HWGA Chapter 24: A Storm Was Brewing

Thank you to everyone who commented and liked the last chapter. As always the purple bits are meant to be Hindi. I'm going to be honest, this is mostly just a filler chapter but I promise the next one will be filled with a lot of things that will keep you on the edge of your seats. I'll try and update the next one as soon as I can. Until then, enjoy :)

Chapter 24: A Storm Was Brewing

Anjili picked up her phone on the 3^rd ring.

“Hello?”

“Di, I need you to do something for me?” said Arnav.

“What is it Chote?”

“I need you to get 2, maybe 3, guestrooms ready.”

“I can do that but why?”

“Because I’m going to convince Amba and Khushi to stay in the Sheesh Mahal until the wedding is over.”

“And the third room?”

“For Karan. It’s unlikely that he’ll let Amba and Khushi stay in the Sheesh Mahal without supervision.”

“I thought Karan was in London.”

“He’s on his way back.”

“Should I ask why you’re doing this?”

“Because I’m in love.”

Anjili smiled. “That’s good enough for me. I’ll get everything ready.”

“Thank you. Is Payal around?”

“No she went to the Gupta Haveli to check on Khushiji.”

“Ok bye.”

Arnav cut the call and phoned Payal.

“Hello?”

“Payal, it’s me Arnav.”

“Ji Arnavji?”

Arnav thought he’d get straight to the point. “Why didn’t you tell me that Khushi was raped?”

There was a pause. “What are you talking about?” she asked in a strained voice.

Arnav frowned in annoyance. He hated when people played games with him. “Don’t play dumb. Her daughter told me all about it.”

“Daughter?” Squeaked Payal.

“Amba is Khushi’s daughter isn’t she?”

Payal contemplated lying but she knew that Arnav would see through it. “How do you know all of this?”

“Amba told me?”

Payal frowned. “Why would she do that?”

“Because I wanted to know why she called Khushi mum. Parts of Khushi’s memory have returned.”

“Like what?”

“She can only remember parts of being a mother and the fact that Amba is her daughter. So why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because it’s none of your business!” she snapped.

“It is my business damn it!”

“No it’s not! You’re not her husband anymore. You said you didn’t care about my sister and that’s why I didn’t tell you. And then you had the audacity to say you did only after you found out what a fraud Sheetal was. I care about my baby sister and I didn’t want her to get back together with a man who can’t make his mind up.”

“Payal-”

“No.”

She cut the call and went back to what she was doing. Arnav stared at the phone baffled. He couldn’t believe that she had hung up on him. No one hangs up on Arnav Singh Raizada, he hangs up on people. He knew that she would do anything in her power to stop Khushi and Amba from coming to live in the Sheesh Mahal until the wedding is over so he decided to try something. He made another call.

“Hello?”

“Amba, I need you to come and live in the Sheesh Mahal until the wedding is over.”

Amba raised an eyebrow. “And why would I do that?”

“We only have a week or so before we do the press conference and we have so much to do so I thought it would be best if you live in the Sheesh so we can get a lot more done.”

“Sounds reasonable but I’d like to bring my mother along.”

Arnav smiled a victory smile. “I’ll arrange something.”

“I’ll pack some things and we’ll be over soon.”

“Ok I’ll send a car around 7 o’clock. I’ll see you guys tonight.”

Later that night, Amba and Khushi arrived at the Sheesh Mahal with a couple of bag. The Raizada family came out to greet them as Arnav had informed everyone about the arrangement. Payal had given Arnav dirty looks and she continued giving them to him as Amba and Khushi entered the Sheesh.

“I’ll have one of the servants show you your rooms. Once you’ve freshened up, please join us for dinner.” Said Anjili.

“I need to talk to Mr Raizada about something, you go on ahead Khushi auntie.” Said Amba.

The servant led Khushi to her room while Arnav took Amba to his study.

“What did you need to talk to me about?” asked Arnav.

“I hope you are going to be very professional about all of this.” Said Amba seriously. “I am here to work and my mother is here to enjoy herself and occasionally help out. I trust you will not be mixing business with pleasure as you specifically called me over for business.”

Arnav sighed, of course Amba had managed to see though the guise.

“Of course. I only invited your mum because you asked me to.”

“Don’t act like this wasn’t your plan. You know as well as I do that we could easily finish everything up before the week ends, even with a break for the wedding. You orchestrated this so you could spend more time with my mother but that’s not going to happen.”

