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I quickly slide inside and shut the door. Krish drives the car at a high speed and takes the next exit to another block. As we drive away, the chaos of the pub fades into the background. It is then that I see her. Meher! She is sitting in the backseat next to me.
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
She cups my face, completely disoriented and scared for me.
“Ayaan, what happened inside? Are you okay?”
I grab her wrists.
“I told you to stay at home, didn’t I?”
After what happened in the pub, I cannot believe that Meher went against my explicit instructions. She pulls away her hand from me and takes out something from her purse before showing it to me.
“I came here because of this,” she says.
The cold metal shines brightly as I take it from Meher. It’s a medal with the same Bat emblem on it.
“I found this in your dad’s closet today after you left,” Meher explains. “You told me what this symbol means, and when I came to know that your father had been holding it in his possession for God knows how long, I couldn’t wait to tell you. That’s why I came here.”
Dad had this with him? I grit my teeth and look away. Krish continues to drive, with Trisha sitting in the passenger seat. Whatever Raghav told me about Tej Khurana was already wreaking havoc in my mind. In addition to that, the Bat Syndicate’s some sort of enmity with the Shergills and Walias, too, was a mystery. Now, this medal with the same emblem on it is found in Dad’s closet, which is enough to convey that there is a shared history that both Dad and Pratap Walia have clearly been hiding from us.
“Ayaan, say something,” Meher insists. “You are scaring us. What happened out there?”
I swallow painfully, not wanting to blow up my frustration here.
“Ayaan?” Krish’s voice interrupts my thoughts. He is looking at me from the rear-view mirror, waiting for me to speak up, too.
“Take us home, Krish. Just take us home,” I say before leaning my head back and closing my eyes. My mind is still racing, unable to answer Meher or Krish’s questions. I’m still trying to grasp the magnitude of Raghav’s revelation. I’m standing at a crossroads in life, which requires me to choose my next step wisely.
Only Dad can ease the conflicting emotions swirling in my mind. He has a lot to answer for tonight. But the question is, am I prepared to know it all?
Minutes later, the car comes to a halt at the Shergill Mansion, and another surprise awaits us there – Pratap Walia’s vehicle.
“Dad’s car!” Meher exclaims with the same surprise as we all get down. “What is he doing here at this time?”
“Let’s find out,” I reply before storming inside the house. As we enter, Pratap Walia, Vishnu and Aksh are sitting on the sofa, and Dad and Bhaskar Uncle are seated a little away from them, worry laced on each of their faces.
“They are here,” Aksh says, getting up from the couch. He is the first one to see us entering.
“Meher,” Pratap Walia rises from his seat, with Vishnu following closely behind him. He walks over to Meher and cups her face in his hands. “Where have you been? You left without taking the guards along with you. How could you do that? When they called me and told me you weren’t home, I couldn’t resist coming here. Where were you?”
Meher is a bit surprised by his concern, and she looks at Vishnu for an explanation, but he just sighs. Aksh steps forward to clarify the situation.
“None of us were happy that you didn’t take the security with you tonight, wherever you went. But since Ayaan and Trisha were with you, we tried to convince uncle that he was worrying unnecessarily,” Aksh says. “But this time, your father was so worried that he came here to find out from Ayaan’s father where you were and why.”
“That’s because, as fathers, we worry for our children’s safety,” Dad says, marching to me. “Where were you all? If you four had plans, you could have told us before leaving. Even I was so scared by your sudden absence. None of the servants or guards knew where you were at this odd hour of the night. You never do that, Ayaan. You always inform me about your whereabouts.”
I ignore his worry at the moment and turn towards Pratap Walia instead.
“The Bishop is close enough to give you a checkmate,”I quote, glaring at him. “Remember this warning you gave me before the wedding party?”
The mention of the ‘Bishop’ changes the expression on his face, but he remains stoic, giving me no response at all.
“You warned him that?” Dad interrupts and turns to Pratap Walia.
“What else did you expect me to do?” he asks. “Ayaan is married to my daughter. Meher’s life is now connected to Ayaan. I had to warn him of what was coming.”
“Is your Bishop known by the name ‘Tej Khurana’?” I interrupt them again.
