Chapter 39
Mumbai
“Mom, why are we here?” Ahaan asked, idly tossing a small cricket ball from hand to hand. “Coming to your office is boring.”
“Oh really?” She put her hands on her hips. “You never say that when Dilnaz is here and sneaking you chocolates.”
His eyes widened. “You know about that?”
“I’m your mother; of course, I know.”
He gave her a naughty smile.
As soon as she’d landed from Singapore, Sabrina had quickly rushed to fetch Ahaan from school and brought him straight to her office.
As expected, he’d been delighted to see her back and earlier than expected.
Aditya had wanted to be there when she spoke to him, but she’d insisted on talking to Ahaan by herself first. She looked at the waning sun from her window.
Her office was quiet at this time. Dilnaz had just left to organize a four-year-old’s birthday party, and she was all alone with her son, exactly as she’d wanted.
She smiled. “I need to talk to you about something.”
Aditya would be reaching here in a little while, and then they’d go to his house and meet his mother, with Ahaan. But Ahaan wasn’t paying her any attention right now. He kept playing with his ball.
She placed a hand over his. “This is important, sweetheart.”
That made him look up, his dark eyes curious.
“Ahaan,” she began, steadying her breath. She knew he liked Aditya, but what she was going to say next would change his life too. “I want you to know that Aditya and I are together. How would you feel if he were part of our lives… forever?”
“Forever?” he asked.
“Yes.”
He studied her for a long beat. “Do you love him, Mom?”
The calm and grown-up question caught her off guard. Her throat tightened. “What do you know about being in love?”
“It means you’re happy—like Aish is with Rithwik,” he replied matter-of-factly. “It means you have someone who wants to be with you all the time. Isn’t that right?”
Her heart clenched. God, her son’s maturity would never cease to amaze her.
She smiled. “That’s exactly right.”
“Then I want him to be with us forever,” he said, beaming. “He makes me happy too.”
Warmth flooded her chest.
“I want that too,” she whispered. “I want to marry Aditya.”
Ahaan’s grin widened. “Does that mean we’ll live in his house or he’ll live in ours? He said he has a pool. I want to live in the house with the big pool.”
Sabrina laughed, shaking her head. “I thought you were scared of water?”
“Uncle Aditya said he’d teach me, so I’m willing to try with him. So… can we stay with him?”
“I’m not sure where we’ll live yet,” she admitted, smoothing a hand over his hair. “I just know we’ll all be together.”
Ahaan clapped his hands. “This is so cool.”
Then his smile dimmed. “But what about Ma and Maya? Can they come too? We can’t leave them, Mom.”
Oh God. Her heart ached for this little boy, who was far too wise for his years. He was worrying about the very things that weighed on her.
She pulled him into a hug. “We’ll figure it all out, my darling.”
She’d called Aisha and Diya on the way from the airport and told them everything that had happened.
They were both delighted for her, of course.
But she still had to tell her mother-in-law everything—and she would, soon.
She only hoped the older woman would be as considerate as she had promised to be.
She sighed. Aditya and she had yet to discuss living arrangements.
She was certain he’d be open to Maya living with them, wherever they ended up staying.
But what about her mother-in-law? What was she going to do about her?
In the past, the older woman had vehemently refused to stay with Aisha even for a few days. But now?
She shook her head. And then there was Aditya’s mother. God. Why did her life have to be so complicated?
And she still had to tell Ahaan about her brothers.
“Ahaan…” she began.
The ball slipped from Ahaan’s fingers and rolled under her desk. He quickly ducked under the huge wooden desk and sat there playing with his ball. She chuckled. He still did this every time he came to her office. Her big wooden desk was like his personal hideout.
Still smiling, she moved to sit behind the desk. Out of habit, she opened the top drawer, slid her purse inside and pulled out her phone.
Suddenly, the door outside burst open with a crash. Before she could as much as gasp, two men rushed into her office—hard-eyed, broad-shouldered, each with a pistol raised.
Her breath caught. Ahaan. He was hidden beneath the desk. Panic shot through her.
“Stay where you are!” she shouted at the men. “Don’t come near me.”
A hand brushed her calf. Ahaan must have sensed the danger. Without looking down, she shifted closer to the desk and slipped her hand beneath the edge, shaking her fingers in a sharp no, praying he understood.
She then lowered her phone into the shadowed space. His hand closed around it. She flicked her fingers again, hoping he stayed hidden and didn’t make a sound.
At the same time, her other hand reached for her bag. Her fingers closed around the comforting and worn leather of her knife. Heart pounding, she eased it free and tucked it into the pocket of her jeans, never taking her eyes off the men.
Her mind spun. Who were these men? Why were they here? Nothing about this made sense. Dorab was dead. Was this a robbery attempt? Oh God, why was this happening now?
The taller of the two intruders came closer. He had a thick black beard and eyes as cold as stone.
“Don’t make a sound,” he said, his voice sharp. “Come with us quietly, or we will shoot you.”
Her throat tight, she stood on shaky legs. “Why? Who are you? What do you want?”
The man’s expression didn’t change.
“Please,” she said quietly. “I don’t have any money here.”
“Money?” the shorter man said. “You think this is about money?”
Sabrina’s mind raced. She had no idea who they were or why they had come, only that Ahaan was under the desk and she had to keep him safe.
Sabrina raised her hands, forcing herself to step out from behind the desk. “What do you want from me?”
“Our boss says you owe him a debt,” the taller man spat. “It’s been years, and now he’ll make you pay—with interest for fourteen years.”
It was all she needed to know.
“JD,” she breathed.
Both men smiled in a cold confirmation. How had JD found her? It didn’t make sense.
“JD Sir was waiting for you to land in Mumbai. It’s time to go,” the tall one said. “Move.”
Her stomach turned to ice. How did JD even know she wasn’t in the country?
What was going on here? Her heart sped. Ahaan!
These men didn’t know Ahaan was hiding under the desk.
She couldn’t risk them knowing. If she resisted, if she screamed, Ahaan might come out, thinking she was hurt.
She had to go with them quietly, for his sake.
She had to keep him safe. She walked out of her office.
The men pointed to the stairwell, and she went down the stairs, with both men following her.
Her brothers had been right. She shouldn’t have dismissed the threat of JD so easily. Mihir was supposed to hire security for her, but there had been no time. She’d just landed a few hours ago. But how had JD found her? No one knew she was Karina apart from her closest circle.
She shivered as the truth settled in. JD had finally caught up with her, just like she had feared he would.
She was in so much trouble. She’d spent fourteen years living in the shadow of her past, barely allowing herself to live, to feel joy.
And now, when she’d finally let herself fall in love and dream of a better future with a man who loved her, her past had come back for her.