Resurgence | Arshi FF | Thread 2 | thread 3 link posted on page 150 - Page 18

Originally posted by: BollyBabe75

Khushi no longer expects anything from Arnav. She has lost all trust and faith in him. She questions whether her whole life was built on lies. Did he ever love her? She voices doubts that if he never loved her and was unfaithful once he could do it again, when she asked if he would throw her out again and asked him to tell her and not let her hear it from his secretary. At this point I don’t think she trusts anyone. Her family has let her down. She was distant with Akash and Payal on the way back to Bombay. She feels truly alone when she says her only worth is in being Arnav’s wife.

Restoring trust after his abominable betrayal will take months, years even, if ever. No matter how he has behaved in the past this heartbreaking betrayal is so soul killing. It has altered her life forever. In my mind it almost wipes out all of the good he has done in the past. That hurt will always be there waiting to rear its ugly head at the most unexpected moments. That painful jolt will always jar her, only if briefly.

And he has altered his own life forever by the act of infidelity. She tells him she loves him enough to overlook almost everything but doesn’t know how to forgive that.

We understand his redemption has started by his remorse and guilt. But I don’t think he understands the depth of Khushi’s misery as evidenced by him saying if had known how broken she would be he wouldn’t have started the divorce. My God, that one sentence of his absolutely enrages me. I’m still trying to put in words why it does. It takes two to make a marriage work. Most people don’t stray if all of their needs are being met. But many people become unhappy sometime in their marriage and aren’t unfaithful.

I can understand what his feelings were that led to his behavior but for me he is over and out when he strayed and treated her horribly.

what had happened to Khushi is bound to make just about anyone cynical. She is no different. It’s also true that she is a little in shock to how she has been treated by nearly EVERYONE in the last few months. Parents refusal to let her work, then push her to Shyam, then push her to Arnav was the last nail. Before this, at least she was trying to hold it together. Now she’s just resigned.

Originally posted by: TheSpark

What in the world. 🙄🙄🙄 Thread 2? Congratulations writerji. It's been 2 months and I Intentionaly stepped away from the world of fiction because already told u guys the main theme and infedlity remind me of my A and that MF Ba@t#rd. 😭😭. I was busy with my internship and project submission and u people already moved to thread 2..it is a miracle in our almost in the verge of death IPK forum. The last time I saw this type of activity in this forum was in 2018. After that many writers quit, few shift to wattpad, few started their own blog stories ( some of the best). The topic of infidelity won 😭. The last Story of ( not infedlity but divorce) I read about Arshi was of Ssanjjanika's aka Sandya's "The me within" where arnav and Khushi married very young arnav at the age of 22 and she I guess 18(i don't remember much) they had a son soon after. He at the age of 36 demand divorce because the domesticity is taking toll on him (or something along the Line that most of our parents r doing living in auto pilot mode, eating working sleeping). He and his 14 year is not that close. Khushi was a housewife how she reacted and emerged as a confident lady is the main story plot.

Now coming to this story, I need to read it from chapter 4 or 5 onwards I guess?

welcome Back! 😍😍

Even we’re a little shock at the appearance of thread 2 😅 but hope you can now indulge in some great discussion that goes on here :) in case you catch up up to the chapters by the time new one is up, we’ll be waiting for your thoughts :)

Thanks for suggesting the story. Looks like it’s another gem I am too late for because it’s gone to a private site 😭😭😭😭

Originally posted by: SwatStar_Arshi

Was he planning to contine affair with La behind her back? Now she is officially allowing him to that, lead his life while she leads hers...

I said long ago - but in real world the mental toll it takes on the partner that got cheated, takes years to heal and they still keep blaming and asking themselves what they could have done differently, when actually they are not at fault..

Khushi should build the courage to give him the divorce that he so desperately wanted and asking lawyers the fastest track process... She should not take an ounce of help from him to rebuild her own life and lead it to the fullest - Marry, have kids that she desired for so many many years... No woman who wants kids would ever like to be tagged as infertile but she was willing to go that route for him... This time she must trust her insinct to choose her partner, marry again and have wonderful babies beautiful inside out like her, she doesn't deserve to be lonely, depressed at all...

I agree. She doesn’t deserve to be lonely or depressed at all.

