New ArShi FF: Birds of a Feather Link to Thread 2 on Pg. 1 [20/04/'20] - Page 83

Olaa!

Since many of you asked, I will update on Wednesday (in the evening, EST). As I mentioned earlier, things are very busy for me personally, so I wont be able to update 3 times a week for the next few weeks.... very sorry 😒

Thank you for being patient! Will try to be back as quickly as I can 🤗

Archi

Thanks for informing. We will look forward for Wednesday

Hima

Thanks for informing. Waiting for wednesday.

One more day, can't wait

Are you updating or no ? Should we keep waiting ?

Helloji 🤗

Thank you for waiting so patiently! You guys make writing so worth it with all of your wonderful comments ❤️

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The content of this story belongs strictly to the author, -Archi-. Any unwarranted use/copy of it is not encouraged and is strictly prohibited.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Pawn

– October 2019 –

“Come in,” Arnav muttered absentmindedly.

It was a sunny Monday afternoon in Delhi, where Arnav was found locked away in his office, his mind completely occupied with the impending merger with Gupta and Sons. He was personally overlooking every word and every clause written in the agreement. Alok Raj Gupta was not known for his benevolence, and it would be stupidity on his part, if he walked into the deal blind. The deed was scheduled to be signed a week after his marriage with the Gupta heiress.

He tried not to think about that too much.

To his surprise, Ryan –his best friend since boarding school days– walked in.

“Damn,” he said, letting out a low whistle and gaping at the glass walls covering three sides of the room, giving them a spectacular view of the city. It was almost as though they were floating in midair.

“This is one hell of an office man,” he muttered.

Arnav smiled and stood up, walking around his desk to pull him into a hug. “When did you get back from London?”

“Just this morning,” Ryan answered. “And I was greeted at the airport with this.”

He pulled out a newspaper clipping from his pocket housing two large pictures of Arnav and his would-be father-in-law. The headline read: The Raizada-Gupta alliance: a desperate cry for help.

Arnav didn’t have to look further to know what the article said. The whole city was buzzing about this for the last two weeks, when it was officially announced that he was to become Alok’s son-in-law. He didn’t understand why the papers were so interested in capturing every little detail of the impending nuptials. True, the Guptas were well-known, their influence was spread far and wide, but that didn’t mean everyone suddenly had the right to become personal about his life.

“So?” Ryan asked, impatiently.

Arnav shrugged. “So what?”

“Care to explain?!” Ryan asked, staring at him incredulously. “You are getting married? First of all, where is my invitation? But mostly, why is the bride some Gupta instead of Myra? What happened to your restaurant? And why the hell do you look like you’ve stepped out of an episode of Suits?”

Arnav took a deep breath, wondering where to even start.

After completing college together, Ryan had departed for London to pursue an MBA, while Arnav stayed in India, determined to follow his own ambitions. Although they kept in touch, especially with Ryan coming down to visit Delhi every few months, Arnav had actively avoided talking about his failing life. What was the point of burdening someone else with his problems?

Deciding to start with the easiest of questions, he said, “Raghav wanted to sell the restaurant.”

Ryan frowned. “Wasn’t he the one who had the idea to open a restaurant in the first place?”

Arnav gritted his teeth, the point still raking him to pieces. “Yeah… But the restaurant was taking time to pick up, and he took that as a bad sign. So the minute someone offered him a good deal, he took it. And if I resisted, then the value of myfifty percent would drop… so we sold it.”

A sad smile spread across Ryan’s face, and he patted Arnav’s shoulder in sympathy. “I’m really sorry man… I know that restaurant meant everything to you.”

Arnav nodded, grateful.

“So is that why you are here? Back to your father’s company?” Ryan asked. He wanted every last detail, it seemed.

“Kind of,” Arnav muttered, walking to the windows and gazing out into the perfect afternoon.

Ryan hesitated before asking the next question. “And… Myra? Where is she?”

“No clue.”

He snorted. “Of course you know. This is Myra – you literally breathe for this woman.”

Arnav’s hands curled into fists, the mention of his girlfriend bringing back her taunting words.

You destroyed your career, you destroyed your restaurant and now you are destroying your father’s company… what do you even have left? With your track record, forget me, you aren’t worthy of any girl Arnav Singh Raizada. You were, are and will always be a disappointment.

Almost three weeks had passed since he saw her last, and yet, every inch of her face was seared on to his eyes. He couldn’t and wouldn’t forget her, because she was a living reminder of everything he had screwed up.

