ArHi FF: Checkmate!-T2 (completed) - Page 39

Originally posted by: abavi

From the author's desk: I havent updated yesterday.. as what had transpired in the two years and much before that is quite long.. and I had to finsh typing the entire story to decide on where to break... So I intend to post the story in two or three updates.. Here goes the opening ceremony for what happened... I shall post the next part tonight...look out for that.. .PM will be sent for both the updates together.. I am becoming lazy... aint I?

Happy reading... and yeah thanks so much for all your comments...

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Part 46

"Lavanya, if you dont mind, can you please get back to Arush and stay there until his parents are back by his side?" Shyam told Lavanya before switching on his pen torch.

"But Shyam..." Lavanya called out, nervously looking at Sid

"Thats ok.. Lav, we will be fine.." Sid told her

"and with the security guard knocked out, I dont think it is safe to let Arush sleep by himself... Let us know immediately if you sense something is amiss" Shyam told Lavanya as she stopped on her tracks and turned back to go in

"Do you suspect there will be a...a..." Kushi stammered in hushed tones not able to decide if she has to be by Arnav's side or Arush's side...he held Arnav tight against her sweating palms even in that cold air. Arnav put his hand comfortingly around her, staring at Shyam with anger.

"So he had been scaring her with either Arush's safety or my safety against some threat which was non existent in the first place" he thought angrily

"Dont worry Kushi... I shall make everything alright soon" He told Kushi as she looked at him with confusion or fear, he didnt know.

"No..it is always better to be safe than sorry" Shyam told her and Lavanya nodded and as she passed Kushi she gave a gentle squeeze on her friend's arm and went back in.

***

"Its locked" Arnav heard Sid's hushed voice as they reached the Shack door

"The key will be on the nail on the left top corner" Shyam instructed Sid as he directed the pocket torch towards that corner.

The group went in .

"Dont switch on the light now" Shyam told them, as he moved quickly to ensure the windows were all shut and then closed the door, momentarily plunging them all into darkness except for his pocket torch and then switched on the light

"I dont want anyone to notice the lights are on here and come investigating" he explained as a matter of fact.

Arnav still held on tightly to Kushi's hand and while the other two men settled down on what ever box or surface they could find suitable to sit, Arnav pulled out an old rusted iron box from one corner which once belonged to Mamiji, and motioned Kushi to sit on it as he sat beside her.

He also made sure to find an Iron rod nearby and pulled it closer to him, it could help him if the need arises.

Shyam was quick to notice this

"If you are thinking that we are armed and might have a go at you unaware, Sid is not armed with anything and I carry this pistol, for my own safety" Shyam told as he pulled out a glock 17 pistol and put it down at the floor and pushed it towards the center of the group."I dont think I would be needing this for our cosy meeting however. I have put it down, hoping you will hear to ur side of story without any prejudice, as I do not carry any document or proof today with me. I dont think Sid has anything either to support what I am going to tell you today- But however, Lavanya and Kushi have seen them all and I do hope you would not mock their intelligence to think they have been tricked into beleiving us"

Arnav only gave a half mocking smile as if he didnt believe a word of what Shyam was saying.

"Its going to be a tough task ahead mate. your speech just went into the drain! " Sid commented as he saw Arnav's reaction

"No surprises Sid, I expected it " Shyam replied back as he pulled out his wallet "However, I carry my ID with me, just in case, I got into trouble.. I did get into one didnt I" he said as he pulled out his ID and flashed it across to Arnav.

"I am an IPS officer Arnav, and I wish, you would believe what I am going to say today, The facts that I am going to tell you will be shocking for you, might even anger you, nevertheless, I think I have been preparing myself for this for sometime now, even though I was forbidden to tell you this until time was ripe, and I believe it is now!"

When Arnav saw the ID card, He looked surprised for a moment and then went back to his nonchalent attitude, "So I thought you were a kaminey in a lawyer's coat, now it is a

kaminey in a Kakki uniform" Arnav gave a shrug as if he didnt care.

Shyam Sighed. "I did finish my law degree before I took my IPS examination.. and if it werent you who had said those words, I would have reacted differently " he said "anyway, that doesnt matter now. There are lot of things happening around you... which is more of a concern for me now rather that to react to your silly insults in my profession.. there is your past.. your present... your future which are so interlinked that I... "

"I am not interested in how much you found out about my past or how much you have planned about my future..." Arnav told getting bored with this pointless talk. "But whatever you

have planned to spoil mine or my wife's or my son's future or any harm to my family.. would not let you live to see the next sunrise...I will make sure of that"

"This talk is not going anywhere" Shyam muttered impatiently "For heaven's sake listen to what I have to say! Your wife's and son's life is in danger just as yours is... And I have been trying hard to protect you atleast for the larger part of my last 7 years!"

"What new story is this?"

