I have replied to all comments. Here's next :) Ch 3 ~Care~
"I'm Arnav. Arnav Singh Raizada." Khushi looked down and stepped back, shaking her head meekly. She swallowed the lump in her throat and clutched the material of her suit in her sweaty palms, struggling to make any movement.
She felt comfortable in his home, the comfort which she never felt in her husband's home.
"I want to go home" her mind screamed and the words travelled out her tongue, but her heart sank in her chest with a fear of facing the same man who violated her just a day back and losing the comfort of his absence.
His eyes grew wide with shock, but he refrained from speaking anything. He closed his eyes, took a short breath, and walked past her to the dining table.
"You must be hungry, come," he said without looking at her. He ordered a servant to fetch her some food and he himself got seated on the dining table, working on his phone, though his mind still revolved around her.
He didn't wanted her to live in that same place ever again. Not that he considered to be her owner, but his heart ached to see her in pain. There was an unknown force seeping inside him which forced him to look after her and undo everything that gave her pain. Her heavy breaths could be heard from a considerable distance. She didn't move a bit, but turned in her place to look at Arnav, with more of a blank expression. A dilemma had given rise to a conflict between her heart and her mind as to how to react. She didn't wanted to experience the same pain again, or rather say, she didn't had the courage to do that, which would be an obvious thing if she decides to live with Shyam. On the other hand, if she decides to accept help by Arnav, her conscience will not accept it as no matter how much she denies the fact, she would be living with a complete stranger, being married to another man. "How can I live with you?" A really soft voice made him look at her from the phone screen, trying hard to study the expressions of her emotionless face. He gestured the servant to excuse them and the servant walked out of the dining room instantly. "Why can't you?" He asked, getting up from the dining table and walking towards her. "I am married..." She trailed off as she felt tears crowding the bottom line of her eyes and her hands going cold again. "To a man who considers you less than a piece of meat!" His voice raised suddenly and she shuddered and involuntarily moved back a step. "You don't have to live that kind of a life, Khushi. Understand your importance," He slapped himself internally and softened his voice again, reminding himself that she's still scared and may get panicky by his loudness. She raised her eyelids in the slowest of fashions, blinking a few times to dry-off her fresh tears and she stepped backwards further. Unconsciously her knee hit the corner of the center table and she yelped in anticipation of falling on the glass table, but was instead grabbed by a strong hand wrapped around her wrist and she was pulled into her initial stance with a gentle pull. "I will not hurt you, promise" he whispered, tightening his hand's hold on her wrist. He didn't knew why he said that to her, maybe just to have her trust with him or maybe to console his own disturbed self. Her tears grew in amounts and hence flowed down her eyes, while she continued to look straight into his eyes, feeling her heart sink more and more. "He said the same thing.. But he broke his promise" She spoke in a daze, shoving his hand off her wrist. The way she looked at the moment, had already made him desperately wishing to meet that Shyam and beat him to death; but the present moment required him to be calm.
He swallowed the accumulated lumps in his throat and decided to shove off the topic for the time being, having a weird kind of surety spread inside him that no, she would not leave.
He noticed Khushi going back into the room and sighed helplessly.
This would not be easy.
*
Three men in brown uniforms entered the AR Fashion House, the top fashion company of Delhi, proudly owned by Arnav Singh Raizada aka ASR. The company had been running since two and a half years, and it had only climbed up the stairs of success and fame. The extremely hard-working staff and the foreseeing supervisor had made AR to be one of the top fashion houses of India. Aman, ASR's right hand, welcomed the three policemen hushed-ly. The four of them walked into Arnav's cabin, without any staff member notice them much. "Mr. Raizada," the police commissioner shook hands with Arnav, and settled down on the chair in front of him. "We have found out about Shyam Manohar Jha. He has many complaints registered in the local police station. He had been engaged in quite a lot of serious fights in drunken state in one or the other drinking bars. Most of times, his wife, Khushi Manohar Jha, had bailed him by giving her jewelry and stuff. This time too, yesterday itself, we received another complaint about him. The police has arrested him from his apartment, and a judicial case has been registered against him. The court's hearing is day after tomorrow," the police commissioner told him ever detail they found out about Shyam. "I can't thank you enough, Mr. Pandey. Please keep me informed about the court's decision" Arnav sternly smiled at him and again shook his hand with him. The police commissioner along with his two constables made an exit from AR, while Arnav leaned back on his chair, his mind seeping in deep thoughts.
Shyam Manohar Jha, the name itself ran an anger-filled current through his body. When Khushi knew about his actions, then why was she still with him? What forced her to be with him? Why did she cover up his mistakes every time? The questions created a commotion in his mind and he let out a troubled sigh. He had to ask her, just to make her feel lighter, for he knew that she was entangled in the betrayals of the abusive relationship, whose reason he was yet to find out.
His train of thoughts were broken by the receptionist's call, and he straightened up, "Yes?"
"Sir, the Malhotra's have arrived. Should I make them sit in the conference room?"
"Yes, I'm coming." *
Khushi dragged herself into the room where she was sleeping some hours ago, feeling sad again. She was made to eat food by the maid as per Arnav's orders, who supposedly went away as soon as they had the short conversation. The pain she felt physically was healing quite quickly, but the mental pain had disturbed her to such an extent that, even if she tried, she wasn't able to come out of it. She tied her hair in a messy bun and stood in front of the mirror. Her eyes met her reflection's eyes and she felt herself going numb from inside. Her gaze travelled from her eyes to her lips, which had a deep red mark near its left corner. She looked at her neck, which had bluish marks on it and the incidents of the night rushed into her mind. Further towards south, she saw her upper arms covered with bandages with tiny blood marks on them. Her hands clutched the hem of her suit and she dug her fingers hard into her palm. Had not been the material of the suit between her nails and her palm, she'd have surely bled because of the tightness of her fist.
The material of the suit dropped down and she stepped back. Hot tears ran down her eyes as she looked at her whole self, being destroyed by her own husband and she breathed soundly. She opened her mouth to take in more air, for the air within her was causing intolerable suffocation. Unable to control her pain by seeing her reflection, she picked up the jug of water kept on the side table and threw it on the mirror, splashing water over the pain she felt and breaking off both the mirror and the jug. Her action crashed the deafening silence of the place, while she fell down on her knees, crying hysterically. Arnav, who had just returned back from his work, heard the loud sound and came running into the room. He drew in a sharp breath on seeing lying near the broken pieces of mirror. 
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