“Arnav?” Ryan called. “You’re seriously freaking me out… what happened?”

Arnav turned away from the window and strode back to his desk. “Nothing happened Ryan. We broke up. And I am marrying Khushi.”

“I figured that. What I’m asking is why?”

“Because apparently I run away when things get difficult, because I am immature, impulsive and selfish. Because her parents want marriage and she, stability and my parents, this business. I can go on and on… I’m not really sure what you want to hear.”

If Ryan was shocked with that, he didn’t let it show. Sitting across the mahogany desk, he asked quite calmly, “Why don’t you start from the beginning?”

Arnav rolled his eyes. “I don’t need therapy.”

“I don’t plan on giving it to you… I am just trying to understand. Last I checked, both of you were happy. You finally got your restaurant, she got that promotion… and you were even living together! Something that deep doesn’t just fall apart in one day.”

“Well it did for me,” he muttered desolately. “My restaurant shut down… I was struggling with what to do, and one fine day, Myra decided that she can’t put up with me any longer. That apparently I haven’t been giving her the commitment she deserved–”

“You mean marriage?”

“Apparently. As if I was some playboy who just wanted to sleep with her! If I didn’t value her, why would I stay with her for six years? Why would I ask her to move in with me? And why would I introduce her to my family?”

Ryan sighed. “Did you tell her that? Explaining yourself to me is not the solution.”

“Of course I told her! But it didn’t matter… she walked out anyway, my father had a stroke and–”

“What?!” Ryan exclaimed, sitting up in his chair. “Uncle had a stroke?!”

“Relax, he is fine. He is getting some movement back in his arm–”

“Seriously?! Uncle had a stroke and you wait three months to tell me? And that too, only when I ask? What has gotten into you Arnav?!”

Arnav rubbed his temples. “I’m sorry okay? Things haven’t been easy around here… and the last thing I wanted to do was call you in London and tell you my sob story–”

Ryan shook his head. “If only you cared ten percent about me as much as you did for Myra–”

“That’s not funny.”

“Okay, sorry. But more importantly, I’m sorry about Uncle… it’s like everything came at you at once. Is that why you really took over the company? Because there is no one else to run it?”

Arnav nodded. “Our numbers aren’t doing so well… someone has been trying to buy us out for weeks now. That’s whywe kept Papa’s stroke under the wraps… and also why it had to be me. If I took over, it will seem like our family is not interested in selling to a third party… a united front more or less.”

“So why the merger then?”

“Oh come on, you know about these things better than me. You actually paid attention in class.”

Ryan rolled his eyes.

“Our stocks are at an all-time low Ryan! With this takeover news, no one’s willing to continue business with us and for good reason – if we do indeed get bought over, then there is no guarantee the new owner will keep their contract. It’s risky, and with my father gone from the company, these investors don’t have much to keep their faith in.”

“Okay fine, you are merging to save the shares. But why the marriage?”

Arnav averted his eyes. “Because we only get the merger if I marry the daughter.”

Silence followed that confession.

Ryan stared hard at his friend, perhaps debating how best to chastise him without being too rude. That was one of many things Arnav appreciated about his best friend, he knew how to put forth his case without overstepping.

“I’m sorry,” Ryan finally muttered. “That you feel so much pressure to make sure things are alright, but marrying someone, especially when you are in love with another, just to keep your company alive is wrong. I hope you know that man.”

“I knew you would say that,” Arnav replied, shaking his head. “But you are not in my shoes.”

“So you think your situation is a good enough excuse for this stupidity? You love Myra–”

“It’s over. How many different ways do I have to break it to you Ryan?! Myra left, on her own free will! And when I begged her to come back, when I put aside any and all semblance of self-respect to ask for forgiveness for mistakes I did not make, she laughed in my face and called me an utter disappointment!”

Ryan appeared horrified. “She said that?”

“Yes! And after all that, you are expecting we will get back together?!”

Ryan didn’t have an answer.

“So save me the morality lecture!” Arnav fumed. He was tired of justifying himself to everyone. “I know what I am doing!”

It was a few minutes before either of them spoke. Ryan it seemed was trying hard to digest all the shocking twists as calmly as possible. But Arnav could tell, with the disappointed looks being passed his way, that Ryan disagreed with everything about this situation.

“Have you ever considered what happens to the girl?” he finally asked.

“Which girl?”

“The one you are marrying… she is walking into this marriage, expecting you to give her your hundred percent. What will happen when she realizes she is nothing but a pawn?”

