Tarnished

13. Compromise

Mehul could not settle with the fact that Avni's father's name was different than what he had thought to be.
He pulled out the folder from the wooden cupboard in his study and decided to cross check the details received on Jagdish Bangera. His eyes widened at the fact that there was a mention of just one daughter, and she was still studying. It was clear that it referred to Tanuja. He reread the documents and confirmed that there was no mention of Avni.

His mind was clouded with questions.
Who was Avni? Who was Vishwesh Bangera and what Avni had to do with Jagdish Bangera and his family? Who tortured his innocent wife? 

The questions were endless.

He sat down on the sofa with his head in his hands. He realized that he needed a deeper investigation on Bangera family.

He immediately called the head of his security and asked him to get all possible details of Vishwesh Bangera at the earliest.

Next day, while at work, Mehul was interrupted by his secretary saying that there was an emergency call from his home.
He was surprised and received the call.
The security was asking permission to let Tanuja Bangera enter the home who wanted to meet Avni and was trying to force an entry, saying that she is family to Avni.

Mention of Tanuja made his eyebrows furrowed. Mehul blinked as he remembered his wife's first ever request to not let anyone in the home in his absence.
If Avni had requested, he would comply to her wishes.

He simply denied the entry and asked the security to keep everyone away from home when he was not present.
The security did not need another command. Tanuja was sternly asked to come back when the owner was back. She left fuming.

The incident put Mehul in thoughts.

Family or not, he was not willing to risk Avni's comfort.

It was another shock when he received a file from the head of his security. It had the details of Vishwesh Bangera.

The man was a shrewd businessman. He was once into hospitality industry. He had a couple of hotels running under his name.
But he had suddenly sold everything and was now settled in Malaysia with his wife.

The head of security, Aman Sharma, told him that there was little to no information about his personal life and he would need a few more days to find more about his family. The fact that all the business ventures were now closed, did not help. It was hard to find investors and business partners. The man hardly left any trace behind.

Mehul was at a dead end.

Why would someone just sell his business and move to another country, without leaving a trace? 

He still could not find the relationship Avni shared with any of the Bangeras.

How he wished, Avni could just open up and tell him everything. But he knew, it was just a distant dream.

That day, his father told him about an important deal that they had secured and that the papers needed to be signed off. Mehul agreed to go to Delhi the next day.
Mehul was not only expected to sign off the deal, but he was also supposed to stay back and look at the initiation of the new venture. That would take up two days. 

When he was still engrossed in his work, he again received a call from his security.
He was shocked to know that Avni had pulled out a car and driven out of the gates.
It was an unexpected act and the decision to follow her was too late. She might have already crossed a good distance.

It was a pleasant surprise to know that Avni could drive powerful cars. But who could he blame? That woman had given him nothing but shocks and surprises. He did not know what was more in the store for him.

He just hoped for her safety and that she would come back home in one piece.
He was thinking if Avni would tell him about this adventure by herself. He would not question her, but would love if she shared the fact that she was out on her own.
He was a little disappointed that she had kept a lot of things hidden.

Avni was home when he came back. There was no mention of the stunt she pulled. Mehul did not know where she went. It was difficult to track her since she left her phone at home. He did not know if that was inadvertent act or done on purpose. He would know if she did that again.

That night, after dinner, Mehul told her about his trip to Delhi. A clear shock was evident on her face. She blinked and looked away, not very happy with the fact.

He had to leave the next morning and retired to bed early. Though he wanted to ask a lot of questions, he knew, Avni was not ready to answer them. He was slightly annoyed and felt as if he was being played by her.

He pulled his last string of patience and wrapped and arm around her as she slept in his embrace.

Next morning, Avni was quiet as usual. There was no time for the walk as he needed to leave for the airport. He was done with the packing and was throwing last minute instructions to his staff to take care of office work in his absence.

He was startled when a pair of arms encircled his waist from behind. Avni pressed her face in his back. He placed a hand on her palms, that came to his front and continued his conversation on phone. He was taken aback when he felt slight tremors. He abruptly disconnected the call and turned around. Avni, who refrained from showing any kind of emotion was sobbing hard. Her body shook with violent sobs and tears flowed down relentlessly.

"Avni?" He whispered in concern. He saw her in that state for the first time.

"Don't leave me." She pleaded within her hiccups.

She did not wait for his answer and wrapped her arms around his neck. She could not stop herself from giving out heart wrenching sobs.
Mehul wrapped his arms around her protectively.

"Don't leave me, please. I will do anything you say. Just don't go." She pleaded again.

Mehul was at loss of words. His silence was misunderstood by her. She pulled away and looked at him. A look of utter shock was visible on his features.

Avni shook her head vigorously.
"Don't go. Don't leave me here."

He had enough. He pulled her closer and gently patted her head.
"Calm down. And stop crying. I am not going anywhere."

She looked at him with tearful eyes and blinked at him to see if he really meant what he said.
Mehul guided her to the bed and made her sit down. He wiped her eyes but her body was still shaking with violent sobs.

"Calm down. I am here." He whispered.

He rubbed her back, but nothing seemed to help the trembling in her body. She was still shaking like a leaf and giving out hiccups and sobs. He pulled her in his arms and stroked her without a word and she gradually calmed down. He handed her a glass of water, which she drank without a single protest.
She looked back again at him.

He was really upset with whatever happened. But he could see that she needed him at the moment.

He decided to inform his father about the cancelled plans and was about to leave to make the call, when Avni held him again. She was just not ready to leave him.

"I just need to inform Dad, that I won't be going."

She shook her head stubbornly.
He sighed and wrapped an arm protectively around her and pulled out the phone with other. He dialled his father and told him that he would not be able to go to Delhi.

"Is Avni fine?" Was his father's question, laced with concern.

Mehul sighed.

"Yes, Dad. She is doing fine. But I am in no mind to leave her alone. May be next time, I would take her along. Right now, the plan stands cancelled."

His father understood him and decided to take over.

When Mehul looked down at Avni, she was on the verge of sleep. The mental exhaustion was to much for her.

He was again lost in one more whirlwind with the mysteries of his wife. There seemed to be no end to her miseries.

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Another chapter up.

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