Wedlock - Part 32

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Chapter 32


Shantivan

“Sheesh Mahal.. the largest Palace in Lucknow was one of Raizada’s ancestral property.  Seems my grandfather had some disputes with his younger brother and they got all their Properties divided. Sheesh Mahal was taken by my Grandfather’s brother who later sold it to some other family for a better price. That somehow didn’t go well with my grandfather. He tried to retrieve that property but until he could succeed, his time was up. Daadu passed away”

Khushi hears it patiently. She has no idea of the Raizada family history. Neither she was ever told by anyone nor she tried it find out. When her relationship with Arnav was at the bottleneck, why would she waste her precious time in knowing about his ancestors.

“My father himself was too young when all this happened. That wish which my grandfather couldn’t complete somehow passed on to my father. But his fate was very similar to his father. Before he could do anything about it, he and my mother died in a car accident”

Khushi swallows reading pain in his eyes. This is the first time again she can see he has emotions for his parents. He never revealed it before.

“When dad passed away, his lawyer told me about all this. And somehow considering it to be the last and most important wish of my father, I decided to fulfil it for him, to ensure his soul rests in peace. Acquiring Sheesh Mahal was easy, I had enough money to pay and buy that property. I asked my sources to find details of who owned that property by then and that’s how I got to know about your Mother, Garima Gupta. Sheesh Mahal was bought by your mother’s maternal side and somehow it was passed on to her. But again, she was not alive to make that deal with me. So, I …” he pauses and meets Khushi’s eyes. “I contacted Kyle because your father was not available in the country”

Khushi’s heart beats frantically. Kyle?

“I offered the deal to Kyle and was ready to pay any amount to buy that property. But Kyle was helpless. She told me that according to your mother’s will, Sheesh Mahal will be transferred automatically to the person whom Khushi Gupta marries.”

Khushi looks away from him. Now she knows.. why that proposal of marriage came so blindly from his end, though he knew how fickle minded she was, how uncaring to the world she was.

“Khushi… look at me” he commands.
“Why?” she snaps. “Do you still have that courage to meet my eyes Arnav Singh Raizada?” she comes forward. “You married me for a mere property?”
“I told you that’s only the half-truth.. the other half you are too adamant to believe” he scowls.
“Other half? That you were smitten by me? Huhh” she laughs sarcastically. “Why should I believe you now? What if you only cared for Sheesh Mahal?”
He grips her forearms.
“Don’t be so presumptuous Khushi”
“Don’t dare tell me what I should do” she shrugs his arms. “Why didn’t you tell me all of this before? I wouldn’t have been of any help in transferring you Sheesh Mahal because that is still not something in my hands but it would have saved us both from this fake relationship”

Arnav rolls his eyes. Anger, frustration is bubbling all inside him and he simply cannot do anything because the woman he is arguing with is not totally wrong.

“How many more secrets have you hidden from me?” she growls.
“None” he replies almost instantly, and with patience.
“How should I believe you.? You never have told me things before I caught them myself. Maybe there are few more secrets out there and you will tell me those only when I ask you directly on your face”

Arnav is speechless.

“Relationships don’t work like this Arnav” she scowls at him again. He glares at her. “We started this at the wrong foot and nothing seems to be working out now. I cannot drag it beyond this”

Arnav lips turn into a hard line. He is unable to believe what she just said.

“Don’t give up on me, Khushi. Not now.. Please”
“You didn’t give me any choice” she snaps and leaves the room.

Arnav bangs his fist on the wall aside. Why? Why is everything so out of control in his life? He Hates it. Will he ever be able to gather all these pieces again and glue them forever?

*******************

Khushi plunges into the Shower. She wants to erase this phase of her life. She had never expected such situations to arise in her life where she can see everything so clearly that she will start hating everyone around her. First her outburst towards her father and Kyle and now at Arnav. They all have made her so hard from heart that she doesn’t feel anything for them anymore. She is glad that she is going away from them. From all of them.

*******************


Once again that night Arnav doesn’t step inside their room. He used the drawing room again for sleeping and she is glad because she had no strength for another argument over the same issue. She is done with him.. with his secrets.. with his injustice.. with his cold and hot behavior. When she wakes up she gets a message from Anjali confirming that they have landed safely and that she is already missing them. Khushi types a ‘See you soon’ message to her and then heads to work.


*******************


AR Office

It’s worse. Aman has never seen ASR so vulnerable yet quiet. Something is haunting him from inside. It’s not his Di’s departure for sure. Because even earlier when his sister used to leave, he was just depressed not broken like he is today.

“Boss” Aman interrupts. “You have a meeting scheduled now in 20 minutes”
“Cancel it” Arnav snaps.
“Okay”

Aman doesn’t argue. He is about to leave when Arnav stops him.

“Do me a favor Aman”
Aman turns around. Arnav hands him a sealed envelope.
“Give this to Khushi, personally. Go to her office and give her there”

Aman takes the envelope. He has no clue what it contains.
“Boss, I hope all is well with you”
Arnav swallows.
“I don’t know Aman. I don’t know where all this is leading me to. Just do as I said and let me know once she accepts this envelope”

Aman feels terrible seeing Arnav’s state of mind. He doesn’t poke him further. He takes the envelope and leaves.


