Khushi closed her eyes, Her hold tightened on Arnav's hand. Arnav squeezed her hand in assurance.

“Relax. Everything is going to be fine.” He whispered trying to ease her fears. After three whole days, ArShi were standing on the doorstep of Bhoomika Rudra Kashyap Searching for some answers.

Making use of all of his will power Arnav pressed the doorbell and stood waiting for the door to be opened, Hoping fervently that they don't have to leave empty handed from here as well.

The door was opened by a man in his late forties.

“Who is it that you want to meet?” He asked politely

“Mrs. Bhoomika Kashyap.” Arnav answered curtly

“And who should I say you are?” the man questioned

“Arnav Singh Raizada and Khushi Singh Raizada.” He answered

“Very well. Please come in.” Saying this the man went inside leaving ArShi to make their way into the side.

“Please have a seat, I'll inform madam about your arrival.” He said gesturing to a comfortable looking couch.

“Sab theek hai! (Everything's fine!)” ArShi whispered to each other in unison and smiled realizing the coincidence.

“Mrs. Kashyap, Mr. Arnav Singh Raizada and his wife are here to meet you.” He informed

“ASR is here?”

“Make them sit Carl, Offer them refreshments. We'll be downstairs in a minute.” Answered Mrs. Kashyap

Carl nodded and made his way downstairs.

“Why would he be here?” Bhoomika mused to herself

Bhoomika descended the stairs

“Hello there.” She greeted the lost couple with a full blown smile.

Arnav and Khushi jumped to their feet as a reflex action.

“Uh-oh. Sorry to startle you like that. Please sit down.”  She said softly

Arnav smiled and bent to take Bhoomika's blessings along with Khushi. She blessed the couple wholeheartedly keeping her hands on both their heads and then the three took seats.

“Mam.. I-I”

“How can I help you bacche? (Child)” Bhoomika asked

“We.. want to know the truth of the night of curse.” Arnav said

“The night of curse?” Bhoomika had gone completely pale at the mere mention

“I cannot help you ASR!” Her voice turned cold.

“Please Mrs. Kashyap. This is really important” Arnav requested

“I said I cannot help you. I do not entertain guests who probe into my past like that” She said firmly.

“I know.. the past has not been kind to you. I know what losing a family means, Please help us, I know its tormenting to go back and… recollect the happenings, But it's important for us to know what had happened.” Khushi pleaded with her.

“Why?”

“You are our last hope Bua Maa. Please help your Doll.. Your Khushi.. Please.” Khushi whispered softly

Bhoomika stared at Khushi shocked as well as overwhelmed with emotion.

“You.. my doll? Bhaiyya's..?” Bhoomika cupped her face

Khushi nodded. Bhoomika pulled her into a bone crushing hug.  

“You got married!! Oh God you were so tiny when I had last.. When did you grow up so much to be a wife?” Bhoomika exclaimed seeing her vermilion filled partition and henna clad hands

Arnav and Khushi smiled seeing joy and ecstasy shining in bhoomika's eyes.

“Why do you want to know about that night. As far as I know,  No one even mentions anything about it anymore. It is a bad dream which everyone has forgotten about!!” Bhoomika said

“We know Aunty.. But the families who were involved and affected by the happenings of that night, It's not easy for them to forget anything about it. You lost your family, Your parents, Your brother. Khushi was orphaned at the tender age of eight. All these years she didn't know the reason for the death of her parents. I need to know what had caused my mother's death that unfortunate day” Arnav said

“It was best for her not to know anything.” Bhoomika sighed.

“But now Bua Maa, It's important for me to know what had happened that night. It's about my marriage. My family!” Khushi said

“It was Anjali Malik's marriage ceremony, It was a grand affair. Almost the whole city was invited by the Maliks”

“The perfect opportunity to flaunt the endless wealth they had!” Arnav whispered in distaste. Khushi squeezed his hand comfortingly.

“I don't know much about what had transpired that day neither did I ever try to probe much after Sumit Bhaiyya's and Bhabhi's death. All I know is that there was a gunshot. Ratna and Arvind Mallik had been killed. Anjali was numb with shock after what happened. Bhaiyya was one of the people already present there when it happened. He saw everything with his own eyes.” Bhoomika said

“He is thought to be the one who did this. Sumit Vardhaan is thought to be the murderer of my parents” Arnav said.

