Two weeks later.

Life has been going well for Khushi, she had an amazing job and the people were pouring into the restaurant more than before.

All the staff loved her because of her kindness and respectful character and she was now their favourite in the restaurant.

Maithali also joined her a few days ago after her divorce was finalized and together the trio made a happy family.

She was overjoyed when Mami told her about her father's improvement and even asked her to visit him but she refused and Mami not wanting to upset her, stop pushing for her to see him so she became the messenger between Shashi and Khushi.

Everything was going well except the discovery of Arnav meeting Anaisha and becoming her new friend.

She had picked up Anaisha from school after work and she looked happier than she expected her to be.

After a long chat at home, she told Khushi about her new friend and narrated everything to her.

Khushi's heart dropped hearing the description of her new friend and the name she gave him.

She was for certain that Arnav was the man and she started panicking.

She was hurt thinking Mami betrayed her and was about to call her to confront her when she received a message from Anaisha's school's parent WhatsApp page.

It was about collaboration with AR Designs for a new school uniform for the kids.

She finally understood it was just a coincidence and was thankful she received the message before calling Mami because she knew she would have hurt her feelings with the accusation and she felt sick to her stomach to have tried to confront the woman who was helping her survive.

So the next day, she dropped Anaisha at her school and pretended to leave but sneakily hid among the influx of parents there to drop off their kids and waited.

After about an hour of waiting, she was about to give up and leave when she saw a Bugatti la Voiture Noire enter the premise and out of it came two stylish men both dressed in an elegant suit but her eyes was on one of them.

Khushi unconsciously licked her lips seeing Arnav, he looked bulkier and his once gel back short hair was now a long tousled hair with a few strands kissing his beautiful forehead.

The man was indeed eye candy and it showed by how all the women drooled at him and Aman as they walked into the building.

From where Khushi was standing, she could see everything and she saw Arnav stop at the playground where the kids played before going to class.

Anaisha felt someone call her name and she turned to find Arnav standing behind her and she run and hugged him.

Khushi saw Arnav scoop her up and carry her to a bench and both sat down with Aman standing behind like a bodyguard.

They both were chatting, giggling and laughing like two best friends who had lost in touch and were finally reunited.

It amazed Khushi how natural he was with Anaisha especially since he never liked kids.

Tears of joy streamed down Khushi's face seeing her baby so happy with her father even though she will never know.

She knew she couldn't stop this because this was the only way Anaisha could be with her father. After all, she knew he will hate her if he knew she was his out of their unwanted one nightstand.

That's how Khushi chose to convince herself not to fall for Arnav more than she already had.

So for the next days to come, she never said anything to Mami and she allowed their relationship to go on and Anaisha never fails to tell her mother all about his new friend lad governor.

Back in the Raizada mansion, all the members were either nervous or angry for their reasons except Manohar who had gone on his business trip and Mami who was enjoying seeing their state.

She knew Anjali, Payal and her family were concerned by the possibility of Shashi recovering and spilling the beans and on top of it all Dr Saif Khan has refused to give the more than twice a week with just twenty minutes of supervised visitation sighting it was best they maintain minimal contacts and they couldn't defy his orders because they will look bad in the eyes of Akash who has been concerned with Shashi's health.

Shyam was also getting tired of Arnav not coming home since he arrived.

Each time he asked of him, Mami ends up interrogating him as to why he was so concerned about him and the whole family was beginning to become suspicious of him and so he stopped.

He knew he had to be patient if he wants Arnav to sign the ownership of his properties to him.

Anjali on the other hand had double trouble, one was the sudden disappearance of Rudra and his mother Mohini has been calling claiming she did something to him and has threatened to expose her if her son is not found and to top it all Shyam was also not paying any attention to her and he hasn't touched her in the past three months.

Nani too had her problem because Arnav has cut her off and Manohar has taken over her expenses which wasn't enough for her because unlike Arnav who doesn't care how much she spends or give away to keep her status in society high but know it has changed and it's frustrating her and on top of that Arnav is not picking his call and hasn't been home in the past two weeks.

Everyone sat down for lunch when the door opened abruptly taking everyone aback.

In entered Akash who looked angry and everyone except Mami who knew the reason for his anger was surprised to see him like that.

"Akash..... Come and join us. " Nani said and Akash sighed and joined them.

"Akash..... Is everything alright? " Payal asked concerned.

