ARSHI SS: Complicated Relationships! *Chp 8* upd 25/12 'pg 32' - Page 17

Khushi chided herself for letting out much more than she intended to. But now the damage was done. Arnav had already heard what she had said. Khushi tried to escape without looking at him but he blocked her way. "What do you mean by fatal for both of us, Khushi?" he asked. Khushi didn't want to give him any explanation so she tried to move again. "Until I get a satisfactory answer to my question, you're not going anywhere Khushi." Arnav said in a serious tone. Khushi looked at him with shocked eyes. 'Did he just order me? How dare he?' she thought. "I don't have to answer your question if I don't want to. You can't force me." She replied. "Look Khushi, I have my own sources to find out what's wrong as you said it could be fatal that means someone wants to kill me and Ansh. And I could find that out within next hour so, it would be better if you tell me what the matter is since that would save my hour." Saying this Arnav crossed his arms as he stared at Khushi. Khushi already knew he had powerful sources and he would really find out what's wrong so she decided to tell him the truth. She was tired of keeping the truth to herself and may be Arnav would know the person who's behind all this and will definitely help her. So she started, "For the world except you, me, Akash, Payal and Mamiji, Ansh is my son and not Bhabhi's. This year, on Ansh's 3rd birthday, before your arrival, I had got a call threatening me that if I let you or the other people know that Ansh is your sister's son, they'll make sure that you both are killed. That was the reason why I didn't tell you that Ansh was your nephew when we first met. I don't want to lose Ansh and I didn't want anything to happen to you too. I have lost too many people already. Ansh is the only reason that I'm still alive." Khushi paused as she tried to control her sob but she couldn't while Arnav stood there stupefied watching her shed tears. He was too dazed to react. Someone was behind their lives. He understood that he had many rivals due to his profession. But that someone was also behind Ansh's life?' he wasn't able to think straight.

"What do you think who's behind this? Any idea?" he tried to mumble. Khushi understood that this was as much a shock as it was for her. "Umm..Arnav.. I'm not completely sure but they're related to Maliks.. Because I had got a background check done for that phone call. But I had again got a threat call asking me to stop my search or else they'll harm Ansh even if he wasn't in contact with you. So I immediately stopped my search." Khushi added in a tender tone. Arnav was clenching his fists very tight. The thought of Maliks made his blood boil. His grandparents loved him and his Di. But his uncle hated them because he hated his brother i.e . their father. After their parents' death when their Grandpa and Grandma had gone to perform the last rites of their elder son and daughter in law, his uncle had thrown him and his Di out of Sheeshmahal. That was his last memory with Maliks. He had the never even contacted his grandparents and he still regretted that. He was brought out of his thoughts when Khushi lightly touched his shoulder. "You don't need to bring Ansh there. I can understand. But now I can't stay quiet. I have to find out which particular Malik is behind this. And don't worry, nobody will know about it." Arnav urged. Khushi just nodded at him.

That night both of them couldn't get a good sleep. One soul was worried about Ansh while the other was thinking of ruining the life of that Malik who even thought of harming his Ansh.

Next morning was the same as usual, but now Khushi was feeling quite light-headed after sharing her worries with Arnav. Today was the fourth day of Arnav staying with them. All these days while Arnav was at Gupta Mansion, Khushi didn't feel that he was almost a stranger living with them, he had made sure that his presence wouldn't affect her routine. Ansh had also considered him like his own father. It wouldn't be a problem if he wants to stay longer, she thought but was shocked another moment due to her own scandalizing thoughts. She chided herself for her stupid thoughts. Arnav as father of Ansh? This idea suddenly felt pleasant instead of repulsive to her and colour rose to her cheeks. That's how Arnav found Khushi lost in her own world with a slight smile on her face, newspaper in one hand and steaming hot tea cup in the other. "Who has managed to bring a smile on Khushi Gupta's face early in the morning?" asked Arnav with a slight smirk as he took a seat on the dining table in front of her. Khushi was startled with the sudden husky voice which managed to break her chain of thoughts and looked up to see Arnav sitting in front of her. "Oh...uh.. It's nothing, just a good day!" she tried to smile back at him. "You're quite late today Arnav. You've got quite less time to have breakfast before Ansh is up." She continued with a smile. "Ahh...yes indeed. I slept quite late last night, so woke up late. I've to finish my breakfast soon or else I won't get to eat anything till lunch time." He said with mock fear plastered on his face as he served himself with his toast and juice kept on the table. Khushi knew quite well as to why he slept last night but decided not to probe into last night's matter, so she chuckled instead seeing the expression on his face. "My son isn't that bad you know. He just loves attention of people around him. So, that keeps the other person who is with him, quite busy." Khushi added with a smile. Arnav did agree with her.

Rest of the day passed quite smoothly with Arnav and Khushi, with he being busy with Ansh and her being at her office. Later in the evening, Khushi had invited Akash for dinner and he was pleased to see the increasing camaraderie between Arnav and Khushi. After dinner, while Arnav was feeding Ansh his favorite dessert Jalebi topped with Rabdi, Khushi dragged Akash to the other side of the room. "What sort of terrible ideas have you stuffed inside my son's brain Akash?" Khushi asked once they were out of earshot of Arnav and Ansh. "What? What did I do Khushi?" ,Akash asked shocked. "You've stuffed his head with ideas of how his future father would be and now he has started considering Arnav like his father." ,said Khushi as she rolled her eyes at Akash when she saw him grinning like a fool. "I can't stop myself from agreeing more with Ansh! My champ is a genius Khushi. He thought of such thing which even I couldn't think of." Akash voiced his opinion as he winked at her. He was immediately rewarded with a smack on his bicep from Khushi. "You think this is a joke Akash? He has started dreaming about something which is quite not possible in reality." Khushi said irritated. "Why is it not possible Khushi? And what's wrong in dreaming? You're single even Bhai is and you know that none other than Bhai can give enough love to Ansh in his growing years." Akash replied in a serious tone as he saw an irritated Khushi. "Look just the love that we both have for Ansh and that we both are single are just not enough reasons for us to get married. There are much more aspects to a relationship than these, Akash, you know that. And between Arnav and me, its just not possible.", Khushi said exasperated. "I know that relationship has other aspects too. But.." Akash was interrupted by Arnav's voice who had just come there to see what Akash and Khushi were talking about as Ansh was busy watching Toy Story on tv. "What's going on here? And what's not possible Khushi?" he asked staring at her.

#Not proof-read😕

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