CHAPTER 41 #2
The moment she turned to leave, his hand closed around her waist, pulling her back in one swift motion. Her back collided with his chest, her breath leaving her in a soft gasp as he leaned down. He rubbed his haldi-stained cheek against hers slowly.
“My charm isn’t what you should worry about, Mishti.” His rough stubble grazed her skin. The contact sent a shiver straight through her, goosebumps rising on her skin.
“It’s what happens when I stop holding back,” he added.
Her pulse raced. The intimacy of that touch was too much.
Before the moment could tip into something it shouldn’t, she shoved him hard in the chest, and turned around and replied. “Well then,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “I’ve only two days to worry about that.”
She held his gaze, making sure he heard every word that followed.
“Because after that, I’ll be flying back to London. Away from both Karan Wadhwa and his charm.” Her lips curved faintly. “Your charm cannot stop me from putting distance between us again.”
The words hit him. Before he could say anything, before he could even process the certainty in her voice, she turned and walked away, merging back into the laughter, music, and chaos of the haldi celebrations.
But Karan stayed rooted where he was. Mishti had already decided she was leaving. And this time, he did not know how to stop her. Perhaps because, deep down, he knew he had no right to.
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Post Haldi Event - Late Night
The garden glowed under strings of lights, warm against the deepening night. A long table stretched across the lawn, filled with laughter, clinking glasses, and voices thick with emotion. It was Avni and Rajat’s haldi night. One last dinner before the rituals swallowed the next day whole.
Mishti sat at one far end of the table, Karan at the other.
They were not beside each other tonight. Not sharing glances meant for the world to miss. And yet, his eyes found her again and again.
She looked… so happy, listening to everyone speak about Avni and Rajat.
About love. About finding the right person.
About choosing each other, again and again.
About laughter, companionship, and partnership.
Things that had never been spoken at her own wedding.
Things she had once hoped for and later learned not to expect.
Her eyes shone as she listened, getting emotional, then clapping softly when someone finished speaking. Karan watched her from across the table, his heart saddening at the sight. This was what she looked like when she was not bracing herself.
Someone raised a toast. Then another. Avni laughed through tears, Rajat pulling her close, whispering something that made her giggle again. The family was in high spirits, loud and alive.
And somewhere in the middle of all that noise, Karan had so much to say. He hadn’t planned this. He hadn’t rehearsed words in his head. But the truth had been pressing against his ribs for days now, and he couldn’t wait.
This was it. He pushed his chair back and stood. The scrape of wood against stone made a few heads turn. Someone handed him a glass instinctively, assuming he was about to add another playful speech to the evening.
Karan lifted the glass and tapped it twice; the sound cut through the chatter.
The table quieted.
Avni’s brows knit together in surprise. Even Rajat straightened, already grinning. “Wait… my best friend is giving a speech now?” he teased, glancing around theatrically. “Someone, please record this. I’ve waited years for this moment.”
A few chuckles followed.
Karan’s lips curved slightly as he looked at Rajat. “No, Rajat,” he said calmly. “This isn’t about you.”
Rajat blinked, then laughed. “That’s disappointing.”
Karan continued, his gaze shifting briefly to Avni. “Although,” he added, his voice warming, “I am very happy that you’re going to spend the rest of your life with the other version of me.”
Avni scoffed. “Excuse me?”
“You, my sister, another version of me, but the best one,” he clarified, and the table laughed again.
Karan turned to Rajat and continued. “And just so we’re clear, I will always be watching.
If you even think of going against her wishes, or question her demands, no matter how ridiculous they may sound to you, I will come after you. ”
The laughter grew louder this time.
Avni giggled, curling her arm possessively around Rajat’s, resting her head against his shoulder with exaggerated satisfaction.
Rajat raised his glass in surrender. “I have absolutely no doubt about that,” he said proudly. “And I accept my fate.”
Karan nodded once, then added, “And Avni, please make his life the pleasing kind of hell. He’s teased me enough over the years. It’s only fair.”
Avni laughed so hard she had to wipe her eyes. Rajat shook his head, still smiling, and clinked his glass lightly against Karan’s in mock agreement.
Across the table, Mishti watched all of this with surprise.
This easy version of Karan was so unfamiliar, yet sweet. She smiled, genuinely enjoying the way he spoke, the way the family responded to him.
Then Karan’s expression changed. His smile faded, his shoulders straightened, and his grip on the glass tightened just a little. The shift was subtle, but Mishti felt it instantly when his eyes lifted and met hers.
The spark was there again. That charged stillness, the one that warned her up instantly.
“But this is not all I have to say,” he added.
The garden fell silent.
“And what I have to say now,” Karan continued, his gaze never leaving Mishti, “is no longer about Avni and Rajat.”
He took a slow breath.
“It’s about me.”
The laughter faded. Glasses stopped mid-air. Mishti’s smile stilled. As though some instinct in her had sensed the ground beneath her feet was about to move.
“I had no plans to say this tonight,” he said. “And I won’t pretend this is the right moment. There will never be a right moment for what I’m about to say.”
Rajat’s grin had faded completely now. Avni had straightened in her chair, her brows drawn together. VK was already guessing what Karan was about to say. But he stayed quiet.
Karan inhaled once, deeply.
“My marriage to Mishti was never out of love,” he said.
Mishti’s fingers curled slowly in her lap as his gaze shifted toward the people sitting on that table, who probably knew this but never once had questioned his intentions.
