Part 4 - Trial by fire
As Shyam hung up and looked out at all the street vendors - the chaat shop, the bangle shop, the puja items shop outside the temple. He wondered what he could do to get back some of his dwindling client base. He suspected the invisible hand of Arnav in the way he was losing all his clients.
On one hand, Shyam wanted to keep his golden-egg-laying goose, Anjali, happy and complacent. On the other hand, he wanted to break up Arnav and Khushi so that he could have her for himself. A third goal was to eventually lay his hands on all of the Raizada fortunes. After the will papers had disappeared and Arnav had returned safe and sound from his kidnapping ordeal, it looked like it would be well neigh impossible to achieve the latter two goals. Hence the call today to Arnav. If he could not have Khushi, he didnt want Arnav to have her either. As he hung up, Shyam wondered what Arnav's breaking point would be. So far, he had kept the truth of Shyam's evilness from Anjali because of the baby. Even last week, during Anjali's baby shower function, both Arnav and Khushi had treated him with disdain in private and bare politeness in public.
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If Shyam had only had eyes in the back of his head, he would have seen two very shocked people - Anjali and Manorama mami. They clutched each others hands in shock and slowly walked to some shady trees at the back of the temple. Anjali was surprisingly very calm. Mami looked at her and wished that they had misheard or misinterpreted what they had heard. But it was clear as mud. Shyam had obviously been talking to Arnav bitwa when he said "Arre Saale saab...I kept thinking you will come to your senses and see how strong our love really is..but looks like my Khushi ji has really scored one over you. She made a bet with me that she will make you fall in love with her and will have you jumping through hoops ...and looks like my talented Khushi has accomplished what she set out to do. You may lie with your wife, but in her thoughts, I am the one she lies down with. Your contract marriage is ending today. Who knows, you may even convert it into a permanent contract. If you do, can you ever be sure if she came to you because you forced her into this marriage or because she really loved you? Can you really be sure that she is not biding her time till I get out of the mess you thrust me into? Can you really be sure that Khushi is sweet and innocent rather than a schemer who is just waiting to take over the Raizada empire? hahaahahahaa".
"Arnav bitwa or Khushi ka kaantract maareej (contract marriage)? Shyam aur Khushi?", Manorama didnt know what to believe. "That probably explains the tension between Khushiji and Chotey all those months. He must have married her to keep her away from Shyam and protect my marriage." Anjali voiced out aloud. Manorama asked incredulously, "Anjali bitiya, kya tum soch the ho ki Khushi aise kar sakthi hai? Haan maine usko kahi baar kosa hai ...Par mujhe tho lagta hai ki hamaare bahuraaniya dono bahut hi susheel hai aur mujhe tho yakeen hi nahi ho raha ki woh aise bhi ho sakti hai ki Shyam bitwa ko phasa sakthi hai."
"Nahi maamiji, main yeh nahi soch thi ki isme Khushi ka koi dosh hai. Ab aapne jo suna, main aapko iske baare main ek baat bataana chaahthi hoon.", Anjali said.
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As Arnav was waiting in the reception, the receptionist got a phone call. She sounded really shocked on the phone. "Sir, Prakash the tea boy is saying that Khushi madam is lying unconscious on the staircase between the 10th and 9th floors...". She was talking to empty space ...Arnav had already fled up the stairs. As he was running up the stairs, he kept telling himself that nothing would happen, she would be alright. He had already drawn out his blackberry and was calling Akash, instructing him to get the car out immediately and that Khushi was injured. Even amidst his worry and tension, he told Akash to only inform Payal and not di or Khushi's family just yet until they could figure out how bad this was.
He reached the spot where the tea boy and a couple of his employees had gathered. They had not wanted to disturb her as they were afraid of aggravating her injury. She was lying unconscious across the four steps and must have tripped as her saree's pallu was still caught on the metal handrail at the top. Arnav knelt down, he could see no visible signs of injury on her body. "Thank God", he involuntarily exclaimed. He reached down, putting one hand under her shoulders and the other hand under her legs to lift her up and felt something wet. He withdrew his hand and was shocked ...The forearms of his white shirt were covered in bright red...his favorite color.
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Edited by vishkhush - 13 years ago
Arjun
293