CHAPTER 25 #3
“Trust?” Daksh’s grip on her arms tightened. “On you? Never, Mishti.” His fury reached a breaking point, and in the heat of the argument, his hand lifted.
Mishti froze, horrified. But before the slap could land, Karan caught Daksh’s wrist mid-air.
“Don’t even dare to do that,” Karan scoffed, pushing his hand away from Mishti and dragged her closer.
Daksh stared at him in shock.
“If you ever lay a hand on my wife again, I’ll make sure you lose far more than your company. I will strip you of every last thing you think defines you, Daksh Goel.”
The room fell silent. This was the first time he had said it aloud. The first time he had claimed Mishti so openly.
Mishti stared at him, stunned, through her tears. The man who had told her he hated her, the man who had used her as a pawn in his business war, now stood between her and her brother, protecting her dignity like he owned it.
She did not understand him anymore. What exactly did Karan want? Did he want to destroy her world or to save her from it?
Daksh completely lost control. His hand shot out and fisted the front of Karan’s collar, dragging him forward in rage.
“You think you won?” Daksh snarled, his face inches away.
“You think you can walk in here, destroy everything I have built, and walk away untouched? I will not let this go, Karan. I swear on everything, I will make you pay for every single word you have spoken today. For every move you have made. For every humiliation you think you can get away with.”
Karan did not even flinch. He caught Daksh’s wrist, peeled his fingers away, angrily, and shoved him back with a single hard push. There was no struggle in it, no drama. Just pure rage.
“You cannot do anything now,” Karan said, “it’s over.”
Daksh stumbled back, losing his footing, in shock and helpless disbelief. Divya rushed forward and caught him before he could fall. She wrapped her arms around him as tears spilt freely down her cheeks.
On the other hand, the sight of her brother standing there, broken and humiliated, with Divya crying against his chest, broke Mishti completely. She turned on Karan at once.
“How could you do this?” she yelled. “You used me. You knew all along that you were making me work against my own brother’s company. You made me destroy him with my own hands.”
Her chest rose and fell rapidly as she continued.
“Why? What kind of sick pleasure do you get from this? Playing these games. Watching people fall apart. You destroyed what little relationship I already had with Daksh bhai. Why? How can you be so cruel?”
Karan did not respond.
That silence infuriated her more. She stepped closer and grabbed the lapels of his suit, her fingers curling into the fabric as if she needed something solid to hold on to.
“You cannot stay quiet today, Karan,” she said fiercely. “You owe me an answer. You owe me the truth.”
Tears continuously spilt from her eyes, but she didn’t stop.
“Today was supposed to be the best day of their lives. They announced their pregnancy. Their future. And this is what you gave them in return? You crushed their livelihood on the same day.” Tears rolled down her eyes but she continued.
“I understand that you hate my brother. I understand that you hate me. Maybe even my entire family. But what about that unborn child? What did that baby ever do to you? Why are you stealing its future?”
That’s when Karan finally snapped. The calm that had wrapped him until now shattered violently. He gripped Mishti’s arms, pulling her further close.
“Ask this question to your father, Dilip Goel,” he said, eyes darkening.
Mishti froze. His grip on her tightened further in fury, enough to leave bruises on her skin.
“Ask him what my fault was?” Karan continued, his voice rising with every word. “What did I do to deserve losing everything I ever loved? Ask him what my mother’s fault was, that he did not hesitate even once before pulling the trigger and killing her.”
The room shrank around them.
Mishti stared at him, shocked.
“My father?” she murmured. “Killed your…? What… what are you saying?”
“Yes. Your father,” Karan snapped. “Your father killed my mother, Mishti. He’s a cold-blooded murderer.
And that’s why you and Daksh, his children, will keep paying for as long as he breathes.
Because I want him to feel it. I want him to live with the same pain.
The same hollow ache in his chest that he gave me every single day for the last fifteen years. ”
Her lips trembled.
“My…my father is dead,” she said softly.
“I wish he were,” he said, grabbing her arm tightly as his anger surged again.
“But he is alive, Mishti. Very much alive. And not once has he shown regret. Not once has he felt guilty for destroying my family. The Wadhwas. Everything you and your brother have enjoyed…the power, the luxury, the life you are breathing into? All of it was built on my family’s money.
Money your father stole from us. The money that cost me my mother. My family. My childhood.”
Fight drained from Mishti’s body as she heard the real reason for Karan’s actions so far. He wasn’t just a power-hungry, stone-hearted businessman. Each step he had taken so far was fuelled by his revenge.