Charade (IPKKND AU)

Chapter 15: Confession

Khushi

"Tell me about Shyam Manohar Jha."

Arnav-ji's voice was tight with barely restrained fury.

Bua-ji sat down heavily on the couch. 

Amma swayed and caught herself on the table. "You ... you know?" she whispered as she lowered herself into a dining chair.

"I know," Arnav-ji confirmed.

He strode to the dining table and settled into a chair, opposite Babu-ji.

"You must understand," Bua-ji directed her words at the floor, "We never meant ... We didn't know."

Khushi remained where she was, twisting her hands in the entryway. Her chest tightened with worry as her mother began to weep.

"He was in Lucknow. He saved Khushi from those ... those men," Bua-ji continued, "Then he was here."

"What men?"

Khushi trembled, suddenly unable to meet her husband's eyes. "M-men, in the marketplace. They recognised me from the vi-video. They said I should f-fall into their arms. That I should ... I should ..."

When she finally looked at him, using all of her courage, she found that he was staring at her in horror, "You never said ..."

It wasn't your fault, she told him silently, you couldn't have known.

"He arranged a job for me," Khushi continued, "at the AR warehouse here in Delhi, but I was sent to the headquarters because of a misunderstanding. Soon afterwards, he became a paying guest here."

"He said he didn't have a place to live, and we needed money," Bua-ji wiped her tears with her dupatta, "My pension ..."

Khushi's mind flipped to the memory of the first time she'd come home to find that Shyam-ji had moved in with them.

"Are you following me?" she'd joked.

She swayed on her feet, suddenly feeling sick. Arnav-ji leapt up from his seat and forced her into a chair. When he spoke, his voice was taut with rage.

"You allowed a strange man to live here, in this house with two unmarried women?"

"You don't understand," Bua-ji sobbed again, "He seemed so nice. He deceived us all."

"And then ..." he prompted.

"Then Shashi-babua got sick. We had two unmarried girls, the shop in Lucknow was closed, my pension was still stuck. Khushi ... she was working but it was barely enough to cover the medicine."

"He was suspicious of Shyam," Amma spoke quietly, "We should have listened."

"It seemed like fate," Bua-ji whispered, "the horoscopes, the sindoor, everything. And then ... then ..."

"You forced Khushi to agree to a marriage," Arnav-ji filled the silence.

Amma gasped, "No! We didn't force her. We ... she ..."

Khushi took a deep breath that turned into a sob. Arnav-ji's gaze seemed to burn through her.

I can't let Arnav-ji think that Amma and Bua-ji forced me.

But ... I can't let him think that I chose Shyam-ji either.

Thankfully, Arnav-ji didn't pursue that any further.

"When did you find out?" he asked instead.

"He came home one day and told us everything," Bua-ji answered, "He ... I don't know what he expected."