Chapter 21 #2
Mina’s father smiled ruefully. “There is more. Sanjeev then suggested that I make a choice. I either sever all personal relations with you and publicly denounce you as my daughter so I can stay with the firm . . . or as equity partner, I accept a severance package and sell my portion of the company to Sanjeev.”
Mina felt like her jaw was about to unhinge and fall on the floor. “And you chose to . . . to maintain our relationship?”
A flash of hurt crossed his face. “I understand why you could be surprised by that. I haven’t made the best decisions in the past when it came to raising you.”
“Or maybe it’s because you benefited so much after Mom’s death?” Mina burst out.
“Mina,” he said. He looked stunned at her assertion.
It was the question she’d been wanting to ask him for years. “I want you to be honest with me. Why did you support Sanjeev and Nakul when they obviously were architects in Mom’s downfall. They had something to do with her accident?—”
“They didn’t,” he interrupted. “Not directly.”
Mina sat back in her chair, arms crossed. “I don’t believe you.”
“I understand why, but I’m telling the truth.
” Her father cleared his throat, once, twice, then sipped from the cup that had appeared in front of him shortly after he’d sat down.
He glanced at Hem before he refocused his attention on Mina.
“I should’ve told you this a long time ago.
Your mother loved you with all your heart, Mina.
But she had flaws. Like we all do. She never thought her brothers could do any wrong.
Two weeks before the accident, Sanjeev and Nakul convinced your mother to sign over a percentage of the firm to them so it could be a family business.
They guilted her. Made her think that they were left out of business operations. ”
“What?”
“I wasn’t there and didn’t even know that it happened. Then she began to lose clients. Mysteriously. No reason, no paper trail, no excuses. Following a big loss, she was called in front of the ethics committee because someone filed a complaint with the ABA.”
“Do you know who filed the ethics complaint?” Hem asked.
Hema’s father shook his head. “But I have a guess. I’m sure you do, too.”
“What does this have to do with her accident?” Mina asked evenly.
“The night she died, she was distraught. Sanjeev and Nakul had told her they were calling a partner meeting to vote her out. She was so sure that she would lose her license, the boys she loved so much, and that she’d be ousted from the firm she started.
I was horrified, stunned even, that she’d give away what she’d always promised to you.
We…fought. She said she was going to meet some friends for a drink and go for a drive. What happened after that was tragic.”
“Why?” Mina whispered, tears shimmering in her eyes. “Why did you join Sanjeev and Nakul after she died? Why didn’t you call them out for their part in her downfall?”
“I did it for you,” he said simply.
The bottom from Mina’s stomach dropped out. “W-what?”
After she died, I…well, I knew something didn’t sit right with the accident. I didn’t have the support, the resources, anything to push back against Sanjeev and Nakul. I also knew that you would want to find out more as you grew older. So, I did the only thing I knew I could do.”
“You bought Mina time by joining with her uncles,” Hem mused. “That’s smart.”
“But I hurt my daughter in the process,” he said slowly.
Mina was blinking rapidly, her gut churning with this new information. She didn’t believe it. Couldn’t. Not after all these years.
“You weren’t there for me,” she finally said. “Not in the way that mattered.”
Mina watched her father nod, rock back and forth in his seat. He looked up at the ceiling before he met Mina’s eyes again. “I’ll live with that mistake for the rest of my life.”
She closed her eyes and pressed her face in the crook of Hem’s arm to hide her tears for a moment. She felt him rub her back, then press a kiss against the top of her head. His hold helped her regain her composure.
“Thank you,” she finally said to the grief- stricken man across the table. “Thank you for telling me the truth.”
“I tried,” he said. He leaned across the table. “I tried to talk reason into them so that when you made equity partner, there was a chance you’d retain some of your mother’s business. I’m so sorry, Mina.”
Mina nodded. “It’s not your fault, but God, I can’t believe I’m about to lose the firm. Now that both of us are out, Sanjeev has all the power over Kohli & Associates and I have none. He’ll never give back Mom’s legacy.”
“Beta, you’re so smart, and you still haven’t figured it out yet?” her father asked.
“Figured out what?”
He grasped her hands. His fingers were cold, and they trembled. “Mina, daughter of mine, the firm was never your mother’s legacy. You are. You are the treasure she left behind.”
Mina was unable to speak because of the burning in her throat. Hadn’t Raj hinted at something similar? Hadn’t Hem told her as well? She didn’t believe either of them but hearing it from her father…she could almost think that he was right.
“I have something for you,” he said. He pulled away from her and took out three worn leather notebooks tied together with red thread from his suitcase.
“What are those?” Hem asked.
“Journals,” Mina said reverently. “I thought I already had all of Mom’s journals?”
“I kept these ones aside. I was waiting until your wedding, but I think now is the right time. I hope they convince you to accept my apologies.”
Mina took them from his hands. They still smelled like incense and lavender. The soft edges of the leather binding and worn pages were beautiful reminders of the past.
That was when she realized that maybe her father had cared for her. It was still hard for her to truly believe that he’d worked with her uncles out of some moral obligation to protect her, but she could trust in this one small moment of good faith.
“This means the world to me.”
“You mean so much to me, Mina,” he said, voice gruff. “I’m sorry I haven’t told you that enough.”
Mina cleared her throat and put on her brightest smile.
Later, she would need time to process it, but for now, what they’d discussed was a good start.
“Thank you for telling me about Sanjeev’s plan, too.
I know that you loved working at Mom’s old firm.
What are you going to do now? You can retire early if you want. ”
“No, I’m not ready to stop working. I still have another decade in me at least. I’m thinking about practicing from the house. I can easily convert some of the rooms downstairs into office space. I may be a mediocre attorney, but I know what I’m doing.”
Mina winced at the reminder of what she’d said to him at the last dinner party. “Sorry about that. You know I didn’t mean it.”
“I know, beta,” he said gently.
“Going out on your own is a good idea,” Hem said. “And frankly, you’ll probably have clients from Kohli coming to you after Sanjeev is held accountable for his actions.”
The older man’s eyes went sharp as he narrowed them on Hem. “What do you mean?”
“He means,” Mina said with a deep breath, “I filed an economic espionage and trade secrets violation complaint against Sanjeev yesterday.”
The waitress came by the table again. “Is there anything else I can get you?”
“Yes,” Mina’s father replied. His face was a mask of shock. “We need menus. We’re going to be here for a little while longer.”