FF: NEW! Part6 Updt-Melt My Heart to Stone.pg 14 - Page 9

A single tear spilled onto her cheek before she found a sudden surge had replaced it out of nowhere, disrupting her vision and Khushi blinked liberating the stream as it meandered over her soft skin, folding her lips in an attempt to smother the imminent urge to cry out as a result of her heartache.

The helplessness she experienced now reminded her of that night.

That dark, unexpected night which had changed everything...unanswered questions, cruel allegations, tears, anger and the infinite pain and hurt which had wounded all her loved ones... and in the middle of it all stood Khushi, losing control, with no answers, no justifications, no cure to better the situation no matter how much she wanted to, how she always expected herself to...

Completely helpless.

She'd gone to Arnav that same night, but without any complaints, composed; no more shouting nor screaming, there were no accusations and especially no expectations. Well, given the sudden and peculiar circumstances she had found herself in, there really was no room for expectations. She was still recovering, reeling from the consequences she'd just witnessed of her living nightmare, requiring guidance on how to get back to reality, normalcy, if it were possible.

She needed to wake up and she needed to be practical about it. The door closed behind her, she acknowledged that unlike their marriage this wasn't a part of the facade... only a simple request in her heart to know the truth, one word adorned her lips; why?

" Kyun Arnavji, aapne kyun ki humse shaadi?"

She recalled how he'd watched her, her face twisted in torment as she'd waited for his answer, waited for his words which would help her understand, make everything that had happened a little bearable, words which would be a little reassuring.

Maybe there was a silver lining to what had happened, not everything had been lost, there was a good enough reason for her suffering, there was some logic behind his decision which was out of her grasp, which only he knew about, which only he could tell her about...

Instead she'd watched as he'd stood up and walked away, ignoring her, crushing the little hope she still had left in her life. She'd lost everything she loved, everything she lived for because of him, how could he be so callous about the whole situation? About her?

It was painful to think, after everything she'd endured, she'd still given him the benefit of the doubt. Inspite of everything that he'd forced her to do she had trusted him with his decision, she had trusted that he had acted with reason; a reason big enough to excuse all the anger she had faced, a reason big enough to ignore all the tears that had been shed. A reason which warranted her silence in circumstances where she could have, rather where she should have prompted Arnavji to answer questions...

After all, it had been his own self made debacle in which she had merely played a mute puppet, simply following his orders. It was only right that he should be the one to face the brunt of his decision and she should have told everyone the same...

But she hadn't.

Because she had trusted him, wholeheartedly. She had trusted his one decision over her morals, over her every relationship, over her whole life.

And now as she stood in that same room only this time aware of the truth, she realised it had been the biggest mistake she had ever made.

"Khushi, main tumse baat kar raha hoon." His booming voice made her jump as she blinked out from her thoughts, her vision now focusing on the beige carpet before her.

She clenched her fist, her teeth gritted against each other in frustration as she saw Arnav turning away from her. It was an automatic reflex even though she'd never dared to act in this way before as her arm reached out and seized his shoulder, her fingers digging into his shirt, stopping him mid-step.

"Yeh to hamare sawalon ka jawab nahi...Hum aapko yahan se tab tak nahi jaane denge, jab tak aap humein yeh nahi bata te, ki yeh sab karne ke peeche wajah kyat thi! "

There, she'd said it...again. A last attempt, albeit hasty but nonetheless her last attempt. What did she have to lose?

But...he would tell her, she had made an effort to stop him and it wouldn't go to waste. He had to give her answers.

She'd heard words, but strung together in a sentence and their meaning had registered late...

"Main tumhare kisi bhi sawal ka jawab dena zaroori nahi samajtha"

And with that Arnav made no attempt to hide his disdain as he viciously grabbed her hand in a fist, before flinging it from off his shoulder. Khushi jerked forward from the force as she steadied herself against the wall, only to witness Arnav saunter off, further and further away from her....

She frowned as she remembered the helplessness, the questions, the pain, the tears, the isolation...and humiliation.

How did it feel to rely on a person you thought was the one who could understand how you truly felt and then be struck by the realisation that the person had left you to face the consequences on your own?

That's not how Khushi felt at all.

Because up until this point, Khushi had always thought they shared an understanding. Now bonded in matrimony, she was the only person who understood how he felt. Though he had taken control of her dreams, despite knowing how much she believed in marriage as an institution, the truth was he had still married her. Obviously, not in an ideal rather traditional fashion, but... he had married her nonetheless. Such rash behaviour and she remembered thinking it must have been justified given the gravity of his actions, moreso the gravity of the outcome, she must have done something to deserve it...

In fact, she hadn't realised how mistaken she had been until now...

He had actually thought that she and Shyam-

Khushi exhaled sharply, closing her eyes momentarily to release those last tears stemming from anger and disappointment as she glimpsed up at Arnav, taking a look at his expression which stared irritably at her.

She glimpsed away nonchalantly, even though she could still feel his eyes on her as she heaved a sigh, stepping forward to move past him. Another step as she felt the tension build up in her whole body, but she knew him too well. A third step and she felt the warmth of his hand, enclosed around her wrist , a relief overcoming her as she obediently halted in place...