As Long As I Live Thread 2 - Page 59

wow..i read all the chapters in one go. u r so natural..loved it so much saffie...u are an amazing writer...do write more and update soon❤️

Originally posted by: ilovepyaar

Chapter Sixteen

Why did I do this to her? His heart was drowning in a sea of guilt. The way he manhandled her, the way he hurt her, it was all hurting him. He tried to convince himself that his actions weren't wrong, because she was the reason his wife was not with him today. No matter how hard he tried to make himself believe that she murdered Arpita though, he wasn't able to erase the guilt he felt. He hurt her... and the thought was slowly killing him inside.

"I can't... I can't be nice to her, right Palak?" he asked his daughter. "I'm not doing anything wrong right? I'm just trying to... to keep myself away from her. I'm trying to hate her Palak."

Palak squeezed his finger in her sleep, and Yash sorrowfully smiled at his daughter.

"I knew you were listening," he whispered. "Am I trying too hard? Why do I feel bad Palak? I shouldn't feel bad right? She snatched my life from me. She took it all... why is it hard... I'm trying hard and I can't do it. Palak why can't I hate her? Palak what's wrong with me?"

He felt tears form in his eyes as he sat in Palak's nursery room. He and Arpita had decorated for Palak. The walls were pink and blue, filled with pictures of Yash and Arpita.

"I can't hate her," he cried softly, "I can't but I need to. I need to keep her away from me. I need to hurt her, I need to keep doing this."

Just then Vidhi walked into the room, causing him to quickly wipe his eyes until they were dry. But his sister in law noticed that he had been crying right away.

"Here you are," she said, gently taking Palak from him. "Don't cry around Palak Yash, negative energy is contagious."

Yash knew his face was red and his eyes were swollen. He nodded obediently to Vidhi. She was like an older sister to him, and he couldn't disobey her.

"I wanted to talk to you about Aarti," Vidhi said warily. "Yash... she ran out of the house early in the morning. Do you have any idea where she went? I told her it wasn't a good time to go, but she still went."

"WHAT?" someone yelled from outside the door. She entered the room. It was Maya, his father's younger sister. She was a widow and was ten years younger than his father.

"I knew it was a big mistake to bring her into this house!" she seethed. "I cannot believe it, she hasn't been a member of this family for two days and she's already disobeying the rules!"

"Buaji," Vidhi said, trying to calm her down. "She might not have heard me, it's okay."

Everyone in the family except his mom and dad referred to Maya as Buaji.

"Yeah right! She heard you? She's just disobeying the rules of this family. Oh I swear on my God, she'll bring a big storm into the family."

Yash didn't know why, but he suddenly felt defensive about Aarti. He kept his mouth shut though. He never talked back to Maya Bua or any of the elders.

"Buaji," Vidhi said softly, "We'll give her the benefit of the doubt okay? Ramdulare was asking for you. He said you were calling him earlier but he was doing chores. He's free now... so you should get your work done."

At the mention of Ramdulare, the servant, Maya's face lightened up and she scurried out of the room.

"Yash," Vidhi said, directing her attention back to him. "Find out where she is. It isn't right for her to leave the house like this."

Just as she was about to leave, Pankaj, Yash's older brother and Vidhi's husband walked into the room, and grabbed Vidhi tightly. Yash looked away from them, feeling a twinge of sadness. He knew that he wouldn't be able to surprise Arpita like that ever again.

"Pankaj!" Vidhi said, surprised, "Let go of me. There are so many household chores. Vedika wants lassi, I have to make it. And I'm holding Palak, please Pankaj!"

Pankaj let go of Vidhi, took Palak from her and smiled. "She looks just like our Yash," he commented.

"No, she looks like my Arpita --" then she turned her gaze to Yash and took the baby from Pankaj.

"Yash..." Vidhi said slowly, "I'm sorry... here, take her."

Yash looked away from Vidhi but held his arms out to take the baby. The baby was taken by someone else though. It was only when he looked up that he realized that Gayatri had entered the room with Maya Bua.

"Vidhi," Gayatri said, holding Palak, "Is it true that Aarti left the house so early in the morning?"

Just then Suraj walked into the room, "Gayatri where's my tea?"

"One minute ji," she said, referring to him as ji because it was a form of respect. "Vidhi, answer me."

Vidhi looked down at the ground and nodded her head. "She doesn't know yet mummyji," Vidhi said defensively.

