Chapter 24
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[MEMBERSONLY]
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Valley of Flowers ' Chapter 23
ARNAV
sat at the restaurant of the Orchard Hotel of the famous Orchard street in
Singapore, sipping his coffee as he scrolled down the news on his ipad. Coincidentally,
this restaurant was also called the Orchard Caf.
Having
lived in US for a long time, he was used to eating bland continental breakfast.
But now he stood in front of the cooking station trying his best to ask the
chinese cook to make his omelette extra spicy. The clueless man handed him a
bottle of Tobasco sauce. How did Khushi make the omelette so tasty? He had a
sudden craving for her parathas. What had she done to his palate?
It
was two days since he had come to Singapore and he hated every single minute of
it. He missed Khushi like crazy. He missed seeing her facefirst thing in the
morning and the last thing before he went to sleep. The nights were the
toughest. He missed having her in his arms, sifting his hand through her hair,
making love to her, her warm body plastered to his while they slept.
He
had to get over this addiction. He was a businessman and he had to travel.
There was no way he was going to be able to take her everywhere he went. It
wouldn't be fair on her as she had her dance classes to think about. He thought
about the impending month-long US trip. What was he going to do?He wanted to
hear her voice. He checked the time. It was too early to call her. Dammit!
Contrary
to what Arnav was thinking, back in India Khushi wasn't asleep at all,
thrashing about as she was ensconced in the grip of a nightmare. Someone was
chasing her in a dark alley and she was trying to escape him until she had hit
a dead end. As she tried to calm her pounding heart, she heard a knock on the
door and opened it to find Shyam standing there.
'What
are you doing here Shyamji?' Khushi was aghast when Shyam walked into the room
casually.
He
stopped and turned around looking at her contemptuously. 'You know what I am
doing here Khushiji. I am here to remind you that we had a deal.'
'Look
Shyamji, this is inappropriate.' Khushi whispered. 'This is not the time or
place for this discussion. Please leave.'
'This
is what happens if you don't pick up calls Khushiji,' he sneered. 'Did you
think you could just avoid me and I would do nothing?'
'Shyamji
please,' she implored, 'what if someone sees you here?'
Shyam
turned around, 'Who is there to hear us?' He sat on the bed.
It
suddenly struck Khushi that there was no one in the house except for Naniji.
Anjali was in Lucknow for a seminar and Payal and Akash had gone over to spend
a couple of days in Mr Malhotra's farm house with NK and Ria.
Shyam
looked at the bed and at her and a salacious look entered his eyes. 'Fate has
given us this wonderful opportunity to be together Khushiji.'
Khushi
moved back all the way toward the door, her entire body quaking with rage. 'Get
out!' she bit out, tears filling her eyes. She was ready for flight but she
didn't want to worry Naniji unnecessarily.
'Don't
you have any pity Khushiji? Do you know how insipid Anjali is in bed? It was a
total waste marrying her.'
'Stop
it!' Khushi felt bile rise in her throat.'Don't talk about Di like that!'
'She
is not like you Khushiji,' he looked up at her. 'You are so beautiful'vivacious'
He stood up and began walking toward her.
Then
he continued. 'I saw you throw water on Arnav and run -- that night in the
kitchen. That was so provocative. Any
man would want to come after you and carry you in his arms -- the way Arnav did.'
He stopped in front of her, his eyes sweeping over her lasciviously. 'I want --
that Khushiji.'
Khushi
raised her hand and slapped him hard across his cheek, using the force of her
entire body.
'I
should have done this a long time ago,' Khushi spat out. 'You should be ashamed
of yourself! You married Di with wrong intentions ' for her money! How dare
you?
Khushi
raised her voice uncaring of who might hear her. 'It was my mistake that I
entertained the thought of giving in to your blackmail. I am not going to give
you any money. Now get out of this room!'
Shaym
held a hand to his cheek, completely flabbergasted by Khushi's rancour. He didn't
want Naniji to wake up. He quickly stepped out of the room and looked back at
her. 'You know what this means don't you Khushiji?'
