CHAPTER 32
Karan’s Hotel Suite - Jaipur
Karan brought Mishti back to consciousness by sprinkling water over her face. She stirred almost instantly. The moment her eyes fluttered open, and she saw him, they widened fully with shock.
Her body reacted before her mind could. She recoiled, curling into the bed as if she could hide herself in the mattress. Karan saw that but said nothing. He only watched her before calmly placing the glass of water on the bedside table.
Mishti looked around the room. This was not the hotel room she had checked into. Where was she? The furniture was different. The space was larger and looked royal. Was this his room?
Anger flashed across her face as she slid off the bed at once. Without saying a single word, she marched straight toward the door.
Now that infuriated him.
Her refusal to acknowledge him, her complete disregard after eleven months of disappearance, and now her ignoring him as if he did not exist, angered him.
She reached for the door handle, but before she could pull it open, the door was shoved shut again. Karan grabbed her arms, spun her around, and pinned her back against the same door, his body blocking any escape.
“Stop running from me,” he snapped.
That did it. Her restraint cracked, too.
“Why shouldn’t I?” she shot back, finally letting the anger pour out. “Why shouldn’t I run away from someone I don’t even think I know anymore?”
Rage surged through him as his gaze dropped to her neckline instinctively.
The place where her mangalsutra had once rested was now bare.
That Mangalsutra, the one she had cried over when it broke.
The one he had personally gotten repaired for her.
The one she had always clung to, even when he had given her nothing else.
She had left it with him when she had flown to London.
Mishti noticed the shift immediately. She saw his eyes harden as they lifted back to meet hers.
“Taking off your marital chain doesn’t make me a stranger to you, Mishti,” he said coldly. “I am still your husband.”
That word lit the fire in her completely.
She shoved him hard, both palms slamming into his chest, breaking his grip on her arms.
“Husband?” she scoffed bitterly. “Do you even know what that word means?”
Her chest heaved as she continued, “No, Mr Karan Wadhwa. You are galaxies away from being what a husband should be to his wife.”
He was furious. Every muscle in his body coiled and was ready to snap. But then he saw her tears. They rolled silently down her cheeks, one after the other, cutting through his anger and forcing it to quiet down, if only for a moment.
Her voice broke as she spoke again. “So, Avni is your sister?”
She stepped forward suddenly and grabbed his shirt over his chest, fisting the fabric tightly. “You had a sister. And you never told me.”
Her grip tightened. “How many more secrets have you kept from me?”
His silence only fuelled her.
“And you knew,” she went on, her voice shaking with disbelief. “You knew all this time where I was. Didn’t you?”
Mishti laughed bitterly through her tears. “Mr Karan Wadhwa has the power to trace his missing wife from any corner of the world. How could I forget?”
Her eyes burned as she looked at him. “So you were watching me? All this time? And I didn’t even know?”
She shoved him again, not as hard this time, but with every ounce of betrayal she felt.
“What should I call it then?” she demanded. “Another one of your smart power plays?”
Karan grabbed her arms and pulled her closer again.
“If I wanted to show you a power play, Mishti, we wouldn’t be standing here like this after eleven months. This would have happened months ago. I would have come to London and dragged my wife back home with me, to where she rightfully belongs.”
Mishti’s nostrils flared. Even now, he dared to say that.
“You ran away from me, Mishti. Without thinking about the consequences. Without thinking about what I was supposed to tell the world, why did my wife leave? Where did she disappear? It was so easy for you, wasn’t it?
When you couldn’t handle the truth of our marriage, you chose to run instead of facing it. ”
His jaw clenched as he continued. “What did you expect me to do? Sit quietly and gloat? Wait patiently for you to return? Let people mock me, saying I couldn’t keep my wife happy or safe?”
Mishti let out a slow breath, her eyes flashing. “Since when did Karan Wadhwa start caring about what people say about him?” she asked. “You’ve never been a man anyone dares to question, let alone mock you.”
Karan stared at her. But she didn’t back down.
“And what did you expect me to do, if not run away?” she asked.
There was complete silence, except for their harsh breaths and sharp gazes at each other.
“I can’t live my entire life drowning in guilt. For what happened in the past…to your family…to your mother. Because of my fa—”
She stopped herself, unable to complete the word. Hatred flashed through her expression at the thought of even calling him that.
