The Night Has Ended

Chapter 6

She bided her time, and walked out of the house the next day, straight to the police station. She asked Lavanya for NK's phone number, and called him for his help. Fortunately, the Guptas came under his jurisdiction, so he was able to note down her complaint and move it up the chain. She had made a gross misunderstanding though, not realizing the clout that the Guptas carried. Also, they were related to the Jhas, a powerful family full of lawyers. Shyam swept in like an avenging angel, using his contacts and his judicial connections to get Karan off scot-free.

There was no evidence of priors on Karan, all records having been wiped earlier. The neighbors and servants came in to testify that she was clumsy and prone to accidents. Garima Ma finally "cracked under pressure" and gave testimony that they had a made a mistake in getting their soft-hearted son married to a gold-digger. Though Sister Teresa gave a statement on her behalf mentioning that the Guptas had contacted her to ask for Khushi's hand in marriage, it didn't hold much water, once Shyam got through explaining how she had arranged to get on the good side of the Guptas. Garima tearfully confessed how, once the marriage was solemnized, Khushi got greedy and wanted more and more. More clothes, more jewelry, more property in her name. How she'd threatened to take them to court in a domestic abuse case if they'd not complied, stating how the law always believed the woman. Payal and Vinita just agreed with Garima, trying not to jeopardize their lives. By the time Shyam was done, the world and its mother believed Khushi to be a gold-digging, vicious opportunist who had taken advantage of the saintly, respectable, charitable Guptas.

After a month of living under the constant threat of the media, the front-page news that made her out to be the villain of the piece, Khushi was tired of the drama. She had spent two days in the hospital and then the remaining time with Sister Teresa, living quietly in the orphanage. After a week of her being there, the Guptas had brought pressure on the church that ran the orphanage to oust her since she was not there in any official capacity. Sister Teresa had claimed her as a relative and sheltered her in her tiny room at the orphanage. By this point, Khushi wanted nothing more than to be left alone in peace to live her life far away from the Guptas. She had done nothing wrong, and hated the amount of trouble she was putting everyone in. NK was threatened by his superiors to stop helping Khushi, Sister Teresa was being pressurized by the church to quit sheltering her. The only underhanded thing she had done was to pawn a few pieces of the jewelry that Karan had given her before this media circus started, so she could pay the lawyers' fees. And hire a decent divorce attorney, so she could file for divorce. She didn't ask for anything in alimony, knowing it would turn into a fight, and she didn't want any reminders of this part of her life anyway. All she wanted was to be free of the Guptas.

A month and half after she'd walked out on her husband, the media attention had died down, the divorce case was in court pending signatures, and Khushi breathed a sigh of relief. That was when she received a call from Garima Gupta. She wanted to talk to Khushi about the divorce proceedings. Karan wanted to contest it. Garima asked Khushi to meet up with her at their house, so they could discuss how the divorce could go through. She was livid that Khushi wanted to air their dirty laundry in public, and wanted the divorce as much as Khushi, if not more. However, Karan was being stubborn. The family had tried convincing him, but couldn't get anywhere. And Garima wanted to meet with Khushi to discuss this. She hesitatingly asked Khushi if they could meet at the outhouse at the back of their house, since she didn't want to step out of the house for fear of the media. Khushi took it to mean another black eye or visible trauma that couldn't be covered by makeup. But she didn't care about the Gupta ladies any more. If they wanted to continue living in that hell, that was their problem. She just wanted out for herself. Khushi knew she couldn't fight the Guptas in court, not with her resources, so she reluctantly agreed to meet with Garima at the outhouse.

Exactly 10 months after she had first stepped foot into the Gupta house as a newly wedded bride, Khushi walked up the familiar road, and paused, checking the cars parked in the driveway. There was only one. She breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that meant the men of the house had left to go to work. She did not want to run into Karan.

She hurried into the outhouse, wanting to get this meeting over with, so she could go home. Once the divorce was complete, she was planning to leave the city and find a job someplace else, so she would stay far away from the Guptas.

She knocked on the door of the outhouse and it was opened immediately by Garima.

"Hello Ma", Khushi said softly.

Garima had always been very kind to her, and honestly, the only complaint Khushi had against her was turning a blind eye to the atrocities that her sons visited on her daughters-in-law. She had always tried to calm Karan down, made special poultices and ointments for her, pampered her whenever she was hurt. She couldn't understand this dichotomy in this woman. In all the three women of the house, really. They were supportive of each other, and appeared to be genuinely fond of each other. She couldn't understand why they didn't want an out from that abusive home. Even if it was all they knew, they could make a stand, couldn't they? Khushi shook her head. She'd had this conversation separately with Garima, Vinita and Payal, and always got the same answer. I'm not as brave as you, Khushi. And I can live with this. I don't know how I would live without the Gupta name and support.

Garima stepped back, and Khushi walked into the small room. It was mostly used for storage, and was chock full of furniture under shrouds and boxes stacked against the walls. There was no space to sit, so they remained standing.

"Khushi, is there any chance you can reconcile with Karan. We can get him counseling for his anger issues, and stop him from drinking completely", Garima pleaded.

Khushi was aghast. After all this, she wanted her to come back to this hell?

"Are you kidding me, Ma? There is no way I can ever come back to this house. In fact, I think you, Vinita and Payal should also get away while you still can"

"Khushi, that's not how its done. This is just wrong, beta. You cannot bring down the name of the Guptas like this."

"The Guptas brought down their own name. I didn't do anything. They are the ones beating their wives, not me. I'm the victim here, just like you... and Vinita and Payal", Khushi was angry now. Why did this woman not understand?

Garima pleaded and begged for another 10 minutes, before she abruptly changed tactics.

"If you take back your complaint of domestic violence, I can ask Karan to sign the divorce papers. He's just hurt that you would accuse him in public. This will spoil the family name, Khushi", Garima pleaded.

Khushi was beyond surprise now, and beyond pity for this woman, who didn't want to change the status quo, who was happy being a victim, "So you want me to pretend nothing happened? Why? So that a year later, you can find another orphan and get her married to your precious son? Maybe that one will be just as spineless as Vinita and Payal, and won't say anything? Is that the plan, Mrs. Gupta?"

Garima noted the change from Ma to Mrs. Gupta, and sighed. It was not going to happen. Khushi cannot be convinced. This was all her fault. She had insisted on getting this girl into their home as their daughter-in-law. She had seemed so soft and malleable on the outside, but had turned into a wildcat once provoked. Her stubbornness was causing so much trouble to the Gupta family.