Sensitive content ahead. Reader's discretion is advised.
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Anjali
"Ar..Arn..avv.." I pretended to call my brother's name with some difficulty, and as I had expected, he was immediately by my side.
"Yes, Anjali. I am here. And you are home now. I am sorry I wasn't able to protect you before, but I promise I will not let anything happen to you from now on."
I inwardly smirked with the cognizance that my truth is still not out. Arnav is as oblivious to my real face as he was before.
But I needed to know what happened after Niranjan and I got injured that night.
When I had woken up from coma three weeks back, the doctors had informed me I had been in that state for almost two months.
So, I also needed to know what changed in those two months when I was out of it.
"I... I still have..." I paused for a moment, caressing my throat and rubbing my temple to show my idiot brother that I am still weak.
"Arnav, that night's memory is still foggy to me." I paused again, clearing my throat this time. "Can you please tell me what happened that night? How did I get shot?"
I noticed Arnav frown when he heard the question.
"Do you really not remember anything, Anjali?" He asked me. "It was only you, Niranjan, and Khushi, who were in that room on the night of the incident.
"Niranjan has been on the run ever since you got attacked that day in the hospital. It had been a sheer co-incidence that he also woke up from his coma the day you woke up. But maybe he realized that his truth has been out, which is why he ran away.
"And, Khushi, well, she refuses to say anything to me about that night. And that is understandable given the state of our relationship. That is why I had been hoping you would tell me the truth," Arnav finished speaking.
'So, the ball is still in my court. Arnav does not know what happened that night.'
That thought almost brought a smile to my face, but I schooled my expression, making my face that of a teary one.
"Niranjan....was saying....and Khushi...." I brought the perfect mix of desperation and sadness in my voice.
I know how to manipulate Arnav with the façade of a poor virtuous woman. After all, I have been doing it for a long time now.
Arnav gently kept his hand over mine and squeezed it reassuringly.
"Don't worry about Niranjan, Anjali. I promise you I will find him and punish him for his deeds. As for Khushi, she is innocent in what happened that night. I had been wrong in punishing her for that," Arnav said, and I frowned at him.
For his first statement, well, I am not sure how he will find and punish a dead man.
But the other statement about Khushi being innocent. I can't let him think that. Because Khushi knows my truth, and if Arnav began to believe in her innocence, he might also believe her when she tells him about the darkness within me.
That was the reason why I had hired that man and staged the whole thing about him attacking me. I had even instructed him to get caught and take Khushi's name so that Arnav's misunderstanding and mistrust in Khushi would rise. And that man had also done his work perfectly.
'Then why is Arnav telling me about Khushi being innocent?'
"But that night, Niranjan was saying Khushi seduced him." I needed to know what changed that Arnav now knows about Khushi's innocence in that matter.
"Niranjan was lying, Anjali. A guest lecturer at Khushi's university told me he had been there during this whole fiasco. He also confirmed that it was Niranjan who had been relentlessly pursuing Khushi, not the other way around."
When I heard that, I inwardly groaned, angry that Arnav knew the truth which I had so carefully hidden from him. Outwardly however, I gasped, pretending to look shocked at the revelation.
"It means Niranjan lied that night? And because of him, we all doubted Khushi. Even put forth the condition that if she wants her sister to get married to Aashish, she will have to marry you." I let few water drops escape my eyes.
I can't say them tears if they don't represent sadness or happiness, can I?
And anyway, that night's whole plan had been mine. That imbecile Niranjan is not capable of even thinking such elaborate plan, let alone carry it out. He had been my puppet that night, and I, as usual, had been his puppeteer.
"It was my fault too, Anjali. I did not see the truth in Khushi's tears, and could not see through Niranjan's manipulation too. I became such a monster in my misunderstanding that I found satisfaction in hearing Khushi's cries and screams when I used to punish her," Arnav said, his voice marred with regret, and I looked at him in genuine surprise. I had no idea about this.
"What punishment, Arnav?" I asked, wanting to know.
And when Arnav started telling me everything, from his wedding night to the night he lashed out at Khushi for sending someone to attack me, a devious plan started forming in my mind.
After all, Khushi still needs to be punished for interfering in my plan. I cannot let her go without first showing her the consequences of messing with my plan, can I?
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Khushi
Sitting at the corner of the room, I drew my knees to my chest and rocked forward and backward. My fear getting the best of me.
"I know the whole truth, Khushi. You don't need to come and tell me about my husband's past because I know everything about him."
"You saw something you should not have seen. Now I need to do something about it even though I don't want to."
"You love your family, don't you, Khushi? So, for that love you will need to keep quiet. You know what I am capable of, don't you? After all, you have seen all the bodies, haven't you?"
I felt my whole body being lined with goosebumps as I remembered that horrendous scene. All that blood, the bodies.
A wave of nausea washed over me and I quickly stood up and ran to the bathroom.
After emptying all the contents of my stomach, I brushed my teeth and washed my face. Then, walking out of the bathroom, I laid on the bed and covered myself with the blanket.
I felt cold, and I knew that cold was not due to the weather. It was the thoughts of that woman and her deeds that has frozen my insides.
As I closed my eyes to retire for the night, I hoped that my sleep would not be plagued by the nightmares regarding that woman.
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Third Person's POV
A finger trailing over her cheek broke Khushi's sleep and she opened her eyes.
She was still sleepy, her eyes hardly opening. But when she opened them and saw the person sitting on the edge of the bed, all her sleep flew out of her system and she quickly sat on the bed.
"Arnav, what are you doing?" Khushi asked Arnav, trying to move his hand away from her face but he clutched her jaw tightly.
She was confused why he was doing so when just few weeks back, while apologizing, he had promised he would never touch her without her wish.
"I was wrong to have been lenient with you, Khushi," he began. "But I have understood now, I need to keep instilling my fear in you. So, you would never dare to hurt my loved ones and never even think of leaving me."
His breath smelled of alcohol and Khushi felt bile rise in her with the way he started clutching her waist.
"No, Arnav... No." Khushi pushed him away, and tried to run away, climbing down from the bed.
But Arnav grabbed her ankle and pulled her back to him, making her fall face down on the bed.
"You had promised, Arnav. Leave me. I SAID LEAVE ME," Khushi shouted, trying her best to get away from Arnav.
"And you had not believed in my promise then, had you, Khushi? So, all I am doing is proving you were right in not believing me," Arnav countered, crushing Khushi underneath him with all his weight.
After some time, when Khushi started getting tired, Arnav noticed her struggles decreasing.
Taking the chance, he lifted his body a bit, and suddenly flipped Khushi, so now she was lying beneath him, facing him.
"Now, my wife, let me give you all the reasons to fear me and....," Arnav said, leaning towards Khushi. Once he was closer to her, he whispered in her ear. "....be with me forever."
Saying that, Arnav tightened his hold on Khushi, wanting nothing else than claim her as his, whether she wanted it or not.