Chapter 11
Next Morning
The engine purred beneath her fingers as Arundhati steered through the thinning Monday traffic, eyes locked on the road ahead but mind ticking through not the dozen things she had to deal with at Verma & Associates but the damn kiss with Kushal in her uncle’s villa last night.
It had ambushed her.
She still couldn’t believe how she let it happen.
One moment, she was pushing Kushal away with her words, flinging their mutual bitterness like knives.
The next, his hand was on her waist, her breath caught between fury and surrender, and his lips on hers.
It wasn’t just a kiss. It was months of love, pain, pride, and betrayal, all crashing into one forbidden moment.
What the hell had she done?
They were divorcing. Their next court trial was within a month, and yet, there she was, last night, melting into the man she had sworn to leave.
She could still feel the heat of his touch, the way his fingers had found the small of her back like they remembered her, as if her body had been waiting all this time for that exact contact. She hated herself for it. But more than that, she hated the truth the kiss had laid bare.
She still wanted him.
Last night, those same thoughts haunted her as she returned from the kitchen.
She hadn’t dared to face him again. She didn’t know what she would say, or worse, what she would do if she saw him.
So, with the first ray of sunlight, she typed a quick message to her uncle, just a line— “Heading back to my apartment”, and slipped out silently.
No goodbyes. No morning pleasantries. Because if she stayed even a minute longer, she would have to face Kushal again.
And she couldn’t do that.
Because he had kissed her like he loved her.
Arundhati blinked back the sting in her eyes as she pulled up at a red light. She couldn’t afford this. Couldn’t afford to be swept away by one night of vulnerability wrapped in tuxedos and scotch. They were done. Weren’t they?
She scoffed bitterly. Tell that to her racing pulse. Tell that to her lips that still burned.
They had crossed a line. And now, the only thing more terrifying than their fights… was the possibility that something between them still lived.
She had barely passed the signal at Carter Road when her phone rang. It was from Diya, her assistant.
Composing herself into professional mode again, she pressed the Bluetooth. “Yes, Diya?”
“Ma’am, have you seen the news?”
“News?” Arundhati’s brows furrowed. “What news? I’m en route to the office. What’s happened?”
“Ma’am, a backdated post has gone viral. It has Anant Mukherjee’s pictures...”
“Pictures? What kind?”
“Intimate. With a woman. Not Sadhna.”
“What?”
“They’re everywhere. Instagram, Twitter and even news outlets have picked it up. I’ve just sent the links to you.”
Arundhati pulled over sharply, the car jerking to a halt near a café.
She fumbled for her phone and tapped open the messages and downloaded the photos.
Anant, almost shirtless, was holding a woman in his arms. Another, kissing her neck in a background of what looks like a pub.
Candid, careless, undeniably real pictures dated a year back.
Her stomach sank.
“Who is she?” she asked, trying to control her anger.
“Her name’s Noyonika Talwar. She’s given a statement to the media claiming they were involved a year ago, while he was still married to Sadhna.”
The phone felt hot in her hand.
“She mentioned emotional abuse and stated she left him, having no further contact since,” Diya continued. “Now she wants nothing to do with him.”
Arundhati closed her eyes.
“Is Kushal in the office?” she asked tightly. “Has he been informed?”
“That’s the issue, ma’am. He’s not at the office, and his phone is unreachable.”
Arundhati’s breath caught. “What?”
“Yes, Ma’am. We have all tried to reach him since morning, but to no luck.”
Kushal never left his phone off. Never missed a crisis.
And this was not just a scandal. This was a goddamn explosion.
Of all the days. Of all the times. Kushal had to go missing today?
Was it because of last night? But… this firm was his priority.
He would never take his clients and cases lightly.
Then why was he suddenly not in contact?
Arundhati gritted her teeth. “Okay. I’ll handle this.”
She ended the call and immediately dialled Kushal, but it went straight to voicemail. She tried again. Nothing. Her pulse pounded with disbelief and rage.
“Kushal, where the hell are you?” she muttered, slamming her palm against the steering wheel.
Without wasting another second, she called Anant.
He picked up after two rings. “Arundhati—”
“What the hell, Anant?” she snapped. “Why didn’t you tell us about Noyonika? About this entire thing?”
“It’s not what it looks like,” he said, too quickly.
She scoffed. “Oh, come on. Don’t insult our intelligence. The pictures are clear. The interview is worse. She’s painted you out to be a lying, cheating and abusive husband. Do you understand what this does to your case?”
