CHAPTER 19 #2
With that, he storms out of the room, leaving me fuming and Mom in tears. I turn towards her and force a small smile onto my face just to ease the worry in her eyes.
“Don’t think too much about what he said,” I murmur softly, giving her hands a gentle squeeze. “Your daughter is still alive and stubborn as hell. Nothing has managed to defeat me yet.”
Mom’s glistening eyes only break me further. I lean closer and rest my forehead briefly against hers.
“I’m not leaving this place without you,” I whisper firmly. “Not in this lifetime. I promise you that.”
Her fingers rise shakily to brush my hair back the way she used to when I was younger.
“Trust me, Mom,” I say, more determined this time. “Just a little longer. Everything will change soon.”
She gives me that emotional look, the one that almost breaks me from inside. I can’t bear to stay there any longer, so before the conversation can become heavier, I leave the room.
The moment I step into the corridor, my new bodyguard follows me.
I don’t look back at first. I keep walking through the mansion corridors.
And still, she follows. By the time I reach the outside pool area, my patience finally runs out.
I stop abruptly and turn around. Trisha halts a few feet away from me.
“I know you were assigned to do this,” I say coldly. “But I don’t like people following me around.”
She doesn’t respond. I step closer.
“So stay away from me. Don’t crowd me. And don’t hover over my shoulder every five seconds like the rest of these guards.”
A slow smirk appears across her face.
“I heard you were a tantrum princess,” she says casually. “But seeing it in person is definitely more entertaining.”
Who the hell told her that? Of course, Parag must have briefed her. And that annoys me even more.
“I’m a lot more than just a tantrum princess. Looks like whoever sent you here forgot to mention that part.”
The woman’s grin widens, clearly amused instead of intimidated.
“More?” she repeats lazily, giving me a slow once-over. “More of what exactly? Because right now, all I see is a pretty face, expensive stilettos, and anger issues.”
Wrong answer.
Without warning, I swing at her. Fast.
But Trisha blocks me immediately. Interesting.
My fist barely reaches her before she catches my wrist and twists sharply, trying to throw me off balance. I counter instinctively, spinning free of her grip and driving my elbow towards her shoulder. She ducks smoothly. Too smoothly.
She’s good.
Very good.
And now I’m irritated. When Trisha comes at me next, quick enough to punch my face, I lean back just in time. Her knuckles graze my jaw lightly, but I don’t stop. I just slam my heel towards her knee, but she hops aside with a laugh.
“Good you aren’t wearing your famous stilettoes today,” she mocks.
No one gets to mock my stilettoes.
Using the poolside railing for leverage, I launch myself straight at her again. This time, my fist connects with her shoulder hard enough to force her half a step back.
Finally.
But then her hand closes around my arm, and she immediately tries to flip me over her hip. I twist mid-air before she can complete it and shove her away instead. Both of us stumble apart for a second before she straightens and begins to circle me slowly.
“Weren’t mafia daughters supposed to just sit pretty and obsess over their diamonds?” she taunts.
Oh, so that’s what she thinks of me? Fine.
Now it stops feeling like sparring and becomes more personal. When she throws another punch, I retaliate with two quick strikes towards her ribs. She blocks the first but takes the second one without even flinching.
We exchange blows near the poolside deck, our movements so fast that anyone watching from a distance would struggle to tell who has the upper hand. My hair is a mess, and my sandals are somewhere near the pool now. The sleeve of her jacket is torn near the shoulder because of me.
When I charge again, I sweep my leg low, throwing off her balance completely.
“Still think I’m just a pretty face crying over diamonds?” I mock.
Instead of reacting, the psycho woman actually grins. “You’ve got moves too,” she says, blocking another strike. “Not bad, Princess.”
“There’s still a lot you don’t know about me,” I shoot back before punching her jaw.
She dodges it effortlessly.
A second later, her fist lands against my stomach hard enough to make me wince. I step back, my breathing harder now, while she rolls her shoulders once, clearly impressed.
“If you’re this good already,” she says casually, catching her breath, “I don’t know why Raghav sent me here. You could probably escape this place yourself.”
My entire body goes still. Did she say Raghav? For a second, I genuinely think I heard her wrong.
“What?” I whisper.
She straightens up and tightens her ponytail again.
“Raghav sent me here. Not Parag,” she says, this time without teasing. She looks around the poolside, making sure no one is listening.
I stare at her in disbelief.
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not,” she says, shaking her head. “I’m here to extract you and your mother out of Cape Town. That’s the help you asked from him at RK estate, didn’t you?”
My heartbeat starts pounding violently now.
“Raghav actually agreed to this?” I ask before I can stop myself.
“He did.” Trisha’s smile widens. “That’s why I’m here. And I assure you, Siya, you don’t have to marry Parag Reddy. Because I’m getting you out of here forever.”
My mind spirals instantly. Raghav actually sent help? For a few seconds, I just stare at Trisha. That man had told me he wanted nothing to do with the mafia affairs anymore. And yet, he risked everything by getting involved anyway... for me.
He knows better than anyone that once you’re pulled back into the mafia world, it never lets go easily.
Men like Raghav don’t simply ‘help’ in situations like this and walk away untouched afterwards.
So why would he do it? Why would he take such a risk for me?
Was it because of what happened between us at the temple in Shivtara Valley? Because of that kiss?
Heat rushes to my face despite the chaos in my head.
No. That’s impossible. That cannot be enough for a man like Raghav to step back into blood and violence again. From what I know of him, nothing can change his mind once he has made a decision. So why?