Making Her Mine- An IPKKND story.

Chapter 28 - Remorse

Arnav had forced himself to return to the wedding and stand beside Khushi as Ankur and Preeto got married.

Soft smiles adorned the bride and groom's faces as they glanced at each other throughout the ceremony. Arnav remembered the shy, nervous glances that Akash and Payal had exchanged at their wedding, full of love. Khushi had tears in her eyes when he smeared vermilion powder in the part of her hair.

When the ceremony ended and they returned to Buaji's house, Arnav grabbed his change of clothes and headed for the bathroom. He stood at the sink for a moment, took a deep breath, and noticed he was missing his T-shirt.

As he turned to go back to their room, he heard Khushi's Amma speaking in a low voice inside. He meant to creep in and pick up his T-shirt but froze when he heard his own name.

"Arnav bitwa is a good man," Garima Aunty was saying. "At first, I was worried that maybe—because Payal said—and Jiji also—the way he treated you when you worked for him. And Payal said maybe he forced you, somehow—"

Khushi was quiet.

"But he's a good man. And it's clear that he loves you. And you love him. Isn't it, Khushi?"

Khushi remained silent.

"Khushi?" her mother said softly. "You are happy with him, aren't you?" And then, when she didn't reply, "He treats you well, doesn't he?"

Silence.

"Khushi? What is the matter? I know we were angry at you, and—and we never apologized for Shyam. We should never have forced you to get engaged to him, even if we didn't know he was already—that he was like that. Buaji and I regret it very much. But we hoped that it all turned out well. I know you liked Arnav-bitwa before the wedding. That's why we never asked if he was —but if he is not treating you right..."

"No, Amma," Khushi said finally. "You are right, I liked him. And I hurt you all by eloping. And —and he treats me well, Amma, really. He loves me..."

There was a shuffle, followed by some muffled sobs.

"Amma!" Khushi said, her voice teary. "Don't apologize about Sh—about the engagement. I know you and Buaji wanted the best for me. And Arnav-ji...I am very happy with him. He loves me and takes very good care of me. You saw what a good person he is, didn't you? He's just — he's just a little stern. On the outside, he's like that. But in reality, he's a good person. A good husband. He makes me very happy."

But Arnav could hear the high, false note in her voice. The voice with which she had told him how happy she was about his engagement to Lavanya, how it didn't matter that he had her mother's anklet. The same voice that had cracked when she told everyone to have sweets on Diwali, right after he had almost kissed her and then announced to the world that he would marry someone else. It was a voice that laid bare her broken heart.

He stepped back out of the room, his heart aching. "Fuck," he muttered, fists tight, tears stinging his eyes.

Why was it so hard to hear her say these things? Worse than her sarcasm, eye rolls, and snappish comments. The heartbreak in her voice was the worst thing in the world.