Please read an imp note at the end of this chapter.
Trigger warnings - mentions of suicide
--*--
kyun khwaabon pe tere saaye hain, dil kyun hai tanha mera?
(Why are there your shadows on my dreams, why is my heart so lonely?)
kyun khaamoshi hai zubaan meri, ashkon se keh paaoon naa
(why is the silence my tongue, I'm not able to speak with my tears.)
Since Khushi was assigned 'Mukhyamantri niwas'-official residence of a chief minister, it was imperative she will continue to live there, thus making Arnav to move in. Rani Ma and Swara were already living with her and so was her babuji since his accident. It was a pretty big house, as good as a palace with army of housekeeping staff at their service so accommodating 5 people was never an issue. Even when they all had separate bedrooms, there were as many vacant! It worked perfect for Khushi who wanted to keep distance from Arnav.
Their wedding day set up the tone of their married life and soon, Khushi got busy with her role as the state's CM while Arnav threw himself into the business. Work was the only thing that was left for him while she had already reached that conclusion after Swayam's death, so both got occupied in their individual supremacies. As they say, days pass by quickly when you are busy making your lives, same happened with them. Days turned into weeks, weeks into months and slowly it became a routine.
After that both Arnav and Khushi had thrown themselves at work, running away from the tangled relationship web they were caught in and desperate to make their own images. They still stayed rulers of their own worlds, still stayed power hungry. But the distance between them stayed the same. As Khushi had said, she kept distance from his life while Arnav only wished he could make her forget their past, but he could never figure out how to start with that...and he left it at that. Besides, he was already facing his worst demons after knowing that Rani mehra was his birth mother and Swara, Swayam his half-siblings!
Amidst this, other 3 occupants of the house along with a 4th person who was also resident except his sleeping times, Aman observed and influenced their lives in their own ways.
--*--
Rani Mehra was proud of herself; her years of hard work and sacrifices had paid off. Her son was handling the business empire while her daughter-in-law whom she had groomed, was holding the ultimate power of any decision taken in their state. Now if only Swara too would come out of her shell, she had a plan for her too.
Arnav was still not accepting her, but once he realizes she has made his life, even when she handed him to Raizadas and even now, when she got him and Khushi married, he will come around too.
With that, she stepped out of the house to meet Khushi in her office, there was an important tender from Malhotra group that was pending for government nod and Khushi's signature meant everything to them. And then, it would mean a lot to Mehra group too!
And if everything went well, she was planning to get Swara married to Neev Malhotra, thus ensuring the tie between two biggest business families!
--*--
In last few months, Khushi had started liking being in control, liking the feeling that world was at her feet now, her one order was enough to make huge changes in people's lives. It was true she never wanted to come into politics and somewhere Arnav's betrayal had pushed her to it but now that she was sitting at the throne, she always felt an adrenaline rush with the feeling of power!
Although sometimes she would wonder why her victory still felt incomplete? Why did she feel she still lacked something? She had the throne, the unprecedented power, she could make people dance on her tune with one snap of her fingers, what else could she need? Not to mention, she had not become weak in front the man who had crushed her soul, in fact she had him where she wanted. Then why it felt incomplete?
