ArHi FF: Yeh Saali Zindagi -Link to next thread on page 1 - Page 19

Readers, there aren't any past flashes in this update. But there will be in next update. Just so you all know, I am showing the past only to show why Arnav and Khushi were forced to marry and how.

After that, the story will continue in present.

ArHi FF: Yeh Saali Zindagi

Chapter 3

28^th June, 2014

The moment Khushi glanced at the papers, she blanched in shock. She didn't take notice of the cup of tea falling from her hands, choosing to rather concentrate on the paper. She rearranged her expressions quickly when a servant appeared to clear the mess she has created and hastily ran to her room.

Shutting the door of her room, Khushi paced to and fro, recollecting what she has read. The papers were full of gossip about her marriage with Arnav Singh Raizada with a picture of them leaving the temple together. It didn't surprise her as much as the additional information that the papers have given.

Apparently they all have come to know about Arnav Singh Raizada leaving her alone at his family home, giving them a golden opportunity to make a mockery of the situation. Their marriage was called farce by the media and they haven't backed down from questioning her character further.

She was taken aback to see the same people who always praised her endlessly for the all the social work she has done, criticizing and mocking her.

If all this continued, then she is going to lose the faith and respect she had earned in everyone's eyes for herself. She will be merely reduced to the role of another martyr who went through a bad marriage because of politics. Then people will feel that if she can't save herself from the sorry excuse of marriage, then how could she help them?

Is she going to let all of that happen? Is she going to just watch all her work and efforts getting ruined by the sorry excuse of her marriage?

No, she decided as she stood up and dialed her secretary's number and asked for the address where her husband lived for now. She is going to talk to him and negotiate terms of their marriage to their favor.

Her husband will better understand and agree to that otherwise she will have to resort to threatening him of dragging him to the media and court for a rather public fight.

She decided grimly and exited from the house after making sure that no one has noticed her.

The moment the taxi stopped in front of Manyata Niwas, Khushi got out and paid the driver before turning around to look at the building.

Painted in off white color, it looked rather homely surrounded by different kind of flowers and shrubs. She noticed every end of it was fenced and the entry of the building was rather heavily guarded with four men dressed in uniform keeping a watch on everyone passing by.

Straightening the pale blue saree she has worn, she started walking towards them confidently while she rehearsed what she was going to say in her mind.

The home security guards narrowed their eyes down at her the moment she approached them and waited for her to make introductions though she doubted after seeing the knowing look on their faces. They knew who she is.

Giving them a faint smile, Khushi spoke "Hi, I am here to meet my husband, Arnav Singh Raizada. Can I go in?"

"I am afraid you cannot, Madam. Mr. Raizada has forbid us from letting anyone inside before running through him. Can you wait while I call Mr. Raizada?" One of the guards stepped forward and replied, looking apologetic.

Khushi's smile faltered for a moment before she recovered and waved her hand nonchalantly "Sure, I don't mind."

She kept watching as the guard spoke on the intercom before nodding at her while the other opened the gate "You can go. Mr. Raizada is waiting for you."

Khushi sighed in relief before stepping inside only to see an elder woman, dressed in a pretty red saree standing there. She stepped forward the moment Khushi looked at her and smiled hesitantly "Hello Mrs Raizada, I am Anupama, the housekeeper. I am here to escort you inside."

Khushi nodded nervously, letting the woman lead her inside. She barely noticed the interior of the house as she kept wondering when she will meet her husband.

It wasn't like she didn't knew anything about him. Arnav Singh Raizada has always been a rather popular name among the social workers, known for his rather generous donations to different trusts and funds. And she was aware of all the trusts that her husband has formed to help abused women and kids. But Khushi knew better.

She wasn't unaware of the ways of the people from business world to know it was all a show.

Businessmen donated their money to earn a name among the society, not to help the real cause and she hated it to the core.

The fact that Mr Raizada never made any appearance to any of the charity functions spoke very much about him, telling her that he was one of those businessmen. And she has heard of the way he always managed the acquisition of other businesses. He is a shrew, eccentric businessman to the least she was aware of.

She was so engrossed in her assessment that she didn't realize entering in the study and the lady leaving her behind, closing the door after her exit.

She snapped out of her thoughts and froze the moment she looked up and saw the back of an enormous leather chair facing her before swirling around, letting her take a good look at her husband for the first time right now occupying the chair.

Oh my, her husband is a very handsome man with his soul penetrating black eyes, chiseled face and lean yet strong body right now encased in a very expansive Armani suit.

And she wasn't alone. Her husband was also staring at her as if assessing her. The moment their eyes met, Khushi caught a glimpse of recognition on his face before he masked it again.

"Well, you surprised me Khushi Raizada. I rather remember leaving you at Anuj Niwas after making clear that I don't want to do anything with you. So what brought you here?" After clearing his throat, her husband spoke looking highly disinterested and annoyed.

"Hello to you too, my dear husband.Have you read today's newspaper?"

"Yes. What about it?"

And it rubbed Khushi's patience.

Narrowing her eyes, Khushi walked forward crossing the table and looked down at him "Well let's just say, the media is having a blast while shredding every piece of my respect and I don't like it to say the least. I want to remove this linchpin from my life."

"You mean me." He pointed out, his face blank. He moved his chair to face her and met her gaze.

Crossing her hand under her breasts, Khushi replied sarcastically "Oh you are so intelligent."

As he continued to stare at her, Khushi uncrossed her hands, bridged the gap between them and braced her hands on the either side of his chair and bent her face to his level. They stared at each coolly.

