*Not Edited.

An hour later.

Khushi contacted Pooja and Shalini who were awaiting for her signal before contacting the police and the army. Arnav had his arms wrapped around her shoulders as they watched the scenes in front of them. Now that everyone was free, Alekh, Yudi, Huda, and Ali were gathered around Rajveer and Naina to greet and hug them properly. There were lots of tears involved along with long lost happy smiles.

"Sir ji, sorry itna der huya apko bachane me." [Sorry, sir, it took us so much time.] Huda told him making a puppy face. "Ye sab na, chhoti Phoolan ki kasoor hai. Usi ne bari hone me itna time laga diya, otherwise we were ready with everything." he said complaining about Khushi. [It was all our Little bandit queen's fault. She took so much time to grow up. otherwise we were ready with everything.]

Rajveer gave him a confused look. "Phoolan to aap Naina ko bulate the na? To fir yeh Chhoti Phoolan kaun hai?" He inquired. [Did you address Naina as 'Bandit queen'? Then who is this 'Little bandit queen'?]

"Huda bhai humari lawyer sahiba ko Chhoti Phoolan bulate hai." Ali clarified with a smile. [Huda calls our dear Ms. Lawyer as Little bandit queen.]

"Apun apko aur Naina ko usse milwata hai." [Let me introduce Naina and you to her.] Alekh told him before turning towards his niece. "Chhutki, can you come here for a moment?" [Little one, can you come over for a moment?] He called out.

Khushi stepped up to her father and stretched out her hand. "Hello, sir! I'm Advocate Khushi Singh Raizada. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"Same to you, Advocate Raizada." Rajveer replied. Before they could continue to chat some more, they heard the siren of police jeeps.

Next an hour was a blur of giving statements, gathering everyone, getting checked out by the paramedics, so on and so forth. Lala was loaded in an ambulance and taken to a hospital nearby with police and army officers escorting the ambulance. Khushi was giving her statement when she noticed an army officer approaching her mother. Since she had investigated all the players in her parents lives, she recognized the officer easily. It was none other than Captain Abhimanyu Rai Chauhan, who was Lieutenant Colonel at the moment.

"Hello Naina! Kaisi hai aap? If you had said yes to me when I proposed you all those years ago, you wouldn't have had to get tortured for so many years. What did you get by loving Rajveer? Tell me!" Abhimanyu taunted.

Rajveer was only a few feet away from them and had heard everything everyone you was saying. He couldn't believe the man who he used to consider his friend could hate him so much that he proposed to Rajveer's girlfriend. He didn't know if he felt angry, betrayed, or jealous.

Khushi, on the other hand, was ready to murder Abhimanyu. She was super angry. She badly wanted to punch him, but Arnav caught her hand and stopped her. "This is her fight. Let her do it. Have faith in her!" He advised.

Naina turned towards Abhimanyu with a smile on her face. "I will tell you the same thing I told you then. I would rather be his whore than your wife. I never regretted saying no to you. I would never regret loving Rajveer." She told him firmly. Her last two sentences were directed to Rajveer, to assure him that she didn't regret choosing him. With a smile, she started heading towards Rajveer when Abhimanyu questioned her from behind.

"Are you telling me... that you never regretted choosing him even when you were 6 months pregnant and your parents had thrown you out of your house? Have you ever wondered what your poor child must be thinking about her parents?" He shouted after her.

Rajveer was thunderstruck at this new information. He had no idea that Naina had been pregnant, let alone that there was a child. He then recalled those two years after he and his cadets had escaped. She had made a strange excuse then and left. She stayed in contact but didn't share where she was or what she was doing. Then suddenly she returned like she never left. Her body had also changed. She was curvier than before. Rajveer had noticed at that time. He remembered clearly that he was having quite a hard time getting his eyes off of her body. 'Does that mean... Naina was pregnant during that time?' he wondered.

Khushi couldn't stop her mouth anymore. Snatching her hand away from her husband's, she marched up to Abhimanyu. Getting in its face, she told him with a proud smile, "I am sure their child is very proud of them even if she or he is their illegitimate child." At her statement, both Naina and Rajveer turned to look at her face in wonder.

