Mirage #3 Check note on pg 149 for next thread! - Page 95

you are behaving no less than a teasing Pikachu

"So why did you call me here?" Arnav asked, sitting on the plush leather couch inside the high end apartment of Abbas Malik that he had been living in for the past few months.

"Not much. I wanted to see what progress you were making." Abbas replied, pouring the vodka in the glass and offering it to the young man. "I heard Khalid Bhaijaan is expanding business in Kolkata."

"Hmm... I heard it too." Arnav said sipping the liquor from his glass.

Abbas eyed him curiously, planning his questions carefully in his head. He had resolved to make Arnav reveal to him certain highly confidential details about his elder brother's business, something which he had tried to get from his brother so many times but miserably failed. Arnav was the next person who knew the information and that's why he had decided to target him.

Abbas knew that it wasn't enough if he just got hold of the entire business and transferred every single penny in his name. He had to run the business to keep the money flowing in and for that he needed to know every single trick of his brother. Once he was done assassinating his brother, for a few months he would have to use Arnav's help for running the Malik empire, coz no one else knew it as well as Arnav. And maybe after some time, when everyting was completely under his control, he could slowly finish off Arnav, without raising any suspicions.

And for all this, he needed to use Arnav's weakness against him.

"I have applied to Bangkok Immigration department to get a visa for you. In a month or two you should get your visa." Abbas threw a Yorker at Arnav, using his only trump card and Arnav's weakness against him.

"What?" Arnav asked, choking on the drink. It was the last thing he had expected to hear from this man.

"Surprised? Don't be Arnav. I know you want to get away from this life and now, I'm giving you this opportunity. You have worked enough as Bhaijaan's right hand man doing all the dirty work for him. A person like you who has worked for a decade under him needs a little bit of respect and diginity, doesn't he? You have dreams, you are young and if you work for me in Bangkok, I will make you the head of an entire wing. You won't have to report to anyone. Other men will be working under you. All you will have to do is sit and bark orders and they will obey you. Imagine the money involved." Abbas said, taking a seat opposite to him.

Manipulation had always been Abbas's strength. He knew how to trap people with his words, lure them into the trap without alerting them. He had manipulated too many people in his life and now, it was just a child's play for him.

"But..." Arnav interrupted, sitting up straight. He couldn't deny that the offer was tempting and even beyond his expectations. But he wasn't sure if Khalid Malik would be happy with this proposal.

"Worried about Bhaijaan?" Abbas asked, reading his eyes. "Don't worry about that. I will convince him. All you need to do is pack your bags and prepare yourself for the new venture." He assured him with his lopsided smirk and hypnotising gaze, something that seemed to work on his every victim.

He was done with luring Arnav into the trap. The next step was to control his actions. And now it was time to get out the combination of his elder brother's safe from Arnav's mouth, the safe that housed all the documents relating to the property and business.

"Arnav, I went to the headquarters today to collect some official papers. It looks like the combination code was changed recently. What is it?" Abbas asked casually as if it was the most usual conversation to have.

"It's 67456. Yeah, it was changed three weeks ago. I'm surprised no one informed you." Arnav answered. The Headquarter's safe lock combination was known to most of the members of the gang. As such there was no reason for anyone to get suspicious by this ordinary harmless question.

"I thought it was 43376." Abbas laughed out. "Age is catching up with me. Oh wait! That must be Khalid Bhaijaan's safe combination." He suggested, hoping his trick would work and indeed it did.

"No, his combination is 99672." Arnav replied laughing, the alcohol kicking into his system, not at all realising his slip of tongue. His mind was too preoccupied with the Bangkok trip to realise the malice intentions of the man in front of him.

That was it. The combination code was all that Abbas needed for the night, to take the next step in bringing down his brother.

"Aman seems to be working alot on Rode's consignment. What is it about?" Arnav asked curiously, suddenly remembering about their adventure of stalking Aman.

"How will I know?" Abbas laughed, waving off his hand. "I know only about Bangkok consignments. Not Indian ones."

"But I thought he said you had put him incharge of it. Atleast that's what he told me." Arnav replied, trying to remember the exact words of his friend to make sure he had heard the right thing.

"No. I don't know any Rode and I have definitely not put Aman incharge of anything." Abbas replied, clarifying Arnav's doubts.

