Chapter Fifteen

                                    

                                          
"K-k-khushi-ji, you? But.. w-why are you here?" Shyam stammered, his mind gone blank.
                          
"I received a note from Arnav-ji to meet here after sunset," Khushi said, evenly.
                          
"What!? That can't be! I... I sent the note to Arnav!" This wasn't making any sense. Why is she here!?
                          
"You did what?" Khushi frowned, looking confused.
                          
Shyam's heart was pounding in his throat; this was not right, this was not supposed to happen! With a frantic gesture he clutched at his head, only to realise he'd now run lighter fluid all through his hair - he still had the gloves on.
                          
Panic rising, Shyam glanced at his hands, then at the door, then at his hands again, then at Khushi-ji. He had no plan, he had no excuse. He had nothing.
                          
Something in his mind snapped.
                          
"It's all your fault! You, you wouldn't listen to me, you avoided me, you didn't want to marry me! You made me do all this!" Shyam yelled and gesticulated towards the door of the guesthouse.
                          
Khushi's gaze followed his movements, taking in the gloves, the lighter, the bottle on the ground... The wisps of smoke curling from the edges of the door. There was no way of seeing inside the building through the blocked-out windows, but that was definitely smoke. Still, there was no sound coming from the inside.
                          
"I made you set this guesthouse on fire?" Khushi asked, and her voice seemed impossibly calm to Shyam.
                          
"I had to do it! He can't have you! You are mine, you are supposed to be only mine!"
                          
"You keep forgetting. You. Are. Married," Khushi bit out, trembling in barely contained anger.
                          
"It doesn't matter, I have never loved her! I only wanted her money! Now that I have got rid of ASR I will get rid of her too! I only love you Khushi-ji--"
                          
"DON'T! Don't talk to me about love!" Her anger was contained no more. "Don't you dare! You are the most disgusting person I have ever known, and Anjali-ji will be right to be rid of YOU!"
                          
"Khushi-ji--"
                          
"And don't you DARE even speak my name! Ever! You talk of love, but you know nothing about it if you thought even for a second that you would win me over by... by killing the man I love!" 
                          
These words finally undid Shyam. His face contorted in a horrible grimace, he lunged towards Khushi. Startled, she took a step back as her eyes widened in fear. 
                          
"STOP RIGHT THERE! Hands up!" A man's voice rang out across the courtyard as the headlights of a car illuminated the scene, blinding Shyam. Within seconds, several police officers surrounded him, their guns trained on the target. A fire truck siren could be heard in the distance.
                          
"Thank you, Miss Gupta, we have heard enough," a senior officer walked up to Khushi. "Suresh Manohar Jha, you are under arrest for the attempted murder of Arnav Singh Raizada."
                          
In a flurry of activity, Shyam was handcuffed and patted down, and before he'd even managed to open his mouth in protest, his wife appeared on the scene as well.
                          
Escorted by Akash and Payal, Anjali made her way to Shyam as fast as her leg would allow and, without a single word, slapped him as hard as she could manage.
                          
Recoiling from the impact, Shyam stared at her in disbelief. 
                          
"Please, Mrs Jha, no need for violence--" the senior officer intervened.
                          
"It's Miss Raizada," Anjali said, firmly. "Miss Anjali Raizada."
                          
"Rani Sahiba, this is all a mistake, I can explain--" Shyam tried one last ditch effort. If he could just get her back on his side, maybe there could still be a way out of this mess.
                          
"DON'T call me that! Don't talk to me! You lied to me, all this time, all these years! You didn't even tell me your real name! I heard what you said... I heard everything! To think I... I was such a fool and... and thought you... loved me, to think..." Anjali's fury turned into heaving sobs and she broke down crying. Akash hugged his wailing sister while Payal helplessly looked on, unsure of how to help.
                          
Khushi's heart was breaking at seeing Anjali's pain, even though she knew it was necessary, it was bound to happen. Arnav-ji will make it okay, Anjali-ji will listen to him... but wait, where is he!?
                          
"Arnav-ji! Arnav-ji!" Khushi ran to the door, suddenly realising he was not out of the building yet as he was supposed to by now. 
                          
"Ouch!" She jerked her hand away from the hot door handle. One of the police officers stepped up with the key she'd retrieved from Shyam's pocket and unlocked the door, trying not to burn herself. The next second both women had to jump back - flames immediately roared up as the heavy metal door was opened.
                          
"Arnav-ji!" Khushi screamed, seeing the flaming corridor. Everyone looked on in horror at the fire that seemed to engulf the entire front of the building; the fire service still hadn't arrived.
                          
Then Khushi saw him. Arnav's face was illuminated by the flames, he was there at the other end of the corridor, she was sure of it! But there was no way he could make it through to the front door, not any more. Without hesitation, she ran around the back of the guesthouse. From that faithful, terrifying night she'd been trapped at the construction site, Khushi vaguely remembered there should be another door somewhere.
                          
There it was! Another heavy metal door, also locked, but at least the handle wasn't hot and there didn't seem to be any smoke. She started banging on the door with both fists. Two of the police officers had caught up with her now and were knocking on the windows without success - the thick panes were shatterproof, and they had no tools at hand, not even a big-enough rock to get through.
                          
Khushi was panicking in earnest now, she tried the door again and again, pointlessly yanking on the handle. Devi Maiyaa, protect him, please, please...
                          
Suddenly, they heard a roaring noise. Startled, Khushi remembered how the ceiling had collapsed last time she'd been inside the place. She ran to the nearest taped-up window where she thought the noise was coming from, and realised it sounded more like a motorcycle.
                          
"Arnav-ji! Arnav-ji!!"
                          
"Khushi," she finally heard Arnav's voice coming from the inside, muffled by the walls and the roaring noise. "Khushi, get away!"
                          
"What?" She couldn't hear him very well.
                          
"Stand back! Now!"
                          


                          
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Thank you so much for reading!
                          
Please leave a vote and comment what you think! I've never really written action scenes before, so this took me much longer to write than I hoped - I really hope you all like it :)

                          
Important note on the next update: I've been working hard to get the next chapter ready for next Thursday, but I have to be realistic at this point that I may not get it done on time; I promise I'll do my best, but I hope you understand and can be patient if it's a few days late! Thank you so much for all your support.