"How can you be so sure, Advocate?" Abhimanyu asked angrily. He didn't like how the young advocate was getting in his face for Rajveer and Naina.

"Why won't I be sure of my own feelings? Oh! I'm sorry. I forgot to introduce myself. I am Advocate Khushi Singh Raizada... biological daughter of Captain Rajveer Singh Shikhawat and Naina Singh Ahluwalia." In that moment, Khushi didn't look like Khushi Kumari Gupta... she looks like KSR, the wife of ASR.

Abhimanyu's eyes widened in shock. He never imagined that it would be Rajveer's daughter who would solve Naveen's case and get Lala punished. He had thought since Rajveer child had grown up as an orphan, she/he would be a humble being like her father, but instead, there was a lioness standing in front of him... One who had razor sharp teeth. It was clear that Rajveer's daughter had gotten her mother's bold attitude. He opened his mouth to say something when multi-billionaire, Arnav Singh Raizada stepped up to him.

"Look officer, you have already wasted our family time. On top of that, you insulted not only my mother-in-law, but also my father in law. It would be better for you if you stay quiet and leave us alone. Otherwise I would sue you for defamation. I don't think you could afford the consequence of messing with ASR's family, King of Barmer." Arnav told him scowling darkly. It was clear from his tone that he wasn't threatening... he was promising.

Nodding curtly, Abhimanyu turned and left. He had to clench his fists and jaws tightly to not say a word as his eyes fell on Rajveer's super six. They all had smug smiles on their faces and none of them looked surprised to know that Advocate's identity. Sneering, he left the area.

Khushi turned towards her parents and waved like a little girl with a sheepish smile on her face. "I forgot mention earlier that I'm also your daughter." she stated with a shrug.

Naina had tears in her eyes and a wide smile on her face. "You grew up to be so beautiful!" she whispered.

Khushi ran to her mother and hugged her tightly. "Maa..." she wailed.

"Meri chhoti si Khushi." [My little happiness!] Naina choked out before pulling away and cupping her face. "Let me look at you properly. You have my eyes." she remarked with a teary smile.

"I know. I have spent hours looking at myself in the mirror... I would compare myself with your photos. I would get really happy each time I found a matching piece with either you or papa." Khushi told her mother.

"It's true." Rajveer whispered, witnessing the scene in front of him. He stepped up to his Naina and their daughter. "You also had Naveen's mischievous smile." he told his daughter as he joined them.

"Really, papa?" Khushi asked through tears.

"Yes... you also have his sheepish smile." Rajveer pointed out wiping away her tears. "What was THAT, anyway? Who waves at their long lost parents and says 'I'm also your long lost daughter'?" he asked raising his eyebrow.

Khushi giggled before she wrapped her arms around his waist and rest her head on his chest. "You have no idea how happy I am to meet you." she told him honestly. "I'm sorry it took me so long to save you." she mumbled against him.

"You have nothing to be sorry for. Your mother, on the other hand, has a lot of explaining to do." Rajveer told her as he raised his eyebrow at Naina.

"It's all your fault. If you weren't so stubborn, I wouldn't have had to take such a big step. Agar maine apko meri pregnancy ya phir Khushi ke bareme bata diya hota to aap surrender kar dete." Naina argued. [If I had told you about my pregnancy or Khushi, then you would've insisted on surrendering.]

"You and our daughter wouldn't have had to go through so much pain though." Rajveer countered.

Khushi pushed away from her father with a frown. "You think we would've been happy with you behind the jail, getting tortured, or KILLED?!" she questioned scowling. "What's wrong with you?!" she shouted at him, folding her arms over her chest.

"See, that's why I did what I did." Naina told her daughter.

Rajveer gaped at the mother-daughter pair fighting with him. He didn't need ANY tests to know that Khushi was really their daughter. She had the same angry expressions as Naina. And same kind of smile as him.