"Oh!" Arnav exclaimed, drawing out only one conclusion regarding this. Why had Aman lied to him? He wondered scrunching up his forehead, as he took another sip of the liquor from his glass, as the evening drifted into the night.

o0o

"You're drunk." Khushi exclaimed as Arnav snuggled closer to her on the bed. It had been pretty late when Arnav had returned back from Abbas's house and after gulping down six pegs, it had been pretty astonishing to know how he had managed to drive back to Khushi's house safely without getting himself killed by an accident.

"I am." Arnav replied with drowsy eyes, as he let his tongue lick her lips.

"You better sleep. I can't trust you when you are drunk." Khushi said, wriggling free from his grip, but he simply held on to her tightly making it next to impossible for her to move even an inch.

"Are you disgusted by me, Khushi? Tell me the truth. Are you disgusted by the fact that the man you are marrying is a criminal? Is that why you went back to Akash as soon as you learnt the truth about me?" he demanded, pulling her face towards him so that her eyes met his even in the darkness around them. "Is Akash better than me?" he nearly shouted as tears rolled down his eyes.

Khushi stared at the delirious man who supposedly had no idea what he was talking about. And she was absolutely shocked at his questions. So this was what he had been hiding from her all this time. She had thought that Arnav was simply jealous about Akash but the fact was that he was completely insecure.

"Ssshhh Arnav." She cooed in his ears, brushing his hair with her fingers. "No, you are better than him." She replied, blowing cool air onto his face.

"I'm scared you will leave me and go." Arnav confessed, resting his head against her hand.

Just a couple of minutes ago, Khushi had been really annoyed with Arnav for returning home drunk. But now, it seemed that it was in a way, a boon to her. Arnav was beside her, actually sharing what was disturbing him in the inside, something which he had never dared to do when he was in his senses.

"I will never leave you and go. I promise to stand by you forever." She said, kissing his forehead, feeling her heart ache for the insecurities that Arnav faced.

"We should go to Bangkok. Abbas is arranging for us. We can start a new life there." He said, closing his eyes, nearly on the verge of slumber consuming him.

"Alright. We will go there." She replied, placing light feathery goodnight kisses all over his face.

"Aman is lying." He managed to say before he dozed off completely.

"What?" Khushi asked, confused at the unexpected revelation. But Arnav had already slept, to answer her back. "Goodnight Arnav." She whispered in his ears as she too closed her eyes and slept off beside him.

o0o

It was Sunday morning but as it had been for the past few days, Lavanya woke up pretty earlier than her usual schedule. And after her encounter with Khushi, she had realised that she couldn't sleep well. Everytime she slept, she was reminded about Khushi and the next minute, she would see the guy who had dared to play with her life.

No one dared to mess with Lavanya Kashyap. It was the greatest insult to girl like her who had always dumped her boyfriends every single time. It was never the other way around. No boy had dared to dump her. But this Rishab or Arnav or whoever he was had not only dumped her but even got hooked with her best friend behind her back. Could anything be worse than that?

"Get me my coffee!" Lavanya barked at the servant roaming around the room.

"Yes, Ma'am." The man replied meekly, rushing to the kitchen.

"Are you sure that nothing else can be done?" she heard her father's voice echo from the hall as he came walking towards the dining room.

"No Sir. It's more than a month now. There has been absolutely no progress in this case. The problem is that the thief who stole the file has left absolutely no evidence behind. It's like a perfect theft. We have to close this case. It's a waste of our resources and time." The detective who had been investigating the case told Hari Kashyap.

"I have to find new evidence against that Goenka. That criminal needs to be behind the bars." Hari growled furiously taking the centre seat at the dining table. "Coffee!" he ordered the servant who had rushed to serve the master. "I was so close to giving that Goenka file to Finance Ministry. But I'm sure somehow Goenka came to know about it and hired some professional thief to steal it from my house. The saddest part is that the theft happened right under my nose, amidst all this high security and yet, we cannot catch hold of him."

'Goenka File', the name rang in Lavanya's ears. She had definitely heard it or rather seen it somewhere. But she couldn't remember where it was.

"Goenka File?" Lavanya echoed her thoughts turning towards her father with a questioning look in her eyes.

"Yeah, that money laundering case. It has been such a headache." Hari exclaimed, taking his morning medicines.

And then, as if she had an epiphany, Lavanya shreiked with immense shock as the memory came flooding into her mind. "Bloody Hell!" she exclaimed standing up from her chair.

"What happened Lavanya?" Hari asked confusedly, wondering what was wrong with his daughter.

"Dad, Was it a black file?" Lavanya asked, unable to believe her own memory.

"Yes, why?" He asked curiously, his eyes widening a bit to see his daughter's reaction.