"What? How can anyone not know that it doesn't look good to leave the house without telling anyone, so early in the morning at that too? Not to mention that such a big loss happened only a few days ago," Pankaj stepped in.

Yash noticed Vidhi give him a disappointed look.

"Gayatri, Pankaj, leave it," Suraj said, "I'll speak to her myself. It won't happen from now on. She's new, we should forget about it this time."

Suraj looked at Yash and raised his eyebrow suspiciously. "Do you know where she is?"

Yash shook his head.

Gayatri and Maya Bua both looked offended when he said this.

"What? She didn't tell her own husband where she was going?" Maya Bua exclaimed.

"I told her not to bother me," Yash said defensively.

"Then she should have waited before she went! Why did she have to leave in such a hurry?" Gayatri said, annoyed.

"I said I'll talk to her, didn't I Gayatri?" Suraj asked his wife, sounding irritated. "Now drop this matter and bring me my tea."

Gayatri looked down, nodded and left the room after she passed the baby to Suraj.

"Where's Prateek?" Suraj asked.

"Most likely sleeping," Vidhi said, suppressing a smile.

"This boy needs discipline!" Suraj explained before passing the baby to Vidhi. Bua followed him out the door.

"Yash, is it okay if I watch over her for a few hours?" Vidhi asked, clearly unsure about Yash's condition.

Yash nodded, his mind was occupied. Where could Aarti want to go so early in the morning?

--

"Aarti, think about it carefully. It's ultimately your choice," Mansi said, "But I hear that mothers would commit the biggest sins for their children... I mean, I'm not a mother myself, but my mom always told me that she would do anything for me."

Aarti nodded, starting to get fed up with Mansi.

"What's going on with you and Akash?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

"Live in relationship Aarti," Mansi said, "We don't want to get married yet. There's so much more responsibility that comes with marriage, and honestly, after looking at your situation, it puts me off even more."

"Marriage is a beautiful thing Mansi," Aarti said, remembering her time with Prashant. "Never stop appreciating him Mansi, once that's gone, everything is gone."

Mansi nodded, "Alright, I'll take your advice. Do you want to meet him? It's been so long you know."

"Maybe some other time. I should get home, they're all probably worried about me. Everyone except Yash of course," she said sourly.

"No abortion then?" Mansi asked delightfully.

"Not today."

"Wait, let's get you checked out first to see how far along you are," Mansi said, "It's best to know these things right? Otherwise you could pop a belly at any moment. By the way, Yash will realize soon if you do nothing about it. Then his family will know too, and then well... you're screwed Aarti."

After the check up, Aarti found out that she was four weeks pregnant.

"You aren't entirely screwed for another two months or so," Mansi said lightheartedly as they walked out of the clinic.

"Hmm..." she said, unsure of what to do. Her mind was elsewhere. She had to bring this child into the world, she couldn't just terminate her pregnancy because of someone like Yash.

As soon as she got back to the Scindhia mansion, she bumped into Prateek.

"Aarti!" Prateek said, sounding relieved that that he bumped into Aarti. "The whole family was worried about you. Buaji is instigating everyone against you and ma is listening blindly to everything she's saying."

Aarti smiled thankfully at Prateek. "Thanks for letting me know Prateek, but I had to go..."

"What was so important that you had to disobey the rules of the house and leave?" Yash's voice said from behind her.

Aarti pursed her lips and refused to turn around to look at him.

"That isn't of your concern," Aarti said, throwing his words right back at him.

"Aarti!" Gayatri's voice shouted. "Is that how you talk to your husband?"

Aarti's jaw dropped. She should have turned around. She squeezed her eyes shut and gritted her teeth. She didn't even want to be here.

"Did I say something wrong Gayatri ma?" Aarti asked.

"Uh... Aarti we call her mummyji," Vidhi said.

Aarti pursed her lips. Who cared what Yash's mom was called? She was not saying anything disrespectful. "Okay... mummyji."

"You don't speak to your husband like that!" she yelled.

Aarti turned around and faced the whole family.

"I'll speak to him the way he speaks to me," Aarti replied to them coolly.

She could feel how nervous Prateek was beside her. Yash just looked at her with no expression on his face.

"I don't care how he speaks to you, you treat my son with respect," Gayatri said, her eyes bulging with anger.

Aarti didn't say a word.

"Aarti... I expected more from you," Suraj said, sighing. "It's part of our culture that the girl treats her husband with respect."

She didn't say anything again.

