CHAPTER 22
Next Day
Shekhar entered Kashish’s bedroom and found her sitting on the bed, staring blankly into space. He walked over and sat beside her.
“You haven’t eaten since yesterday. Please, drink this,” he urged, offering her a glass of orange juice.
Kashish shook her head, refusing.
“Kashish, I know Daadi shouldn’t have acted so impulsively by handing you over to the police without understanding what truly happened. But try to see it from her perspective—she loves Rudra deeply, and he was bleeding. What else could she have done in that moment?”
“I’m not blaming her anymore, Shekhar,” she murmured, her voice devoid of emotion.
Shekhar raised a brow, surprised.
“If you’re not holding a grudge, then why won’t you ease up and take care of yourself?”
Kashish swallowed hard. The events of the last 24 hours replayed in her mind like a relentless storm—Rudra’s painful confession, his desperate plea for forgiveness, the knife, the blood, the police interrogation, Rudra saving her, Daadi’s wrath, her own understanding that the accident 11 years ago wasn’t intentional. Then Rudra’s shocking decision: if she wouldn’t forgive him, he would leave the house to set her free from the burden of hatred. The weight of it all pressed down on her, and tears welled up, spilling from her eyes.
Shekhar reached out to wipe her tears, but she pushed his hand away and stood abruptly.
“This is his house, Shekhar, his family. I can’t force him to leave. Why does he have to be so... selfless?” She cursed herself for thinking of him with such complexity. Stop it , she told herself.
Shekhar grew worried, seeing how sensitive the situation had become. He just wanted to calm her down.
“Kashish, you’re overthinking. It’s affecting your health.” He tried to steady her as she swayed, feeling dizzy, and guided her back to the bed.
“Please, leave me alone,” she whispered.
“Only if you drink this,” he insisted, holding out the juice again.
Kashish looked away, refusing to even glance at it. Shekhar sighed.
“Fine. There’s only one person who can make you drink it then—Rudra.”
Her head snapped around; eyes wide with disbelief. Why did he bring him into this? Rudra meant nothing to her. Absolutely nothing.
“Don’t look at me like that. If he can get you to talk, he can get you to eat. So, what if his stitches are still fresh? He’s never put anything above your well-being. I’ll call him.”
He started to leave, but Kashish grabbed his arm, stopping him. Reluctantly, she took the glass from his hand and drank the juice slowly. Shekhar smiled, pleased that his little manipulation had worked.
After finishing, she set the glass down and met his gaze.
“He means nothing to me, Shekhar. Don’t ever use that excuse again.”
Shekhar nodded, respecting her words, and left her alone as she requested.
**************
Meanwhile, Rudra was packing his bags. He hadn’t brought much when he came from Paris, just a few essentials. His villa there held most of his belongings. Every time he bent down to pack, the stitches in his chest pulled painfully, but he didn’t care. His mind was fixated on one thing—leaving this place.
A knock at the door interrupted him. Daadi stormed in, her face flushed with anger as she saw what he was doing.
“What are you doing, Rudra? Why are you packing your bags?”
“I’m going back to Paris,” he replied quietly.
Her frustration spiked.
“Paris? Already? You were supposed to leave in two months!”
“Something urgent came up. I need to go,” he said, avoiding her gaze.
Daadi’s suspicions flared—she knew this wasn’t about Paris, it was about Kashish .
“Since when did your entire life start revolving around that one girl?” she snapped.
Rudra stopped packing and turned to her with a calm but hard expression.
“This isn’t about her, Daadi. Stop bringing her into every conversation we have.”
“Why shouldn’t I?” Daadi shot back. “She’s the reason for all of this—your condition, your misery.”
“Is she?” Rudra stepped forward; his rage barely controlled. “She has her reasons to hate me, and I have mine to make sure she’s safe. Don’t twist those reasons.”
At that moment, Shekhar walked in, intending to check on Rudra’s health, but the tension in the room made him pause.
“Look, Shekhar! Now he’s planning to leave the house, even with his wounds still fresh!” Daadi vented.
“I have my reasons, Daadi. Please, don’t interfere,” Rudra’s voice was firm and unyielding.
“Rudra, this isn’t the right time for you to leave,” Shekhar tried to reason. “You need rest. The doctors let you stay home under the condition that you would take care of yourself. You can’t leave now. What’s so urgent in Paris? If it’s that important, I’ll go in your place.”
But nothing Shekhar said could change his decision. Rudra zipped up his bag and made a quick call to Jay.
“Tell the pilot to have the jet ready by 8 p.m. I’ll be there.”
Daadi broke down in tears and left the room, devastated. Shekhar, feeling helpless, placed a hand on Rudra’s shoulder.
“I know this is about Kashish,” he said quietly. “But what has Daadi done to deserve this? For 11 years, she’s waited for you to return, to take your place in the family. You can’t just crush her hopes like this, Rudra. Please reconsider. If not for me, then for her.”
Shekhar gave him one last look before leaving. Rudra shut his eyes and took a deep breath, overwhelmed by everyone’s expectations. Kashish wanted him to leave; his family wanted him to stay. He was being torn apart by their conflicting needs.
In all the chaos, he realized he had forgotten something crucial—Uday Khatri.
**************
Rudra had the mortgage papers of Kashish’s house thoroughly examined. They bore Keshav Bedi’s signature and were authentic, which meant the loan had to be repaid to Uday Khatri—interest included—to retrieve the house’s ownership. Rudra had already instructed his lawyer, Roy, to draft a contract that would ensure the Khatris would never contact either Kashish Bedi or the Rahejas once the debt was cleared.