"Because I know where it is." She said, followed by hundred's of questions bombarding her own confused mind.

o0o

"Wake up sleepy bear!" Khushi ordered as she crept up beside Arnav on the bed. It was already 10 am and for a change Arnav had been sleeping heavily all throughout the night.

"Mmm.. I want to sleep." Arnav murmured, pulling Khushi on top of him, so that he held her and slept.

"It's ten in the morning!" she exclaimed, as she sat up straight. "And breakfast is ready. It's getting cold."

"No. I don't feel like getting up. Today is a sleeping day." He replied like a stubborn kid. "You should also sleep." He pulled her once again.

"No. Today is a Sunday morning. We have to go out and enjoy the nature outside. Not lie snuggling in the bed." She said, pulling his arm. "Arnav, seriously, get up! Otherwise I'm going to wack your ass." She said, glaring at him.

"What? Oh! Let's have a try." He replied smirking at her with sleepy eyes. "Ass! You have a nice ass there." He added, as he grabbed her behind causing Khushi to blush beetroot red. "It is round, plump and soft and just the right amount strutting out. You should wear jeans. That would be a nice view." He continued, earning a tight smack on his chest from Khushi.

"What? I'm serious." He said, rolling his eyes.

"Come for breakfast." Khushi replied getting down from the bed, going to the living room.

"And oh! It shakes well too when you sway your hips and walk like that." He shouted after her, laughing, as she turned around to stare back at him flabbergasted by the audacity of his comments.

"Okay! I surrender!" he said, raising his hands as he sat up on the bed. "Otherwise, I won't get a view of it for the next whole week." He murmured under his breath as he dragged himself to the bathroom. Who knew that their perfect morning would spin devastatingly as the minutes ticked away?

o0o

"Miss Gupta, are you ready to get married and become Mrs. Raizada?" Arnav whispered into Khushi's ears as she sat inbetween his legs, resting her head on his shoulders and flipped the channels on the tv.

"Four more days!" she said excitedly, angling her head to get a view of his face. "So where are we going for honeymoon?" she asked curiously.

"I was thinking Caribbean islands. You like beaches right?" he replied, playing with her fingers.

"I was thinking Malaysia. I want some adventure." She replied with mischievous eyes.

"Oh! Adventure girl!" he replied, rolling his eyes. "You want adventure? Let's go climb the Mt. Everest."

"Not a bad idea. We may create history by being the first couple to honeymoon on Mt. Everest." She replied, laughing at him. "Hmm.. that reminds me of have you told Aman about our wedding plans?"

"No. I haven't. He's busy and has gone out of town. But he's my best man. He has to be present at my wedding. He'll come even if I call him the day before the wedding." Arnav replied.

"You know, last night, just before you slept, you mentioned something like Aman is lying." Khushi said, instantly remembering yesterday's conversation.

"Oh yeah? Really?" Arnav asked trying to remember the conversation, holding his head. "Oh yeah! When I met Abbas, he told me that there was no consignment as such from his side that Aman was working on. You remember that day when we followed Aman to the headquarters, he lied to me. By the way, what else was I talking about? I don't remember anything clearly."

"No, nothing..." Khushi was interrupted midway by the sound of the doorbell ringing. "I wonder who it is at this time." She said, standing up, heading towards the door. "Did you order something?"

"No. I didn't." Arnav said, taking the tv remote in his hand and changing the channel.

Wondering who it was, Khushi opened the door and instantly froze with her mouth hanging open wide with shock, at the sight of people standing at the door. Lavanya headed the group followed by her father and two other unknown men behind them, who looked like Hari Kashyap's bodyguards.

"Lavanya? Hari Uncle?" she exclaimed, petrified, at the doorstep. "What are you doing here?"

"Khushi, we wanted to talk to you about..." Lavanya froze midway as another voice from the inside interrupted her.

"Khushi, who is it?" Arnav asked casually, completely oblivious to the visitors at the door. Not hearing any response, he got up from the couch and came towards the door, only to find his face completely drain pale at the sight in front of him.

"Dad, he is the one." Lavanya gasped immediately, pointing at Arnav.

"What are you talking about?" Khushi was the first to recover and instinctively, blocked their path standing in front of Arnav as the men approached further.

"Khushi, you don't know what he has done. He is using you just like he used me. He was the one who stole the file from Dad." Lavanya replied frantically. "That bloody bas..."

She couldn't finish her sentence coz the very next minute, the burly bodyguards of Hari Kashyap walked forward and grabbed Arnav by his neck strangling him in the process.