"I don't think you both are being fair." Arnav interrupted the mother-daughter from blasting on Rajveer again. "It's a man's job to protect his family. He would've done that if he knew of his daughter's exitance. Forget his daughter, he had a responsibility of his girlfriend as well." he added, joining them.

"Wait... you are our lawyer's... husband." Rajveer muttered before realization downed on him, "You're my son-in-law... I have a son-in-law." he said to himself.

"Guilty as charged." Arnav told him with a crooked smile as he wrapped his arm around Khushi's waist and pulled her to him.

Rajveer noticed that and exchanged a look with Naina. It seemed their son-in-law was really protective of their daughter. From whatever they had seen of him in the last day, they were sure that Arnav loved and cared about his wife a lot. It eased both of their minds.

"Don't be a sexist, Arnavji! It's not only a man's job to protect. It's both a man and a woman's job to protect their families." Khushi protested Arnav's statement. She didn't even register Arnav's smooth movements as she was so used his ways.

"Look, Khush..Ah.." and Arnav stumbled as he blinked repeatedly.

"Arnavji?" Khushi called out, panicked.

"Khushi, my blood sugar is too low. I think we should head home now." Arnav told her shaking his head. Khushi nodded her head in agreement.

/

/

/

Khushi had arranged two microbuses. Ali, Pooja, Huda, and Yudi were in the first microbus. Arnav, Khushi, Rajveer, Naina, and Alekh were in the second microbus. All of them were heading for Shantivan.

"Khushi, are you sure it's okay for us to go to your in-laws?" Naina asked hesitantly.

"Haa, maa. Nani had insisted that I bring everyone home. She even cleaned out the third floor for you all." Khushi told her. "Everyone is really excited to meet my parents." she assured. "I am really excited to show off my parents... my heros."

"Ma'am, don't worry about anything. You're my family now. Our home is your home... both of yours." Arnav told his mother-in-law.

"Does your family know about us?" Rajveer asked, "Does they know where we've been all these years?"

"We didn't tell the family all the details, but we shared enough for them to be satisfied." Arnav answered.

"That's good. It could've been dangerous for them otherwise. Lala has too many allies." Rajveer told them with a sigh.

"Don't worry, papa. Humne jaise Lala ko sambhal liya, waise uske chamcho ko bhi sambhal lenge." Khushi boosted confidently. [The way we handled Lala, we will handle his goons too.]

Rajveer smiled. Alekh leaned into him and whispered, "She's exactly like her mother used to be when she first arrived at KMA. Khushi also leaps over the cliff before looking or thinking."

"No doubt. Bilkul apni maa jaisi hi hai." Just like her mother.] Rajveer said fondly. He felt sad that he missed so many years with his daughter. He would've really loved to see her grow up in front of his eyes.

"What are you guys whispering about?" Naina asked suspiciously.

"Nothing!" "Nothing!" both men said at the same time.

Khushi turned in her seat to look at her father and uncle's guilty faces. "They look guilty. Zaroor hum dono ki burai kar rahe the dono." she pointed out to her mother like a brat. [I'm sure they were complaining about us.]

"Stop getting your father and uncle in trouble!" Arnav told her firmly as he turned her around forcefully to sit properly in the car.

"Par, Arnavji..." Khushi tried to argue.

Arnav put his palm over her mouth and pleaded, "Love, my head is really aching. Can you please stay silent for a while?"

Khushi nodded her head with her wide eyes. She rest her head against his shoulder and wrapped her arms around him. The rest of the way, Alekh, Naina, and Rajveer chatted in low tone while Arnav and Khushi rested their eyes.

/

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They were welcomed grandly at the Shantivan with aartis. Shalini had tears in her eyes as she put tika on both Naina and Rajveer's foreheads. It was a relief to find her friends safe and sound after so many years. Nani rolled a lemon and 7 chillies around all of them to cast away all the evil eyes from them. After everyone was introduced to Rajveer and Naina properly, Payal suggested that they should shower, change, and eat something before sitting down to chat.

"I have prepared the biggest room for Rajveer and Naina on the third floor. I hope you will think of it as your own house and be comfortable." Nani told Raina with a smile.

