Arnav felt his heart brimming with emotions watching Khushi weep. He walked towards her and sat down next to her on the bed. Just as he lifted his hand and was about to place it on her hair, Payal's voice was heard from outside.
"Khushi? Where are you?"
Khushi looked up, jumped up from the bed and ran to the door, wiping her cheeks and screaming, "Coming Jiji."
Arnav watched her run away and let out a deep sigh. Was I wrong about everything? How did she try to save Di's marriage?
"I love only you, Khushiji. I don't accept Rani Sahiba as my wife. Trust me. I love only you and I love you a lot."
"If that relationship doesn't matter to you, then why don't you break it off. Leave Anjaliji."
His lips trembled and his eyes burned with fury as he remembered the scene that he had witnessed that fateful day.
"He would be the last person on this earth I would trust."
Why? Because he refused to leave my sister? Of course. Khushi wanted Shyam to leave Di and go to her, but he didn't. Arnav pressed his lips together, in anger. So she decided to flirt with me, so that she could get to him through me. And I fell right into her trap. He snorted.
Arnav stood up from the bed, curling his hands into fists. Why do I always fall for her trap? Why do I always fall for her tears? Everytime I see her cry, why do I feel like my heart will burst? His lips trembled and a tear rolled down.Why did I let myself fall in love with her?
Khushi, dressed in a bright blue salwar, was pressed against him. Arnav had grabbed her wrist and bent her arm behind her. She was trying to free herself from his grip. "That was not what I meant." She said and a tear escaped her eye.
"Now you know everything about me. Say sorry." Khushi's eyes were filled with tears. "Never mind, you won't be able to say it."
Khushi was crying, her head against his chest, her arms wrapped around him. "I can't do this any more. I don't have the courage. I can't do all this any more. I have already lost my father once. I can't bear that loss again."
Khushi was crying, her head against his shoulder, her hands around his arm.
"Khushi, did your fiance do something to you?"
She lifted her eyes to look up at him, her eyes filled with hope and pain. She released his arm and stepped back.
"What did he do?" Arnav took a step closer to her. "Khushi what did he do? Did he try to hurt you?"
"He.." She started to say, still weeping.
Arnav raised his eyebrows.
"I am so glad you both finally met." Anjali said smiling look at Shyam, then at Khushi and then back at Shyam, her hands wrapped around Shyam's arm.
"Di, Khushi was upset. She is not picking up her phone." Arnav told his sister, after cutting the call.
"Do you know what it feels like when a girl's relationship breaks? How it feels when a person, who you were going to accept as part of your family and your life, reveals his true character and destroys all the trust you had in him .. then how can you trust anyone?" Khushi said, her eyes focused elsewhere, but filled with tears.
Arnav's eyes opened wide.
The phone rang and Khushi picked it up. "Yes, Shyamji, I am leaving right now."
Could it have been the same Shyam? Was Shyam lying to me about the affair when it was he who liked Khushi?
"No, Naniji," Khushi insisted, touching Nani's arm. "I don't want to apply color."
And yet, she said nothing when I applied color on her.
Was it Shyam who liked her? Was he the same Shyam who got engaged to her? But her fiance was her paying guest. Then how .. his eyes opened wide. Was that why we never saw her fiance? Khushi never met him until that day.
Arnav ran his hand through his hair, frustrated. How is that possible? How could Shyam have done such a thing, trick us and her family and gotten away with it? How could he have lived in Lucknow when Di and all of us thought he was away at work? Why did I not know about this? Frustrated, he sat down on the bed. But if this were true, why did Khushi not tell me about him when she found out the truth?
"I did everything I could to save Di's marriage."
Arnav pressed his lips together and a tear rolled down. Did she do that for Di, for me, for my family? Oh.. Khushi. He closed his eyes. Did you really'
His thoughts were interrupted and his eyes opened wide when he heard screams coming from outside. Arnav ran out the door into the corridor and down the stairs.
When Arnav ran down the stairs, Payal had grabbed Khushi's arms and was screaming at the top of her lungs. Khushi was shaking her head furiously, trying to refute whatever Payal was saying.
"Khushi how could you do this? How could you ruin your life for my sake?"
As Arnav reached the living room, he noticed Nani, Akash, Anjali and Shyam run into the room from different parts of the house.
"Payal", Akash ran to Payal's side and touched her arm. "What is happening? Why are you upset?"
