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
"Are you there mate?" Arnav heard sid call out softly.
"Hi Sid!" a familiar voice called out. It didnt take long for Arnav to place the voice to the correct person, afterall he had grown to loathe that person. Arnav was shocked to realise whom the voice belonged to and his doubts were confirmed as he saw a hooded figure emerging out of the bushes and walk towards the place were Sid was standing.
"Long time" the voice called out again as he saw Shyam's face by the moonlight.
A unprecedented rage took over him, as he dashed forward
"you bas***d... How dare you come here again" Arnav shouted at Shyam as he punched him square at his mouth, his clenched fist connecting again and again with which ever part of Shyam's body it could manage to connect with..
Sid and Shyam's faces reflected shock as they were caught in a moment of surprise.
"Arnav calm down" Sid tried to stop Arnav as Arnav tried to hit Sid as well
"you double faced bas***d" He called out, clutching Sid's collar, as Sid tried to divert one of Shyam's blows as Arnav's fist connected with Sid's cheek
"Oouch... Arnav control yourself..." Sid called out in vain.
***
Kushi was wondering what happened to Arnav as he had been gone for a while. She came out of their room only to see Lavanya hurried running downstairs and she called after her
running behind her. Lavanya dashed towards the hall door and went out.. Kushi could now hear clear voices outside, it seemed to be like a quarrel.. Did Sid and Arnav get into a
fight now she thought hurriedly running out behind Lavanya. Kushi saw an alarming scene outside.
"ASR.. ASR stop please... Stop hitting them..." Lavanya went forward trying to stop him too
"Keep away from this Lavanya.." He screamed back at her. Kushi was scared that this ruksus would wake the whole family as she too went forward
"Stop it Arnav... please please stop it" She urged putting herself between Sid, Shyam and Arnav, finally effectively stopping Arnav.
"Now you know who you so called friend has been in touch with? " he asked her sarcastically and he plunged further to hit them again.
"I know.." Kushi told calmly holding Arnav again as pure shock registered on Arnav's face.
"You know?" he repeated as his brain refused to believe what she told
Kushi turned back to look at Shyam and Sid.
"Are you both alright?"
"Alright? you must be joking kushi" Sid managed with a sense of humor even in this situation. Shyam didnt reply but just gave her a curt nod.
"Oh my god.. your lip is cut Shyam...you are bleeding" Kushi called out as Lavanya was looking at Sid's bruises.
"Thats ok..it happens" Shyam told as he tried to wipe it off with the back of his hand
"You both need first aid..wait let me fetch you a First Aid box" Lavanya told as she ventured to move in
Arnav didnt understand what was happening in front of his eyes.. it was a bizarre scene. He didnt at all like the friendly tone that Kushi had used for Shyam. what did she think she was doing?
"What the hell is happening here?" Arnav screamed at them "I cant believe this"
"Keep your voice low ASR" Lavanya called out as she crossed him to go in "Or the entire family will be here"
"I dont care" he shouted back
"Arnav please.. its Ok...trust me.. its.. its fine" Kushi stammered as Arnav thought how naive this girl can get.. she had surely been hoodwinked to believe in what ever story that Shyam should have thrown at her.
He glowered at her with his fists still balled up.
"Oh god.. that was hellava punch.. It hurts.. " Sid murmered "You could have been here a little early Kushi"
"I am sorry Sid..I didnt know that Shyam was coming here today... and Arnav doesnt know anything yet... with Arush tagging along we didnt have time to talk yet.." Kushi's voice was apologetic
"Yeah.. We understand..and we know ...I mean We didnt try to give him back.. did we now? " Sid managed to smile a little
"but Shyam.. Why are you here today " Kushi asked looking at shyam "you are running a risk coming here."
"I had some business to talk with Sid" He murmered back
"DO you care to tell me what is happening here Kushi? Are you out of your mind? Did you forget what this scum did to you and my sister?"
"We will tell you as soon as we get first aid Arnav" Sid answered for Kushi. Shyam looked at Sid
"There is no point in delaying this talk further Shyam.. Now that he has seen you..." Sid continued as Kushi nodded encouragingly, Shyam sighed resigned.
Lavanya came running back with a first aid box and a tray of Icecubes. While Lavanya was tending to Sid, Kushi tried to help out Shyam.
"No problem Kushi.. I can manage thanks" Shyam told curtly as he took the box from her hand.
Kushi looked back at Arnav, he was still glaring at her. She shivered a little as a cold breeze blew over, folding her arms, She had'nt expected this to happen and had ran down with only her Night dress on her.
"Kushi you are shivering.. you need something to keep you warmor you are going to catch cold.. Then Arush will get it from you as well..." Lavanya told her
"Thats.. thats ok" Kushi replied back, still stealing glances at Arnav who was steadily glaring at her.