“I swear, Arundhati, she’s my ex. It ended before I married Sadhna.”
“Then why is she claiming otherwise? This jeopardises our entire case.”
“She’s just trying to ruin me now,” Anant replied. “I swear, I didn’t think it was relevant. I didn’t expect this to resurface.”
“You should still have told us,” she snapped. “We are your lawyers. We’re supposed to defend you, but if you keep hiding facts like this, how the hell do you expect us to protect you? Your oversight has given Sadhna’s legal team ammunition. We need to strategize immediately.”
There was a long silence on the other end.
“I’m coming to the office,” he finally said. “I’ll explain everything in person.”
She didn’t respond.
“I tried calling Kushal to explain this, but he is unreachable,” he added.
“He… He will be there soon,” she assured him. “Will see you at the office, and please stay away from the media. Do not give them anything. Come soon.”
She disconnected, letting out a growl of frustration and slammed her hand against the wheel again before dialling Kushal again. But she was met with the same result…voicemail.
“Where the f*ck are you, Kushal?” she muttered.
She stared at the screen again. The headlines were multiplying by the second.
‘Who is Noyonika Talwar? Anant Mukherjee’s ex-lover breaks the silence.’
‘Anant’s infidelity surfaces—New blow to Anant-Sadhna’s case.’
Everything they had built for this case so far, every careful strategy, every stitched-up narrative, would go in vain if they didn’t defend this somehow.
And Kushal was missing. Wow!!
Arundhati’s knuckles tightened around the steering wheel. This wasn’t just a PR disaster. It was a legal turning point, and she knew Sadhna’s lawyer, Maanya Kapoor, would be sharpening her knives already.
The city blurred past as she accelerated the car towards Verma and Associates. Today felt like another war. And Kushal better be there to fight this alongside her.
**************
Verma and Associates
Arundhati had been in the office for over an hour now, but there was still no sign of Kushal. Her phone screen was barren of any missed calls, texts, or explanations from him. She paced outside Raj Verma’s cabin, the agitation on her face impossible to mask before she barged inside.
Her uncle was already seated, thumbing through some case files, but he looked up immediately. “Still no word from Kushal?”
She shook her head. “Nothing. Phone’s off. No messages. It’s like he vanished.”
Raj exhaled slowly, concern knitting into his features. “This morning when I came downstairs at the Villa, he was almost ready to leave. He seemed normal. No mention of anything urgent. Didn’t say he’d be taking off today.”
Arundhati sighed.
“And you know he’s never unreachable, Aru,” Raj added, brows furrowed. “Even when he’s sick or swamped, he checks in. I don’t understand what happened to him today.”
His eyes searched hers. “Did something happen last night between you two?”
A flush crept up her neck, rising to her cheeks like fire. He raised a hand, quick to clarify, “I meant, did you fight again? You left early. We didn’t see you. And now he’s missing. I’m just trying to connect the dots.”
Arundhati looked away for a second too long. What could she say? That she kissed the man she was divorcing? That she had let her guard down?
“No. Nothing happened,” she said, then before he could read between the lines, she added, “But if your golden boy doesn’t show up soon, then a lot will happen.”
Raj blinked, knowing she was right.
“Our client’s reputation is at stake. Anant could walk in any minute, and you know he trusts Kushal more than me, or you, or this entire damn firm. He asked for him. You’re the one who looped me into this deal, you said we’d work it together. And now he just—what? Decides to disappear?”
Raj didn’t reply at first. He just nodded, reluctantly accepting her anger as justified.
That’s when Diya, her assistant, appeared at the door. “Ma’am, Anant’s here. He’s waiting in your cabin. He’s asking for Kushal.”
Of course he is.
“Tell him I’ll be there in a minute.”
Diya nodded and disappeared.
She then drew a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and turned back to Raj. “Try to contact him, uncle. Please ask our special team to get him here. Call, message, track his damn location if they have to. Just find him.”
Raj nodded silently, already pulling out his phone.
She walked out without waiting for his confirmation. If Kushal had chosen to disappear after last night, after that kiss, then fine. But she would not let him take their work or their reputation down with him.
She would face Anant alone and handle the crisis.
And when he finally showed up, he would have to answer not just to her… but to everything he had just put on the line.
When she finally stepped into her cabin, Anant was already standing by the window, arms folded, tension radiating off him like heat. He turned the moment she entered.