'I
know!' Khushi spat out in anger. 'I have decided to tell Arnav the truth about
what happened when he gets back from Singapore. Di deserves to be rid of a man
like you.'
'You
think Arnav will believe you over his
own mother?' Shyam voiced her own fears. 'Do you think Anjali will believe you
over me?'
Khushi
shut the door and leaned against it weakly tears streaming down her cheeks.
Shyam
Manohar Jha paced about in the living room of his house seething with insane
rage. Khushi had slapped him. How dare she? He would have to teach her a lesson
she wasn't going to forget in a long time. The phone rang and Shyam's face
contorted in anger as he saw the caller id.
'Didn't
I tell you to stop calling me?' he barked into the phone. 'Stop threatening me
you son of a *****! Remember we are in this together. There has been a delay.
That's all. I will have the money in a day or two. I will call you.' He cut the
phone.
Khushi
refusal to give him the money had put him in deep shit. He needed money
desperately.
When
Anjali's dad was admitted in Ashray about a year ago, the state of his mental
health had given him the idea that it would be easy to get the old man to sign
the will in his name. He knew Anjali had a copy of the original will in which
the property was bequeathed to his two children.
But
neither sibling cared about the property.Both of them were workaholics who only
cared about their work and nothing else.For Arnav, his share of property was
peanuts compared to what he made in business and Anjali would probably donate
her share to Ashray for the upliftment of the retards she slogged for.But that
money would be very useful to him. There had to be some incentive for marrying
this Mother Theresa.Once he had made this decision, it had been easy to get his
father-in-law to sign the new will in his name.
Getting
him out of the way had been the obvious next step. When Dr Manav had changed
the BP medication he had explained that the old medication, if continued, would
have no effect due to the psychiatric drug he was taking at the time. That
would cause a rise in the blood pressure levels, leading to a stroke or a heart
attack. This had provided him with the perfect opportunity to get rid of the
old man without suspicion. The only problem was that he couldn't have done this
on his own. He had been forced to use Raju, the boy who had been assigned to
take care of him in the home. He had talked the boy into administering the old
medication by bribing him with a mere 1000 rupees. Once the old man had been
admitted to the hospital, he had asked Raju to hide out inhisremote village in
Uttarpradesh --just in case there was an enquiry. Everything had gone according
to plan but his relief was short-lived. Raju, had found out that the old man
had died and his worthless little pea brain had over functioned, figuring out
that he could weasel out more money. And now he called him incessantly
demanding five lakhs for his silence. He was considering silencing him in a
different way but that would have to wait.
Even
though he had the Lucknow house in his name, encashing on it so soon would put
him on radar with Anjali.On the night of Khushi's birthday, she had informed
him about the will and though he had pretended to be shocked, Anjali's eyes
seemed to be scrutinizing him deeply. And when he had feigned regret over her
dad's capricious behaviour, she had conceded with him saying she couldn't
believe that her father had changed his will just a month before his death. She
seemed upset that Arnav had been cut out of the will. Her sudden attachment to
her estranged brother rankled him.
Khushi's
threat to tell Arnav the truth would put him in trouble. If Arnav found out
that he was involved in sending Khushi away all those years ago, he would come
after him. But for that he would have to believe that his own mother plotted
against him and that was highly unlikely. First, he would have to solve the
money problem.
He
went up to the bedroom and took out the suitcase stowed away in the loft. It
belonged to his father-in-law. He would have to check and see if there was any
cash, cheque or LIC policy he could use. Anything.
Khushi
sat at the wheel of her new car as she drove back home after her class. But her
mind was preoccupied. The early morning visit by Shyam had disturbed her
deeply. She had never slapped anyone in her life. However, the vile man'sinnuendos
had been too much to tolerate. Now it had become inevitable that she bring out
the truth. Anjali did not deserve to live with a man like Shyam. Her heart went
out to the woman who was nothing but good at heart. But how would Arnav receive
the news of his mother's betrayal? she thought in despair.
