Realisation And Nurture (BOOK #2) ✔

Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Durga concluded her prayers early that morning at her home temple, eager to see off her grandchildren for the Shimla excursion in a few hours. Virendra sat back, sipping his morning coffee and watching his wife put the religious offerings in a steel container.

"To whom do you want to present these sweets, Dia?"

As soon as she finished filling the container, she tapped the lid to make sure it was airtight on all sides. "Vir, our grandchildren are departing today, so I thought I'd pack some holy sweets for them because they won't be able to get them for the duration of their stay."

"There was a time when you wrapped boxes for our sons, and now you're doing it for their kids. What a leap in time!" He gave a little chuckle. "Aren't we becoming old?"

"Vir, you appear to be in a nice mood." When the sound of footsteps reached Durga's ears, she gasped and halted at once. "Do we have a guest in the morning?"

Virendra shook his head and rose from the stool to welcome their guest. "I see Arjun here. How are you?"

Durga tensed for a split second and averted her gaze, as her thoughts drifted into an inescapable reverie. She couldn't help but smile at Arjun as he responded to Virendra with a cheerful tone and approached her, attempting to hide the look of bewilderment on her face.

"Aunty, where are Nidhi and Aaru?" As soon as he had Durga's blessings, Arjun inquired. "Aaru is going to start a war with me since I'd been late for practically a day since she arrived here."

"Your daughter is a gorgeous girl, Arjun." Virendra expressed his opinion. "I don't believe she'll argue with you."

"Then you're mistaken, Sir. She has more of her mother's genes than mine," he added with a big grin.

"Daughters are like that; even our Pihu has inherited her mother's qualities." Virendra was precise. "Nidhi is staying in the guest room, and Aarohi will most likely be with her."

Virendra moved towards Durga and tapped on her shoulder as soon as Arjun had received their permission and exited the doorway. "Now tell me what the problem is. Since the time you spotted Arjun here, why have you been fidgeting?"

"No, I'm not..."

"Oh Dia, I may have retired, but I've not lost my sharp mind. I still have the ability to detect criminals from a mile away."

"Then tell me if you can sense Arjun is a criminal or not."

He cocked his head. "Are you crazy? He's one of the department's most trusted officers, and there haven't been many complaints about his work. You must not overlook all of his great contributions to us throughout the years. His friendship, respect, and support for Sanchi and Dheeraj, above all, has always been admirable. How can we simply ignore everything and form an opinion on him?"

"Whether you believe me or not, I am certain he is linked to the Omkareshwar's Agarwal Ranas, a family bitterly opposed to ours. I'm afraid Arjun has stayed closer to us and has also joined the police force with you all to exact their family vengeance throughout the years." Durga added after a little pause. "And I suppose he's still behind continuing with the plotting and planning, whichever way they find it fruitful."

Virendra motioned with his hand. "For once, if I agree with your logic, do you believe Abhimanyu Rana or his family would have waited so long to seek vengeance on us, even after putting Arjun as a stake so near to us? Will they have permitted Arjun to assist us in the most difficult situations when they might have had the golden chance to humiliate us?"