♔ Aarav ♔

I am rabid right now, yes. You cannot imagine what is going through me at everything that's happened this afternoon. I felt sick to the pit of my stomach at how cheap that... that was. I cannot even bring myself to say his name. I just wanted to punch the living daylights out of him the way he was talking about Jhanvi. Like he had no respect for her.

And Jhanvi... pregnant. It's a thought I am still trying to grasp in my head.

Her reaction when I suggested she could abort it.

It freshened up all my past wounds.

The reminder of what could be had Anjali chosen to abort me all those years ago.

The reminder of Khushi aborting her child.

The reminder of... him. The guy whose genes I unfortunately share.

I really, really, wish I could punch something right now so badly. Why does this happen with my family? Why the people I care for? Haven't we gone through enough already?

Jhanvi wants to keep the baby and there is nothing I can do or say to make her change her mind. It wouldn't be right for me to convince her otherwise despite all the other complications.

It has to be her choice.

Besides, it hurts to admit this but the truth is... what right do I have to make her choose otherwise? Or to even talk to her about it, to get her to open up to me?

I can't do that. Not after everything my family has already been through. I know better than to take that choice away from her by telling her she should want no part in keeping this baby... by telling her that the baby might never be able to forget the pain Hiten caused her the way I can't forget the pain Anjali has been through in order to give birth to me.

There is only one thing I know. I won't let history repeat itself.

The rest of the day passes by from one meeting to the next, both lasting two hours each till we reached the end of the office day. Pia holds me back to sign a few papers and in that time, Jhanvi manages to slip out of the building.

I get an update from Aarush that she's headed towards her apartment and I tell him to make sure she stays there the entire time and especially that Hiten doesn't make it anywhere near her.

. . . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞. . .

Sanya, my 15-year-old sister, is sitting at one of the tables in the far distance away from the crowd at the social party happening at home in the evening. I shake my head at her. I don't understand how she is the shy one out in our family when everyone else is filled with talkative dramatics. I tap her head reaching her and she tilts her head back slightly jumping in chair.

She exhales in relief. "Bhai, you need to stop scaring me."

I chuckle and lean down to kiss the top of her head, "Not feeling the celebrations?"

She frowns looking in the opposite direction that's filled with laud cheers and laughter. "Too many people."

"Are you ever going to get over your social anxiety?" I question with a pinch of light joke but deep down a serious question. We've all tried to get her involved in different things but she prefers her own bubble.

She grumbles slouching in the chair, "I'm fine however I am."

I let her be not wanting to upset her today of all days. "Where's mom?"

She asks smugly, "Which one?" She always loves teasing me on this matter.

It's my turn to huff, "Never mind. I'll find her on my own."

"Good luck going through that maze," She mutters before putting her headphones back in and focusing on her phone screen.

I walk away and look around. Within a second, a body jumps on my back. With his weight, I know it's none other than Rihaan. "Rihaan, get off!" I scold and push him off.

He laughs gaining his footing. "I just figured I'd say hi. Didn't think I'd see you here. You were pretty insistent on being late today."

I exhale fixing my coat, "Yeah, well, we have our darling Arshiya to blame for that. That girl knows some emotional blackmailing, I tell you." I planned on going to meet Jhanvi, but I had been blackmailed into coming home instead.

"You have to remember whose sister she is and who her parents her." He points out. Ofcourse, my younger sister, his cousin, and Arnav dad and Khushi's daughter. She was bound to turn out to be the most mischievous of the lot. I have no doubt that Rihaan must have trained her further in polishing her emotional blackmailing skills.

"Why don't you teach Sanya something for once?" I tease looking back at her in the distance.

He sighs, "You don't think I've tried?"

I look back at him to notice the lovesick expression in his eyes. I hit the back of his head. "Dude."

He rubs his head while defending himself, "What? I know we all have complicated and intertwining relationships but she and I are nowhere blood-related. I did the math, okay? I'm allowed to have a crush on her. But she..."

Rihaan doesn't need to finish that statement. We all knew. Sanya stays so lost in her own world. And Rihaan's world... it's always been filled with people given how famous his parents Armaan and Riddhima are in the music industry.

I try to offer him some hope, "You both are still young." She's 15, soon to be 16. He's 15. "Have you seen mom?"

