ArHi SS: A Thing Called Marriage#2 *Complete* - Page 68

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ArHi SS: A Thing Called Marriage

Chapter 23

When two peoples start knowing each other, they don't know meanwhile their hearts starts connecting their feelings together, forming a bond. As the bond starts getting strong, the important aspects like trust, understanding, love and care for each other develops on its own, blooming and processing the relationship further.

But what happens when you think you understand the person your heart has formed a bond with, is just your imagination not the truth?

Khushi didn't know what her heart was feeling. She felt so broken and shattered. Should she feel betrayed because Arnav hid things from her? Or should she feel ashamed and guilty of being the cause behind a family's destruction to the extent that there was no turning back for them?

She had an inkling why Arnav chose to hid things from her. The words that Devyani has spoken to her after their marriage was ringing loud and clear in her ears: "Arnav will love you for what and who you are once he realizes that whatever he is doing is just useless."

It would be absolute craziness if she thought that Arnav loves her, but yes he cares for her. Doesn't he?

But what if he didn't tell her anything because he still doesn't consider her as a part of his life? She felt so confused over everything.

At least now, she knew that somewhere she was the reason which affected Anjali's married life and even if she wants to, she can never forgive herself for this? The woman, who always thought the best for her, was in pain and depression because of her somehow.

Why can't god just end her life rather than ruining other's because of her? A sob escaped from her lips at this thought. Even the thought of death looked less painful to her now. She was tired and worn out of everything- pain, misery. Her heart yearned for happiness and love that she never got.

Is it too much to ask for? Her heart argued as her mind mocked her. You will never get it, Khushi. You are born to suffer, Khushi shook her head feeling like something was restraining her from breathing.

Just then, the door was opened and Arnav walked in. She looked up, not moving an inch from her seat. As their gaze met, she noticed Arnav stiffening a bit before the realization dawned on his mind.

Finally, she thought as she stood up and spoke before Arnav could say anything "Just leave."

He stepped back as if struck by her icy-cold words but nonetheless whispered "Khushi."

"Arnavji, please leave right now. It's not the right time to talk." Turning away, Khushi countered back. A moment of silence passed between them before Khushi heard him walking away with a sigh.

She looked back, feeling her vision blurring because of the tears. Her hopes were shattered once again but still she wanted him to just look back at once.

But he didn't. She moved away from him, biting her lips as her shoulders shook and tears streaked her face totally missing how his face tilted to her direction for a moment.

How he stopped for a moment, in a hope that she will stop him.

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"Didi, I am so happy for you. Finally, you are going back to Shyam. I wish you get all the happiness this time." Khushi smiled as she spoke the words, feeling glad how Anjali nodded, her cheeks taking a pinkish hue.

"Thank Khushi. I am still not sure that giving him another chance is right, but I wanted to. Still I love him so much that somewhere I feel that whatever he has done, he repents for it badly." Anjali replied, twiddling her fingers as she looked down.

Khushi's smile faltered. Oh how badly she wanted to give Arnavji another chance as well. Who was she kidding? She was ready to listen to him now to assure herself that yes, he wanted to protect her that's why he hadn't told her everything not because he doesn't consider her as a part of his life.

Does that mean she love him? She shook her head, mentally scolding herself. Great, now she is over-thinking everything. They have just started taking baby-steps in their married life and she already is thinking about love.

Khushi smiled and kept a hand on her shoulder "Didi, you won't regret it I think. I have seen a determination, desperation in his eyes to have you back."

"I hope so." Anjali whispered more to herself than to Khushi. Just then, Arnav entered in Anjali's room halting for a second as he saw Khushi there.

"Di, did you talked to Shyam?" Smile wiped from Khushi's face as she heard Arnav's voice. She turned her face away from him, smiling broadly at Anjali.

"Yeah Arnav, he said that he will come to Shantivan tomorrow morning to pick me up." Anjali informed Arnav, smiling gladly at him.

Arnav nodded, his eyes trained on Khushi who refused to even look at him. Anjali, who finally noticed what was happening between them, frowned.

Why was she feeling like Arnav and Khushi fought again?

