Part 3
Arnav left the Gupta household in what felt like slow motion. His mind had still not registered what had just happened back there. His knees felt weak, and he felt sick - can this really be it? he thought. His head spun, thoughts of every moment he spent with Khushi coming thick and fast. He longed to go back, to explain himself and show her how much she meant to him, but he knew that she would not believe a word of it. Instead, he did what he always did - he pulled his car door open, rushed inside and accelerated as hard as he could. Maybe if he drove fast or tried to distract himself somehow, he wouldn't think of her. He would forget. Yes. Arnav Singh Raizada shows weakness for no one, he assured himself. He sped off in his car without so much as a glance back.
Khushi sat, rooted to the spot where she had been when Arnav walked away. That's it. I've lost him forever. She felt... numb. Eventually, the tears stopped flowing and she felt exhausted. She swore to herself that she would never shed a tear for that man again. In fact, she should be happy that she was free from that monster. He obviously didn't give a damn about her, so why should she care about him at all? Still, a part of her had hoped that he would fight for her, prove her wrong, show her that he did care. But how could he show her something that wasn't true? The marriage had been a game for him, a way for him to hurt her and bring her as much pain as possible. So why did Khushi think for a second that he would ever genuinely care for her?
After driving around for hours, Arnav finally came to a sudden halt outside his mansion. He opened the door of his car, when memories began flooding back once again - he remembered the times he had stopped the car like this before and thrown her out, treating her like nothing but a piece of rubbish. As he stepped out of his car, he dropped his keys. He bent down to retrieve them, when he caught sight of his reflection in the wing mirror.
"You're cold inside and out."
"You had every intention to ruin my life from the day you first met me!"
"I pity you, Mr. Raizada. I really do."
Arnav glared at his reflection, the rage and self-loathing steadily building up. Her words kept playing in his mind, over and over again. Khushi... his Khushi. Why did he ever doubt her? Why was he so stupid? Why was he so blind?
Arnav lashed out, his self-hatred reaching boiling point. He smashed the wing mirror to smithereens with his bare hand, not caring that his blood was pouring out of his hand. With every strike, he remembered her. Her smile, her innocence, how much she took care of him despite all he had put her through. After all of that, I still walked away. I left her when she needed me most. He kept attacking his car until he couldn't feel his hands anymore, then he stormed into his house.
Anjali was sat in the living area, and abruptly stood up when he saw Arnav enter.
"Chote? How did it-"
"Not now Di." He attempted to brush past her, when she caught hold of his hand and saw the blood, which had created a trail behind him.
"Chote?! What happened? How-"
Arnav flipped. "JUST LEAVE ME ALONE DI! I can take care of myself, dammit!" With that, Arnav stormed upstairs.
Anjali was in shock - Arnav had never spoken to her like that before. What happened between him and Khushi? she wondered.
Arnav slammed his bedroom door shut and went in search for a bandage for his hand. He emerged from the bathroom, first aid kit in hand, when he heard a voice.
"Back so soon, Arnav?"
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