It was like Arshi, Raina, and super six froze instantly. Rajveer's cheeks started getting red as he cleared his throat and scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. Naina started blushing while looking at the floor. She wished a hole would magically appear in front of her and let her bury herself. Super six were trying hard to stop from laughing. Arnav and Khushi shared an worried look. They didn't know how Nani might react to the fact that Khushi's parents weren't married.

Noticing the awkward looks and blushing faces, Nani asked, "What is it? Did I say something wrong?"

"I... ah... due to some unfavorable conditions, Naina and I weren't able to get married." Rajveer said taking the lead. "Our Khushi was born out of wedlock."

Nani's face hardened. She stared at each of their faces before her eyes came top rest on her grandson and his wife. They both had sheepish looks on their faces. It was clear that Arnav knew about this. She looked at Anjali and found her with a pleading expression of her face. With a sigh, Devyani Singh Raizada nodded. "Okay then. You two will stay in different rooms until you two get married... and your wedding with happen in a grand way. I'll contact the priest right away." and left from there.

Rajveer and Naina gaped after her as Arshi, super six, Anjali, payal, and Akash started cheering excitedly. "Kitna maza ayega! Ghar me dhumdham se shaadi hogi!" Anjali said grinning widely, "Warna, Chhote aur Khushiji ke time per to hum kuch nahi kar paye the." she pouted. [How fun would it be to have a grand wedding! During Arnav and Khushi's wedding, we weren't able to do anything.]

"Di, let's not talk about that." Arnav shot his sister a warning look.

Rajveer noticed it and wondered what was that about. 'Did something happen at Arnav and Khushi's wedding?' he wondered.

"Come with me! I'll take you all to your rooms." Payal offered with a warm smile.

Everyone was shown to their respective rooms and given clean clothes. Khushi and Arnav also retired to their bedroom after he drank two glasses of orange juice. Arnav showered and changed first before going back downstairs. Rajveer soon joined him in the living room.

"Arnav, tell me about yourself. I want to know about my son-in-law. I want to know the man who my daughter loves and married to." Rajveer stated.

"I was born as Arnav Mallik in an influential family of Lucknow. When my older sister, Anjali turned 18, her marriage was fixed. On the evening of her wedding, my mother committed suicide because she found out that her husband had been cheating on her. That man could take the guilt so he killed himself too. My sister's marriage broke. Our parents were dead. Our uncle threw us out of our house, the Sheesh mahel, without any money. It was months before we were able to save enough money through our begging to be able to come to Delhi. My maternal grandma took us in. My Uncle and his wife took acre of us like their own children. I was set to Harvard for studies. Mami, my uncle's wife, sold all of her jewelry and gave me the money so that I could start my business. And I did. In only a few years, I managed to build a fashion empire and provided my family with the most expensive of things. I felt proud." Arnav told him honestly.

"You took your pain and turned it into your strength. That's really admirable." Rajveer told him with a kind smile. He was happy to know that Arnav had worked hard for his money. He wasn't a trust fund brat or something like that. he wanted to say something more but suddenly, his heart started beating faster. Rajveer got up from the couch and turned to look towards the couch.

Seeing him react like that, Arnav also got up. "What is it?" he asked.

"Naina is coming down." Rajveer replied.

Arnav looked up and saw that his mother-in-law was really descending. She was in a off-white and gold chikankari anarkali suit. Freshly showered, she looked absolutely beautiful. Arnav understood where his wife got her beauty from and how a professional army officer ended up falling in love with his own student. He glanced at Rajveer and saw that his father-in-law was mesmerized. Grinning, Arnav walked up to his mother-in-law.

"You're looking absolutely gorgeous. Now I know where my wife got her beauty from." Arnav said, placing a kiss on Naina's cheek.

"Why? You couldn't tell with all those dirt clinging to my skin?" Naina joked.

Laughing, Arnav wrapped his arm around her shoulder and turned towards Rajveer. "Tar te hi raho ge ya fir compliment bhi doge?" [Will you just keep on staring or complement her as well?] he called out to his father-in-law.