"Is everything alright between you two?" Anjali asked, feeling concerned about her brother and Khushi. Both of them nodded quickly, trying not to worry her.

Anjali smiled uncertainly, now sure that they fought again. This time, she won't intervene and will wait for them to resolve everything on their own like a husband and wife.

Just like Arnav never interfered in her and Shyam's relationship until it wasn't necessary.

She knew if she interfered now, it won't be good for their growing relationship. Overcoming every obstacle is a part of a relationship right?

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The moment Khushi closed the door of their room after coming from Anjali's room, she was aware that Arnav was sitting on the recliner, waiting for her.

She turned around with a blank face, showing no response as Arnav walked to stand in front of her.

She stepped aside and was about to walk away from him when he caught her hand, forcing her to stumble back onto him.

Glaring at him, she tried to free her hand from his when he whispered "Stop it, Khushi."

She stopped for a moment then continued her efforts again making him grip both of her wrists with his one hand lightly, before twisting them behind her back making sure to not hurt her.

Khushi gasped as she felt Arnav bridging every gap between them. Her heart was pounding as she held her breath seeing how her front was slammed against his.

She looked up innocently the moment Arnav touched her cheek with his other hand "You know I didn't tell you everything because I didn't wanted to hurt you."

"You have hurt me more by hiding the truth Arnavji. All the efforts that we made to bring normalcy in our relationship got wasted because you chose to hide things that I deserve to know." Khushi argued, her eyes showing pain.

"What you wanted me to tell you, Khushi? That how much my Di and I have suffered? Remembering everything is not easy for me, Khushi. Reliving through all that again kills me. I made so many efforts to go past it. Why should I bring it now when I am moving ahead?" Caressing her cheek gently, Arnav questioned in a calm voice.

Tilting her head slightly to lean to his touch unknowingly, Khushi closed her eyes "Please tell me everything, Arnavji. For the sake of peace of my mind, please."

Arnav stepped back and brought her hands forward, gesturing her to sit down on the recliner. As she sat, Arnav pulled a chair and sat in front of her.

With a sigh, he looked up "Alright, I will tell you everything but promise me you won't hold yourself responsible for everything."

"I will try." Khushi replied in a small voice, her fingers gripping Arnav's hand.

Arnav kept looking at her for few moments before looking down at their intertwined hands and started speaking "I told you how when you were in hospital, Vishal tried to kidnap you again right? After that, when everything got serious, I had to hire people to keep a watch on your hospital ward meanwhile I worked to get something that might stop him. Luckily, I found a land fraud case in which Vishal and his father both were involved. Papa knew the Lucknow Police Commissioner very well so I decided to take his help and got both of them arrested but I knew that it was just a temporary relief. I got you back in Delhi and from that day, your treatment was going on here in a private hospital. The administration of the hospital co-operated with me, not letting many people know that you were there."

Khushi smiled feeling her emotions overwhelming her. Why did she even think that Arnav doesn't care for her? He wouldn't have done everything to this extent to assure her safety if he didn't care about her.

"In a week, they both were out on a bail and Vishal came to Delhi. He was after me. He knew that till the time I am alive, he won't get to even know about your whereabouts so he hired someone. I was going home when few cars blocked my way, pushing me off the road towards a narrow cliff. I got out of the car on time and ran away, calling Aman to pick me from there. Next day, I had few guards following me but it didn't dampen Vishal's spirits."

Khushi's eyes widened as she thanked her deity silently for not letting anything happen to Arnav. On the other hand, Arnav looked as if it didn't affected him even a bit "I tried again and again to get them arrested again but nothing came up to hold them long behind the bars."

"After a month and half, I was on my way to office when the brakes of my car stopped working. If that wasn't enough, someone was firing at me from behind. This time I survived with a minor hand injury. The fact that I managed to survive every time infuriated Vishal. So this time, he came himself."

Khushi's hands shook in fear as Arnav kept her closer, "It was Diwali and I was on my way to attend the annual AR's Diwali party when big stones were kept on the road to block my way. I tried to reverse my car when I found that few cars were blocking my way back. I knew it at once that it's him and asked Aman to reach there."