Arnav’s face hardened. “That’s her father’s concern, not mine. He should have thought twice before knocking on my door, taking advantage of my father’s bad health and the company’s low shares.”

Ryan looked down at the newspaper clipping he brought. “You mean this Alok Raj Gupta?”

Arnav gave a curt nod. “He is a vulture… Remember that hostile takeover I was talking about? He is the one behind it.”

Ryan was stumped.

“Exactly,” he continued, a look of deep loathing covering his face. “Alok had an eye on this company for months now… so the minute our sales dipped because of a slow economy, he pushed our competitor to buy us out. Of course, they didn’t succeed, but to our investors and customers, it created an image of bankruptcy that only further decreased our revenue. The cherry on top, of course, was that he waited for our funds to dry up before swooping in and making a deal that he knew we could not refuse!”

It took Ryan a few minutes wrap his head around that. “Okay, even if all of that is true–”

“It is true.”

“–why would Gupta get his daughter married to the owner of the company he tried to bankrupt? That makes no sense!”

Arnav stood up, his hands curling into fists. He had spent weeks trying to dissect Alok Raj Gupta’s motives, and it was only when his father put forth the alliance that he finally understood.

“He wants power,” he explained simply. “If Alok Raj Gupta offered a merger when we were doing well, Papa would refuse. If he directly starts buying us out, we would be hostile partners. If he got someone else to play his dirty game and he pretends to be the ‘saviour’, we would be grateful and not to mention loyal to him. What more could he want for his daughter? A family that even if it tries, cannot break the marriage. It’s all about control.”

“This is messed up!” Ryan exclaimed in outrage.

Arnav snorted. His best friend didn’t even know the half of it.

“How sure are you that these Guptas are behind this whole takeover business?”

“It’s obvious. Papa was receiving threats persistently for many weeks… why would someone be so interested in buying usout? There are many businesses out there who would be more than willing to merge, so why us? Jeejaji and everyone thought it was easy to take over this company because Papa doesn’t have an heir so to speak, but I felt it was all targeted.”

“Targeted for you?”

“Maybe not initially… but it cannot be a coincidence that Alok Raj Gupta is the one who is funding the company that was trying to buy us out. He is much too experienced and much too manipulative for that!”

“But–”

“But what Ryan? You know I am speaking logically, because why else would such an established businessman give his daughter in marriage to a family that is going broke? The only reasonable explanation is that we were never supposed to be bankrupt, it was all just a ruse for him to manipulate things into the way he likes. And this is not the first time either… all the companies Alok has acquired over the years conveniently lost their shares just a few months before he took over.”

Ryan held the bridge of his nose, reminding Arnav sorely of their college days. He used to do the same during exams, while trying to recall a difficult answer.

Taking his silence as his surrender in their argument, Arnav went back to his laptop. He still had many pages of the merger agreement to get through.

Ryan finally spoke. “So you have decided to punish the daughter for her father’s mistakes? Is that what you are telling me?”

Arnav shrugged. “For all we know, she might be with her father on this,” he muttered, not taking his eyes off his laptop. “The Guptas are ancient and it makes sense now why they have survived so long. Their marriages are contracts, their children are manipulators… They want a pawn, not a son-in-law.”

“So even a better reason to call off the marriage then!”

Arnav looked shrewdly at his friend. “Stop chastising me like I’m a small kid–”

“That’s because you are!” Ryan burst out. “I know you Arnav! You love Myra… Six years is not a joke! Anyone who saw the both of you in college wouldn’t even be able to imagine you guys breaking up, that’s how crazy you were about her!

Sure she may not have loved you as much as you did her, sure she may have had other priorities, sure she walked away in search of a more stable life, but none of that makes all of your feelings disappear! I know what you felt for her were genuine, and that’s honestly what I admire the most about you… you are so forgiving and so accepting of her. It didn’t matter what or how Myra was, you loved her just the same. So how the hell can you just forget all that?!”

Arnav didn’t flinch in the slightest. “You are quite sentimental today Ryan.”

He glared at him “And you are just pissed off that Myra called you all those things! You are not getting married because you are over this relationship, or because Alok Raj Gupta has got you into a corner – you want to win at something Arnav, even if it is with your father’s company!”

“Of course not–”

“Dude, wake up!! You are okay with this now, but the minute Myra calms down and calls you back, you will go back to her! And at that point what will happen to your marriage?!”

Arnav steeled his shoulders, before saying in the most emotionless voice he could manage:

“I frankly don’t care. It was a low blow for Alok Raj Gupta to mix business with family. He should have thought twice about forcing this alliance, not me for accepting it.”

