Chapter 23:Two Sides of a Coin
Akash parked his car outside the lane he had often dropped Payal to. Just coming back here again after so many months, for such a different purpose made him realize just how far he had come.
But right now, he didn't have time to think about that or anything. Right now, the only thing motivating him was revenge. By any means! He didn't care if he had to be the bad guy in front of Payal Gupta. She would have hated him sooner or later. This way, at least he was getting something out of it.
Killing the engine, he got down the car and started walking up to the house. As he got closer, he could see the open windows, and through them he could see an old man sitting in a chair. Shashi Gupta.
Schooling his face into the nastiest way he could, Akash knocked at the door.
~~~
Girish Sharma looked at the girl who had literally backed into a corner of the office. A smile crept up his face.
"Why are you so afraid, dear? I don't bite" He crooned at Khushi who looked at him with eyes full of loathing.
"I am not scared of you! I just hate you. You're a vile man" Khushi spat the words at him and Girish Sharma laughed, his slightly protruding belly shaking up and down.
"You don't even know me, dear" He replied, taking a step towards where Khushi stood in a corner.
"I don't have to. You're Akash's father and yet you aren't stopping him from what he is about to do" Khushi answered, her eyes monitoring every move the man made.
Girish Sharma looked at her from head to toe and then took a seat on the office table of Arnav.
"I am going to let you in on a secret, Khushi" He began, licking his chapped lips that had blackened over the years.
"I am not letting Akash do anything. I am making him do everything" The man continued, after he had placed his left leg over his right, and his gaze fixed upon Khushi.
"Why?" Khushi murmured, thinking her best option was to keep him talking.
"Why? That's the real question, isn't it? Well..Since it's a very long and a very old story, I'll tell you in short. As you might have guessed already, Akash and Arnav are not real brothers. In fact, they are not brothers at all. Akash is my son. Mine and my wife's, Geeta Sharma. And Arnav..well..he is a Raizada. And I should tell you; he is the villain in the story because he is a Raizada" Girish Sharma said, his slightly crooked teeth showing, as he smiled.
"Arnav can never do anything wrong" Khushi retorted, looking at Girish Sharma with a challenging face.
"No? Well, his father can. Surendra Singh Raizada. One twisted man. My wife, Geeta, used to work at the Raizada house ever since she was a young woman. I had no stable job. I used to do whatever work I could find and stay at home, look after our son Akash, who was barely a year old then. But one fine day, Surendra Singh Raizada fixed his lecherous eyes upon Geeta. He forced himself upon her when the house was empty"
Khushi didn't know if she should be shocked or horrified. But she could guess that this was only the beginning of the story.
"Yes, it's only the beginning, sweet one!" Girish Sharma replied, as if reading Khushi's thoughts and then looked at his phone, which was now ringing.
"Looks like Akash reached your house" He replied, grinning, "the story will have to wait".
~~~
"YOU" It was Shashi Gupta who raised his voice first, as a shocked Payal opened the door of the house and Akash sauntered in.
He looked at the whitening face of Payal and then at Shashi Gupta who was now struggling to get out of his chair.
"Looks like you finally told your family about us" Akash directed his words at Payal, neither smiling nor smirking this time.
Payal, instead of replying to him, rushed to her father.
"Babuji, please keep sitting. You are still recovering" She begged her father but Shashi Gupta stood up on his shaking legs, glaring at Akash.
"How dare you come into my house?" He asked angrily, while the noise brought Garima and Buaji to the drawing room as well.
"It's a rather a long story, uncle, but to keep you from over exerting yourself and in order to save my time, I'll keep this short. I have Khushi in my capture. And if you want her back in one piece, then I suggest you do exactly as I ask you to" Akash said, looking at no one in particular as one by one the family members gasped.
"What are you talking about, Akash? Where is Khushi? What did you do to her?" It was Payal who spoke to him, fisting the front of his shirt in her hands and shaking him. Akash looked at Payal.
She looked just like he had seen her the last time. Except, now he could see the trace of a baby bump. Only slight, but it was there.
"Tell us where is my daughter or I will call the police" It was Shashi Gupta's voice that boomed in the room.
Akash tore his eyes from Payal and smiled.
"Please do, uncle. Although they wouldn't find her before it's too late" Akash replied, knowing well that his empty threats will work like magic, just like he had threatened Khushi at the office.
He had no intention of hurting anyone in the Gupta family because he was well aware he wouldn't have to.
He watched as terror struck on the face of every person in the room, his words delivering the exact effect he wanted.