Arnav had been least expecting this attack and being petrified didn't help his cause either because he wasn't fast enough to defend himself.

"Where's the file?" Hari demanded with furious eyes as the bodyguards starting punching blows on his face.

"Stop it!" Khushi shrieked trying to come inbetween the burly men to stop their repeated punches. In her furious attempts to free a completely choking Arnav, she clenched the man's hand with her sharp nails and he winced back with pain, instantly releasing the grip. She had no idea what made her do so. But it seemed like her natural instinct to protect the one she loved.

She clearly knew what Lavanya was talking about. It was the day when her best friend had seen that ominous file in her house and now, it looked like her friend had finally connected the dots and figured it out.

And she clearly knew the consequences of all this. Arnav was going to be in major trouble.

No, she couldn't let this happen.

Looking at Arnav, she observed that his upper lip was cut and bleeding and his neck was reddened with strangle marks. And the sight just ached her heart. Reflexively, she rushed to his aid and rubbed his back as he tried to cough for breath.

"Devi Maiyya, forgive me! But Arnav needs me." she pleaded in her head for what she was going to say next.

"What file are you talking about? Are you out of your mind?" Khushi retorted back, acting as if she knew nothing about it.

"Khushi! Don't you remember that file? The one which I said that it looked like one of my dad's file." Lavanya tried to explain her friend.

"Lavanya, we never had that conversation. I don't know what you are talking about." Khushi denied repeatedly as her best friend continued staring at her dumfounded. Khushi knew she was lying, but if this one lie could save Arnav's life, it was worth a hundred truths.

"Don't lie. I saw it with my own eyes. Dad! This guy has definitely stolen it. It fits the puzzle." Lavanya argued to make her father see the truth lying in front of his eyes.

Arnav didn't know how to react. This was definitely not how he had expected this Sunday morning to unravel. And to add to it, he was stunned at the way Khushi defended him. She was actually lying to her best friend to defend a criminal like him.

"Wait! Khushi hadn't you told me that the file was your neighbour's? Did you lie to me that day too?" Lavanya shouted back at her. "Oh my God! Are you also involved with him? Dad, she is lying to protect that man."

"Khushi, tell the truth. If that man is threatening you in any way, don't worry. I'm here." Hari said, holding Khushi's shoulder.

"No Hari Uncle. I don't know anything about the file." Khushi lied, feeling her heart pierce with guilt at what she was doing. She was actually lying to the face of the man who had always looked after her like his own daughter.

"What are you looking at? Search her house. You will find the file. It must be still lying here if he hasn't given it away by now." Lavanya ordered her father's bodyguards.

"Stop!" Khushi said, blocking the way once again. "You cannot barge into my house and search it without any evidence. What proof do you have that Arnav stole the file?"

"What evidence do you need? I saw that file with my own eyes in your damn house!" Lavanya replied with exasperation.

"Really Lavanya? That's all you got? Just because Arnav dumped you, is this your way of getting your revenge back at him?" Khushi screamed back at her. She knew her words would devastate her friend. But she didn't know any other way to save Arnav.

"Lavanya, what is this?" Hari asked in utter confusion as the two girls hurled accusations at each other.

"You!" Lavanya said, turning to Arnav. "I won't spare you. You will be destroyed completely for what you have done to me."

From sideways, Khushi could see Arnav's body completely tense up, as if he would physically attack Lavanya any moment. The fury was dangerously spiralling inside him. But she knew that if he acted upon it, the situation would only get worse. Hence she grabbed his hand firmly, to calm him down and found him relaxing a bit reflexively.

Hari looked helplessly at the situation in front of him. He didn't know whom to trust, his own daughter or the words of someone, who was no less than a daughter to him. He had no proof against Arnav whatsoever. He had just come to Khushi's house blindly following his daughter. But now, he realised he was confused even more than what he had been when Lavanya had initially narrated her speculation to him.

He knew Khushi was right. They had no right to accuse someone if they had no evidence against him. The most he could do was run a background check on Arnav and find out his history. And this boy didn't even match the profile of a professional thief. But even if he did commit the crime, he couldn't hand him over to the police without single evidence against him. This was just a defeated cause.

"And doesn't Uncle keep all the files in his study that has a security lock? How can anybody get past through it?" Khushi demanded, trying to strengthen her case.

"He... he must have observed it when I took him inside Dad's study!" Lavanya stammered, letting the secret out. Until now, her Dad had never known that she knew the security code and now, she was sure that he was definitely furious at her.

"Care to explain Lavanya?" Hari asked in a stern voice.