– Present Time –

Arnav watched the sun disappear behind the horizon, a new sense of clarity overcoming his usually befuddled mind. He was standing in his office, grateful that he got through the day –his first day back after two weeks of absence– without anything blowing up out of proportion. It seemed his family had covered up his rather abrupt withdrawal well.

After hearing Khushi’s malicious words less than twenty-four hours ago, Arnav could no longer ignore the inevitable. So he woke up before sunrise the next day, got dressed and came straight to his office, where he called the one person he knew could help.

His request was completed before lunchtime.

If truth be told, Arnav didn’t need the medical records now sitting innocently on his desk. Whether Myra really did have an abortion or not didn’t hold much meaning, considering the fact that their relationship was in pieces much earlier than that, and for different reasons.

Ryan, his blessed best friend, had been right after all.

Six years’ worth of feelings don’t just disappear. They need time to be worked through, time to be understood and most of all, time to be resolved. And Arnav, in his stubbornness, had ignored all of that and just dived headlong into what came next.

So perhaps, it really wasn’t a surprise that the minute he had received Myra’s call, an hour before his wedding, he stopped seeing reason. All his emotions, the love, the care, the passion… they all came flooding back, washing away all of Myra’s harsh words and leaving behind nothing but a desire to get her back no matter the cost.

Because Arnav didn’t know about a world that existed or a life that he could live without her. She had shaped so much of him, especially the parts he had prized the most, that it was just easy to have her back. Easy to forgive, and yes, easy to accept. Perhaps that’s why it had taken all that yearning, all that pain and all that loss for him to finally understand reality.

The easy way is not always the right way.

The choice to have a child, at the end of the day, was solely a woman’s – married or not. But what had hurt him in the whole ordeal was the fact that Myra didn’t think he was important enough to even be informed. She didn’t trust him enough to support her decision, even if it was abortion.

The medical reports –which costed him a hefty amount to obtain– were exactly what he had been expecting. Myra had been seven weeks pregnant, when she was admitted for a termination. She had refused to state her reason, although the hospital had made sure she understood all the risks involved.

The date of the procedure was marked to be a few days after Arnav’s own marriage was announced, so maybe there was some truth to Ira’s words. And yet, he couldn’t believe that Myra didn’t know about the baby when he had gone to see her last September, asking for forgiveness. Was she really ignorant? Or had she decided not to involve him in the decision by then?

Not that it really mattered. She had made it clear in their final argument that she was done with Arnav. He highly doubted the existence of their child would have changed her mind.

Perhaps it was easier for her to discard him like the morning newspaper, rather than acknowledge him as an equal partner. Perhaps it was easier for her to blame him for jumping onto another woman, rather than accepting that she acted selfishly. Perhaps it was easier for her to pretend their relationship didn’t exist at all, rather than accept the responsibility of it.

Whatever the case may be, to Arnav, it boiled down to the same thing, which was why he decided not to pursue her any further. Whatever her reasons were for taking such a drastic step, he had no interest in figuring it out.

Myra was a chapter in his life he never ever wanted to visit again.

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Keep scrolling for Chapter 33! 😃

The content of this story belongs strictly to the author, -Archi-. Any unwarranted use/copy of it is not encouraged and is strictly prohibited.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Apology

Khushi entered the darkened penthouse, tired to the core. She had another long day at the hospital and was looking forward to a good night’s sleep. Things had once again turned sour after her fight with Arnav almost a week ago now. She reverted back to sleeping on the sofa, staying late nights at the hospital and avoiding her husband at all costs. In many ways, it felt like those initial days of their marriage, but only worse. Back then she had no idea what life could be like, but now that she knew, it was so much harder to forget and go back to her lonely existence.

There was at least one good thing that resulted from their fight, however. Arnav resumed work and was going on about his daily tasks as though nothing had happened. Although it was good news, Khuhsi wasn’t happy.

She knew it was silly to expect anything from him, least of all reconciliation. They didn’t owe each other anything; hadn’t he made that clear during his visit to London? So why was she hoping he would come apologize now that he seems to have come out of his depressive episode? It was naivety. Arnav was a master at the game of indifference, and although she wished to be the same, she just couldn’t.

Shrugging to herself, Khushi was just about to head into the shower, when she heard Arnav walk in. Pretending not to acknowledge him, she continued towards the bathroom when she heard him clear his throat.

“Hey… do you have a minute?”