*******************


Khushi’s Office

Khushi attends the final wrap up meeting with Prem and the other leads of the Onsite Project she is heading to the next morning. When she comes out, she finds Aman Mathur waiting for her at the office reception. Seeing him here, she realizes it has to be important.

“I will join in a moment Shikha” Khushi excuses from her colleague and hurries to Aman.
“Hi Khushi” Aman greets.
“Hey Aman. What are you doing here?”
“ASR sent me to give you this”

He passes her the envelope.
“what is this?” she asks taking it from Aman.
“I don’t know. He didn’t tell. He didn’t seem good enough to explain anything. Never seen him so cold and disturbed ever”

Khushi gulps the unknown pain she feels hearing about his state of mind. If she doesn’t have any feelings for him, why this pain? What is she trying to hide from herself?

“Thanks, Aman”
“Mention not. I heard you are flying to San Francisco tomorrow”
“yes” she smiles
“All the best”
“Thank you”

She doesn’t find any suitable words to converse beyond this but she knows she has to thank Aman for a lot many things. He has always been a helpful friend cum guide in getting her settled in Shantivan for Di’s arrival.

“Aman.. I appreciate what you did for me. You helped me a lot. Thank you”

Aman shrugs.
“That was my job”
“I know”
“So… Try to be in touch” Aman requests which she doesn’t understand is for whom? Does he mean be in touch with him or Arnav?

Aman is about to leave when she stops him.

“Aman”

He turns back to her.
“Yes”
“Take care of him”
She doesn’t know why she said that. Since when she did she got worried and tensed for him.
Aman smiles. This smile is more genuine.
“I will. But looks like this time he doesn’t need me to look after him and what he wants, I don’t think I can manage to get it back to him”

Khushi feels a lump of tears forming at the back of her throat. She is becoming a villain here? Doesn’t she have her own choice? Her own wishes? Her dreams? And she would still have crushed them all if Arnav had been genuine in this relationship, had he been transparent enough to share every bit of secret with her.

“Good luck” Aman wishes her again and leaves.
“Khushi” Shikha comes back. “Did you check on our stay arrangements? I have an update”
“Oh. Wow” Khushi wipes the tear from the corner of her eye. Shikha freezes.
“Sorry.. Should I come later?”
“No.. Please don’t.”
“No Khushi.. Seems you have something important to check for now” she gestures looking at the Envelope.
Khushi sighs and nods in agreement.
“Give me 10 minutes”
“Okay”

Shikha leaves and Khushi heads back to her desk, opening the envelope.



Khushi, 

I misjudged you and now you are repeating the same mistake. But I won’t take that as an excuse to make us equal in each other’s eyes. I have hurt you Khushi and its high time I take responsibilities of my doings. I should have confessed to you about my intentions of inheriting Sheesh Mahal much before the marriage. I am annoyed at myself for letting you put that distance between us when I could have easily mended this relationship by communicating with you openly and honestly. I know you are leaving tomorrow and there is nothing you want me to do to stop you. Though this is the last thing I want right now, I will still abide by your wishes and let you Go. But there are few things that I need to clear before you start hating me completely. 

1. I didn’t tell Shagufta about your mother’s will. She might have sneaked into the papers some day because they were in my office all this while. 
2. Whatever I feel for you now is much beyond my greed for Sheesh Mahal. I don’t need that property. It doesn’t matter to me anymore. 
3. The Deal which we both had in place for Di stands void too. 

You are a changed woman already Khushi and I want you to get all happiness you deserve, even if its without me by your side. I have never wanted anything so much. I truly apologize for all the trouble I have given you so far. And regarding our marriage, I think you should give yourself some time to think about it again, rather than ending it in the rage and anger. We might not have taken vows or fulfilled the usual rituals when we got into this relationship, but it still carries a lot of depth and respect within itself. Take as much time as you want to think about it and when you are really sure what you want, let me know. I will oblige however hard it might sound to me. And if you are willing to try this again, I will be in debt of you. I don’t want to lose you Khushi and I can say this countless time. I hope this little distance between us will help us to realize the depth of feelings we have for each other. I understand that it is not easy for you to take that leap of faith again on me and this marriage but I promise you, I will never let you down if you do. I will earn your trust, respect and everything back that is needed to make it work. I promise. So please keep an open mind when you rethink of our marriage status. 

Tomorrow you are flying back. I am not prepared to face you again before your flight. I have lost my sanity. Need to get a grip on it. And I am sure you also don’t want to see me before you leave because I have hurt you enough. So, all the very best for your Career, have a safe flight and enjoy your life. I want to see you smiling, happy and contended, Humesha!! 


Yours,

Arnav. 


Tears roll down her cheeks when she completes reading it. What the hell has he written? Her heart sinks. This letter from him really got her emotional. This man really has the power to change other’s decisions just by his words. She understands he doesn’t want to lose her but that’s inevitable. This distance is must for both of them to think what they really want from each other and she is glad that he has given her that much space. She is not running away from him neither he is chasing her. They are going to walk parallel for some time until they focus on what they really need. It’s the best approach for them and she hopes that by the end of all this, they have their answers.



To be Continued.


NEXT PART 


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