tortured her to no end...the list went on and on. But not anymore. He'd fallen for her to the point where he was ready to pay any price if it meant she would stay with him. If it meant he could get her love in return.

His eyes searched for her as he entered his room, and surprisingly, it was vacant.

"Radhika?" he called out.

He got no reply. Panic filled his senses immediately. "Radhika?!" he called out louder.

This time the bathroom door opened and she walked out. His senses came back to him, and he was able to breathe again as her sight filled his eyes.

"Sir? Something wrong?"

Arjun shook his head and smiled at her. If he told her how early he lost his mind when it came to her, she would laugh hysterically.

"Actually, there is something." he gave her an amused smile.

A cute frown marred her perfect brows. "What, Sir?"

He walked closer to her, gently tucking the silky strands of her hair behind her ears. "This 'Sir' is the problem. it's high time you call me Arjun, Biwiji."

Radhika blushed, looking down at the floor. "Sir...I can't..."

"Arey. Come on, Radhika. Now I'm your husband. How odd will it seem for you to call me Sir always?"

"BUt you're my boss before that."

"But for that, you can call me Sir in the office. Now this is your home too, Radhika. Me and Nandu are your family now. I want you to feel just as comfortable as you would have felt had there been Sam or Neil or your family with you."

"I know. I will try, Sir. I promise. It will take time. But I will try...to call you by your err, name."

He laughed. "It will be something else to hear my name from your lips, Biwiji."

She smiled blushingly. "I'll get the dinner up. You go change."

"Sure." he whispered, kissing her forehead before letting her go.

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It took a good whole seven days for the entire Khanna family to recover from the shock of Arjun's confession. Everybody was worried for Sam to no end. She'd shut herself inside her room and wouldn't come out, even though everyone tried their best. Piyali was going crazy on the other end too. Samrat was made to sit and narrate all that had happened, but he was only believed when Nandini agreed to whatever he said. Everyone in the family was much more disgusted with Samrat than they were with Arjun. He went on and on about how Nandini had mistook his concerns for her well-being as love, and he'd made a mistake one night when he was seduced. He was only a man after all.

It was the Sunday after the big confession and Arjun and Radhika had come to the Khanna's to try and end Sam's silent spell. Arjun looked hesitant as he stood outside the door. When Radhika noticed this, she grabbed his hand and interlaced their fingers together.

"It's okay. I know her. It will take time. But she'll forgive you. In any case, we cannot stop trying, right...Ar-Arjun?"

Arjun grinned at her from behind his aviator shades. "You gave me the world today, baby."

"That's what a wife is supposed to do." she winked.

Arjun laughed and kissed her quickly.

A desolate-looking Piyali opened the door and she gave them a weak smile. Her eyes were swollen due to probably how much she'd cried through the days.

"Come."

She hugged Radhika and patted Arjun on the back. Piyali had been the first to forgive Arjun. When her own husband had chosen to keep her in the dark for all of her life, then what right did she have to blame Arjun for anything? She lead him to the closed door of Sam's room, where Neil was pacing back and forth outside with a plate of food in his hand. Radhika hugged him when she saw him, enquiring about how he was.

"How would I be when she's in such a condition, Chashni?"

Radhika rubbed his arm soothingly. "She'll be okay, Neil. We're all there with her, right?"

"She won't. She is constantly blaming herself for whatever she did with you. She's...she's broken. We all know what first love is like. And to be betrayed by that person..." he trailed off.

"We all know that feeling too, Neil. But you know, the only reason I am happily married today is because I gave Arjun Sir another chance. I believed in his goodness, Neil. And trust me, all of you will one day too."

Neil looked away. Radhika did not pester him further. Out of all, it was the most difficult for him to do what she was asking. She squeezed Arjun's hand and took the plate from Neil's hand.

"Sam?" she called out. "I know you're in there. Come on, open the door. Your Chashni needs you."

There was no response. Radhika sighed. "Sam, come on yaar. You know everybody out here is sick worried. Neil's not eaten since yesterday. Arjun has been constantly cursing himself. Come on, Sam. For me if not for them? Please? Will you not listen to your Chashni too now?"

The door opened, startling all three of them. Sam looked like a ghost. She had paled a thousand times, her eyes were red, tiny wrinkles had appeared beside them. The worry lines on her forehead looked like they had become permanent. She turned and walked away, going inside the room and sitting by the window again. Neil proceeded to enter, but Radhika stopped him.

"No, Neil. This is not the time for us. We can't do anything to lessen her pain. You've heard right? Only the ones who give pain can heal the wounds it causes. Let Arjun go. It's his show now."

Neil gave Arjun a cold stare and backed away. "It's only because Chashni loves you that I have left you alive, Arjun. Had it not been for her, you'd be in some Godforsaken state in a hospital now."

Radhika held Neil by the shoulders to calm him. He looked at her and then backed away, going out into the living room to Piyali. Radhika turned to a scared lookin Arjun.

"She won't stand me for a second, Radhika."

"She will protest a lot. I know. She'll lash at you. Call you names. Or probably coldly ignore you. But you're the only one who can do this, Sir. You know that."

Arjun nodded. Radhika reached up and caressed the creases on his forehead.

"Good luck. You will do it, Arjun. There is the sincerity inside you that you have to show her. And Sam has a heart bigger than al of us. She'll forgive you. Just try."

He took the plate from her hands. "If I come out alive, then I'll see you again."

Radhika laughed. "Don't worry, Arjun. There is nothing so strong in the universe as to keep us apart now. We're stuck. For seven lives."

