The long awaited update is finally here. I am so so so.. a million so sorry that I did not find enough time to complete this earlier. I am so sorry for making you all wait for so long and thank you for bearing with me patiently. It was difficult to write this when I did not feel the anger that I had when the episode came. 

There will be one more part, I think. I have 2 interviews lined up this week, so it will take me around 2 weeks to post the next part. Until then, please do read Tempting Mr Rajvansh and let me know your opinions. 

MISHBIR - HEARTFELT

Iyanla Vanzant once said,

"Family is supposed to our safe haven.

Very often, it is the place where we find the deepest heartache." 

Ignore the doll story and everything that's happened in yrhpk since where I ended.. I'm going on a different track

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*4 - ABIR*

Mishti shook her head and Abir felt her palms cup his cheek in a soothing embrace. She kissed the top of his forehead and shook her head again, unable to say anything. He smiled through his tears and stood.

"I've told you the reason why you all need to apologise to Mishti. Now let us move on to Kuhu."

He looked at everyone with a level expression.

"When I started finding out the past, I learnt that Naitik Uncle brought Kuhu home and most of you were shocked. After learning that she was illegitimate, All the elders did not know how to handle the little girl. On one hand, she was an innocent, someone who did not ask for this to happen to her. On the other, she was the result of a disastrous mistake, a reminder that a son had broken his parents' trust, a husband had broken his wife's trust. Yes, Kuhu didn't get accepted easily in this house. But you know what I did find out, Kuhu? Mishti was there for you. She was your elder sister. Your confidante. You used to tell her all your secrets when you were younger. You used to look forward to go to Singhania Sadan so that you could visit Mishti and play with her. Why did that change if she came to stay with you forever?"

Kuhu turned to look at Mishti who was not looking at any of them anymore. She seemed to be staring at nothing in particular and her tears were all dried up. Kuhu was suddenly reminded of a time when Mishti had come up to her and wiped her tears. It was true, While Mishti had been in Singhania Sadan, she had always supported Kuhu and she had taken care of her. They had played together, shared secrets together, played pranks. They had grown up together.

When had all that changed? When did Mishti become her enemy? Her punching bag, as Kunal had just said?

"Yes, I agree that you had to share your parents, your grandparents, your aunt, your cousins, your toys, your room and maybe even more. I get that you didn't want to. No one wants to share a family that they got after a long time. I get that you resented her. It's weird for me because I always shared my things with Nanko, Atul and Ketki but I understand that you might not have liked it. You're allowed to resent your sister. You're allowed to think of her as annoying. You're allowed to complain about her."

Kuhu looked at Abir who was staring intensely at her. She lowered her eyes. "No. Don't look down." Kuhu raised her eyes again to meet his once more.

"You are allowed to do all that, Kuhu. But you're not supposed to hate her. You're not supposed to want her to fail. You're not supposed to be happy that she will never get her love."

"Bro.."

"No, you tell me. What was her mistake? You accused her of making everything a big issue but what has she done exactly? Leave the past. I was not part of that. Let us talk about when Kunal entered the picture. You fell in love with him on first sight. Kunal and your alliance was supposed to happen but for my cunning mother who switched the alliance to Mishti. You were the one who told Badi Ma that you had no issue with Mishti and Kunal's alliance. You allowed it to happen. You were lying though. You either wanted your family to understand your inner thoughts or you wanted this rishta to break. That was your motive, Was it not?"

Kunal moved forward and held Kuhu's hand. "It will always be my fault and regret that I took Mishti's rejection to heart. No! I'm wrong. I took it as a bruise to my ego and started hating her with a burning passion. Ma and I decided to use you as a pawn just to destroy bhai and Mishti's relationship. But, I did what I did to protect my brother. Or so I thought at that time. You helped me because you hated your sister."

Abir looked at his Mishti who was still not looking at any of them and his heart ached. Was she okay? Should he stop now? But, the truth had to come out. Everyone had to face their demons and change their ways. His eyes resolute, he looked at Kuhu again.

"You sent those emails and blamed Mishti. Ma deliberately told Mishti the wrong timing and you made Mishti apologise in public. Not just you. Your entire family. You all were complicit in Mishti losing some of her self-respect that night. You all lost some of your own respect but my Mishti sailed through with her head held high. Ma was blackmailing Mishti to make herself look bad in front of her family. Mishti was wrong to fall in her trap but she was worried about Kunal and your relationship and she agreed. To protect your future, she threw her own away. She blurted out the truth about illegitimacy and got slapped by Varsha aunty. Her only pillar of support, Bade Papa said he was disappointed with her. Can you imagine if the only person in the world who understands you, trusts you suddenly looks at you like you're a stranger? Kunal told you the truth about your marriage later and you took it out on Mishti. Tell me, What was her mistake in all this? TELL ME!"