Later
that night, Khushi slept on the bed, with a night light on,holding Arnav's
pillow to her breast. She blushed thinking about his call a few minutes ago, as
he had told her in husky voice, how much he missed her. She missed him more.
She
missed those mesmerizing brown eyes that held the power to melt her insides,
she missed feeling his arm around her waist as she slept, the musky smell of
his cologne, the rasp of his beard against her cheek.
The
knock on the door startled her and she hurried up thinking it might be naniji
and opened the door without thinking. Not again! She was shocked to find Shyam
standing there. She was about to shut the door on him when he slid his foot in
preventing her from doing that. He pushed the door open forcing her to step
back into the room. He shut the door behind him.
'If
you don't leave the room this instant, I will scream,' she threatened him.
'Go
ahead,' he challenged her. 'You think Naniji can hear you from her room
downstairs?'
She
rushed to her phone, but he was quicker. 'What have you come back here for?' She
bit out angrily. 'I told you I am not giving you any money!'
She
saw a malevolent look entering his face. He had something up his sleeve.'I
don't need the 5 lakhs I asked you for Khushiji.' He stated simply.
'Then
why --'
'I
need fifty.'
'Sorry?'
Khushi was astounded.
'I
said I need fifty lakhs.' He said
slowly.
'Have
you gone mad Shyamji?' Khushi looked at him like he had grown two horns, 'I am
telling you that I am not going to give a single rupee and you are asking me
for fifty lakhs?'
'Well,
the information I had earlier was only worth that much,' he paused. 'But what I
am going to tell you now ' no, I better show you.' He took a photograph out of
his pocket and showed it to her.
Khushi
stared at a black and white picture of a girl and a man, standing next to each
other. The man was smiling at the camera while the girl had affectionately
leaned in so her temple touched his chin.
The
horrifying fact was the girl in the picture was -- her mother! And the man was definitely
not her father.
'What
is this?' Khushi whispered afraid of what she was going to hear.
Shyam
snickered. 'You tell me Khushiji. That is your mother isn't it?'
'Yes.'
He mother looked about seventeen in that picture.
'Do
you recognize the man in the picture?'
'No.'
She shook her head.
'Look
closely,' he said in his slithery voice. 'Doesn't he look remotely familiar to
someone you met recently?'
As
Khushi continued to stare at the picture, he continued. 'I found this in ourdearest
father-in-law's belongings.'
This
man was Arnav's dad? The man in the picture was a healthy looking young man in
his mid-twenties, clean shaven, his thick hair oiled and combed perfectly. Then
she saw the resemblance to Arnav. They had the same brown eyes.
Her
heart constricted as images of how he looked in the hospital flashed before her
eyes. He had been frail with thinning grey hair and beard.
Arnav's
dad and her mother? It couldn't be!
Her beautiful, wonderful and kind mother. Memories of her mother were the only
happy memories she had of her childhood.
'Turn
the picture over.'
Khushi
turned the photograph over to find a name scrawled in hindi. Laali! That was the name her father-in-law
had addressed her as in the hospital. Khushi knew she was spitting image of her
mother in her younger days. Her father-in-law, in his state of delusion had mistaken
her for her mother. The photograph slipped out of her hand, her entire body suffused
by tremors. She held on to the dresser for support.
Arnav
had told her that his dad was in love with a woman before he was married and
had never been able to forget her. She was the "other" woman in Sharada Raizada's
life. The other woman was her mother.
Was
she the same woman Arnav had seen at the fair when he was seven? Was it a
chance meeting or pre-planned? Had they been in an affair? Her mind began to
spin. Hey Devi Maiyya! The implications
were too horrifying to imagine.
'Please
Shyamji '..don't tell ...him.' She got the words out with great difficulty.
'I
will not Khushiji --' he paused, 'if you take money from your joint account and
give me fifty lakhs.'
Khushi
didn't even want to ask him how he knew about their joint account. 'NO!
'No?'
He looked at her lustfully.'What else can you give me Khushiji?'
