Titaliya

Chapter 37

"Di," Arnav began. He looked at her sunken eyes, her hollowed cheeks. She clutched her blanket tightly, her knuckles pale. The weight of what he knew was immense, and while his sister had discovered how fake her world was, she wouldn't be able to deal with the entirety and enormity of her husband's betrayal just yet.

"Rest a bit, Di," Arnav said. "I promise I'll tell you everything in the afternoon."

It would give him time to speak to Veda. They could perhaps speak to his sister together. He knew the fallout that would follow the conversation with Anjali. He wasn't good with dealing with tears or heartbreak. He dealt with numbers and business. Veda could comfort his sister in a way he wouldn't be able to.

Anjali opened her mouth to fight back, to demand answers. Her thoughts were swirling like vortexes in the ocean. Given time, they would settle. She thought she already knew the worst of it. Her husband did not love her. He, against all logic, loved Khushiji. As far as she knew, Khushiji did not love Shyam. She loved Chote.

The door clicked shut and Anjali looked up. The hurried marriage between Khushi and Chote. The way that Khushiji had explained nothing and Arnav had looked at his bride with such hate in his eyes. She had been in shock that day. She had not looked closer, dragged into Nani's concerns about their family's honor and overwhelmed by all that was going on around her. Chote had married Khushi without warning, and she had disappeared the next morning like a ghost.

Payal had left, and Anjali remembered the stony silence between Payal and Chote in the days before she and Akash left for Paris. She had been so different when Anjali saw her again, distant and reserved. She had a different name, a different personality, and she no longer loved Chote. Anjali gasped silently. It was possible Khushi had never loved Chote.

She had been so blinded by the few moments of happiness she saw between them. But Chote had treated Khushi so horribly. He had demeaned her, insulted her and her family, spoke poorly of her finances. For as long as Anjali knew Khushiji, Khushiji was terrified of Chote. The few days before the wedding, the happiness of their households had dampened the animosity between them.

Anjali dropped her face into her hands. She didn't know the truth from lies. And considering how she had been so wrong about Shyam, all her guessing about Chote and Khushi could be entirely wrong. She grabbed another glass of water.

Her phone rang, and she spilled some water on herself. The name she read on the screen was unexpected. It was her bank. They didn't call her often.

"Yes, hello?" she said.

"Hello, Mrs. Jha," the bank's assistant manager said.

"Yes?" she whispered.

She hated being called Mrs. Jha now. A day before it had been a mark of pride for her. She had been the wife of a man who loved her whole-heartedly. Truly, she had been feeding a parasite who poured pretty words into her ears.

"I was just calling because there's been some suspicious activity regarding your shared account with your husband," the man said.

The account only held a few lakhs of rupees. Most of her finances were taken care of by Chote, and Anjali was grateful she'd never given in to Shyam's repeated suggestions that she take her finances into her own hands, which would have been no different from putting them into his control.

"A few lakhs were withdrawn from your account a few minutes ago, Mrs. Jha," the manager said. "It's not usual practice for us to inform you of this, but your husband withdrew four lakhs from one of our branches in Bangalore. I'm informing you as it was seen as strange activity compared to your withdrawals and usage in the past."

Four lakhs was more than half of the account's balance. He had stopped himself from emptying it, probably hoping she wouldn't find out about the missing money soon. Anjali couldn't stop the cynical smile that rested at the edge of her mouth. Legally, he was entitled to the money. But it was all hers. It was all Chote's, that he had earned working day and night, disregarding his own health and wellbeing so they could stay in the safe cocoon of wealth that had been torn away from them in their childhood.

"Mrs. Jha?" the bank employee asked, worrying at the silence on the other end of the call.

Anjali wiped away the tears that streamed down her cheeks.

"Sir, I'd like to close the shared account and open a new account solely under my name," she said. "Please transfer the remaining funds to the new account."

"Ma'am?"

"I'm Arnav Singh Raizada's sister. I'm assuming you don't make your VIPs follow the same rules for creating new accounts?"

The bank employee gulped. Arnav Singh Raizada was an important client for them.

"I'll let you know by the afternoon, ma'am."

"Thank you. You can send the passbook and cheque books to Shantivan."

Anjali cut the call. She knew she was being unreasonable. The poor employee would scrabble to get her what she wanted. But she was done pretending to be a good little housewife. She was Arnav Singh Raizada's sister. It was the only reason why her verminous husband had married her. She had foolishly assumed that people liked her because of her personality. But all she had was because of her brother's hard work. Finally she had to accept it, and after that, she had to change it.

Writer's Note

Told you I would keep updating. I'm taking Anjali down a darker, more realistic route. It seems I do that with a lot of characters, lol.

I've decided to post some recommendations in my writer's notes.

Book Recommendations: Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler (It's been years since I've read this book, but it's something that has stayed with me. I think it's the fact that an adult man wrote a teenage girl's perspective so well and convincingly.)

Music Recommendations: Heer Toh Badi Sad Hai Ji (which is the video posted above the chapter). Anjali's struggle is different from the lead's in the movie Tamasha, but I just love the song. 

Also, guys, please check out my original work. I've posted it as the external link. I'm on Tapas as Arushi, and I write fantasy and science fiction.