People this story is 16+ so kids please don't read it. I have decided to update because I don’t know when I’m going to get another time in this holiday because I have a lot of exam prep and coursework to get through. As promised this chapter is longer and hopefully it doesn’t sound like it’s dragging. As always the italics are thought and the bold bits are memories. Enjoy :)
Chapter 3: Deals
Made, Deals Broken
Gupta Haveli
Shashi Gupta was a man with very few regrets in life. He
didn’t regret it when his parents told him to stay at home and work so his
siblings could get a good education and good jobs. He didn’t regret it when he
had to remarry a woman a month after his wife had died so his daughter could
have a mother. He certainly didn’t regret taking in Khushi when her parents died.
What he did regret was not being good at maths.
Shashi sighed and began with the numbers again. They
wouldn’t have been in debt in the first place had he been a better business man
who could handle the numbers properly. But alas he was just an uneducated
halwai who couldn’t even put his daughters through college no matter how much
he wanted to. The wedding had taken a lot out of them and money was incredibly
short.
Not that he told his daughters about that. Khushi would die
of guilt and Payal would go into depression. He hated to see any of his
daughters upset. He continued to stare at the papers and only one solution came
to mind. He’d have to sell his beloved ancestral home. It was that or sell all
his wife’s, sister’s and daughters jewellery. And he couldn’t bear to do that.
His daughters were in the prime of their youth and would be getting married off
any day. How could they do that with no jewellery? Even if he did manage to
sell both his wife’s and sister’s jewellery, it still wouldn’t cover everything.
He made a decision. He would sell his house to someone who
would let them stay if they paid rent. It was a fairly reasonable thing to ask
for. Plus the house was huge. He wouldn’t mind other tenants in it too as long
as the landlord didn’t kick them out. He didn’t really want to sell his home
but times were tough and he knew what he had to do.
Raizada Mansion
After Arnav had finished reading Khushi’s file, he had made
a few phone calls and headed home. As soon as he walked through the door he
headed towards his sister’s room. He barged in without knocking.
“It’s rude to come into people’s rooms without knocking,
Chote. Besides, you don’t know what I was doing.” Said his sister.
“Jijaji is out of town so I can safely deduce you were doing
nothing in your room.”
“Well…” she said suggestively.
He rolled his eyes. “Di, I’m going out of town for a few
days.”
“What? We just got back.”
“I know but some important business has come up in Lucknow
and I’m needed.”
“Chote, if it’s about our uncle, leave him alone. He doesn’t
deserve our attention.”
Arnav clenched his fists. “He deserves to die a slow and
painful death and so does Dadi.”
“Chote!”
He ignored her outburst. “Rest assured that I’m not going
after that scum. I promise. I just need to close this business deal. I’ll be
back as soon as possible.”
“Ok, just be careful.”
“Di, I’m not a child. I don’t need to be careful.”
Anjili brushed his comment aside and got up from the bed to
pull his cheeks and mess his hair up. She then walked away leaving a shocked
Arnav behind. He was dragged out of his stupor by the ringing of his phone.
“Sir?”
“What do you want Aman? You’re meant to be taking the day
off.”
“I know sir but-”
“Next time I’m not going to give you any holidays. No matter
how much you beg for them.”
“Sir, some interesting developments have occurred.”
Arnav smirked. “Have they?”
“Yes sir. I think you need to come to Lucknow
as soon as possible.”
He already knew Aman had sorted everything out. “When’s my
flight?”
“In 2 hours sir.”
“Private jet?”
“Of course.”
“Sheesh Mahal?”
“Yes sir.”
“Aman, you’ve just earned another raise from me.”
There was a shocked silence. “Thank you sir.”
“No problem Aman.”
He hung up and began packing.
Gupta Haveli
Shashi Gupta ran into the Haveli with a box of sweets in his
hand. He began feeding sweets to everyone in the Haveli. Everyone looked at him
like he was crazy.
“Has Shashi babuwa gone crazy?” asked Buaji whilst holding
her head.
“No no Jiji. I haven’t gone crazy, yet.” Replied Shashi.
“Then why are you stuffing sweets down everyone’s throats?”
asked Garima.
“Who cares, its sweets!” shrieked Khushi as she began stuffing
more sweets in to her mouth. Garima smacked Khushi around the head to make her
stop eating but it just made her choke on the sweets.
“I have found the solution to all our problems.”
“You’ve found another groom for Payaliya?” asked Buaji.
Everyone took a sharp intake of breath and held it. They all
turned to look at Payal who was munching on her sweets. Khushi and Garima were
about to engulf her into a hug when Payal spoke, “Well have you Babuji?”