"But this is the fact Arnav..." Shyam sighed exaperatedly "Do you know that your wife was under immenent danger of being murdered, that we tried to persuade her to move out of

delhi and kept her hidden for two years? Do you know Lavanya was about to be murdered just because she came close to getting engaged to you? or do you even remember the count of

girls you went out with during your days at harvard?" Shyam asked Arnav ferverently as Arnav showed a confused expression " But there are people who have been keeping tabs on

those girls whom you hanged out with just to see to that those girls didnt cross from mere friends to someone more special for you"

"this is ridiculous.. who would be intereted in my love life"

"Lets see... May be Ashtosh Rana... you remember him Arnav?" Shyam asked as Arnav stiffened recognising the name " and then.. may be Dhruv Malik?"

"Rana Uncle... My father's friend...?"

"yeah.. the very same man.. your father's sidekick, right hand, partner in crime.. whatever .. he is a powerful politician now back at Lucknow..You must know...and do you know who

Dhruv is?"

Arnav shook his head in negative " My Chacha's son ?" Arnav guessed going by the Surname... He didnt remember him having any other cousin.

"You chacha is an issueless man.. his wife left him long back and he didnt get married again.. Dhruv is Rana's Nephew and your Father's son.. Your half brother"

At the mention of this, Arnav's body stiffened and Kushi could sense he was getting angry and tensed. She clutched his hand more firmly and put her other hand behind his back to calm him down.

"Dhruv.. Rana..."

"hmm... Gayathri with whom your father had an affair with was Rana's sister...She gave birth to a son 20 years back. You havent met her I suppose..."

"I dont want to get into that story now.." Arnav told irritated and angry " and I dont understand why they would want to be interested in my life.. and if this is what you planned to tell me this night.."

"They are more interested in the estates and property which is atleast 20 times more than that we would get if we put yours and Rana's riches together.. and a clause on the will defining the ownership of that property depends on your married life or your ability to produce a heir to continue with the blood line!"

"Property?" Arnav repeated getting more confused

"Yes, the property which will come to you in the lineage of Maliks.. the ones which was owned by generations and generations of your great grand fathers..."

"I do not want or yearn for that property... If you have forgotten I have ditched my surname long back.. I am Arnav singh Raizada now... and will be so until the end" Arnav told a

little furiously

"But that does not change the fact that you belong to the lineage of Maliks who ruled Lucknow for generations... " Shyam replied back "it does not change the fact that you are a prince.. and so is your son"

Arnav didnt say anything but only looked at Shyam silently. Shyam took it as a affirmation to continue.

"By the stanch rules of the monarch of Lucknow of those times, the elder son of any generation gets the right to rule and uphold the title of the monarch until his successor takes over. Then by the time when monarchy was removed paving way to democrazy of India, the rules of the monarch was modified and rewritten- adhering to the modernised society... The elder son still got to uphold the title and majority of wealth went to him. The rest of the wealth was shared between the daughters and the remaining sons... this I think was done to ensure that the property didnt get scattered as the generations rolled on and the customs of the monarch title still remained intact.

However there were some exceptions to the elder son not getting the title- this is when the elder son decides to persue celibacy or is Issueless. In that case the next legitimate son gets the throne, provided he fulfilled the conditions. Now thats the angle where Rana was interested in your love life.. Because if you didnt marry, the property will pass on to his nephew."

"But a better idea than keeping tabs on the girls I asked out would have been to finish me off... Your story is interesting but I dont have all the time in the world to ..." Arnav was cut in middle of his talk by Sid

"He didnt finish you off for some valid reason! the will obviously has some additional clauses to be followed in case the rightful owner died an immatured, abnormal death- like suicide, accident or if it was a death under some mysterious conditions. It is really pain in the ass kind of a clause.. which made Rana to think this was a better way" Sid told Arnav with his hands in the air.

"Absolutely.. Rana knew you well... He has been studying you for a long time.. and with your idealogies about marriage he would have thought this way was much easier... You were

already feeling bitter about your parents married life... and Beleive me, there were girls who were paid to act bitchy with you, so that your impression upon girls and love and marraige would grow more bitter" Shyam added to what Sid told Arnav

"What? I dont believe this"

"NO? you remember Sheetal? Natasha?... Infact you acted the same way you were expected to.. you didnt believe in marraiges.. or love... you were more comfortable with live in and fortunately for Rana that was getting better and better because that did not fall under marraige category as per the will but things started changing after you met Kushi... you started changing you perspective towards marriage and that troubled Rana... you announced that you will marry Lavanya... He decided to finish off Lavanya... and then you went ahead and married Kushi.. he decided to eliminate her as well... "

Arnav was lost in what Shyam was saying that he almost forgot that he had decided to have a prejudised view of what Shyam or Sid were to tell him. With mentioning Lavanya and

Kushi.. he got back his attitude

"But that doesnt explain what role you have been playing in this... and it doesnt count an inch towards the way you behaved like a scoundrel and rat towards my wife and Sister"

Shyam was as calm as possible.. He nodded understandingly and smiled at Arnav.

