"Bhaiya, I need to tell you something," Khushi said nervously as she sat next to him on the swing chair on her balcony. She looked at him, lost in thought, his eyes fixed on the dark sky.
"Hmm batao!" he turned to her, "If you want to talk about your genie, then I'm sorry. I'll be more careful when I mention him. It seems like he affects you so much that you even got mad at your brother for a moment. I noticed you avoiding eye contact with me when I asked him to keep things professional with you," he added in a light hearted tone.
Khushi offered a small smile and shook her head, "No, it's not about Arnav ji," she said, her smile fading as she glanced at him with a serious and slightly nervous expression. "It's about Anjali."
"What did she do this time?" Shyam frowned as he attentively looked at Khushi.
"She came to AR today. She brought Aman to me to make him admit that he was the one who convinced her to help him. But then Aman ended up blurting out that she actually agreed to help him because she wanted me to get married quickly so you would take the next step in your relationship with her. Anjali wanted to marry you so she could get away from her family, but she knew you wouldn't agree to get married before me."
Shyam sat there quietly, taking a moment to process the information he had just received. As the realization dawned upon him, his eyes welled up with tears. He could not believe he could be even more disappointed in Anjali. His heart ached to see that his gentle, kind-hearted, and ever-smiling Anjali had transformed into someone he no longer recognized.
Khushi became concerned as she observed tears streaming down his face. She gently placed her hands on his cheeks and said, "Bhaiya, please don't cry. Now, it doesn't even bother me. I don't care about them anymore. We should forget everything that happened and move on in our lives."
"I love her," Shyam broke down, "I really love her, Khushi. You have no idea how disappointed I was with Anjali when she tried to convince me to let you get back with Aman. Deep down, I kept telling myself that it was just a phase and that she would eventually realize that Aman isn't the right guy for you. I thought she would come to me and admit that I was right, and everything would be okay. But that didn't happen. Things just kept getting worse. At first, I thought she was just being naive, thinking that you and Aman were truly in love and that's why she was upset about you two being separated. But then now I find out that she was involved in all this for her own selfish reasons. It breaks my heart to hear all this from you. It's not that I didn't love her or never thought about marrying her. I just wanted to make sure you were settled in your life and that I was financially stable before I approached her parents and asked for her hand in marriage. I wanted to be able to confidently tell them that I could take care of their daughter. I didn't know she was also silently fighting for me by playing with my sister's life. She knows you mean life to me. Why did she do this to me?"
Khushi gazed at him with tears welling up in her eyes before she pulled him into a tight and comforting hug. Shyam rested his head on her shoulders and wept profusely.
She gazed upwards, attempting to maintain her composure and prevent herself from succumbing to tears upon witnessing the devastated condition of her brother. She noticed two twinkling stars and assumed that they were their parents watching over them. Silently seeking their support for the decision she was about to make for her brother's sake, she gently released the embrace and cupped Shyam's face once more, wiping away the tears from his cheeks. She then urged him to look into her eyes, saying, "Bhaiya, please look at me."
"If you truly love Anjali and your happiness is dependent on hers, I am willing to overlook her past actions and forgive her. I just can't see my bhaiya breaking down like this. I want my old bhaiya back. I can't see you sad like this," Khushi expressed with a subtle determination in her voice.
