Midnight

Armaan's Room, Armaan's Mansion

Armaan punches his bedroom wall furiously and roars, giving a hard punch to the wall.

But Kavya's words still echo in his ears-

"Yes, you are at fault....In fact, you are the only person to be blamed.....You only thought yourself, your rights, your company, your ambitions and destroyed my life. You are worse than your father."

Armaan closes his eyes, halting for a moment to get a grip on his anger, but Kavya's acidic words keep burning in his ears -

"Mr. Armaan Raichand you are the most selfish person, I have ever met in my life....You spoiled my life.....Armaan Raichand is a coward.....You surrendered because you were incompetent to work individually, because you have no self-respect to walk out for justice."

Armaan opens his eyes, and he again punches the wall as her words clouds his mind-

"So it is proven, today you are the successful business tycoon Armaan Raichand because of your father's well established business....That makes your awards, achievement and appreciation in the corporate world fake.....Sane as you....fake and illuminated."

Armaan keeps punching the wall to calm his anger, only to sense them growing with passing second.

Blood oozes out of his knuckles, yet it didn't stop him and he keeps removing his anger on the wall.

Armaan's phone rings, grabbing his attention, and he pulls out of his pant pocket to answer. He listens to the caller with a frown.

But soon his frown disappears and his lips curl up to a smile after he listens to the person. He disconnects the call and dials another number with the smile, still lacing on his lips.

Bedroom, Rihan's Penthouse

The phone's ringtone interrupts Rihan's deep slumber, and he groans while stretching his arm to reach for his phone, placed over the bedside table. Rihan answers the call and turning on the loudspeaker.

He speaks in a sleepy voice with his closed eyes, "Hello."

Rihan hears Armaan's orders, "Rihan, I want you to reach at the office within 2 hours with your luggage."

Rihan's eyes snap open, and he demands in confusion, "Luggage?"

Armaan informs, "We are flying to Los Angeles at 11 am and before leaving, I want a briefing on the project. Even call Advocate Gaurav and ask him to reach office now, for discussing the legal matters."

Rihan sits up with a grin and appreciates, "Wow Armaan, you got the Los Angeles Company's project. Your efforts of the last three weeks didn't go waste. Now everything will go back to normal."

Armaan comments, "I know."

Rihan chuckles, sensing the arrogance in his tone and hears Armaan's next order, "Reach office as soon as you can with the luggage."

Before Rihan could give a reply, Armaan disconnected the call. Rihan shakes his head in disbelief and packs his suitcase.

Morning

Kavya's Room, Armaan's Mansion

The sun rays enter the room through the floor length window and falls on Kavya's face, waking her up.

She frowns, straightening up and attempts to understand her surroundings. Kavya realises, she is sitting on the floor and her head is resting on the edge of the bed.

She even notices, she is still wearing the previous night's clothes, which brings back the memories of Armaan's shocking confession and her outburst.

Her eyes moistens, recalling the love of her life declared, their marriage means nothing to him and he doesn't consider her as his wife.

Kavya questions herself in a defeated tone, "How could you do this to me Armaan? How could you hurt me for your own benefits? Didn't you care for me and my emotions for once?"

A lone tear escapes her eye and she shakes her head, convincing herself to not cry over a selfish person, who didn't care for her.

She wipes her tears and decides in a firm tone, "I will not forgive Armaan ever in my life."

Kavya slides up to sit on the edge of the bed. She takes deep breaths to control her emotions and avoid crying. She shakes her head in negative, convincing herself to stay strong and not be weak in this situation.

Though her own eyes ditch by shredding fresh tears, reflecting the state of her broken heart. Kavya shakes her head again to wave off the memories of last night, which are causing more tears to escape from her eyes.

She glances around to find a source to distract her mind, but didn't discover anything. So, she decides to close her eyes and rest.

Kavya rubs her eyes and face with her hands gently and takes a deep breath. She bends to rest her head on her lap, but the Mangalsutra around her neck, comes in contact with her eyes, bringing back those memories.

It even brings a painful realization, which she kept avoiding from the time of their wedding.

Kavya recollects the time of marriage, rituals, reception till last night, when she didn't find the engagement ring on Armaan's finger.

She ignored earlier, giving him a benefit of the doubt, but now she realised Armaan had long back thrown her out of his life. He didn't even bother to wear their engagement ring as a mere jewellery.

Uncontrollable tears start flowing from her eyes as the poisonous truth, kills her every dream, she built for her marital life.

