Thank you all very much for the Merry Christmas and the New Year wishes. I had a great vacation and now I am finally caught up with things.
I know many of you have many questions regarding the day Roshni died, and soon things will start making sense but I can't give too much away yet meanwhile you will get to know bit of Arjun's thoughts and why he married Roshni in the next update.
Enjoy the next part.
Part 8
Later in the evening, Sneha's house
"Be alert, Ashish is in the building." Priya heard Chotu announce in her ear piece. She felt her heart rate increase as she mentally prepared herself to face and fight a killer. Suddenly darkness engulfed the room and she heard Chotu curse in her ear.
"Priya power is out, we can no longer see you on the camera." Shree said in the next moment.
Priya started walking towards the kitchen but stopped when she heard the bedroom door creak as it opened. She sensed his presence immediately and prepared herself to attack him before he could attack her. She plastered herself against the wall in the dark corner of the room and waited for Ashish to enter the main room.
She saw a figure, wearing dark clothes, enter the room and look around the room as if he was searching for someone. Priya saw him walk towards where she was hiding; she waited for him to get past her then placed a gun to his back just as he walked past her.
"Freeze," She said loudly. He froze in place but then turned and kicked the gun out of her hand. Before Priya lifted her let to kick him but he blocked her and slapped her across the face making her lose her senses for just a moment. She ignored the pain in her right cheek, and lifted her leg again to give him a quick kick in his stomach that made him stagger back.
Priya did not give him chance to attack her again, she moved quickly to turn and kick him in his groin making him go down on his knees as he screamed in pain. In the next moment the front door slammed open as Arjun, Rathore and Chotu poured into the room with guns aiming at Ashish Chopra.
Priya took couple of step back then closed her eyes and breathed in and out deeply. Just for a moment she had a flash back of the moment when her cover had been blown and thought that this time once again she won't be able to fight the monster and will end up losing what is left of her life.
Arjun tucked his gun back in to its place, his attention on Priya. He frowned when he saw the bruise on her right cheek. He took a step towards her but stopped when she moved back few steps and started breathing in and out as if she was trying to stop a panic attack. He glanced towards Rathore who was watching Priya with concern; Arjun waited to see if Rathore approaches Priya but to his surprise Rathore just watched her from afar.
"Hang in there Priya; I won't let you down like I did last time." Arjun recalled Rathore mutter as they raced towards Sneha's house earlier; it had made him even more anxious to reach Priya before Ashish but now he was curious to know the meaning behind Rathore's muttering.
ETF office, Ashis's interrogation
"Why did you kill Kanak and Mrs. Tiwari?" Arjun asked Ashish.
Ashish Chopra also known as Siddarth Chaudhry remained silent and just glared back at Arjun. His gaze then moved to Priya, who was standing to the side, his eyes flared and he clenched his jaws and fist as if he wanted to kill Priya with his bare hands. Arjun immediately moved to block Priya from Ashish vision.
Arjun looked into Ashish's eyes, his eyes also burning with rage, "I wanted to hear from your own mouth why you killed the two women and possibly your mother also but now I don't want to hear anything out of your filthy mouth. We already have enough evidence to put you away for life and I will make sure you suffer for rest of your life."
Ashish gripped the table and tried to stand but Chotu immediately placed his hand on Ashish's shoulder to make him sit back down. "Those women think they were better than me, treated me like I was their servant just like my mother but I showed them the real meaning of power, all three of them. I hope they rot in hell for it." Ashish said with rage, and hatred obvious in each of his words.
Arjun slapped him across the face and grabbed him by the collar to lift him out of his seat. "Chotu take him away before I decide to show him what hell feels like."
Chotu took Ashish away, making sure he had a tight grip on him when he resisted walking out with him.
Priya winced when she saw her face in the bathroom mirror in her office. Her right cheek was turning black and blue rapidly and it was throbbing like crazy. It was nothing compared to the pain she had endured in the past but it still hurts like the devil. She splashed her face with cold water then dried it quickly before walking out of the bathroom. She had just sat down at her desk when Arjun walked in with an ice pack in his hand.
