The Rules Of Pursuit

69. Traitor

"Ruby, Pearl time to go home," Ankita told to the twins.

"So early?" Ruby pouted.

"Yes." Ankita snatched the phone from Ruby's hand and handed it back to me, before dragging the twins towards the boundary gate.

Viren Sen tried to say something but Ankita walked past him not responding to whatever he had said. I looked at the ceremonial hall entrance, however Avinash wasn't there. He must have gone inside. I was about to walk towards my friends but Viren Sen blocked my way.

"You must be Meenakshi Banerjee?" He asked me with a gentle smile. "I am Viren Sen.."

"I know who you are, now if you would please excuse me." My voice was cold.

"I doubt that." He pushed his silver-rimmed glasses up the bridge of his nose, with his index finger. "You only know the lies they have fed you the like everyone else."

"What do you want?" I snapped, getting irritated by this stranger, who had left a permanent scar in Avinash's life.

"If you would be kind enough to offer my prayers to Mr. Chauhan." Viren held up the hearth. "They would obviously not let me go inside."

"Sorry I cannot." I told him curtly.

"You shouldn't judge someone unless you have heard his side of the story too." Viren said quietly. "The Chauhan siblings have a habit of denying their mistakes and blaming others for their pain. I won't be surprised if Avinash treats you similarly."

His words made me frown. I thought about how Avinash had been blaming me for keeping the truth about his father's death from him.

"You have felt it too! Haven't you?" Viren must have seen the lost look in my eyes. "Vrinda did the same to me."

"Avinash and his mother came down to stay with us. Avi was on the threshold of adolescence that time. One night I came home after work and found him watching some sports match in the living room. The speakers of the television sets were blaring, so I asked him to turn it down."

I knew deep down, that I should walk away, yet I stood rooted there listening to Viren's side of the story.

"He charged at me, claiming that it wasn't my house alone." Viren stared at his feet, "It was true that both I and Vrinda had invested in the house together, but I felt insulted by Avinash's words. I was so furious that I told him to leave. That was the biggest mistake I had made, since my words made Avinash beat me up before stabbing me with a kitchen knife."

This wasn't the story that Avinash had told me. I didn't want to believe this stranger, but what if it was true. Maybe Avinash didn't want anyone to find out about that violent side of his.

"It took a lot of effort from my mother in law and Vrinda, to pull him away. Otherwise he would have killed me." Viren looked up to see me in the eye.

"Why didn't you file a police complaint then?" I wanted to call his bluff.

"Because I cared about my wife. I still love her. Filing a police complaint would have only stressed her out and harmed my children who were still in her womb. She was probably eight or nine months pregnant then."

My mind was screaming not to believe a word he said, but Avinash's furious face when he blamed me for wearing sleeveless clothes flashed before me.

"Vrinda left me, just because I told her that I wouldn't let her brother enter our house again." Viren Sen mumbled. "I couldn't trust the boy around my children, he was too unstable and volatile."

Even though, only twice during the course of our relationship had I seen Avinash losing his cool, I knew how violent it turned him.

"I hope your life isn't destroyed like mine. Anyway, I wouldn't make things more difficult for you." Viren Sen said a little disappointedly "I guess I would take this back. I know Mr. Chauhan would have found out the truth by now, and forgiven me."