"That needs some explanation doesnt it? " He asked as he continued with his story "I havent even started with that part yet... because to understand that you would need what I told you now..."

To be continued...

Originally posted by: abavi

From the author's desk: As Promised, the next part is here.. I shall soon post the next part which will hold answers to most of your queries..

Happy reading and thanks for all your comments..

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Part 47

Shyam Smiled

"I understand... But I did what was the best considering the situation I was in... But to understand that you should know the circumstances under which I married Anjali. Rana is a evil and cunning man. He didnt think twice before using his own sister to seduce your father, and he didnt think twice to throw out the same sister on the streets when she opposed him when she came to know his evil plans, and cruelly took custody of her young child, depriving her of her motherly rights to bring him up...this was definetely not because he loved his nephew.. it was only because Dhruv was entitled to the surname of Malik...Rana is merciless... and he knew once he eliminates you out of the will, even if the major

chunk of the wealth goes to his hands, through his nephew, the rest will go to Anjali... as she is the only other remaining sibling. He decided to control her life with getting one of his hooligans to woo your sister and marry her by trick or force... It was at that point I decided to step forward to take that task, because my foremost duty was to protect the royal family of Maliks and Anjali was a part of it. I thought it was better me than any rogue that Rana would decide for her and make her life hell... Rana was ok with me being that person because he thought it should be easy for me as I was one of the very few educated people in his goons circle and ofcourse he trusted me. He didnt know that I was an IPS officer... He knew however that I was a lawyer...

So I started meeting Anjali, wooed her and married her...Because if I backed out.. there will be some other rogue in my place... trying to impress her and get her into his circle... But still I knew my limits.. she was a princess and I was merely doing my duty... It took time for me to accept that she was my wife by law... You never wondered why I addressed her Rani sahiba.. did you?" Shyam asked...

"Such chivalry man!" Sid commented wiping imaginary tears from his eyes...but Shyam didnt mind him

"I used to stay away from her in the name of work... For me the marraige was a way to protect her and nothing else.. But she was a very sincere wife in all ways... By the time it sinked into me that she was my wife and She would have expectations too... by the time I started getting closer to her, I decided to confide in her the reason for my marraige with her and then start leading a happy life with her...I was sure she would understand.. but then, that was when I met Ashok, in a temple. Anjali introduced me and him and later told me about him, their once upon a time dreams and their stopped wedding...

Though she would never dream of cheating me... I sensed that longing in her voice when she told me of her past... I realised that Anjali was still in love with Ashok.. but didnt know it herself... I didnt blame her... I was not even spending time with her.. not half the time I spent wooing her... and I was gone for days... and how can she be the only one taking the marraige seriously?

I decided to get out of her life... and pave way for her dreams to come true...That was when I met Kushi at Lucknow. She was being chased and teased by some road side rowdies, I didnt even know her name then..it was just my police instinct which kicked in and I saved her. Later through Rana, I came to know that one of your videos was being flashed in all the local channels with a girl in your arms.. and the gossips were thick in the air. I realised that it was the same girl that I had saved the previous day. By this time, Rana had developed strong trust in me and I was involved in most of his dealings and plans with you or Anjali.

I offered to keep a track of your relationship with Arnav while I was at delhi. I met her near her house and befriended her... oh no.. not with any bad intentions" Shyam told quickly answering Arnav's questioning look "I had to make sure the girl was not caught in any unwanted danger owing to gossips. Rana was very insecure with those gossips and I didnt want him to react in a way that would end up hurting Kushi. I knew for sure that you were not one to fall in love all of a sudden...

Soon an idea stuck me... I wanted Anjali to get married to Ashok, her true love.. and I cant take the initiative to get out of the relationship as it will blow off my identity and my hard work of earning Rana's trust... She had to do it herself... infidility was one way. I offered to get a job for Kushi. I sent her to AR. she lost my recommendation letter but still managed to secure a job there... there were frequent hiccups and quarrels between you both and then you brought Lavanya home... but that move of yours and a outburst by kushi after that Guest house incident made sure that there was nothing between you or Kushi but Lavanya came into the danger zone...but at that point, I had managed to convince Rana that Lavanya was only a girl friend of yours and you were not planning to marry her and at the most you might only go for a Live In..." Shyam paused looking at Sid who was making odd sounds by tapping his hands on the surface on which he was seated.

"thats ok Sid.. I can finish this part quickly... " Shyam told understandingly

"what.. oh.. was I that obvious? " Sid asked looking at Kushi who smiled a litte "no.. erm.. thats... thats fine.. go ahead Shyam.. Arent you feeling thristy.. should I fetch you

some water?"

