I Am Guilty

29. Truth and Lies

Wiping her eyes, she filled her backpack in haste and followed him out of the room.
Arjun mounted his bike and handed her a helmet. She looked at the bike with blinking eyes. She was too excited to ride on it. She immediately put on the helmet, swung her backpack on both her shoulders and climbed on the footrest to mount the bike.

Arjun chuckled as she squealed in excitement as he took off.

"Will you teach me to ride this?" She asked.

"Absolutely not." He immediately replied sternly.

"Why?" She pouted behind the helmet that was lost on him.

"It's my baby. I won't ever allow anyone to touch it." He simply shrugged his shoulders.

She huffed annoyed, but he kept on riding at moderate speed until he reached her college and pulled off at the gate.

She stepped down and removed the helmet and looked at him.
"What time do you get free? Shall I come to pick you up?" He asked.

She raised an eyebrow with a mischievous smile.
"Shouldn't you be driving Bhabhi around?"

Arjun widened his eyes.

She laughed and ran away.

Arjun shook his head in amusement and pushed the keys to start the bike. He knew she would call him to pick her up. He had seen that she enjoyed the ride.

His bike made way to the police station, where Sahil was held captive.

He requested a meet with Sahil to the on-duty officer and he was led to the cell.

Arjun looked at Sahil sitting on the floor with his eyes closed.

"Did they hit you hard?" Arjun asked and Sahil opened his eyes with a snap.
His eyes blazed with anger.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He snapped, coming closer to the bars and holding them in his tight grip.

"Why so angry? I am just being considerate and came to know your well-being. You never cared cared when I was in there." Arjun tried to say with fake anger.

Sahil seethed with anger.
"Having fun at my expense? Do you think I will suffer like you?"

Arjun clicked his tongue.
"Let's talk about it later. But I am still curious. What did you get after all this conspiring against me?"

Sahil gritted his teeth.
"Don't try to be innocent, Arjun. You are making fun of me since I am helpless now. Let me get out once and I will show you what I can do."

Arjun's eyes glinted dangerously.
"I very well know to what level you can stoop to. And I will make sure that you never get that life back. You should know what it is to be helpless. It was me... Ten years ago. Without any fault of mine. I lost my family, their trust... I lost a chance at good career."

Sahil scoffed.

Arjun held his lapels and pulled him harshly.
"But you know, what kept me going? That one man who said that I was not involved and he trusted in me. I owe my sanity to him. All I wanted was a chance back to a normal life."

He pushed Sahil back and the latter stumbled, wondering who might be Arjun referring to.
"I could never thought that you would stoop down to kill me. I had no explanation to whatever happened that night. Not once did it cross my mind that it could possibly be you."

Sahil looked at him with his eyes in slits and forehead covered with angry creases.
"Then why the hell did you kidnap my fiance?"

Arjun chuckled.
"Fiancé? I wouldn't have bothered to step in. But when I received the copy of invitation card of your engagement, I realized that you are still using Richa. I realized that after this marriage, it will be easier for you to cheat my brother, under his nose. And... Veena could have similar fate as Naren. She too would land with a cheating partner. I knew, I could not save Naren, but Samrat would get hurt if Veena was in trouble, and I could definitely stop that. So, I decided to step in."

Sahil's breath hitched. He was now wondering, who could have sent the invite.

"But your behavior was slowly getting suspicious. When you refused to let go of Veena, I suspected something big." Arjun added, wiping his hands on a handkerchief.

"Then I saw this little girl and everything was crystal clear. Veena was just a ticket to stay close to Geet. You thought Geet is your daughter." Arjun added with mischievous smile.

"What is there to think? Geet is my daughter. You know what, I am glad that the truth is now out. I will take my daughter and Richa away from this cruel world." Sahil seethed in anger.

Arjun clicked his tongue.
"Cruel world! So true. Do cruel. But what's the point? Everything is just a mirage. The girl that you are running behind, is not your daughter."

Sahil blinked in disbelief.
"What?"

Arjun shrugged his shoulders.
"She is not. Naren had a DNA test done. He was proved to be her father. My family is actually celebrating. The kheer was to yummy. And yeah... One more thing... Richa played you. She knew Geet was Naren's daughter. But just to keep you bound, she lied."

Sahil laughed nervously.
"You are lying. This can't be true. Geet is mine."

"Keep up the faith. That's not my problem. Bit Naren has the copy of the DNA test. And I wanted to show it to you too. See." Arjun told him as he held a paper open where Naren's DNA was confirmed to match that of Geet's by 96%.

Sahil stepped back with pure horror written on his face.

"Just to break your bubble, Richa pleaded with Naren to take her back and he outright refused. So, she slit her wrist last night. She is no more."
Arjun looked in his eyes and there was no trace of remorse.

Sahil's eyes widened before they welled up.

"Now, I think, you have no motive to come out in the cruel world. Stay here. All the best.". Arjun raked his fingers and settled his hair in place.

Sahil was angry and held the bars of the cell in a tight grip.
"You think you can trick me? I know all this is not true. Just let my father bail me out. I will kill you in broad daylight."

Arjun rubbed his stubble.
"But your parents left the country last night. They were not present at Richa's funeral."

Sahil's heart stopped for a moment. He did not know what to believe anymore.

Just when Sahil was thinking about a retort, a constable walked in, and unlocked the cell. Arjun and Sahil looked at him confused.

"You bail has been submitted by your father. You can go." The constable replied.

Arjun looked at him horrified, while Sahil graced him with a deathly glare.
He was about to hit Arjun as he walked out of the cell, when the constable pushed him away and ordered to leave.

-------------------------------------

Another chapter up

Vote and comment
Love.