Khushi whipped around, dumbfounded to see him making the first move. His face betrayed no emotions, as he gestured to sofa, ignoring her confused face. She had no choice but to sit down, waiting for him to continue.

“NK invited us to his farmhouse this weekend.”

Khushi sighed, disappointed. So he wasn’t trying to make amends. “You can tell him that I am working.”

Arnav frowned. “For real or is that just an excuse?”

“Does it matter? We are obviously not going to go.”

“Actually, we are this time. So if you really are working, ask someone to take your shift.”

Khushi paused. “Too bad. I can’t trade my shift, so looks like you will have to go on your own.”

Arnav watched her carefully, before saying, “What’s the issue here? Going to the farmhouse or going to the farmhouse with me?”

She glared at him, unable to keep up her act of nonchalance any longer. “Have I grown-up enough in the past week for you to have a conversation with me?”

Arnav sighed, running his hands through his hair. “If you want an apology, then just say so.”

“You don’t ask to be asked for forgiveness!”

“Hmph… so why don’t we come to a compromise then?”

“Like what?”

“Either we both say sorry, or neither of us does.”

Khushi couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “So you aren’t even sorry then!”

“Are you?”

No. She may miss talking to him, she may miss spending her evenings with him, but she definitely was not sorry about what she said to him. And even if she was, the memory of his taunting words made her forget about it.

“Fine,” she finally said. “I don’t need your apology.”

“Likewise,” he answered coolly. “So are we good for this weekend then?”

Khushi snorted. His audacity was applause worthy. “No, we are not. I am working.”

“What happened to our ten second-old compromise?”

“We compromised on apologizing to each other. Not about me coming to the stupid farmhouse.”

“Okay,” Arnav replied thinking that over. “How about you come this weekend and in return, I will spend a weekend wherever you want to.”

As if she was going to go anywhere with him. Far from being apologetic, he was acting as though she was the criminal. Didn’t he realize what he had said in a fit of anger?

“No thank you,” Khushi snapped. “I rather save lives than go somewhere with you.”

“How noble. But you have to stop taking all those extra shifts at the hospital just to avoid seeing me.”

“I am not-”

“I know Awasti is not assigning them to you.”

Her argument fell short. Stubbornly crossing her arms, she said “Why not?”

“Because you are supposed to be my wife. Jeejaji gets a list of all the employees and their hours every three months to make sure the finances are clean. And your hours this time are off the charts.”

Great.

“Which reminds me, Lata will be resuming work from tomorrow. So you need to quit sleeping on the sofa and start using the bed again.”

Khushi glared at him. “Are you asking me or telling me?”

“I’m warning you… don’t come back later and blame me for not informing you about my family.”

“Fine. I will think about it.”

“So you are not going to come this weekend?”

“No.”

“Can Lavu convince you otherwise?”

“No.”

“Will you say yes if I apologize?”

“Only if you mean it.”

Arnav snorted. “Typical.”

“Okay good night,” she said standing up, knowing full well how desperate he was. And she wasn’t wrong.

“I am sorry.”

Khushi waited, suppressing her smile. She heard him stand up from the sofa and walk around so that he was standing in front of her. Surprisingly, instead of indifference, his eyes sparkled with genuine regret.

“I am sorry for being rude to you,” he said softly. “And commenting about your family. I had no right.”

She crossed her arms. “I’m not convinced.”

He stared at her, incredulous, realizing what she wanted. Khushi watched him carefully, wondering how much her forgiveness really meant to him.

“Okay fine,” Arnav grumbled at last, dropping to his knees and clasping his hands together as if in a prayer. “I am very very very sorry Dr. Khushi Kumari Gupta. I promise I will never ever repeat those horrendous words, in fact, I am very thankful that you dared to come and talk to me–”

“Now you are being sarcastic.”

“Okay, sorry for that too… but please forgive me?”

“Do you promise never to bring up me and my father in the same sentence again?”

“I promise.”

Khushi bit her cheeks, trying not to grin. “Okay then.”

Arnav rolled his eyes and stood up. “So you are coming?”

“I suppose, but why on earth is it so important that I come? This won’t be the first family gathering we missed.”

“It’s not the whole family. It’s just us – no parents or kids.”

Khushi was surprised. “How come?”

“NK wants to introduce Prachi to the family –Prachi is his girlfriend– but she is freaking out, so he thought she should meet us first.”

“Us?”

“You, me, Di, Jeejaji, Lavu, Akash, Mitali, Sam, Dev, Arjun and Baghi.”

So the whole gang. “Lovely. I’m so excited.”

