"How about we look through Shashi Gupta's file again to see if there are any clues in there that we've missed?" suggested Akash, to try and change the topic.
"Sure," replied Arnav.
Khushi picked up the file that Akash had given and said, "Arnavji, me and Bhai will look at this one and you can look at Amanji's one. Then we'll swap?"
Arnav nodded in agreement, and all three got to work straight away.
They were all looking through the file intently when Khushi suddenly screamed, "I remember!!!!"
*******************************************************************
Both Arnav's and Akash's heads snapped up to look at Khushi expectantly.
But their expectancy was replaced with worry as they saw Khushi's face change from excited to scared and sad.
"What happened Khushi?" Both Arnav and Akash asked simultaneously.
"No," Khushi whispered. "No it can't be," she murmured. "What am I thinking?! How can..." Khushi was just muttering to herself in denial.
"Khushi?" Arnav called worriedly, seeing her talking to herself without responding to them.
When that didn't catch her attention either, Arnav inched closer to her, taking her by the shoulders and shaking her lightly.
Finally Khushi looked up at him as if suddenly taken out of a trance.
"Khushi?" Arnav looked at her worried, asking her through his eyes whether she was okay.
"Are you okay, Khushi?" Akash asked from her other side.
Khushi looked at both Arnav and Akash before saying, "I... I need to go to Buaji's house..."
"What?!" Was the reply that came out of both Arnav's and Akash's mouths.
"Khushi you know that's too dangerous! We only went there yesterday and going again today is just too risky. What if that L75's men are there? I refuse to put you under that kind of risk!" Arnav said sternly.
"Arnavji samajne ki koshish keejye. Agar aapko yeh jaanna hai ki L75 kon hai, toh aapko hume hamaare ghar lekar jaana hi hoga! (Arnavji try to understand. If you want to know who L75 is, then you have to take me to my house!)"
"Khushi first tell me what you remembered and why you need to go to Buaji's house. I'm not letting you go anywhere before that."
"Arnavji aap kyun nahi samajrahe hain. Hum sach jaane se pehle kuch nahi kehna chaathe hain... Bina sabooth ke hum kise pe bhi ilzaam nahi lagaana chaathe hain... (Arnavji why don't you understand. I don't want to say anything before knowing the truth... Without evidence I don't want to put the blame on anyone...)"
"Khushi tum kuch bhi kaho, main tumhe vahaan nahi lekar jaana chaatha hoon. Mere liye tumhaare safety se zyaada important kuch nahi hai or tum ye achi tara se jaanthi ho. (Khushi no matter what you say, I don't want to take you there. Nothing is more important to me than your safety and you know that very well.)"
"But Arnavji," Khushi tried to argue, but was interrupted by Akash.
"I think I might have a solution."
Both Arnav and Khushi turned to Akash.
"Do you need to speak to someone or do you need to get something from the house?" Akash asked Khushi.
"I need get something from my room..."
"Okay done. Just tell me what to find and where to find it, and I'll go and get it," Akash volunteered.
Seeing Khushi a little unsure, he said, "Whoever this L75 is, he knows you and Arnav. But don't forget that he only knows Arnav as ACP Arnav Singh Raizada, not as The ASR. So that means he doesn't know me either. So I'll just enter their house saying that I'm an electrician – just for the sake of any extra ears listening in. As soon as I enter inside I'll explain the situation to them briefly and get your thing. Sound like a plan?" he asked, looking at both Khushi and Arnav.
"Sounds perfect to me Akash," Arnav approved before turning to look at Khushi questioningly, wanting her approval too.
Khushi nodded slowly, giving in.
"Now tell me what I need to find and where I can find it," Akash said.
And with that Khushi started to describe in detail what she needed and where it was in Buaji's house, so that Akash wouldn't find it too difficult to find it when he gets there.
Soon after, Akash left to go to Buaji's house to set the plan in motion.
As soon as Akash left, Arnav took the chance to pull Khushi into his arms and ask, "Khushi what's wrong? Why are you so tensed? Ever since you remembered about this L75 you haven't relaxed for even a second." Khushi leaned into his chest, trying to get rid of her restlessness as she sought his warmth. "What is bothering you Khushi?" Arnav asked softly, rubbing his hands up and down her arms.
"I just hope I'm wrong Arnavji," she said, snuggling into his warmth as she continued to stare at the floor.
Arnav didn't question her any further as he knew that he will find out in a few hours anyways. So he just stayed in that position with Khushi, holding her together, providing his silent support, letting her know he was there with her no matter what.
On the other hand, Akash had managed to successfully enter Buaji's house and explain the situation to them. And within minutes he was out of the door with everything he needed in his hand.
As soon as Arnav heard his phone ring, he knew that Akash was back and he had to let him enter his cabin so that he can come up to the penthouse.
Telling Khushi that he will be back in a minute he goes down to let Akash in.
When finally both Akash and Arnav entered the penthouse together, Khushi looked at the box in Akash's hand with trepidation.
As they both sat on either side of her, she took the small wooden box from Akash.
"When my parents died, it didn't take long for people to kick me and jiji out of the house we were living in as we were orphans. As children we didn't stand a chance against them so we had to leave our house behind. But before we did, I tried to grab as many things as I could for our memories before leaving," Khushi explained sadly, as she opened the box.