"Jiji, please.." Khushi pleaded, sniffing, as tears rolled down her cheeks. Arnav curled his hand into a fist, his heart aching seeing her tears. He contemplated going towards her to comfort her.
Payal, her eyes red from crying, released Khushi and turned to Akash.
"Akash, ask your brother why he forced Khushi into marrying him by threatening to break up our marriage?"
Everyone gasped. Khushi closed her eyes, bit her lip and bent her head down, bursting into tears.
Flashback.
"Payalji."
Payal was in the kitchen, busy making dinner. She looked up, angrily as she heard Shyam's voice.
Glaring at him, she asked. "What do you want?"
Shyam smirked and walked towards her. He stopped next to her and folded his arms. "What kind of a sister are you? Your dear sister is hurt and you are here, being a good daughter-in-law."
Payal raised her eyebrows in shock. Then she took a step closer and growled, "What did you do to her? I swear if something were to happen to her, I .."
Shyam chuckled. "Oh, I didn't do anything. I would have, but you didn't let me." He rolled his eyes. He took a step back, and laughed nervously, as he saw Payal curl her hand into a fist and took a step closer. "Relax, relax." He put his hands in front of him to stop Payal. "It is not me. It's her husband."
"Arnavji?" Payal looked confused.
"He forced Khushiji to marry him."
Payal stared at Shyam and scoffed, "What rubbish!" She turned back to the stove and started to stir the curry.
"You don't believe me? Fine. Ask Khushiji. Ask her why she walked out of here during your wedding ceremony and came back married to Arnav. Why she went against her family, the same family who she loves dearly? Why she went against her morals? Why she took such a drastic step knowing how everyone would accuse her and hate her? Why do you think she did all this?"
Payal looked up, confused. Shyam smirked and continued. "She did it for you. To save your marriage."
Payal turned around to look at Shyam, her eyes open wide, in shock.
"Jiji, please. Its not his fault." Khushi burst into tears.
Payal turned to look at Khushi, angrily. She grabbed her elbow and said, "Khushi enough. I will not let you ruin your life by being in a relationship that you don't want to be in, for my sake. And to think that I doubted you for.."
"Jiji, please. Please be quiet." Khushi pleaded.
Anjali touched Arnav's arm and asked, "Chotte, what is she saying? Is this true?"
Arnav exhaled deeply and looked at his wife, completely shattered and helpless. His eyes still on Khushi, he said, "She is saying the truth. I forced her to marry me."
Khushi turned to look at Arnav, shocked. So did Payal and Shyam. Everyone else gasped.
Nani ran to Arnav's side and grabbed his arm. She asked, angrily. "Why Chotte.. why?"
His eyes roaming from Khushi to Payal to Shyam, Arnav said, with a snarl, his hands curled into fists. "Because I wanted her to be safe from her fiance."
Arnav watched as Khushi, Payal and Shyam were taken aback. Bingo, he thought.
"Her fiance? What did he do?" Anjali asked, shocked. "Khushiji", she turned to Khushi. "What happened..?"
Arnav touched Anjali's shoulder and said, "Di don't worry. She is safe now and I wont let anything happen to her. Yes, I might have forced her to marry me that day, but I had no choice then. I had to act and fast."
Payal grabbed Khushi's arm and asked softly. "Did you tell Arnavji about Shyamji..?"
Khushi, her eyes filled with tears, shook her head. "No, I don't know how he got to know."
Payal closed her eyes and said a silent prayer. She put her arm around Khushi and said quietly. "Well its good he got to know. He can protect you from that monster." Payal embraced her sister, a smile appearing on her face. Khushi's lips trembled and she closed her eyes.
"Save it? By having an affair with her husband?"
Arnav grabbed her arm and said, "I know very well where you want to be. Neither can you stay there nor can you stay with me. Do you understand?" He grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her towards the poolside. Once she stepped outside, he released her. "I want you to understand one thing. Outside this room, we will act like a happily married couple. I know you are an expert at acting. But inside this room, you mean nothing to me. From now on, I belong there," He pointed to the bed, "And you, there." He pointed out to the poolside. He slid the French doors shut and glared at her.
Khushi hugged her sister and burst into tears.
