Chapter 30
‘Swayam?’
Lavanya called out through the doorway, her breathing uneven and her red curls dishevelled, like she’d rushed over without stopping.
A silent, desperate plea tightened in Kashvi’s chest as she prayed Viraj wouldn’t walk in behind his fiancée. She didn’t have it in her to protect Lavanya’s feelings anymore.
‘Where’s Swayam?’ Lavanya asked Vihaan, whose gaze remained firmly fixed on the floor. The frazzled strands of his hair fell over his forehead, hiding half the face.
Swayam raised a hand and waved her in. ‘Lavi, I’m here.’
The moment Lavanya stepped inside, Kashvi noticed her swollen eyes and the faint red mark on her cheek. Dread twisted hard in her gut.
Dhruv, who had been leaning against the wall, straightened immediately. Vihaan moved to stand beside him, and they exchanged a few hushed words that made Kashvi frown in curiosity.
Lavanya’s gaze landed on them, and she stopped mid-step.
‘Hey, what’s wrong? Is everything okay?’ Swayam asked.
Lavanya kept looking between Dhruv and Vihaan, then pointed a trembling finger towards them.
Dhruv muttered under his breath, ‘Fuck.’
‘It was them last night!’ Lavanya shouted, her eyes widening.
Still carrying the dull ache of bruises that protested with every movement, Kashvi stepped forward. ‘Hey, hey. Why don’t you sit down and we’ll talk, okay?’ she asked, hoping to buy herself time to explain.
The moment Lavanya saw her properly, she gasped in shock at the bruises covering Kashvi’s face. The strap of the bag on her shoulder slipped free and fell to the floor.
Kashvi mentally cursed herself for not putting on some damn concealer.
Tears sprang into Lavanya’s eyes as she covered her mouth. ‘No, no. Tell me this isn’t true.’
Swayam placed a hand on her shoulder. ‘Hey, Lavi, look at me. What happened? Why are you crying?’
Kashvi moved closer too, drawn in by her distress.
A raw, relentless torment blazed in Lavanya’s eyes as she broke into a keening cry. ‘Please… please, don’t tell me Viraj hurt you. Oh God, it can’t be.’
Kashvi’s head snapped towards Swayam. The stunned look on his face mirrored her own disbelief. Her spine stiffened at the anguish in Lavanya’s voice, and she wished she knew how to break a woman’s heart as gently as possible.
When neither of them answered, Lavanya rushed forward and grabbed Kashvi’s hands. ‘I already know the answer, but I need to hear it from you. Did he do this?’
A fiery, blinding pain shot up her arm as the sudden movement pulled the stitches in her palm. Kashvi screamed and immediately jerked her injured hand back.
Lavanya let go instantly, stumbling back a step. ‘I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to... I just panicked.’
Swayam gently took Kashvi’s hand, carefully inspecting it as he asked, ‘Kash, are you okay? Want me to call Maithili?’
Kashvi forced herself to breathe through the agony as she shook her head. ‘It’s okay.’
Lavanya spoke hesitantly. ‘I’m a nurse. Can I check your hand? Just to make sure there’s no damage?’
Kashvi nodded and extended her hand. Lavanya held it with visible caution as she examined the stitches with practised attention. ‘They’re intact. You’re okay.’
‘See? You can relax. You didn’t hurt me,’ Kashvi offered with a strained smile.
Lavanya gently rubbed her cheek and nodded once. ‘Relax? I don’t really remember what that feels like.’
Her admission filled the room with tension.
Swayam asked, ‘Talk to us. Maasi told me you guys called off the engagement.’
Lavanya let out a short, brittle laugh. ‘We? No. I called off the engagement. You know what’s funny?
I knew something felt wrong when Viraj proposed out of nowhere, but I assumed it was because Mummyji pushed him into it.
Yesterday, I found out he only made it official because my father agreed to pay him money as a wedding gift. ’
Vihaan and Dhruv exchanged a knowing glance.
Cold anger flashed through Swayam’s eyes. ‘Did he hurt you? Did he leave that mark on your cheek?’
Lavanya gave a grim nod, her gaze drifting towards Kashvi. ‘He did. But not the way he hurt her. He just tore my heart apart.’
Kashvi swallowed hard. ‘But how did you know about me and him?’ she asked. ‘Did you overhear something at the party?’
‘No, but I saw the fear in your eyes. Then it hit me. I’d seen you at a party before, back when I was in college. You’d stumbled into me while rushing out of the house, crying.’
Her heart splintered at the memory. Kashvi quietly admitted, ‘I remember it too.’
‘I planned to talk to you about it after my engagement, but I didn’t realise I’d already waited too long.
’ Lavanya sighed audibly. ‘After my mother told me about the dowry, I went to Viraj’s suite to confront him.
Right outside, I heard these two arguing about a football being a birthday gift for a wife, and something about it just didn’t feel right. ’
Vihaan smacked Dhruv’s arm, glaring at him. ‘Told you.’
‘His black eye didn’t help either,’ Lavanya remarked.
Dhruv raised an eyebrow, silently daring Vihaan to challenge him again.
