Chapter 1

She glanced at the watch in her hand. It was 9:00 p.m. She gasped in shock realising it was too late. She hurried fast towards her house that was now only few metres ahead. She wrapped the Dupatta around her body, to protect herself from the cold winds.

Khushi had been returning back from the Mandir, that was situated nearby the Raizada Mansion. It had become a routine for her, to visit it at 6:00 p.m every evening. Somehow, that was the only place where she had found solace amidst her anguished and depressed life.

It had been a month after her marriage with Arnav. This one month had been no less than a living nightmare for her. She had been living with a cold, ruthless man who had been nothing but indifferent towards her. As if she never existed for him.

She had never understood why he had married her. All those times, she had tried to confront him for an explanation, she would only find stark terror in his eyes, followed by indescribable torment and then, absolute silence. It was the silence that hurt her the most. Why wasn't he willing to talk to her? Not to mention, how he had threatened to break her Jiji's marriage. Of all the people, she wasn't expecting him to do so, considering that he had previously sincerely apologised for breaking her sister's marriage at Lucknow.

He wasn't the same Arnav anymore, who she thought had loved her. Now, she wasn't even sure whether it was love that she had seen in his eyes previously. Maybe, it had all been an illusion for her.

With nobody around to share her feelings with, she had turned to that one person who stood by her at all times, her Devi Maiyya. She would go to the Mandir and simply sit down in one corner of the temple, reflecting her life. She would try to find answers to all the infinite questions flooding her mind. And after an hour of seeking peace, she would return home.

But today, she had been so lost in her thoughts, that she hadn't noticed the time. Only when the Panditji reminded her, she had snapped back to the reality and hurried herself home.

Walking all alone in the dark street, lit up only by occasional street lights, she cursed herself for being late. She found it eerily quiet and something about the atmosphere made her uncomfortable. She hastened her steps as the main gate of the Raizada Mansion became visible at the corner of the street.

And then, suddenly out of nowhere, she found her arm being yanked by someone from behind. With that over powering force, she came colliding into the chest of the man, who had pulled her.

She lifted up her eyes to look at the face of that man and the next second, absolute disgust filled her eyes.

Khushi- "What do you think you are doing, Mr. Shyam Jha? Leave my hand." She said as she began to free herself from his grip.

Shyam- "What did you do Khushi? Went and married Arnav Raizada. How could you, when you very well knew that I love you?" He hadn't got a chance to confront her after her marriage.

Khushi- "Shut up and don't utter my name with your filthy mouth! Are you even in your senses? Your wife is pregnant with your child. If not for Anjaliji, atleast think about your unborn child. What would it think about his father? That he was a pervert who lusted after other women, even after having such a wonderful wife." She closed her eyes before letting out a huge distasteful sigh.

Khushi- "I don't love you. Do you understand? I love Arnav Singh Raizada, my husband. Now leave my hand." She tried to free herself but his grip was too strong for her.

Shyam- "Wah Khushiji. Do you really love him? Is that why you haven't consummated your marriage yet? Is that why you have signed a six month marriage contract?" he pretended a fake laugh as he tightened his grip on her wrist.

She was shocked to hear this. How did he come to know about them? But she wasn't going to reveal her reaction to this.

Khushi- "It isn't any of your business to know about our married life. It is only Arnavji's and my problem with what we do in our life. Now let go of me." She tried to push his chest with her other hand, but was unsuccessful. Slowly panic crept on her face, as she noticed an evil smile spreading on his face. She didn't like the direction in which their conversation was going.

Seeing her reaction, Shyam became serious once again.

Shyam-"I completely understand you Khushi. Afterall, even you have needs to be fulfilled." He said with an evil glint in his eyes. "Arnav Singh Raizada only looks after his Di. He doesn't care about the needs of others, of his wife. Even I have needs Khushiji." He paused to scan her whole body from top to bottom. "It is night and I'm sure your so called husband won't notice your absence for a few hours. Come with me, Khushiji. Let's have some fun tonight!"

Khushi eyes seethed with anger. This was the limit. She had enough of it. She had to stop this madness once and for all.

*slap* Khushi raised her free hand to slap him across his cheek. He wasn't prepared for this and his face was reddened with her fingerprints. This time, she pushed him with all her strength and freed herself from him and ran ahead.

But he wasn't going to give up so easily. He ran behind her and pulled her to a stop, once again, this time holding her shoulders tightly.

Shyam-"You shouldn't have done that. I asked you politely, but you refused. Now you will payback for this slap." He gritted through his teeth. He was boiling with fury, like never before. He quickly put his hand across her mouth and started dragging her to an old empty cottage nearby.

She tried screaming for help, but his hand was muffling out all her screams. She wriggled her body, but he was too strong for her to free herself.

He dragged her inside the huge compound and took her straight away inside the dark, empty cottage and shut the door behind him. She was thrown across the floor with such an enormous force, that she felt her ribs cracking due to the impact and a mind numbing pain crept over her body.

