After several minutes of silent travel, they arrived at Arnav's residence. As the car came to a halt in the driveway, Khushi azed up in admiration at the sophisticated and minimalist mansion before her, which conveyed an aura of exclusive luxury.
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"Is this your house?" Khushi finally broke the silence in the car, turning back to seek the truth in his eyes. "Why did you never tell me about your house?"
Arnav cleared his throat, the weight of her gaze making him restless. The old robotic Arnav would have shrugged it off, indifferent to her judgment. But he was her "Genie" now, and the thought of her feeling like a stranger in his life made him uneasy.
"Yes, it's my home," he said softly. "I spend my private time here. It's where I go when I don't want to be found and I don't want any noise from the outside world to reach me."
Khushi's heart sank with his answer, her hazel eyes shimmered with unshed tears, "If you value your privacy so much, then why bring me here?" she snapped, her voice sharp with accusation.
She had just sacrificed her peace with her brother for a man who seemed to prefer his own company to hers. To her, his need for his own solitary and dark world sounded like he was perfectly happy in a world that didn't include her while she struggled to live without his presence in her little world now.
"Because," he let the moment hang in the air, "I've lived in the shadows for so long that the darkness I once used to find my comfort in is starting to feel crowded and suffocating. I've realised no matter how much I try to run away from this reality, the truth is that my peace now resides in a little sunshine that I have wholeheartedly decided to welcome into my life," he confessed in a husky, coaxing tone as he leaned closer to her, his big warm hand palming her cheek concernedly. "What happened, Khushi? Why are you crying? You don't look yourself today."
Panicked that he would read her mind and find out about her fight with her brother, she averted her gaze, "I'm fine," she lied, her heart racing. "I'm just... I'm just upset you kept this from me. That's the only reason."
He knew it was a lie, he could see it in the way she wouldn't meet his eyes, but he didn't press her. He simply stepped out of the car, handed the keys to the waiting security guard, and walked around to her side. As he opened the door and offered his hand, he wasn't just leading her into a house, he was letting her into the one part of his life he had never shared with anyone else.
With every step they were taking towards his home, the frantic rhythm of Khushi's heart began to steady, that familiar sense of being around him started to settle over her again.
She knew her sudden outburst moments ago probably seemed like a overreaction to him. He couldn't have known that while they drove in a heavy, awkward silence, her mind had been a battlefield, a complete chaos after the discussion she had with Shyam.
Generally if it was any other person who had such negative opinions about Arnav, she would have dismissed it without a second thought. But the person holding such thoughts is her own brother. The one she held closest to her heart. Someone for whom she would willingly lay down her life.
