Arnav-Khushi: Hold me like I'm more than just a friend (Part 10 - p55) - Page 5

Awesome Story 👏
Loved Khushii 😊
Why I feels like Arnav is protecting someone 😭
Please do PM in further updates⭐️

Part 3

For the first time in what seemed like months, Arnav felt a heartfelt smile make its way to his lips, as he watched Khushi sleep with her arm around Anaita. If the little girl's cheeks did not still bear the tell-tale streaks of dried-up tears, it would have been easy to forget that Khushi had only met her that morning. Anaita fit so snuggly in her embrace, as though she had known Khushi all her life.

He cleared his throat softly and Khushi stirred and opened her eyes to look at him.

"Lunch," he said simply.

She said nothing in reply, but merely averted her eyes, and began to wake little Anaita up.

Arnav walked away, a painful lump in his throat. A part of him wished that she would at least express the anger and disappointment she felt towards him, that she would once again demand the answers that he was unable to give her. Her silence was nothing short of torture. The fact that she had turned her back on him felt as though she had given up on him. And that seemed to hurt more than anything else.

It was his fault of course. He had given her no indication that he actually did care for her, no reason to believe in him when the situation was such that she had every possible reason to distrust him.

Ever since they had gotten married, she had been nothing, if not accommodating and patient. She had never demanded an ounce of attention from him and had adjusted to his detached nature. Without realizing it, he had slowly started to warm up to her infectious, effervescent personality, but before he could bring himself to begin to bring her closer to him and include her in his very private innermost world, he had himself caused a wall to be built between them. The sparkle in her eyes had dampened, and he was the one responsible for it. It pained him to see the accusatory look in her eyes.

But the alternative would be to break a promise that he had made to his brother. The alternative would be to share with Khushi, the guilt that he felt when he looked into Payal's eyes, and the burden of a secret that weighed so heavily upon him that it was perhaps best kept to him alone.

Perhaps.

He still wondered sometimes if he had made the right choice. Anaita could not be left at the orphanage, that much was certain. How was it the poor girl's fault if her father had not had the courage to do the right thing so many years ago? Bringing her home might have been the right thing to do, and yet, all it had done was spread discord among the family members. Even Akash was furious at him, but Arnav knew that it was not only because he was worried about Payal finding out... Akash's anger was mostly directed towards himself.

Arnav wished he had known of Akash's child before he had gotten married to Khushi, so that she would not have had to be dragged into this whole mess. He would have probably brought Anaita and her mother home and taken responsibility for them, without Khushi's life being ruined in the process. The poor girl would have married somebody else and received all the love that she rightfully deserved.

But, as fate would have it, Arnav only came to know about Anaita, about a month and a half into his marriage. He accidentally overheard a telephone conversation that Akash was having with Anaita's mother, Inaayat, and upon probing further, he came to know the whole truth...

Shortly before Akash began to date Payal, he had had a short relationship with Inaayat. When he came to know that she was pregnant, he had fallen deeply in love with Payal and could not bear the idea of losing her. And he pleaded with Inaayat not to let anyone know that he was her child's father. He offered every form of monetary support for the child, and with that, abdicated himself of all the other far more important responsibilities that he had towards the child he had brought into the world. This arrangement worked well for four years, until the day when Inaayat found herself on her death bed, with no other last wish but for her child to grow up in a family, and not an institution.

Akash had always been a well-intentioned, but essentially weak man. He was torn between the desire to finally rectify his wrongs and rid himself of the guilt he had lived with for four years, and his love for Payal, now at a very delicate stage of her pregnancy. And so, once again, he chose to run away. That's when Arnav stepped in, and took the fall for a transgression that had never been his.

He did not just do it to protect Akash, because truly, he did not feel a great amount of brotherly love for him after what had transpired. But Payal did not deserve such an emotional upheaval, especially now, when her health was so fragile. Arnav had never been particularly close to Payal, mostly because he was so painfully introverted as a person, and rarely got along with others, but she was not just a part of his family... she was also Khushi's sister.

And Khushi happened to be that slightly strange but wonderful person, who had somehow thawed her way into his unfeeling heart. She truly was a marvel who never ceased to surprise him. She had every reason to hate Anaita, whom she had been made to believe, was her husband's illegitimate child, a child he had hidden away from everyone, and who he still insisted on keeping shrouded in mystery. And yet, she had comforted the child and gone out of her way to make her feel at ease.

Most of the other family members treated Anaita with forced politeness to hide their disdain of her. But Khushi, the person who should have been the most offended by her very presence, fed her with her own hands, then took her to the bathroom to wash her hands and mouth, then tucked her into bed, with nothing if not pure affection.

Arnav could not help but steal glances at Khushi as his fingers clacked away at his laptop's keyboard. She was engrossed in a novel, and ignoring him completely, but seemed to have been stuck on the same page for some time now. He was about to say something, but before he could pluck up his courage, or figure out what he could possibly say in the circumstances, she had caught side of the alarm clock on the bedside table, gotten up with a start, and hurried out of the room, fixing her saree and muttering to herself.

His mouth twitched into yet another involuntary smile, as he realized that she had once again forgotten that she was supposed to be helping in the kitchen for dinner. There was something undeniably adorable in her little harebrained ways, and he hoped that his traditional elders would never succeed in their ridiculous attempts at molding her into their archaic idea of a perfect daughter-in-law. He did not care that her food was often either too salty, or too spicy, or (for some unfathomable reason), sweet. He did not care that she was the least bothered about dust and clutter and unmade beds. He did not care that she did not care about such frivolous things as combing her hair neatly and folding her saree into crisp pleats. Nor did he care that it took the greatest effort on her part to appear quiet, demure and unassuming in front of others.

Every aspect of her bubbly, nonconformist personality could only attract him even more towards her.

Not to mention the fact that the person who did not care for household chores and only happened to cook a good meal by mistake, was also the person who had wholeheartedly embraced an innocent girl and made her feel at home in a house that was so unwelcoming of her. And with that, she had bowled him over, completely and irrevocably.

...

Part 4

beautifully penned. loving the story.

I was right . I hope kushi know the truth and they sour out their problems

Lovely update. Only khushi can understand the feeling of unwanted. Hence the affection for the child.

OMG, Arnav thought he wud marry Inayat if had come to know the truth before his marriage. Thank god that didnt happen. I wudve cursed Inayat badly then.

I agree with what he did for Akash and Payal. But Khushi deserves to know the truth. He is indirectly killing Khushi everyday little by little. This isnt right.

At least now that she has accepted Anayta as her own, he shud tell her the truth.

Beautiful update. loved the way you write it so beautifully. Arnav is truly a gem of person. but he should atleast tell khushi about anahita being aakash's child. that will make things better for arhi . loved it.

Superb..
But wish arnav revealed it to kushi...

Fabulous chapter so anaita is akash's daughter n he is such a coward that he left his daughter at orphanage n its arnav who adopted her but I think he should confine in khusi n tell her the truth cos it's hurting both of them.