I know it’s fiction. But to say that Khushi can just go out and change things in her favour without any help would be highly unrealistic in my opinion. She has chosen to come back because she could not and does not want to walk out on her family who took the decision on her behalf. She absolutely did not want to come back, is angry and hurt by her parents action and did not talk to them, but listened to them anyway because she did not have an option. Her situation is not helping her shattered self respect at all.

Another thing I think I missed mentioning earlier, I do not think Arnav’s rendezvous with Lavanya was an ongoing affair, but a one time thing. At-least thats what my reading in one-go led me to believe and thats what my analysis is based on. I believe we will find that out, but yes, I would be absolutely destroyed if this was an ongoing affair because then he is not who I think he is. I think my evidence is just one line that he said to Akash while confessing.

“ I slept with Lavanya”.

Somehow this is speaking to me as if it was a ONS. Not that ONS is forgivable while an ongoing affair is not. But an ongoing affair would mean he rationalized it. It means he knew what he was doing to Khushi and kept doing it. That to me, does not seem like his character, but we really don’t know what he was thinking during that time of his life either….

Okay, now I am dreading the next chapter!

Originally posted by: You-Know-Who

Hi Arpita,

I spent the better part of today reading this story of yours and I just could not stay away from it! You have woven a story that is flawed, human and yet, incredibly beautiful. I understand that at this juncture in the story, the word beautiful might be controversial to use, but I started reading this story with an overall black or white thinking, but right now, as I am putting into words how I am feeling after reading this story in one go, I have to say that I can understand Arnav. Not condone him, but understand him. And believe me, I have always been a person to whom loyalty has been everything, and so this notion is very surprising to me, and unsettling as well.

Pardon me, this is going to be a long rambling post but I need to get my thoughts in order, and writing them out really helps with that. So yes, the word beautiful. I guess I am attributing that to your storytelling and the way you weave your words than anything else. I am generally not a fan of time skip stories because my anxiety-ridden brain does not enjoy keeping track of the order of the events and I have a major fear of missing out too, but I think that is an absolutely genius move for a story of this kind. I love how you pick out fitting scenes from the past that complement the present. This does not let you be biased against any of the characters. Well, mainly Arnav, because so far majority of the story has been from his point of view, describing the kind of person he is and the kind of life he has led so far, and what he is capable of.

I will talk about Arnav, but I want to talk about Khushi first, mainly because most of the story so far has shown us Khushi from Arnav’s point of view. The fact that I think Khushi is a simple, elegant, wise, breathtaking human being with an incredible capacity to give, is just a testament to exactly what Arnav thinks about her. Arnav knows that he would not have made it without her. Which is exactly why his first proclamation of love to her was when he truly accepted that Khushi was happy with him despite living in the conditions that he viewed as his personal shortcomings. Even in the last few chapters when Arnav is wracked with guilt over what he really did to Khushi and their marriage, he never once blames her. He blames everyone: their village, Lavanya and Manali, most of all himself but never Khushi. He does not even resent Khushi for what can be perceived as moving on too quickly after they filed for divorce. Yes, he is annoyed that Khushi cannot take a stand against their parents and that she was so self sacrificial that she would give up anything to make her parents happy, but he does not blame Khushi for it.

His thoughts:

“The next fit of rage drove his clenched fist to collide with the rigid wall next to him. Lavanya, Manali, Shyam, and entirety of Uma Nagar, he could personally throw all of these people into the fiery pits of hell and then take a plunge into the depths himself.”

Khushi remains as the one thing in his life that has been untouched by negativity, almost pious. She fell into his life like a stroke of luck. The exact kind of partner who would have weathered the life of struggle and supported him as he tried to get out of it. And what more, bring joy into his life while he was struggling.

No, I do not believe he never loved her. On the contrary, I think he loved her too much, almost worshipped her, and that coupled with his inability to make her happy or keep her happy pushed him to do what he did. He felt unworthy of her. And so he became. It’s the most obvious form of self-sabotage.

Arnav has spent majority of life in struggle, burning both of ends of the candle. That kind of life, leaves scars. Scars of always wanting to fix something, always wanting the struggle even if things are good. It is hard for such people to “not be struggling” at any point of time because that is not their natural state. I think something similar happened to Arnav. His life of money was taking him away from Khushi, and he realized that Khushi does not enjoy the kind of life he was leading. He could not even fulfill the one wish she has asked of him in years and this inadequacy is what Arnav cannot deal with. I believe thats what leads him to Lavanya. And look at the choice of partner he cheats with right? He neither respects Lavanya, nor loves her. He is aware of her immorality and yet he chooses that woman to cheat on his wife with? I think he already felt immoral and inadequate long before he even entertained the idea of Lavanya. Lavanya just helped him make it into a reality. Helped him justify that he was not worth Khushi.