Arnav chuckled. They were at least on the same page about one thing. “Good, because it’s gonna be one heck of a long weekend.”

Khushi sighed and began to collect her pillows and sheets, ready to call it a night.

“Um no,” Arnav objected, snatching the pillows from her hands. “You can be angry with me all you want in the bedroom, but not here.”

A smile escaped her lips as she watched him storm off inside. What was with him and beds?

“You are being obsessive you know,” she said, following him. “Why can’t I sleep on the sofa today? Lata will come tomorrow.”

“Because the sofa is meant for sitting, not sleeping.”

“Yeah, but I don’t have problem-”

“But I do.”

“And why is that?”

Arnav stopped, dropping everything he was carrying on the bed, and said seriously, “Because I took away enough things from you already. I don’t want to take away your sleep too.”

Khushi had no answer to that. It had been a long time since anyone thought about her comforts. Her mother was perhaps the only one who ever did in her whole life, but even she too was bound by her father’s rules. Vihaan, of course, was out of question. He never had any say in the family.

But Arnav was an exception. He probably had more cause to hate her than anyone else, and yet, he managed to think of her on more occasions than her own family.

So loosing whatever little anger she had left, Khushi softly asked when they were finally settled in bed: “Why do you care? What I have and don’t?”

“Oh, so are we on talking terms again?”

She rolled her eyes. “Just answer the question.”

“I won’t until we are officially talking again.”

She knew what he was doing. It was childish as hell, but perhaps after everything that had come to pass, it was what they probably needed. She didn’t want to have a melodramatic conversation with him again, least of all about his ex-girlfriend, anytime soon.

“Fine,” Khushi muttered, grumpily. “Don’t tell me. But you still didn’t answer my question from before.”

“What question?”

“Whose idea was it to force me to come?”

“Can’t it be mine?”

“I am not an idiot.”

He sighed, perhaps giving up on her. “I promised Di that I would bring you.”

“And why does Anjali want me to come?”

“Because you are family.”

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Two updates because I know you guys were waiting very patiently for Khushi to come back!

So I hope that cleared up the last of doubts about the Arnav-Myra scenario… as much as we want to know why she chose not to tell Arnav about her pregnancy, there are just some things in life we will never get the answer to. Arnav is making peace with that for now… may be somewhere down the line, he will know 😉

Khushi is… well, Khushi 😂 Of course, she doesn’t want to apologize to him (because she wasquite rude in Chapter 28). And although Arnav does regret his words, he doesn’t want to let her gloat… made for each other, no?

Please like & comment!

Love,

Archi

P.S. - Will update again next Wednesday!

What a treat!!! I will read first and then comment!!

Myra: hmm having a tough time disliking her character. I feel like she purposely didn’t tell him about the pregnancy because as much as she’d wanted, she didn’t want him to leave everything and come to her without stability in the picture. Which is what a mother needs for her kid, stability. I wonder if there ever was a chance where she wanted to tell him about the pregnancy (the night of his wedding when she called) but then refrained from it because maybe it didn’t matter anymore by then. I do feel like it was Arnav’s baby and he had all the rights in making that decision too but I feel like she didn’t find it necessary to let him know. Marriage was very important for her. And it must’ve been a huge blow to her ego when the news of Arnav getting married flew around. I hope she has moved on and finally found someone who could give her the stability and safety she needed. Arnav is not a bad person. He was just having a really bad time. And maybe this pregnancy/abortion saved them both from going deeper into a toxic relationship. It brought some closure to an already closed relationship.

Arnav and Khushi: I’m glad they’re back on talking terms. And I’m loving the fact that they’re not back to being buddy buddy with each other but at least they’re being civil. There’s still that trust and confidence that both are lacking in their friendship which I’m looking forward to reading as the story unfolds. I couldn’t help but realize he felt so bad that she was purposely picking up extra shifts just to avoid him. Like he felt bad that she was over working herself.

Can’t wait to read the next update!!

As always, great job!

Bizzy

I am confused.... Arnav mentioned that he met Myra three weeks back when he remembered her harsh words... Ryan said Shankar had a stroke three months back.... So what's the timeline here ?

I still think Myra was carrying someone else's baby and that's why got it aborted....

The last part was really cute and much needed after the heavy dose of Myra throughout..

chapter 32

In a way Arnav has his closure with Myra. He has made a decision to move forward without her. we will never know what Myra was thinking and why she didn't tell Arnav. Maybe she also realized the futility of their relationship. Arnav never measured up to her standards.