One Step Closer (IPKKND FF | Complete)

Chapter Six

Infidelity and deceit. There had already been a wedding day in the lives of the two Raizada siblings when infidelity and deceit had brought ruination. When Arnav's mother had finally crumbled, unable to face the humiliation of her husband's mistress being revealed on her daughter's wedding day, in front of everyone.

There was a reason Arnav couldn't stand guns, and had strictly forbidden them in his house and his office. Losing his mother to suicide had been more than enough.

And now the Raizada household was celebrating a wedding once more, and tragedy was banging on the door again.

Everything was now in Arnav's hands.

What would he tell Di? How could he break such horrible news without completely destroying her? The more Arnav agonised over it, the more he commiserated with Khushi's months of reluctance to reveal the truth. She must have gone through hell, trying to protect my family.

His eyes sought her out in the crowd once more, he needed to see her, he needed her so much right now.

While Arnav was absorbed in his thoughts, the garland ceremony had been completed, and the wedding crowd was slowly making its way to the mandap for the next set of rites.

Arnav stayed behind for a moment, pausing to compose himself further as the guests filtered past. Finally, finally he spotted Khushi as the people blocking his view moved away.

She was leaning down, long hair flowing across her back as a silky curtain, lehenga gathered just above her delicate ankles as she was fidgeting with one of her payals... Arnav sighed a breath of relief as he took in her features once more. Oh, she was so absolutely delightful.

The crowd had now dispersed. As Arnav was about to step towards Khushi, he noticed someone else staring at her, too.

Shyam. He had stopped in his tracks and was almost next to her, a hungry gaze travelling across Khushi's slender frame. No one else could see the contorted, almost maniacal expression as emotions coursed through Shyam's usually pleasant, composed features.

No one but Arnav, who unbeknownst to Shyam had a pretty clear view. And Arnav had never, ever seen his brother-in-law's face so twisted. The man was clearly lusting after the girl right in front of him.

Seeing this disgusting display, Arnav gritted his teeth so hard his jaw threatened to pop out of its hinges any second.

Blissfully unaware of the two sets of eyes following her every movement, Khushi, balancing on one leg to disentangle the payal from the hem of her lehenga, finally lost her footing and stumbled.

From his position, Arnav couln't leap to her side fast enough while Shyam reached out and steadied her, plastering on a greasy smile and exclaiming "careful, Khushi-ji, are you ok?"

It sounded like the most innocent exchange between two soon-to-be relatives, except for the revulsion immediately visible in Khushi's face as she looked up and noticed who her saviour was.

Startled, Khushi jerked her hand away from Shyam with much more force than necessary, and hurried away to join the rest of the gathering at the mandap.

Undeterred, Shyam grinned and slinked away after her, unaware that Arnav had witnessed the whole scene and would have bashed Shyam's teeth in if it wasn't for the close proximity of his 'rani sahiba'.

And his own brother's wedding. Dammit, dammit, dammit!

***

At the mandap, everyone was now preparing for the giving away of the bride. Garima and Shashi were tearing up just as you'd expect from the bride's parents, and an onlooker would think that the bride's sister was also getting emotional as her Jiji entered this new stage in her life.