CHAPTER 27! HER PAST #3
"If electricity rises in a wing that nobody is using..."
"...someone is using it or maybe it's waste."
"If medicines are ordered twice..."
"...someone forgot to update the inventory."
"If the flower budget suddenly doubles..."
"...either there's a celebration..."
"...or someone enjoys fresh flowers a little too much, we should be aware of our family likes or dislike."
A tiny smile appeared on Tara's face.
Aadhira continued.
"My father used to say..."
"Money speaks.
You just have to know what question to ask."
Silence.
Even the steward looked impressed.
Mrinalini Devi studied her for several long seconds.
"And if your questions are wrong?"
Aadhira smiled politely.
"Then you'll know I still have a lot to learn."
"And if they're right?"
She met the older woman's eyes.
"Then perhaps you'll trust me with this house."
A long pause.
Finally-
Mrinalini Devi closed her embroidery.
"Give the ledger to her."
The steward blinked.
"Dadi?"
"You heard me."
He immediately placed the heavy ledger before Aadhira.
Ishaani quietly removed an elegant pen from her handbag and slid it across the table.
"You'll need this."
Aadhira accepted it.
"I have one request."
Mrinalini Devi arched an eyebrow.
"The kitchen supervisor."
"The head housekeeper."
"Maintenance."
"Security."
"And the stores manager."
"I want all of them present before I approve anything."
Ishaani looked up.
"All of them?"
"The numbers tell me what happened."
Aadhira gently closed the ledger.
"The people will tell me why."
For the first time...
Mrinalini Devi looked at her not merely as Aryav's wife-
-but as the woman who might one day run the Shinghania household.
The steward bowed deeply and hurried away to organize the staff, leaving Aadhira standing near the sunlit window as Mrinalini Devi gathered her embroidery to retreat to her wing.
Bhagwan, is ghar mein chai bhi exam pass karke milti hogi.
Somewhere deeper inside the mansion, a study door closed.
Aryav.
For reasons she refused to examine too closely, the sound grounded her.
Buzz.
The phone in her hand vibrated once. Then twice.
Aadhira frowned. Unknown Number. Wonderful.
Either a scammer, a telemarketer, or a distant relative asking for a favor.
All three belonged in the same category.
She tapped the notification.
The blood drained from her face so quickly she thought she might faint. The phone slipped from her numb fingers, hitting the thick Persian rug with a dull thud.
A passing maid startled, immediately stepping forward. "Ma'am?"
Aadhira's head snapped up. "Don't."
The girl froze.
Realizing how sharp she sounded, Aadhira forced air back into her collapsing lungs.
"I'm fine," she choked out, her voice sounding like it belonged to someone else. She bent down with jerky, uncoordinated movements, snatching the phone back up.
"Aadhira?"
The younger woman jerked slightly. Ishaani had looked up from her tablet, her sharp eyes mapping the sudden tension in Aadhira's shoulders. "You look pale."
"I'm fine, Maa. Just a silly notification," Aadhira forced a tight smile, slipping the device into her pocket.
Ishaani didn't look entirely convinced. The quiet concern in her eyes lingered, but recognizing the boundaries of the younger woman's pride, she let it go with a slow, supportive nod. "Don't let the ledger stress you. You'll do well."
Aadhira managed another nod as Ishaani went back to her tablet. Turning back toward the window, Aadhira pulled the phone back out beneath the safety of the sill.
On the screen, a low-resolution video was looping. The grainy camera angle pointed toward the wardrobe mirror of her old bedroom in her parents' house.
Her.
Laughing at something she couldn't hear anymore, reaching for the zipper of her dress after it had been ruined in the mud, completely unaware she was being watched.
Her breathing hitched as she swiped up to read the text messages blinking beneath the media file.
Unknown: I watched the wedding.
Unknown: You kept twisting your ring during the pheras.
Unknown: You always do that when you're scared.
Unknown: Sapphire Club. 10 PM.
Unknown: Bring security and Aryav receives the videos. Ignore me and everyone receives them.
Across the sunlit lawn, visible through the grand floor-to-ceiling windows, two armed Shinghania guards continued their disciplined patrol.
Their rifles were slung tightly over their shoulders, their eyes scanning the perimeter. Neither of them noticed the phone shaking in her hand.
She was surrounded by one of the most dangerous, heavily fortified families in the country, yet the threat had still reached right into her palm.
Aadhira stared at the message again.
Sapphire Club. 10 PM.
Her thumb hovered over Aryav's contact.
One call. That was all it would take. Samarth would stop being a problem. Permanently.
The terrifying part wasn't whether Aryav could protect her.
The terrifying part was that she was beginning to believe he would. And once she crossed that line, there would be no going back.