Khushi
stood numbly, her brain not quiet registering his innuendo.
His
bloodshot eyes swept her. 'But I want the money more.'
'What
will I tell Arnav?' She pleaded weakly.
'You
wouldn't have to tell him anything because you won't be here.' He said calmly.
'What?'
Her heart stopped.
'You
will have to leave him Khushiji,' he said looking at her with malice. 'Five
years ago I was the one responsible to separate Arnav and you. I have to do it
again. It is destiny don't you see?'
Shyam
was insane, realized Khushi. But he was right. There was no way she could stay
with him now, knowing her own mother had ruined a happy family, separated two
kids from their father. It was very clear from the photograph that she loved
the man standing next to her. Her aunt had never told her anything, but buaji
had taunted her about her bad blood over the years. She felt like her heart was
being ripped out when she realized that Arnav and she were not meant to be.
The
joint account was just activated this morning 'Give me two days.'
Shyam
smiled. 'That's more like it.' Then his eyes took on a malicious glint. 'But
for some reason if you change your mind like last time, let me tell you one
thing. Your precious Di will not survive the next accident.'
'You
' you caused her accident?'
'It
was a good plan but that b#$%^ survived,' he grated with derision. 'I wish she
was as co-operative as her father.'
Khushi
thought she would faint with shock. 'You '.killed Arnav's dad?' she squeaked.
'No
Khushiji, I didn't do anything,' he said emphatically. 'Do you remember that
afternoon when you didn't want to go the hospital with me to give his lunch?' A
glazed look entered his eyes as he continued. 'He was thirsty and I just gave
him a glass of orange juice. I couldn't believe it when he began to wheeze. By
the time I could find a doctor, he had succumbed.'
Khushi
looked at him in surprise, confounded by his regret. But a chill went up her
spine when he began to laugh.
Arnav
was worried when he reached the Raizada House in the late evening. Khushi's
phone had been switched off since previous night.He had reached Delhi a day
early as he had a surprised planned for her.
The
moment he entered the bedroom he knew something was wrong. He switched on the
lights in the room to find the cream curtains billowing in the breeze, dark
brown upholstery on the bed neat and crease less, the green recliner in its
position. Everything looked exactly the same as he had left it. But '..
His
heart pounding wildly in his chest, he opened the cupboard and found Khushi's
side of the wardrobe empty. F#$%!
No!
He was not going to panic. He switched on his India phone. Tons of messages
waited for him but one caught his eye. Rs
50 lakhs withdrawn from accountxxx. He called the bank. They confirmed
to him that Mrs Khushi Singh Raizada had withdrawn the amount from the joint
account, a day ago.
Then
he saw the letter on the night stand.
With
fingers that shook, he opened the letter and read the contents. It felt like
dj vu as he read the pure hindi script.
Arnav,
I am going to Mumbai as
I have been offered a role in a movie. I have waited so long for an opportunity
like this and I didn't want to let it go just because I happen to be married. You
told me that I could have as much space I wanted and more. I am taking you up
on that offer. I don't know how long this will take. I hope you understand.
Before you left for
Singapore, you asked me what was wrong with me. I didn't know what to say to
you at the time. But I have come to realize the reason for my restlessness. I
miss my life in show biz -- the fame and the fortune that goes with it. This is
my calling. I should never have come back. You were always right -- this life
of domesticity was not for me after all.
I have hidden the fact
that I am married hoping it would increase the opportunities that come my way.
So, don't come looking for me.
PS: By the way, I have
borrowed some money from our joint account. You know how expensive it is to stay
in Mumbai. You said we could share, right?
--Khushi
Arnav
crushed the letter and threw it aside. An intense rage assailed him as he paced
about the room like a caged lion.
He
saw her bangle stand on the dresser, walked up to it, picked it up and smashed
it against the wall, his brown eyes filled with unshed tears as he watched it
splinter into small pieces, scattering the bangles all over the floor.
His heart felt exactly
the same ' completely shattered.
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