“Look Amba, I called you here for business and that’s all that’s going to happen.” He insisted even though he wasn’t fooling anyone.

“That’s good to know. Then I’ll meet you in here at 6 am.”

“What?”

“Well since we have so much to do, I thought we should get up early and do it.”

Arnav tried to get out of this situation. “But tomorrow is the Haldi.”

“I’m not the bride and neither are you. We are not required to be present.”

Arnav sighed in frustration and gave in. “Fine. But don’t be late.” He barked.

Amba smirked at the fact that she hit a nerve. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

Arnav had a servant lead Amba to her room.

The next morning was hell for Arnav. He had been stuck in his study with Amba going over everything for the press conference and he hadn’t had a chance to see Khushi or spend time with her. And it just got worse because Amba ordered their lunch to be sent to the study so he couldn’t see Khushi in the afternoon either. The only good thing that came out of all of this is the fact that they had managed to complete 3 days work in 1 day.

They finally stopped working around 8 o’clock. Arnav’s hopes were once again crushed when he asked a servant where Khushi was. He had informed him that Khushi had gone to bed early because there was a busy day ahead of them tomorrow. As if the day couldn’t get any worse, right? Wrong.

Around 9 o’clock, a guest showed up. And it was none other than Karan Singh Malik. Arnav groaned. He wanted to be nice and civil to Karan because of all that he had done for Khushi but he was not in a good mood. He decided the best course of action would be to just go to bed without greeting the man.

“Dad what are you doing here?” asked Amba as she approached her father. “I thought you were sorting some stuff out in London.”

“I was and it’s mostly all sorted. Matt’s capable of doing the rest so I thought I’d come back.”

“How did you know we were here?”

“I called Buaji as soon as I landed and she told me where you were. So I thought I’d also stay here until after the wedding.”

“Dad you can’t just come uninvited. It’s rude.”

Anjili limped over to them. “It’s ok Amba. The wedding is tomorrow and we have a lot of extra rooms. I’ll have a servant show Karanji where to go.”

“Could you find him a room next to mine and aunt Khushi’s?” asked Amba.

“I’ll see what I can do.” Anjili motioned for a servant to come and collect Karan’s bag and lead him to his room.

Before Karan went he turned to face his daughter. “Amba come with me, I need to talk to you about something.”

Amba followed her father and the servant to his room. Once the servant had gone, Karan closed the door and locked it.

“Amba, the real reason I’m back so early is because-” Karan started.

“Mum remembered something and she didn’t tell you what is was.” Finished Amba.

Karan stared at her. “How did you know?”

“Because she came to AR and slapped me for calling her auntie when in reality she’s my mother.”

“Sounds like the dramatic Khushi we all know and love.” Karan said fondly. “So what else did she remember?”

“She doesn’t remember much, it’s like photos with a little bit of sound. She can remember being a mother and me being her daughter. She doesn’t remember all of it, just snippets.”

“Wait, did you say AR?”

“Umm yeah. And uh Mr Raizada was present during the outburst.”

Karan rubbed his face in frustration. “Damn it! What happened?”

“Well he wanted to know why I was calling her mum. So I told him. Then he wanted to know what she’s been doing and I told him she worked for LL. Then it came to the issue of my real father and I told him that too.”

Karan’s jaw dropped and he stared at Amba. “You told him everything?!”

“No, that would take too long. I only told him the important things. He took it pretty well.”

Karan was surprised. “He did?”

“Yeah he must really love her.” Amba said sadly.

“This is bad.” Karan sighed in exasperation.

“I know.”

“So what have they been doing since I’ve been gone?”

“They’ve been going on dates to all sorts of places in Lucknow.”

Karan’s face fell. “This is very bad.”

“Mum needs to get her memory back before this goes any further. Otherwise a lot of people are going to get hurt.”

He flopped on to the bed“This is just great! I come back, I’m jetlagged and now I have a headache from all of this mess.”

Amba stared at him for a while before deciding to leave. “Get some sleep. Tomorrow is the wedding and everyone is supposed to be up early to help out.”

“How am I supposed to sleep with all that’s going on?”

“I don’t know. Figure something out.”

Finally the day of the wedding had arrived. But little did any know that a storm was brewing, the likes of which had never been seen before. Everyone was already on edge because of this blackmail marriage and the dark secrets of the past. But today was the day that they were going to be pushed over the edge, for the truth is a hard pill to swallow.