Arnav and the rest of the family walked the Guptas to Khushi's SUV, with Payash giggling and blushing at each other as Nk and Khushi chatted away, while Arnav watched them with a frown, jealous of how well Khushi had gotten along with Nk.

"Naniji and Manoharji, thank you for the lunch and dinner...... We had a fantastic time at the gathering." Shashi replied cheerfully.

"There will be more to come...... We will soon be a complete family, and I am looking forward to more of these gatherings." Manohar said this sincerely, making the Guptas smile.

Arnav approached Khushi and Nk, who were checking something on Nk's phone.

He cleared his throat to get their attention, but Khushi frowned at him, which surprised him as Nk smiled sheepishly at Arnav.

"Nannav meri bhai." Nk exclaimed with enthusiasm. "Do you need anything?"

"I want Khushi." Arnav's words shocked Khushi and amused Nk, who had figured out that Arnav liked Khushi.

"Behave yourself Mr Raizada and it's Miss Gupta for you. " Khushi warned, and Arnav realised his mistake.

"I am sorry, Miss Gupta."

Nk gasped dramatically, his eyes wide open in shock, as he heard Arnav apologize sincerely.

"Oh my god, who are you?" Nk exclaimed dramatically, looking suspiciously at Arnav, who rolled his eyes at him.

"What do you want, Mr. Raizada?" Khushi inquired, and Arnav shifted his focus from Nk to Khushi.

"Your phone number so that we can discuss the designs." Arnav responded, and Khushi took her phone from her bag and pressed something on it.

Within a few seconds, Arnav's phone rang in his pocket, and he picked it up to discover an unknown number.

The call ended, and Arnav returned his gaze to Khushi.

"I got it from Nani......I already have some ideas and will sketch them with the help of Payal...... I think you should do the same with Akash."

Arnav nodded, but was intrigued by how she was always one step ahead, which is why she is one of the best and most sought-after designers in the world.

Shashi and the others joined and boarded Khushi's SUV.

Khushi drove away while the family waved at them.

They watched as the SUV drove away from the mansion's majestic gates before going inside.

"You seem to like her." Nk whispered to Arnav, who glared at him, and Nk jumped with delight. "Good choice, Mr Grumpy, but you better be prepared to win her over because Khushi is not a woman who will accept an arranged marriage...... You have a lot of work to do, and I will give you some pointers on how to win Khushi over."

Arnav raised his eyebrows and smiled amusingly.

"You, who is still single, will show me how to court a woman?" Arnav asked, amused, and Nk nodded vigorously, causing Arnav to shake his head. "Nk, you are a mess, and I am not going to listen to any of your weird ideas....... I am perfectly capable of courting Khushi on my own." Arnav spoke in a serious tone as Nk was stunned into silence, his mouth agape.

"Who the hell are you?" Nk exclaimed, shocked, as Arnav smirked. "You are definitely a clone of my Nannav because my Nannav does not apologize and despises anything related to love, let alone wanting to court a woman, but in less than thirty minutes, he had apologized and was talking about courting his soon-to-be sister-in-law...... This cannot possibly be the Nannav I know."

Arnav rolled his eyes at his drama, but he knew Nk was not mistaken.

If someone had told him he would talk about courting a woman and then apologize on the same day, he would have slapped them, but Khushi was like an addictive drug and an Enigma he wants to know.

He had never met a woman like her before.

Khushi was not pretentious and was very assertive; additionally, she was educated and self-made, which he admired.

They may not have the same social status, but Khushi was the type of woman he would want to marry.

Arnav dropped a nuclear bomb on Nk in order to pull his leg.

"Not soon to be a sister-in-law, but rather my wife."

Nk began swaying as the family, who were watching from a distance, rushed to find him unconscious, with Arnav laughing hysterically.

The family was stunned to see Arnav laughing for the first time in years, and they were torn between helping an unconscious Nk and staring at a laughing Arnav, wondering what had caused both reactions.

Back at Laxmi Nagar, Khushi and the family had settled in for the night. Khushi sat on her bed sketching Payal's wedding outfits when she paused to think of Shyam.

She suspected he was with one of his numerous mistresses, and she cringed at the thought of not only him cheating, but Anjali allowing it.

She reminisced about the day she discovered the truth about Anjali and Shyam in her previous life.

Flashback.
Arnav has avoided Khushi like the plague since they arrived from Laxmi Nagar.

Khushi had had enough and wanted to speak with Arnav one last time; if he did not believe her, she would accompany Garima and Buaji to the Ayurveda center and live out the remainder of her contract marriage.

She was about to enter Arnav's office at the mansion when she noticed Anjali dragging Shyam to the pool.

