She was dressed up like a bride but that spark was missing. Her tears were not stopping. They were running down her cheeks. No matter how many times the make-up artist told her not to cry, Khushi seemed to be in the different world.
She said on the chair and leaned on the table keeping her head over her hand.
"Few more hours" she thought and she will be Mrs. Khushi Samrat Sehgal.
A tear slipped across are nose bridge towards the other eye and spreaded across. Initially her eye pained but it was not as painfull as she was feeling in her heart.
"He hates me, he hates me to the core" she thought.
"but I don't regret for loving him hopelessly" she mentally noted.
She touched the drawer nob and took out arnav's parents picture.
"Maa, baba, I am sorry for everything she whispered holding their picture in her hand.
"Today I am the soul responsible for you both not being able to witness your son's wedding. Something which every parent which to experience.
Khushi tucked her lips to hold back few sobs.
"I wish I was the one'.."
~FLASHBACK END~
(these are not khushi's thoughts. This is what happened that day when Arnav's parents came to take Khushi)
"Sister didi! Sister didi! What are you doing with my dresses?"
"Khushi baby! Today your uncle and aunty will take you with them to your house".
"Really sister didi? Untel (uncle) and auntey (auntie) with take me to their house?" Khushi asked with a bright simle clutching her teddy tightly in her arms.
"yes baby, now get ready quickly" sister cupped her face and finally zipped the bag after putting her stuffs inside.
**
"maa, where are we going?" Arnav asked munching his favourite chips.
"Arnu, we are going to get a princess for you".
"Princess?" Arnav asked annoyed. "ma get me some he man and stuffs by a doll?" Arnav said while folding the empty packet and keeping it in the cabin box.
His mom and dad laughed out load to their son's antics and said, "doll nahi pagal, real doll la raha hoon tere liye. Her name is Khushi and she is going to stay with us".
"A. GIRL is going to stay with us? WHY?" Arnav furiously asked them. "why cant she stay with her parents? Why she have to stay with us?".
"Arnu, she is an orphan and she doensot have her parents with her like you".
Arnav's voice immediately mellowed down and he hugged his mother, "I am sorry ma. I did not know that".
"Beta, not everyone in this world are blessed to have parents. She is really cute. I am sure you both will become friends soon".
Arnav leaned back on his seat keeping his head on his dadi's shoulder and drifting towards his mother's words and he felt sad about the girl whom his mother was talking about. He felt affection immediately rise across his body without even seeing her.
**
"Khushi! Khushi don't run beta", sister screamed.
"I am going to my house" Khushi ran with her teddy here and there in the huge campus.
While running no one noticed that she actually went out of the campus and directly on the road.
**
Arnav saw an ice-cream cart and said, "Paa I want a chocobar".
"Arnav! Let us take Khushi first and then we will buy both of you ice-creams".
"Please dad, I really wanna have right now".
"Ok beta", Arnav's dad handed over the cash to Arnav and he got down to take his bar accompanied by his dadi, while his dad parked the car blocking Arnav from the traffic.
**
suddenly arnav's dad heard a scream and looked straight, he saw a car approaching a little kid who was busy picking up her soft toy. And some people were should at the kid to move aside. But the kid was too young to understand anything
It was non other than Khushi.
"what are you looking at, save her damn it" arnav's mother screamed at arnav's father.
Without thinking twice his dad accelerated his car and zoomed at high speed leaving behind Arnav near the ice-cream cart.
"Dad! MOM!" Arnav shouted and started running behind the car not understanding what was happening. He tried to stop them but after few seconds it was unreachable.
Arnav continued to run and that's when his eye feel on the little girl who was busy picking up her soft toy. He also saw another car racing towards the kid.
**
THUD!
"MAA!" Arnav screamed and froze at the sight.
The other car smashed their car making his dad and mom flew out of the car.
The girl was picked up instantly by the local people.
Arnav picked up his pace and ran towards his parents.
"Ma! What happened to you, please open your eyes", he checked her breathing and found her dead.
He ran towards his dad and picked his head up.
"dad! Dad!" he called out.
He saw his had picking up his hand and pointed towards Khushi. In the meantime dadi came near them and picked Arnav in his arms.
"Ma! Is ladki ka khayal rakha, it was arnav's mother last wish to see this girl in out house".
The sister came near Mr. Raizada holding a crying Khushi on her lap and sat beside him.
Mr Raizada held khushi's tiny finger and made arnav's hold it. "Arnav! She will be your responsibility from now onwards".
Arnav fisted her tiny hand in his palm and felt his dad's hand hung lose and then Thud! On the groud.
Ever since then arnav held khushi responsible for his parents death.
Na woh bahar nikalti
Na uske parents ko gari dusri gari ke samne lana parta to save her
na usko itna sa umar mein anaath hona padta
~FLASHBACK ENDS~
"I am sorry maa, I am sorry baba for touching your photograph without arnav's permission. But I just couldnot control today. I had to talk to you both and share my sorrows. Just like I used to share every thing in front of your picture my happiness.
No one. No one other than you both know how much I love Arnav. I really do and I still do. Madly." Few more tears slipped.
"I can never able be able to love someone else in my life. My whole and soul belongs to him only". i have never missed my real mom and dad because it was arnav who took their place in my life.
