Shashi Gupta is sitting in the veranda when he saw a group of youngsters coming to his house. He get up from his seat and looked at them carefully.

"Who are you?" Shashi asked Arnav.

"I'm Arnav Shahzad Rehman and I'm here for Khushi." He announced.

"So you are the one who lured our child and messed up with her mind." Shashi asked him.

"No sir, I truly love your daughter and I know about your concern. By marrying me she don't have to jeopardize her beliefs and customs. Give me three years, I will prove that I'm worthy to be your daughter's husband." Arnav said politely not wanting to offend Shashi.

"You should forget about marrying my daughter Mr. Rehman. In this birth I'm not going to let her marry you. For your information, she is getting married this week and it would be better if you forget about my daughter and move on in your life." He advised Arnav.

"I promised her to be with her and no matter what happens I'm going to keep that." Saying this he entered the house calling her name.

"Khushi... Khushi..." Hearing the commotion Garima and Madhumati came there. Khushi heard his sound and started banging the door in a desperate attempt to get out of the room. She called him and he rushed near to the direction of the sound. As soon as he opened the door, she hugged him tight wrapping her arms around him. He held her close to himself as the ladies watched all this with wide open eyes.

"Shh, I got you. Don't cry Khushi." He said patting her back.

"Khushi, what is this? Go to your room" Shashi roared at them.

"Why can't you give us a chance? She is your daughter and is this how you treat her? Don't you care about her happiness?' Arnav questioned Shashi and Garima.

"We know what's good and bad for our daughter. We have brought her up till now and we don't want your advice in it." Shashi said rudely.

"Then tell me what's best for her? They are marrying her only for the dowry you promised to give, what will happen to her when the dowry gets over?" Arnav asked her.

"Then tell me what happens if she get married to you? Wont she have to change her name and cover all her up?"

"Why are you dragging religion into this matter? My love for her have nothing to do with our religion." Arnav told her. Khushi decided to speak up fro her.

"Babuji, I can't marry Rahulji. I really love Arnav and want to live with him. I can never be happy if I marry Rahul." Khushi told her father trying to convince him.

"You are brainwashed by him. Now go to your room." Shashi ordered and she gripped his hand tighter. She is in a point of life where she have a chance to follow her bright future or a bitter one. She know that she is ready to face anything if he is with her.

"Babuji, I will not marry Rahul and you can't force me to marry him. Why can't you understand that?" Khushi asked her father with tear filled eyes.

"See, this happens when you give so much freedom to girls. Now she is questioning you Shashi babua." Madhumati said to her brother.

"Khushi, you have to obey me when you live under my roof. Now go to your room." Shashi shouted at her.

"Babuji, why do you care about the society more than your daughter's happiness? That so called society did nothing when I was in the hospital battling against cancer. They only hurt me by pointing out that I was a cancer patient. What mistake I did to suffer all this?" She asked her parents.

"Khushi you have to make a decision now, it's either us or him." Shashi told his daughter making the situation worse.

"Babuji, don't do this to me." She pleads at her parents.

"You have to make a decision Khushi."

"How can I make a decision? You and amma brought me up and take care of me when I was battling my death." She turned towards Arnav who stood there with uncertainty in his eyes.

"On other hand, this man loved me knowing everything about me, accepted me for who am I. I don't know how to chose between you and him?" She said turned towards her father.

"Khushi bitiya, we are doing what's best for you." Garima told her daughter.

"No amma, you are doing what you think is best for me, but it is not the best for me."

"Khushi, you are welcome to walk out of this house or go to your room. The choice is yours." Shashi said looking at his helpless daughter. Khushi looked at Arnav and left go of his hand which shook him. She looked at her father and walked towards her room with a heavy heart.

Arnav watched her going to the room with a broken heart. He felt like someone is squeezing his heart from inside. Unknowingly a tear fell down from his eyes as he watched her. He didn't expect his love to be crumbled soon. His thoughts were broken by Shashi who stood in front of him.

"See I won this. My daughter didn't fell into your trap."

"This isn't about winning or losing. It's about life, your daughter's life and her happiness. You have failed sir, failed to be a father. You are blinded by religion and because of that you can't see the love. I just hope that she don't have to lose in life to let you win." Arnav replied wiping away the smirk on his face.

"Anyway you can go from here." Shashi showed him the door and Arnav walked away with a heavy heart. He remembered each and every moments they have spend together, their long chats and the way her finger fits perfectly with his fingers. He felt sad for her, for her situation. He never wanted to snatch her away from her parents because he know how much they means to her. He have heard about the way they take care of her during her bad time.

"Arnav what happened? What did her father said to you?" Shyam and his friends asked as they waited for him outside of her house.

"Let's go guys." Arnav said to his friends and they all walked towards their bike while Shashi stared at them from his house.

Akash nudged a gloomy Arnav and pointed his hand towards her house. Arnav looked at the house and got shocked seeing her standing in front of her father with a bag in her hand. Automatically his legs moved towards her house.

"Babuji, I have taken my decision. It was hard to choose between you two and this time I chose the right path. You asked me to chose between my religion and love. I'm choosing love over religion." She said with teary eyes. She choked her works as it was hard for her to say all this. She know this is a big step for her and her family is hurt by her action. If she chose to marry Rahul, it will only give regrets to her family in future and she don't want that for them. It's better to be angry at her than being regrettable for her.

Khushi turned towards Arnav and she don't know what to say to him. She know that she have taken a big step which will affect both of them. He understood her and forwarded his hand at her. She gave him a teary smile and placed her hand in his hand.

"Sir, I won't let your daughter lose in her life." He said to Shashi and they walked towards a bright future.

***********

Sorry for the small update.

Do comment and vote.

A small portion of this story is taken from my friend's life. They were from different caste and he went to her family and asked for a few years to settle down. Then they had an argument and then she had to chose between the two. She chose him and now they are happily living with a baby. Her family accepted them too.