Rise of the Devil - Part 25

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Chapter 25



Khushi’s POV



I wriggle in his hold as soon as he pushes me in the backseat of his car. We are going Home? I can’t believe this nor I want to give in to Devil’s demands because even now he hasn’t asked me what I want.

“Let me go.” I snap as Devil buckles my seatbelt. Like really? People wear seatbelts at the backseat of the car too? It’s good habit though and should be strictly followed but I know Arnav is doing this only to tuck me on the seat so that I don’t get down from the other side.

“Take us back to Chandra Mahal.” He says to the driver. The guard sits ahead and the other two who were supposed to fly to Denmark with me, follow us in the other vehicle. I am sure they all are as surprised as I am at the moment.

As soon as the car leaves the airport vicinity, Arnav pulls away his arm from me, setting me free.

“You think taking me back home will solve everything?” I growl, not bothered that the guard and driver can listen us.


Arnav is silent for a minute and it aggravates me even more.

“What happened? Already repenting on your decision?” I ask.

“We will talk on this later.” He gives me a stern look which speaks volumes.

“Oh please Devil. If you think you can scare me when you are alone and prove your point, that’s not going to work this time. I am not your puppet to play by your rules. I am..”


He turns to me and shuts my mouth with his palm.


“Please.” He urges. “Let’s take this talk private. Just you and me,”


Just me and him? I swallow and finally give in but my anger is still the same. I push away his hand from my mouth and turn to the window. When we reach Chandra Mahal, I don’t wait for him and run inside the house. Obviously Buaji and Dad are shocked seeing me home again.


“Khushi? What are you doing here? You should have boarded the flight by now.” Dad asks.


I glare at Arnav who reaches us.


“Ask him what I am doing back home. He is the one who changed his mind. I didn’t.”


Saying that I run to the stairs and thankfully Arnav doesn’t follow me back.


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

Arnav’s POV


Shashi Gupta and Madhumatiji both stare at me bewildered.


“Arnav? What happened? Why did you bring her back?”


I swallow at Shashiji’s query, He is Khushi’s father and he does owe an explanation from me.

“She didn’t want to go.” I reply and then quickly change it. “I mean, I didn’t want her to leave after knowing she didn’t want to go and so while she was ready to leave, I didn’t let her go and…”

“Wait..” Shashiji interrupts. “What are you even trying to explain? We are not understanding a bit.”


That’s because I don’t think I can explain this to anybody why I stopped her today from leaving. So since I am unable to do that, I come to the conclusion instead.


“Khushi is not going abroad. She will stay here with us… with… Me” I gulp when their eyes widen in surprise. “We need some time to fix things between us first before we part.” I add and turn around to leave. This is all I can tell them right now.


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


I am back to my Villa but obviously I can’t sleep. It’s been one heck of a week. I have never felt so many emotions running in my head and heart at the same time. I have wanted Khushi’s safety which I still do and I thought she wants freedom which doesn’t seem the case now. Whatever clues she gave me, I can finally read them clearly. Khushi wants our marriage to work. She wants me!! And that’s just not because now she knows my real identity and that I am saving the country and not deceiving it. She wanted me ever since I was still a Devil for her and she was willing to accept me if I had let that dark side of me to go. So technically, I have been her desire from long and it’s just me who always shoved her off in the name of protecting her. Today, I succeeded in getting her back home but she is still upset and wants to have a clear talk to me, which I promised her too in our ride back. I am not going to fail her this time.

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

Khushi’s POV


It’s been quite few hours since we are back but I didn’t step out of my room. It’s night now and I ate my dinner which Mala served me in the room. I am aware Buaji and Dad are totally confused with Devil’s behavior but they are not alone. I am equally stunned. He didn’t let me go. He understood the Mangalsutra clue I gave him. But just bringing me back is not enough. He was still dominating my life and I couldn’t sustain that. The door which I had locked from the inside, opens and the Devil steps in.


“What the…” I stare at the door and him. He could open my locked door? How? He has a spare key? Of course.

“You had dinner?” He asks softly and I exhale.

“I had. You think I will starve to talk to you? Or because you got me back home? Oh please. I am not that childish to show such tantrums.”

His look on my face is hard to comprehend.


“What are you doing here?” I snap.

“I promised we will talk in private.”


I cross my arms at front.

“I wanted that talk to happen when we came back home.. not hours after that when you have rehearsed your lines.”


He grins at my reply and strides to me. That grin is so sexy that it brings a warm feeling in the pit of my stomach.


“I don’t need to rehearse my lines. I am a natural..” He replies.


Natural? Yes, that he is. He doesn’t fake anything. Be it his anger, frustration or hatred. Everything is right on his face.. in his eyes and in his tone.


“Fine. Talk then.” I coax. “Why did you stop me and what after this? How long do you think you will dominate me in this house and how much patience will you show to all my tantrums?”


He doesn’t say a word and I laugh.

“You don’t have answers to any of this. Only because you could decode my clue doesn’t mean you can know what exactly I want.”

“I know” he reaches closer and the next moment he takes out something from his pocket.


I don’t understand any of his actions until he ties that thing on my neck. I touch it and instantly realize it’s the Mangalsutra. The same one I gave him this morning. Devil’s fingers brush the skin of my nape and I shut my eyes to keep myself strong. I don’t want to infer more from his gestures. I want to hear him out.. I am going to make him talk this time.


The moment he is done, I step away from him without stopping to touch the Mangalsutra he tied me.


“I wish you could know what the meaning behind tying this chain to me again is?” I mock.