"Which one?" He teases with the same thing.

I roll my eyes, "Both you and Sanya atleast have one thing in common."

He chuckles and gives me a quick parting hug before he starts walking in her direction. He sits in the chair next to her and she takes her earplugs out, but barely looks him in the eye feeling intimidated by his presence.

I leave them be and once again continue my hunt to find my mother. Only she can help me out with Jhanvi's situation. She'd be the one most able to relate to it. Somewhere I knew what I wanted to do, but I didn't want to do it in ignorance or rushed impulsiveness.

I find Khushi chatting with some long-distance relatives. There is a huge smile on her face, but I see right through it. I walk to them, "Hi, mom listen, Dad needs your help." I glance at the elderly ladies, "Can you excuse us?" Holding her elbow, I pull away from the crowd.

Instantly, she lets out a sigh, "Oh thank goodness. They're so irritating and shallow. I swear, I was about to chew them up!"

I laugh with my arm around her elbow, "Now how about you thank me for being your savior for once?" She always says dad is her savior.

She rolls her eyes, comes to a stop, and swats my shoulder. "Thank you? I was going through that torture because of you! Everyone just wants to know when you'll get married. Are you even a little bit ashamed that you're 25 and never had a girlfriend?"

I tease her, "Weren't you the one claiming we didn't need to abide to societal clock on marriage?"

Her eyes squint as she begins her lecture, "Look, Mr. ASR Jr. The only job I have as your parent is to make sure to keep your love life in order. If you won't even get a girlfriend, how am I supposed to do that?"

"Khushi, I love you and all, but right now can you not be dramatic and tell me where mom is? I need her help."

She scolds me, "If its business related, you should know better, Aarav. I didn't think we'd have to do so much to drag you to your own family event. I thought we raised you better."

"I'm here now, aren't I? Now please, focus. Mom. Where is she?"

"Aarav?" Both of us turn when my name is called from behind to face dad. "You're here. Walk with me, I need to talk to you about something."

"Ahem." Khushi clears her throat in a scolding to get him to look at her.

He smiles at her lovingly and pecks her temple, "You're beautiful as ever, sweet pea."

She nods in approval, "Much better."

I shake my head in amusement. It's been almost twenty years since their marriage and even then, she keeps him on his toes.

She adds, "Alright, carry on. I'll go get Anjali for you."

"Thanks," I tell her and then turn to dad.

He waits for Khushi to be out of hearing distance before announcing, "What was that text message? Was it true?"

I sigh, for he is the only one after me to know. "Yes."

He is surprised only for a second as if he already had doubts of Hiten. He composes his anger quicker than I could but I know internally, he has to be just as pissed. I know he must be thinking the same of how darkness doesn't seem to leave our family be, no matter the years in between.

"So, what next?"

Now, that is the real question.

. . . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞. . .

I lightly knock on the apartment door. She crosses her arm across her chest and throws her sass, "Hi, Mr. Stranger, what can I do for you this fine morning?"

"Really, Eva?"

She defends, "Yes, really. All of this happened and you didn't think to tell me right away? As your only older cousin sister, I am hurt."

I push my way inside the room with a comment, "E, you really need to stop spending so much time with Khushi. You're turning dramatic like her."

"As if that's a bad thing." She closes the door behind her. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Uh, I'm actually here to talk about her."

She chuckles for having been proven right, "See, what'd I say? You only come to me when you need something."

I roll my eyes, standing in front of her. "Eva, can you please not annoy me right now?"

"Alright, fine Mr. Grumpy." She turns to leave.

It instantly hits me and feeling guilty, I wrap my fingers around her arm to stop her. She still has her arms crossed and taps her fingers to her arm.

I sigh.

She's making me say it. "I'm sorry. You know I do appreciate everything you've done the past years."

Ever since at 18 we told Jhanvi who she really is, Eva has been in and out of Australia keeping an eye on her from the distance to ensure her safety and that Dinesh wouldn't get to her. It's why despite knowing always where she was, neither dad or I could reach out to her. Dinesh would have followed us back to her and then she would be in danger.

She gauges my words as if deciding whether to forgive me for being rude. Eventually, a smile breaks out and she nods. "Better."

