CHAPTER 35 #2
Mishti stared at him, in disbelief first, then anger, because she knew he was lying. It was written all over his face. He knew how he reached into her room last night. Yet dragging the truth out of him was next to impossible. He would never let her see his vulnerable side.
She stood up. “You don’t remember?” she asked angrily.
Karan stood up too, and took a step closer. Then another. Too close. Close enough for her to feel the warmth of his body again. His gaze dropped to her lips, just for a second, before lifting back to her eyes.
“Should I?” he asked.
Her heart slammed against her ribs. The audacity of him. She crossed her arms instinctively, putting space where he refused to.
“How could I forget? Karan Wadhwa has a fragile memory,” she mocked. “It only remembers what is necessary, filtering out everything else. I’m sure whatever you came here last night for, or said to me, was unimportant. So, don’t think hard. Even I’ll pretend you never said anything.”
Karan saw the disappointment on her face.
He knew exactly why he was there, and he knew what he had confessed to her the previous night.
Facing her then had been easier, when alcohol had dulled his edges, and she could dismiss his words and his pain as the ramblings of a drunk man.
But now, in clear daylight, fully in control of himself, he refused to open up or even acknowledge those vulnerabilities.
Karan Wadhwa guarded his heart fiercely. The walls around it were his to maintain. If anyone was allowed to touch his pain, it was him alone. Only him. No one else was permitted to step into that space. Not even Mishti.
Before he could say anything, a knock echoed through the room.
“Mishti?” Avni’s voice followed. “Are you in there, babes?”
Both of them froze.
Mishti’s eyes flew to the door in shock. If Avni saw them together in her room, she would be suspicious. But soon that fear was replaced with something else, a silent determination. Like it was high time Avni did.
Mishti turned back to Karan.
“Open the door,” she said.
Karan’s expression hardened instantly.
“Open it. Let her see you’re here. Let her ask questions. Let her know what relationship we share.” Her voice trembled only slightly. “This is your chance, Karan. To come clean with her. Tell her why you kept her away all these years. Because of whom.”
He stared at her, stunned. She knew?
Mishti nodded. “Rajat told me.” Her eyes welled up, but she wiped the tears away before they could fall. “All this hatred Avni throws at you, I should be the one receiving it, not you. It happened because of a Goel. Just tell her.”
Avni knocked again. “Mishti, are you inside?”
Karan’s jaw clenched tightly. Instead of moving towards the door, he turned away, grabbed his phone from the bedside table, and dialled a number.
Mishti watched him, confused, as he spoke quietly.
“Rajat, Avni’s at Mishti’s door,” he said into the phone. “Come and take her away with some excuse.”
Rajat probably questioned him, asking what had happened, but Karan didn’t justify.
“Just do it,” he said, “now,” and cut the call.
Mishti was stunned. She realised Karan was doing this to protect her from Avni’s wrath, from the fallout, from straining her relationship with Avni by revealing the truth.
And she didn’t want that. Especially when it came at the cost of his own relationship with his sister.
Until now, she hadn’t fully known who was responsible for the bitterness between Avni and Karan.
Now she did. And she wouldn’t let it worsen any further.
“Fine. I’ll open it myself,” she said, almost taking a step towards the door. But before she could reach it, Karan caught her arm and pulled her back. When she tried to argue, he covered her mouth with his palm, silencing her.
“Don’t,” he murmured close to her ear.
Mishti struggled against him, fury flashing in her eyes, but he didn’t let her go yet.
Not until they heard footsteps within a minute and then Rajat’s voice outside, telling Avni he was hungry and that they should go for breakfast, suggesting that Mishti might already be downstairs.
Avni sounded convinced and left with him.
Once their footsteps faded, only then did Karan remove his hand from Mishti’s mouth.
Mishti stared at him in shock. “Why would you do this? You had the perfect chance to sort everything out with her.”
Karan said nothing. He only let out a slow breath and turned towards the door, walking away without a backward glance. That was it. No explanation. No justification.
Something inside Mishti snapped. She rushed forward and stepped into his path, blocking the door before he could open it.
“You wanted to know why you still can’t find peace,” she asked.
“This is why. Your sister still has no idea what you’ve done for her.
She has no clue what you sacrificed. Tell her, Karan.
Tell her that none of this was your fault.
She will understand. You’ll get your sister back.
And with her… you’ll finally get your peace too. ”
For a moment, he only stared at her. Then his jaw tightened. He reached out, his fingers closing around her arms, not rough though. He pulled her closer as he argued.
“And turn her against you in the process?” he asked. “Not happening. I may get my sister back, Mishti, but not at the cost of losing you. That’s not the kind of peace I’m looking for anymore.”
She was speechless. Did he just confess he didn’t want to lose her?
