CHAPTER 14
Mishti’s Bedroom – Wadhwa Mansion
Karan eased Mishti down onto the bed, guiding her carefully until her head rested against the pillows. The moment her body settled into the mattress, he should have stepped back. He should have put distance between them. But he didn’t.
Instead, he stayed there, sitting on the edge of the bed, keeping his gaze fixed on her face as sleep slowly claimed her.
Tonight, she had laid her pain bare, and he had heard it all.
Everything she vented out minutes ago flashed in his head once again, a cruel reminder of the pain he had inflicted upon her, intentionally, and still claimed to have no remorse.
Because Mishti Goel was just a pawn in his dark game of revenge. He was supposed to use her, to wound her where it hurt the most, to deny her affection, attention, even dignity. He was supposed to ensure she never tasted happiness by his side. All because she was a Goel.
He clenched his jaw, and his eyes never left her face as she breathed evenly, finally falling asleep.
For the last 15 years, he had been waiting, plotting and planning for that day when he would snatch every happiness from the Goel siblings.
The day the Goels would know the same emptiness, the same loss of peace, the same hollow ache he had lived with.
And he was too close for the real showdown.
Too close to allow anything to derail him.
And then today happened. Mishti’s actions at the party and her confession thereafter had thrown him completely off balance.
For the first time, he understood the whispers that had followed him for years. That ‘Karan Wadhwa had no heart.’ That if he did, it was nothing but stone. Having no emotions, no feelings for anyone, no empathy, nothing.
Least did they know that his heart was not a cold stone but a burning molten lava.
Its heat consumed him every day and night.
A rage that never cooled, only waited. And it would not be quenched by tears or innocence.
It would be quieted only when his revenge was complete. And that day was not too far.
Fifteen years of rage. Fifteen years of burning, of suffocation. Of everything he had lost, Mishti’s innocence could not erase it. Her tears and pain could not undo it.
The Goels had stripped him of everything once. His peace. His stability. Even his sense of who he was.
And until he stripped them of everything in return, their comfort, their happiness, their ease, every small thing that gave them the right to smile, his vengeance would not be complete.
With that, Karan stood up quietly and walked out of the room. Whatever softness had threatened to surface, he locked it away once again.
She was in deep slumber. And he left her there, exactly as he intended to.
****************
Next Morning
Mishti woke with a dull throbbing behind her eyes. Her head felt heavy, and her body ached with fatigue of broken sleep. She sat up on the bed, one hand going instinctively to her temple, trying to recall how she ended up in her bedroom. When had the party ended?
No matter how hard she tried, the answers refused to line up neatly in her head.
A soft knock sounded at the door before it opened, and Maria walked in. Relief crossed her face the moment she saw Mishti awake.
“Good morning, Ma’am,” Maria said gently, crossing the room with a glass of water and a tablet. “Your head must be hurting. Take this.”
She nodded faintly and took the medicine without protest, swallowing it quickly before she asked the question that had been forming since she woke.
“How did I get here?”
“Karan Sir brought you to the room last night. You were hardly conscious. He stayed till you were settled.”
He what? Mishti tried to recall again, and this time images returned in uneven flashes.
The champagne glass in her hand. Her feet carrying her away from the party.
Komal’s arms around her. And then, hazier still, Karan’s presence.
His hands. His voice. She even recalled bits of how she had vented out her hurt and pain to him…
and that promise she made to him at the end.
Her breath hitched as she remembered it all. She had no idea where that courage had come from, or how she had found the strength to speak so fearlessly to the very man who had broken her down every day.
Maria’s voice pulled her back.
“He has already left for work,” she informed her. “But Abhimanyu Sir is still here. He asked me to tell you that Dr Komal will be coming to check on you as well.”
Mishti pushed herself off the bed immediately, even though her head protested and the room tilted slightly beneath her feet.
Maria steadied her without a word. She thanked her softly and hurried into the bathroom.
It was past eight. Far too late for her liking.
Her morning had begun all wrong. She had not even done her puja yet, the one thing that she never missed doing on time.
When she finally came downstairs, Komal and Abhimanyu were already there. Abhimanyu held out a cup of coffee for her while she glared at him, but took it anyway.
The moment Komal saw Mishti, she was on her feet in an instant. She crossed the room and held Mishti by the arms, her eyes searching her face.