"Nothing is alright..... I am just tired of bhai's mistrust of me...... Aman is not even a relative and he trusts him blindly...... Could you believe he has a big project coming up I thought he will let me head it since he is busy with God knows what instead he announced in front of everyone that Aman will be heading it...... He always treats me like a mere employee instead of a family but treats Aman with respect..... He is nobody but a bloody orphan who keeps on leeching off Bhai and he is too blind to see it. "

Mami felt disgusted hearing his son speak that way and he knew Payal had a hand in this because of what she heard a few days ago.

Flashback.

Mami had had a long day at the restaurant and on top of it all Arnav was now living at his penthouse and Manohar had gone to Dubai on a business trip and she had no one to speak to in the house.

She was entering her room when she heard Akash yelling at Payal to shut up and it shocked her.

She moved closer to find the door of the room opened and Payal fuming in anger.

"Whether you believe it or not, your mother doesn't love you as much as she loves Arnav because if she did, she wouldn't let you be walking in the shadows of Arnav...... You have the right to be the head at AR but look at the stupid position your so-called Bhai had given you..... Aman who is not even family holds a higher position than you and he is always called the right-hand man by the media..... Your parent admires him more than you even when he is not family. " Akash looked away from Payal who smirked which was only noticed by Mami. "If you think I am lying about this family including your so-called Bhai not respecting you, then ask for a high position or a project and see what they do to you. "

Akash walked away from Payal and Mami hid to avoid being detected.

Payal comes out of her room with a smirk on her face.

"Poor Akash...... If you only knew I was doing this to turn you against your family and make you my little puppet, then you wouldn't have listened to me. " Payal whispered but enough for Mami to hear and she walked back to her room.

Mami shook head knowing Akash was already lost and she was done protecting him, so she decided to leave him to his fate.

Flashback ends.

"You want that project so that you can mess it up as you did a few years ago which nearly bankrupted AR. " Nani exclaimed in anger and Akash looked shocked thinking she will support him but she was speaking against him. "That orphan was the one who singlehandedly saved Arnav and both of them spent countless sleepless nights cleaning your mess so stop blaming them if they don't trust you...... You can't even handle your current position well and you want a higher and more difficult position with difficult tasks. "

Everyone looked at Nani in shock as she immediately went back to filling her plate and eating.

Mami come out of her shock but looked angry and started clapping making all heads turn to her.

"Wow, sasuma..... I never thought in a million years you will reprimand your favourite grandson for your least favourite grandson and his best friend. " Mami accused and Nani looked shocked. "Don't be shocked maaji...... We all know Arnav was never given the same amount of love you gave to Anjali and Akash all because he looks like his father....... Akash is my son and Anjali is your Ratna's spitting image and don't you dare deny it. "

Nani looked away in shame and Mami scoffed and stood up and left because she lost her appetite seeing all of them.

"Payal was right, my mother loves me more than Bhai and I like a fool was his slave...... No more Arnav Malik..... I will make you fail and prove to the world you are not as competent as they think you are...... You wait and watch. "

Akash thought and angrily stood up and walked away with Payal following him leaving the Gupta women, Anjali, Shyam and an ashamed Nani behind.

Nani quietly stood up and left and Anjali ordered HP to bring her and Shyam's food to their room.

Madhumati and Garima watched as they all left the table leaving them behind.

The Next Day.
Afternoon.

Khushi loved how the day turn up is and moved out of the kitchen to speak to Mami but at the entrance was Mami having a conversation with a middle-aged woman and beside the woman was Lavanya who was looking ashamed by something and Mami threw a disgusted look at Lavanya and left.

The woman whose facial features looked like Lavanya could be her mother.

She grabbed Lavanya's arms not caring about the weird looks from the other customers and dragged her in her direction.

Khushi bolted out of there to avoid being detected.

She was rushing behind the bar to leave when she saw Pam and Sim moving towards her and she knew she couldn't go back and took the path opposite her leading into the female washroom.

She entered and rushed into one of the cubicles and locked the door.

A second later, the clicking of heels on the floor alerted her to a presence in the washroom.

"Is what Mami told me true? " A woman yelled. "Answer me Lavanya...... Is what Mami said about you and ASR true. "

Lavanya was quiet and only her sniffing was heard indicating she was crying.

"You will tell me everything that happened after that Khushi or whatever her name is left. "

Lavanya was heard blowing her nose and what she revealed to her mother that was heard by Khushi shocked her.

To be continued.

Precap: Maithali and Khushi discover Mami's secret.

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