The Unwanted Bride

5 - The Rishta

Side note: This book will not be big like MME. It will be of realistic length, probably 55 chapters max.

Typed: 05/12/2023
Chapter 5: The Rishta

Author's POV:

Everyone else had left and was waiting by the van for Khushi. She wasn't late, she was just paranoid that she left something behind. It was on her way out of her hotel room when she bumped into a familiar face.

Yug had grabbed her arms, steading her on her legs. It was the first time in her life that a man had reacted as quickly—if not quicker than her to remove his hands off her body. They hadn't realized this. Khushi missed this reaction too.

"I'm sorry," she gushed and then saw his face. "Yug."

His name sounded like a breath of fresh air from her mouth. "Khushi." He swiftly checked her out. Khushi was wearing a plain white kurta, with a slit on the side of the kurta, just above her thigh, showing her blue jeans. Her hair was tied back, perhaps in a messy bun. If she was wearing any makeup, it was gone unnoticed by him, especially her eyes, they looked vibrant even behind the black framed glasses. This was the first and last time—according to him—that he'd see her in glasses.

"Khushi." He nods and smiles in acknowledgement. "I wasn't watching too, I'm sorry." He was civil and nice. Not that she thought he was awful by character, but it seems like Yug is nicer outside of games. "You're leaving."

A statement.

She nods. "Yeah, umm, my trips over." She nodded, uneasy suddenly. It's not that Yug's a large person. He's not huge. Khushi, as a humble person she is, would describe Yug as someone just above average. A young man, in his late twenties maybe, black hair, extremely light brown eyes with a dimple. Physically he's fit, not too buffed or skinny, he's in between but definitely someone who pays gym a visit.

He's definitely handsome though. She could confirm that much.

His face breaks into a smile. "I hope it was restful. It was great meeting you." Yug ends up extending his hand to Khushi, waiting for a firm shake. Her eyes flatter at the unpredictable action. Khushi's profession requires shaking hand with everyone but this was not her client nor a friend.

His face was so sincerely pleasant to look at and innocent. Not the innocent that can be linked to victimization but the opposite. He's harmless. She's in the middle of a hotel's hallway, what could he do? What could she do?

Moving her hand away from her thigh, Khushi clasps it with Yug's. "Likewise." His generous smile is matched with her equally enchanting smile that could silence the clocks in any room and cage them.

~

Her father's voice was loud and clear, yelling at Isha when Khushi returned from work. "You lied Khushi." That's all she needed to hear the understand. Her father knew. Her father knew they went to Goa without telling them.

"Papa—I" she looked down, helpless. "I'm sorry, it was my fault. I should have told you."

"Everything in this house is your fault, Khushi," her step mum shouted on top of her lungs. Both the girls flinched.

Isha hadn't meant to tell them, it slipped off her tongue. "She's getting out of hand," her step mum warned her husband. "Not just that, if she spends the rest of her life divorcing others, she'll never settle down herself."

Khushi felt betrayed. Dejected. "Ma," Isha tries to interrupt but her mother silences her with her glare. "Find someone. She's getting old day by day."