Another thing that I noticed is how Arnav has absolutely zero emotional range to deal with any kind of loss. He does not dwell on, take a day to feel loss, but he just jumps on how best to fix it. And although, that is exactly what makes him so successful, it makes him unable to grieve properly. He dedicated most of his life to paying off loans for his father/sister at the cost of his comfort. And yet to hear from your own father that he didn’t do enough, or that he abandoned them… I cannot imagine how devastated he must be, but he just does not deal with it. A part of him must have felt some resentment for his parents then? But no, he just stays away, does not talk about it and does not deal with it. He does not even tell Khushi why exactly her frequent trips to Lucknow bother him so much. Yes, it is the push for the child by his family in Lucknow, their backward thinking, and something more that bothers him, but I think more than anything else it is the implicit choice that Khushi made of being more in Lucknow than with him that makes him believe that *even* Khushi must think his father is right. Khushi stood by him through thick and thin, but to him when the choice came between him and the “elders of the family” Khushi’s traditional nature invariably did not choose him. And that hurt! That is why he probably felt “suffocated” in domesticity. It was not the things that were said, but the things and feelings that were never said!

Which brings me to Khushi. The last chapter physically hurt me. Your words were so potent that I could actually *be* Khushi for a bit. Imagined myself in a place of a woman-child who made a man her god, her world. Who was so selfless that she never really expected much but the bare minimum. Who could compromise if her Arnav needed it a thousand times over. Who could probably just jump off a cliff if Arnav told her to. To be betrayed in such a fashion by that man? And to find out in such cruel manner must devastate anyone, but more than anyone: a pure soul like Khushi. Must make one person question everything in their life. Take away their sense of self. And that is exactly what happened with her.

And the most ironical thing of all is the exact qualities of Khushi that helped Arnav make a name for himself: her generosity, her selflessness, her easygoing nature, her zero “personal” expectations, are the qualities that pushed her away from Arnav once he made it big. I can marvel at the irony of it all, but it just makes me incredibly sad for them. Sad to see them grow as individuals but grow apart from each other.

I think we will see more of Khushi in the upcoming chapters, but when Khushi was first faced with going with Arnav to an office party she called Payal to help her groom. She was strong enough to face her insecurities and want to move with Arnav. But somewhere down the line she let her insecurities get better of her. The story mentions words like “Dehati”, villager etc for Khushi which does not make it hard to imagine she must have completely withdrawn from these kind of people after having seen their double standards and their cruelty up close. Possibly the high society’s cruelty further helped her enshrine her village, her family back home, the life she used to remember as a kid, basically her comfort zone. But I wish she had confided in Arnav. I wish she had not worshipped him as a God, and treated him as an equal. Because if she had done that, bared herself to be “human” in Arnav’s eyes then they both could have addressed their short comings together.

However, having said that, I do realize that it is incredibly easy to see all this as a third person, but hard to understand and accept when you’re living it.

Arpita, you have woven real, breathing characters that are flawed even in their supposed perfection, and absolutely perfect in their flaws. Thank you so much for sharing your words with us. It makes you appreciate the grey in life, makes you understand that people are messed up, and sometimes being too good is exactly what leads you to heartbreak.

I look forward to Arnav’s redemption, understanding where he went wrong, making it up to her, regardless of whether she forgives or not. I look forward to Khushi’s growth. To understand and accept herself and build an identity for herself outside of being Khushi Singh Raizada! Khushi is facing what looks like an insurmountable heartbreak, but I am sure a woman of her caliber and grace will only emerge out of it a diamond.

Awaiting the next chapter like a person who cannot look away from a road accident!

You know who, you know what! Your comment is bookmarked. I’ve had a silly goofy grin on my face while I read it :)

First of all, thank you for choosing to share in so much detail what you felt about the story as well as the characters. At this point it would be unfair to me to say whether what Arnav did was out of self sabotage or not, or why Khushi still chose to go to Lucknow and keep strong relationships with her family and in laws back home. We don’t know the motives for both characters yet. But yeah, there have been hints.