“I married her for revenge.”
A suffocating silence followed. Avni’s hand slid into Rajat’s, knowing what this was about.
“Everyone sitting here on this table already knows that by now,” he added, still not looking back at Mishti yet. “I knew exactly whose daughter she was,” he continued. “I knew what it would cost her. And I chose to do it anyway.”
His jaw clenched.
“I used my marriage as a weapon. Against her father. Against her family. Against anyone connected to the man who destroyed mine.”
Mishti was very still when he finally looked at her again. He read the pain in her eyes, which had darkened not with tears, but memory.
“I did not just marry her for revenge.” He swallowed. “I lived that revenge every single day.”
“I was aware Mishti was innocent. That she did not know even what her father did. Yet, I emotionally neglected her. I kept her away from me deliberately. I locked her out of my room, my life, my reasons. When she demanded answers, all she got from me was silence, and cruelty. I let her believe she was unwanted, unworthy, invisible in my life. I never allowed her to feel chosen, desired, or loved.”
A faint tremor ran through his breath as he looked away again.
“She asked me why,” he said. “More than once. She deserved an answer every time. And every time, I chose not to give her one. Instead, I just kept reminding her, directly and indirectly, that this marriage was never about love.”
Mishti’s throat tightened. She lowered her chin a fraction, unable to bear reminiscing about those days.
“She had dreamed of a real marriage, a real partnership. But I brutally shattered her dream. And despite that, she endured it all quietly, with dignity and without any complaint,” he went on.
“I watched her hold on to her faith, to her prayers, to her belief that goodness still mattered, even when I gave her no reason to believe in me.”
He swallowed, turning to the family, who were no longer merely listening. They were absorbing. Faces pale. Eyes wet. Some in disbelief. Some were ashamed of having known parts of this and said nothing.
“I used Mishti to hurt her brother,” Karan said. “I knew Daksh never cared about her. But she loved him. And I still went ahead and destroyed his empire, knowing exactly what it would do to her.”
Mishti’s fingers pressed into her palm now, her nails biting her skin.
This time, when he looked at her again, his eyes burned.
“Despite living under the same roof, the distances between us kept growing with time,” he continued. “Sometimes, I told myself I was protecting her by keeping her away from me. I told myself I didn’t want her to develop feelings for a man who was only going to hurt her.”
A bitter exhale escaped him.
“And when I realised she already had… I still didn’t stop. That’s on me.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw, but he still didn’t look away. He couldn’t.
“Every time we came close, I knew it wasn’t good for her. I knew it would give her hope. And I still let it happen. That’s on me.”
Tears rolled down her face at his words, his honesty.
“I took everything from her,” he continued.
“Her peace. Her sanity. Her right to know why her own husband treated her like a stranger. And all the while, she still gave me everything selflessly. She adjusted. She stayed. Always telling people that ‘Karan’ iss duniya ke sabse acche pati hai. (Karan is the best husband in the world)”
He exhaled, sadly.
“When she planned to confess her love once, I brutally rejected her, telling her I would never love her, never allow her to love me...reducing my wife to nothing but the blood of a man I hated. Only a monster could do that. I’m that monster.”
He took a pause, shaking his head in dismay.
“And yet, despite all this, the day she left me was the day I got the biggest reality check of my life. Because our separation wasn’t just physical, it was an emotional exile for me. For Karan Wadhwa, who never cared about anyone else except himself. Now he missed his wife. Terribly.”
Avni’s eyes filled instantly. Rajat stared at Karan as if seeing him for the first time. Mishti only looked down, wiping her tears as he continued.
“But I am happy. Happy that Mishti walked away, rebuilt herself, reclaimed control over her emotions and turned out to be a stronger woman. I am truly happy for her.”
She raised her head, and their eyes met again.
“She’s still affectionate, but not for me anymore,” he paused to swallow. “Still warm and human, but not for me anymore. Because I don’t deserve it.”
He rubbed his palms over his face, and she instantly knew that he was wiping off his falling tears. He didn’t want the family to see him crying. But she knew he was.
A sob literally tore her as he exhaled hard and looked back at her and said, “You have every right to walk away from our loveless marriage, Mishti. From my cruelty and hypocrisy.”
He took another pause, and now his eyes darkened.
“I cannot justify my past, but I want you to know something. You know my earlier motive was revenge. Now my only motive for the rest of my life is your happiness, even if I don’t get back the same.”
Her chest heaved as he said that.
“I regret hurting you. And I know I don’t deserve forgiveness, so I am not asking for it either. I know I haven’t earned it yet.”
She stared at him, speechless. He turned to her fully now, and for the first time, his voice faltered.
“Your happiness doesn’t depend on me anymore. So, I accept your anger, your need for distance, your hesitation in giving us another chance. Because I’ve realised that loving you means letting you choose, even if you choose a life without me in it. And I will not stand in the way of that anymore.”
The words sent a ripple through the table.
“I am sorry, Mishti.” He bowed his head slightly. “For everything.”
No one spoke. No one moved. Everyone’s faces were streaked with tears and shock.
Mishti remained seated, watching the man before her, bowing his head in submission, before his family, who knew he had never bent to anyone until now. Only her!
Karan did not wait for her response to his apology. He knew it would never come. He placed his glass down carefully, then turned and walked away from the table, leaving behind the family in stunned silence, and laying bare his heart before his wife.