Arnav seemed to have realised that she was only wearing her flimsy night dress, her shirt had been clinging on to her body, He remembered, she had'nt worn her inners to ease her
feed Arush. It made him cringe to realise that Kushi was not warmly clothed nor clothed appropriately, to be in front of a man who had lusted after her and attacked her in the
past. Even though Kushi had repeatedly tried to convince him that Shyam was not a threat anymore, He was sure that these men have cheated her with a bait which should have been
enough for her naive mind. He decided to judge whatever they were planning to tell him with a pinch of salt. He will be prejudiced in judging them..they cant cheat him like they
did for Kushi.. He will let her know how wrong she was in judging them... that should teach her a lesson on whom to trust and whom not to trust.. that all are not as good as she thinks they are...He decided to playalong.
"Here take this" Shyam held out his Shawl that he had been wrapping around him "I am wearing a jacket as well"
"No thats alright, I shall go and fetch somethi.." Kushi started to tell as she saw Arnav step in front of her, blocking Shyam's view from her.
"You dont have to be concerned my wife" He told him smoothly but cynically
"Arnav.. He was only " Kushi started to speak as she laid her hand on her husband's clenched fists
"I dont trust you... whatever ou might have convinced her... but its a pity that you would be face a wall when it comes to me..." he told shyam skeptically, as he pushed away her hand on his arm. Shyam withdrew his extended hand with a small nod.
"May be you should reserve the judgement until you hear what we have to say" Shyam told him patiently
Sid and Lavanya looked at them, as sid kept dabbing ice cubes on his face where a red patch was soon turning blue on his left cheek just below his eyes.
Arnav thought of going up to fetch some thing warm to wrap kushi up with.. but he didnt like the idea of leaving her alone with Shyam, then he remembered he still had his car keys on his pant pocket, when he had put it in there a little earlier intending to take a ride. He always kept one of his blazers in the car for emergency purposes. He stepped out to his car which was parked a little further away from the portico.
"Do you need more Ice cubes sid? do you want me to dress that bruise?" La asked Sid
"No Lav.. I am fine.. You think I can pass it off as a hickey? " He asked winking back at his fiance
"No.. you are not going to do that..." She replied back in alarm "what will the family think about me?"
"it would be far better than they thinking that Arnav hit me in a fit of rage..."
"tell them you fell down somewhere"
"hickey looks like a better option"
Kushi couldnt stop smiling at their banter even in that situation and was looking at them as Arnav forced his blazer into her view
"Wear this" he barked at her
Kushi was taken aback by the suddeness of the thrust on her face as she looked back at him bewildered
"Didnt you hear me?" Arnav told her sounding little harsh and rude, as if she dared to refuse him
" Th..thanks" she stammered taking it quickly from his hands
"you cant use that tone on her" Sid called out menacingly
"keep your advises and concern with your girl friend... Kushi is my wife and I will talk however I like with my wife"
"Oh..just because she doesnt say anything doesnt mean she is not hurt.. I cannot stand my friend getting hurt because of your words Raizada..."Sid retorted back gritting his teeth
"Stay away from this if you know what is good for you Mokashi" Arnav glared back at Sid, comtemplating if he should hit him again. But Kushi stepped forward again
"Sid please stop it " she told pointedly "I am alright. There was no need to react this way!"
Arnav calmed down as finally Kushi reacted and Sid looked away.
"If you both are done with your verbal fight, lets go somewhere where we can talk" Shyam called out
"May be you all should come in" Kushi told them
"No.. you know I cant" Shyam told quickly
"But we should find someother place where we can talk.. this portico is too exposed" Sid told them
"What about the old shack near the servant quarters at the backyard, which is used as a junk room?" Shyam asked " It is empty currently right?"
"You seem to know so well about my house and its extensions Shyam" Arnav spoke with irksome vehemence
"I have been here for some time" Shyam called out nonchalently "Come along all of you" he said taking lead "We dont have much time.. The security guard is knocked out, we need to
move before he regains conciousness"
Arnav moved behind the group, causiously, He was unarmed, he thought helplessly and the thought bothered him more for Kushi's safety than his own. The security guard is knocked off, he needs to see Kushi is in a position where he can act if the need arises...If he ever needed to battle it out.. he would he thought... and he realised that Kushi had taken his hand and was holding on to it assuringly.
"I hope Arush doesnt wake up and search for us..." She whispered hopefully...
But Arnav's mind was far away from Arush waking up in the middle of the night to find he is alone in the room... He was thinking about how Kushi would soon realise that Shyam is the same scum he was earlier, and hoping she would manage to be safe when they are through with this small talk of theirs where the scum would be selling his story, He is not going to buy it,...he thought confidently as he marched behind the other three, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.
"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...
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