Everyone started upon Abir's sudden shout. His eyes blazed with righteous fury but Meenakshi could see the pain behind it as well. He was conflicted about shouting at his family. She looked at a blank Mishti and her conscience rankled. Why had she done all this? Why had she hurt her children so much?

"Mishti came back. She came to our house for Janmashtami and you made her get hurt because you were angry? You were jealous? I don't know the reason but you were the reason she fell, Isn't that right, Kuhu?"

She looked at him shocked. How did he know? She looked at everyone else's eyes upon her and her own lowered. She was in the wrong here. She deserved the accusing stares.

"Because of you, Mishti got hurt that day. I found out from one of those boys who had formed the pyramid, but I kept quiet thinking it must have been an accident. What if something had happened to Mishti? How could you do something like that? When Kunal gave you divorce papers, it was Mishti who confronted him for you. She slapped him for you. Mishti is not perfect but she didn't betray your trust like you did hers."

Abir went to Mishti and kneeled in front of her. She looked at him and brought her forehead to his and whispered, "Don't Abir. Some truths are meant to be hidden. Some pain is not to be touched upon. None of us will survive otherwise."

"That's what I thought too. But we were wrong, Mishti. Hiding our pain when others taunt us doesn't make us brave. It makes us martyrs putting on an act. When we were kids, we were taught to stand up against abuse and bullying. But when we become adults, we forget that taunting and accusing is also emotional torture. We have a duty to speak for our rights, Mishti. We have an obligation to save our family. Maybe a battered family after today, but it will be a united family."

He kissed her forehead and squeezed her cold palm tightly. Mishti nodded, a bit of life coming back to her. She sat up straight and looked at the others.

"When Nannu was here, you wanted me to get my love back but at the same time, you gave Mishti a hard time about not loving your beloved Nanchack. Who were you supporting? I know you must have been conflicted but why take it out on poor Mishti. Mishti, who was suffering because your stupid Kunal and your stupid Abir bro didn't treat her well. Mishti who was suffering because her Bade Papa thought it best to get her married to someone she didn't want to. Mishti who was suffering because of my taunts and my lack of trust. Mishti who was suffering because I chose my brother before her when my mother blackmailed me. Mishti who suffered because of you, Kuhu. Mishti suffered because of you, Ma. Mishti suffered because of you, Bade Papa. Kunal, I don't have to tell you how much Mishti suffered then because of your lies and deception. But most of all, Mishti suffered because of me and I.... I can never forgive myself for that."

He fell to his knees and Mishti shouted his name. She came towards him and holding him close, comforted him. Strengthened by her loving gaze, Abir kissed her knuckles and nodded. He got up and looked at his family. Shaking his head, he looked at Kuhu.

"You need to grow up, Kuhu. You need to learn to deal with your problems. You can't expect Mishti or any of us to solve them every time. You can't get defensive about your actions anymore. Blaming Mishti for the magazine mishap, blaming her for Kunal not loving you, blaming her for us staying away, blaming Mishti for your bad decisions, blaming her for telling Ma about the resort when she didn't do it, not letting her have her say, accusing her left and right every moment of every day. It's quite enough. I meant it that day when I said Mishti will not tolerate any more. I kept quiet about the Janmashtami incident. I kept quiet about the Shivratri incident. I kept quiet when you broke all the frames in our room. I kept quiet about the million little ways you find to hurt Mishti for no fault of hers. I kept quiet because I wanted to maintain peace in our household. I excused your actions. You may think that gives you the leeway to emotionally torture Mishti. But no more."

Kuhu's eyes widened in surprise. "Emotionally torture?"

Abir smiled bitterly. "Why? Think back to all the harsh words you've told her. What would your mental state be if someone repeated the same to you? Chachi, What if someone behaved the same way with you that you have with Mishti?"

Jasmeet Chachi looked up sullenly. She was speechless. She was supposed to be a good person, Wasn't she?

"My Mishti has been suffering with her demons for the past three months. You all knew something was going on. Instead of asking us directly, you taunted her adding to her stress level. Yes, it was Ketki's wedding. Yes, it was Ma's birthday. Yes, I missed a million moments with my family because Mishti was unwell. But wasn't she a part of your family too? If she was unwell and I had to be with her, you could have at least joined me in our room and helped me take care of her. You could have spoken to me while I comforted her as she slept. You could have been there for us both. But Mishti is an outsider for you all. Mishti is your punching bag, like Nanko said. Maybe you did not believe Mishti's illness in the beginning but when she fainted that day, You should have at least supported her then. She is my wife. If not for her, for my happiness, you should have tried to accept her. Till date, Mishti calls you all my family. Not her own. But mine. Why should she stay in a place where she cannot be accepted? Why should she stay in a place where she is emotionally tortured by her own sister? Why should she face accusations for no reason? Why should she stay in a place where no one will stand up for her?"