"Now, that I have your attention" He whirled towards Payal who was looking at him with a disgusted face, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed his father's number.
"Talk to Khushi and do exactly what she says. If I get what I want, no one has to get hurt" He said to Payal who looked at her family and then at him.
She slowly took the phone from his hands and put it against her ears, her eyes watching the faces of her family members who looked just as scared as she felt.
"If you try to be clever, like the last time, be aware of the cost" Payal heard another man saying on the other end of the line. She looked at Akash again, unable to believe that this was the same man she had met six months ago.
"Hello" It was Khushi's voice on the other end that made Payal jump.
"It is Khushi" she said loudly for her Babuji to hear who was still looking at Akash like he wanted to kill him. Her Amma and Buaji slid closer to Payal, as if it would make them able to hear Khushi.
"Jeeji..how is everyone there? Did Akash..?" Khushi asked desperately, and Payal tried to control her tears.
"We are fine, Khushi.. Where are you? Are you okay?" Payal asked, looking at Akash who was still staring at her.
"Jeeji.. I am so sorry. I screwed up. Those signatures that I took of Arnav..I didn't give the original copy to Akash. It was a fake one. I couldn't tell you...I wanted to..but I thought the less people knew the better..."
"Stop the story and tell her quickly where the real papers are" Payal heard the man growl at the other side. Payal couldn't believe what she was hearing. Khushi had given fake papers to Akash?
"Jeeji, the real papers are behind the cupboard in our room. Give them to Akash..and..tell Arna.." Khushi's voice was cut off and Payal shouted her name in the phone.
"Whatever this is you're doing, Akash..God will never.." Payal began.
"Get the papers if you want your sister to come home safe" was all Akash replied, taking his phone back.
"And if you try to play me again, Payal, I would really do something that will make you truly hate me" Akash answered.
"I already do. I already hate you more than you could imagine" Payal spat the words as she rushed to her room, while Akash continued standing in the drawing room, the Gupta family looking at him with loathsome eyes.
~~~
Payal reached her room in three long strides and stabilizing herself against the wall, cried. She was still finding it hard to believe that Akash stood in her house, threatening her once again, and that too in front of her family. But this time, he hadn't threatened just her. He had threatened Khushi, he had taken her. God knows where Khushi was! Payal realized all this was because she never dared to stand up to Akash. She never defied him like she should have.
So, this time, Payal decided to do something about this. She wasn't going to be blackmailed again and be a puppet.
Softly closing the door after her, Payal pulled out her phone.
~~~
Arnav was driving towards the Gupta house, his mind a house of petrified thoughts. He wished badly for Khushi to be at home. He was still halfway to her house when his cell phone started ringing. Arnav thought about not picking it but since it could be Aman calling, Arnav checked his phone.
It was an unknown number
"Hello" He said in the phone, keeping his eyes fixed on the road.
"Hello..Arnav Singh Raizada?" It was a girl's voice, too soft and hushed.
"Yes! Who is it?" Arnav asked, not sure what was going on.
"Thank God! Hello, Arnav ji! I am Payal. Khushi's sister. Please listen to me. Khushi is in danger. Akash, your brother, has kidnapped her. I think they are in your office. And Akash is here..at my house. I can't talk for long. Please help her" Payal said in one breath, while Arnav felt his hands slipping from the steering wheel. He hit the brake before he could lose control over the car.
"What..How is..What is Akash doing there?" Arnav didn't know what he was saying.
Akash has kidnapped Khushi? And he was at Khushi's house? It meant Khushi must be with Girish Sharma. His head swam.
"Please Arnav ji. Help her. Help her" Payal said and the call disconnected, leaving Arnav disoriented.
Realizing that he has to pull himself together, Arnav quickly started the car again, now racing towards his office, his eyes frantic.
~~~
Payal took out the papers from where Khushi had hid them and carried them outside. As she walked outside, she didn't let any hint come across her face that she had just talked to Arnav. She came out looking just as worried and terrified as she had gone inside.
"I wish you burn in hell" She said to Akash as she handed him the papers while Akash only shrugged his shoulders.
"I wouldn't have had to resort to this if your sister hadn't tried to trick me. So, it's not on me" Akash replied, looking at Payal and then at the family that was looking at him with disgusted eyes.
He forced himself to laugh and told himself he didn't care.
"You'll get Khushi back as soon as I safely reach back. But, if you call the police after me, I can't promise anything" He said to Shashi Gupta, who despite his ill health looked ready to burst any minute.
Akash gave one more look to Payal and even though he didn't want to, his eyes slipped again to her baby bump. He wondered if she really hated him why she didn't abort the baby.
