Part 22

Trigger warning: Mentions of attempted murder

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"Khushi, who told you about contract marriage? Hamari family me se to ye baat tumse kisi ne nahi ki, toh fir tumhe kaise pata chala (No one from our family has mentioned about it to you then how did you know about it)? Who mentioned it to you?"

Arnav's question made her recall meeting that mysterious, extra-sweet smiling man a few times in the past few days. The first time was when he came in front of her telling her they shared some past connection; the second time was in her college when a branch of tree was about to hit her only to have Arnav save her before that man approached and then the latest meeting was on the evening of her dance performance. All these times, he had refused to let his name know to her. But it was clear that he knew her... and then he was the one who told her about her marriage with Arnav being a contract marriage. Something about him always seemed oddly intimidating to Khushi even though he hadn't behaved anything inappropriately until now. At least as far as her memories went. Except for his sudden appearances. But it was as if he was trying to distance herself from her family, from Arnav.

She had planned to mention him to Anjali or someone in the family, but it had slipped from her mind until now. Until now when Arnav asked...

"Khushi?" Arnav's voice broke her reverie.

"I don't know who he is, Arnav. Kuch dino pehle (few days ago), I was at a shopping plaza, waiting for Mohan bhaiyya to bring the car. That was when I met him for the first time. He said he knows me, and I share a special relationship with him... but he didn't tell me his name..." Khushi nervously clasped and unclasped fingers of her hands. Hoping fervently that that man was never anything to her.

Although Arnav's face didn't reveal much, he had started feeling angry and panicky all together. Angry that despite him taking so many measures, Shyam managed to find Khushi alone. Yes, he had no doubt that the man Khushi was talking about was that low-life criminal. But he was also panicking because he realized just how close Shyam has managed to come to khushi... Sadly, he had to hear the entire story, so he let her go on, even when all he wanted right now was go out and murder that man himself!

"On the evening of our dance-... I was walking towards the dressing room when he once again came to meet me. That was when he told me that- our marriage isn't real. He said everyone was lying to me and I should trust him..." she trailed off, unsure if Arnav was ready to believe her or if he knew this person.

"His name is Shyam." He said, taking a momentary pause.

Khushi curiously looked while Arnav typed something on his phone and then showed the screen to Khushi. The photo on Arnav's phone's screen made her gasp in shock. It was the same man she had met.

"Yahi tha (This was him), right?"

Khushi meekly nodded.

"It is again, our fault, we never showed you his face, Khushi. Even when you knew about some of that story, we hid most of the details. I was thinking I was saving you from one of the darkest part of your past... but..." he sighed.

"Is he the same person-"

"Yes, he is the villain of our story!" Arnav said, gritting his teeth, "He was Di's husband, a cunning crook who managed to win our trust and backstab us, who managed to sow seeds of doubt in my mind against you, who had kidnapped me and unfortunately you became the victim in the process of saving me and then lost your memories. He was arrested on the same day and was in a high security jail. But that motherf*cker managed to break the prison and has been on the lose." He said, his voice automatically turned louder and his language harsher...

Khushi's heart was racing at the thought of just how close she was to the person who had almost killed her and Arnav... He wasn't just a stranger; he was someone dangerous, someone who had already shown how far he was willing to go to harm her...

Arnav noticed the sudden change in her expression. Her hands instinctively came up to cover her mouth and nose, as if trying to steady her breath, to hold back the fear threatening to overwhelm her.

"Sh*t!" he cursed.

She was trying to keep her composure, but the terror was evident.

He stepped closer,

"Sorry, Khushi. I should have given you some time to process... tum thik ho (are you ok)?"

She managed to give a small nod.

But before he could speak anything else, they heard some commotion from the entrance door of their house and saw HP lead Inspector Sameer along with a few other police officers in his team towards the main hall.

Arnav and Khushi quickly stood up.

"Apologies for coming unannounced, Mr. Raizada," Inspector Sameer said, his tone serious, "But this is important. We've just received some critical information about Shyam Jha."

Arnav's jaw tightened as he said in a clipped tone, "He has already reached Khushi."

"How do you know?" Sameer asked, perplexed.

"What else do YOU know?" Arnav counter-questioned, not bothering to answer Sameer's previous question.

Sameer quickly gathered his thoughts and started briefing, "Shyam was in Lucknow last few weeks. We got to know that someone there was locally helping him, funding his plan etc. His original plan was to tamper with one of your cars but we intercepted his conversation and foiled that plan." Sameer looked at Arnav expectantly but if he wanted to hear a word of praise, he only got a stiff nod.

"The person who is helping him is a close relative of yours, Mr. Raizada." Sameer further said.

That effectively made Arnav stunned!

By then Anjali, Nani, Manorama, Payal and Kashish had coincidentally reached home at the same time and stood just behind the team of police, silently listening to the conversation.

But when Sameer mentioned a close relative, Anjali came forward, "Is that person named Malik?"

"Yes, Ms. Raizada. You're right. Do you already suspect someone?" Sameer asked.

By then Arnav himself connected the dots and looked at Anjali. Both siblings exchanged a knowing troubled look. It was about a shared bad memory. About someone they called Chacha (uncle) once upon a time, someone who shared their blood, someone who was their father's real brother!

"Pratap Malik!" Arnav answered this time, making all Raizada ladies gasp in shock.

That name was taken with almost equal contempt as Shyam Jha in that house. He was the reason a 14-year-old Arnav and 18-year-old Anjali were thrown on road after their parents' demise, that man had made his orphaned nephew and niece homeless and susceptible to dangers on the road, and he was still carrying malicious intent against them.

After Arnav had taken Sheesh Mahal back from him 4 years ago, he never kept track of his uncle, thinking that that chapter was closed.