"no Sid thats ok... " shyam said pulling out a water bottle from his racksack and taking a mouthful

"carry on then" Sid said dejectedly and muttered "good that Lav is not here"

So yes... by the time I tried to get Anjali get suspicious of me... I even put up a huge framed photo of me and Anjali together hoping that kushi would take notice of

that...During those times that she was hanging around at RM and tell her that I was a PG at her place...but that didnt happen...there was a big loop hole... even if Kushi finds it out, it wouldnt be infidility.. I made my next move, to make Kushi think that I was interested in her... and now if she sees the photo of me and Anjali together, she will surely take me for a scoundrel and rush to Anjali with proof... That too didnt happen... then one day, Shashi saw me with Anjali... He confronted me... I couldnt give up my game...with Rana in tow... I cannot blow away my pretense as a bad guy in front of Rana.. that would risk everything... I decided to play along and convinced Shashi that I was a very cunning guy. I think I over reacted a little bit..My grave mistake...Shashi was paralysed...I have felt very sorry ever since...

I so wanted Shashi to get well soon.. I tried talking nastily with him...shock treatments work in many cases.. My last hope was to make Shashi believe that I was ruining his daughter's life too... I planted the idea in Buaji's mind that Kushi needs to get engaged to me..."

At this point Arnav became very angry that his breath was getting ragged and Kushi was getting scared that he might attack Shyam again.
"thats Alright..." She whispered to him earning a stare in return...

"but I was happy when she came back with a bandage on her left ring finger.. This was not going to be a real engagement afterall... after that at many instances, I had hoped that Kushi or Anjali would get to know I was double timing them and then Anjali would leave me and go back to Ashok and in the meanwhile... I could also tell Rana that there was nothing between you and Kushi...

And that was the time.. you announced your marraige with Lavanya and Rana became very angry... that was also the time that I realised that Anjali knew that I was not a good man.. but still she was living in denial.. I had to rely upon Kushi to knock some sense into Anjali... Kushi finally came to know that I was Anjali's husband... I had expected her to run to the family and tell them everything... or atleast to you.. but she seemed hell bent on giving me a second chance.. I could only curse upon my ill fate...

I went to Kushi's family and told them the truth... No alas no reaction from them too... Payal and Akaash were getting engaged... and so were you and Lavanya...Rana planned to eliminate Lavanya from the equation... while I was busy trying to break Anjali's bubble of denial...letting her believe that I was a very evil and cruel person...something happened between you and Lavanya... and you broke up... Rana was delighted that it was my work... I didnt understand what happened but still I was happy the girl's life was safe... but alas.. Rana took it that the girl moving out on the eve of the engagemnet day equated to something amiss... He suspected that may be you were done with her and she was chucked out pregnant..."

"What?" Arnav revolted quickly looking at Kushi, but she remained calm.
"holy crap... Save me of this torture Shyam please.. cant I go and give company to Lav" Sid asked him pleedingly.
"You are needed here sid.." Shyam told with finality handing over the water bottle to his friend and patting on his back sympathically.

"I and La... I mean we never had any physical intimacy..." Arnav told looking directly at Sid

"I am not someone who would bother about my girl's previous relationships...When in love, the past hardly matters... But you know how it feels hearing about the details " Sid grunted as Arnav shared his first genuine smile with Sid.

"Thanks anyway for letting me know about it" he told Arnav as he returned his smile.

"so if thats settled can I continue?" Shyam asked looking at both of them, demanding attentive ears " So yeah, there was a attempt to finish Lavanya off and I was not in a position to save her, I requested Sid's help... We knew eachother through a common accomplise... and he consented to help me.. He snatched Lavanya from death's grip.. she was almost murdered but for Sid here.. who took her back to Mumbai and rightfully fell in love with her"

"So you are a cop too?" Arnav asked Sid who shook his head in denial

"I am what I introduced myself as... as much as a business man as you..." Sid told Arnav..

"may be you are wondering why I went to Sid for help rather than my department?" Shyam asked Arnav and then continued himself "I didnt want Rana to find out that I had connections in Police category.. there were many spies there for him and I asking someone there to save Lavanya would be suicidal...Sid doesnt belong to the department and a good friend... we had a common accomplise to whom we were indebted to for life...a common wellwisher because of whom I risked my life and spent so much of my time deceiving Rana. A common well wisher for whose sake Sid took the obligation of saving Lavanya or Kushi for that matter and kept them safe..."

Arnav was tempted to ask who this common wellwisher was.. who was so powerfull to push this men to take up so much and risk their lives, this person who was so influential that Shyam was almost in trance speaking about that person... but before he could ask, Shyam moved on and continued to talk further...

Arnav thought about the hug that he had witnessed in the terrace, murder attempts on him and on Anjali... not able to decide if this was all complete lies or if it was the truth...

To be continued...