Maybe he'll ask her once all of this was done with. Maybe even apologize for pulling her into his scheming and plotting. Or maybe he wouldn't. Now was not the time to consider the implications of his actions. The end justifies the means. And he still had to get to the end of his revenge. For his mother!
He threw a dissecting look at the papers, and indeed found them to be signed by Arnav. The smile on his face was of triumph as he folded them into his hands and then walked out of the Gupta house.
~~~
As Arnav finally reached to the AR building, he stopped the SUV and not even bothering to shut the car-door after him, directly rushed inside.
He could hear his heart pounding with fear and deadly anger.
Arnav had already calculated enough to know that if Akash was at Gupta house when Payal called him, then it must been Girish Sharma was holding Khushi. And Arnav knew what kind of contemptible man Girish was. Arnav realized that he might hit Akash if he found him first.
Forcing his clenched fists to remain at his sides, Arnav all but leapt inside the office.
The whole place was deserted, and Arnav realized that even the watchmen at the gates were not there.
It was then that Arnav noticed the lights in his office glowing. He ran.
Climbing two steps at a time, he reached to the door of his office and pushed them wide open.
His eyes scanned the closed space for Khushi or Girish, but it was empty.
No trace of anyone.
Arnav stepped in with shaky legs, his eyes searching every bit of the room but it was indeed empty.
Arnav didn't dare think what it meant.
But it was right then, he felt the movement behind him. Someone entering in the cabin. Arnav whirled and found himself face to face with an astonished Akash.
Akash simply stared at Arnav with a whitening face, and Arnav knew Akash must have seen the rage dripping from his eyes for Akash gulped.
"Bhai" The word fell from Akash's mouth but Arnav didn't so much as hear it, as he grabbed Akash by his collars and pushed him against the nearest wall.
"WHERE IS SHE?" Arnav bellowed.
Akash, who was still surprised to find Arnav, now looked around the room and realized they were alone in the cabin.
The shock and terror on his face slowly morphed into a sly smirk. And then into a sickening smile, that Arnav watched with burning eyes.
"Where is Khushi?" Arnav demanded again, this time pushing Akash further into the wall and Akash wheezed at the impact as the air whooshed out of him. Arnav still didn't let go.
"Well done, Bhai. Well done! You do sound like a ferocious, scorned lover! Ready to hit your own brother for an ordinary, routine girl!" Akash exclaimed and watched as Arnav's hands loosened a little around him but still not letting go.
"You're working with Girish Sharma" Arnav accused Akash, his voice belligerent.
"Don't you mean my father? Huh, Bhai? My father! Girish Sharma. Not Surendra Singh Raizada" Akash bit, shouting back with equal fervor and Arnav flinched. The anger and wrath on his face giving way to shame and humiliation before it was replaced by a mix of emotions.
Arnav let his hands slip away from Akash and he stepped back.
"What did he tell you?" Arnav asked, in a hoarse voice, not meeting Akash's voice who scoffed in return.
"That's all? That's all you want to ask, Bhai? Wouldn't you go ahead and insist that I am in fact, Surendra Singh Raizada's son? That YOU are my BROTHER? Wouldn't you tell me that whatever Girish Sharma has told me is a lie? Wouldn't you deny that your father RAPED my mother?" Akash shouted the words and Arnav felt them land on his heart like a hammer, chipping away pieces.
He staggered back, still not looking at Akash.
Akash looked at Arnav with hateful eyes.
"What happened, Bhai? Why don't you speak now? Is the humiliation too much or are you just trying to spin another lie? Concoct a new story to tell me that would explain everything and you, you and your damned family, will come out looking likes saviors?" Akash demanded, his words delivered with revulsion.
Arnav finally looked up at Akash. Akash watched the wet eyes but didn't care.
"I would not insist that Surendra Singh Raizada was your father, Akash. Because, that man, he wasn't worth being anyone's father, let alone yours. But, you have to know that we did not hide the truth from you because we wanted to hide the ugliness that came with being a Raizada. We didn't tell you, Akash, because we wanted to shield you from it. We didn't want you to live a scarred life and never know joy. We didn't want you to live knowing that the surname you were carrying was the very name that ruined all of our lives" Arnav admitted, his every word full of guilt and shame.
"But..Khushi is innocent in all of this. I will tell you everything you want to know but first I have to know where is Khushi" Arnav said, his voice pleading yet insistent.
Arnav watched as Akash laughed again.