She draws up her leg, resting her feet straight on the bed and hugs her knees. Painful sobs escape from her lips, washing off her feelings for the man, she loves.

Kavya places the left side of her face over her knees and keeps crying.

But a knock on the door, grabs her attention and Kavya stares at the door, while whispering, "Armaan."

Kavya jumps to her feet and hurries to the door while wiping her tears. She opens the door with an anticipation to see Armaan.

But to her disappointment, she finds a lady in her forties, wearing a white Christian-style formal dress. She is holding a tray of orange juice and assorted cookies in her hand.

The lady observes Kavya's condition and the pain in her teary eyes. She understands everything and feels sorry for her.

She thinks, 'Oh dear, what has Armaan done to an innocent girl.'

The lady composes herself and passes her a small smile, while introducing herself, "Good Morning Mrs. Raichand. I am Mary, the head of housekeeping."

Kavya lowers her gaze in disappointment and mutters, "I don't need anything."

She holds the door and proceeds to shut it, but Mary stops her. Kavya frowns at her, but the old lady smiles warmly in return.

Mary advises, "Punishing yourself will not solve the problem Mrs. Raichand and by starving, you can't win wars."

Kavya stares in confusion and Mary informs with a smile, "I know Armaan has confessed the truth to you."

This brings back the anger in Kavya and she snaps at her, "So now what? Is there anything else left to confess?"

Mary remains quiet and lowers her gaze, unable to utter a word in response. Kavya turns to move inside the room and Mary enters the room to place the tray on the nearby table.

Kavya watches her and orders, "I don't need anything, leave me alone."

Instead of leaving, Mary moves closer to Kavya and places her hand over Kavya's shoulder.

Mary states, "I know, you are angry and you have every right to be, but you can't give up on this relationship so soon. Armaan isn't so bad, what you are assuming, dear. He just doesn't know how relationships are maintained."

Kavya removes Mary's hand from her shoulder and demands, "So, you get a right to spoil someone's life? You are illiterate, so make as huge mistake as you wish?"

Mary lowers her gaze and apologises, "I am sorry, Armaan should have-"

Kavya interrupts, "I don't need any explanations."

She turns her back to Mary and clenches her fist to hold her tears, which are on the verge of escaping her eyes.

Mary pleads, "Please give a chance to this relationship. I am sure, if you will say then Armaan will fulfil every duty of a husband."

Kavya turns to face her and demands with disgust evident in her eyes, "Why are you defending him? Because he is your employer and pays you a huge sum of money as salary?"

Mary smiles sadly and informs, "I am defending because I know that boy since childhood. Before being the housekeeper, I was his nanny."

Mary nods to confirm, observing Kavya's confused face and gestures Kavya to sit on the bed.

This time Kavya obeys without arguing and Mary grabs the dressing chair from her right for herself.

Mary informs, "I know Armaan since he was 2 years old. Mr. Yash Raichand appointed me as his nanny."

Kavya listens attentively and Mary continues, "But after working for some months, I realized Mr. And Mrs. Raichand do not spend quality time with Armaan due to their professional and social responsibilities. So he had to stay alone."

Mary informs with a weak smile, "I felt sorry for the poor kid. So, I tried my best to wipe out the loneliness from his life. I had somehow succeeded, but-"

Mary sighs and continues, "But when he left for his higher studies in London. He was driven back in loneliness and at that time, he had no one to pull him out, not even Rihan."

Kavya lowers her gaze and Mary shares, "After 3 years, when he returned to India, he had decided to not stay with his parents anymore. He declared his decision to join the office in Mumbai."

Mary smiles and informs, "Luckily, the distance didn't affect my and his relation. So, Armaan asked, if I can shift here to take charge of his Mansion and I agreed with hope, maybe I could pull him out of the loneliness."

Mary sighs in defeat and informs in a weak voice, "But I was wrong. Armaan became so engaged with his work that he hardly had time to think about anything else. He drowned more in loneliness and drifted away from his family. That's the reason, he never gives importance to relationships."

Mary places her hand over Kavya's hand and requests, "I know, you are hurt dear, but if you will give one chance, I am sure Armaan will keep you happy. Please do not give-up so early. Please."

Kavya didn't utter a word and keeps her eyes fixed on her lap. She processes Mary's words in her mind, but Armaan's confession wells up her eyes with painful tears.

Mary takes her hand back and gets on her feet, while requesting for the last time, "I am sorry, if I crossed my limit as a servant. Armaan is like a son to me, so I couldn't stop myself from asking for one chance. But at the end, whatever you decide, will be respected Mrs. Raichand."

