Perfectly Flawed (Complete) (Under Editing)

Chapter Six

"Payaliya!" Khushi halted on her tracks, her fingers still over a flowery pillow. She could hear her parents fussing over Payal and calling for Khushi in the background, but nothing reached to Khushi's ears.

This was the pillow Arnav had slept on when he was over her house.

Her fingers curled into the soft fabric, brushing against the cloth as if to grab the few sweet essences of her husband. A barely there smile lit her face as she remembered when she had woken up, intimately entangled with him the morning after he stopped by.

She had known. Yet, it secretly thrilled and bothered her to be so close to him.

But then, the harsh reminder of the loan and need to forcefully get back to his house poured water on her fragile dream. Blinking the sudden tears aside, Khushi dug her face into the softness and cried softly, making sure that none of her family members could hear her.

"Why Arnavji... Why?"

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"Why Chote.... Why?" Arnav looked up, unable to bear the accusation in his sister's eyes. But being the woman Anjali was, she collected the broken pieces of her brother and held him dear... waiting for him to heal, even a little bit.

As Arnav flung his arms around his sister, biting his sobs against her shoulder, Anjali patted his shaking back and repeated her question. Arnav broke the hug and pressed his hands against his temples. Anjali cupped his cheek and looked into his eyes while Arnav rasped out "For you, Di."

Scalded by his comment, Anjali retreated and stared at him in confusion. "What?! Me... wh..." Anjali found herself at a loss of words. Eyeing the discarded legal file, she put her head in her hands and uttered her oath "You still believe it... don't you?"

Arnav frowned and looked at his tired sister, suddenly aged beyond her years of thirty two. "You believe that you're ill fated so you did this out of... fear." Anjali showed her palm and stopped him from speaking further. "No, don't say anything Ch... Arnav. I don't have it in me. After years of trying to bring you up and love you more than anything... you still believed that I would leave you one day? Or that I would also believe you to be the reason for our losses? Why! Hadn't I..." Anjali broke off to suppress a sob and stood up, fixing the creases in her saree.

"Di I..." Anjali melted at her brother's state and caressed his head like a child "Shush, it's not your fault..." Arnav could feel he could breathe when Anjali lifted the burden of accusations from his shoulder. How could he explain that what she said was true... but that the fear gnawed him day and night? He could do anything for his sister.

Anything.

"It's all my fault. You were never wrong, you are never wrong because Arnav Singh Raizada can never be at fault. He's the perfect one, the righteous one." Anjali spoke, in a trance. Arnav looked on, horrified as his own sister distanced from him. "Di..."

"Arnav, why are you looking guilty? You're absolutely right... it's me who is faulted. Everything is my fault because I am so terribly flawed. And it makes all the more sense and thank you... thank you so much." Anjali smiled, though tears threatened to roll down her cheeks.

Prying her fingers apart from Arnav's, she walked towards his door and paused to look at him, shattered. "Don't cry Arnav. If whatever Akash said about your marriage to be true then it is not your fault at all. It's just now I realise... that even after giving every value and upbringing you ended up like this."

Anjali leaned weakly against the doorframe, the monstrosity of her brother' actions falling heavy on her. Never a day before did her leg feel further handicapped. "I could barely raise you... no wonder my own baby died, no wonder. I was never meant to be a mother." Arnav let out a sharp breath as he looked at his crestfallen sister.