"Innocent? You don't even know half of the things about that girl, Bhai. You have no idea what she did to you. You have no idea what I made her do so that you would finally feel the pain of being betrayed, being stabbed in the back" Akash began, the maniac glint in his eyes returning.
Arnav didn't know if he was more torn between wanting to hear more OR wanting to force Khushi's whereabouts out of Akash. So, he clenched his fists again, and waited with bated breaths.
"I blackmailed her into joining your company. That little, first meeting you had with her in your office? I orchestrated it. I knew you would like her, hire her over Sheetal; because that's what you like Bhai, don't you? Good girls? Good girls with a big heart just like the one you pretend to have? I bloody schemed all of it. I told her to gain your trust. I told her to get close to you" Akash said, practically giddy.
"Why?" Arnav didn't even realize the word had fallen from his lips, because right now he could feel nothing. He was empty and there was wind howling in his head.
"Was any of it real? Even for a second?"
"No"
So those words were true. Khushi hadn't loved him. All of it had been a beautiful, well-played game for her. She had done it on Akash's command. No. She had been blackmailed into doing it. Something clicked in Arnav's mind and he realized why Payal's name was there on that list of Akash's girlfriends.
Akash had used Payal to get to Khushi and then to get him.
Such an elaborate plan. But why?
"Why? You ask me that, Bhai? Isn't it all clear by now? Your father and then your family destroyed my own family. Surendra Singh Raizada defiled my mother and then he used his money and power to bury his sins. He hid behind the Raizada name and framed my father for his own crimes. My father was sent to jail for being poor, for fighting for his wife, for me. And you lot? You stood behind that despicable man. You shielded him. And as if that wasn't enough, as if I hadn't been wronged enough, you people stripped me of my identity and made me one of your own; you made me a part of the same festering family that my mother became the victim of? So, I had to take my revenge. I had to show you and your family that although you snatched my identity from me, you cannot change my blood; the blood of my mother that flows inside me, the blood of my father who you wronged! So, I blackmailed Khushi, used her like a pawn, to cut off your defenses. The power and greatness of the Raizada name comes from its money. And now? I have that money" Akash finished, waving the signed documents before Arnav's eyes.
"Signed by the mighty Arnav Singh Raizada himself! Are you wondering how did I get these signatures, Bhai? I'll let you guess. Someone very close to you, someone you trust, someone you love, got these papers signed for me" Akash said, the smile on his face vivid and victorious, yet underlined by anger.
"Khushi" Arnav murmured, the sound barely audible. Images after images flashed before Arnav's eyes. He recalled how one time Khushi had distracted him from signing some documents and how the other time, innumerable times, he had blindly signed papers because they were brought by Khushi.
Arnav felt like the room was now closing in around him, making it hard for him to draw air. So many truths being bared, so many lies being fabricated, Arnav didn't know if he should laugh or cry or both.
Akash had blackmailed Khushi.
"How?" Arnav gasped, and for the first time ever since Akash had stepped into the room, Arnav noticed Akash looking away, averting his gaze as if he was almost sorry for what he did, but after a few blinks it had gone, only to be replaced by a cold emotion on his face.
"I used my relationship with Payal. My flat has security cameras. I used those cameras to film Payal and I together. And then I threatened Payal that I would leak those pictures and videos unless Khushi agrees to do what I want" Akash said, barely an emotion on his face.
If Arnav hadn't wanted to hit Akash then, he wanted to now. His fists clenched and Arnav tried to picture himself in Khushi's shoes. He couldn't.
"You did all this..all this scheming and plotting...ruining an innocent girl's life just so you could get back at me? Arnav demanded, too softly.
"I did it to take the revenge on my mother and my fathe..." Akash screamed back but the words were cut short as Arnav struck Akash on the cheek, the slap reverberating in the closed space.
"Your FATHER? You did it because you wanted to avenge your mother AND your father? Do you even know the whole truth? You think everything that bas***d Girish Sharma told you is TRUE? Did he tell you that he is equally responsible for your mother's death? Did he tell you that after MY father was done doing what he did to Geeta Aunty, YOUR father took money from him to keep his mouth shut? Did he tell you that, he forced Geeta aunty too to keep her mouth shut and continue working at Raizada house so he could keep mooching money from my father? We didn't know. None of us knew. Not my mother, not Nani, no one. Did you know that the hell went on for TWO MONTHS for Geeta aunty before she could finally tell my mother? All this while, your father kept beating her, threatening her to keep her mouth shut or he will kill her son, kill YOU? Geeta aunty was so afraid that she didn't tell anyone. Not until the day your father invited my father to his OWN house too? It was then she finally broke. She told my mother. And my mother was shattered too. The woman who had loved her husband dearly found out that her husband was a filthy piece of scum. She was broken too. You were two years old then. Anjali Di was ten and I was six. None of us were mature enough to know what was going on in that house" Arnav said, the words full of anguish.
