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I pull Aarvi in my embrace and kiss her forehead.
“Mumma will be back tomorrow, baby. I’ll bring her back. Just go to sleep now. Okay? Daddy is here.”
Aarvi snorts and sobs again while I keep stroking her back to give her some comfort.
CHAPTER 23
Khushi
I stare at the reports in my hand blankly, trying to digest the result of that DNA Test report.Yes. I did a DNA test to determine the paternity of Aarvi and here the results are out.I amAarvi’s mother which puts a full stop to all my queries related to my true identity. This report confirms today that I am not Khushi Thakur butJhanvi Aarav Raichand.
The night I returned from Amaya’s birthday party and Rudra tried to convince me to have dinner with him the next day, I decided to do this test for my own sanity. Since Aarvi had cuddled to me all the time, a few of her hair had stuck to my dress and when I saw it, the only thing that came to my mind was performing a paternity test to confirm who I really was. I wonder why this thought never came up before, but it was that night when I truly wanted to put an end to those lingering questions about my real identity. So, the next day I went to the lab and gave those samples of Aarvi’s hair along with my DNA samples. The reports were promised not until today morning so last night I was still unarmed to face this situation when I had been out for dinner with Rudra and where he still claimed me to be his fiancée, Khushi Thakur.
I flop on the couch, thinking hard about what to do? Last two years I had juggled to fit into the shoes of Khushi Thakur which everyone thought I was, and now I come to know that it was all for nothing? I am someone else totally. I am a woman who is married to a man who loves her beyond eternity and though I am equally attracted to him, I don’t know how to proceed with this reality? If any man could love his woman so profoundly that he could bring her back from hell, it would be Aarav Raichand. But the questions about how Rudra found me and if he is already aware I am not real Khushi and is still pretending it from last two years haunts me. Or is Rudra totally unaware? Who is responsible for what happened to me two years ago? Whom should I blame? And my memories? Will I ever get them back? What should be my future and with whom?
Whilst I am still pondering over these questions my phone rings. It’s Rudra’s father, Ratan Singh. I wipe my tears which I didn’t even know had blurred my vision, before answering the phone call.
“Khushi? Why is Rudra not answering my calls?” Ratan Uncle exclaims. “I’ve been trying his number since yesterday and he is not answering. Pass him the phone.”
I swallow nervously realizing Rudra didn’t tell anything to his father yet about what happened last night. But I can’t hide it from him anymore. He deserves to know.
“I am not with Rudra anymore, Uncle.”
“What do you mean? Where are you? Has he gone somewhere?”
“We broke up last night.”
“What?”
Before he raises his queries, I tell him everything myself. Uncle is stunned and doesn't want to believe it but he doesn't have a choice when I tell him I have proofs that he paid the server to spike my drink and later even confessed about doing so.
“I can’t believe this. Why would Rudra go to this extent?”
I look at the reports in my hand, thinking hard if I have to tell him about this yet or not when my doorbell rings.I checked in at a hotel last night and I am still here thinking where to go when this sudden interruption startles me.
“Uncle, I will call you later.”
He agrees at the moment and hangs up. By the time I open the door, there are two more doorbells. Who is so desperate to meet me? I open the door and there, my jaw hits the floor seeing Aarav Raichand again. He grabs my hand that very moment.
“Let’s go.” He tries to drag me out and I use all my strength to stop him.
“Aarav, please. I am not going anywhere with you yet. I think I already made that clear last night,” I snap, shoving off his arm. “And how did you know I am here? Please stop stalking my life, Aarav. You are already making me feel caged.”
“We can argue later over this thing. Right now, Aarvi needs you.”
Aarvi needs me?What does he mean? That’s when I notice his face. He looks tired and in pain. The exhaustion in his eyes tells me he didn’t sleep well last night.
He looks helpless and that’s what bothers me. I’ve seen him vulnerable before but never saw such tears in his eyes and they speak volumes of his emotional state right now.
“Aarvi?” I mouth, trying to connect the dots when he clarifies my doubts.
“Aarvi has a high fever. She’s taken a lot of stress not seeing you next to her ever since she woke up yesterday morning. I want you to come with me and be with her. That’s the only way she can recover.”
Oh God! I am too shocked at the moment to even grasp and the delay in my reactions makes Aarav think I don’t want to come along.
“Jaan, please-”
He is about to beg to me when I grab his arm, stopping him from doing so. It’s heart-wrenching and very hard to believe Aarav Raichand can plead to someone but that definitely shows how helpless he is as a father today.
