Ajeeb Dastan Hai Yeh

Chapter 101 Khushi Reveals

The grand hall, once alive with the sounds of celebration, now stood eerily quiet, the warmth of festivity fading into an empty stillness. The soft rustle of curtains and the distant clatter of leftover dishes being cleared were the only remnants of the wedding that had just taken place. In the dim corridor just behind the hall, Khushi's footsteps echoed lightly, the soft taps growing louder as she approached her mother, Maya. Her face, usually so full of youthful innocence, was now etched with a complicated mix of defiance, sorrow, and the weight of her mother's wrath.

Maya stood apart, her back turned to the deserted hall, her rigid posture a stark contrast to the joy that had filled the air only moments before. The dim light of the corridor cast harsh shadows across her face, deepening the sharp lines of her frustration and anger. Her eyes, cold and calculating, flickered with an intensity that sent a shiver through the silence. The wedding she had so desperately sought to sabotage had gone on, unscathed by her meddling, and the bitterness of her failure clung to her like a second skin.

As Khushi neared her, Maya's eyes shifted, locking onto her daughter with a cold, unyielding gaze. Her lips curled into a sneer, the fury she had held back now simmering just beneath the surface.

"Maine tumpe bharosa kiya tha," Maya hissed, her voice low but laced with venom. "Aur tum yeh shaadi nahi rok paayi." The sharpness in her tone cut through the quiet like a blade, each word dripping with bitter disappointment.

Khushi's shoulders slumped involuntarily at her mother's words, the weight of failure pressing down on her. Her throat tightened as she fought to hold back the tears threatening to spill over. "Maa, aapne dekha na, maine koshish ki thi," she murmured, her voice trembling. The guilt in her chest felt suffocating, an oppressive force crushing her beneath its weight.

Maya's expression hardened, her scowl deepening with every word her daughter spoke. Her disappointment, once a simmering ember, now flared into a full blaze of anger. "Koshish?" Maya spat, her eyes narrowing into slits. "Yeh thi tumhari koshish?" Her voice rose, the bitter frustration boiling over. "Khushi, you ruined my plan!"

The harshness of her accusation hit Khushi like a blow. She had always craved her mother's approval, desperately trying to please her despite the toxic nature of their relationship. But now, standing before Maya, with the failure of her attempts glaring in the space between them, Khushi could no longer hold back the flood of emotions.

Tears, hot and unchecked, slipped down her cheeks, her defiant mask cracking under the weight of Maya's scorn. "Sorry, maa..." she whispered, her voice barely audible, choked by the overwhelming sense of shame and defeat. She had tried—tried so hard to make her mother happy, to be the daughter Maya wanted her to be—but nothing was ever enough.

Maya's face twisted further, the sight of her daughter's tears doing nothing to soften her anger. If anything, it only fueled her rage. "Kya karun main tumhare sorry ka?" she barked, her voice rising to a furious crescendo that echoed through the empty corridor. The cruelty in her words pierced the air, her wrath now fully unleashed.

Khushi flinched at the harshness of her mother's tone, her tears flowing more freely now. There was no comfort to be found in Maya's eyes, no hint of warmth or understanding. Just cold, calculating anger.

"Jao yahan se!" Maya's shout reverberated off the stone walls, the finality of her command hanging in the air like a death knell. Her voice, dripping with disdain, was a cruel dismissal.

But Khushi, wiping her tear-streaked face, paused for a moment, her lips curling into a small, bitter smile. It wasn't the smile of someone defeated, but of someone who had seen through the lies, who had finally come into her own power. There was a coldness to her expression, a defiance that had long been buried under the weight of her mother's manipulation.