He knew the only way to finalize this was to meet Uday personally, with Roy by his side. He quickly threw on a T-shirt over his track pants and left his room. Luckily, neither Daadi nor Shekhar noticed him leave, and with Anjali having taken Kashish to the temple to lift her spirits, the timing was perfect. Sliding into the car, he instructed Mohan to drive him to Uttam Nagar, where the deal would be closed.
When they arrived, Mohan opened the passenger door, and Roy hurried over, falling into step beside Rudra as they made their way towards Khatri's office.
“Sir, the agreement is ready,” Roy informed him. “And as per your instructions, I’ve made sure Kashish Bedi’s involvement is unnecessary in the signing of these documents.”
Rudra nodded curtly; his pace unbroken.
“Let me remind you, Sir,” Roy continued, his voice cautious, “the property’s value doesn’t justify the amount you’re paying to the Khatris. This is a substantial loss for you.”
Rudra cast a sharp glance at his lawyer, the message clear—this wasn’t about financial gain. All that mattered was securing Kashish’s house. As they reached the office, Uday greeted them eagerly, impatient to get his hands on the money. Roy presented the contract, and Uday, acting on behalf of his father, signed without hesitation. The Khatris had never cared about the Bedi property—they were only interested in the money.
With the agreement signed and the house papers handed over, Roy passed the briefcase of cash to Uday, who grinned as he opened it, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction.
“Raheja Sahab, you truly have a big heart,” Uday smirked. “You’re willing to take such a loss for one girl? I must say, I’m impressed. What is it about her that we never saw? Maybe I should meet her myself and find out,” he joked, laughing with his guards.
But Rudra wasn’t laughing. His temper flared as he seized Uday by the collar and slammed him against the wall.
“I told you the other day. Forget meeting her,” Rudra growled, his voice ice-cold. “If you even speak her name again, it'll be the last thing you'll ever speak.”
Uday’s confidence crumbled under Rudra’s glare, his bravado shrinking. He nodded shakily. Roy, swallowing his own nervousness, cleared his throat, trying to regain control of the situation. Rudra released Uday’s collar, fixing him with one last warning look before turning and walking out with the Bedi house papers in hand.
**************
At the temple, Kashish was deep in prayer. Anjali had brought her here in hopes of easing her troubled mind, but nothing seemed to work. No matter how hard she tried to focus on the prayer, her thoughts kept circling back to everything that had happened. Would Rudra leaving the house truly make things better? Would the family ever be at peace if he was gone? And yet, Daadi needed him, Shekhar wanted his brother close. Was she being selfish for pushing him away?
As Kashish opened her eyes, she noticed Anjali on the phone in the corner of the temple, looking worried. When the call ended, Kashish approached her.
“What happened, Anju?”
Anjali hesitated, pressing her lips together. She seemed reluctant to share, but after a pause, she sighed.
“Rudra is leaving tonight.”
Kashish’s heart clenched painfully at those words, a reaction she wasn’t prepared for. He was leaving? Really leaving? Her chest tightened with an emotion she didn’t understand.
“Leaving? Where?” she asked, the question escaping her lips with a bitterness she couldn’t suppress.
“Paris, Kashish. Where else? He’s not even waiting for his wounds to heal. I don’t know what’s wrong with him. Why is he so determined to punish himself like this?”
Kashish felt her stomach drop. He was truly going through with what he had promised her—to leave his own family just to ease her suffering, to rid her of the discomfort his presence caused.
“Let’s go home,” Anjali said, her voice tinged with exhaustion. “Since the day he returned, we’ve all been under so much stress.”
Kashish stiffened at Anjali’s words, her emotions flaring.
Anjali noticed the shift in her expression. “I’m sorry, Kashish, but it’s true. Ever since Rudra came back, Shekhar’s been consumed with trying to make his brother happy. But it’s never going to happen. Rudra’s a lost cause—he’s wrapped up in his own pain, and he doesn’t care about anyone else. Why else would he make such a drastic decision to leave, hurting his own family in the process?”
“He’s doing it for me ,” Kashish blurted out, her anger spilling over.
Anjali froze, stunned. “What?”
Kashish looked away, guilt creeping into her voice. “I was the one who wanted to leave the house because I couldn’t bear being around him. That’s when he offered to go instead, reminding me that legally, I couldn’t leave until the court-appointed time.”
“And he agreed to leave ?” Anjali asked, her disbelief apparent.
Kashish nodded.
“God, that man is a fool,” Anjali muttered, shaking her head. “Why does he keep sacrificing everything for people who don’t care about him? He’s going to destroy himself if this goes on. His feelings for you—”
Anjali stopped mid-sentence, realizing she had said too much.
Kashish caught it instantly, her mind spinning. “What did you just say? His feelings for me—?”
Anjali bit her lip, unsure of how to proceed. Kashish’s sharp gaze pinned her down, demanding answers.
“Tell me, Anjali. What feelings?”
Anjali hesitated, but seeing Kashish’s resolve, she gave in. “Rudra... loves you.”
Kashish staggered backward, her world spinning as if the ground had been pulled from under her feet. Love ? Rudra Raheja, in love with her?
“Yes, it’s true,” Anjali continued, her voice softer now. “He confessed it to Shekhar. But he’d never tell you, because he knows how much you despise him. He’s willing to bear your hatred forever, rather than let you know how he really feels. It’s his way of protecting you, but it’s tearing him apart. He’s been in pain for so long, Kashish... and now, he’s just drowning in it.”
Kashish leaned against a pillar, her mind reeling. Love ? This was why he had been so protective, so patient, enduring all her venom without retaliating. The compassion in his eyes had always hidden something deeper—something she had never seen coming. And now, the realization that Rudra loved her left her feeling shaken to her core, her heart conflicted in ways she had never imagined possible.