Samjhota [The Compromise]

4: The Hidden Truth

The strong beams of the sunlight descended upon her eyes causing her sleep to break. A strong piercing headache strikes Vaani even before she has unfurled eyes only to recall the events that transpired the previous night before she blacked out. Shoving her hands against the bed sheet, Vaani is about to get up but breaks off realising that not a shred of clothing is on her delicate body. Her grip tightens on the duvet and her eyes dart around scouring for Arya whose presence was nowhere to be found in the suite.

"Did I.....with Arya...?" even the utterance of the words sent a burst of shiver down her spine. "No, without marriage I..." pearls of tear well up in her eyes. She quickly wrapped the duvet tightly around her. Getting to the clothes fallen, on the couch, she yanks them into her hold and scoots to the washroom.

———————————

The police station whose shades only have chaos was unusually quiet. A sudden ring grabs his attention to itself from the case file he studied.

" hello"

"Gaurav, my family won't agree. Ammi said she will get me married as soon as possible." her voice breaks reflecting the tinge of pain interlaced in thorns at the lone thought of partition from him.

"Noor, I'm ready to marry you. I'm ready to do it wherever you say, however you say it. But I won't change my religion. For now, I have work; we'll talk in the evening if you want to." Gaurav says, hurling the phone back to the wooden table. his fingers flip the page of the file only to be shocked by the specks of evidence.

His eyes scrutinized the image of the car that roamed on the highway that night and then to the time printed.

"This belongs to Shaurya," he utters in disbelief. Suddenly a blast breaks the stillness and every single police officer scurries to that side. Gaurav departs from his office room and the sub- inspector notifies the reason of the blasting sound.

"Sir, there has been a blast in the record room." an astonished Gaurav runs upstairs to the site, his hands still holding the only remaining file of Mehak Ahuja's case, the rest were enigmatically burnt to ashes consequently due to the blast that happened just seconds ago.

"Did anyone get hurt?"

"No, sir."

"Okay." the panic engulfs with calls being made but an inspector standing next to Gaurav had his eyes decline to the file in Gaurav's hold.

"Sir, this case has already been closed, and now its files too would have turned to ashes."

———

The handle is pressed down with a shove to swing it open. Arya's advancing steps halt in the bedroom only to encounter an empty bed implying Vaani's consciousness. His lips twist into a sinister smirk with the slip of the thought.

"Now, even if you want to, you will never be able to marry anyone else, Vaani. After knowing this truth about you, no one will accept you, not even your future husband."

꧁♔꧂

The flowers ethereally flourished underneath the light's glow whose strings were enveloped around the railings of the Singhania mansion.

Standing beneath the shimmering chandelier, Shaurya wears his blazer but a hesitation forms within Karan who sits on the opposite sofa, remains in a conundrum about whether to notify Shaurya of Ahana's pregnancy but concealing it would only give origin to the guilt.

"Bhai, I want to tell you something." He gets to his feet suddenly but before even he has an opportunity to proceed, Rakesh cuts in.

"You are not going anywhere today!!!! There is a wedding tonight, and he has to go to the office."

"This wedding means nothing to me!!! What should I do by staying here at home, following these rituals that have meaning but the heart holds no feelings?"

"The truth is that your wedding is tonight!!! Whether you accept it or not, it doesn't make a difference!!! And everything will happen according to the rituals." Rakhi rebukes him, giving an order, irked by Shaurya's behaviour. The car keys are snatched from him only giving rise to Shaurya's discontentment. he clenches his fist swallowing the anger. Sanya ties the kalava on his wrist and the tilak is applied on his forehead.

A feeling crosses the mind aware of the fact that after Kalava has been tied, he is prohibited from heading outside the house.

"Okay!!! I won't go outside!!! Where is Arya?" He questions looking at Sanya but before an utterance can be made, Raavi in the peak of the excitement reaches forward and responds to her cousin-brother.

"He must be on his way!!! And your favorite Raina too."

"Arya has exams going on, right? So how can he come home?" karan raises the question aware of the pressure 12th boards shroud a student.

"Yes, but how can he miss the wedding? After all, it's his beloved Shaurya bhai's wedding, and anyway, there is a gap between his last exam." her eyes perk up but her lips lose the smile on glimpsing Shaurya who appeared to be the most disinterested person in the wedding.

"Call Arya and tell him to come quickly," Abhimanyu utters to which Sanya consents while he gets engaged in the laptop once again.

꧁♔꧂