Arnav did think that Khushi was miserable with him and would continue to do so because she will choose her marriage over everything. He now realises that Khushi did it because she would rather choose him over everything. Khushi in one of her musings thinks that he will never show it, but he terribly misses his family. After all he was once the same boy who was ready to marry and leave every dream for his family. “I trust ma” was his whole reasoning for marrying her. So despite him telling her otherwise, she doesn’t let Lucknow go away. When his father came onboard, the only happiness in her head is thinking about Arnav and what would it finally mean to him.

You absolutely nailed what the characters were trying to portray. Yes, the younger Arnav was someone who was inherently responsible. Yes, the younger and even older Khushi is someone who would’ve jumped off a cliff if Arnav told her. You laid down perfectly the reasons for it too. Khushi has been brought up with that belief. That kind of love and devotion comes naturally to her. I loved the paragraph Shyami highlighted in her comment yesterday. Khushi’s absolute devotion was potent enough to bring Arnav to his knees.

Since you so precisely pointed out these following character traits for Arnav and Khushi , I want to come clean and outright say that you were correct, and here’s my additional two cents.

The two observations you made, are the two things that only Khushi and Arnav understand about each other. Nobody in their lives, including themselves understands it as well as their partner. Let me elaborate.

You said the kind of life Arnav lead leaves scars. Thanks for saying that first of all. It’s true! It doesn’t let them rest. They want to be of use ALL THE TIME. And only Khushi Raizada understands this about her husband. When Arnav couldn’t stay still during Payal’s delivery and wanted to rush to paperwork, she made him sit and says he doesn’t need to always be working in order to be of help. His being there was enough too. His friends wanted him there because he is a headstrong person and they could draw strength from him. But apart from Khushi, nobody else seem to understand this about Arnav. Not even him. So maybe Khushi put the bar on the ground because she is one person who doesn’t need any action from him to warrant her love.

Coming to Khushi and what only Arnav understands about her. Arnav had zero trust in her family back home. He admits to the doctor that he hasn’t been sleeping well since Khushi moved to Uma nagar. That’s because he knows her. You used the correct word. He knows just how self sacrificing she is when it comes to people she loves. He had truly believed that Khushi would choose him to save the marriage and be unhappy lifelong. He held himself back from going when he had a reason to believe that Khushi might be genuinely interested in the match. He heard the name Shyam jha and immediately understood what would’ve happened. He then rushes to get her back from Uma Nagar because he relises she had given up completely. This is precisely Arnav had been the only person in her life who championed for the idea of an identity beyond her family.

Keen eyed observation to say how Arnav deals with losses. He doesn’t. He goes on and about. Even when he was battling with missing Khushi, he goes to the doctor and tells her he can’t drive two companies to the ground because people depend on him for their livelihood. Wants to crawl into a hole and die after Khushi’s letter but realises that bringing Khushi to Mumbai was more important:)

Their actions will remain flawed. They have made mistakes. It’s already established. We can only learn in the coming up chapters as to what drove them. What was the motivation. :)

Again, thanks a lot for putting down a very lovely comment :)

Originally posted by: coderlady

Does he regret his actions? He does now. But its a little too late. He should have regretted the moment he came even close to Lavanya in any significant way. He should have regretted when he pushed his wife away when she kept reaching out to him. The need for companionship and loneliness does not apply to him. He had all that. He threw it away himself.

He is in deep pain and guilt now though. Not that it helps her in any way. Not at this time. There is room for redemption. It will not be an easy road though. There is no way to undo the damage. That crack will always be there. But he can make sure it diminishes with time. A long time.

Can she ever get those images out of her mind? She will compare herself with Lavanya at every step. Every thing he does, every gesture will be compared. Did he do that for Lavanya too?

How will he convince her that she is the one and will be the one?

you’re right coder. Khushi is doubting the entire decade of love. It is near impossible for Arnav to prove he ever loved her :/

You Know Who, I absolutely agree with you that it takes two to make or break a marriage. I’m not sure since you just started reading this fan fiction how many of the comments you have had time to read, and of course keeping track of who said what is almost an impossibility. But, I have always agreed that Khushi bore some responsibility and made mistakes in the marriage.