Something compelled her to follow them, and what she discovered stunned her.

"Is not it enough that we have an open relationship? You are still stalking Khushi...... You are going against our agreement..... You are fortunate that Khushi and the Guptas have kept quiet about what you did, so stop pushing yourself because if you are caught by Chote, he will kill you...... He loves Khushi, and Khushi loves him, and I have never seen him be so possessive of anyone as he is with Khushi........ Stay away from Khushi, I warn you...... if you get caught."

"What?...... You will leave me alone." Shyam scoffed and cut Anjali off. "Do not forget that we are in this together...... You were the one who pursued me despite knowing I was married..... You were the one who enticed me with promises of a better life and riches. I was not the one who pushed Pari down the stairs when you discovered she was pregnant with our child...... In comparison to your sins and my infidelities, I am a saint...... You are an adulteress and a murderer, just like your father...... "If I fall, you will fall with me."

Anjali's eyes welled up with tears as Shyam rolled his eyes.

"How long do you intend to hold that against me?....... You know, it was an accident, and I did not mean to harm the baby...... Why do you keep reminding me of that day even though you know I regret it?" Shyam remained unmoved despite Anjali's tears. "Do not forget, if I am a murderer, you are also one...... You attempted to kill Shashi when he discovered the truth about you...... We are both the same."

Shyam's face contorted in rage as Anjali looked ashamed for bringing up the attempted on Shashi.

"Listen to me, Anjali, we have a deal; I will be your obedient and loving husband and stop people from gossiping about you; and under my contract with you, I can be with anyone I want without being caught, so I do not see what the problem is with your sudden jealousy...... You should be happy that I went out of my way to get you pregnant...... If you are not satisfied, let us end this marriage."

Anjali shook her head and begged Shyam not to end it, but he walked away, leaving her in tears.

Khushi, stunned, dashed to her room in shock after learning about Anjali and Shyam's relationship, including knowing about her and realising Shyam was responsible for Shashi's condition.

"I have to tell Arnav the truth. He deserves to know." Khushi thought and dashed to the bathroom for a cool shower.

She spent the entire night waiting for Arnav until she fell asleep in the recliner.

The sun's rays woke her up, and she looked around to see the bed neatly arranged.

She called out for Arnav but received no response, so she went downstairs to check and found only Anjali and a man arranging multiple jewelry on the center table in the lounge.

"Oh, Khushiji. You are awake." Anjali smiled at Khushi, and she cringed but quickly composed herself. "Chote did not want to wake you up and asked me to inform you that he is leaving for London on an impromptu meeting with a client....... He said you were tired from your friend's wedding and asked me to tell you when you woke up."

Khushi smiled to cover up her cringe and turned to leave.

She knew Arnav was lying and had left to avoid her, but what Anjali said next gave her hope.

"His flight will depart in three hours...... You still have time to see him before he leaves...... Tell Mohan to take you. "

Khushi smiled and nodded, then dashed into the room to change.

Within an hour, she had arrived at the airport and dashed to the private hangar, but was denied entry.

She was about to give up when she noticed Arnav approaching the entrance to the hangar where his private jet was waiting.

Arnav came to a halt, stunned to see her, and Khushi smiled, but his expression quickly turned cold, breaking Khushi's heart.

"I understand you do not want to see me, but I have a way to prove my innocence and expose your sister and Shyam........ Check out how they met and you will see the truth." Khushi spoke nervously, and Arnav's expression hardened.

"Just when I thought you would not go any lower, you prove us wrong." Khushi was astounded by his remarks. "Here Di was thinking about you coming with me, and now you are slandering her...... You are disgusting." Arnav spat venomously, which irritated Khushi.

"Not as disgusting as your sister and brother in law." Khushi counterattacked and revealed the entire truth to Arnav, who looked stunned. It did not last long before he began raging, and Khushi regretted telling him the truth, especially after seeing him laugh.

"Wow, I have to give it to Khushi......"You are such an award-winning actress. Let me guess, this is one of you and Shyam's plans to ruin my relationship with Di........ All because I plan to expose you two immediately after Di gives birth...... You are insane if you think I would choose a saint like Di over a whore like you."

Khushi slapped Arnav, who was taken aback and realised he had gone too far, but it was too late.

"When you find out the truth, do not come crawling back for forgiveness, because I will not be there...... I wish I could go back in time and rewrite my fate without you in it....... I hate you, Arnav Singh Raizada, and may we never meet again."

Khushi could see the pain in his eyes but ignored it, even yanking Arnav's hand away when he held her wrist.

She left the airport unaware that her wish was about to be granted, but with a twist.

Flashback ends.