“Do you believe it?” Bhoomika asked

“No. He was a righteous man and I know it from all the information that I have about him. He would never attempt something so destructive without a proper reason. Those murderers whoever they were were cruel enough to murder my mother for no reason and Khushi's baba can never be so inhuman!” Arnav said

Bhoomika smiled

“They had a reason to kill your mother Arnav.” Bhoomika said shocking the couple in the process.

“What.. do you mean?” Arnav asked

“Your mother like Bhaiyya was there and had witnessed everything. Those people didn't want to leave behind any witnesses of their crimes. So after killing Arvind Mallik, They turned to his wife. Your mother!!” Bhoomika explained.

“But who did this and Why?” Khushi asked

“I have an answer to the who question. But the why is a mystery even to me!!” She said

“Your father was trying to venture into Construction Business for a very long time and was regularly in contact with one of the biggest companies in that field. The Kharbandas. One of his “deals” with the Kharbandas went terribly wrong and they faced huge losses. Kharbandas had to work very hard to regain their old position in the market. When Bhaiyya and bhabhi returned with Khushi. They were looking horrified. They told me to go and hide with her as Kharbandas might come for us. My babuji asked what was the matter. Bhaiyya told him something about a verbal spat between the Kharbandas and Arvind which turned ugly. He literally pushed me out of the house and asked me to find a place safe enough for them. I called up Rudra who was my fiance at that time. He was an Army officer. He found us and took us to a safehouse. After ensuring our safety, He came back for Bhaiyya Bhabhi and Babuji. But.. by the time he reached, Our house.. It had turned to ashes” Bhoomika finished.

Khushi had turned white as a sheet by the time Bhoomika completed. Arnav was shocked beyond everything.

“I don't know if the reason for the murder of Arvind Mallik was only a deal going wrong or something else, But everyone else died for nothing!!  Bhaiyya, Bhabhi, Ratna Mallik, Babuji. No one had any fault in all this. It was a cursed night Arnav. It tore apart the happiness of two families. Everything was ruined. Afterwards, Garima Jiji requested us to let her take Khushi in as their own. It was difficult for me to let her go but it was important for her to have a stable childhood with a family and Garima Jiji and Shashiji could provide her with that.” Bhoomika said

“I'm so sorry for forcing you to revisit that night Aunty.” Arnav apologized genuinely.

“Tumse pehle, Kisi se bhi baat nahi kar payi thi mein iss baare mein. Tumne ek bojh sa utaar diya mujhpar se. Shaayad ab me wahaan  jaane se bachne ki koshish nahi karuingi. Apni bhatiji ki zindagi ka ek chota sa hissa ban paungi. (Before you, I couldn't talk about it to anyone. You've lifted a weight off me. Maybe I won't try to avoid going there anymore. Maybe I'll be part of my niece's life again.)” bhoomika said

“Of course you will be Bua Maa.” Khushi said softly.

“Thank you for doing this. It was a big help Aunty.” Arnav said

“You can always call me Bua Maa OR Bua Arnav” Bhoomika said

Arnav nodded with a small smile. “Yes Bua!”

“I'll leave you to alone for a while. It's not easy to absorb everything all at once. I'll get you two coffee” Bhoomika said and went towards the Kitchen.

Arnav glanced at Khushi who looked at him almost at the same time.

“Past” They both sighed.

“Mumma.. Maa-Baba, they died without any fault of theirs in anything. We were orphaned for nothing!” Khushi whispered. Arnav was holding her in a tight hug.

“Whatever happened was in the Past Khushi, And we cannot change it however hard we might try” Arnav said sadly.

“What will you do now?” She asked

“Kharbandas. We have friends in the construction industry, It won't be a difficult task to track them down.” Arnav said

“And me?” Khushi asked “I don't want to be at lucknow anymore”

“I know. Babuji and Amma had taken you there so that you don't have to face me but now that is not a problem. You can come back to Delhi and then… We'll figure out what to do next once you're there.” Arnav explained.

Khushi agreed to him nodding.

It took so long!! I'm so sorry!!!! I really really am so sorry for making you wait for so long I hope you are not angry with me.

So here's the next part. I made you wait for so long. I hope the update is worth it.

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Let me know your views. Also there's  a little target I've set for this story mostly because I will get time to start drafting the next chapter.

So the next chapter will be posted after this chapter has at least 250 votes.

My semester exams are on and I will not have much time to draft the next updates for any of my stories so please be patient till 20th Dec. After that hopefully every story will be updated

Let me know what you think of this chapter and I need comments. Please!! It makes me want to write and works as my boost. Please vote and Comment

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Vinny