"I just took few of my friends in there. That's it Dad. Just to show your room." Lavanya spoke timidly.

"And just how many of your friends is it?" Hari demanded.

"Khushi, him." She said pointing at Arnav. "Nikhil, Archana, Preethi, Ayush, Suhana..." she went on mentioning the names of her friends who had all been inside her Dad's room.

"I cannot believe this. My daughter manages to sneak in so many of her friends in my personal study and I have no idea about it? So many of them actually visited my room? That room has all my important documents there. How could you be so careless Lavanya?" Hari shouted furiously at her. "Khushi is right! I can't even trust your words anymore. You have been hiding such a big issue from me all this while. How am I supposed to believe that you did indeed find the file here? You may be just taking your revenge on this guy as Khushi is saying."

"Let's go!" he said to the bodyguards and marched off from there.

"Khushi, I don't know why you are doing this." Lavanya whispered furiously with tears rolling down her eyes after beind scolded by her father in front of everyone. "Is it for money? Or are you so desparate to get him in your pants? You are supporting the wrong. You digust me Khushi! I was done with you that day itself. To hell with you and our friendship. We are done forever! I know he is the one who has stolen the file and Khushi, since you are defending him, it makes you a partner in his crime. And well, I promise you, I won't spare anyone who is responsible for this."

And with that, she turned around and walked to her father's car, leaving behind a completely stunned Khushi and Arnav at the door.

"What did I do?" Khushi murmured, clutching her forehead as she shut the door close and turned to face Arnav. "Why is this happening to me? I freaking lied to my best friend and made her appear wrong when she was infact right!" she screamed at Arnav. "All because of you!"

"Arnav, Lavanya is not going to keep quiet. She will pursue this matter! She saw the damn file." Khushi said grabbing his shoulders.

"She can't do anything coz she has no evidence against me! Nobody can do anything, except..." Arnav said, holding her. "If you testify against me."

"She's right. I'm turning into a criminal by defending you." Khushi whispered staggering backwards, as the realisation dawned upon her. Until now, she had never understood the enormity of where she was heading along with Arnav.

"No, you are not." Arnav, held her pulling her closer to him. "Khushi, listen to me. I never expected you to defend me. I never will. If it makes you feel guilty, then go now and tell Kashyap the whole truth. I won't stop you. But don't blame yourself for my mistakes. Please."

"What was I supposed to do? They will put you behind bars and punish you if I tell the truth. And if I lie, I have to lose my friendship forever. And I know one thing for sure. I cannot bear to be away from you." Khushi replied franctically. Gazing at his face, she observed the red stains and wiped away the blood from his lips. "You are hurt!"

"No, it's alright. It's a small injury." He replied trying to console her. More than his safety, he worried about her.

The scene that he had witnessed right now evoked a strange set of emotions in him. He didn't know whether to be worried about Khushi or whether to be proud of getting someone like her in his life. She had risen beyond all his expectations.

"Arnav, is this what I would have to witness for the rest of my life with you? Fearing that any day, someone would come after your life? Why can't you leave this? Let's go away, somewhere far. I don't want you to be a criminal. I want you to be a normal person!" she cried, holding his shirt.

"Even I want to be normal for once." He replied, embracing her tightly. "But I cannot."

"Yes, you can and you will. I will see to it." Khushi whispered, promising herself that she would one day, rescue this beast out of the hell he had been living in and set him free.

CHAPTER 56

What is this ^ supposed to mean lava?! Please don't tell me this is the last part of Mirage. If it is then it will be very very foolish of you bey 😡 Mirage still has much more potential to explore so many tracks. Lava please tell me this is not the ending. What about Aman and his family?! He wanted to kill Arnav right?! And will Arnav and Khushi get married or not?! Don't pull off such a stupid and act and end this here. I mean it.

And coming to the update... it was good but not one of your best parts. Maybe you could've explored more on Arnav's jealousy when he was drunk. I love to see him jealous :*

Their sexy conversation was prefect ;) Just the prefect amount of sexiness and naughtiness mixed together. And Lavanya is more intelligent than I ever gave her credit for 😆 I always thought she was a pure bimbo.

The last part was my favorite. I could understand Khushi's plight. She was torn between her friendship and her love. But I am glad she lied though. And I hope Arnav and Khushi together will be successful in tearing Arnav's strings with the criminal world.

P.S DO NOT END IT HERE. "SAMJHE?! YA SAMJHAOON?!"

Oka..ay? Did you just end this?

I am in utter confusion. 😕