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OS : Crushed Petals
"How could you hide such a thing!"
Garima cowered back seeing Arnav's fury..."I was going to tell Khushi, and you...but..."
"What difference does it make!" Dadi spat out... "Garima ruined your mothers life! Just as Khushi was about to ruin yours!"
Shaking her head, Garima cried bitterly..."I didn't say anything because..." her eyes shot over to Dadiji..."because SHE said that she wanted no more pain for this family! She told me not to!"
Arnav turned slowly..."You knew about all this before today...?"
Dadi kept her head high, a smug look covered her face...
"Did you?!" Arnav screamed
"Yes."
Arnav felt his heart beat erratically..."Then you...you waited...waited until today...TO PURPOSEFULLY RUIN MY WEDDING! JUST TO GET REVENGE! WERE YOU NOT THINING ABOUT MY HAPPINESS AT ALL!?"
Dadi kept her cool facade..."Am I to understand that you still wish to marry that girl?"
Arnav froze in time.
Every promise, every moment, every word, every look...
Khushi was innocent in all this...
And even though anger was overriding his body, Love for Khushi was still overriding his heart...
"Yes."
Shock.
The blood seeped from Dadi's face as she realized that her plan may have just failed...
"That's right Dadi..." Arnav prowled towards her..."I am going to marry Khushi...and no one...not Shyam, not the past, and not even you, will stop me..."
Arnav whirled around...
His eyes desperately searching for one person...
"Where is she? Where is Khushi!?"
The entire family looked around...
Payal began to search and call out...
"Khushi!"
"Khushiji!!!"
Arnav didn't hear the cries that surrounded him...
His head was pounding at what felt like impending dread...
"She's not here! I can't find here!"
And that was it.
Arnav rushed at Shyam, clenching his collar tight..."Where is she!?"
Anjali began to pry furiously at his fingers..."Let him go! Chote! Stop it! He's been here with me! The Entire time!"
"Nanav!"
Arnav's eyes instantly darted to NK...
"She's right...Jijaji hasn't done anything...this time..."
"What the hell are you talking about? Where is she!?"
NK looked down..."I saw her leaving...I tried to stop her...but...she said that a part of her knew you wouldn't come...that she wanted to have faith in your love...but..."
The words started to sink into Arnav's heart like sulphur...
"...but...she's gone...I don't know where...She said to give you this..."
Arnav watched closely at NK stretched out his hand...
Fragmented images, that were blurred by the tears in his eyes floated to the ground before him...
Petals.
Rose petals.
"...Khushi..."
"Good. This was not meant to be. We need this family out of our lives!"
Love for every other person in the room drained rapidly from Arnav's body...
A possessed shell of retalliation turned to face them...
"Chote?"
Arnav lifted a firm hand to stop Anjali from speaking.
With eyes that shot out bullets of hate, he focused on Dadi..."If I don't find her...the past is going to seem like mild bad dream compared to the hell I will make your life!"
Growling ferociously, Arnav spun on his heel and charged out ...
It was as though he had been shot through the heart...
Shards of piercing pain were boring into him...
"Where is she? Where would she go? She would go to the mandir, but she WAS already here...she left...Khushi..."
As thunder struck the skies, a disabling panic filled his heart...
Rain.
He rushed to his car...
Speeding towards Khushi's house, he kicked open the doors and searched..."Khushi! Khushi are you here!? Answer me!"
Nothing.
Hurrying back to the car, he shouted out to the people around..."Has anyone seen Khushi!? Has she been back here!?"
Everyone shook their head saying no...
"She think's that I left her...She thinks that I wasn't going to come..." his mind was spiraling out of control...
As he started to drive aimlessly around, he called HariPrakash to see if she went back to RM...
But she wasn't there...
His phone began to ring and he saw it was his sister..."DI?" he answered eagerly..."Is Khushi there?"
"No Chote, I was calling to see if..."
Arnav threw his phone harshly against the windshield...
It barely marked the glass, but his phone broke into pieces...
"GOD! Where are you Khushi!"
The garden.
Slamming his foot on the breaks, he spun the back wheels of the car around and floored it...
Rain was now pelting the ground...
As the car skidded to a stop, he stumbled recklessly around, searching, praying, hoping to see her...
That was when he saw her.
Crumpled on her knees, beside the roses...
Her hand grasped to one of the stems...
Blood was trickling slowly down her wrist from the thorns that had pierced her tender flesh...
Her entire body trembled, her breath coming in jerky spurts and he wanted to scream.
"Khushi..."
Tears streamed down her face, her eyes bloodshot as she stared up at him.
Falling to the ground beside her, he tried to think of what to say..."Khushi...would you let me explain?"
"Explain what? How you lied to me? How you deceived me into believing you actually care for'me?" she choked out the last word.
A sob escaped her, and she covered her lips with trembling fingers.
"Dadi came to speak with me as I was about to leave..."
He watched her, wanting to see her reaction but she still looked the same...Wretched, full of tears and so achingly beautiful it hurt.
"Khushi...something happened...something from the past...It doesn't even involve you, but...I...I got...confused...and..."
"Convenient excuse Mr. Raizada... You've been using me... all this time. Trying to get close to me, pretending that you wanted this'relationship...and you left me standing there...all alone...I'm so stupid! I allowed my heart to be broken by a callous, cold man who'd turned his back on me!"
"I WASN'T GOING TO DO THAT!"
"Did you come to tell me you didn't want to marry me!?"
Her eyes were fixed to his...waiting for his answer...
"Was I going to tell her that?..." he thought...
The anger he felt from the new revelation had blinded his senses...
"Was I going to toss her away like she didn't matter, all because I was too angry...Was I going to walk out of her life like a complete asshole?"
No.
Even in his anger, the only reason his heart was still beating was because of Khushi...and now he would stop at NOTHING to have her back.
"No Khushi...I would have married you, no matter what...I never thought I'd find a love as sacred as ours...You have the innocent beauty of an angel. You are smart and kind... beautiful from the inside out. And I'd NEVER let you go because of my past! I know I have hurt you ...But please...Marry me, and you can make me repent for it the rest of my life..."
Slowly she shook her head, her eyes full of sadness.
So much sadness, it almost equaled his own.
"I can't Arnavji..."
Hearing her sweet voice say his name nearly unmanned him.
He wanted to beg for her forgiveness.
Plead with her that she give him another chance.
But she was like a statue, unmoving, watching him with a sort of distance in her expression he'd never seen before.
He'd ruined it.
Her voice broke, as she cleared her throat... "It's over..."
What he felt when he heard her words, cut like the sharpest knife down to the bone.
He held his breath.
He didn't want to scare her, but the urge to touch her, was damn near all consuming.
Tentatively he reached out and settled his hands on her shoulders.
They tensed up beneath his palms, even tighter than they'd been before he touched her and she turned her head to the side.
"What are you doing?"
"I ...I can't bear losing you..."
She remained quiet, the only sound was the rain...
Slowly he slid his fingers down her arm...
Her grip tightened around the stem...
"Relax..." he whispered as he gently pried her fingers loose..."I'm not going to hurt you..."
Her eyes flowed with tears as her unspoken words..."you have hurt me"... echoed through his mind...
God, he hated that she was scared of him.
Afraid he might damage her.
That was the very last thing he wanted to do.
"I need you Khushi...Tell me what I can do to get you back..."
There is no more...
...
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