Chapter 32 #2
She reminded herself to let go of the past and animatedly said, ‘And now, he’s my best friend and my anchor in every storm. My husband is also my muse, so that makes up for annoying me with his grand romantic gestures.’
Everyone laughed, and Abhay cracked a smile. He was looking at her with so much hope that she couldn’t stop herself from publicly declaring what she’d meant to whisper to him in bed.
‘Abhay, I’ve been in love with you since the night we met. You laugh and it sounds like I’m home. You look at me with so much love that I forget how to breathe. You rule my heart, and I’m hopelessly proud to stand here and say that Abhay Agrawal belongs to me.’
He stood so suddenly that his chair scraped back audibly against the floor. Before anyone could fully register it, he ran onto the stage and pulled her into his arms. He searched her face for a moment, as if still unable to believe she’d finally said it all.
She laughed merrily at his surprise and that was enough for him. Abhay didn’t hesitate, simply pulled her closer and kissed her. He swallowed her gasp as his lips moved against hers like he’d been starved of her.
Gasps and whistles rang around them but the world around them fell away as Siya lost herself in the kiss.
All she knew was the warmth of him and how cold and gloomy she’d felt without him.
He framed her face as he deepened the kiss, and she curled her fingers into the lapel of his jacket, pulling him closer.
When they finally broke apart, laughing and breathless, Abhay glanced back at the room with a sheepish, lopsided smile. ‘Excuse us, we’re still newlyweds. A little madness is expected, right?’
Everyone laughed in agreement, and the light on the stage finally dimmed one by one.
The announcer came back on. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, let’s leave our gallant hosts in their blissful bubble, and head over to the main dining hall.
Dinner is served. Please make your way through the central corridor. ’
‘Come with me.’ With a tug at her heart, Abhay led her off the stage through the small backstage exit. When he didn’t know where to go, she pulled him into the same dressing room she’d hid in before the event began.
‘What’s happening?’ he asked, as soon as she closed the door. ‘Where have you been? I looked everywhere, Siya.’
She pressed her palm against his chest, trying to calm him down. ‘The first thing I need to say is I’m sorry for leaving you in the dark. I’m sorry I disappeared.’
‘Why did you leave me?’ he asked, and the hitch in his voice tugged at her heart.
Siya cupped his cheeks in her palms and felt her throat constrict as she said, ‘Because after that dinner, I was scared I’ll see the same look in your eyes as everyone at that table. I couldn’t bear the thought of you asking me to leave our home, so I guess it was easier to leave.’
‘Oh god, no,’ he chuckled, then wrapped his arm around her waist. ‘Sweetheart, I’ve been going out of my mind without you. I cannot even imagine being away from you.’
She looked away because she was afraid to ask for it. ‘Abhay, I need to know. If you’d known about my condition before, would you still have chosen me?’
‘Meri jaan, I already chose you when we were kids, and with time, my madness for you has only consumed me more. I know we can’t have it all and I can accept a life without kids.
But a life without you by my side is no life at all.
Our home feels too large and empty without you. Come back to me, please.’
‘Where else would I go?’ she chuckled through tears.
‘I’m still shocked that you took my last name. Not complaining, though,’ he said cheekily.
‘It’s mine now, too,’ she said and she smiled softly and laid a kiss on his lips. ‘I love you, Abhay.’
‘I love you so much, baby. Now, stop distracting me before I lock the door and take you right here,’ he whispered against her lips and reluctantly pulled back. ‘Where have you been?’
‘I was with Dhruv. We’ve been going through Dad’s finances, contracts and deals he made to gather proof in case he tried to challenge the will or resist stepping down.
And in the meantime, we registered my new company, moved the necessary assets, and shifted legal ownership of all jewellery to me. I needed it airtight.’
‘Did you find anything?’
She nodded. ‘We found plenty of questionable transactions and every forged document he presented to our investors. Dhruv… he found a lot more.’
He’d been so caught up with relief that he missed the person she had named. ‘Wait a second, you were staying with Dhruv and Vihaan?’
She chuckled at the dumbfounded look on his face as he tried to stitch together that image.
‘Yes, and somehow, we survived it. Dhruv is less insufferable when Vihaan is around, until they begin debating over any stupid topic. And Dhruv is not who I thought he was. There’s still a long way to go, but I think we’ve both realised that we are not each other’s enemy. ’
‘You could’ve told me, Siya. You didn’t have to do this alone.’
