Q/N - Welcome back to Bikhre moti after a hiatus!
Quoting '500 Days of Summer', I should tell you upfront that this is not a typical romance story. In this story hero, heroine and villain are only 1 thing – "politics"!
Disclaimer: All characters and plots in this story are figments of my imagination, any resemblance to any person living or dead or any event should only be assumed as a coincidence.
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Newsflash: "A HOT news in Delhi's hot summer! Delhi's current chief minister Shrimati(Mrs.) Khushi Mehra née Gupta is rumored to be marrying Arnav Singh Raizada. For our viewers knowledge, this is second marriage for Shrimati(Mrs.) Mehra whose first husband was killed in a suicide attack few months back. Mrs. Mehra is the youngest chief minister this state has ever seen and we also want to remind you that Arnav Singh Raizada is the only son of Arvind Raizada, ex-chief minister of Delhi. Mrs. Khushi Mehra herself belongs to Gupta family, who has given 2 chief misters to our state. It will be interesting to see if this is a political move for-"
Khushi turned the TV off at that point. Today was yet another time she was taking a step as an ambitious politician, and not as a naïve ex-lover. It was ironic enough that once averse to politics, Khushi Gupta had now become one the most revered politicians Khushi Mehra in this state within a span of 2 years! And the person responsible for her transformation was standing in her house today, as her to-be-fiancé. The Khushi from 2-3 years ago would probably dance at this occasion, but this khushi only looked at the benefit this alliance was going to bring for her and her THRONE!
She took a deep breath and glanced at her image in the full-length mirror. Today was a small engagement ceremony arranged at their home and no matter how small, given the stature of the families involved, it was still extravagant. Decked up as a bride from head till toe, she was looking breathtaking. There was no known jewelry in this world that was missing from her today. Everything was there except, a natural blush of a new bride. Instead, there was fierce glint in her eyes, and firmness in her steps.
Just then her mother-in-law Reema Mehra aka Rani Ma and sister-in-law Swara walked in,
"You look very pretty beta." Reema complimented her daughter-in-law, who was very dear to her
"Shukirya Rani ma" khushi said and half contemplated telling her that she didn't want to do this, she didn't want to get married again, least to Arnav! But her mother-in-law was adamant on this match and like always, she made Khushi see the reason. Marrying Arnav would mean a lot for her own position, it meant successfully eliminating any chance of any treachery again for the CM chair.
It was a perfect political move, if only their pasts weren't intertwined, if only Arnav hadn't been the one to break her trust in love, if he hadn't wronged her back then.
And then again, forgetting her ex-husband Swayam who had been nothing but a blessing in disguise for her, was not easy. They started out as friends, and he had become her life-partner. And just when she started accepting their marriage, when they were going to start a family, he was gone, snatched away rather...Maybe love wasn't in her fate, maybe she was meant to be a ruler, that's it!
Flashback from 3 years ago:
For the second consecutive time, Shashi Gupta also known as angutha-chaap (illiterate) chief minister was chosen as chief minister by their party leaders much to his political rival-Arvind Raizada's dislike. From last 10 years, he also wanted to be chief minister, but their party had chosen Shashi to lead both the terms. Amongst the crowd of corrupt politicians, Shashi was still relatively clean man and had goodwill of people, while Arvind was corrupted, morally, and otherwise. And it didn't help Arvind that his every wrong move was brought to light by none other Shashi Gupta! And now he was losing patience...
