There is too things in that video. Ani doesn’t want to hear Jhanak ask for the reasons I mentioned above. The questions are loaded and scary. Especially now that Jhanak is in this headspace, answering yes to any of those would present him as the sinful (relatively) man that he is who fell for her while engaged. Extended, it won’t look good in her eyes. I don’t know about anything but I am sure that Ani is hyper aware of the fact that Jhanak feels nothing for him (at least obviously). That in itself is a huge barrier for his mind and his actions. A point will come where Ani cannot keep tanking his feelings for a veneer of respectability and he’s going to feel better about admitting it ‘even if she doesn’t love him back’. At that point, we would be getting episodes like ‘my feelings are mine and shouldn’t burden you blah blah’ 🤣🤣. Jhanak, from what I have seen is not too far off. Infact, her mental burden is even greater. Having feelings for Aniruddh means that she betrayed Arshi (not wrong thinking), but even worse, that Aniruddh is in some way responding to her or feels special things for her, would mean that she is self-fulfilling all the bad things they said about her and her mom - that they are women who break homes. Whether it’s that tag, as well as fear of the Boses and her maternal family, as well as guilt, Jhanak’s priority now is to force Ani into chickening out if his actions mean he is trying to be bold and approach her. But even her actions in a way betray her. She also has that anxiety of wanting to know why he does so much for her even now that things should be bad, why he cares for her so much. It’s eating her inside. That’s why if Jhanak leaves with Tejas, I’m not surprised. She plans to run away from him anyways and now she has money so she won’t starve. It’s Ani she is running away from. RuNak are very angsty romance material because Ani is going to have an issue with wooing Jhanak, as well as not sliding into his terrible ways and allowing overconfidence and guilt make him give Arshi access to him. I feel even if Ani does clarify he cannot go on with Arshi because he loves Jhanak, she is going to attach herself as some ‘friend’ and Ani out of guilt will still allow her be in his circle, hence putting pressure on Jhanak.
Excellent viewpoint of Ani's thought process. Helped me connect the dots with this post. It always bugged me as to why Ani was acting so out of character at the announcement party when he had been so vocal about standing by Jhanak's side. He flipped back and begged Arshi to not break the relationship. His actions and words always seemed to be disconnected for me, and this whole shtick of begging Arshi made me feel like there was something more than just guilt for failing her. Now that I read your post, it felt more like a plea not to abandon him, or his choices till now. If she did, it would mean his last fort of defense would fall through and he could not justifiably give any reason as to why he is giving more importance to Jhanak. I have always found his excuse of Humanitarian basis to be quite funny considering the length to which he tries to keep Jhanak with him. The way he has displayed his smartness and manipulative nature in the recent set of episodes clearly shows us that he is capable of making the most advantageous decisions for himself, hence from a practical viewpoint it looked odd to me that he insisted on keeping Jhanak at his home despite noticing the humiliation and horror she went through there. If he was so humane and helping in nature as he asserts himself to be, the best course of action would be to let Jhanak leave. But if this is what he feels, then this irrational decision seems to stem from some kind of desire which is kind of uncharacteristic of Ani. I feel like Ani is the type that doesn't really show the depth of his emotions and if he does so, then it is very scary and intense to experience. He needs to undergo growth to be more open and vulnerable in accepting his changing feelings towards both women and stand up for the one he loves. This way he is only escaping in denial and failing both women to a certain degree that he is responsible for. For Arshi, by not directly admitting that she doesn't matter much to him anymore, and for Jhanak by not defining their relationship. In the case of the latter, there have always been many instances where he has forced Jhanak to be at the forefront to disclose and admit what he is to her while never admitting things himself. He keeps asking her who is her husband but never says that he is her husband out loud. Based on the BTS, if these instances are Ani's dream, then his hesitancy to declare himself her husband in front of Tejas kind of makes sense as it is a recollection of how Jhanak denied him his position in her life plus his hesitation and insecurity about the situation. It also helps me better understand his abrupt and irrational growing jealousy towards Rahul and Tejas. In a way, Jhanak is more affected by these two openly (Rahul gives her joy while Tejas gives her fear). She has never openly shown any primal set of feelings because of him, and I bet that drives him crazy. So, he retreats even more into his shell and pretends Arshi is the one for him, because she is the more stable option whom he has known for more time than Jhanak at this point. Poor Ani, you have lots of introspection to do. 
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