Bride of Sheesh Mahal - Season 3 - Part 55

PREVIOUS PART


Chapter 55


NK’s POV

I knocked the door of Sheetal’s room. Only I knew how I had come here hiding from my family only to meet my bride. The door is slightly open and I think Sheetal left it purposely open for me as we had planned this short meet with each other before the wedding rituals begin. But when I enter, I sees Sheetal looking absolutely shocked as she reads a book.

“Sheetal?”

She jerks at my voice and looks at me with pain.

“What happened? What are you reading at this hour which has got that scary look on your face?”

I snatch the book from her and realize it’s the book she is studying on about these supernatural black powers and how it all works.

“Oh God, Sheetal, you should now seriously stop reading such stuff. At least not today when you are getting married.”

“NK..” she sobs. “It’s.. It’s not over..”

“What is not over?”

“The curse..” she yells.

I don’t understand.

“It’s not over. Oh my God. What… what should we do now? I .. I don’t understand.”


I quickly put the book away and hold her still.

“Sheetal you are scaring me. What’s wrong? How can you say that the curse is not over. Chandrika is killed, her children are in jail. And Khushi Bhabhi gave such a big sacrifice already of her memories. Then-?”

“Chandrika lied to us. A sacrifice of blood meant that the spell is now transferred. That’s what this book says.”

“Transferred?” I am still confused and worried.

“Yes.. Khushi.. Khushi sacrificed her blood, which means she is the one being cursed and could be under the spell.”


I am about to say something when I see Arnav in the reflection of the mirror and by the look on his face, it seems like he has overheard everything.


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

Arnav’s POV


I was told by Daadi to get both my brothers down at the wedding canopy as the mahurat was up. I met Akash in his room already but NK was missing. We both knew the only place that he could be right now is Sheetal’s room. Ever since the marriage has fixed, his secret love for her is out in the open before everyone. He doesn't shy away to express his love for her and I like that about him. Akash is a bit passive compared to NK but I have heard Payal is not like him. She is the one who knows how to activate his passive side. Asking Akash to go to the Mandap when I follow NK towards Sheetal’s room, what I hear about the spell, I freeze.

“Nannav..” NK quickly reaches me.

“Khushi is cursed?” I ask sternly looking at Sheetal who nods her head.

“Yes, Arnav. I.. I think she is..”

“Yes or no Sheetal. I need a confirmation.”


She looks at the book she had been reading a while ago and then nods at me.

“Yes. But what I don’t understand is how will it end? What will a negative power like it do to Khushi or rather make her do? I. I don’t know anything.”


My whole world feels like coming crushing down as she reveals it to me.

“Arnav?” Daadi knocks the door and enters in. We three quickly compose as if nothing happened. Daadi has seen a lot lately and now we don’t want her to take further stress. “Yes, Daadi?” I turn back.

“I had sent you to get NK down and you are here busy chatting with them. C’mon. Take him down, as the Mahurat is up and I’ll get Sheetal.”


I nod blankly and leave the room with NK. Whatever this is, we have to keep it under wraps until we are sure about it.


As soon as NK and Akash sit down for the rituals to begin, I see Khushi decked up in a pretty pink lehnga and bringing Payal to the canopy. She looks so ethereal as she smiles and teases Payal on the way. I can’t believe now she is cursed or under that spell. Maybe Sheetal is wrongly predicting it. I don’t know. I don’t understand what should I do? As if Khushi senses me drooling over her, she glances at my side, and there I see the spark in our gazes which was once when we were married. The way Khushi looks at me right now is not a cold or confused one, its more of a knowing kind as if she too is reminiscing our marriage memories. Suddenly she shifts her gaze and makes Payal sit next to Akash. Daadi brings Sheetal who sits with NK and the rituals begin.


After an hour of rituals, the couples are finally married and happily taking blessings. Whilst I congratulate them too my eyes fix on Khushi who is getting back to the Palace. We had organized the wedding in the garden area of Sheesh Mahal. Why is she going inside the house? I follow her and as if Khushi remembers every corner of this house, she makes her way straight to the terrace where probably she knows no one will trace her. She has no clue I am following. I stop at the door of the terrace so that she doesn't become suspicious of me. As soon as Khushi reaches the edge of the terrace, overlooking the garden area she stops and starts crying bitterly. What the!! I’ve never seen her cry like that and I wouldn’t be standing here like a fool and let my wife cry, even if she doesn't need me or remembers our relationship.


