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“How dare you?” She snaps.
“We should leave, Aarav.” Aman clutches my shoulder to stop me from saying more. The situation has tensed. “Sorry for that,” he further adds looking at Khushi who is fuming.
I shove his arm away and walk out with Aman behind me. Now the urge to find the proofs of Khushi being Jhanvi has deep-rooted in every fiber of my body and until I stamp my claim on her, nothing and no one could stop me.
****************
When I get home, I hear Aarvi crying and her nanny desperately trying to comfort her. My heart bleeds when I see my daughter weep.
“Aarvi?” I reach out and wrap a tight hug around her. “What happened sweetheart? Why is my baby crying?”
“I want Mommy.”
My mouth hangs open at her demand. This is not the first time she has demanded Jhanvi in the last two years. I compose myself and carry her in my arms.
“I want Mommy too. But she can’t come back to us for now.”
“Why? Doesn't she love us? I want her.”
She wraps her arms around my neck and gives me a tight hug.
“I want her too, Aarvi. I want her too.” I swallow my tears. “I promise she’ll come back to us soon.”
I don’t know on what basis I promised my daughter that but it’s needed and somewhere my heart believes that I am going to fulfil this promise. Soon.
“Now let’s go watch your favorite movie. Daddy will make popcorn for you. Alright?”
“Popcorn,” she claps excitedly, and I'm relieved to see her mood lightening up again.
She gets down from my arms and hurries to put her favorite cartoon movie. We've seen it several times in Jhanvi's absence over the last two years, and there hasn't been a single moment when I haven't missed her.
***************
“Aarvi, dad’s home, sweetheart,” I summoned my daughter, but she did not appear as she often did when I returned from work. Did she sleep early today?
I handed over my laptop bag to the servant and made my way to the kitchen, where I knew my wife would be finishing up the final chores of the day. As usual, I was greeted by her sight in a simple yellow cotton churidar which she liked wearing at home and was more than comfortable in it.
I tiptoed but the moment I reached her, she turned around. Her eyes and the expressions on her face told me she was upset.
“Jaan?”
“Don’t,” she shoved off my palms when I tried to cup her face. “You were supposed to come home early today.”
I tried to recall and it was only then that I remembered we had planned a movie date with Aarvi. A new animated movie of her favorite cartoon character had been released and I had promised to take her and Jhanvi to watch the same.
“Shit,” I groaned. “I.. I literally forgot. Why didn’t you remind me?”
“I did,” she frowned. “Did you even check your phone, Aarav?”
I didn’t.
“My phone battery was dead a few hours ago and I forgot to charge it but.”
“Don’t give me an excuse now. I can’t believe you out of all would do that to us. You know how eager Aarvi was to see that movie tonight? She cried for an hour before I put her to bed.”
“Dammit.”
My mouth clenched at the prospect of failing my kid.