“Umm no. But I have managed to find a buyer who wants this
Haveli for triple its price!”
There was another shocked silence. “Babuji, you’re selling
our home?” asked Payal.
“I have to Payal.”
“But why?” asked Khushi.
Shashi sighed. “I didn’t want to tell you guys this but we
are in a lot of debt.”
Khushi and Payal gasped and looked at Garima and Buaji, who
looked away in guilt.
“You all knew and you didn’t tell us!” demanded Payal.
“What would’ve you done?” asked Shashi.
“We could’ve gotten jobs.” Said Khushi.
“No!” yelled Garima.
“What your mother means is that we were hoping that we’d get
you and Payal married by now and so our burden would be lessened. But it seems
like it’s harder to find good grooms now a days.”
Payals face fell and she left from there with Khushi chasing
after her.
Shashi sighed and looked at Garima and Buaji. “Everything is
going to be fine now. I promise.”
But little did he know this was only the beginning of all
his problems.
Khushi had finally caught up to Payal who was furiously
wiping tears from her face. Khushi grabbed her shoulder gently and led her to
their room. Once inside, Khushi made Payal sit down on the bed, then she got up
to lock the door. She came back to the bed and Payal clung on to her and sobbed
her heart out. Initially, Khushi winced because Payal was pressing on her
bruises but she ignored the pain and concentrated on comforting her sister.
“This is all my fault.” Hiccupped Payal.
“How is this your fault?”
“Abishek and I could’ve been married by now if I didn’t
argue about the dowry so much. Then I wouldn’t be so much of a burden to
Babuji. You even went to try to convince him. He’s selling the family house
Khushi. How could he do that?”
A cold shiver went through Khushi as she remembered what had
happened when she had gone to talk to Abishek.
He bit her lips and
pushed his tongue into her mouth. Her taste was addictive; he couldn’t get
enough of her. He brought himself closer to her to make sure there wasn’t any
gap between them. His hands began to caress her soft milky thighs travelling
higher to her hips, waists and her breasts.
Khushi felt like throwing up again and made a mental note to
take yet another shower. She rubbed her sister’s back in comfort. She felt like
it was all her fault that they’d had to go through this.
If only I hadn’t
gotten onto that God forsaken ramp. If only I had found Abishekji and talked to
him. Then maybe Jiji would be married and we wouldn’t have this problem. But
no. You have the worst luck in history, Khushi Kumari Gupta. You had to get on
that ramp and you had to fall into that rakshas’s arms. And he just had to
punish you! And what did you do? You just lay there and when he was done, you
ran away! You didn’t even think about your family. Well who thinks about family
after something as traumatic as that? Besides if it wasn’t for that Laad
Govner, then the situation would be different. That’s right Khushi, don’t blame
yourself. It wasn’t your fault. It was his.
Khushi’s eyes began to fill with tears. “It’s going to be ok
Jiji. Devi Maya knows what she’s doing and so does Babuji. We’re going to be
fine.”
Both sisters held each other and cried over their bad
fortune.
Lucknow
As soon as Arnav Singh Raizada landed in Lucknow,
he requested for his luggage to be sent to the Sheesh Mahal. He then received
the papers he wanted and set out for his destination.
Aman truly is
brilliant
When he reached his destination, he was approached by a man and
a woman in their mid 40s to early 50s. The man welcomed him warmly into his
house and began giving him a tour. They then got down to business.
Sheesh Mahal
He had just got back from the elderly man’s house and was
relaxing in his room when his phone rang. He sighed when he saw the number.
“Yes Di?”
“How come you didn’t call me as soon as you landed to tell
me you were safe?”
“Because we crash landed. Then the car I was taking to the
Sheesh exploded. Then I got mugged. And now I’m dead. So you see Di, I’m not
safe at all. In fact, I’m dead.”
Anjili sighed. “A simple ‘I’m fine Di’ would’ve sufficed.
Why did you have to go all sarcastic on me?”
“Di, you’re smothering me. No wonder Jijaji is always out of
town.” He joked.
“You! I just…I can’t…Fine! I’m never going to ask how you
are ever again. Happy?”
“Very.” He grinned.
Anjili slammed the phone down causing Arnav to chuckle. He
was about to get himself a drink when his phone rang again.
“I’m sorry Di-”
“Umm sir, it’s me.”
Said Aman.
“What do you want Aman?!” snapped Arnav out of
embarrassment.
“Sir I just wanted to inform you that Lavanya is on her way
to Lucknow.”
“But I didn’t send for her. Why weren’t you on this?!”
