Precap of chapter 2: Garima tells Khushi the truth of her past. Khushi decides to convince Arnav. Dadi also tells Arnav the truth. But that is only half of the truth. Arnav regrets what he has done in his impulsive action and vows to apologize to Khushi to bring her back. Dadi suggests him to ask Khushi to sever all ties with Garima if she was to come back to RM as Arnav's wife. Arnav reaches Gupta House the next morning.
English version is further down in green.
Chapter 3 The Confrontation
Scene 1
Arnav stands by the door, momentarily taken aback to see Khushi sitting on the floor with red eyes and sobbing. His expression switches from anger to guilt in an instant. Oh how he hates to see her cry. He stands by the door awkwardly. He knows he wants to go to her but stangely his legs are holding him back.
Khushi bows her head down and closes her eyes tightly. "He Devi Maiyaa, pehle to sirf awaj sunai de rahi thi, ab to woh dikhai bhi dene lage hain," she mutters to herself shaking her head in exasperation. She is quite convinced she is dreaming.
Arnav listens to her in confusion. Then walks to her and kneels down beside her. He places his hand on her shoulder and briefly shakes her.
"Khushi tum theek ho?" he asks her again in a very concerned voice. Khushi snaps open her eyes and looks at the hand Arnav has placed on her shoulder. She slowly places her own hand on Arnav's chest as if ensuring it is indeed him.
"Arnavji?" she gasps again, this time her voice washed with relief. "Aap hi ho..."
"Haan main hi hun, Khushi - " before he knows it, Khushi hugs him tightly and he feels the air knocked out of his lungs. He is startled at this sudden display of affection. He had been expecting Khushi to be pissed of with him and probably ready to fight with him. Not this sad version crying on his suit, hugging him in desperation. He gently removes her from the embrace and wipes her tears with his fingers.
"Shhh. Stop crying Khushi," he says gently. "Here..." he takes out his hanky from his pocket to give to her. She takes it and slowly wipes away her tears. As she brings the hanky to her nose to blow it, she suddenly remembers how revolted Arnav had been to see her blow her nose on her dupatta the day she had thrown hot tea on him and she stops. Arnav lets out a small smile. "It's ok. Apni naak saaf kar lo," he was thinking of the same thing! A smile breaks on Khushi's face too.
Arnav suddenly remembers the reason he had stopped by at Khushi's house. It was strange how all his anger seemed to evaporate the moment he saw her upset. He had stormed in the house with every intention of yelling at her but now he was completely calm. "Tumhara phone kahan hai Khushi?"
"Phone?" she sobbed. "Phone to shayad hamare bistar pe rakha tha," she mumbles. Arnav gets up and walks to her bed. He finds her phone lying under her pillow and stares at the screen. Yep, 29 missed calls. Then he sees that the phone was in Silent mode. He shakes his head.
"Kya hua Arnavji?" Khushi murmurs scared.
"Main tumhe call kar raha tha," he explains calmly as he hands over the phone to Khushi. She shouts out loudly as she stares at the screen. "29 missed calls?" She looks up at Arnav who nods in affirmation. A look of guilt comes on Khushi's face. "Woh phone silent pe tha na, isiliye..." she offers lamely.
Arnav holds out his hand to her and she gives him back the phone. He rolls his eyes momentarily as he unceremoniously throws the phone back on to the bed and again holds his hand to her. Khushi realizes with a jolt that his outstretched hand was meant for her. She slowly places her hand in his and he pulls her up into his arms.
She merely stands pressed to his frame, her head on his chest, her eyes closed silently listening to his heartbeat. His arm is wrapped around her trembling body. He slowly walks her towards the bed and they both sit down. Neither of them says a word for a long moment. As long as they were together, nothing else mattered. Arnav's heart throbbed with a faint ache. But why? Khushi is here, she is in my arms. Why this ache then? He quickly understood why; because Khushi was here, not at Raizada House, not at their home. He had to get her back.
"Khushi..." he whispers.
"Hmm?" she murmurs, her eyes still shut.
"Ghar chalo, Khushi," Arnav pleads to her. Khushi's eyes open and she extracts herself from his embrace looking at him with a surprised look on her face.