"Um... you in that outfit... I mean that outfit on you... you both look... I mean... that's not your color... but still you look... I mean you look good in... white? a different shade of white? Um... what's this color called?" Rajveer asked, scratching his head in distress.

Arnav was openly giving him a look of complete disbelieve. He blinked as if to make sure he was really seeing this. "Wow... you're really bad at complementing." he said shaking his head, "And dad, this color is called 'Off-white'." he informed pinching the bridge of his nose.

Khushi was descending down the stairs when she heard her father's attempt at complement. Snickering, she walked down the stairs. "When I read about your compliment giving ability in maa's letter, I really wanted to witness it first hand. Now that I've seen it, I have to agree with maa. Papa, you're really bad at complementing someone." she told her father cheekily as she joined her mother and her husband.

"I-I'm not bad... I was... um.." Rajveer protested and blushed at the same time.

"It's okay. You look good, Rajveer sir." Naina said, saving him from their daughter and son-in-law's teasing. Rajveer was in a pair of dark blue lounge pants and a grey hoodie. She went downstairs and cupped his face. "It's been so long I'm seeing you shaved like this." she told him with a smile.

Rajveer blushed. "Uh... Huda told me that I shouldn't clean shave. Something about stubble being in the trend or something like that." he told her with a shrug.

"You're looking handsome... really sexy." Naina whispered the last part so that only Rajveer could hear her.

Arnav and Khushi were observing them from the stairs. They exchanged an amused look when they saw Naina whispering something in Rajveer's ears and him turn brighter shade of red. "Why do I feel like maa just said something naughty to papa?" Arnav asked Khushi.

Khushi looked up at Arnav sharply. She just realized that he had been addressing her parents as 'maa' and 'papa'. She smiled at him sweetly. "I don't want to know what she said to him. I'll rather prefer to think that they sang a romantic song and I was conceive. I really don't want to think what they did to... you know." she shuddered at thought of her parents having sex. Shaking her head, she hurriedly left.

Arnav was laughing at her comment. "Pagal!" he remarked fondly. "Maa! Papa! Let's head to the dining room. I'm really hungry and others must be on their way as well." he called out to his in-laws.

Naina patted Rajveer's chest before turning towards Arnav and nodded. Soon, rest of the super six and Raizada family members joined them in the dining room. Khushi and Payal started placing the food items around the table that the Prakash brothers were bringing from the kitchen. Anjali brought Kripa and Piyush to the dining room and made them take seats.

"Waise, Papa, I forgot to say something earlier." Khushi, suddenly, stated startling everyone.

"What is you, beta?" Rajveer asked.

"Well... there would be NO wedding... until you officially propose my mother." Khushi told him sternly with her arms folded over her chest.

"What?! B-But Khushi beta..." Rajveer tried to protest but he stopped seeing her raise her eyebrow at him in challenge.

"Bechare sirji. Ab inki shaadi kaise hogi? Khushi apne maa se bhi jyada ziddi hai." [Poor sir! How will he get married now? His daughter is way more stubborn than her mother.] Huda whispered to Alekh.

"I agree." Alekh nodded with a smirk. "Those two are a lot alike. Stubborn, with nasty tempers and a vindictive streak."

"Capt., I don't think you have any way out. And I agree with Khushi. Naina deserves a proposal." Shalini added with a smirk.

"Okay, everyone! Stop pressurizing him!" Arnav commanded sternly. "Let's eat." he added. Rajveer gave him a grateful look as he didn't want to stay red throughout the dinner.

Everyone started eating their food and chatted about normal things. Kripa and Piyush were introduced to Naina and Rajveer. The kids were told that Rajveer and Naina were their nana and nanu. Everything was going great until Anjali noticed Khushi's saree. She was wearing a red saree. Anjali recognized it instantly.

"Arre, Khushiji! Isn't this the same saree that I got you for Diwali six years ago? The saree that got exchanged with Lavanya's." Anjali said with a smile.