“You gave me the day off sir.”
Arnav sighed. “Why is she coming over?”
“To fulfil your contract sir. It’s been a week and you
haven’t had any girls. So as per your contact, she has to fly out to wherever
you are to meet your needs.”
Arnav had totally forgotten about the contact, what with his
fashion show and punishing his uncle. And
Khushi, whispered a small part of his brain but he ignored it.
“Tell her it’s not needed. I was planning to terminate our
contract soon. Tell her that it doesn’t mean that this will impact our
professional relationship. Tell her she can still keep her job.”
“Sir, she’s already on her way.”
“Well do something about it! What do I pay you for Aman?!”
With that he hung up the phone, poured himself a drink and
settled into his armchair. There was a sharp knock on the door. He groaned.
Can’t a guy ever get
some alone time? Well you know what they say Arnav, there’s no rest for the
wicked.
And he certainly was wicked when he wanted to be. He got up
and prepared to shout at whoever was behind that door. When he opened it, he
faltered. It was Lavanya. She was wearing a pair of red 6 inch stilettos and a
beige trench coat.
He gulped and said hoarsely, “What are you doing here
Lavanya?”
“Can I come in?” she said seductively.
He stepped aside and she strutted into his room. He closed the door and locked it.
“Isn’t it a little warm to be wearing a coat?” He asked as
he settled into his armchair.
“That’s precisely what I was thinking.”
With that she took her coat off. All she was wearing
underneath was a barely there red lace lingerie. She walked over to Arnav and
straddled him, making sure to grind his already hardening erection. She began
kissing his neck.
“I don’t think we should be doing this Lavanya.” He said in
a strained voice.
Continuing on with her activities she asked, “Why not?”
“Because I was thinking about cancelling our contact.”
“Which one?”
“This one.”
“Well that’s too bad.” She stopped kissing him and looked
him in the eyes. “Ok, so you’ve cancelled the contract. Break up sex?”
He didn’t reply. Instead he grabbed her and threw her on the
bed. He then proceeded to rip off the poor excuse for underwear of her body and
stripped himself.
Gupta Haveli
The family was running around getting the house ready,
although Khushi couldn’t understand why. She wanted to sabotage any attempts to
sell the house but she knew they must be really desperate to sell it so she
kept quiet and did what she was asked to do. Her father was downstairs with the
person who wanted to buy the Haveli and all she wanted to do was kick him out
of the house. Her family must have known she was planning to do that so they
had lured her to her room and locked her in. She was trying every way to break
out of her room but it seemed very fruitful until she had a brilliant idea.
Khushi Kumari Gupta,
you’re a genius.
Shashi Gupta led the man into his living room.
“My wife’s coming in with the tea.”
“That’s alright, I just need your signature on these papers
then I’ll be on my way.”
Shashi signed the papers and shook the man’s hands. Just as
the man was about to walk away Shashi stopped him.
“Wait.” The man turned and sat down again. “I have one
request.”
“I’m listening.”
“Can my family and I stay in this house?” The man frowned
and Shashi hastily added, “We’ll be paying rent and my family doesn’t mind
other tenants living here either.”
“Mr Gupta, we should’ve discussed this before you signed the
contract.”
Shashi cursed himself for not thinking about this before. He
got distracted by the great offer the man had proposed. “Please Mr Raizada
there must be something you can do.”
Arnav smirked.
Meanwhile, Khushi had blackmailed her sister into letting
her out of the room by telling her that she needed to go to the bathroom and
that she was starving. As soon as she was let out, she ran. Payal was going to
chase after her when her mother stopped her.
“Let her go Payal. The deal is done, there is nothing she
can do about it now.”
She stopped outside the living room and started
eavesdropping in on her father and the man’s conversation.
“There is something else I want in exchange of letting your
family continue to live here.”
“But we don’t have any-”
“I don’t need material possessions. As you can tell I have
enough money to buy whatever I want.”
Khushi held her breath. She couldn’t understand what the man
could possible want from them. And another thing kept bugging her, where had
she heard that voice before.
“Then what do you want?” asked Shashi.
“I want your daughter.”
Shashi was shocked but he recovered quickly. He couldn’t
believe that such a good proposal came to his daughter. Especially after her
first marriage broke. He was about to say yes when Khushi fell into the room.
When Khushi saw who her father had sold the house to, she froze.
Note: I don’t know why I was trying to keep Arnav’s and Shashi identity a secret throughout this chapter. I wasn’t trying to put in a twist and I knew you guys would figure it out. My brain is a strange place. And now I’m rambling because I’m tired. I apologise for making you guys waste your time reading this.