“How are you feeling now?”
“I am better,” Mishti said quietly. “Just the headache is there.”
Komal exhaled, some of the tension easing from her shoulders.
“I was worried about you last night. I did not want to leave you alone at all. But Karan…” She stopped herself, then continued, sounding frustrated.
“First, he hurts you, and then he acts as if only he has the right to take care of you. What kind of man does that? What kind of hypocrisy is this?”
“Please, Komal.” Mishti interrupted. “Karan had nothing to do with me drinking last night,” she said firmly. “Yes, he provoked me. But the decision was mine. I regret it. I should have handled it better instead of letting his words affect me.”
Komal shook her head in disbelief. “You always defend him. I truly do not understand how long this will go on.”
She paused, then added bitterly, “If it were up to me, I would never let him torment you. I would have put him behind bars for mentally harassing his wife.”
Mishti was about to defend, but Abhimanyu did before her.
“Come on, Komal. Behind bars? Isn’t that a little too extreme?”
Komal turned on him instantly, irritation flashing across her face. “Of course you would say that. You always take your brother’s side. Have you ever thought about what Mishti is going through?”
He opened his mouth to argue, but Mishti had been watching them, watching the ease with which they fought, the way neither of them hesitated before snapping back. This was not how two people who had met once or twice behaved.
She raised her hand slightly, stopping them both. “You two already know each other, don’t you?” she asked calmly. “You have met before?”
Both of them turned toward her, startled. Mishti looked at Abhimanyu though and asked. “How do you Komal?”
The answer came instantly. “She’s my girlfriend.”
At the very same moment, Komal said, “Friend.”
Abhimanyu stared at Komal. Komal stared back at him, equally shocked, while Mishti stared between the two, noticing their awkward expressions.
They tried again.
Almost at the same time, again, Abhimanyu corrected himself. “I mean, she is my friend.”
And Komal, at the same time, corrected herself and said firmly, “Girlfriend.”
Mishti blinked once. Then she laughed, unable to hold it back any longer. The two of them looked even more embarrassed now.
Mishti reached for Komal and pulled her into a hug. “I cannot believe this,” she said, smiling. “But I had my doubts. I am so happy for you both.”
She pulled away and turned to Abhimanyu, who was visibly blushing by then. “Since when are you two dating?”
“Two years,” he replied.
Komal nodded. “We met on a dating site. I needed a distraction from work, and he was just… there. Looking for casual dates. We started talking. It just happened. Attraction turned into real feelings, and we are finally here. Taking one step at a time.”
“Wow.” Mishti’s smile widened. “My brother-in-law has made my job easier. I no longer have to find him a bride.”
Abhimanyu chuckled.
“Wait. Does Karan know?” Mishti asked next.
Komal shook her head quickly. “No. He doesn’t. And all thanks to your brother-in-law here, who never brought it up.”
“That’s because I was travelling constantly,” Abhimanyu defended himself. “And some things need to be said face to face, not over phone calls.”
Komal turned to Mishti again. “He wouldn’t go ahead without Karan’s approval. And Karan already dislikes me enough for standing by you all the time.”
Mishti understood and smiled teasingly. “So that is why you have always been so protective of me. Because I am Abhimanyu’s bhabhi.”
“That too.” Komal smiled back. “But more than that, I could not stand watching one of my most beautiful patients suffer like this in her personal life.”
Mishti waved that away gently. “Do not worry. Now that I know everything, I am officially Team Abhimanyu and Komal. I will try to convince Karan.”
Abhimanyu’s face lit up. “Thank you, Bhabhi.”
He hugged her without hesitation and then pulled Komal in as well, turning it into a clumsy but heartfelt embrace.
“Unbelievable,” Rajat’s voice drawled from the living room as he walked in. “Here I thought I had finally found one woman to flirt with. Turns out she is already taken.”
Komal rolled her eyes while the others laughed, knowing he had heard everything.
Rajat congratulated them both. “Convincing Karan is going to be fun. Imagine his face when he finds out his brother is in love with the doctor who never misses a chance to scold him.”
Mishti swatted Rajat’s arm lightly. “Do not scare them. We will convince him together. He cannot refuse all his favourite people.”
Rajat chuckled, nodding in agreement, then looked at her with a faint smile on his lips.