"Oh just see how she's ignoring our words!" Maya Bua exclaimed, "No respect for her elders at all!"

Then she looked Aarti up and down, and scrunched her nose in disgust. "And the way she's dressed... where's her mangalsutra, her sindoor? Why isn't she wearing a sari? She's walking around in English clothes!"

Aarti looked down at her jeans and her top. She didn't know that the family so desperately wanted her to wear sari's. She knew that they were traditional, but to this extent?

"Not a single sign that she's married! What does she hope to achieve when she leaves these doors? To attract other men? To make them want her? Chiii!."

Aarti bit down on her tongue to prevent herself from saying anything that they could use against her.

"I'm sorry," she said, hanging her head. "I'll go and change..."

"No," Yash said, stepping in. "No. She won't change. She'll wear whatever she wants. Our marriage is a compromise for my daughter."

Aarti wasn't able to look him in the eye. Why did his words hurt her? He was supporting her, and was only telling the family the honest truth behind their marriage. Then why did his words sting her like this?

"Yash, you know that it's against our family's values for married women to dress this way," Suraj scolded.

"Bauji, I think we're old enough to make our own decisions," Yash said. "Forgive me, but she isn't anyone's wife."

Aarti felt her cheeks turn red out of embarrassment. How could he humiliate her like this?

"Yash!" Gayatri yelled, "Didn't I tell you earlier? You married her, now she is your wife. She's a married woman and must follow the rules of the house!"

"Gayatri," Suraj said calmly, "Let Yash be. His condition isn't good right now; we can't force him to understand us. Aarti, if you consider this family yours, then you will dress appropriately. If you don't, then we can't force you."

Aarti nodded.

"Take Palak and go to your room," Gayatri said unsympathetically.

She nodded again and went upstairs after taking Palak from Vidhi. Yash was about to follow her when his cell phone rang.

"Yash," Mansi's voice said from the other end. "I need to meet you."

"Mansi?" Yash asked, surprised, as his family departed to do their routinely work. He hadn't seen or spoken to Mansi since his wedding anniversary party, which was about five months ago.

"Yes it's Mansi! Yash, it's important. I need to really meet you."

"What's it about?"

"Don't ask any questions. Please Yash, please!"

"Fine. I'm coming."

Then without saying anything to anyone, he left the house.

--

"Yash, I spoke to Prashant and he told me everything," Mansi said, as soon as Yash reached her and Akash's apartment.

oops so sorry for the late reply saffi

Wonder what Mansi told Yash. I guess we are going to get an angry Yash like the one after Mumbau tack when he realises what he did in a druken state. I hope Aarti tells Yash she is pregnant with Prashants child instead of deceiving him.

A big hug 🤗🤗🤗 and 100 kisses for you Saffie dear.I was damn busy today.Just returned home being exhausted .But OMG dear your updates and promos just removed all my tiredness and made me refresh.Your writing is so magical that it made me crazy dear.
In my previous comment I told u only about Arti not Yash coz I was 1000% sure that Yash didn't cheat Arti.There was something hidden behind his rude behavior and u made me right.I am also happy that Arti didn't try to seduce Yash.The story is getting interesting day by day.Keep up your rocking job saffie.

Res...Oh Lord!! I have two reserved-s to un-res, that too essay long! Mere baghwan ki kasam!😲

aaah finally!! this a**hole has a heart he feels bad for what he did to Aarti thank GOD!! I don't hate him tht much anymore and all hate wud finally vanish.
Oooh so Yash always actually did love Aarti all these years but it was just probably stupidity led him to marry Aarpita well sorry to say this but thank god for tht dumb driver who made Aart's car swing out of control else Yash would have always been living with this lame illusion of being in love with Arpita
and oooh chapter 18 seems exciting but I'm scared cuz even though Yash is not drunk he'll be a b*tch wen he wakes up the next morning😡 Awesome chapters though u portrayed both Aarti's nd Yash's confusion nd pain so beautifully⭐️⭐️⭐️ nd I cud kiss u4 making Aarti get rid of Prashant for good cuz he deserves it😳😳😳 he plays Aarti way too much nd i hate him 4 tht he nd yash both need to knw tht Aarti is not some dumb toy they can just play with wen they want nd then dump it wen they want but I think Yash is probably on his way to realizing tht so bravo Yash for developing a brain I'm proud!!👏 btw Bua's face lit up wen vidhi told her RD was looking 4 her🤣

Beautiful saffie👏