"I wouldn't have gotten out if they hadn't set fire on my car. The moment I stepped out, Vishal was right behind me and stabbed me at the back before I could do anything. His men caught me and were beating me when Aman reached with 20-25 body guards, overpowering them."

"I knew that this is my last chance to end the story so I killed him. After that, Aman set fire on their dead bodies and their cars making it look like two-three cars collided and got burned due to excessive leakage of petrol. Their bodies were totally burned. Autopsy was the only way anyone could have found out what exactly killed them so we bribed the doctor who was on this case.

I wouldn't have managed to do anything if Aman wouldn't have been there with me. He took care of everything and assured me that no one will get to know who killed Vishal."

"But Aman didn't tell me all this when I asked him about it during the day?" Khushi asked looking confused, as her face showed the pain that Arnav had to go through.

Arnav smiled arrogantly, looking proud "You think he could have told you about it? He will prefer to die rather than letting this matter out to anyone. He is loyal to me."

"Then how Anjali Didi's married life got affected when Vishal was dead?" Khushi asked, though she wasn't able to absorb the information that Arnav had revealed till now.

"The reports managed to convince everyone that it was just an accident. But Vishal's father, Kaushal Malhotra knew everything. He knew that I am behind this. He tried to ruin AR but I had assured about it earlier so he failed. He knew that it's useless to attack me when I am surrounded with bodyguards. He tried to find ways to hurt me. He tried to find you but till that time, you were already out of India. So his next best target was Di."

"Even Di was being watched by my peoples so he focussed on Shyam and started ruining his business slowly. He didn't know that just this would break Di's relationship with Shyam. Then you know what happened. Till the time I came to know about it, everything was already ruined. I had already destroyed everything that Shyam had. But I needed to stop Kaushal so I involved him in a sting operation and recorded everything. I blackmailed him that if he did anything, then all his dark secrets will be out. He kept his mouth shut about it till he died few months ago due to blood cancer. I still feel so bad about everything Khushi."

"I felt so guilty about it till now. If I would have kept a track on Kaushal's activities, then nothing wrong would have happened with Di. You are not responsible about it Khushi, I am the one responsible for it." Arnav said, his face looked pained and remorseful.

"What? No Arnavji, how can you say that? Your presence of mind saved so many bad things from taking place. How can you blame yourself for anything that happened because of some other person?" Khushi immediately contradicted Arnav, trying to make him feel better forgetting that it was her who should be the one to be consoled.

"Same goes for you, Khushi. It wasn't your fault that that bas***d took the wrong path and stalked you, almost killing you in his madness of claiming you. He killed other peoples too Khushi not to forget Maa and Papa. You know what he said when I accused him of murdering my parents? He laughed, casually accepting it like it was no big deal for him. You are not wrong, Khushi. He was the one at fault." Arnav explained everything calmly making Khushi look at him hopefully.

The next moment, she shook her head and spoke in a tone full of regret "But if I wouldn't have been there, he wouldn't have done anything right?"

Khushi broke down, leaning on Arnav's shoulder as tears fell on his shirt. Arnav looked around desperately, thinking of how to stop her from crying.

He made her look up, cupping her face gently in his big palms "Don't do this Khushi. Don't blame yourself for everything."

As Khushi refused to look at him with her eyes closed and her face slightly bent, he shook her trying to make her believe.

He wanted to take away her pain. He knew how it felt to be the one behind the destructions in the life of your loved ones.

He'd not want her to go through the same.

Feeling tears moistening his eyes, he leaned towards her brushing his lips against her in an attempt to take away her pain.

Khushi gasped, her eyes flew open, having felt the contact that his lips made with hers. Her fists clutched his shirt tightly as Arnav leaned again and pressed his lips on her rosy, soft lips firmly.

Her breath hitched as she understood what he wanted to convey through this. Her pain was his now like her.

You will be loved, her heart whispered conspiring as she kissed him, finally accepting the solace that his arms were offering to her.

I know many of you are wondering that how many twists are left in this story. Readers, twists and turns are the soul of this story. This was the last big twist I had kept to this story.

With most of the twists and secrets revealed, I am happy to announce that 90% of this story is complete and this SS is in its final stage. Soon, this SS will breathe its last words.

Aditi