Lavanya continued, ‘I found Viraj locked in the bathroom, beaten up. He was furious and kept screaming about how they took his phone. When I asked whether the men I’d seen had attacked him and if I should call the police, he slapped me.’
A faint chill crawled up Kashvi’s spine as she rubbed Lavanya’s arm, trying to offer some comfort. ‘I’m here. You’re not alone in this.’
‘Bloody hell,’ Swayam snapped. ‘That man has gone completely unhinged.’
Dhruv stepped forward, anguish burning in his gaze. ‘I’m sorry, Lavanya. You didn’t deserve to get caught in the middle of this.’
‘Yeah,’ Vihaan agreed, guilt evident on his face. ‘We didn’t know he’d do this, but we should’ve thought about it.’
Lavanya glanced between them thoughtfully. ‘Are you related to Kashvi?’
‘Yeah, she’s our sister,’ Dhruv said, earning a nod from Vihaan.
Lavanya sighed softly. ‘Then don’t apologise. That’s what you do when you love your family. You protect them. Viraj chose to hurt us instead, and that fault lies only with him.’
Swayam’s restraint hung by a thread as he said, ‘Viraj is not getting away with this. I don’t care what it takes to make him pay.’
His cold, unwavering resolve resonated deep within Kashvi.
Luv finally spoke. ‘We’re all on the same page about what needs to happen. But let’s figure out how we’re actually going to do it.’
Lavanya bent to pick up the bag she’d dropped earlier. ‘For as long as I’ve known Viraj, he imposed a lot of rules on me, but the biggest one was never to touch his laptop. So I broke that rule. Along with our relationship.’
Kashvi’s breath hitched when Lavanya pulled out a sleek black laptop and held it out to them.
‘How did you get it?’ Kashvi asked, caught off guard.
Lavanya chuckled softly. ‘Technically, I bought it for him, so I just took back what’s mine. But if you’re asking in terms of proof, then I borrowed it from him. At least, that’s what we can say in court.’
Lavanya handed it over when Dhruv reached for it. He quickly passed it to Vihaan and said, ‘Time to put those nerd skills to use.’
Vihaan spread a blanket over the sofa before settling down with the laptop in his lap. He powered it on. ‘It’s encrypted. I’ll need the passcode first, then maybe I can do something.’
‘09_July,’ Lavanya said instantly. ‘The code was written in his desk diary. Despite encrypting everything, he still used his birthday as the password.’
Luv observed dryly. ‘This guy really loves himself, huh?’
‘You should know there’s a locked folder under Kashvi’s name. I found it, and that’s why I came over,’ Lavanya admitted, visibly sickened by the thought. ‘If there’s proof anywhere, it’s probably in there.’
‘Why are you doing this?’ Kashvi asked quietly.
Lavanya fell silent for a moment. ‘Because no matter how much I love him, there’s no way my self-respect can survive what he’s done. Not to me, and definitely not to other women.’
A sob of relief escaped Kashvi. ‘Thank you, Lavanya. You’ve no idea what this means to me. I owe you big time.’
Lavanya shook her head immediately. ‘No, you don’t. I should’ve seen the red flags sooner. If I had, maybe this wouldn’t have happened to you. So this is just me trying to make up for the part I played in it.’
‘What you’ve done is help me, and probably countless others too... I’ll never forget this.’ Then worry threaded through Kashvi’s voice. ‘But you need to be careful. Viraj has already proven he can get violent, and once he realises you took the laptop, he’ll be livid.’
‘He already knows,’ Lavanya said with a sad smile. ‘He’s been blowing up my phone for the past hour. I haven’t received this many calls from him in an entire decade of dating him.’
Unease rippled through Kashvi. ‘Then stay here until we figure out what to do next.’
‘She’s right, Lavi,’ Swayam said, resting a hand on her arm. ‘You’ll be safer here.’
Lavanya shook her head decisively. ‘I’m done here. I never liked Mumbai. I only stayed here for Viraj because he wanted to live with his family. But not anymore. I’m going to my grandparents’ place in Jaipur. My flight’s in an hour.’
‘Did you talk to Maasi?’ Swayam asked.
‘I didn’t go into details. I just told her things weren’t working out and that I’m going back home.’
‘She wouldn’t have taken that well,’ Swayam said, already imagining the reaction.
‘She didn’t.’ Lavanya looked away. ‘She likes me, but at the end of the day, she’s his mother. She’ll always choose Viraj.’
‘Why didn’t you tell her the truth?’ Kashvi asked.
Lavanya was silent for a moment.
‘Because it wouldn’t have changed anything.’ Lavanya let out a resigned sigh. ‘She loves him too much to see who he really is. And even if she did, I don’t think she’d be able to accept it.’
‘I can only imagine how she’d react to all of this,’ Kashvi murmured, dread slowly spreading through her veins.
‘Do you want my advice on how to break this to her?’ Lavanya asked.
When Swayam nodded, she said, ‘Don’t tell her anything. At least not until after you deal with Viraj. He’s keeping her in the dark, so you should too.’