She quickly got up from the floor, even with the pain in her ribs and tried to run towards the exit. But he grabbed her once again and pinned her to the wall. By now her breathing had become too heavy, that she was practically gasping for air.

Shyam- "You left me with no other choice," he said before he threw her Dupatta across the floor. Khushi wasn't going to go down without a fight. She pushed him once again, this time sending him down on the floor. She ran towards the door and tried to open it. But he came running and pulled her away from the door, tearing off her Kameeze shoulder in the process. He pushed her down on the floor, as he tried to force himself on her.

Tears started rolling down her eyes, as she felt the whole universe come crumbling down on her. But she never gave up. She had to fight, even if it was the last thing she did in the world. She called out Devi Maiyya's name one last time, before she grabbed his neck and clenched her nails into it.

She immediately saw Shyam lift up himself, trying to gasp for air. This gave her an opportunity to push him away from her to her side. But as she stood up, she felt his hand yank her leg, causing her to lose balance and bang her head on the wooden table nearby and fall down flat on the floor. On it, were some empty glass bottles, which also crashed down beside her. She kicked her leg to set herself free, but in that process, she brushed her hand against a huge glass piece, creating a huge gash across her arm.

She yelped out in pain but stopped after an idea flashed her mind. Taking the remnants of the glass bottle in her hand, she stood up in front of Shyam, who was lying on the floor and flashed him a satisfying smile before she stabbed him on both his legs, causing him to flinch in absolute pain.

She picked up her Dupatta that was lying on the floor and ran towards the door, out of the gate, into the street, back to her home.

She was too shocked to react at what had happened today. It was devastating. She felt her whole mind and body go numb after the violent attack on her. As she opened the main door of the Raizada mansion, she couldn't find anyone in the room. She was too shocked to explain anything to anyone. She ran into her bedroom, shutting the door behind her. She was still gasping for breath, the excruciating pain in her ribs and arms torturing her.

She slowly stepped towards the dressing table, staring at her reflection in the mirror. Her Salwar was tattered in certain places, the blood from her gash staining the sides of her dress. She slowly removed her Dupatta from her chest and arms, to reveal bruises all over. His fingerprints were still embedded on her shoulders and arms. Her hair was a complete mess and her face was stained with countless tears shed earlier. Now her eyes burnt as no more tears rolled down her eyes. She looked into her own eyes in the reflection, as horrifying images of earlier encounter flashed across her eyes. She was devastated and she slowly felt her head feeling light. She slowly slid open the French Doors and went outside to the poolside and dropped down on the floor, still reeling with shock.

Arnav entered his room after a tiresome day. He glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 11:00 p.m. he had started returning home late after their marriage. He couldn't bear to face Khushi. Whenever he came face to face with her, he couldn't come to terms that he hated her. He had loved her so much, that he was completely destroyed when he came to know that Shyam was having an affair with Khushi.

Even now, a single tear or a sign of pain on her face was enough to break him down completely. His love was threatening to overpower his hate for her. As much as he hated himself for this, he knew he had to do this for his Di. His Di, who meant the world to him. So he tried to stay away from Khushi as much as possible.

Now as he stepped inside, he couldn't find her anywhere in his room. He stealthily walked towards the French Windows and saw the outline of her back behind the plants. He picked his clothes from the cupboard and went to the washroom to change his clothes.

He came back silently, switched off the lights and lay on his bed. He wasn't feeling hungry, just like the past few days. He was now used to sleeping with an empty stomach.

He rolled over to the other side to look at Khushi's outline in the poolside. Ever since their marriage, she had been found sitting silently at the poolside till late at night. Only after making sure that he was asleep, she would enter the room and either sleep on the couch or on the floor or sleep on her side of the bed.

But the truth was that Arnav always pretended to fall asleep when she used to peek in. Only after she had fallen asleep, would he too slumber. Sometimes, he would simply stare at her innocent face for hours together, contemplating on whether she was as innocent as she looked.

Then there were nights where he could never sleep. He knew he had been affected by serious insomnia. Afterall, he was going through one of the toughest phases of his life.

Today, again he tried closing his eyes, but it was futile. After some time, he opened his eyes to glance at the clock. The neon digits showed 12:30 a.m. He looked towards the French Doors. He could still see her outline. She still sat in the same position. He began to get a little worried. She should have come to sleep by now.

Slowly time passed by and he started becoming restless. Why wasn't she coming in? But he didn't have the strength to face her.

He tossed and turned around his bed. Couple of hours passed, but there was no sign of her entering the room. He glanced at the clock once again. It was 2:30 a.m. It was then that he heard the thunder rumbling outside. And soon he heard the rain drizzle. It soon became heavy but she didn't move from her place.

