CHAPTER 67! TRUTH #2
?Aadhira looked at him in shock. "Did he stop them?"
?"No." Aryav's expression remained terrifyingly blank. "He stood outside the door to keep watch. And then he walked inside too."
?Aadhira let out a choked, tearful gasp, a severe shudder running down her spine. "No... please, no..."
?"Ananya didn't say a single word for three weeks," Aryav whispered, his voice trembling faintly with an old, buried fury.
"Not to her mother. Not to staff. Not to me. She went entirely silent. She stopped eating. She refused to leave her room. And whenever I happened to walk past the staff quarters... whenever she caught sight of me... she would start shaking. She would back herself into the corner of the room,
hiding her face."
?He swallowed hard, the agonizing memory visibly tearing at him.
?"Three weeks later, I called her and asked why she is behaving like that, She didn't reply first than she fell straight to her knees on the tile floor. She grabbed my shoes, sobbing so hard she couldn't breathe. And she looked up at me and said, 'Dada, I promise it's not my fault.
I didn't do anything wrong. Please don't tell my mother. Please don't be angry with me.'"
?Aadhira covered her face with her hand, a hot stream of tears spilling down her cheeks. The absolute horror and cruelty of a child begging not to be blamed crushed her heart.
?"They made her believe it was her fault," Aryav said, his voice laced with venom.
"They told her no one in this country would ever believe a maid's daughter over the Chief Minister's son. They told her her mother would be thrown out on the street. That her entire family would be destroyed if she ever speak a word."
?Aadhira wiped her eyes with the back of her wrist, forcing herself to look at his dark, solemn face through her blurred vision. "What did you do, Aryav?"
?"I went to the Police Commissioner first," Aryav said softly.
?Aadhira waited, watching the eerie stillness of his frame. His thumb had stopped moving against her hand entirely.
?"I thought he would fix it," Aryav said quietly. "I thought the official uniform he wore came with some basic sense of human decency."
?"You trusted him to handle it legally?"
?"I trusted the legal system." He paused, a dark, dangerous shadow flickering over his eyes. "It was a mistake I never repeat again."
?Aadhira's fingers tightened around his. "What did he do?"
?"He laughed in my face."
?Aadhira felt her stomach drop.
?"He told me mr. Shinghania young boys make mistakes. He told me I am rich I should just write a large check to the maid's family, quiet them down, and sweep it under the rug." Aryav turned his head away, his jaw working as he fought to control his tone.
"By eight o'clock the next morning, the official police entries for that night were erased. The estate's perimeter security footage was permanently wiped. Every single shred of physical evidence that could prove what happened to that girl was gone."
?Aadhira stared at him, stunned by the sheer corruption and systemic power.
?"They believed their political titles made them untouchable," Aryav continued, his eyes pitch black with a terrifying, absolute calm.
"They thought because they controlled the local police force and the state government, there was no power above them..."Aryav continued. "So I took Rocky."
?Aadhira's breath hitched in her throat. "What do you mean... you took him?"
?"I tracked him to a secluded private farmhouse forty miles outside the city," Aryav said without a trace of hesitation or regret in his voice. "I made sure he fully understood why he was going to die before I ended his life."
?Aadhira searched his face, reading the cold, unshakeable truth in his dark eyes. The realization hit her with full force.
?"You killed him?" she whispered.
?"Yes." He didn't look away, nor did he offer a single word of justification.
?"And Rohit?"
?"Rohit fled the state. With the help of minister. It took me 5 Day's to catch up with him. I found him at the Chief Minister's private birthday celebration. And killed him too."
?"And Abhi?"
?"No," Aryav's jaw tightened, a bitter edge entering his voice.
"His father realized what was happening and what will happen to his son so smuggled him out of the country the same night. They erased him completely. No phone records, no active bank accounts, no registered flight manifests. For a year and a half, I've been tracking down him."
?Aadhira sat in stunned silence, processing everything. The sheer, violent magnitude of this secret war he had been fighting-all while coming home to her every evening, maintaining his business empire, and acting as if nothing was wrong-was overwhelming.
?"Where is Ananya now?" she asked quietly, her tone softening.
?"She couldn't stay in this house. Too many painful memories," Aryav answered, his tone softening slightly. "I relocated her and her mother to a private property down south. New place. A new school. Surrounded by people I personally trust to keep them safe. She's receiving proper therapy."
?"Is she doing okay? Is she safe?"
?"She is safe." A rare, genuine softness appeared around his eyes. "Her mom sent me a photograph last week. She was standing in a garden, smiling."
?Aadhira looked down at their joined hands. The young girl was safe, far away from the horrors of this estate and the men who had hurt her.
She wanted to let the massive wave of relief wash over her, but the reality of their present situation quickly crashed back into her mind.
?Her gaze shifted slowly toward the bedside table, where his phone lay dark and quiet.
?Sameera.
?The memory of that glowing screen and the suggestive text message flashed sharply in her mind.
The emotional ache returned, swift and demanding. She slowly raised her eyes back to his face, her expression hardening.
?"That explains Ananya," she said, her voice turning firm. "Now tell me who is Sameera."
?"Sameera is a model," Aryav said directly.
?"I know who she is," Aadhira said, leaning in slightly. "I am asking who is she to you?"
?"Nothing she is nothing to me , She is Abhi's girlfriend. Or rather... she was."
?Aadhira's eyes narrowed sharply. "His girlfriend? The man you've been searching?"
?"Yes."
?"How does it explain why she was texting you?"
?"She approached me at the Chief Minister's event a few months ago,"
Aryav explained, running a hand over his tired face. "She came up to me because she realized I am more powerful than abhi. Sameera doesn't want love or loyalty she wants money and power."
?"And?"
?"She come to me," Aryav said flatly. "And she offered to give me Abhi's exact location in exchange for me bringing her into my..."
"My what"
"Life as a wife."
?Aadhira stared at him in utter disbelief. "Wife? Wife? Seriously She offered to sell out her own boyfriend even herself... just to get close to you?"
?"Yes."
?Aadhira's analytical mind quickly processed the timeline he had laid out. Suddenly, a glaring flaw in his explanation clicked into place.
Her eyes flashed with sudden anger, and her voice sharpened.