She lowered her eyes and confessed, "he has made me his last night maa. But his hate for me is stronger than my love for him", her tears were blotting their picture.
"he even took the ring which he gave me. It clearly states that he just wants to end my chapter tonight. Maa! Unknownly I have given him a lot of pain not anymore. If that makes him happy then I would do whatever he says. I have never ever backed out from what he wanted me to do. And today also I will not walk you. he has all the right to write my destiny because I am what I am is because of him. If he wanst there to take care of my needs I would have rote to death. And you know what maa after what I have done to him by taking away his parents I don't deserve to touch your picture".
Her thoughts drifted to that ugly day when she came to know how she was responsible for arnav's past.
~FLASHBACK~
"Arnav! Arnav! Kahan reh gaya hai yeh ladka?" dadi spoke to himself while arranging all barsi ka saaman.
Khushi who was decending wearing her white churidar saw a concerned dadi and asked her, "kya huya dadi?"
"arrey Khushi dekh na Arnav has still not placed his parent's picture here. Dekh to zara kahan reh gaya hai?"
"don't worry dadi, let me see where he is".
Khushi walked towards his room calling out his name, but he was not there.
She checked his bathroom, the poolside, even terrece but he seemed to have vanished.
Khushi took out her cell phone and dialed his number, but it went to his voicemail.
Defeted, Khushi came to his room and looked at his parents photograph. She climbed up on the desk to grab the picture when he heard, "what the f**k are you doing my my room?"
She saw and and lost her balance. She closed her eyes in fear but she comfortabily landed in his strong pair of arms.
"erm! I was trying to take maa and baba's picture".
He harshing steadied her on the ground and dug his nail grabbing her shoulder, "how many times I have to tell you that they are not your maa and baba. Stop calling them by that name".
"Arnav! Why do you always say this? Why don't you feel happy about it that there is someone who actually respects your parents like you do? And that harm have I caused to get such behaviour from you everytime? You could have atleast spared this on their death anniversary". She said feeling hurt.
Anrav controlled his anger and muttered under his teeth, "just leave now".
"No I wont, I will take their picture and then leave", Khushi crossed her hand and looked other way.
"Don't even dare to tocuh their picture with you dirty hand Khushi Kumari Gupta".
Shocked would be an understatement. "Arnav!" she cried.
"how can you be so heartless? How could you say this?"
She angrily went towards the desk to get up again and reach the photograph when Arnav held her hand and pulled her down.
"WHY DON'T YOU GET THAT STRIAGHT KHUSHI. DON'T TOUCH MY PARENTS PHOTOGRAPH'I AM WARNING YOU".
Khushi looked straight towards Arnav and threw angry glares, they are my parents too, they wanted me to be in his house with them and you have no right to tell me not to call them maa and baba.
"YOU HAVE LOST THE RIGHT ON THAT DAY KHUSHI KUMARI GUPTA. YOU HAVE LOST THE RIGHT WHEN YOU KILLED THEM" Khushi held her breath with that statement.
"I'I killed'.them? what are'.you'saying Arnav?" she chocked her words
"YES YOU DID. YOU HAVE MADE ME ORPHAN ON TODAY'S DATE. My parents lost their life just because of you to save you. they did not even think about me. DAM TODA HAI MERE GODH MEIN (they took their last breath on my lap). Do you know how it feels when you burn your parents in front of your eyes? You can never feel that Miss Khushi Kumari Gupta because you can never have one. You know what this pain is nothing compared to the pain which I feel every damn day by seeing my parent's muderer in front of my eyes roaming around and smiling. I HATE YOU MISS GUPTA I HATE YOU TO THE CORE FOR BEING THE REASON FOR MY PARENT'S DEATH".
Arnav narrated the whole story to Khushi what happened and how his parents died.
"I wish it was the other way'.." Arnav stopped immediately realsing what he had just said.
He saw Khushi collapse on the ground staring at the black floor, tears flooding her eyes.
"My arnu wished it was me who should have been there instead of his parents? He wished my death?"
Arnav cursed himself for not having control over his words when he was angry. He never meant to say such thing to her, no matter how much he hated her.
Khushi hid her face with his palm and sobbed harder and harder. "i never wanted to be the reason for your bitter past. no i know the truth and all your hatred is justified. you are the one who never ever made me miss my mom and dad. infact i got more than what i have got from my real parents. for me you are my world and you always will be. but i can never ever forgive myself for taking your parents life and making you orphan. Arnav slowly walked away. this guilt for blurting things out like this taken over his mind.
~FLASHBACK ENDS~
since then Khushi took an oath not to touch his parents photo even in her life and stopped calling them as maa and baba. No matter how much it stabbed her heart to refer them as uncle aunty, but she did that.
Later she did not raise and objection when Arnav planned to send her abroad.
She talked less in the house and felt like a non wanted living being.
She stopped talking to Arnav and stopped going to his room.
While she was abroad she never failed to wish him on his birthday but she did it thought dadi.
Later when she came back she was a transformed woman. Most of the time she spend her time in her room, either painting for looking blankly at the sky.
She did not protest when Arnav gave her marriage proposal. But her only wish was that her arnu should get married first.
And her heart broke further when she heard his approval from dadi.
PRECAP
Marrigae (Last Chapter)
**