Now, he couldn't take it any longer. Why was she still sitting in the rain? He got up from his bed and slowly went outside. She was sitting on the floor, knees folded, her arms resting on it. As the rain fell on her body, she continued to lie motionless, staring at the pool water. He couldn't see her face as her back was facing him.

Arnav- "Khushi!" he called out in a low voice to call her inside. But she didn't seem to hear him. Again he called out her name, still standing at the door side. Still she didn't respond.

He looked at the rain that was now pouring down heavily. He stepped outside towards her, risking getting wet. He stood beside her and bent down and placed his hand on her shoulder.

She suddenly turned around and looked at his face. He stared at her eyes. They were cold and blank and he felt his whole body go numb.

Arnav had never seen her like this before. It was a terrifying, haunting look. She looked no less than a ghost. He took a step backward, unable to absorb her appearance.

She pushed his hand away from her shoulder before she turned back to look ahead at the pool. That was when he had noticed the huge gash on her arm.

Arnav- "Khushi! What happened to you?" He said in a soft and barely audible voice. He went and squatted beside Khushi and cupped her face. But she was still silent. This time she pushed away his hands from her face, harder than the previous time.

He ran back inside into the room and rummaged through the medicine cabinet for the first aid box. He picked up an umbrella and ran outside, back to Khushi who was still drenching in the rain. He opened the umbrella and held it on top of her. But she grabbed it from his hand and threw it away into the pool.

Arnav could only stare at her, dumbstruck, unable to comprehend what had happened to her. He pulled her injured arm and started tending it.

Khushi- "Leave me alone!" she screamed out before she pulled her hand away from his and pushed his chest, gazing him with bloodshot eyes.

Arnav could now feel his eyes brimming with tears seeing the emotions on her face. Why wasn't she allowing him to touch her?

Arnav-"Khushi, tell me who did this to you?" He was practically shouting at the top of his voice, his throat choking out the words. He felt his heart shatter as he realized something really bad had happened to her. He lifted up her Dupatta to reveal the bruises on her arms and shoulder and her tattered clothes. He covered her bruises once again with the Dupatta, lest the cold rain drops hurt it.

Arnav- "Listen Khushi, tell me who did it? I swear I'm not going to spare that person. Why are you silent Dammit?! Talk to me! Listen! I'm not going to leave your side, till you tell me!" he tried to threaten her, but she only responded with silence.

She continued to stare at the pool water, gazing her reflection, as the same images replayed in her mind again and again. The cold rain water was hurting her injured arm, her ribs now began to burn with excruciating pain. Her limbs were completely numb. She couldn't feel what was happening around her. As if time had stood still for her. All she could see was Shyam's face everywhere. She could still feel his hands on her.

She felt tainted and completely destroyed. She closed her eyes and lifted her face towards the sky, to let the rain drops wash her away completely.

Both of them sat beside each other, under the rain, fully drenched, for the next one hour.

If she was going to be here like this, Arnav couldn't leave her all alone to suffer her pain. He knew she needed him. He knew that he was the only one with whom she could share her pain. And heck! He was going to be waiting beside her, even if it meant for eternity.

The rain finally stopped, and so did the lightning and thunder. Everything around them became silent, only for the occasional sounds of water droplets dripping from the roof.

And then, Khushi couldn't hold it anymore. She started crying, rather wailing at the top of her voice. Arnav had seen her crying before. But he had only witnessed tears. If tears could break his heart, one could imagine what happened when she wailed out in anguish and pain.

She gasped for breath between her sobs.

Khushi- "Arnav!" she cried out his name clutching his wet shirt as she clung to his chest. Arnav quickly wrapped his arms around her, embracing and consoling her.

Arnav couldn't stop tears rolling from his eyes, when he held on to her. He didn't know how to stop her pain and suffering.

She cried for nearly fifteen minutes in his arms, his shirt muffling out her cries. And then finally she said, "It was Shyam, your Jijaji!" before she broke out once again.

Arnav felt his whole body go stiff at the mention of his name. He was not going to spare that monster. Nobody got away hurting the women in his life. Shyam had crossed his limits. Now he wouldn't bother if he was his Di's husband or not. He would torture him with his own hands.

Arnav- "Khushi, Listen to me!" he said lifting her chin towards his face. "Stop Crying! You are Khushi Singh Raizada, Wife of Arnav Singh Raizada. Got it! You don't deserve to cry! You will get the justice you deserve. Do you hear me? I, your husband will give you justice." He moved away her wet hair from her face and placed a kiss on her forehead.

Arnav- "Do you trust me?"

She looked into his eyes, uttering a silent 'Yes'. She laid her head on his lap, as he finally started to tend to her bruises and wounds.

At that minute, there was no other place in this whole world where she felt safe, than with her husband, Arnav.

How was it? Leave your comments! If you liked it even a tiny bit, plz hit the like button.

What say Ppl? Arnav is a monster. Is he cruel??? How will you describe Shyam then???😃

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