The way I used to live
Chapter 40

Arjun's POV:-

Since Daksha messaged me to go home early, I tidied up my work quickly and was ready to leave but my assistant Tarun rushed to my cabin.

"What's the matter?" I asked him while collecting my suit jacket and some paperwork.

"Someone named Rahul is waiting outside to meet you," he said.

"Okay. Let him come and meet me tomorrow. I have some important work." Saying this, I marched out of my cabin while Tarun was following me behind.

Suddenly, I stopped in my tracks when I registered the name he had just said.

"What did you say is the name of that man?" I asked him with my back facing him.

"His name is Rahul, Sir," he said.

Rahul...Isn't it the same name Daksha muttered in the cafe before losing her consciousness. Could it be possible that they both were one and the same?

I didn't know why but something was telling me to go and meet him. At least to know whether both are the same person. I had to meet him.

"Bring him to the meeting room. I will meet him there." I instructed him and he nodded at me before making his way to bring that person.

I took my phone to inform Daksha but after thinking for a while, I dropped that idea. I might not be aware of her past but I could understand that she had some bad memories related to that name.

So, I didn't want to frighten her and decided to handle this matter by myself. Moreover, I wasn't sure whether both the persons were the same.

With these thoughts, I went to the meeting room to meet that person.

After going inside, I placed my suit aside and sat on the chair while loosening my collar button.

Soon, Tarun brought that person to the room. I lifted my head to take a glance at him. He met my gaze and passed a smirk in my direction. I narrowed my eyes at him but anyways gestured to him to have his seat. I know the fact that we shouldn't judge a person within a single meeting but when I saw that man, I didn't know whether he was a bad person or not but I was sure of one thing, he was definitely not a good person.

After he took his seat, he glanced at me and stretched his hand for a handshake.

"Hello, Mr. Arjun. I am Rahul. Nice to meet you," he said with a slight smirk and I took his hand for a firm handshake.

"Well, I can't say the same," I told him. I might have sounded rude but I didn't care because I felt some kind of enmity with that man. "Can you state the purpose of your visit and get over with it? I have some important matters to attend," I asked him to which he laughed at my words.

"Oh, but I think, what I am about to say is more important than your so-called important matters," he said and I didn't react much except for glancing at him coldly.

Seeing that I was not responding, he again started laughing and looked at me.

"How is your wife Daksha?" he asked me and my eyes shifted a little at his familiarity with my wife.

"How do you know her? Who are you?" I shot back at him.

"Woah! Calm down. So protective of your wife, I see. But what will you do when I say that not only do I know her but we both shared a special relationship with each other." Hearing his words, I gritted my teeth and glared at him.

"Stop beating around the bush and come to the point," I ordered him in a cold tone.

"Hahaha. Looks like she didn't tell you anything about her past. How can she tell it when she isn't what she portrays herself to be." He released a mirthless laugh and looked at me.

"Your wife is my ex-girlfriend." He whispered these words.

"Don't spout nonsense," I warned him.

"No. I am not. Trust me. You will start hating her once you come to know about her ugly deeds in that past." He said while sounding genuine but I wouldn't be the person I am today if I believed every person's words without any evidence.

So, I scoffed at his direction and stood up from my seat to take my leave but his next words made my blood boil. I immediately marched up to him and held his collar angrily.

"What did you just say?" I asked him while controlling myself not to snap his head.

"Yeah. She is a b**ch. She seduced me in the past to get hold of my money and deceived me in the end after achieving her goal but I have to agree that she is very good in bed." He smirked at me and I punched him very hard on his face.

"If you utter any word against her, I will make sure that you won't leave my office intact," I warned him and he laughed while wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth.

"I know you won't believe me but it is the truth and truth can't be changed." He said.

"Before I lose my control, get the hell out of here," I told him while signaling with my hand to the main door.

"Trust me Arjun. I don't want you to suffer like me. That's why I came here to warn you to be careful around her."