I stride to her and the moment she hears my footsteps, she wipes her tears and turns around. Khushi is completely lost and probably is finding excuses. Why would she need excuses? Is she hiding anything from me? What is it? Suddenly I have so many questions haunting my head that I begin to ask her one by one.


“What are you doing here? You should be down.”


She swallows painfully.

“Yea.. I.. I needed some fresh air to breathe. With so many people crowding down, I couldn’t..”

“How did you know the exact route to the terrace?”

Khushi looks away.

“I guessed it.” She is about to leave when I grab her wrist and make her stand to the same spot again.

“Don’t lie to me, Khushi. I followed you from the garden. No one can guess the way to the terrace so perfectly unless they already have been here before.”

“Let me go.” She struggles but I don’t set her free. I take another minute to read her face. Khushi keeps fisting her right palm and continues to struggle to go. I recall she had been tugging her fist to her heart while she was crying some time back here. I forcefully try to open her palm now to see what is she hiding.

“What are you doing? Leave me.”

“What are you hiding?”

“I am not hiding anything. Leave me Arnav.”


I don’t stop and finally her fingers loosen up and I see the mangalsutra she has been hiding in her palms. This was the one I made her wear on our wedding. How does she have it? I recall when she sacrificed her life for me, to break the spell, she was wearing it and then the doctors had taken off all her jewelry and handed it to her father before they treated her. Why would Khushi have it now? Does she remember everything now? Maybe seeing the wedding happening might have triggered her memories but why will she bring the Mangalsutra? That leads me to only one answer which I glare at her while asking back.


“You didn’t lose your memories ever, did you?”


Khushi stops struggling but she is too scared to admit I am right. I clench my jaw.

“What … what memories?” she looks away again.

I cup her chin and force her to look at me again.

“I need the truth, Khushi. The woman I loved and married never lied to people nor she supported others doing so. Then why?” I ask. “Why the hell are you lying to us that you don’t remember me?”

“Because I am scared, Arnav,” she finally yells back at me and my grip on her wrist loosens.


Khushi turns away from me crying some more. I reach before her and scoop her in my arms. She doesn't delay in wrapping her arms around me and hugging me back.


“Don’t you ever dare get away from me only because you are scared, Khushi. How could you even think of it?”

She sobs in my arms while I stroke her back. The mere thought that she remembers me as her husband soothes my aching heart but I can’t be happy until she opens up all her secrets.

“You are scared of being cursed now?” I ask directly and she shockingly pulls back and looks at me.

“How.. how do you know that?”

“Sheetal told us today.”

I wipe her tears. Khushi is horrified. I tell her how Sheetal was still studying about these activities and came to conclusion today that the spell which we all think has casted away from me, is now residing in Khushi considering she was the one who sacrificed her blood during that lunar eclipse night.

“She maybe right, Arnav,” Khushi sadly replies. “I feel it… I feel it inside me. I felt it that very moment when the doctors treated me that night and I came to consciousness. My wounds.. they healed fast. What was that supposed to mean, Arnav? It wasn’t normal. I should have died to end the curse but I was alive and it only gave me the impression that I could be another puppet of that spell to bother you and your family, which I didn’t want to. You all have seen and had to bare a lot. Not anymore. I want my family to stay happy and not in the fear that something worse still awaits us. That’s why I lied to you and pretended not to remember you and our marriage.”


I am so stunned by her revelation.

“You had no rights to decide that alone” I snap. “Do you even realize what I have been through in the last three months after that incident? I am dying literally without you by my side, Khushi. I would rather die having you beside me.”

“Arnav” she angrily yells back. “Never speak of dying. You have a long life.. a very long life… You’ll have kids and even see them growing and getting married and having children..”

“Good to think of that, Khushi,” I shrug.

“I am not just saying it. I saw it..” she argues.


She saw it? what is that supposed to mean?


“Yes, I saw it in my dreams and I’ve seen it repeatedly which only means it is not a dream but a premonition.”


I stare at her blankly again. Premonitions? She had stopped getting those after we consummated.


“You have a very happy future, Arnav. Don’t give it up for me. Go back to London. I insist.”

“Not without you,” I snap and cup her face this time. “If I have a life and a good future with kids, that has to be with you along with me, as my wife, Khushi.”

