Dark Night Dawning

Chapter 16

'Di how --------?' Arnav looked at Anjali wondering how she knew all this.

'Tell us Chotte!' pleaded Anjali, 'Everyone needs to know.'

'Yes .......I married Khushi so that I could save your marriage!' he declared. As shocked gasps went round both the families, he continued, 'The night of Payal and Akash's wedding I saw Khushi in Shyam's arms and thought that they were having an affair.'

'How could you do this to Khushi?' Anjali was horrified to hear it from her brother's mouth.

'She could have told me the truth, but she decided not to!' he said in his defence, 'I just wanted to protect you Di!'

'She decided not tell you the truth the same way you decided not to tell me the truth!' Anjali pointed out.

'You were pregnant Di, I thought you might not be able to withstand it!' his eyes pleaded to her for understanding.

'Did you ever think that Khushi might have thought the same thing?' countered Anjali, 'you didn't believe her when she told you the truth finally, did you?'

'How do you know all this Di?' asked Arnav baffled at Anjali's words.

'I know all this because, in spite of all your attempts to protect me, you failed miserably!' she declared, 'The day he took Khushi away from here, I heard their entire conversation!'

As everyone looked at Anjali in shock, she recounted the events of the fateful evening.

'That evening, we had all left for the mandir on his "suggestion". Only I knew that the suggestion had bordered on force. I had already begun to suspect his behaviour for some time now. I had even discussed this with Khushi in Musoorie. Poor girl, she must have felt so miserable then.

When we reached the mandir, I made an excuse to go back home. When I reached home, I heard voices coming from the pool side. '

Anjali told them everything she had heard, explaining how he had emotionally blackmailed Khushi into going away with him.

'Oh no no no! I should have never left you alone!' Arnav was horrified when he thought this might have been a reason for her to have slipped into a coma.

'It's alright Chotte, you can't be here to protect me all the time,' Anjali said in her calm voice, 'Luckily Khushi found me in my room when I went into labour and we reached the hospital on time.'

'She only left after she had seen the baby's face,' recalled Naniji, 'I remember the way she hugged us all congratulating us, as if she was never going to see us again. Poor girl!'

As Arnav stood rooted to the spot trying to process all the information he had just received, Anjali spoke again, 'Buaji, I think you should show Chotte the letter now.'

'Arnav bitwa, we spent the last one month in an Ayurvedic treatment village in South India, as we wanted to see if it would help Shashi babua. Luckily the treatment worked, he regained the use of his hands. The first thing he did after that was that he wrote this letter explaining everything that Shyam did to him.'

As Arnav began to read the letter, he realized that Shyam was not only a liar and a cheat but also a man capable of murder. A chill went down his spine as he realized the kind of person they had harboured under their roof all these years. As he looked at Anjali in horror, another thought hit him.

'Di.......all those accidents you had?'

'Yes chotte, and the one you had as well. That is the reason why Khushi willingly went with him that night.'

'Hai re Nandakisore!' lamented Buaji, 'what have we done? What is going to happen to my titaliya?'

Arnav finally had no more words. The truth was finally out in front of him. The truth had been staring him right at the face and he hadn't realized it. Arnav closed his eyes as an array of sensations assailed him all at once. Anjali realized that she needed to talk to him alone. She looked at Naniji who immediately understood.