Mary turns to head towards the door and exits, while closing the door to give Kavya the needed privacy.

Four Hours Later

Kitchen, Armaan's Mansion

Mary panics in the kitchen and glances at the watch which shows the time as 12:10 pm. It has been four hours since she left Kavya alone in her room to think of giving Armaan one chance.

Now the concern for Kavya's health bothers Mary, and she thinks, 'It's afternoon and that child has eaten nothing. I don't even know if she drank the juice, I left for her.'

Her chain of thoughts break when she hears a faint sound of heels, clicking on the marble floor. She turns around and finds Kavya entering the kitchen with a butler beside.

Kavya is wearing a purple top with white pants and has white pearl earrings tuck in her ears. Mary smiles, finding the Mangalsutra still around her neck.

Kavya walks closer and dismiss the butler who leaves after a bow. She faces Mary as she steps closer.

Kavya states in a low voice, "I...I thought, a talk over the dinner won't harm."

Mary smiles and asks, "Will a little food to an empty stomach harm?"

Kavya lowers her gaze and Mary politely asks her to take a seat on the kitchen stool. She obeys and takes her seat, positioned at the middle of the massive kitchen. She rests her hands over the dark grey granite top platform at her front.

Mary begins her work by warming the milk, then grabs a few slices of bread and veggies. She prepares a cup of coffee with a healthy vegetable sandwich and places in front of Kavya.

Kavya slowly starts eating and Mary asks with affection, "What would you like for dinner?"

Kavya proposes with hesitation, "Can I cook?"

Mary smiles and replies, "Dear, this kitchen is yours. First, you finish with your food and take rest. Armaan won't be back till 8 pm, so you can start cooking at 6 pm. I will help you in locating the ingredients, so you won't waste time in hunting."

Kavya nods in response and eats in silence. Mary grabs an apple to chop and offers to Kavya, making sure she eats well.

The phone ringtone grabs Kavya's attention, and she places the sandwich back to take her phone. She smiles, seeing Mamma flashing on the screen and answers the call.

Kavya speaks over the phone, "Hello, Mamma."

Mary leaves the kitchen to give privacy to Kavya for talking with her mother.

Meanwhile, Kavya hears her mother's sweet, yet concern filled voice, "Kavu, how are you, baby and why didn't you call after reaching Mumbai?"

She lowers her gaze, remembering what happened after reaching here, but waving it off and apologises, "Sorry Mamma."

Nimrit states, "It's ok Kavu, I was a little concerned for you. But I understand you must be occupied with adjusting in the new place. So, how is your new home?"

Kavya smiles, catching the excitement in her mother's voice and answers, "It's beautiful Mamma, but our Kapoor home is better, it has you three in it."

Nimrit giggles and states, "After staying for a few days, you will love that place more Kavu. Because that home is truly yours, where you and Armaan will spend your entire life, start your family and will witness your kids growing."

Nimrit's words makes Kavya's eyes well up with tears and she doubts, whether any of her mother's assumption will be true.

But her attention is diverted by a faint noise of an argument in the background. She chuckles, knowing it's Myra and Ranveer, who must be fighting for their turn to speak with her.

Kavya suggests, "Mamma, put the phone on loudspeaker, will talk together."

Nimrit agrees and informs when she did, then Kavya speaks, "Hello Papa, Myra?"

She hears her father's voice, "Kavu, are you comfortable there? Should I come there to help you in adjusting and organising the wardrobe?"

Before she could respond, Nimrit scolds, "Ranveer, she is not a kid."

Myra pops in between, "Didu how are you? How is your new room and are you comfortable there?"

Before she could respond, Ranveer asks, "Are you eating on time Kavu? Is the food tasty? Do the chefs know how to cook edible food?"

Kavya giggles at his father's question and hears her mother scolding him for asking silly questions.

Their concern and love makes Kavya happy and forget about the events of previous night. She jumps into her parents argument and answers to their questions without giving a hint of the reality.

They keep talking for some time where Ranveer enquires for everything, while Myra and Nimrit shower her with love.

They expressed how much they miss her presence in the Kapoor Mansion. They even wished to talk with Armaan, but Kavya lies, he left for office for an important work.

Soon they end the call to give Kavya time to settle in the new place and decide to speak some other time. She bids bye and disconnects the call.

*************

That's all for now.....will update next part as soon as possible.....hope you liked this part, do give your reviews...till then Keep Smiling and Take Care

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