Feeling the pain the little 8 year old Khushi must have gone through, Akash lay his hand on top of Khushi's head as his brotherly instincts took over, while Arnav put an arm around Khushi's shoulder, giving her silent comfort. "There were very few things that I was able to grab at the time. Like my mum's sari..." she said, touching the sari in the box nostalgically. "My father's shirt... Our family photo... And..." She stopped as her hands found a folded piece of paper.
Knowing she'd found what she was looking for, she took the piece of paper into her now trembling hands and closed the box, setting it aside.
Slowly, she unfolded the piece of paper...
And there it was...
An A4 sheet of paper, with big letters in bubble writing in the middle, 'L75.'
"This... This looks like a drawing... That too made by a kid!" Akash said, confused by what he was seeing.
On the other hand, Arnav was observing each and every detail of the drawing, his mind racing with the possibilities.
"Right Akash," Arnav agreed as he continued to stare at the drawing. "And this must have been made by Mr Shashi Gupta's brother, right Khushi?" he asked, still not removing his eyes from the drawing.
Khushi gasped, "H-how did you know...?"
"Just a wild guess that now has been proved right..." Arnav said.
Seeing Akash and Khushi still confused, he continued, "This is why I'd asked for two separate files on Shashi Gupta – one from Akash and one from Aman. Akash's file had one extra detail that Aman failed to find. That Shashi Gupta had an older brother who ran away at the age of 15..."
"I had noticed that it was an extra detail, but I hadn't really thought it would be significant for this case... But now... When I saw this drawing... I just thought it might belong to your father's brother. The drawing couldn't be your father's or mother's – because they are not alive so they can't be L75... Your mother was an orphan so it couldn't have belonged to any of her family. The only family left is your father's... And if he had kept a drawing of a child... Then it must have either belonged to his brother or sister, since he didn't seem to have any close friends in his childhood... It couldn't belong to your Buaji – I'd already done a background check on her ages ago and she was completely clear, so there's no way she's L75. So only option left is your father's brother."
Khushi looked at the man in front of her in awe. "You're amazing," she breathed.
Arnav smirked as he replied arrogantly, "I always am," before pulling her into him lightly.
"You're right, this is my uncle's drawing... My dad told me once that they were doing some coding in class or something when they were little and they all had to write their names in code and decorate it..."
Khushi opened her box again and took out another piece of paper that was folded in the same way as the other one.
She opened that piece of paper and on that was another drawing made by a child, but instead of L75, that one read 'I64.'
"This one was my father's one. The 'I' stands for the last letter of dad's name, 'Shashi.'"
"And the number?" Akash asked.
"It's the sum of all the letters in his name," she said.
"Meaning?" Akash questioned.
"Like 'S' is the 19th letter in the alphabet. 'H' is the 8th letter. 'A' is the first letter and 'I' is the 9th letter. So if you do 19+8+1+19+8+9, you get 64. So you put them together to get I64," Khushi explained to them both.
"Do you know your uncle's name, Khushi?" Arnav asked.
Khushi nodded slowly. "His name was Sunil. 'L' is the last letter of his name, and when you add the numbers of all the letters in his name, you get 75. Hence why his code was L75..."
Khushi looked down sadly as she said, "Papa loved him a lot Arnavji... That's why he always cherished this drawing... You know bhai, dad always used to go to the mandir every year to pray for him on the day he ran away... He always prayed that he would be doing well wherever he is – and he always hoped that he would come back one day... But in turn he... he killed my parents... Why did he do that? They didn't do anything..." A tear rolled down her cheek.
Akash stroked Khushi's hair comfortingly and said, "I'm sorry Khushi... We can't change the past... We can only hold onto the good memories and try to forget the bad ones... I can't erase your pain of losing your parents – that too because of your own uncle... But I can promise you that Arnav and I will try to give you all the happiness they would have given you, had they been here. I know we can never replace your parents. But I can promise you that I will do everything as your brother to make you happy, and that Arnav will fulfil all your wishes as your life partner. We will keep you so happy, that your parents up there would be beyond content that their daughter is being given all the happiness she deserves."
Arnav didn't want to interrupt this beautiful brother/sister moment, so he just held one of Khushi's hands in his, while she leaned her head against Akash.
"And if Arnav ever hurts you, you know you can come to me – I'll kick his ass for you," Akash said, to cheer up the gloomy atmosphere.
And it worked – Khushi giggled against his shoulder, sneaking a glance at Arnav before replying, "I'm counting on you for that Bhaiya."
"What the?!"
So how was it guys? I know's it's kind of short, but everyone was so eager to know who this L75 was and I'd already delayed the update a lot so I thought I'll just give it to you now...
From the next chapter onwards it will be all about finding L75, tracking him etc... (Don't worry, there will arshi romance too ;)) I think this story will probably be over within another 10 parts or so – give or take a few updates. So thank you to all those who have stuck with me until this far, and I hope that you will stay with me till the end of this journey, which is only going to last a few more months... So hold on tight and enjoy the ride...
As for now, do tell me what you think of this update with your comments/likes...