𝓛𝓸𝓼𝓽 𝓒𝓸𝓷𝓷𝓮𝓬𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓕𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓭 𝓑𝓸𝓷𝓭𝓼 [*Complete*]

Ch. 10 ⭐

Khushi and Nandini reached Shantian (Raizada mansion) half an hour later. Garima had packed a few sweet and dry fruit boxes to take along with them. Khushi wore her usual style salwar suit in a yellow-green combination, while Nandini opted for a casual short blue kurti with a pair of jeans. Devyani and Anjali were in the pooja room when Khushi greeted them. Anjali beamed at her in greeting. "Khushi ji, you're here? Didn't you take three days off for Diwali?" she inquired curiously.

"I did. But I came to invite you all to our house for Diwali," Khushi replied with an excited smile.

"Oh... That would be wonderful. We can formally meet your whole family this way," Devyani said, exchanging a knowing look with Anjali. Then, she noticed Nandini. "Who is this beautiful young lady?" she asked with a warm smile.

Khushi grinned widely, "Nani ji, Anjali ji, this is my biological younger sister, Nandini," she introduced proudly.

"Namaste," Nandini greeted, joining her hands together.

"What a sweet girl! How many years younger are you than our Khushi ji?" Anjali asked Nandini, cupping her face.

"I'm two years younger than di," Nandini replied with a shy smile.

"What do you do, bitiya?" Devyani asked, affectionately.

"I'm a student at SPACE academy... freshman year."

"SPACE academy? Doesn't that academy specialize in music?" Anjali inquired as she led Khushi and Nandini to the living room.

"Yes... but it also has a good science program," Nandini answered.

Everyone sat in the living room and started chitchatting. Nandini really liked Devyani and Anjali. Soon enough, Manorama, Devyani's daughter-in-law, joined them and added her own version of comic relief to their conversation.

Suddenly, Khushi asked Anjali, "Anjali ji, Arnav ji ghar pe hai kya?" (Is Arnav home?)

"Yeah. He's in his room," Anjali replied.

"AH... would it be okay if..." Khushi hesitated.

"What is it, Khushi ji?" Anjali asked curiously.

"Um... can I go to his room? I want to invite him for Diwali as well," Khushi replied hurriedly, relieved to have found a reasonable explanation.

"Khushi bitiya, you never have to ask permission to go ANYWHERE in this house," Devyani told her firmly. "We trust you completely." Khushi gave them a smile before she got up and went upstairs.

Khushi entered Arnav's room with a determined look on her face, her eyes fixed on him as he worked diligently on his laptop. The atmosphere in the room shifted the moment she closed the door behind her. Arnav looked up, sensing her presence, and his gaze locked onto her.

She walked closer, her eyes never leaving his face. "Arnav ji, what's the meaning of all this?" Khushi questioned, her tone laced with a subtle demand for an explanation.

Arnav continued typing on his laptop, deliberately ignoring her. "Meaning of what, Khushi?" he asked in a bored tone.

She huffed in frustration, her patience wearing thin. "Don't act innocent, Arnav ji. What was the meaning of sending that lehenga yesterday? Do you have any idea how embarrassing it was? Everyone was teasing me. Bhaiya was there with me. And how did you know where we were? And how did you even know that we decided on the color green?" she asked in rapid succession as she paced in front of his coffee table.

Arnav finally looked up, his gaze intense and penetrating. "What's so embarrassing about it, Khushi? It's just a dress." he told her arrogantly. "And as for the color, let's just say I have my ways of finding out things."