I released a scoff. "Am I looking like an idiot to you? Okay. As you said, she was in a relationship with you just for the sake of your money but what's the need for her to do that when her family itself is rich enough to feed her for hundreds of years?" I asked in an annoyed tone.

"That's where you went wrong. You might not know it. Her family business nearly went bankrupt. So, she trapped me for the money and stole all the contracts from my company. After that her company started doing well and she dumped me ruthlessly saying that she didn't want to be with a person who was a loser. It took so much effort for me to bring my company back to its previous glory. So, leave her before you get fooled by her." He said to me in a suggestive tone.

"So, you want me to divorce her.?" I asked him and he nodded at me immediately in agreement.

"Okay," I said and his face was filled with excitement, suggesting he had achieved what he wanted.

"But before doing that, you have to do something. Since you have said that she had betrayed you in the past, file a lawsuit against her and I'll help you in winning it as I am a lawyer." I suggested to him and immediately that a victorious smile got wiped off from his face.

"Not willing to do it?" I smirked at him.

"Do you think I didn't try it in the past.? I did it but the case got annulled because her family bribed everyone. And what's the need of getting justice for the thing that has already happened in the past? Moreover, I don't have any concrete evidence to prove her wrong. So, just leave it." He said slowly as if he was a victim of injustice and I so wanted to roll my eyes at him.

"Don't worry about the evidence. Leave that matter to me. I will handle it." I pretended to be friendly with him.

"Leave it, Arjun. I don't want to do it. I just want to save you from her. If I file a case against her, your name will also get dragged along with her as she is your wife. I don't want to spoil your name. So, think of me as your brother and listen to my words. Just leave her, okay?"

"Are you worried about me or are you worried that once you file the case, all your lies will get caught?" I asked him while taking threatening steps towards him.

He gulped a little but tried to put a brave front. "What are you talking about.? What I am saying is true. If not, why is she hesitating to tell you about her past? Did she ever mention it to you? No, right? She avoided talking about her past because she is guilty of her acts." He said to me hurriedly.

"Is it? How do you know about the fact that she didn't tell me anything? Are you stalking her?" I asked him menacingly and he shuddered a little upon hearing my tone.

"Why would I do that.? Before meeting you, I just talked with her to tell her about our meeting and she begged me to not tell you anything. That's how I came to know that you are unaware of her glorious deeds," he said, making me ball my fists in anger.

"Did you threaten her?" I asked him calmly but I was not at all calm.

"No, I didn't. From the day I returned to the country, I am pleading with her to tell you everything as I didn't want you to get hurt after hearing it from others but she didn't speak up. So, I came here to tell you everything." He said as if he had done some good deed.

"God! This guy is getting on my nerves. Why is he portraying himself as Goutham Buddha? Can't he understand that I already caught all his lies? Wait! Did he say that he was asking her to tell me everything? It means he was blackmailing her all along. How dare he?" With these thoughts, I again held his collar.

"How dare you blackmail her? Listen, I don't believe any of your nonsense. If I did then I would be a big fool. Most importantly, I don't care about her past. Even if she murdered someone in the past, I will still support her and she will still be my wife forever. You can't fool me. So, stop trying to drive a wedge between us. I am going to leave you for this time as my Daksha is waiting for me. I already wasted so much o my time on your nonsense. I won't entertain you anymore. Show yourself out," I told him coldly. After saying this, I held his collar and dragged him out of the room.

All his previous 'I am so innocent' demeanor changed and I scoffed at his pretentious behavior.

After adjusting his shirt properly, he glared at me ferociously and said," You will pay for it."

"I will be waiting for it then." I challenged him equally. After glaring at me, he started marching to the exit but stopped after hearing my words.

"Mr.Rahul, it would be better if you didn't do anything wrong to my Daksha in the past. Otherwise, even God can't save you from my wrath." I cautioned him and he marched away while fisting his hands without looking at me.

After he left, I rubbed my forehead and went inside the room to collect my stuff. After that, I started to go home.

Once I reached the house, I went to our room. I could sense that Daksha was looking at me but I didn't spare her a glance because I was damn angry at her for letting that scumbag blackmail her all along.

