Foundation of Marriage

Part 15 - Temple Meet

Arnav sat down, his face was tense as he thought about everything. He looked at Akash, who was still processing the shocking news.

Arnav: "I don't think Payal is lying," he finally said, breaking the silence.

Akash's eyes shot up, startled by his brother's certainty.

Akash: "You mean... jijaji? You believe Payal?"

Arnav: "Just before you came into my room, Roy called me. He told me something that's been eating at me ever since. He said he met a woman, someone claiming to be Shyam's wife."

Akash blinked continuously, unable to comprehend what Arnav was saying.

Akash: "Another wife?"

Arnav: "I was going to brush it off as some sort of misunderstanding, but then you came in and told me about Khushi's engagement to Shyam. And that made me rethink everything. Also, Khushi hinted at this before, but she never said it outright. I had forced her to tell me why her engagement broke, she said the guy was married from before. And then there was the scorpion incident."

Akash: "What about the scorpion incident?"

Arnav: "Well Aman saw Shyam with a scorpion in a mithaayi box outside the mansion in one of the cctv footages. Aman told me not to treat that as a coincidence, there are too many things happening around us, Akash."

Akash looked at his brother, his worry was deepening.

Akash: "Do you think... Khushi and Di aren't his only targets? What if jijaji really is... it's so disgusting.."

Arnav: "We can't take this lightly, Akash. But we also can't tell Di anything. Not yet. We need to find out the truth before we can confront him."

Akash: "What do we do?"

Arnav: "I want to talk to Khushi and Payal. I need to hear everything from them in details, in their own words. We have to find out if they're telling the truth. But listen, Akash we can't let them know that we already suspect Shyam. I need to be sure we can trust them completely."

Akash: "Okay, bhai. I'll call them right now."

Arnav: "Good but remember, don't reveal anything to them. Just follow my lead. We need to be smart about this. We can't believe anybody at this time."

Akash picked up his phone and called Payal. As calmly as possible he asked if she and Khushi could meet them now. Arnav wanted to talk to them. Payal sounded hesitant but sensing the seriousness of the issue, she agreed to meet at a temple near the Gupta house. Akash hung up the phone. He glanced at Arnav, who had already composed himself, his face was showing no signs of the turmoil he was feeling inside. "They're coming," Akash said quietly.

It was a quiet night at the temple, the sound of the wind rustling through the trees was the only noise cutting through the silence. The temple, usually buzzing with devotees, was now completely empty except for Arnav, Akash, Payal, and Khushi owing to the midnight timing. As soon as Khushi saw Arnav, she could tell he was in pain. His eyes, which usually carried that familiar hardness of ASR, had a flicker of vulnerability tonight. It unsettled her, Arnav Singh Raizada wasn't someone who showed his pain, yet there it was. Her heart tightened, and for a moment, she forgot the seriousness of the situation. Arnav's gaze shifted to Khushi, and despite everything, he noticed the bangles she still wore, the ones he had gifted her. He allowed himself a small smile, thinking about the strange twists in his life. But it vanished as quickly as it appeared, replaced by his familiar, steely demeanour. He put the mask of ASR back on and stepped forward, locking his eyes on Payal with his resolute expression.