He held out the ice pack to her, "Here put this on your cheek, it will help to numb it a little." Priya's eyes widened in shock and she hesitated a bit before taking the ice pack from him.
"Thanks," she muttered as she placed the ice pack on her cheek. She thought he would leave but he gave her another shock when he pulled out a chair to sit down. She tried to ignore him by pretending to read the file in front of her but his probing gaze on her compelled her to look up at him. "What?" She asked.
"I am ready to listen; tell me what happened on the day Roshni died." He said as he sat back and folded his arms across his chest.
Priya threw the ice pack on her desk as she stood up. "Well I am not ready to talk anymore Arjun. I tried talking to you right after the incident but you wouldn't even look at me let alone listen to me."
Arjun clenched his hand to keep from shouting at her once again. He didn't want to argue with Priya, he just wanted to know what happened on that day. "Why do you not want to tell me now? If I remember correctly, you begged me to listen to you just once then why don't you want to talk about it anymore?"
"It's all in the past now Arjun, I am here because commissioner sir asked me to help, that's all." Priya answered without turning towards Arjun.
"Did you hate her that much Priya?" Arjun asked softly.
Priya closed her eyes and rubbed her head, his words hurt but she didn't blame him for thinking that she had hated Roshni. She and her cousin had not seen things eye to eye and they had their differences of opinion but she hadn't hated Roshni, but it was Roshni who had hated her. She couldn't tell Arjun this because he would want to know the reason behind Roshni's hatred towards her. She had avoided the subject when he had asked her in the past because she didn't see any point to it and she still didn't want to talk about it now because Roshni is gone and so is the reason for her hatred for Priya.
"Does it really make any difference now Arjun? You have already decided I am guilty of abandoning her despite the fact that you knew me long enough to know that I am not the type of the person to leave her, no matter how I felt about her, to be tortured at the hands of monster like Sikandar." Priya moved towards her desk to grab her bag. She was tired and all she wanted to do was go home, take a hot shower and try to rest for few hours.
She walked towards the door then stopped, "Just one more thing Arjun, I tried my best to protect her despite everything but in the end it was Roshni's choice. You and I both know that nothing or no one can change Roshni's mind once she decides to do something, she had always been hell bent on doing things her way and the hell with the consequences."
Arjun was too stunned to move or stop her from leaving; he was well aware of Roshni's stubbornness so Priya's words did not surprise him but the possible meaning behind her words is what had stunned him. What had been Roshni's choice? The more he tried to figure things out the more complicated it gets. He thought that Priya would finally tell him about her and Roshni's relationship if he asked her but instead she left him with more questions once again.
Arjun stood and walked towards the lone window in Priya's office to gaze out into the dark night as he recalled his first meeting with Roshni.
He had met Roshni at his parents insistent, most especially his father, who had met Roshni through a friend of a family. He had liked her instantly but he still had been reluctant to marry but in the end he gave into his parents' wishes. As he got to know her more he realized that she would make an ideal life partner for him. He had loved her outgoing nature and love of children. He had been impressed with her choice of career and couldn't help but admire her for wanting to do something for the kids who were orphaned.
At the time he hadn't known about Priya and Roshni's relationship. He had been shocked to learn that Roshni was Priya's cousin when he introduced Roshni to Sameer and Priya.
At first he had not realized that Priya and Roshni were cousins but they did not have a close relationship; when he had asked Roshni about the distance between her and Priya all she had said was that Priya did not like her. She refused to tell him what happened between them and Priya had also refused to talk about it.
He had created the distance between him and Priya because he had realized that he wanted more from Priya than a friendship but she liked Sameer so he decided to step away from both Sameer and Priya for her happiness.
He thought he was protecting his friendship by stepping away from them but now he is starting to realize that instead of protecting his friendship he had damaged it.
After his marriage to Roshni, he had lost touch with both Sameer and Priya until he was called in on a special assignment.