"Mr. Arnav Singh Raizada, I don't know what game you, your and my father are playing and trust me I don't care about them. But if it's going to interfere with my work, I will not spare anyone. My work is my life and I am fiercely protective about it. So buzz off your arrogance while speaking to me. Now do you mind elaborating what you are going to do about our marriage?" Khushi snapped, barely managing to not shout at him.

As she stepped back and stood straight again, her husband replied "I don't care about you and our marriage to the slightest."

Khushi sighed "Then we should file for divorce straightaway."

Arnav jerked his head up as if he was electrocuted and said sharply "We aren't going to do anything like that."

Titling her head slightly, Khushi said "Try me. I can file for divorce on the basis on non-consummation of our marriage and the fact they we stay at different places. We can say that our parents forced us into this marriage. Why suffer when we can get out of this relationship?"

Arnav stood up finally and shook his head in denial "I am not going to do anything like that, my dear wife. My father has finally relieved me of my last duty of giving him a daughter-in-law and by divorcing you, I won't give him another chance to make my life hell by looking for suitable candidates for my second marriage."

He stopped for a moment before continuing "Besides, he won't let this divorce happen. You are too valuable to him."

Khushi's eyes flickered in curiosity as she asked "What do you mean?"

"That you are well loved and respected by people. His party needs someone like you for the State elections which are supposed to happen in 2 months. He intends to use your popularity for his party after merging with your father's party. He won't let you off the hook until you have well served your purpose. That means we are stuck with each other till that time." Arnav explained calmly, not losing his calm demeanor for even a moment.

If Khushi expected him to look enraged by everything, she was deeply disappointed till now.

"Well that reputation is being shredded so I won't be of any use for him if it all continued." Hiding her shock and disgust at the intentions of her father-in-law, Khushi pointed out intelligently making Arnav ponder over it.

The night before her marriage, Khushi has managed to figure this out all by herself and Arnav's confirmation only increased her hatred for her family's doings. Her father has once again proved that he cared for his career, not his daughters.

Well if her father didn't thought about her wellbeing, she can do that.

She held on to ever single second while Arnav thought, not saying anything to her. At last, he sighed and admitted "You are right."

"So what are you going to do about it?" Khushi questioned, finally occupying a seat across him after achieving success in her plan till now.

Rubbing his finger on his stubble which made him look rather attractive, Arnav hummed and looked up at her "Well that's true. There is only one way we can handle this. You need to live here with me till the elections. We need to show everyone that this marriage is based on love."

Khushi snorted loudly the moment Arnav said love'. But it will work on her favor. At least, everyone will stop gossiping about her personal life.

"I agree with you." Khushi nodded.

"Well then, I suggest you go back to Anuj Niwas and bring your luggage here while I will talk to my father about it. He will make a fuss of it but it has to do for now. I will send my driver with you." Arnav explained.

Khushi nodded before she stood and turned to leave when he spoke again "Khushi?"

She turned around only to find him standing just behind her, making her stumble back. She gasped as she lost her balance and fell back on the chair she has just vacated while Arnav merely kept looking at her, not rushing forward to save her.

Annoyed at his indifference, Khushi scowled up at him. She glared at him as he offered her his hand and reluctantly slid her hand into his.

As their hands touched, a spark flew between them making her eyes widen. She gasped as Arnav pulled her up on her feet, his hands then placed around her waist.

Suddenly, she found herself too close to her husband which made her uncomfortable. She was so used to being sure and at ease every time that she fumbled under his steady gaze on her.

Not liking the fact that he is affecting her way more than she want to be, she straightened on her feet and squirmed in his arms, indicating him to let go.

But his hold tightened instead as he breathed next to her ear, making her shiver. Her eyes popped open the moment he started speaking "As much as I hate to admit it, I know you are a great person Khushi. I know the way you fight to seek justice for people. Had everything happened according to my wish, I would have never let you go through all this ever."

Khushi glanced up at her husband in surprise, taken aback to find him apologizing to her. But when she looked at his face, she scowled. Again, there was no expression on his face to suggest whether he is merely acting to win her support or truly regrets everything.

She nodded stiffly. It appeared to her that she will have to make him lose his control on emotions to really know the kind of person he is.

Not knowing that the same person is about to turn her world around, only to reaffirm her belief and notions on love which were shattered brutally.

As her husband withdrew from her, she found herself exiting the room at once knowing very well that he was following her. She has turned around the corner when a small girl ran into her.

She glanced down in surprise to pull the girl up when she stood up herself, merely giggling which suggested that such thing was usual for her.

Khushi smiled at the girl's naivety when she glanced up at her and her enchanting black eyes widened. She saw her looking down at the paper in her hands and stilled.

It was today's newspaper.

Khushi watched silently as the girl kept looking up at her face and then at the picture in the newspaper to confirm that they both are the same, scrunching her face in the process which made her look more adorable.

She saw how the girl's face lightened up the moment she saw mangalsutra around her neck and vermillion in her hair parting. The moment the girl jumped up and down on her feet, she braced herself to speak with the cute girl.

Still the earth beneath her feet shook when the girl asked "Are you my Mumma?"

My apologies for not replying to your scrap and pm's, but I am time-tied and will reply to you all soon. Updating twice a week is my priority now. But that doesn't mean I don't wait for your pm and scrap. I will be glad to hear from you all.

I know most of you are irritated with the puzzle that this story is becoming, but trust me I won't write anything that I am not sure about.

You all need to believe in me.

However, after seeing my reader's response, I should ask this- Do you all even liking the way this story is going?

Aditi