I release a breath I didn't know I was holding in. I may not express it to her often, but she holds a completely different place in my heart. I have looked up to her many times. I've always had my parents as role models, but growing up, she's been my biggest supporter and teacher. She's the one who's handled me when I found out about my real parents. She's the one who... I can't express in enough words.

"Chote, I understand that a lot is suddenly happening and you don't know what the right thing to do is, but you have to pull it together. She doesn't know it, but she does need you right now. She's been betrayed by someone she saw as her motherly figure and now this. She's hidden a lot of pain and you need to be subtle with her. Be real with her. Don't show her this exterior of yours you keep for others if you care for her the way I know you do."

She's always guided me in the right path, and I know she's right once again. I've kept away from her all this time and it had been easy. What's the tough thing anyway? For me, she's always been a part of my life. I've kept her a part growing up thinking I was going to marry her one day when she would be back.

Now, it was the time.

Then, why was this feeling in there my heart? I can't put a name on it yet but there is something that's making it hard.

. . . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞. . .

I turn the key in the lock and enter Jhanvi's apartment. Perhaps hearing the door turn, she walks out with a robe around her. "How did you get in?"

I hold up the key, "I have a spare key."

She breathes out, decides to ignore my presence, and takes a seat on the kitchen island where a cup of coffee is in front of her.

Eva and Mr. Sheikh has informed me of her addiction to coffee. Eva even went to tell me she needs atleast a cup or two to wake up enough and face the day.

I watch as she relishes the smell of a freshly brewed coffee. Then just as quickly, it seems to turn her nauseous as in an instant she pushes the cup aside and jumps down the island to rush to the bathroom.

Without sparing a second to think, I follow her. She's hunched over the sink and I gently hold her hair back while rubbing the other hand on her back in small circles. Once her stomach seems to empty itself out, she stands there with her eyes closed taking deep breaths.

She sounds dejected as a tear escapes her eye, "I'm pregnant, aren't I?"

A flash of temper passes through me. I hate seeing people I care about crying. It seems that everything is finally coming down on her as a hard wave of realization. I wish she were pregnant under different circumstances. I wish I had been more careful about who was in her life. She deserved to be with a guy who genuinely loved her. She didn't deserve to be betrayed like this. None of this was her fault and yet she was suffering.

Recalling Eva's words from earlier in the morning when I visited her, I gather my emotions and gently turn her by the shoulder to face me. I wipe her tear away even though it only makes her tear up further. With my hand on her head, I pull her to my chest allowing her the space to cry her heart out – get it all out once and for all. Unlike expected, she doesn't fight me.

It's funny how everything can change in a matter of moment.

It must have been a minute or two before I break the silence with two words. "Marry me."

The early uncertain feeling from my heart is pushed back. I don't have to think twice about doing this. It's how it was originally meant to be. It's how it should have been. If I had been more careful, she wouldn't have to go through this right now in the first place.

The words are like warning bells in her head and she pulls back. "Wh-what?" She fumbles with her throat feeling dry and out of shock. I don't repeat myself. She did hear my clearly. She is probably just thinking I was joking. "No. You're crazy!"

"Jhanvi..."

"No! I said no! What is wrong with you? You don't ask a stranger to marry you, and I certainly don't say yes to someone I don't know at all. Not again. Besides, are you forgetting I can't be married before I'm 25?"

"We're not strangers." I argue, "You're Jhanvi Raichand and you know I am Aarav Raizada. That is enough for me to..."

She holds her hand up in a stop sign, "I don't know about you, but marriage is not a joke for me. Besides, I do not need to marry to provide for my child. This is my doing. I will see what I need to do. I do not need you to come and fix things!"

"Damn it, Jhanvi, just hear me out." I end up raising my voice as well. She makes it hard for me to maturely explain anything to her. "This is a child you are talking about. I damn well know it isn't something that can be fixed. You aren't thinking straight and that is why you cannot clearly see all the struggles that will come your way. Being a single mother is not easy! Trust me, I know."

"Why does a girl need to be married to raise a child, huh?" She questions for the time being ignoring the later part of my response that I hadn't meant to let loose.

I have no answer to her question so I try to insist, "Jhanvi... there are people here that care for you and you need that right now. The next few months are not going to be easy and you are going to need the love and support of a family. It's not easy being all alone in the world."

