LOVE, LIFE, SECRETS: Answers lie within – CHAPTER 64

CHAPTER 64: Hidden facts

(Three months after Pankhuri’s arrest)

Life can be so unpredictable at times, he thought as he sat down on the metal chair…. One day he was planning to celebrate his happiness and then one day, he had no reasons to celebrate…. His life had taken an upside down turn and he did not know how to make everything fine…. He was lost in his thoughts thinking about all the events that had occurred in the past few months…. He knew he had done some of the things on his own will, but some, some things had happened on their own and he did not know what to do ahead…. But whatever it was, he had do it before it was too late….

Arjun’s chain of thoughts broke as the metal door screeched open and he looked at her as she entered the dimly lit room…. Looking into her eyes, he felt the world fading away…. No worries, no problems, no mistakes, and no accusations…. Nothing seemed to hurt him anymore…. Seeing her walking towards him, he felt life coming back to him….

He stood up from the chair as she stood in front of him…. Tears collected in their eyes seeing each other…. Arjun slowly raised his hand and wiped the tears that had started flowing from her eyes…. Pankhuri hugged him tightly and let her tears flow freely…. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer towards him…. Feeling his warmth around her, Pankhuri snuggled closer to him…. They wished the world around them stopped and that they could live in this moment forever….

Pankhuri: Arjun, I….

Arjun: Don’t say anything Pankhu; I know what you want to say.

Pankhuri smiled through her tears as she buried her face in his embrace…. After a few moments they broke the hug and Arjun wiped her remaining tears…. He placed a soft kiss on her forehead…. Pankhuri closed her eyes feeling blessed to have Arjun in her life…. Arjun made her sit on one of the chairs…. He pulled a chair for himself and sat next to her…. he took her hands in his hold….

Arjun: I am sorry Pankhu, because of me; you have to go through all this, this prison….

Pankhuri: No Arjun, this is not your fault, we had decided it together and I am happy that I am doing all this. I know in the end, this is going to help everyone.

Arjun smiled hearing her….

Arjun: I am very lucky to have you in my life.

Pankhuri: And I am luckier to have you with me.

Pankhuri smiled back at him….

Arjun: Well, there are some more people who have come to meet you.

Pankhuri looked at him surprised…. He looked at the door and she followed his line of sight…. She looked at the people entering surprised…. Pankhuri was very much surprised seeing Mallika and Dushyant with Anika and Prachi…. She stood up from her place as Anika and Prachi hugged her…. Pankhuri hugged them back…. She then smiled at Mallika and Dushyant….

Anika: Bhabhi, we miss you so much.

Pankhuri: I miss you all too. How are Maa and Papa?

Anika: They are fine but they miss you a lot. Seeing you in this situation hurts them….

Arjun: This situation will not last for long, soon we will find the proofs against the real killer and he’ll be behind the bars.

Dushyant: You are right Arjun, my Tia’s killer will not move around freely for long now.

Pankhuri: But how will we find the proofs, we only know that Shaan has killed Tia but we don’t have any strong reasons to put charges on him.

Mallika looked at her shocked hearing the confession….

Shaan….

Shaantanu….

Shaantanu Malhotra was Tia’s murderer….

But why, why had he killed Tia….

Anika and others read the shock and questions on Mallika’s face….

Anika: Mallika, there are a few things you need to know, things you were unaware of.

Prachi: But before that we need to tell you something Pankhuri Bhabhi.

Prachi looked at Dushyant and Mallika…. Mallika understood her sign and started narrating Pankhuri whatever she had witnessed on the wedding day….

*****

Mallika was walking towards the lawn where the ceremony was being done when she heard some sounds from Tia’s room…. She walked closer to the room to hear them clearly….
She recognized one voice to be Tia’s and other two belonged to a man and woman…. She did not know who they were and what they were talking about…. She decided not to intrude their privacy and was about to walk away when she stopped in her tracks as the man said the words…. “I’ll ensure Ms. Kapoor that you do not witness another rising sun in your life, you’ll definitely die and I’ll kill you myself”…. Mallika was shocked and could not react for a few moments…. She composed herself as she heard the voices became silent…. She decided to check if Tia was fine or not…. She knocked the door and after few minutes Tia opened the door…. Tia was surprised to see Mallika…. Mallika walked inside the room as Tia invited her…. Mallika looked around carefully and was confused as the room was empty; no one other than the two of them was there….

Mallika directly told Tia whatever she heard; Tia was shocked but denied agreeing to what Mallika said…. Tia also asked Mallika to stay away from her life…. The talks turned into arguments and when Tia commented on Shivaay and Mallika’s relation, Mallika could not take it anymore and walked out of the room….

*****

Pankhuri: So, it was you who had come to Tia’s room that day….

Mallika: Yes it was me, but how….

Pankhuri: The voices you heard in Tia’s room that day were Shaan and me. And it was Shaan who had threatened Tia….

Mallika: It was you and Shaantanu, but why, why were you threatening her, what had she done?

Anika: Tia did not do anything wrong, in fact she was only stopping people from doing the wrong thing.

Mallika looked on confused…. Pankhuri understood her confusion and began narrating what led to Tia’s murder….

It was three years ago, the day Tia met Shaantanu at their college reunion in London and Tia’s life changed completely….