How wrong he was!

Wolves like that never stay hidden for long!

Payal had called Akash in the meantime and explained all this to him and Mama ji and they were on their way home. Anjali also informed Vikrant who was finishing his OPD before he could come there.

The next few minutes went into discussing all that they knew about Shyam's whereabouts so far, about his interactions with Khushi, and about his latest alias as Naagraj.

By then Akash and Mama ji also reached home. Kashish wanted to call Aman too but didn't know if Arnav trusted him enough. But to her relief, Arnav himself called Aman home, as he was the only one outside their family who knew every single thing about Arnav and Khushi.

So, now everyone was aware of everything about the danger lurking around them. And they could form a better plan to tackle it.

Or so they thought.

Because the criminal at hand was a mastermind, cold-blooded Satan! And he wouldn't let go so easily...

"Please have faith in us, Mr. Raizada, I am certain we will catch him very soon-"

"How? Do you have any plans, inspector? Or is your plan to wait until Shyam shows up unannounced next time?" Arnav's sarcasm and frustration filled questions didn't bother Sameer or anyone in the room as they all understood where he was coming from.

But Sameer indeed had a game-plan.

The only tricky part was getting a go-ahead from Raizadas, especially arnav.

"We had many war-room discussions about this case, Mr. Raizada and after carefully thinking everything, we think that we have the most certain way to capture Shyam."

Arnav gave a brief nod, signaling Sameer to go on.

"It's clear that Shyam is roaming around you all. And to catch him we need to set up a trap. But..."

Something about Sameer's tone told Arnav that he wouldn't like whatever Sameer's plan was. Yet, he asked.

"But what?"

"But you may need to trust us for using that plan." Sameer said, throwing a quick glance at Mrs. Arnav Singh Raizada, Khushi.

Everyone in the room sensed the tension and held their breaths to hear what was coming next.

"What are you trying to say, inspector?" Arnav asked, with a dangerously edgy voice.

Sameer cleared his throat. "*ahem* It's clear that s- shyam is – b-behind Khushi madam. So, if we take her help to lure-" Sameer had realized his stammering which he had never done before but still he couldn't even complete his sentence as he was rudely cut in-between the talk.

Arnav abruptly stood up, his shoulders stiffened, and jaw clenched, the infamous ASR in him was awakened. "That is enough. You may leave."

Aman closed his eyes, knowing this was his expected and dreaded reaction from ASR. Kashish contemplated how to tell her brother to keep some patience. While Nani, Anjali and Payal did share same sentiments as Arnav, not ready to put Khushi at risk to capture Shyam.

Meanwhile, Khushi was taken aback by Arnav's rude dismissal of Sameer's idea.

She went near Arnav. And perhaps for the first time, she dared to reach out to him to touch him. Keeping her hand on his arm, she said in a soft tone, "He is not saying anything wrong, Arnav. At least let him complete."

"There's no need, Khushi. You are not going to be used as a lamb to trap that son of a b*tch! I won't let this happen."

"Then how else can Shyam be caught?"

"That's something for them to think, not you. Putting you as a bait cannot be an option."

"Ok. So, do you want me to live in fear until then? Do you think that will be good for me, Arnav?" her questions did hit a nerve.

"Shyam is a dangerous criminal, murderer and sick minded man, Arnav! Even the mere thought of how he has managed to find me so many times until now will not let me sleep at night. In fact, it won't let me be at peace at all now. So, if facing him with all necessary precautions taken can end this chapter for once and for all, I want to do it." Khushi said out of sheer determination. She was so disturbed with just the thought of Shyam being out for their blood, and was hiding somewhere very close to her got her freaking out. And strangely it also made her fearless! "Until now you and everyone else here have taken decisions for me, thinking that was best for me. And I am not saying anything about it. But this time, agreeing to inspector Sameer's plan is my decision and you won't stop me." she said with finality.

And Arnav had to reluctantly stay quiet...

Sameer gave a grateful smile to Khushi and started explaining his plan.

"We'll plant information in the media or among other sources that Raizada group is planning a fundraiser dance program and Khushi is going to be at that event. Shyam will think that this is the perfect time to approach her. Of course, we will ensure he hears the information through his sources. But Khushi will be surrounded by undercover officers in the crowd, posing as regular people. They will blend in so that Shyam has no idea he's being watched. The idea is to create a scenario where he will think he's cornering Khushi, but he won't know that the officers are already in place, monitoring everything.

The second Shyam makes contact or tries to engage with Khushi, we'll move in and surround him without giving him a chance to escape. By the time he realizes what's happening, we'll have him cornered. Khushi will never be in danger because the officers will be keeping an eye on her from the start."

As he started talking, everyone including Arnav became surer and relaxed, as it was a solid, full-proof plan where there was no way of escape for Shyam and Khushi wouldn't even be in harm's way.

The only thing that none of them knew was, the said criminal was a step ahead this time. He had managed to infiltrate into Sameer's group and one of the police officers had a hidden mic in his shirt pocket, which made Shyam listen to every single word that was talked there...

Now he would not only go to that event but also put on a real show!

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A/N - This chapter was supposed to be up before Diwali but given its tone, I didn't think it was ideal for festive mood, so held onto it. About the ending, quoting a line from one of my fav songs, 'maana kabhi kabhi sare jahan mein andhera hota hai, lekin raat ke baad hi toh savera hota hai' :D The 'savera' here will be soon so stay right here. And please don't forget to let me know your thoughts. As you all know, I always make it a point to reply to every single one of you, with personalized messages, so I'm hearing you all :)

p.s. would you like frequent updates now on? I originally planned to end this story by Oct, but with current pace, even Dec seems tough.

p.p.s. if you follow my blog, a halloween special was updated last week, pls do take a look.