The day he went in to report for the special assignment was the day he had learned that both Priya and Sameer were in Mumbai and the fact that Sameer was in charge of the team on the assignment and Priya was working undercover. He had been second in command; Priya had usually contacted him or Sameer with important information.
The task force had been formed to bring down a big mafia don, Sikandar, who was suspected of many illegal activities around the city. It had been rumored that Sikandar was being assisted by many big names in the city including politicians, big business tycoons and some people from the film industry also.
Priya had stumbled on some information accidentally when she met Sikandar's younger brother who thought she wanted to be an actress. He had fallen for Priya and wanted to help her achieve her suppose dream which had made it easier for her to work undercover to gather evidence against Sikandar to shut down his illegal businesses.
Arjun had been brought in the special task force because he had successfully shut down many of Sikandar's illegal businesses. Sameer had also brought in by the commissioner at the training academy who had known the rapport between the three friends.
No one had seen the real face or name of Sikandar and Priya was to stay undercover until she discovered his real name. Two days before Roshni's death Priya had informed Sameer that she had managed to discover the real name of Sikandar but she needed time to get a picture of him to them and also to gather the evidence against him but then they had lost all contact with her or some important information had been kept from him.
Arjun wanted to know what happened in those two days and how Sikandar found out about him and Roshni. How had Sikandar known that he was the officer who had shut down his many lucrative businesses that were used for his illegal activities?
Sikandar had wanted to take his revenge on Arjun so kidnapped Roshni then called him to meet him at one of his warehouse alone if he wanted his wife back. Arjun had rushed to the place of meeting but as soon as he got to the place, one of Sikandar's men had hit him over the head making him useless to fight them when they had injected him with a drug.
By the time he started to come to his senses Sikandar had already stabbed Roshni with a knife. He had fought Sikandar's men but he had been unable to see the man who called himself Sikandar. By the time the rescue team had come to the warehouse Arjun had lost consciousness and Roshni had been dead.
When he came to in the hospital he had been overwhelmed with guilt and anger. He hadn't wanted anyone's sympathy, not even from his family or his best friend Sameer. He did Roshni's last rites then walked away from everyone. It had taken him months to rejoin duty and it had only been at the insistent of his mentor whom he could never refuse anything.
All he wanted now was to find Sikandar and punish him, may be then he will be able to let go of his guilt of not being the husband he should have been to Roshni. He had genuinely cared for Roshni and had been faithful to her but there was always a part of himself that he had held back from her. He hadn't loved her like she deserved to be loved. He glanced at the bandage on his arm; even her name tattooed on his arm had been more out of guilt than love.
He couldn't move on with his life until Roshni's murderer is punished and she gets the justice she deserves for dying so young and in such a violent way. He will then seek forgiveness from his loved ones for abandoning them. He just hoped that his family understands his need for avenging Roshni's death and eventually forgives him.
***
Swati's apartment, late night
Swati was just going to the kitchen to make her something to eat when she heard the knock at her door. She stopped at the entrance of her living room and frowned as she glanced at the clock on the wall. She wondered who it could be so late at night. None of her neighbors would bother her at this time of the night.
Swati thought it might be Priya as she walked towards the front door. She had heard about Ashish and how ETF had caught him attempting to hurt Sneha. She had also learned that Priya had been the one posing as Sneha but she hadn't worried much knowing Priya could take care of herself and if something had happened then Sameer would have notified her.
Swati opened the door in anticipation of seeing tired and hungry Priya standing at her door but she was shocked when she saw Sameer standing outside her door with his back to her checking the area around her apartment. He was dressed in his usual jeans, plaid shirt, and black and white this time, and his gun holster on his broad shoulders. He had his hands on his hips and looking around the area as if he was looking for a criminal.
"Sameer, what are you doing here? Is Priya okay?" Swati asked worriedly.
*~+~*
There we have it. Let me know what you think, have I left you more confused or things starting to make sense?
For the first time I already have the next update started but not yet finished but I will be able to update sooner this time.
Thanks again everyone.😊
Ye Hai Mohabbatein
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