Part 41
Khushi was racing down the stairs towards the front door, but Jaiprakash had also heard the doorbell and was there before her. The doors opened to reveal all the Raizada men. One look at Akaash and Mamaji's grim faces told Khushi everything. Her husband had briefed them.
Mamaji looked as though he had aged a decade in one afternoon. She went to greet them even though she had no confidence how they would view her role in the Shyam matter.
Mamaji patted her hand, and said only, "Bitya..." his words trailing off. He shook his head in a way that required no further words. He was shattered. This was the full legacy of a man named Shyam--he had seduced every member of this family. They had believed him. They had admired him. They had loved him--like a husband, like a brother, like a son. The heart of an entire house would break today.
Akaash took Khushi's hands in his and didn't attempt to speak.
Khushi felt Arnav's hand on her lower back. Their eyes met, and he asked, "Di?"
"In her room," she replied.
"Dr. Malhotra?"
"In the guest quarters. He was putting Little Khushi down for a nap."
Arnav shifted his eyes to Akaash. "Inform Nani, Mamiji, and Payal. I'll go and see...speak to Di."
"Yeah, Bhai. I'll go now." Akaash left like a man sent to the guillotine.
Was this not the way of the world? Those who had no role to play in one man's greed and deceit had to pay the heaviest price. Khushi watched as her brother-in-law climbed each step heavily.
"I want to show you something, Khushi," Arnav said, leading her up to their bedroom.
She stopped him. "Wait. I'll get your lunch. I've kept it warm--."
"Not now."
They entered their bedroom together and Arnav handed her a sheet of paper. "Read," he urged her.
Khushi noted that the full printed page had Shyam's signature at the bottom. She met her husband's eyes with a query.
"Read it," he repeated.
Khushi began to read. It was a confession. A complete disclosure of Shyam's every wickedness. She slumped onto the recliner as her eyes raced left to right across the page. After each startling revelation, she looked up at Arnav, who met her unspoken words with a nod, as if to say 'read on--it gets worse'.
When she finished the letter, she stared at it with disbelief. "No remorse! No contrition! He seems proud of his list of deeds--" she gasped, leaping to her feet and coming to Arnav, fists clenched. "How could he write such a letter?"
"--I wrote the letter," Arnav corrected her.
"You?"
"I told him I would not press charges if he signed it," Arnav explained.
"Kya?" Khushi cried, her hands in the air. "He is not in jail? When I heard you speak to SSP Khan this morning, I thought--"
"He is locked up, Khushi. And, will remain so for twenty years at least. I tricked him."
Khushi couldn't follow her husband's reasoning. "Why would you want this letter to reach Di?" she said. "To learn that he never loved her. That he pursued her for only for her wealth. He and his wife conspired to do this! How he kept profits and earnings from her property hidden from her! This will break her heart," she exclaimed.
Arnav was nodding as she listed every evil deed. "Precisely! I want her heart to be so broken that she will never think to forgive him. I want her to break fully so she can then heal fully. I want her to never spend a moment pining for him. Or--feel she might have misunderstood his intentions." He grasped the letter from her hands and shook it betraying his controlled fury. "I want her to hate him. This was the only way."
Reluctantly, Khushi realized her husband was correct.
He knows Di. She would only believe this awful truth if it came directly from the perpetrator. And, unless she accepted that Shyam was truly malevolent, she would find a reason in her heart to stand by him.
A realization entered her mind. Her eyes widened to meet his. "This letter does not mention me."
"No. Di won't be told. Nor will the courts be told. It has no legal bearing," Arnav said with finality.
Here Khushi felt compelled to disagree.
"But, Di ought to be told," she said.
Arnav walked to the bedside table, picked up the AC remote control and increased the cool air flowing into the room. "It adds nothing to the situation. This is complicated enough."
Khushi grasped Arnav's arms and demanded his attention. "Should Di learn of it later, she will feel betrayed again. I need to tell her--"
"--You will not," he took her shoulders, gently but determinately.
"I must, Arnav!"
"Why?" he asked. "Whom will it serve?"
Khushi floundered for a reply that he would be prevailed upon to accept. "It will serve the truth," she said. "After tonight, there will be no more lies in this house."
Arnav shook his head. "There are lies in every family," he replied. "Which lie should we reveal first? That your entire family kept Shyam's truth hidden for months? Or how I forced you into marriage? No! Nothing will be said. Understood?"
Khushi tried to pull away but as he would not release her, she turned her face away, unwilling to agree to something she felt was essentially wrong.
"Understood?" he repeated.
"I don't agree," she said, and crossed her arms across her chest.
He dropped her shoulders and mirrored her stance.
"You don't have to agree. You only have to obey," he said.
"You sound just like Arnav Singh Raizada," she accused, her eyes flashing.
"I am Arnav Singh Raizada."
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Arnav saw the fire in Khushi's eyes. He knew he was right. He did not want Khushi or the Guptas to bear any blame for what Shyam did. Shyam alone was culpable. Yet, he also knew that Khushi believed her position to be equally right. They were at an impasse.
He went to the door, extended his hand and said, "Let's go. It's time to speak to Di."
Khushi's eyes met his. She took his hand.
Di was propped up against the headboard reading one of her pregnancy books. She had a ready smile for the two when they entered the room. Arnav sat on the edge of the bed, and Khushi stood nearby.
"Chotte," she said, reaching out to stroke his cheek, "don't look so worried. Pregnant women do feel dizzy at times. It says so right here." She indicated the book in her hands.
He covered her hand that rested on his face, and swallowed against the lump in his throat. "Di, I have something to tell you--"
Anjali's smile faded, and her eyebrows gathered. She looked at Khushi with a question in her eyes and back to her brother. "You are worrying me now."
He slid closer to her and took both her hands in his. "There is no easy way to tell you: this afternoon I had Jijaji arrested on several criminal charges including embezzlement and bigamy."
One can perhaps imagine the stages Anjali passed through in the next hour. Language is insufficient to describe it. Disbelief. Incredulity. Shock. And, of course, the stinging harrowing pain when she read the letter. On this matter, Arnav made himself perfectly clear.
He said, "Di, his sole concern was to remain out of jail. He offered to confess and disappear if I agreed to drop the charges." He jabbed his finger at the page. "And, I watched his face--he had not an ounce of regret for what he had done. He regretted only that he got caught."
At these words, Anjali collapsed in Arnav's arms, sobbing, shaking from a pain that Arnav and Khushi could barely conceive.
She had questions. Many questions. Some half-formed which her brother tried to answer. She grabbed her phone to demand explanation from the man she had thought was her husband, but the phone she dialed rang in Arnav's pocket. He had confiscated Shyam's phone. He gave it to her, and she tossed it across the room in a fit of rage never before seen in Anjali. The rage passed and the sadness descended once more. She clutched her mangalsutra and spoke to it as though it was Shyam. Why? Why? she asked him.
It was excruciating to watch. Arnav held her. Shushed her. Urged her to take some water. But, she flung away from the bed and walked across the room, only to crumple to the floor. Khushi caught her as she sank to the floor, and both women clutched each other, and wept openly, unconsolably.
Arnav pressed his fist against his mouth. His eyes filled with unshed tears. There was no air in the room. He had to step out of the room--just for a moment.
He opened the door to find his entire family and Dr. Malhotra outside the door waiting to be needed.
Nani and Mami burst in and went to Anjali. Payal held Khushi.
"Doctor?" Arnav asked, his question unfinished.
"I have something. It's a light sedative. No risk to the fetus," he offered.
Arnav gave Dr. Malhotra permission to help her.
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Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon
41