Hues of Love

Part 37

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Court,

Khushi had walked out on him after uttering the single most damaging sentence Arnav had heard in his whole existence. Her words continued to reverberate in his ears, much like his heart which continued to beat with every beats of it shadowed by guilt and pain.

His mind was being torn apart by his thoughts - did he do right by not stopping her or his action of letting her go was the right option?

Only his heart would know the pain it had endured while eying the retreating back of its beloved and the way it had hardened itself to prevent him from engulfing her in a bone-crushing hug. Her walk out was not the cause of his pain but her pain was the dagger which struck the very chord of his heart.

The way her eyes glistened with disappointment and her voice shook with the pain of betrayal ensured that he would lose his calm and composure for months to come and it would haunt him till his last breath.

The saner part of him pushed him to inquire if she had reached safely since she was known to be quite rash in driving when she was in the wrong mood. Fate had decided to bestow sorrow at every step when Arnav rang several of his acquaintances at several places she could be expected at but it was of no avail. Khushi had neither reached his home nor her hospital.

Only one name surfaced to his mind as he felt sure that the person would surely know the whereabouts of Khushi, being so close to her - Rachna.

"What am I hearing, Arnav? Your company is involved in making hazardous drugs for children? How could you?" questioned Rachna, without giving a chance for Arnav to speak.

"I will give you ample time to accuse me, berate me and even punish me, if you deem fit, Rachna. But right now, we should search for Khushi. She is missing, after walking out on me. She was chosen as the President of the Committee who filed this case," explained Arnav, her shivering and trembling form as she walked out flashing in front of his eyes as he struggled to maintain his tone.

"What?! She never told me about this. I will try calling her and speaking with her. I will surely find her," assured Rachna, despite being furious over Arnav, being a doctor and mother but she knew that it was not the right time and her friend was her priority at that moment. She had seen love in his eyes towards his friend and she knew that the love in him deserved some dignity and respect.

"Please! I already called up home and her hospital, she isn't there in either of the places. I just hope she didn't drive herself into....." His voice cracked unable to complete his sentence as fear of losing his beloved engulfed him completely.

"Don't! She will be alright, she better be or I will kill you myself!" warned Rachna, tears filling up her eyes as she knew how reckless Khushi could be in driving in her worse moods.

"If something happens to her, there won't be a need of killing me, Rachna, for I will kill myself!"

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Khushi's Apartment,

Khushi twisted the key in the lock of her old abode as the situation twisted her heart with a dagger of love. Her old home, which she had bought out of her own earnings, was reminiscent of her struggle, her determination, her sacrifices and her love through the course of being a doctor and an unrequited lover. Every nook and corner had so many bitter-sweet memories and she was sure that they would act as the elixir which could save her from the poison of betrayal suffocating her.

Her heart traveled to day Arnav landed up at her doorstep, demanding her to look back at the deal he had himself spurned away and had sought a vow from her to forget her love for him. The painful concoction of tumultuous emotions began brewing in her heart as she relived the same experience once again.