Here's the next chapter, a day earlier than promised. 😎 and yeah, listen to the song I added, its so soothing as well as suits arshi so much ❤ (Adding sanam puri's but you can listen OG too)
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When Aman left from his cabin, Arnav was still lost in his thoughts. Was he doing right by having someone check on Khushi? His own wife? A girl he was almost involved in a scandal with, a girl he persuaded to marry him, a girl he promised his nani that he will make his marriage work with? Why was he feeling as if he was missing something? It was like one moment he could see her as a completely innocent woman who could never even hurt an insect and the next moment, he could see her in an extremely smart avatar who knew her game!
It was a difficult situation like he was stuck in between a rock and a hard place!
Frustrated, he was about to shut his laptop when that day's date caught his attention. it was 1 month anniversary of his marriage to Khushi!
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"You got what you need to do right Khushi?" Shyam asked for the umpteenth time irritating her
"How many times am I going to say this, I won't repeat my mistakes again Shyam ji. I know what I need to do. Tomorrow Mr. Mittal is invited for dinner at our house, I will ensure to leave subtle hints of being abused in my marriage. And if we are not wrong, that should be enough to spark the fire"
"Its just that I am worried for you Khushi. If it were in my hands, I would have done this myself but-"
"you are already helping in the background shyam ji. From introducing me to him to saving me from the mess I created every time, you have been saving me. Don't worry, I wont let our efforts go in vain"
"You don't understand Khushi. That family is dangerous. They killed my father in cold blood, who was so loyal to them. They spare no one"
"Shyam ji, its been 2 months we are working together but you never mentioned what really happened to your father. If you are comfortable, batayiye na kya hua tha unke sath?"
He gave her a sad smile
"its not that I wanted to hide it from you Khushi. But its not really a merry tale to share. My father was my only family, he was my God. But his God was Arvind malik! He even covered up that bastard's illicit affair from his family and media."
"how do you know all this?" Khushi was shocked
"from his diary! He was the one who introduced that girl to Arvind Malik, the girl I later came to know was your amma. My father regretted having helped his boss ruin 2 women's lives. And when he confronted that man to confess this to his wife, that coward refused. My father could not live with the guilt and that guilt killed him"
"Did he-" khushi asked fearing the worst
"suicide? No. my father wasn't someone who ran away from situations like that, he also knew he had me to look after. But eventually his heart gave up. He died from a heart attack, orphaning me at the age of 15. And that's when I found his dairy. He has written on how many instances he had fights with Arvind malik but every time he refused to give up his affair or to tell his wife about it and free her. And he kept silencing my father everytime, scaring him that he will stop funding my education. We unfortunately were in huge debt already and job at Malik-Raizada's is what had kept us going. The final blow was when Arvind malik and his wife died of suicide. My father kept blaming himself for not doing enough to save their lives. Soon after he lost his job as Arvind malik's brother fired him. That automatically stopped my education funds too. My father could not take all this and had a massive heart attack. We paid the price for something we had not really done. and that is why I hate that family." Shyam said gritting his teeth
Khushi was speechless after hearing Shyam's story. but shyam continued,
"and that's why I am worried for you Khushi. That family knows how to manipulate people and guilt trip them or silence them. And I don't want to lose another person whom I almost see as my family now. You know, you might call this funny but whenever I look at you I cant help but think if I ever had a sister, she would have been like you. Brave, bold, head strong" he said getting emotional.
Khushi didn't know what to say to that, except assure him that she understood his concern
"I know what you are trying to say Shyam ji, I am happy to be your sister. And don't worry I will be careful"
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When Khushi was getting ready to leave, her cabin door opened to show her husband once again at the entry, second time that day.
"Get ready, we are going for dinner" he announced, surprising her. Generally, they traveled separately to office. He in his own SUV and Khushi in a chauffeur driven car.
"What? But why?" she was in no mood to go anywhere with him
"Tum shayad bhul gayi Khushi, but I haven't. today we completed 1 month of being married." He said gritting his teeth. He knew he shouldn't have felt disappointed, but he still had hoped that she would show a little enthusiasm for their special day. Looked like there was no such luck
"But we didn't inform anyone at home" Khushi tried one last time to get away from it
"don't worry, I had informed nani. Ab chalein?" Arnav was in no mood to give up though
--*--
They were traveling to a restaurant in the outskirts of Delhi, Arnav driving his SUV and Khushi seating besides him. There was an uncomfortable silence spread in the car. Arnav who was trying to understand this woman sitting beside him who had left no stone unturned to occupy his thoughts and Khushi who wanted to be anywhere but near him, alone like this. His company was dangerous for her, she had seen that time and again. It was like her mind and heart would behave on their own when he was around, leaving her brain helpless.
They both were so lost in their thoughts that when their car stopped with a sudden jerk, they both shrieked out loudly.
"What was that?" Khushi asked to no one in particular
"Let me check" Arnav still replied getting out of the car as he went to inspect the issue. He got back in less than 5 minutes, "Looks like the car is broken down Khushi. let me call our driver to send another car" he said pulling out his cell phone
"Uber nahi kar sakte?"
"I don't travel in taxis" he replied while dialing their driver
"Of course," Khushi rolled her eyes at his high headedness even at that time of crisis. Sighing she too got out of the car, it was too suffocating sitting there with him. Leaning on the car door, she automatically looked up at the skies and her favorite sight caught her attention in no time
"what are you looking at?" Arnav's voice startled her. She didn't even notice when he stepped out and stood beside her
"the stars and the moon. It gives me a sense of peace watching them" her automatic reply without any sarcasm surprised to him as well as her.
"what's so special about them? They are there every day" he clearly didn't understand why would someone find peace in some astronautical objects that were millions of miles away
Khushi smiled hearing that question, "That is exactly what is special about them. They are there every day, they spread light during the darkest of nights and don't expect anything in return"
Arnav was tempted to say moon's light is actually sunlight in disguise, but he didn't want to correct her. Besides he liked her logic about finding peace within the skies and stargazing
Khushi turned to look at him. He was looking intently at the sky, imitating her stance from a minute ago. He looked so innocent, so surreal in the moonlight that Khushi was temped to let her heart dream about him. 'but that's what he does Khushi. he will pretend to be a charmer, a friendly companion and once you are under his charm, he will break your heart' khushi's brain reminded her and she averted her gaze away from his face
Arnav had noticed from corner of his eye that Khushi was looking at him intently and all he wanted to do was turn to her fully and see what her eyes conveyed. He wanted to tell her that he loved gazing at those two stars in her eyes more than those millions of them far away. But when she turned her face away, he understood he was still nowhere close to understanding the reality behind those two stars, not until he heard from Aman..
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A/N – what did you think of this chapter guys? As for Shyam, again, never a fan nor redeeming him. in fact, him calling Khushi a sister is more of a sadistic pleasure than not have him at all. you, see? But yeah he blames his father's death on Maliks, sensible or not is another topic
Thank you all for reading. Dont forget to vote and review 🤗