I am so mad at him; my anger is palpable. He chokes.


“If I hadn’t known, wouldn’t have tied it back on you.” he responds.


That’s it? One sentence replies?

“Fine.” I groan. “You tied it. Now what? This is it? Tomorrow morning you get to work and I will be here, hopping around, spending time with Buaji and Dad?”


He swallows.


“You call this… HOME?” I frown. “Of course, it’s home but not the type of home I expected from you.”

“Khushi, I have to stay here and look after the dark world.. My mission needs me at this place.” He debates.


I want to pull his hair out for not reading between the lines.

“I know that and believe me I don’t want to come between your mission. Neither I am talking about shifting to a new place. By home I meant the place where ..” I pause..


I don’t think he will understand. He is too dumb in those regards.


“You know what?” I exhale. “You should leave. I am very sleepy and thanks for this wonderful conversation we had. It really opened my eyes. Now please leave.”


He looks at me horrified but I don’t care. He better leaves or else I might start to whack him. I am so disappointed by Devil and his insensitiveness to our relationship. How can he be so dumb? I turn to the bed and start arranging my pillows and quilt. It’s high time I get some rest to my mind. Before I can hop on the bed, I feel a pull behind and soon I am carried by Arnav Singh Raizada in his arms. It’s so sudden that I don’t understand anything until he stares intensely in my eyes.


“I am not so dumb that I can’t understand what you want Khushi.”


I bite my lip to curb the desire of smiling at him. When I just thought he might put me on the bed, Arnav starts walking to the door, leaving me baffled again. We get out of the room and soon he starts descending the stairs.


“Where are we going?” I ask clutching his T-Shirt.

“Home.”


I am confused. He takes me out of Chandra Mahal and I am so glad that no one is around to see us like this. When he finally steps towards the Villa where he lives, I realize he is taking me finally to the little place where he resided all these years. Home!! As he calls it.. At least our temporary home..!


He puts me down at the doorstep. I don’t say a word.

“Be here. I will be right back.”


He walks inside and I stand there clueless why he made me wait. When he comes out with a tumbler filled with rice, I blush. He places it at my feet.


“You know what to do.” He exclaims and I watch him mysteriously.


“Seriously?” I ask again.

“Seriously” he nods.

“You think doing grihapravesh is going to end all our problems?” I continue mocking and he stares frigidly at me.

“Just do it and get in the house dammit.”


I clench my jaw.


“Wow.. Dammit, huh? Calling your wife Dammit, who is standing at the doorstep for Grihapravesh?”

Arnav’s eyes blaze on my face.

“You want to do this or should I carry you inside the house too?”


Another warning!! This man was such a sick dominant. I gently push the kalash (rice tumbler) from my toe and get in the house. I have been here a few times. But this place still feels new and different. Arnav reaches me and entwines his fingers with mine.


“I hope you will be comfortable in this small house.” He says meeting my eyes. “You deserve more than this but right now this is all I could afford to keep you in..”


I know by afford he doesn’t mean money. This man has power and money both, but only because we have to stay close to my father and he has to pretend ruling the dark world too, we have to stay here for no idea how long.


“Home is not a place of brick and cement Devil. For me, its where your family lives.” I answer touching the Mangalsutra again.


I think doing this gives me strength. I had once taken it out earlier and never wore it back until today. But now that Arnav has tied it to my neck, I promise secretly to respect it and the responsibilities that come with it. I am Devil’s wife. This is the sign that keeps us bonded.


Arnav watches me with hooded eyes as I play with the Mangalsutra a bit longer than he expected.


“It’s too late.. Come on in.” He leads me to the bedroom which has that oversized bed at the corner and with many pillows on it too. We are going to sleep together, I know. I just know that. If Devil has got me here, he wants me to sleep next to him in the same room. I leave his hand and start piling the pillows at the center of the bed. I am creating a partition between us like we did in Nainital. He looks frustrated and confused both.


“If you think only bringing me here and not letting me board that flight is going to change anything between us, you are wrong. You still have a lot to learn Devil.”


He frowns at my straightforward statement and then gets on the bed.

“As If you are perfect” he mocks.


Now its my time to frown. But he is right. We both have to learn a lot in this marriage and its high time we take those steps from this very moment.


To be Continued.

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EBOOK PUBLISHED - ROYAL VOWS

 

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Standalone Romance Novel

Ruhi Singh

Happily-Ever-After is not what I was looking for after a heart-breaking love tragedy in my life 9 years ago. I still believe in love but it’s simply not for me anymore. Burying the demons that scared me, I have stepped into a new world to make a fresh identity and only when I thought things will sort out for me now, I get an invitation from the Royals of Mahalpur for teaching Painting to someone from their family. I take it up as they are ready to pay me a huge sum for this three-month tutoring. Least did I know life was throwing a challenge named Raunak Malhotra, the eldest son of the Royal family, who had an attitude as high as Mt Everest and anger which could burn a whole city in seconds.

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Happily-Ever-After is not what I was looking for after I lost my wife, 4 years ago in a car crash. Now all I have that reminds me of her is my four-and-half year old daughter, Palak. Burying the bruises of my loss, I tried to step ahead but my family thinks I have changed. I am not the one I used to be once. To alter their beliefs, I agree to this stupid idea of learning a new skill which can calm my mind and bring me out of my loss forever. I know that’s freaking impossible but I will do it for them. Least did I know life was throwing a challenge named Ruhi Singh, my new painting teacher, who had a heart of gold and was as damaged as I am at the moment. We are both scarred, so how the hell can we soothe each other?

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