His grip loosened, but his eyes never left hers. “Avni has lived without me all these years, venting out her anger and disappointment on me. She’s happy in that space now. Her marriage to Rajat will give her the happiness she always deserved. And I’m… I’m just content knowing that.”
Saying that, he finally turned around and walked out the door.
Mishti stood there, still speechless. Karan was shielding her from the consequences, saving her bond with Avni, by sacrificing his own relationship with his sister for her sake?
What did that even mean? And why did it make her guilt even deeper?
Fine, she thought. If he wouldn’t tell Avni, she would. But Avni’s wedding was in eleven days, and it wasn’t fair to burden her with this truth at such a time. And would revealing everything really erase years of bitterness between Karan and Avni so easily? Probably not.
So she decided to do something else first. To bring them together slowly. It was her responsibility now, to mend the distance between them. Only after that would she tell Avni the truth. Even if Avni broke ties with her because of it, she would accept it. But she would do this. For him.
***************
Late Afternoon
Mishti found VK in the hotel lobby, his phone pressed to his ear, as he spoke animatedly. He was inviting a few old friends for Rajat’s wedding, confirming dates, and insisting they attend. She waited a short distance away until he wrapped up the call and slipped the phone back into his pocket.
He turned to her with a gentle smile. “Mishti,” he said, concern immediately touching his voice. “How are you? Everything alright? You didn’t come down for breakfast this morning.”
She shook her head slightly. “That’s not important,” she said quietly. “I need to talk to you.”
The seriousness in her tone made VK straighten at once. He gestured for them to move to the sofa and once seated, he asked her to continue.
Mishti took a breath. “I want you to convince Avni to let Karan perform all the wedding traditions as her brother,” she said, without hesitation.
“She wouldn’t listen to me if I told her this.
But she will never deny you. You are the only one who can do this.
Please make her believe that these rituals need a brother’s presence.
That avoiding them would be inauspicious.
Whether she likes it or not, but Karan’s involvement isn’t optional. ”
VK listened quietly and then nodded.
“You are right. I’ll speak to Avni,” he said. “I’ll make sure she agrees.”
Mishti was relieved, but VK studied her for a long moment and continued. “But you know Karan,” he said carefully. “He’ll be suspicious. He won’t like being pushed into this.”
“I don’t care what he thinks,” Mishti replied angrily. “He might not want this, but I do. And this time, you will have to listen to me. Not him.”
VK knew she was right and nodded in agreement.
“Alright, Mishti. Consider it done.”
After a pause, his expression softened as guilt crept in. “Even I owe you an apology. For hiding the truth from you all this time. That I knew you were Karan’s wife. And I never told you.”
Mishti looked at him, the hurt she had been holding in finally surfacing. “I don’t even know what to say,” she admitted. “I trusted you like family. You, Rajat, Abhimanyu. All of you kept things from me. It just tells me how little you trusted me.”
“No, Mishti,” VK said immediately, gripping her hand. “Please don’t say that. When you came to London, you were shattered. All you wanted was distance from Karan. If we hid the truth, it was because we cared for you. We didn’t want you to run away again just because we were connected to him.”
He squeezed her hand gently. “Karan and all of us were only trying to protect you. From your grief. From your loneliness. Please don’t misunderstand that.”
Mishti lowered her gaze. She understood his words, even if the ache still lingered.
“I may be close to Karan,” VK continued, “but what I’m about to say isn’t bias. These months without you were harder on him than all the years he spent planning revenge against the Goels.”
Mishti froze.
“Karan will never admit this,” he went on, “but we all saw it. When you left without a word, he searched for you everywhere. And do you know what the worst part is?”
She looked up.
“His search never ended,” VK sighed. “It will only stop when you are back by his side. This time, not to hurt you, but to give you everything you both were never able to give each other.”
A tear slipped down Mishti’s cheek.
“Love,” VK added softly. “That’s what you’re both looking for. In each other. Don’t let this stretch any further.”
Mishti shook her head, tears choking her voice. “He can never love me, Uncle. He told me that himself. He warned me not to expect it. And he was right. How can he love the daughter of the man who destroyed his family? Who killed his mother?”
VK sighed, but the certainty in his eyes never left.
“You have no idea how powerful love is, my girl. It is the only thing that can heal hearts. Today, you may not believe what Karan feels for you. Maybe even Karan won’t realise it yet, but you both will see it soon.
And when you do, don’t overthink it. Let it exist. Let it grow. ”
He smiled gently. “You both deserve a lifetime of love. And your happily ever after. You already have my blessings. I’ll pray that day to come very soon.”
Mishti didn’t know what to say.
But the picture his words painted stayed with her. A life she had once dreamed of. A life full of love with Karan.
She held onto it quietly, afraid to hope too much. Because every time she had hoped before, it had only led her back to pain.