The engagement had been canceled, and all the guests had left the engagement party. Aryan was confined to his room. Sitting there, he cried. Today was supposed to be the best day of his life, but in an instant, it had turned into the worst. His beloved grandfather, who loved him more than anything, had left this world. And finance, whom he loved more than his life, had falsely testified against him, claiming that Aryan had shot Harshvardhan. Despite Aryan's countless explanations, nobody believed him. Everyone assumed Aryan was a killer. He wasn't even allowed to talk to Shania. He wanted to ask her why she had falsely accused him. She knew he would never harm his grandfather, yet she had blamed him for his death. Aryan felt utterly trapped and couldn't comprehend what to do. He felt that his grandfather's death was somehow his fault, believing that it was because of him that his grandfather had left this world. At this moment, besides crying, he couldn't do anything else.
Rajendra was seated on the sofa in his study when the door to the study room opened, and Shweta walked in. She said to Rajendra, "You can't hand Aryan over to the police. He didn't do anything..."
Rajendra remained silent for a while in response to Shweta's question, but upon her insistence, he finally said, "We have discussed this already. I don't want to talk about this again. I've made my decision, and I won't change it at any cost."
Shweta questioned, "Do you hate your son so much that you can send him to jail to die?"
Rajendra replied sternly, "And what do you want? Should I let my dad 's murderer roam free just because he's my son? Absolutely not. That won't happen."
Shweta asserted, "Rajendra, I've told you before, and I'm saying it again: Aryan didn't kill Papa. Someone else did."
Rajendra retorted, "You have a blind affection for him. If you remove that blindfold, you'll see the truth."
Rajendra, that blindfold is not in my eyes, it's on yours, because you're unable to see the truth...
Shweta said with tears in her eyes, "Aryan stole my gun. The CCTV footage clearly shows it. You can see him holding the gun in his hands in the CCTV footage. The household staff also testified to this. Besides, Shania witnessed Aryan shooting my dad. And we all saw Aryan with the gun on the terrace. Despite having so much evidence, why don't you accept that your son is a murderer? He didn't even think once before killing his own grandfather."
With tears streaming down her face, Shweta continued, "I don't believe anything. I only know that my son is innocent. Shania is lying."
Rajendra retorted, "Right now, you're blindly in love with your son, which is why you don't want to listen to anyone else. Do you know what you're doing right now? You're rejecting all your relationships for your son. You're forgetting the father who had more faith in you than his own daughter. And besides all this, you're fighting with your husband at this moment."
Shweta, what do you want? At this time, you should forget that you're my wife, because you should be standing with us, whereas you're standing against us... It seems you're so consumed with fulfilling a mother's duty that you're forgetting your duty as a wife...
Shweta, raising her voice, says, "Rajendra, we know our duty. You don't need to remind us of our duty, but at this moment, we cannot stand by your side. We cannot bear to see our son die at any cost... You'll have to change your decision..."
"If that's the case, then today, look at your son to your heart's content. Last time, when he killed our friend at the age of 13, we spared him from going to jail, considering your and his age. But this time, we will make every effort to ensure he faces the gallows..."
Hearing the word "gallows," Shweta's breath catches. Shweta yells, "Rajendra, you want to kill your only son. You can't do this."
"We can do this because for us, our son was already dead when he first shot our friend. And this time, we're just trying to bring justice to one murderer. If you don't like it, there's nothing we can do... And yes, you know, whatever we decide, we stick to it, no matter the cost. So, we're telling you, today, look at your son to your heart's content because you'll never get this chance again."
Shweta sits on her knees and begins to cry loudly. Rajendra walks over to Shweta and tells her, "Your crying won't change the truth."
Shweta, holding onto Rajendra's feet, says, "Rajendra, we beg you, please spare our son. If anything happens to him, we won't survive. We will kill ourselves too... Please, let him go."
"You're willing to give your life for a murderer," says Rajendra.
"We're telling the truth, Rajendra. We won't survive without him. If you give Aryan the death penalty, before he faces it, we will take our own lives..."
This means you won't listen to us... If you want to save your son, can you tell us what you can do to save him?"
Shweta still holds onto Rajendra's feet. Upon hearing Rajendra's words, Shweta sees a glimmer of hope. She says, "We are ready to do anything, but we implore you, please don't do anything to our son."
For a while, Rajendra falls silent, and then after a moment, he says, "Alright, we'll agree to your request, but you must accept one condition of ours."
With joy, Shweta responds, "Rajendra, we agree to all your conditions. Just let our son go."
"Listen to the first condition then..."
"We don't care what your condition is. We're ready to accept any condition to save our son."
"Listen to the first condition then..."
"We don't care what your condition is. We're ready to accept any condition to save our son."
"Alright, our condition is that Aryan must go to jail for 3 years to serve his sentence, and within these 3 years, you won't be allowed to meet him, and neither will our daughter. During these 3 years, you must understand that your son is dead. If you agree to this, we won't let him face the death penalty. Now the decision is yours, what do you want?"
"Rajendra, how can you ask us to keep our son away from us for 3 years? And you want him to stay away from us until then... How will he survive in jail for 3 years?"
"We've told you our decision, now you decide. Do you want to stay away from Aryan for a lifetime or just for 3 years? The decision is yours. You have time until the police arrive. Let us know your decision. And remember, you can't tell Aryan anything about this deal."
Apart from agreeing with Rajendra's terms, Shweta didn't have any other option, as she couldn't bear to see Aryan facing the death penalty under any circumstances. So, reluctantly, she had to accept Rajendra's terms, even though she didn't want to.
_____
About an hour later, the door to Aryan's room opens. Two men stand there, dressed in all black from head to toe. These are the same individuals who had captured Aryan and locked him in the room. At this moment, Aryan is lying on his bed, crying, but his eyes are dry from so much crying. Upon hearing the door open, Aryan looks towards the door and sits on the bed.
One of the men says, "Young Master, Master has sent us to collect you, so you'll need to come with us."
Aryan says to the two men, "Vishal and Rahul, do both of you also think that I can kill Grandfather?"
Vishal and Rahul are both Aryan's bodyguards. When Aryan was 13 years old, an incident occurred with him, so Harshvardhan, Aryan's grandfather, had always been worried about him. Since then, Harshvardhan had appointed Vishal and Rahul as Aryan's bodyguards. They had seen Aryan grow up from childhood till now, and both understood Aryan very well. Aryan treated them like older brothers.
Rahul says, "Young Master, we know you can't do that, but all the evidence is against you. That's why, even if we want to, we can't do anything for you. And about Master, you know that he won't give you the punishment until he has all the evidence... Until then, he won't let you go. We just hope he doesn't try to take your life... Because we can't bear to see you die."
Vishal says, "Young Master, we trust you, but we also know your anger. Who knows, maybe in your anger, you actually shoot at Grand Master."
Aryan: "Vishal, I haven't done anything like that. Why don't you believe me? No matter how angry I am, I could never kill my grandfather. I'm being framed."
Rahul: "But Young Master, who would want to frame you?"
Aryan: "I don't know. I don't know what's happening to me and why."
Rahul: "Young Master, we will try to find out the truth, but for now, you'll have to come with us. Otherwise, we'll have to forcibly take you out."