"Kya?" Arnav closes his eyes momentarily as if in pain. He repeats his request.
"Ghar chalo, Khushi." Khushi is silent now. Her eyes drift to her bridal dress again. Tears start prickling in her eyes again.
"Kis haq se?" she whispers to him, her voice drowned with abject sadness. He looks at her.
"Meri patni ke haq se," he states as if that is the most logical thing in the whole universe.
"Hum aapki patni nahin hain Arnav ji," she replies morosely, blinking back her tears. "Aap shaadi tod ke chale gaye the," her voice breaks again. Arnav immediately grabs both her hands. Apologize to her, beg to her, plead with her, do whatever it takes but don't lose her, Arnav thinks to himself.
"I'm sorry Khushi, I'm so so sorry," he says. "Tum hi ne kaha tha na ki main gusse mein aakar sochna band kar deta hun. Kal raat jo kuch bhi hua, jo kuch bhi maine suna... Main theek se soch nahin raha tha Khushi," he flusters with his explanations, desperately trying to convince her. "Maine gusse mein jo kuch bhi kiya galat kiya. Kal raat Dadi ne mujhe sach bataya," he explains to her calmly. Khushi looks up at him.
The truth. Oh God! She had wanted to talk to him about that too! She wanted to convince him to forget about the past and to move on. And here he was, doing exactly that.
"Aap sach mein humein wapis lene aaye hain?" she says, a relief washing down her senses as she thought to herself, "Woh samajhte hain! Jo kuch bhi hua, uske bawajood woh humein apni zindagi mein wapis chahte hain." A feeling of happiness touchs Khushi and a smile breaks through the clouds of sadness on her face.
"Haan Khushi, main tumhare bina..." he pauses, with sadness in his eyes. Why is it so difficult to say the way I felt about her? But she understands the look in his eyes.
"Hum jaante hain, Arnavji," she whispers back to him. They both sit looking at each other with love in their eyes.
Just then Buaji and Payal walk inside the room. Both have looks of curiosity on their faces.
"Hum aaj hi shaadi karenge. Mandir mein poori vidhi ke saath," Arnav starts off again. Then he turns to Buaji. "Aapko koi objection to nahin hai na?" Buaji looks shocked at this sudden change of track.
"Eee sab tumhre kiye khel hai ka Nand Kishore? Jab mann kiya mandap se uthi ke chalat jaat ho. Phir mann hua to wapis laut aaye ki saaadi karni hai," she exclaims in irritations. Arnav bows his head down in acceptance. She was justified to be angry. He had angered a lot of people with his impulsive action.
"I'm sorry Buaji. Par ab main Khushi se wakai mein shaadi karna chahta hun," he repeats his request sincerely. Buaji's glance shifts from Arnav to Khushi. She sees the smile on her Sanaka Devi's face and gives in.
"Theek hai Nand Kishore. Tumhe jo karna hai karo," she huffs in anger and grabs Payal and walks out of the room.
"Great!" says a visibly relieved Arnav. "Abhi mandir chalein?" he asks Khushi.
"Arnavji aap thodi der ruk jaate to Amma bhi wapis aa jati," says Khushi. "Waise bhi baki rasmo mein Amma saath nahin thi, par pheron ke samay to saath rahengi."
Arnav goes still. The line spoken by her Dadi comes floating into his mind. Agar aapko wakai mein lagta hai ki Khushi aapki patni banne yogya hai aur unka iss ghar mein aana zaroori hai, to unhe keh dijiye ki woh Garima se sare rishte tod den. He looks at Khushi.
"Khushi meri ek condition hai," Arnav says. Khushi looks at him in surprise.
"Shart? Kaisi shart?"
"Agar hum shaadi karenge, to tumhe apni Amma se sare relations todne honge," Arnav utters each words clearly. Khushi stares at Arnav as if she can't believe her ears.
"Kya??" Confusion is again creeping up into Khushi's head. "Par kyun?"
"Kyunki main apne ghar ke kisi bhi member ka uss aurat se koi relation nahin chahta hun," Arnav explains bluntly.