"It's not, but I have learned to live in such a world. I survived so far. I will continue to survive. I keep being betrayed by family, by those who are supposed to be my close ones, but you know what? Enough is enough. This baby will be my family and that is all I need. Now please, you are giving me a headache. Leave."

Ignorant! When did she turn into this person? I have to remind myself that I haven't known her growing up. I've held on to a sweet image of her. It's all a fabricated image in my head and I need to face the real her.

"I'm not leaving till I hear a 'yes'." I announce and settle on the single seated couch in the bedroom.

She glares in frustration before shutting the door and locking herself in the bathroom to have some time by herself.

I hear the shower turn on. That went well.

I can just hear the disapproval in Eva's condescending tone when she'll hear of this.

With a calm head, I try to think of what Eva would tell me. She usually comes up with the best advice. What am I missing here that made Jhanvi so mad? She wants to survive on her own. I've already learned she has self-respect. But, is it so much that she can't see she can't do this alone and as such, curve a little and accept some help from those who care for her?

It was easy for me to ask her this because I've only ever envisioned her in my life.

Okay, Jhanvi's perspective. "Why does a girl need to be married to raise a child?" She doesn't want marriage to be the first choice. She is not desperate. Alright, I'll give her the benefit of the doubt. Even if she is being naïve about it, she has a right to fight this.

"Not again."

It's what she'd said. Once, she agreed to marry a guy thinking he was a good man. He was there when she needed someone to rely on. It was convenient. Now, she's facing the consequences of it. Ofcourse she is going to be skeptical. In her mind, she knows me for less than a week. Her reactions have been obvious in telling me she finds me infuriating - to say the least. I haven't created a good impression in front of her either with my impulsive and random bouts of anger and inability to control my demanding words.

She does not want to repeat her mistakes, but I wish I could make her believe that she won't regret falling back on me. I wish I could tell her I am not Hiten. Far from it. I could never hurt her.

I wish... wish - the word itself. The beginning of wrongful expectations that are bound to eventually disappoint.

She says the baby is all the family she needs... but how am I to explain to her? Make her see that she has so much more family than that. That she would grow tired of the word after meeting the rest of my family which were hers too.

. . . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞. . .

It must have been almost half an hour before I finally hear the door click. I glance up. She's secured with a towel around her body, and disappointment on her face was a clear reflection of her thoughts.

She'd been hoping I would have left by now.

Well, she is going to learn the hard way that I am never going to give up on her. I was in her life now, and for good. She may be used to people leaving her, betraying her, manipulating her, but I won't. She can keep testing me, but I have infinite amount of patience - courtesy to my fabulous family, like many other things in my life.

Oh, I faintly remember the story Khushi's told me of how she first met my dad in college time. Seems as if we Raizada boys have a 'towel' thing going with our girls.

She crosses her arms over her chest. "Do you mind? I need to change."

I smirk, "By all means. Go ahead."

If she had just calmed herself, being around me was making her lose her temper all over again. "Aarav, leave!"

Okay, maybe I shouldn't have made it sound so indecent. Still, I remain calm and unaffected by her anger.

This might be the first time she's said my first name.

I lean back and get comfortable. "I already told you, Shona. If you want me to leave, you know what to say."

. . . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞. . .

∞ authors note ∞

Aarav :( I kinda don't like myself for what I am making my poor babies go through.. so I guess it's okay if you don't like me too :( All I can say is they'll come out the other end. Because Heirs & Heiress don't loose ;) Arnav Raizada has taught his kid that certainly.

QOTC: Jhanvi keeping the baby because of a family she never had.. her reason to say no to Aarav's proposal - agree or not? And why?

Almost all of you expressed in last chapter you didn't want Jhanvi keeping the baby and it's completely understandable.. I expected as such. Yet, the sad thing is that in this world, there are more than should be, greedy people who will con others for sake of money. And some who may not be greedy but still abandon on finding out they got someone pregnant because they don't want the baby or are not ready for that responsibility and the mothers are still brave. Hope you'll understand. You don't have to like it but it is still one of the central parts in Jhanvi's character :) It was a long thought choice I had to make.

Also, first mention of Sanya and Rihaan in this chapter. How do you like their introduction? I can't wait to share all I have planned for them :D You'll have to wait just a bit longer for them though. Their time isn't here yet.