She looked down once, her grip on his shirt loosening, before she lifted her eyes to meet his again.
“If I could undo the past, I would,” she said quietly, dropping her tone. “If I could pray for God to take my life and give your mother back to you, I would do it in a blink.”
Her voice trembled, but she didn’t look away. “But it’s not possible. And that’s what hurts the most.”
She drew in a breath. “Seeing you hate me hurts. Watching you destroy my brother, my bhabhi, and their child’s life like this was painful.”
Her shoulders squared. “So I chose to leave. I don’t regret it. And I still prefer it that way.” Her jaw clenched as she decided. “I am here for two weeks. And after that, I’m going back to London. Back to the world I’m building for myself. A world that has no place for our marriage in it.”
Her eyes hardened, but his gaze didn’t waver as she continued, “You couldn’t stop me then, you cannot stop me now either.”
“Do you really think I’ll let VK uncle allow you to keep working at that NGO?
” he scoffed and went on. “Avni may not know who you are to me, but VK uncle does. He knew you were my wife from the very first day you stepped into that organisation. If he stayed silent, it was only because I asked him to. One word from me now, Mishti, and he won’t let you continue there for a second longer. Don’t test my patience.”
Something inside her snapped. VK uncle knew who she was all this time? So, even he betrayed her.
All this while, she had believed that at least that space was hers. That one corner of the world where she wasn’t Karan Wadhwa’s wife. Where she was just Mishti. But here he was, breaking her illusion yet again. Every time she trusted someone, they betrayed her.
“Of course.” She laughed bitterly. “I expected nothing else from you.” Her eyes burned as she looked at him. “It’s so easy for you, isn’t it? To trample over people’s lives. Their work. Their wages. Their hearts. To ruin them completely and walk away untouched?”
She moved closer, defiant despite the tremor running through her. “Fine. If not the NGO, I’ll work somewhere else. I don’t care what you do after this.”
Her chin lifted. “And I don’t even care if you tell Avni the truth. Which I know you eventually will. So, go ahead. Do it. Because that’s what you’ve always done. You snatch people away from me. One by one. Anyone who comes close.”
Her throat tightened, but she didn’t stop. “Avni was the closest I’ve had in a long time. And I won’t be surprised if you destroy that too. Our friendship, that sisterly bond, just to prove that you still have control over me and my life.”
She then shrugged off his hold. “Do it,” she said fiercely. “I dare you.”
Karan stared at her for a long time. Was she challenging him? Rage stormed behind his eyes. But so did his possessiveness for her, something he had never learned to tame.
He took a step closer, crowding her space again.
“Yes, I will, Mishti. Because I cannot enjoy watching you rebuild a life where I don’t exist,” he said, his voice roughening. “And it killed me knowing you chose to call yourself an orphan rather than my wife.”
Her heart thudded painfully. She shook her head, tears spilling again.
“Again…wife?” she whispered. “Don’t call me that, Karan.
Yes, I am your wife because I married you.
But marriage doesn’t cage. Marriage doesn’t make a woman feel like she has to disappear to breathe.
I didn’t leave to bruise your ego. I left to survive. ”
For the first time since she woke up in that suite, he had no counterreply.
Because this wasn’t revenge anymore.
This was two people bleeding from the same wound, standing on opposite sides of it, unsure whether to reach out or let it destroy them completely.
That was when the door suddenly opened, and Avni walked in with Rajat right behind her.
The moment Mishti saw Avni, her reflex was immediate. She wiped her tears away, hurriedly composing herself, schooling her face into calm. But Karan froze, wondering how much Avni had heard.
But one glance at Rajat’s expression assured him that she hadn’t. Otherwise Rajat wouldn’t be so cool.
Avni didn’t even spare Karan a look. She rushed straight to Mishti with concern and touched her arm. “Mishti, are you okay now?” she asked anxiously. “What happened? You just fainted like that. I’ve called the in-house doctor for you.”
Mishti forced a smile onto her lips. “No, please don’t,” she said quickly. “I’m okay now. I guess…” she paused, searching for a believable excuse, then swallowed. “I guess skipping breakfast today made me faint. Don’t worry. I’ll order something and eat right away.”
Avni nodded, reassured, but then her gaze shifted to Karan, and the warmth vanished.
Mishti noticed it too. That undisguised dislike, almost hatred in her eyes for her own brother, and it bothered her.