But, that anguish was nothing compared to the devastation that lay of Akash's face. Devastation and disbelief as he gaped at Arnav.
"Ma wanted to divorce him. But, Surendra Singh Raizada..He begged for forgiveness. He said he would prefer killing himself instead of divorcing Ma. And Girish Sharma? Your father? He simply wanted more money to keep the matter from police and the media. My father gave him a lot of money. And he swore on his children, on us, that everything he did to Geeta aunty was a grave mistake, one which he would never repeat. But Ma could not forgive the sins he had committed. She filed for divorce. And that scorned my father. Now, he wanted revenge against Geeta aunty for telling Ma about it. So, in return of more money, he asked your father to see her one last time, and Girish Sharma, being the piece of shit bas***d he was, he agreed. And that one last encounter, it killed whatever was left of Geeta aunty. Betrayed by her own husband, violated repeatedly by Surendra Singh Raizada; she had lost all hope in the end. Ma couldn't help her firrespective of all her attempts. She tried getting Geeta aunty away from Girish but she was too late. Geeta aunty killed herself. And her death opened an investigation. Surendra Singh Raizada made sure Girish Sharma was the fall guy. He used his influence to prove that Girish Sharma had physically and mentally abused his wife and then framed her death. Girish Sharma was sent to jail and my father made sure that he stayed there. But..that was not the end..Geeta aunty was gone, but even in her death she cared for her son, for you. She didn't want Girish Sharma anywhere near you after she was gone. So, she had written a letter to Ma. She wanted Ma to adopt you, knowing full well that Ma was going to divorce Surendra Singh Raizada. And, when Ma read that letter, she had to make sure you become a part of our family. It was only a small way of lessening the wrong that had been done to Geeta aunty. It took one year for the divorce to be finalized. And Surendra Singh Raizada stood true to his word. On the day of the divorce, he killed himself, drowned himself in the pool after drinking too much. Maybe he couldn't stomach living a life in poverty, a life without the riches he had gotten when he had married my mother. Anjali Di and I, we were too nave to understand all of this. We mourned our father. It was only after four years, when Ma passed away after a long term of sickness, Anjali Di and I learnt about the truth. The ugly truth of the Raizada family. You were not even eight years old, Akash. We couldn't tell you. And after that, the more years passed the harder it became to recount the truth. We had buried this. And Nani and Di didn't want to break your heart with the truth. They didn't want you hating us. But..that didn't do any of us any good, did it? Girish Sharma finally found you. He twisted the story and I am sure he must have had proofs. The best lies are spun out of half-truths" Arnav finished after speaking for a long time, his eyes still wet and his throat raw from speaking.
Akash, on the other hand, was taking shallow, irregular breaths and looking at Arnav like he had three heads. The expressions on his face were warped, unreadable.
"I don't believe you" He finally said, but Arnav could see that Akash believed more than he was acknowledging.
"Your entire family is a pack of liars! You're again lying to me" Akash screamed. Denial was better than the real truth.
And as much as Arnav wanted Akash to give time to process it, he had no time. If Khushi was still in Girish Sharma's capture...Arnav couldn't finish that thought. He didn't want to.
"It is a difficult truth, Akash. One that I have carried for years. But, right now, I can't wait for you to deal with it. You have to tell me where is Khushi! What did you do to her? Where have you kept her?" Arnav demanded from a dazed Akash, who still held the documents in his limp hands.
"Akash?" Arnav shook Akash by his shoulders, forcing him to look into his eyes.
"WHERE IS KHUSHI?" He asked, this time loudly, impatiently.
"I don't know. I left her here with him" Akash replied, not looking at Arnav.
"What are you saying?" Arnav couldn't help but shout the words. And Akash finally looked at Arnav. His eyes now clear and focused. And there was so much guilt and helplessness floating in those eyes but Arnav didn't care about any of it. Not when his heartbeats were failing him.
"She was here. He must have took her" Akash repeated, now realizing what it meant. He stepped away from Arnav.
"I am sorry" was all Akash said before he rushed out of the cabin, leaving behind a ready to explode Arnav.
~~~
The promo was a perfect prompt for me to write something in my ishtyle! ...
Amidst the tumultuous storm of a high-stakes trial, Anushka Raisinghani, a ...
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