Shaantanu and Adhvik Malhotra were involved in many illegal businesses hiding them under the façade of their construction company and Shaan’s music company…. Apart from illegal smuggling of drugs, they were also involved in human trafficking, girls were bought and sold in various cities across the world…. Taking his college reunion as an opportunity, Shaantanu visited London to attend the reunion as well as finalize one important deal…. Within the less time, they spent at the party Tia grew suspicious of his behavior…. Once he left the party, Tia felt something amiss and decided to follow him…. But before she could go behind him, she had an encounter with Dushyant and things took a completely different turn for her….

Upon returning to India, Tia forgot about Shaantanu for some time and was happy in her life that now had Dushyant…. However a chance meeting with Shaantanu increased her doubts about him and this time, without letting anyone know, she followed him…. She discovered a place where several girls were kept and it took her no time to realize what was happening around her…. She then decided to find the complete truth and took some photographs of the place…. Once she was sure and got to know the entire truth, Tia used an unknown identity and started blackmailing Shaantanu…. Soon Adhvik became aware of the threat calls and warnings Shaantanu was receiving from an unknown person…. The brothers decided to find that person at any cost and with their sources, it wasn’t a difficult task…. During this time Pankhuri also got to know the matter and she was the first one to know that the blackmailer was Tia…. But before she could warn Tia about Adhvik and Shaantanu, they too found the truth and things took an ugly turn…. Adhvik warned Tia to back out and stop threatening them, otherwise the consequences could be devastating for her and her family…. Thinking about her sister’s safety, Tia decided to back out….

Tia decided to tell Dushyant everything regarding the matter, however before she could do it, her alliance with Shivaay was fixed and she got tied up in the complexities of her personal life…. However Tia realized if she told Shivaay everything, he could use his sources and power and they could expose the Malhotras…. Tia decided to tell Shivaay the entire thing…. During this time Pankhuri tried various times to convince Tia and asked her to keep away from the Malhotras…. Pankhuri knew if Tia did not back out, her life could get in danger…. However, Tia did not listen to Pankhuri and was convinced that Shivaay’s involvement would make things better…. Tia informed everything about her plan to Dushyant who was worried for her safety, but Tia was sure that exposing the Malhotras was needed and she knew it could save many innocent lives….
When Shaantanu and Adhvik found that Tia was going to tell Shivaay everything, they decided to end the matter for once and all…. Shaantanu planned to kill her during her wedding with Shivaay….

Pankhuri: That day before the wedding, we met Tia to convince her once again of letting go of her plan, but she did not agree and Shaan threatened to kill her. I thought he was only threatening, little did I know he would actually do it.

Pankhuri looked at Dushyant who had tears in his eyes….

Pankhuri: I know this is hard for you Dushyant, and I know my apology will not bring back Tia. But still, I am really sorry; I should have done something to stop Shaan and Bhai.

Dushyant: No Pankhuri, this is not your fault. You did whatever you could do. Even I should have stopped her, but I guess we were all too late in doing the right things.

Mallika: But when we all know that Shaantanu has killed Tia, why did Pankhuri take the blame for Tia’s murder?

Arjun: I asked her to take the blame for everything upon herself.

Mallika looked at him surprised…. Why would Arjun want Pankhuri to take the blame of Tia’s murder when he very well knew the real culprit….

Mallika: Why, why would you ask her to do something like this?

Anika: Firstly, we wanted to keep Bhabhi safe, Adhvik and Shaantanu both knew that Bhabhi could become a problem if Tia’s murder case was investigated. We hatched this plan, where Bhabhi took the blame upon herself, it helped us win the trust of the Malhotras and also Bhabhi would be safe in police custody….

Arjun: And secondly, because we not only want Shaantanu to get punished for Tia’s death but also expose the Malhotras and get justice for all the innocent lives they have destroyed.

Pankhuri: Yes, because since I have given my confession and the case is closed, Bhai and Shaan are not worried and they think that the threat over them is gone and soon they’ll get back to their illegal businesses, and when they will least expect it, we’ll bring out the truth.

Mallika: I never thought that all this was so complex. You are really brave and good Pankhuri that you have the strength to fight against your family for the truth, very few people can do this.

Pankhuri: Well, all this is because of Anika, she inspires me to fight against the injustice.

Anika smiles at Pankhuri….

As they all were busy talking a constable came and knocked the door…. It was time for Pankhuri to go back…. Arjun felt a pang in his heart realising that Pankhuri had to go through a lot…. He looked at her but she did not let her tears come in front of him…. Pankhuri smiled at him and hugged him for a moment…. She broke the hug and before her tears could betray her walked out of the room….

Others felt sad seeing Arjun and Pankhuri and prayed that all this ended soon and the two of them would come together forever….

*****

Hello everyone, I hope you all are doing well.
Here is the next chapter of the story, do share your views on the same.

So, how many were expecting a chapter like this?
So, so, the game has not ended yet, and a lot is still about to happen, gear up for another journey of many ups and downs, with many more revelations.

Keep reading and smiling!!!
Take care and stay safe!!!

Also, today is our Maharashtrian new year, Gudi Padwa, so happy gudi padwa to all, and may this new year bring lots of happiness in your lives.