I headed to the washroom and had a bath with the cold water to calm myself down to some extent.

When I came out of the washroom, I saw that Daksha was pacing around the room nervously. Ignoring her, I grabbed my laptop and sat on the couch. Though I was looking at my laptop, all I was doing was notice her actions. She came to me and stood in front of me.

"Arjun, don't you have anything to ask me?" she asked timidly.

"Do I even have that right?" I asked her without looking at her.

"Why are you talking like that? Did I do something wrong? Don't tell me that you believed his words," she exclaimed loudly and I scoffed at her.

"See? This is the problem with you. You won't say anything yet I have to understand everything. You won't ask me anything yet again you assume everything by yourself. I never once forced you to tell me anything related to your past not because I don't have any interest in knowing it but because I want you to tell me everything willingly." I put the laptop aside and stood up from the couch to face her.

"Can't you see that I am trying my best to make you feel comfortable around me.? Yet I have to hear from an outsider that he was blackmailing you. Do you think it is fair? Do you know how angry I was at that moment? I felt like how ignorant I was that I didn't even notice the fact that someone was blackmailing my wife," I shouted at her in vexation and this was the first time I raised my voice at her.

Hearing my voice, she flinched in her place and her eyes filled with unshed tears. Seeing her vulnerable look, I felt guilty for shouting at her but I hardened my heart as this was so necessary for her to not repeat the same thing again in the future.

"Didn't you ask me whether I believed his words or not? To answer your question, I didn't because unlike you, I trust you. Do whatever you want. I don't care about anything from today." Saying this, I was about to storm off but she hugged me from the back and I could feel the hotness of her tears.

"I am sorry. I am so sorry. I was a fool to hide that matter from you. I never felt threatened by his messages. That's why I didn't mention anything about it to you but I didn't expect that it would hurt you a lot. Please don't be angry. You can scold me, beat me, and do whatever you want if that helps you to calm your anger down but don't leave me and walk away from me." She said in a muffled tone as she was sobbing so badly.

Seeing this, I softened my stance. I removed her hold on me and turned to face her. After dabbing her tears away, I took her into my arms and hugged her tightly.

"Even though it is a small issue, if it is related to you then it matters to me a lot. So, never hide anything from me," I told her calmly and patted her back but paying no heed to my words, she continued sobbing her eyes out

"Stop crying. I am not angry at you anymore," I told her in a hope that she would stop crying but she didn't.

"How can you say that I don't have trust in you? Do you know, without even thinking about the aftermath, I told him to do whatever he wants to do because I know that you won't believe his words. I even messaged you to come home early as I wanted to tell you everything about my past because I trust you with my life. So, never say that I don't trust you, and never be angry at me. It's hurting a lot to see you behave like that." She said in between her sobs while punching me with her fists.

I think my words hurt her a lot. So, I held her weeping figure in my arms tightly and gave a light kiss on her hair.

"I am sorry. I won't repeat it again. Go and freshen up a little. I will bring the food to our room. After having it, take a good rest. We will discuss everything later." I told her softly to which she shook her while

wiping her tears.

"No. Come with me. I decided to tell you everything today. So, I will tell you. Lest someone might use this reason to create differences between us." Saying this, she grabbed her car keys.

She held my hand and started dragging me outside, all the while ignoring my protests. She made me sit in the passenger seat and started driving somewhere.

After reaching there, she stopped the car and gestured to me to follow her. I glanced around the surroundings and noticed that it was an orphanage.

I looked at her in confusion but decided to follow her anyway. She took me to the backside of the orphanage and asked me to sit beside her.

I sat beside her and saw that she was looking at the sky with a forlorn look.

"Daksha, it's okay. We can discuss it later. Don't stress yourself," I told her when I saw the gloomy look on her face.

"No Arjun. Let me open up. Believe me when I say I am more than ready to say everything to you." She assured me and I nodded at her while waiting for her to tell me her story. She started saying.

"All of it started two years ago..."☐☐☐☐☐☐