Chereads / innocent murderer / Chapter 7 - 7. Aryan in X city

Chapter 7 - 7. Aryan in X city

After coming out of the hospital, Aryan boards the first bus he finds. He takes a seat and embarks on an unknown journey. Aryan is lost in thought when the bus conductor approaches him and asks for a ticket. The conductor inquires, "Where are you headed?"
However, Aryan is preoccupied with looking outside the window, unable to hear the conductor's voice. The conductor repeats himself, but Aryan remains silent. A girl sitting next to him notices his confusion and asks, "Hello mister, are you lost? The conductor has called you twice, but you didn't seem to hear."
Upon hearing the girl's voice, Aryan regains his awareness and looks at the bus conductor, asking, "What happened?"
The bus conductor asks again, "Where are you going? How far should I issue your ticket?"
Aryan ponders for a moment and then asks the conductor, "Where does this bus go?"
The bus conductor is surprised by Aryan's question but casually responds, "The final stop of this bus is the railway station. Where do you want to go?"
"Alright, please give me a ticket to the railway station," Aryan replies.
The bus conductor issues Aryan's ticket and then asks for ₹50.
Realizing he left the hospital without any money, Aryan looks at the conductor with sad eyes and explains that he doesn't have money to pay right now.
Hearing this, the bus conductor scans Aryan from head to toe. The girl sitting beside Aryan overhears the conversation and realizes his situation. She hands the conductor 100rs. and says, "You can deduct this from my money for this young man."
Aryan hands the girl some money and thanks her.
The girl smiles at him and asks, "Did you run away from the hospital?"
Aryan remains silent, smiling back at the girl, and then gazes out the window once again.
The girl thinks to herself, "He's quite strange. I just helped him, and now he's ignoring me... It seems like he's really troubled right now, so maybe I shouldn't bother him. I wonder what happened to him."
After a while, the bus drops Aryan at the railway station. Standing there, Aryan looks around, feeling lost. He can't figure out where to go from here; his destination remains elusive. A few moments later, an announcement for a train to X city is made on the platform. Without thinking, Aryan boards the train to X city. He says, "Goodbye, y city. I won't come back here again."
After a few hours, Aryan reached X city. Known as the IT city or the city of dreams, X city attracts many who come here to fulfill their aspirations. The city is vibrant even at night, reflecting the active lifestyle of its people. Aryan wanders the streets of X city, uncertain about his next steps. He has reached X city, but he doesn't know what he's supposed to do now.
Aryan, who hasn't eaten in a long time, begins to feel hungry. He realizes there's no one to provide him with food in this city. He enters a restaurant and after much pleading, the owner lets him work part-time as a waiter. After a full day of hard work, Aryan is tired. He never imagined he would do such work, let alone work for his two square meals a day. After spending three years in jail, doing this job doesn't seem troublesome to him. In fact, he feels that after a bit of effort, he at least gets to eat.
For a few days, Aryan works as a waiter in the restaurant. The owner declines to offer him a full-time job due to lack of identification proof, but seeing Aryan's situation and need, he agrees to give him a part-time job for a while. With this temporary job, Aryan manages to have his meals, but he still doesn't have a place to sleep.
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"Slowly, the news of Aryan's death started disappearing from the news channels after Rajendra Singhania's interview. Now this news had been removed from all news channels, and slowly people began to forget about Aryan. Shweta Singhania had become quiet since Aryan's death. She had stopped talking to Rajendra. Rajendra had tried to talk to Shweta several times, but she ignored him each time. Shweta held Rajendra responsible for Aryan's death. Rajendra was troubled for Shweta, but he couldn't do much. Shweta had been ignoring Rajendra for the past 3 years. Distances were growing in their relationship. Shweta had started smiling a few days ago due to Aryan's release from jail, but Aryan's death had worsened her condition. When Shweta saw Rajendra's interview, she completely turned away from him. Rajendra didn't want his daughter Avni to see her mother in such a state, so 3 years ago, he sent Avni to the US for further studies and focused on his business."
"Aryan had a routine for the past half months. He worked in the morning and slept on the footpath of X city's streets or on a bench in a public park at night. Aryan had earned some money in a few days. With that money, Aryan wanted to improve his appearance. He shaved his beard and cut his hair short. In a local market, Aryan went to buy clothes where he could easily find affordable clothes. Aryan liked the style of the clothes he found. His appearance was attractive. After selecting clothes, Aryan wanted to find a job so he could find a place to stay. Despite wandering all day, Aryan couldn't find any job because everyone asked for his documents. Aryan didn't even have an ID proof in the name of documents. That's why he couldn't get a job without an ID."
"At this time, Aryan was standing outside the Moon Night Club. This was Aryan's last hope. He knew that many clubs hired people without an ID, but he didn't have much hope of finding a job here either because Moon Night Club was a very famous club in Bangalore city where only wealthy families and their children used to come. But Aryan went inside with the thought of trying at least once."
"Aryan goes inside the club where the club's receptionist asks him the reason for his visit. Aryan explains that he wants to meet the manager for a job. The receptionist takes him to the manager's office. The manager of Moon Night Club was Julie. She had been working there for about 5 years and was not only a good manager but also a good person with a soft heart. The receptionist gestures for Aryan to sit down and asks for his name. After remaining silent for a while, Aryan says, 'My name is Robin...'"