“But I don’t know if its with me. I only saw you and the kids in my premonitions which I started getting again after that sacrifice I did. I didn’t see me once with you all.”

“Did you see any other woman with me?”

“No, but”

“Then how can you be so sure that I’ll have that kind of future with another woman. It could be with you, Khushi. I know its only with you. When I was cursed, you never left me, Khushi. You were there for me, with me at every step of that horrific phase of my life. And now it is my time to show you that support.”


My lips latch on hers as I squeeze her to my body and kiss her hard. She resists hard from kissing me back but then finally gives in and pulls my face to not break the kiss. My hands stroke the skin of her waist, before sliding up and weighing her soft mounds, making her groan in pleasure. She needs me as much as I need her. The next minute I know, I am carrying Khushi in my arms and taking her to our bedroom. Khushi doesn't mind and she knows this is going to end us up in a way where we will never ever part ways again. She is purposely pretending to have lost memories to keep me safe from her, and now I am not going to let her continue that silly act.


I lay her on the bed which was missing her too from the past three months of our separation and discarding my clothes, I undress her like I had when we consummated. As if this is that moment when I get to see her body for the first time. I sink my teeth over her shoulder, giving it a gentle nip before devouring her further down. Khushi is as needy as I am and my dire desire to have her completely zones everything out. Within minutes, I am inside her, drawing out her pleasure, reaching for mine, until we both shudder in ecstasy and my body convulses on her, leaving us both panting hard.

It's a long moment of silence before I lie on my back and pull Khushi to me. She snuggles closer, tears rolling down from her eyes knowing we have crossed the lines again which she didn’t want to, in order to keep me safe.


“You are Devi Maiyaa’s loyal devotee, Khushi. She will never let that spell harm you.”

Khushi looks at me as I continue.

“You haven’t hurt anyone in the last three months, Khushi despite staying so close to me and my family. What you have inside you is just a power and how you use it is entirely upto you. Being Devi Maiyaa’s devotee, she is guiding you to use this curse as a power and for the betterment of people. Your premonitions coming back are Devi Maiyaa’s sign to tell you that she has already blessed you to use this power in you wisely and not to hurt people. You care for everyone and I am confident that you will never hurt anyone. A woman who has already tried to sacrifice her life for the betterment of me and my family can never hurt us ever”


Khushi’s tears stop as she continues to listen to me.

“It was you who taught me that good always wins over evil. I have this strong belief that we will come out winning, together, just like we did before. We will find every possible way to end this curse even if its inside you at this moment. I promise.”

“We will,” she agrees, snuggling closer to me, with a weak smile on her lips, as if she believes that too that together we would win over any hurdles across our way.


To be Continued.

Note: Next Part will be the last chapter of this FF. 

NEXT PART 

Connect me on Instagram 

Connect me on Twitter

_______________________________________________________________

I Found Love - eBook releasing in a WEEK

𝘽𝙇𝙐𝙍𝘽
𝐀𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐚𝐧 𝐑𝐚𝐢𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐚
I know to make money, a hell lot of it, and that’s what has made me the man I am today. But a tenacious woman named Alisha Sethi, owning a prime property that I wanted in Mumbai’s hottest real estate sector, stood in my way. Though I kept women at bay, there was something in her I couldn’t ignore. Alisha’s one condition smashed down the barricades of my heart, and despite all the hot and cold conflicts, she turned into an obsession I couldn’t get over. No matter how far she planned to test me, lest did she know when I was dared, no one but me won the challenge.

𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐚 𝐒𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢
I firmly believed my prince charming was just a dream away. But all I got was a pompous and demanding as hell real-estate billionaire, Armaan RaiSinghania, who was continually hounding me to negotiate a deal with him for his next project. I’d sworn never to give up fighting for what I believed in, and yet, one night, one earth-shattering moment changed it all. I’d waited for a romantic lover and got a fiery inferno instead. Armaan might live in the illusion of winning me over, but lest did he know the game had just gotten interesting.

𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐚’𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐚𝐧’𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐭?

𝑨 𝑭𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒗𝒔 𝑰𝒄𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒛𝒛𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝑨𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒂𝒏 𝑹𝒂𝒊𝑺𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒂, 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑨𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒂 𝑺𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊, 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆.

Note: The models used for the book cover and the posts here are nowhere related to the story, its characters or this novel.