Abir looked at Mishti who shook her head, but he nodded. He would see this through. No matter how many times Mishti wanted him to stop, he would not. His anger was growing by the minute. Why had he not stood up for her before? Why was he the cause of her pain?

"Bade Papa, Why did you let Jasmeet Chachi call Mishti Muhboli? Why did you not nip it in the bud? I scolded Mishti for feeling that you had done her a lot of favours instead of accepting it as your love for her. I was justified in doing that. However, can you blame her for feeling that way? She was an outsider to this family for your own son and daughters. You may have accepted her, but your family did not. Why did you ask little Mishti to let these things go instead of asking your children to understand a little girl's pain? It was your fault as much as it was theirs. You all are to blame."

He covered his face with his hands and rubbed his eyes. "Varsha aunty. Shaurya uncle. Why did you spoil your daughter so much that she could accuse Mishti for everything and not take responsibility for her own actions? Why did you treat her like a child when she was not? Yes, she is your baby, but she is also old enough to know right and wrong. Why did you not teach her how to go through life as a good person? Did you like me accusing her today? Why did you shelter her so much that she has no idea what it means to be an adult? She does not know how to handle her anger, how to accept her mistakes, how to ask forgiveness in all situations concerning Mishti. Ma, you, and I did the same mistake with Kunal. We taught him to handle life, but we did not teach him to understand people. We let him think that family and his own ego can surpass someone else's self-respect. We let him down. You let Kuhu down. Ultimately, it was Mishti who paid the price."

He looked at each member of his family and suddenly he was tired. He wanted to be alone with his wife. He wanted to go away from this bitterness. He wanted to be happy. He wanted to make his Mishti happy. Looking at her, he smiled softly. He turned back to the crowd and folded his hands.

"I know I have hurt you all today. I know I was very harsh, and I am equally at fault in hurting Mishti. I broke my engagement with her. I treated her cruelly when I thought she hurt Kunal. I left her alone when I promised I would never do so. I told her to fix everything when she should not have had to. I have no right to judge any of you. I am equally complicit in everything. And I know Mishti is not perfect. I know she is not always right. I know she has made mistakes before and will probably do so in the future. None of us are perfect. All I ask is that she not be treated like an outsider."

His voice caught. He wiped a tear from his eye as he saw Mishti do the same with hers. She placed an arm around him and leant. He closed his eyes and took the strength she provided.

"She is my wife. She is your sister. She is your sister-in-law. She is your daughter. She is your daughter-in-law. She is a person. She is yours to protect. She is my love. She is mine to cherish. I took a vow to always stand by her and love her until eternity. I vowed that my family would be her family and vice versa. I vowed to be her strength and she mine. I vowed to show her the path of righteousness and she vowed the same. I promised to keep her happy."

He turned towards her and caught her hands in his own.

"I promised to keep you happy, Mishti. I promised to keep her happy. I will fulfill that promise. No matter what it takes. Mishti once said that I was her pride. She confessed everything when she found me bowing before Varun. I will do the same today. I refuse to let her bow before you all in defeat anymore. We respect you all and we love you. But if you cannot accept Mishti whole-heartedly, we will not stay here."

Looking in Mishti's eyes, he caught the shock in her gaze. "We will not abandon you. I will not leave for some unknown city and never talk to you. We will get a small apartment close by and we will come to visit, and you can come to visit us. It is not ideal, but it will keep this family united. When there is distance in hearts, what does the distance between houses count for anyway?"

Abir looked at his family. "This is not a threat. This is not a reason for you to accept Mishti. This is the reality of our situation. I will not force you to love her. I will not force her to listen to snide taunts. Maybe a little distance is what this whole family needs."

He looked at Mishti who nodded tearfully at him. They both folded their hands and Abir spoke. "I am truly sorry that I hurt you all today. I will accept any punishment you want to dole out. I deserve that and more. I am so sorry. Please forgive me if you can. Please forgive us both."

Mishti took his hand in hers and began walking. As the family watched quietly, she led him back to their room. She locked the door and turned to face Abir. He watched her as she looked at him emotionlessly. Just as he was about to tell her name, she moved as though struck by lightning and caught his lips with her own.

Pulling back, she whispered, "Why do you love me so much?"

She kissed him again. He felt her weight settle into him. He held her tight and close as she tried to feed her thoughts in her kiss. He kissed her back, wanting her to understand him. His hands moved up and down the length of her back, the need to touch every part of her was all consuming, and Abir lost himself in the passion of the kiss. Mishti wound her fingers through his hair, and her body seemed to mould against his as if she were liquid. His heart thrummed in his chest, and he felt his knees growing weak.

She finally moved back but held his cheeks and looked at him tearfully. "Why do you love me so much, Abir? Why?"

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It is kind of all over the place but I hope you still like it