Making Her Mine- An IPKKND story.

Chapter 10 - Eureka!

"I need to go out for a bit," Arnav declared to the family in the afternoon. "I'll be back in a couple of hours. Uh, Aunty, do you want me to bring anything?"

"Call her Amma, not Aunty," Khushi said from behind her. Arnav ignored her.

"No, bitwa, nothing," Garima Aunty said, smiling warmly at him.

He smirked as he made his way to the car. He was going to one-up Khushi, who thought she was oh-so-smart. She knew just the things to do to push his buttons; he had to admit. But he was Arnav Singh Raizada.

He was still smiling as he picked up things at the gourmet grocery store he had found online. He could have asked Aman, but he had decided, on impulse, that he'd like to do all the shopping himself. Somehow he had been feeling like his college self—free from the stifling world that his family could be sometimes. Away from the shadow of the past and the tragedy that had torn his family to pieces—his grandparents, Mamaji and Mami, and Di.

Arnav's plan was, of course, to cook for the Gupta household tonight. He wasn't going to try making dal-chawal; that was going to be a flop in that halwai family. But back in college, girls were always impressed when he cooked- not that he was trying to impress anyone. But it wouldn't hurt to surprise Khushi. Make her eat her words along with his pasta. The thought of her face when he would serve them dinner later made him smile a little bit wider. And of course, he'd get to eat something other than boiled vegetables for a change. Two birds, one stone.

As he piled his grocery basket with ingredients, finding each thing and checking it off on his checklist, Arnav's mind went to his other problem.

Shyam.

He had left that slimy Shyam at Shantivan, with Di, when all he really wanted to do—had wanted to do since Akash and Payal's wedding day—had been to punch the living daylights out of that man. But he couldn't. Because Di worshipped that vile creature, and she was pregnant.

And while he had half his anger turned toward Khushi, he was still ready to bide his time until the baby was born to kick them both out of Shantivan and from their lives.

But now that it turned out Khushi had been innocent all along, and Shyam had not only been unfaithful to Di—not only told those disgusting lies about Khushi when he was confronted—but had been tormenting Khushi under his roof this whole time—

A fresh wave of anger surged through Arnav as he remembered how at Holi, Shyam had dogged Khushi, trying to smear red gulaal on her. He saw clearly now what he had failed to understand then—Khushi's fear, revulsion, and helplessness, while Shyam dared to try and put the red on her face in front of the whole family. And her relief when Arnav had stepped in to stop Shyam just in time.

Arnav could no longer wait for the baby to be born, when his six-month marriage to Khushi was to end. No, something had to be done about Shyam now. He couldn't tolerate that turd of a human being in his home anymore, hovering around Di and Khushi.

On his instructions, Aman had hired private investigators to look into Shyam discreetly. Something was bound to come up. Something incriminating and solid enough for Di to believe, and for Arnav to get rid of Shyam forever.

Until then, he had to let that slime of a man live in his house with Di, no matter how much the thought revolted him. He couldn't afford to act out his impulse of beating that man to a pulp and throwing him bodily out of the house. He had to be patient.

All he could do in the meantime was fix things with Khushi and get her to accept their marriage. Be with him forever. He knew she wanted that too, even if she was angry now. She couldn't be angry with him forever.

Even at their worst, Khushi had forgotten everything to care for him. Even when she hadn't understood why he had done what he had, she had taken care of him and worried about him. And now, she knew why he had done everything. That it was a misunderstanding—a horrible one, but understandable, given the circumstances. She would come around eventually.