"Woh hamari Amma hain Arnavji. Aap aisa kaise keh sakte hain?" Khushi stutters in shock. "Humein laga ki aap purani baton ko bhul ke- "
"Main purani baton ko bhula nahin hun Khushi!" Arnav suddenly flares up. "Sachai jaanne ke baad bhi, main tumhe apne ghar wapis lene aaya hun iska matlab ye nahin hai ki main past ko bhul gaya hun," he lashes out..
"Arnavji? Ye aap kya keh rahe hain? Aap sach jante hain to fir aapko hamari Amma ko maaf kar dena chahiye. Unki koi galti- "
"Stop defending her Khushi!" he shouts and stands up from the bed.
"Hum unka bachaav nahin kar rahe hain Arnavji, hum to bas ye keh rahe hain ki aap bhi jante hain aur hum bhi ki sach kya hai. To fir Amma par ungli uthana sahi nai hai. Woh to- " Khushi rushes her words, trying to explain to Arnav.
"Bas Khushi!" he suddenly thunders. Khushi winces at his outbreak. He looks at her in a different light now. "Kya ho gaya hai tumhe Khushi? Main tumse shaadi karna chahte hun aur tum mujhe chod ke us aurat ka saath de rahi ho?" he asks her in exasperation. Khushi suddenly gets irritated.
"Woh Aurat hamari amma hai Arnavji! Bhale hi unhone humein janam na diya ho, par woh hamari khud ki maa se bhi bad kar hain," she says clearly, her voice raising with each word. Arnav steps back in surprise. He wasn't expecting this.
"Aur humein to laga ki sara sach jaan ne ke baad aap hamari Amma ka dard bhi samjhenge. Unhone aapke parivar ko- "Arnav doesn't let her complete her sentence.
"Unhone meri family ko tod diya Khushi!" He shouts. They both stand still breathing heavily, anger emanating from their eyes.
Khushi is really confused about Arnav's reaction. She thought Arnav would sympathize about her mother. He knew that Khushi's Amma told his father to return back to his family. Then what was Arnav so angry about? Why was he ignoring everything? Why wouldn't he listen to any reason?
Arnav stares back at Khushi. What has gotten into her, he wonders. Just a while back she wanted to come back with him as his wife and now she couldn't leave her mother? What was wrong with her? Why was she defending that miserable woman if she knew her mother tried to mess his father's life.
"Main aakhri baar pooch raha hun Khushi," Arnav tries to keep the threat in his voice to a minimum but fails. "Kya tum mujhse shaadi karogi?"
"Agar is shaadi ke liye humein apne parivar se rishta todna hoga, apni Amma se rishta todna hoga," breathes Khushi equally threateningly, "to nahin Arnavji. Hum aapse shaadi nahin karenge."
Arnav heartbeats stop momentarily. He closes his eyes in pain. Was this even his Khushi anymore? He opens them again, this time a steely glint in his eyes.
"Theek hai, Khushi Kumari Gupta. Agar tumhara yahi faisla hai to mujhe tumse aur kuch nahin kehna hai," his voice is seething with anger. And with that he turns around and stomps out of her room.
Khushi sits down on her bed, watching Arnav's retreating back and wondering, kyun Arnavji?
ENGLISH VERSION
Chapter 3 The Confrontation
Scene 1
Arnav stands by the door, momentarily taken aback to see Khushi sitting on the floor with red eyes and sobbing. His expression switches from anger to guilt in an instant. Oh how he hates to see her cry. He stands by the door awkwardly. He knows he wants to go to her but stangely his legs are holding him back.
Khushi bows her head down and closes her eyes tightly. "He Devi Maiyaa, first I could only hear him, now I'm hallucinating of him too," she mutters to herself shaking her head in exasperation. She is quite convinced she is dreaming.
Arnav listens to her in confusion. Then walks to her and kneels down beside her. He places his hand on her shoulder and briefly shakes her.
"Khushi are you alright?" he asks her again in a very concerned voice. Khushi snaps open her eyes and looks at the hand Arnav has placed on her shoulder. She slowly places her own hand on Arnav's chest as if ensuring it is indeed him.
"Arnavji?" she gasps again, this time her voice washed with relief. "Is it you..."