In my mind Arnav had a controlling nature which helped him get ahead in business but contributed to the inequality in their marriage. Khushi, by virtue of the many things I said earlier about their relationship, played into that inequality by her personality and upbringing. She made the mistake of never asserting herself and letting Arnav know her wants and needs. He understands her but is not a mind reader. I also believe that they could have weathered the storm as Khushi said, except for Arnav’s, for me as a person, unforgivable mistake. And we shall see with Khushi if she can truly forgive him. As I have repeatedly said, many marriages survive infidelity. With counseling perhaps they could have and still can now. But because of what Arnav added to the destruction of the marriage it may take longer if at all for the marriage to survive. Sometimes, one act overrides every other thing that has happened in a marriage. I would say most marriages don’t survive that betrayal of trust.

I also agree with you about how Arnav feels about his success and what he feels he deserves and have articulated that in earlier posts; maybe, not as well said as you. I believe the excitement of having made it, being exposed to less traditional thoughts and ways of living makes his domestic life feel suffocating. He pulls away from Khushi which is his way of dealing with problems, falls in with Lavenya and falls out of love with Khushi. He treats her abominably and realizes it. Thus he makes the decision in his guilt, that for her own good he will divorce her. And if she tries to hold on, as he thinks she will, he will use his adultery to get her to agree and as fast as possible.

I have always said I think at heart Arnav was a good honest person who takes his responsibilities seriously. But by virtue of being the son and what the rest of the family gave up for his education and shot at a better life there has also been a sense of entitlement. Yes, he worked hard, tried to give back to his family but by God, when he made it I will live my life now my way. His family was too traditional and he pulled away.

Horrible communication by both Arnav and Khushi. But Khushi tried as Arnav conceded she would if he had reached out. He however, wasn’t willing to and proceeded with the divorce in a most disgraceful, disrespectful way with Khushi.

So, no. Sorry! I may understand what he did but I have absolutely no sympathy for him. His mistake was too grave.

Originally posted by: BollyBabe75

You Know Who, I absolutely agree with you that it takes two to make or break a marriage. I’m not sure since you just started reading this fan fiction how many of the comments you have had time to read, and of course keeping track of who said what is almost an impossibility. But, I have always agreed that Khushi bore some responsibility and made mistakes in the marriage.

In my mind Arnav had a controlling nature which helped him get ahead in business but contributed to the inequality in their marriage. Khushi, by virtue of the many things I said earlier about their relationship, played into that inequality by her personality and upbringing. She made the mistake of never asserting herself and letting Arnav know her wants and needs. He understands her but is not a mind reader. I also believe that they could have weathered the storm as Khushi said, except for Arnav’s, for me as a person, unforgivable mistake. And we shall see with Khushi if she can truly forgive him. As I have repeatedly said, many marriages survive infidelity. With counseling perhaps they could have and still can now. But because of what Arnav added to the destruction of the marriage it may take longer if at all for the marriage to survive. Sometimes, one act overrides every other thing that has happened in a marriage. I would say most marriages don’t survive that betrayal of trust.

I also agree with you about how Arnav feels about his success and what he feels he deserves and have articulated that in earlier posts; maybe, not as well said as you. I believe the excitement of having made it, being exposed to less traditional thoughts and ways of living makes his domestic life feel suffocating. He pulls away from Khushi which is his way of dealing with problems, falls in with Lavenya and falls out of love with Khushi. He treats her abominably and realizes it. Thus he makes the decision in his guilt, that for her own good he will divorce her. And if she tries to hold on, as he thinks she will, he will use his adultery to get her to agree and as fast as possible.

I have always said I think at heart Arnav was a good honest person who takes his responsibilities seriously. But by virtue of being the son and what the rest of the family gave up for his education and shot at a better life there has also been a sense of entitlement. Yes, he worked hard, tried to give back to his family but by God, when he made it I will live my life now my way. His family was too traditional and he pulled away.

Horrible communication by both Arnav and Khushi. But Khushi tried as Arnav conceded she would if he had reached out. He however, wasn’t willing to and proceeded with the divorce in a most disgraceful, disrespectful way with Khushi.

So, no. Sorry! I my understand what he did but I have absolutely no sympathy for him. His mistake was too grave.

You’re correct in that I have not read any of the discussions that have happened so far. So, perhaps my comment is just a repetition of what has already been discussed. Thank you for indulging me.

I agree with most of what you said. They made horrible mistakes, most of all not communicating when things didnt go their way. Like Khushi as she was, was perfect for Arnav when they got married and Arnav was struggling. Arnav was perfect for Khushi because he gave her the freedom, Khushi had not thought was possible for someone like her. In a way their perceived insecurities also complemented each other. However, down the line they stopped being perfect for each other. Now, one could say that is because thats when their true differences started showing when Arnav was no longer in a phase where he constantly needed Khushi to bring him joy. There were other things in his life that gave him the sense of fulfilment and there is nothing wrong with that. For Khushi however what brought her joy never changed. It is tragic.