Khushi paused before looking down. She didn't even know that she had this saree in her closet. She glared at her saree as painful memories from that night crossed her mind. Their almost kiss, Arnav's painful words, Arnav announcing his engagement, she agreeing to marry Shyam. Khushi didn't know if she had it in her to handle these memories. Taking a deep breath, she looked up and gave Anjali a fake smile. She felt like she would scream if she opened her mouth so she just nodded at her.

Arnav was keeping his eyes on his wife ever since Anjali asked her about the saree. When he realized that it was becoming too much for her, he got up from his chair suddenly. "Khushi, I need that Yang's file that I had asked you to keep. Come and show me where you kept it." saying this, he grabbed her hand and dragged her upstairs.

As soon as they reached their room, Arnav let go of her hand and closed the door behind them. "Tum thik ho?" [You okay?] he asked worriedly.

"Do I look okay? Every time... every single time someone reminds me of that night... Arnavji, something breaks inside me..." Khushi started sobbing as she fell on her knees in the middle of their room. "How could you be so cruel? How could you do this to me? Why didn't you love me more than your stupid ego?" she asked.

Teary eyed, Arnav knelt in front of her and gathered her in his arms. "I'm so sorry. I really am." he told her as he started unpinning her pallu. They continued to cry and grief together as he took off her saree. "You will never see this saree again. I won't let it remind you of that night. I promise I'll take care of you." he vowed to her as he started placing kisses all over her face.

He left a crying Khushi on the floor and took the saree to the pool side. Getting a match from his drawer, Arnav lit that damn saree on fire. He watched that saree with full of hatred. Soon, Khushi joined him and leaned against him. Arnav wrapped his arm around her bare waist and dropped a kiss on her head. "If only I could go back to that night, I would do things differently." he told her.

Khushi sniffed. "What would you do different?" she asked.

"I would've kissed you. And then I would have taken to the nearest temple to marry you." he told her honestly.

It was silent for a few moment before Khushi pulled away to look at him. "You STILL wouldn't have married me in a grand way?" she questioned.

"No. I hate all those rituals and don't you remember how much TIME it took for Akash and Payal to get married? They were even stopped from seeing each other. I mean what the hell was that all about?" Arnav ranted.

Khushi covered her mouth and started laughing. All her pain was forgotten in that moment. "You're too much!" she told him before wrapping her arms around her waist.

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Rajveer had his eyes on his daughter when Anjali started asking her about the saree. He watched how his daughter had turned pale and how Arnav reacted instinctively to her reaction. He glanced at Naina and saw that she was also observing those two.

"Is everything okay?" he asked Anjali, "Why did they leave like that?"

"Chhote had been away from his precious work for TWO whole days. Of course he would react like that. My brother is a workaholic." Anjali told them with a laugh.

"Yes. Bhai gets restless if he's away from work for too long. Khushiji and AR Designs are the two most important things of his life. He gets uneasy if he stays away from either of them for too long." Akash told Rajveer with a smile. "Since we have a fashion show coming in two months, he'll get super short tempered soon enough." he added with an amused smirk.

"He told me... about how he became what he is now. He's a great man. I'm really glad that he's my daughter's husband." Rajveer told Devyani.

"We're all really proud of him... Maybe that's why we gave him a little too much leeway. We're thankful that Khushi came into our lives. Only she knows how to handle our Arnav's arrogance." Devyani told him with a laugh.

"He didn't seem that arrogant when we first met him." Shalini remarked.

"Mamiji, you threatened him when you first met... even though it was indirect." Payal told her with a smirk.

"I had more creative and direct ones prepared for him. But Ali stopped me." Shalini shared throwing a playful glare at Ali.

"You wanted to scare him by showing him our guns. He's our son-in-law. He deserved the benefit of doubts." Ali argued.

"They eloped suddenly. I was suspicious of him." Shalini argued.

"So was I." Alekh added with a shrug.

Rajveer and Naina shook their heads and started laughing at their crazy friends. They were thankful to have them even if they were a butch of crazy people.

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A/N:::: Hope you enjoyed.