18

Khushi

"Are you sure you are fine, Khushi? Tell me if you feel any discomfort or pain. I can cancel all the meetings and stay with you today, too," Arnav says to me, and I force my lips to curve, pretending to give him a small smile.

"No, Arnav. It has already been two weeks since I got discharged from the hospital. You have been staying at home since then. You need to go to the office too."

"But, Khushi--" He begins, but I interrupt him.

"Go to the office, Arnav. I will call you if I need something."

"If you say so, then I will go. But do call me the minute you do not feel well. I will come running. Ok?" Arnav asks, affectionately stroking my hair, and I nod, fisting my hands beneath the duvet to stop myself from pushing him away.

"Take care, Khushi. I love you," he says and looks at me intently.

"I love you too, Arnav." I do not let emotions betray me as I say those meaningless words to him. Not wanting to make him suspicious, as I say those words, I also give him a fake smile I have perfected in the last two weeks.

Kissing my forehead, he bids me goodbye, and turning around, he walks out of the door.

As soon as he is out of the room, I drop my smile, the anger replacing it.

I start counting from 1 to 100, trying to calm my anger while I wait to hear his car start and drive away from the front pavement.

Once he drives away, I take the duvet off my body and climb down the bed.

Then, I walk to the bathroom and stand beneath the showerhead. Turning on the shower, I aggressively wash my hair and forehead, trying to remove the memory of his nasty touch.

I keep scrubbing until I felt my scalp throb and my forehead sting.

After it is done, I walk out of the bathroom and go to the cupboard, which now contains a variety of salwar suits and saris. There is not even one nighty inside the cupboard.

A wry smile curves my lips, knowing why it is so.

It is because Arnav Rathore is scared that one day I will regain my memory. That is why he brought me to a new home from the hospital. He does not want to show me anything that can trigger my memory.

Little does he know, I did not lose my memory in the first place.

I had to pretend because after what Arnav did that day, I realized I could not just leave without punishing him for his crimes.

I still remember each detail of what happened that day after he let me go, letting me lock him and his bodyguards in the room.

*********

Running out of the main gate, I closed my eyes to let the tears fall. I slumped on the floor and sobbed, the relief of finally escaping the prison and its monster making me emotional.

After crying for a while, I controlled my emotions and wiped the tears.

I cannot waste my time now. Although Arnav let me go, I could not trust his words.

Before he does something, I need to bail my parents out and disappear to a place where Arnav and other Rathores, including Priya, would never find us.

Just thinking about Priya made my blood boil. She also had a hand in making my parents suffer. How could she? She is their daughter, their blood, and still, she did not hesitate to agree with Arnav's plan and also did not do anything even after knowing they are in prison.

Shaking my head, I started walking, looking around the road to see if anyone could give me a lift to the police station.

It was already dark and still drizzling, but I needed to reach the police station and free my parents as soon as possible. I do not want them to spend another second in jail for a crime they did not commit.

Luckily, I saw a few cars heading toward me.

Running to the side of the road, I tried to stop the cars. Two of them did not stop, but, thankfully, the third one stopped. The driver slid down the window, and I was relieved to see she was a lady.

After what Arnav has done to me, I don't think I will ever feel safe being alone with a man.

Shaking that thought and taking a deep breath, I bent down to the car's window to talk with the lady.

"Thank you for stopping. Could you please give me a lift? Please," I requested and breathed a sigh of relief when she agreed.

*****************

Reaching the police station where my parents were imprisoned, I climbed down the car and thanked the kind lady.

After bidding her goodbye, I walked inside the police station.

"I am here to take back the complaint registered against Mr. Satish Agarwal and Mrs. Amrita Agarwal," I directly said to the inspector there, fully expecting him to ask me many questions and completing the paperwork before letting my parents free.

But to my surprise, he just nodded and forwarded me a file.

"I received a call from Mr. Arnav Rathore a while back. He told me there had been some misunderstanding regarding this matter which has now been cleared.

In fact, Mr. Rathore's lawyer also was present here an hour back. He is the one who brought that file. All you need is to sign that later citing that the FIR was a misunderstanding. I will then bring out your parents from jail," the inspector told me, and I frowned at him.

I did not trust Arnav anymore, which is why I read the letter made by his lawyer thoroughly before signing it and giving it to the inspector.

"Perfect, Ma'am. You wait here. I will bring your parents." Saying that to me, he walked away, and I started waiting for my parents to come out.

*************

After a tearful reunion and heartfelt apology, I walked out of the police station with my parents, a hopeful smile on my face that after everything that had happened to me in the past few weeks, maybe finally, it was time to open a new chapter in my life.

Yes, the trauma of those days will remain forever with me, and I don't know how long it will take me to heal or if I will ever heal, but at least I am free of that man and free from that prison. For now, that much is enough for me.

'One step at a time, Khushi.' I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself.

We were quietly walking away from the police station, and I began thinking about where we would go. We cannot return to our home as Arnav and other Rathores can find us there. After everything, I do not want any Rathores or even their shadows to befall us.

I continued to walk, lost in my thoughts, but stopped when suddenly Maa kept a hand on my shoulder and made me look at her.

"Khushi, please tell us, what happened that night after we got arrested?" Maa asked me the question, and I noticed Papa, too, looking at me, waiting for the answer.

I didn't know what to tell them. They are just out of prison after spending weeks there for a crime they did not commit. And now, how can I tell them that, in their absence, I was forced to marry Arnav Rathore, who repeatedly raped and abused me?

"Maa, let us first find a safe place where we can stay. We will talk then." I evaded the question, not knowing how long I could do that.

"Child, tell us. Did something bad happen? Did Arnav also get you arrested? Is that why it took you time to get us free? And where is Priya? Did she help you? Why is she not with you now?" Papa bombarded me with questions to which I had no answer.

What do I tell him?

Do I tell him, yes, something terrible happened to me? Do I tell him, yes, Arnav imprisoned me, and that prison was worse than hell? Do I tell him Priya betrayed not only me but also her parents?

I shook my head, knowing I was not ready to answer them. I know I will have to tell them everything someday but not just yet. Maybe some other time when I gather enough courage and prepare myself to see their hurt faces after breaking their hearts with truthful answers to their questions.

Deciding to ask for some time from them, I turned towards my parents to tell them just that, but my eyes widened when I saw a man standing behind my parents.

He was the same man who I had seen at Rathore mansion that day when I was running from Niranjan. He was threatening that girl.

I was told it was my hallucination, but I know it was not. Since I now know the truth of the main culprit who weaved this web of lies, I know nothing was my hallucination.

Not thinking anything else, I immediately caught the hands of my parents. "Maa, Papa, our lives are in danger. Run. We need to get to the police station fast."

I told them, and although confused, they seemed to heed my advice and turned to run to the police station which was just a kilometer away. But we stopped when four other men surrounded us, leaving us with no place to escape.

*****************

My chain of recollection breaks when I hear a shattering sound.

Looking around, I see a vase now shattered into pieces.

With my body trembling with anger and shaking hands, I realize I threw that vase in my anger.

The anger toward Arnav Rathore.

If only he had not done what he did that day, my parents would have been safe.

But now, because of him, they are in ICU as they slipped into a coma after the accident that day.

I begged you to let me go, Arnav, but you did everything in your power to keep me with you. You not only broke me, but because of you, my parents' lives are in danger too.

I am back with you now, but only to make you regret. I will make you rue the day you denied to let me go. You have shattered me, leaving only hurt and trauma along with my broken soul.

And now, it is my turn to finish you.