I am curious to know why you think the way he went about divorce is disgraceful and disrespectful? I think he truly convinced himself that he was no longer the right person for Khushi and Khushi would never concede to divorce (due to her traditional upbringing) even if she was not happy with him (which he truly believed she wasn’t). I believe he really wanted to have a talk with Khushi about it before going through with it as well. However, Khushi was too heartbroken after seeing the pictures to even talk about it. He did not anticipate that, neither did he anticipate Khushi knowing about it before he had a chance to talk to her. I honestly do not think in this situation there is a “graceful” way to get a divorce…

I think and I may be wrong, but I think he was convinced he was not worthy of Khushi (he could not give her a child, she was not happy in his world, he was dirty now since he slept with Lavanya). And hence he had to get a divorce. He would go about it as clinically as he has in life. But he truly did not realize how much Khushi still impacted him, or how important she still was in his life….

Originally posted by: You-Know-Who

You’re correct in that I have not read any of the discussions that have happened so far. So, perhaps my comment is just a repetition of what has already been discussed. Thank you for indulging me.

I agree with most of what you said. They made horrible mistakes, most of all not communicating when things didnt go their way. Like Khushi as she was, was perfect for Arnav when they got married and Arnav was struggling. Arnav was perfect for Khushi because he gave her the freedom, Khushi had not thought was possible for someone like her. In a way their perceived insecurities also complemented each other. However, down the line they stopped being perfect for each other. Now, one could say that is because thats when their true differences started showing when Arnav was no longer in a phase where he constantly needed Khushi to bring him joy. There were other things in his life that gave him the sense of fulfilment and there is nothing wrong with that. For Khushi however what brought her joy never changed. It is tragic.

I am curious to know why you think the way he went about divorce is disgraceful and disrespectful? I think he truly convinced himself that he was no longer the right person for Khushi and Khushi would never concede to divorce (due to her traditional upbringing) even if she was not happy with him (which he truly believed she wasn’t). I believe he really wanted to have a talk with Khushi about it before going through with it as well. However, Khushi was too heartbroken after seeing the pictures to even talk about it. He did not anticipate that, neither did he anticipate Khushi knowing about it before he had a chance to talk to her. I honestly do not think in this situation there is a “graceful” way to get a divorce…

I think and I may be wrong, but I think he was convinced he was not worthy of Khushi (he could not give her a child, she was not happy in his world, he was dirty now since he slept with Lavanya). And hence he had to get a divorce. He would go about it as clinically as he has in life. But he truly did not realize how much Khushi still impacted him, or how important she still was in his life….

Hey, I think I can answer what is the reason behind not liking how Arnav proceeded with the divorce. He didn’t communicate with Khushi about it first. Has lawyers ready. Almost everyone including his friends and secretary know what he was going to do. But I think what stings everyone the most, is that Lavanya was aware of the divorce and he discussed with her in the prologue when is he going to talk to Khushi.

Arpita,

I am so glad my comment made you happy :) The least I could do to return the favor for giving us a beautifully written *real* story!

I think I got most of what you shared in the comment from what I read. However, I think I missed focusing on the fact that Khushi probably wanted to go to Lucknow because she thought it was important to Arnav. Although, I do not believe Arnav thinks that. The problem with the kind of thinking where you think you know someone is that you may be right 99% of the time, but that 1% of the time is when things just get messed up. However I do not think Khushi was completely wrong either. Arnav does care about his parents even now. I think he felt betrayed by them on some level as well though. Its not exactly black and white!

I feel for Khushi though. There was a chapter where Arnav marvels the fact that Khushi always called his family as “our family”.

But in the last chapter, for the first time when Khushi confronts Arnav about Lavanya, she says “I was taking care of *your* family”. If that single statement is not a testament to how much she is hurt and how devastated she is, I do not know what is!!

A lot of stuff is obviously not clear yet, because the story is not complete. I look forward to your perspective and *your* characters!

I initially thought this story was on infidelity. But I do not think that anymore. I think this story is about growing apart even when you have loved each other with such devotion. Infidelity is a consequence, not the cause.

P.S. Do you have an ETA on the next update? I am wondering if I have the capacity to stay up since its late night here :)