"God, I am not sure why you granted my wish to rewrite my fate while still keeping him in my life, but I know whatever the reason, you will not let me be hurt again and will give me the strength to make Shyam and Anjali pay dearly for what they did to me and Babuji." Khushi whispered, and the ringing of her phone interrupted her reverie.

She picked it up, and Preeto's shocked expression appeared on the screen.

"Khushi, your suspicion about the Raizada family having skeleton in their closet is right........ I will send you the report right away."

Khushi's tablet rang with a message, and she opened it. What she read was unsurprising, but she was more disgusted by Anjali and Shyam finding out more information.

"Khushi, are you going to tell Shashiji about this?" Preeto asked and Khushi shook her head no which surprised her.

"I won't and this doesn't affect Payal's marriage to Akash....... If I give this to Babuji, he will undoubtedly call off the marriage, and I will be blamed once more. I am not sure Payal can handle another broken alliance....... She may be emotionally mature now, but that does not mean she has the emotional strength to handle another heartbreak...... Please do not tell anybody about this."

"My lips are sealed, boss......I feel bad for any woman who marries that ASR." Preeto said and Khushi sighed.

"Anyways I need you help. "

"Anything for you bestie. " Preeto squealed making Khushi chuckle.

"I want you to find the best textile companies for me....... I am designing Payal's lehenga and reception outfits. " Khushi instructed and Preeto smiled and nodded.

"Wow, am happy to know you are warming up to Payal. " Preeto said proudly.

"I am not........ I am doing this for babuji. " Khushi retorted as Preeto rolled her eyes at her.

"Come on Khushi, I know she was shitty for what she did but poor girl has been stalking you for the past six years just to apologize...... Give her a chance. " Preeto defended.

"I wish I could Preeto but some wounds just don't heal with forgiveness........ I can't trust her now....... Maybe someday but not now. "

Preeto sighed and nodded and an incoming call broke their reverie.

"It looks like you have a call...... I will cut off now....... We will speak later. "

Khushi nodded as Preeto cut the call as Khushi frown from seeing Arnav's name on display but smirked finding an opportunity.

She received it and Arnav's face showed up on the screen.

Khushi watched as his eyes changed to an intense look.

Khushi then realized she was wearing a low cut nightgown with a deep plunging neckline that showed off her perfect perky and large boobs, and to make matters worse, it was red, Arnav's favorite color.

Khushi smirked internally as she saw him lost and cleared her throat. Arnav looked away, embarrassed at being caught, as Khushi wore her blazer to cover her chest.

"I apologize for the late call, but I wanted to let you know that I have sketched ten sherwanis for Akash that can be worn for both the wedding and reception. "Arnav explained and Khushi nodded but the opportunity to pull Arnav's legs.

"So you called me at 2:30 a.m. to tell me this?"

Arnav looked embarrassed, but remained composed.

"We are alike, Miss Gupta." Khushi raised her brow, amused by Arnav's statement. "Based on your work, I know we are both identical...... I design better at night, and you do too...... Something I suspected, but my phone call confirmed it."

"You are not wrong.....I find motivation in the silence and darkness. I have also finished fifteen sketches for the wedding and reception, which I will show to Payal to choose from."

"I think you can do it now; Akash left here a few minutes ago to speak with Payal, who had been waiting for his call." Arnav revealed which surprised Khushi as she thought Payal was asleep.

"Is something wrong? " Khushi asked but internally cursed herself for asking seeing him look gloomy all of a sudden.

"Di, wants to chose for Akash but we both denied her wanting you to do it instead...... We explained you are better suited for the selection and even though she was fine with it, I know she is hurt but don't worry, we will go with your opinion. " Arnav explained and Khushi was shocked but rejoiced happily internally knowing Anjali must be crying or fuming at her being snobbed again for her.

"Thank for considering me but I want you to let Anjali chose...... She is after all your sister and I know it will be an honor to chose for her brother. " Khushi said and Arnav looked sceptical.

"Are you sure? " Khushi nodded and Arnav sighed. " I will speak to her tomorrow. "

"Please don't let her know I suggested this...... It won't feel special if you do. " Khushi said innocently and Arnav smiled and nodded.

Khushi pretended to yawn and Arnav realised she was tired and cut the call after informing him about the next meeting for the textile sampling.

Khushi fell on her bed with a wide smile on her face.

"Poor Anjali, you have no idea how I am about to break your ego........ I will make you bask in the joy of thinking you were chosen over me and when you least expected, I will subtly reveal the truth to you and watch with pleasure how you lose your standing in the family...... Get ready Anjali, once you fall, Shyam will follow. "

To be continued.

Next Update will be on Monday.

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