‘I had to,’ she insisted. ‘It had to be done in silence and secrecy. I didn’t want this leading back to you, not if it got ugly.’
He opened his mouth to answer but Siya placed her palm lightly against his chest to stop him. ‘You’ve always protected me, no matter what. This time, it’s my turn to protect you.’
Abhay exhaled a slow, ragged breath. ‘You drive me insane, you know that?’
She smiled widely and said, ‘Yeah, but you still love me.’
‘I do,’ he accepted, pressing a kiss to her temple.
The door smashed open and Kartik stalked in. ‘How dare you try to throw me out of my company?’
Siya winced at the loud interruption, and when she noticed his blazing eyes and tight fists, she turned to face him head on. ‘I thought I made myself clear, Dad. Kashyap Luxe is dissolved.’
He stopped just a few feet away. ‘You went behind my back, humiliated me publicly, and tried to steal my company from me!’
‘It’s not your company,’ she said, and the conviction in her voice deepened when she felt Abhay stand behind her, as her shield.
‘It is! You’re such a bitch who isn’t grateful for what I’ve achieved and what I’ve given you,’ Kartik shouted.
Siya gripped Abhay’s hand in a vice when she felt him step forward to confront Kartik. She held her father’s gaze and said, ‘What I wanted was a home, but what you gave me was a place to survive.’
‘So now what? You take everything and leave me to rot?’
‘I’m not taking everything. I’ve left you with enough money to survive, and to build something of your own.
The only reason I didn’t show your real face and your evil deeds to the public is because I respect my mother and the love she had for you, even when you don’t.
But your reign of terror is over, Dad. You’re on your own. ’
He squared his shoulder, rage vibrating off him in waves as he stalked forward. ‘You think you’ve won, Siya? You think I’ll just roll over? I will fucking sue you, and drag you through every court in this country. I’ll show you what real power looks like then. You don’t know what I’m capable of.’
‘But I do,’ Dhruv interrupted him, shattering his bubble.
He strolled into the room as he said, ‘I know about the hidden loan from the bank that was claimed for “strategic expansion in Japan”. I know how you sold shares of our US subsidiary overseas at a loss just to escape bankruptcy. And I know how, when the creditors closed in, you mortgaged Arohi ji’s personal jewellery to save yourself.
And if this ever reaches a courtroom, I’ll be Siya’s key witness. ’
‘You?’ Kartik spat as he swung to face him. ‘I brought you home from an orphanage and this is how you thank me? I gave you a family, a name, everything you have, and instead of being grateful, you stab me in the back?’
Dhruv didn’t flinch, but his fists were curled so tight that they practically trembled with the tension.
‘You want to talk about gratitude? Let’s do it.
I’ve spent my life being grateful that you didn’t throw me out of your house, that you let me eat at your table while all you did was keep me around like an insurance policy. ’
‘Even that was a blessing for an unwanted filth like you, but you’re too stuck up to see it,’ Kartik scoffed.
He clenched his jaw as he studied the father he’d revered all his life, but all he saw now was a tiny, shallow man whose ego was as fragile as his humanity.
‘You know, for a long time, I defended you thinking you’re harsh, maybe even cold, but never evil.
Until I found the buried trail of hush money you gave to the people who were poisoned by the highly reactive but cheap metal you approved to cut costs. ’
‘And then,’ Dhruv continued, his voice cracking under the weight of his colossal pain, ‘I found the truth about my mother.’
Even though Siya knew this confrontation was coming, she couldn’t help how her heart stuttered watching her brother stand up to his abuser.
Dhruv said, ‘You had an affair with my mother when she was only twenty. When she couldn’t take care of me, she brought me to your doorstep but you turned your back on us. She had to leave me at the orphanage because she didn’t have the financial means to raise me on her own.’
Kartik defended himself proudly, ‘But I did take pity on you and come back for you.’
Dhruv was shaking his head before Kartik finished.
‘The only reason you came back for me wasn’t because you took pity on me.
It was because your father-in-law had put in a male heir condition to inherit the company to stop you.
That clause was about to ruin your chances of becoming a billionaire, and I was your last resort.
You came to get me for what I could do for you, not because you were worried about your son. ’