"Yes it is me, Khushi - " before he knows it, Khushi hugs him tightly and he feels the air knocked out of his lungs. He is startled at this sudden display of affection. He had been expecting Khushi to be pissed of with him and probably ready to fight with him. Not this sad version crying on his suit, hugging him in desperation. He gently removes her from the embrace and wipes her tears with his fingers.
"Shhh. Stop crying Khushi," he says gently. "Here..." he takes out his hanky from his pocket to give to her. She takes it and slowly wipes away her tears. As she brings the hanky to her nose to blow it, she suddenly remembers how revolted Arnav had been to see her blow her nose on her dupatta the day she had thrown hot tea on him and she stops. Arnav lets out a small smile. "It's ok. you can blow your nose," he was thinking of the same thing! A smile breaks on Khushi's face too.
Arnav suddenly remembers the reason he had stopped by at Khushi's house. It was strange how all his anger seemed to evaporate the moment he saw her upset. He had stormed in the house with every intention of yelling at her but now he was completely calm. "Where is your phone Khushi?"
"Phone?" she sobbed. "Phone is probably on my bed," she mumbles. Arnav gets up and walks to her bed. He finds her phone lying under her pillow and stares at the screen. Yep, 29 missed calls. Then he sees that the phone was in Silent mode. He shakes his head.
"what's wrong Arnavji?" Khushi murmurs scared.
"I was calling you," he explains calmly as he hands over the phone to Khushi. She shouts out loudly as she stares at the screen. "29 missed calls?" She looks up at Arnav who nods in affirmation. A look of guilt comes on Khushi's face. "Uhmm the phone was in silent mode that's why..." she offers lamely.
Arnav holds out his hand to her and she gives him back the phone. He rolls his eyes momentarily as he unceremoniously throws the phone back on to the bed and again holds his hand to her. Khushi realizes with a jolt that his outstretched hand was meant for her. She slowly places her hand in his and he pulls her up into his arms.
She merely stands pressed to his frame, her head on his chest, her eyes closed silently listening to his heartbeat. His arm is wrapped around her trembling body. He slowly walks her towards the bed and they both sit down. Neither of them says a word for a long moment. As long as they were together, nothing else mattered. Arnav's heart throbbed with a faint ache. But why? Khushi is here, she is in my arms. Why this ache then? He quickly understood why; because Khushi was here, not at Raizada House, not at their home. He had to get her back.
"Khushi..." he whispers.
"Hmm?" she murmurs, her eyes still shut.
"Come home, Khushi," Arnav pleads to her. Khushi's eyes open and she extracts herself from his embrace looking at him with a surprised look on her face.
"What?" Arnav closes his eyes momentarily as if in pain. He repeats his request.
"Come home, Khushi." Khushi is silent now. Her eyes drift to her bridal dress again. Tears start prickling in her eyes again.
"by what right?" she whispers to him, her voice drowned with abject sadness. He looks at her.
"As my wife," he states as if that is the most logical thing in the whole universe.
"I'm not your wife Arnav ji," she replies morosely, blinking back her tears. "You walked out on our wedding rituals," her voice breaks again. Arnav immediately grabs both her hands. Apologize to her, beg to her, plead with her, do whatever it takes but don't lose her, Arnav thinks to himself.
"I'm sorry Khushi, I'm so so sorry," he says. "You only said to me once that when I'm angry I stop thinking. Whatever happened last night, whatever I heard... I wasn't thinking straight Khushi," he flusters with his explanations, desperately trying to convince her. "Whatever I did in my anger was wrong. Last night Dadi told me the truth about the past," he explains to her calmly. Khushi looks up at him.
The truth. Oh God! She had wanted to talk to him about that too! She wanted to convince him to forget about the past and to move on. And here he was, doing exactly that.
"You've really come to take me back?" she says, a relief washing down her senses as she thought to herself, "He understands! Whatever happened, despite that he wants me back in his life." A feeling of happiness touchs Khushi and a smile breaks through the clouds of sadness on her face.
"Yes Khushi, without you I..." he pauses, with sadness in his eyes. Why is it so difficult to say the way I felt about her? But she understands the look in his eyes.
"I know, Arnavji," she whispers back to him. They both sit looking at each other with love in their eyes.