Khushi walked into her room. Arnav was sitting on the bed, twiddling his fingers, nervously. He looked up as he saw Khushi and jumped up from the bed. Their eyes met. Khushi looked away and bent down to pick up a bag from the floor. She kneeled down on the floor and pulled another bag towards her, took out the clothes from it and started stuffing them inside the first bag.
"Khushi", Arnav finally found his voice. Khushi ignored him. She zipped the bag, stood up and walked towards the door.
Arnav opened his eyes wide and screamed, "Khushi, how many times have I told you to not walk away when I am talking to you."
Khushi stopped, turned around and glared at him. "You don't have to tell me that again." Arnav looked at her confused and she added, "Because I am leaving."
Arnav opened his eyes wide. "Why? Khushi, look I never knew. If I had known I would never have.. "
She ignored him and continued, "I can leave now because now everyone knows the reason behind our marriage. Now you can't break up Jiji's marriage".
Arnav shook his head and took a step closer. "Khushi, look .. you knew how vulnerable I was when it came to my sister. Just the way you are when it comes to your sister".
Khushi dropped her bag and growled. "But the difference between you and me, Mr. Raizada, is that I care about people other than me."
Arnav took her face in his hands and with trembling lips, said, "Do you care about me? You said you loved me, Khushi." He gulped, unable to control his tears. "If some of that love still remains, then please stay. Give me a chance to make things right. Give me a chance to be the man you once loved."
"Love?" She pushed his hands away and stepped back. "You think I could ever love you now? After everything.. after you accused me of having an affair with Shyamji? Did you not know me at all?"
Arnav stepped closer and touched her face. He caressed her cheek with his thumb. He wanted to embrace her. He wanted her to know how much he loved her. A tear rolled down his cheek. "After everything.. did you not realize that there must have been something seriously wrong if I became angry at you? If I threatened you and forced you to marry me? Why didn't you figure it out? Why didn't you make me say it?"
Khushi scoffed. She didn't push his hand away. "Well you were in such a hurry to get married."
"Yes", He brought his other hand up to hold her face with both his hands. "Because I wanted to make you mine. I couldn't stand the thought of you belonging to anyone else."
Khushi pushed his hands away and stepped back. "Oh, so you forced me to marry you, so that I couldn't be with Shyamji. Mr Raizada, I am not a thing that can be owned by someone. I have a mind of my own. I have wishes, dreams, hopes. You can't keep forcing me to do something just because you want it."
Arnav shook his head and took a step closer. "You know what I mean". His lips trembled and another tear escaped his eye, as he added, "Khushi, I love you."
Khushi exhaled deeply. She had waited so long to hear those words. And yet, today, after all these days, after the insults, after the way he treated her. She looked into his eyes. He could see the pain in her eyes and he was surprised how his heart could feel that pain.
She asked, "If you loved me, how could you let me sleep outside in the cold?"
He quickly replied, "I was angry."
"So every time you are angry with me you will just throw me out like that without trying to find out whether I did something wrong or not? How could you leave me alone that night with our families and walk away, letting me take all the insults, the anger and the blame alone. Why didn't you stay there with me, hold my hand and tell everyone that I did nothing wrong, that it was your idea to get married to me?"
"I was weak". Arnav's shoulders stooped.
Khushi burst into tears. Arnav took a step closer, but she stepped back away from him. "Will you ever consider my feelings? Will you ever defend me?" She paused, and added, almost in a whisper. "Will you ever be able to trust me?"
Arnav remained quiet. A tear rolled down his cheek.
"Khushi, please .. please give me a chance. Let me try."
"You never gave me a chance to prove to you that you were wrong about me." Arnav's eyes opened wide and he stepped back, shocked. Khushi bit her lower lip and shook her head. "I can't stay here any more." Her voice was barely audible.
Khushi wiped her tears, picked up her bag and walked out of the room.
Arnav screamed her name. He couldn't believe what had happened. He couldn't let her go. He needed her in his life. How could she leave me and go? He started to run after her and stopped.
"I can't stay here anymore."
She never said she won't give me another chance. A faint smile appeared on his face. I know I have failed you Khushi, but I will win you back. I will show you how much I love you. I will prove myself worthy of your love. I don't care how long it takes, but I will win you back. Arnav exhaled deeply and pressed his lips together.
Oh man, that was another tough one to write. My heart needs a break .. There will be an epilogue, but that will have to wait .. Sorry! 😭 In the meantime, leave your comments. Tell me what you thought about this turn of events!
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