Arjun grinned and Radhika stretched up on her toes and kissed his forehead before walking away. Arjun took a deep breath. Come on, Arjun. You've never been scared in your life. You cannot be scared when it's time to correct your mistakes. Come on.

Sam did not even look up at him when he entered. Arjun closed the door behind him, already feeling the weight of his sins burdening him to an unbearable extent.

He placed the food on the table and sat down on the bed.

"Sam...I know you probably want to kill me. No. Of course you want to kill me. I don't have anything to explain, Sam. Everything is in front of you. All that I've done, all that was genuine and all that was fake. It's all up to you now."

She said nothing for a while. But when she did, her voice sounded hoarse with unshed tears. "You did not think once about me, huh? ONCE? I gave you everything I had, Arjun. And all you ever thought about was yourself? All that we shared, all those tender moments...they were nothing?"

"I never could love you, Sam. You were always the enemy. I had nothing personal against you, true. But the way my mind had been trained, it was to solely hate. Every time I looked at you, I saw my weeping sister. And your father rejecting her pleading. It was never your fault. But the only way to give Samrat pain was you."

"That's sick, Arjun. Preposterous."

"I know, Sam. And I can only say sorry."

She shook her head. "I would have forgiven you, Arjun. Had this been solely about me, I would have. I don't know why god has given me this huge heart. Even if i don't want to, I forgive people. Let them go. To relieve them of their turmoil. But this time, I won't. Because it's not just about me. It's about my Chashni."

Arjun looked away. He knew it would come to this. And he couldn't argue with that. He would never forgive himslef for hurting Radhika.

"You know what you've made me do, Arjun? How you've made me behave with her? Like a bitch. And that poor girl, she never said against me. Never. Just tried to keep convincing me that her friendship wasn't fake. And me? I was blind for you."

"I know, Sam. But I loved my sister, too. I was blind for her. Like you were for me. I did what she asked me to do. At that time, I lived for my vengeance. I did what I thought was right. The only thing that mattered to me was to avenge my sister's honour. And I did whatever i could for her."

She said nothing, and Arjun sighed. "Sam, I know I cannot justify myself no matter whatever I say. I've not made mistakes. I have deliberately jostled lives. And you have every right to do whatever you want with me."

There was a long silence before Sam spoke again. "You always loved her?"

The question surprised Arjun. "Yes. Yes, I did. Since the day I met her."

Sam laughed sadly. "But not enough to not torture her?"

Arjun smiled weakly. "I didn't realise it for a long, long time. But when I did, I constantly told her to back away. To leave me to my goal. I didn't want her to get trapped in all of this, to hurt for no reason. But she didn't budge. You were everything to her. And trust me, it f**king hurt sometimes. She married me for you, and even when I told her that I wanted her, she said no because you loved me. And she didn't want to hurt you. I was always second. Probably will always be."

"I'm probably the luckiest in the world. Both Chashni and Neil. They love me to the moon and back. But you know Arjun, Chashni loves you, too. The way she's been trying to convince me since all these days of the rectitude inside you...she seems almost desperate. I've never seen her like that before."

Arjun nodded. "I know. And you know what, Sam? I myself will never forget what I've done to Radhika. I'll feel sorry every second of my life. But whatever i did, it hurt me more than it probably hurt her. I cried double the volume of tears she did. Her pain caused me unparalleled anguish. To the point that I thought of backing off so many times. And it wasn't just her. It was the trust you and Neil had in me too. I dwindled all through my path."

"But you didn't quit, Arjun. You took me to that marriage hall. And had it not been Radhika today...I don't know what nandini would have done to me. And yet I cursed Radhika all this while. God, I'm such a sick bitch!"

"You only reacted to what was showed to you, Sam. None of this is your fault. It was me. Always me. helpless at the hands of my brotherly-duties. I've done injustice. I know. And there's probably no punishment equal. But my apology is all that I have."

He got up and turned to leave, but Sam stopped him. "One condition, Arjun."

He turned. "Anything, Sam. Anything."

She walked up to him and extended her hand. "Promise me you'll keep my Chashni happy always. That you will not let anything harm her. Ever. And if I do that by chance in the rest of my years, you know it will never be on purpose. But you will still stop me."

"Everything and everyone will have to tackle me before reaching my Radhika, Sam."

Sam smiled. "Forgiveness granted."

Arjun reached up and wiped a tear from her eye. "Go. Go out. They're all walking through hell seeing you like this."

Sam held his hand. "Come. I need to talk to Pa, too. Let's make things right again. There's no point in hanging on to the past. We all did crazy things for love. But like they say, everything is fair in love and war. Right?"

The smile on Arjun's face this time was genuine relief. It was the burden of 18 years that had been pushed off his shoulders. And the credit? Who other than Radhika could claim it? The darkness he'd knit around himself was now filled with the light of love and happiness.

"Thank you, Biwiji." he mumbled to himself as Sam walked him out.

Many of you may feel confused about Nandini. But you'll get clear when you read the epilogue. This is what happened in the story too, but very few people probably realised it. Thank you for reading. Like and comment please. And the epilogue will be up as soon as I get the desired no. of likes. It's so i know people do read my stuff. Thank you, lovelies.

ANU 😳

just now read all parts in one go.its superb story.loved it a lot dear

Wonderful update..

Read this all the way through one sitting. This is very well written!

I have doubt on Nandhu intentions

Why she is behaving like this

There must be something big she is planning or she changed

Arjun and Radhika are such a cute couple

Sam has forgiven Arjun

Hope now everything sets fine

Thanks for PM

Sorry for late reply