.:The Hidden Truth:. (ArHi FF) Part 5-Pg 38 *9 Jan

Index:

With the rise of the sun, birds started to chirp and soon everyone in this part of the world was awake. A mansion was seen and it surely looked grandiose. There was a fountain in front of the house from which water trickled providing a serene and calm atmosphere. A few tiny birds came to rest on the fountain flapping their wings and enjoying this infrastructure. Inside the mansion, it was more luxurious and each and every furniture and object was of pure opulence. Arnav Singh Raizada made his way down the modern stair cases which had a black carpet on it. The stair case led to the living room.

Arnav made his way to a lavish sofa which was placed in the middle of the room. A servant brought a tray on which a cup of black coffee was placed. Arnav signaled the servant to place the cup on the coffee table with hand gestures. The servant whose name was Ramu did as he was told and left. Arnav bent forward to take the cup and he slowly brought it up to his lips and took a sip. Arnav then picked the newspapers which was on the table and leafed through it. He checked the finance section of it just to note the financial stability of the market and what decisions could be taken. After all, he was the CEO of a large company and he needed to be alert and very much conversant with any changes linked to the business world.

He heard the sound of someone arriving and he smiled, smelling the fragrance of that person. Who could it be apart from his beautiful wife whom he loved dearly, even more than his own life. She was clad in a white palazzo and a simple top with flowery design on it. She had a simple gold bracelet on her right wrist and her engagement ring was conspicuous on her finger. She had a beam on her face and was humming a tune. Arnav stood and walked towards her," What's the matter Lavanya? Any reason why you are in seventh heaven today?"

Arnav was married to Lavanya Kashyap for two years. He was madly in love with her and they had a simple life together, only the two of them alone. However Arnav had another secret, a secret which he never revealed to anyone till date and that secret was his motive, he felt suffocated every single moment when he thought about the incident that changed his life two years ago. And the person responsible for it was a girl, whom he hated to the core, he had never met her till date but he remembers every single detail about her. But there were no traces of her, she seems to have vanished right after the dirty game she played. Lavanya knew what had happened but she did not know who was behind it as Arnav did not want her to get tangled in all these complications.

Back to the little conversation between the couple, Lavanya looked at him and hesitatingly said," Arnav...promise me that you won't be mad when I reveal the matter to you.."

Arnav placed his hands around her waist," Can I ever be cross at you?"

Lavanya's lips' curved to form another smile," So, the other day, I came into contact with one of my childhood friends and she is coming here, to Mumbai, she had applied for a job and the company for which she is expected to work for wants to interview her, so I invited her to have dinner..and also, I proposed her to stay at our place if she gets the job until she gets a proper place to stay."

Arnav hugged her," Is that all? You had gotten me worried for no reason, sure, tell her that she is welcome to stay here,"

Lavanya hugged him tightly and Arnav gave a soft peck on her forehead," I might be home a bit early, depends on the workload,"

Lavanya nodded and whispered," I love you," Arnav blew a kiss at her as he made his way to the entrance of the house and exited it. He then entered in his BMW and his driver pulled away.

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Lavanya rushed down the stairs as soon as she was informed that her guest had arrived. Ramu had opened the door and the expected guest was still standing. Lavanya gave a huge smile and enthused," That's incredible, I can't believe how much you have changed Khushi!"

That was her name, Lavanya's childhood friend and the one who was expected to come and stay for a while. Khushi Gupta,that was her full name...she had a smiling face but still her eyes had a deep sadness in them. She wore a simple turquoise dress with beige stilettos and she had a small black suitcase along with her.

"Nor can I, Lavanya," Khushi replied and hugged Lavanya.

After their enthusiasm on seeing each other died down, Lavanya excused herself for being such a bad host and invited Khushi to have a seat. Lavanya then ordered Ramu to get Khushi some chilled mineral water and both Khushi and Lavanya went back to their conversation.

"So, Khushi, how is life? I mean.. is everything ok?" Lavanya questioned.

Khushi straightened her back and and moved her right leg on her left one. At the same time, Ramu brought the mineral water and Khushi slowly took it but she did not drink it, instead, she started circling the top surface of the glass and replied to Lavanya," Yes, my life is not as I expected it to be, but sometimes, the best things happen unexpectedly, I had a really good opportunity to stay in the US but I had to come back in India for some family issues and I lost my chance, and I am really grateful to you for letting me stay here,"

"Come on Khushi, we are friends, I agree we lost contact at a point of time but we managed to get in touch again, which is really amazing, and don't embarrass me by thanking me," Lavanya said and Khushi nodded and both of the long-lost friends exchanged snippets of information on their respective lives.

After half an hour, the doorbell rang again and Ramu went to open the door again. Khushi looked intrigued...she knew that it was Lavanya's husband as Lavanya had been talking to her about him a few minutes back. Lavanya got up from the couch and Arnav was coming towards her ta the same time. Khushi caught a glimpse at Arnav. He was attractive for sure and he had a well-maintained figure.

Arnav kissed Lavanya on the cheek and his sight then focused on Khushi, she looked familiar, he had seen her face somewhere, maybe in a photograph or something...

Khushi was standing next to Lavanya and she smiled to Arnav who nodded back at her. Lavanya then said," Arnav, this is Khushi Gupta, my childhood friend, and Khushi this is Arnav, the love of my life."

Arnav's expressions suddenly changed. He looked like he had received a bad news and he looked shocked, his expressions were confusing for sure. Lavanya and Khushi remarked his facial expressions and Lavanya quizzed him about it," Arnav, are you ok?"

Arnav stammered for half a second and regained his composure," Yes, I am sorry, I need to make an important phone call about a deal,"

Saying so, Arnav walked away and went to his study room which was made up of myriad shelves on which books were placed haphazardly. Arnav wiped the beads of sweat that were on his forehead and he moved some books which were placed on a shelf and he found a key which he used to open a drawer. He dug out a few filed and then grabbed one which was black in colour. He opened it and his eyes then focused on a photo...it was her...Khushi...the one whom he had been looking for. Arnav felt anger building inside him, he would not let her get away easily and that was a promise.

nooo but interesting start