Just then Buaji and Payal walk inside the room. Both have looks of curiosity on their faces.
"We'll get married today itself. In the temple with all the rites," Arnav starts off again. Then he turns to Buaji. "You don't have any objection, do you?" Buaji looks shocked at this sudden change of track.
"Is this all a game to you Nand Kishore? Whenever you decide, you walk away. Then when you want you come saying you want to marry her," she exclaims in irritations. Arnav bows his head down in acceptance. She was justified to be angry. He had angered a lot of people with his impulsive action.
"I'm sorry Buaji. but I really do want to marry Khushi," he repeats his request sincerely. Buaji's glance shifts from Arnav to Khushi. She sees the smile on her Sanaka Devi's face and gives in.
"Fine Nand Kishore. Do whatever you want," she huffs in anger and grabs Payal and walks out of the room.
"Great!" says a visibly relieved Arnav. "Shall we go to the temple now?" he asks Khushi.
"Arnavji if you could wait for a while, Amma will be back," says Khushi. "She wasn't present in most of the rituals, at least she could be there during our phere."
Arnav goes still. The line spoken by her Dadi comes floating into his mind. If you really feel that Khushi deserves to be your wife and to be a part of this family, ask her to sever all ties with Garima. He looks at Khushi.
"Khushi I have a condition," Arnav says. Khushi looks at him in surprise.
"Condition?"
"If we get married, you'll have to break all relations with your mother," Arnav utters each words clearly. Khushi stares at Arnav as if she can't believe her ears.
"What??" Confusion is again creeping up into Khushi's head. "But why?"
"Because I don't want anyone in my family to have any relations with that woman," Arnav explains bluntly.
"That woman is my mother Arnavji. How can you talk like this?" Khushi stutters in shock. "I thought you'd forget the past- "
"I have not forgotten the past Khushi!" Arnav suddenly flares up. "Knowing the truth, I'm still here to take you to my home. But that doesn't mean that I've forgotten the past," he lashes out.
"Arnavji? What are you saying? If you know the truth, you should forgive my mother. She was trying to help - "
"Stop defending her Khushi!" he shouts and stands up from the bed.
"I'm not defending her Arnavji, I'm just saying that we both know the truth. Then it is not correct to point a finger at my mother. She is- " Khushi rushes her words, trying to explain to Arnav.
"Bas Khushi!" he suddenly thunders. Khushi winces at his outbreak. He looks at her in a different light now. "What has happened to you Khushi? I'm asking you to marry me and be mine and yet you are taking sides with that woman?" he asks her in exasperation. Khushi suddenly gets irritated.
"That woman is my mother Arnavji! Despite the fact she hasn't given birth to me, but she is greater than my birth mother," she says clearly, her voice raising with each word. Arnav steps back in surprise. He wasn't expecting this.
"And here I was thinking, after knowing the truth you'll understand my mother's pain. Your family was- "Arnav doesn't let her complete her sentence.
"She broke up my family Khushi!" He shouts. They both stand still breathing heavily, anger emanating from their eyes.
Khushi is really confused about Arnav's reaction. She thought Arnav would sympathize about her mother. He knew that Khushi's Amma told his father to return back to his family. Then what was Arnav so angry about? Why was he ignoring everything? Why wouldn't he listen to any reason?
Arnav stares back at Khushi. What has gotten into her, he wonders. Just a while back she wanted to come back with him as his wife and now she couldn't leave her mother? What was wrong with her? Why was she defending that miserable woman if she knew her mother tried to mess his father's life.
"I'll ask for the last time Khushi," Arnav tries to keep the threat in his voice to a minimum but fails. "Will you marry me?"
"If marrying you means I'll have to break ties with my family, that I'll have to break ties with my mother," breathes Khushi equally threateningly, "then NO, Arnavji. I'll not marry you."
Arnav heartbeats stop momentarily. He closes his eyes in pain. Was this even his Khushi anymore? He opens them again, this time a steely glint in his eyes.
"Fine, Khushi Kumari Gupta. If this is your decision, then I have nothing to say to you anymore," his voice is seething with anger. And with that he turns around and stomps out of her room.
Khushi sits down on her bed, watching Arnav's retreating back and wondering, why Arnavji?
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