13 ~ Ill marry Mukti #2
"It does." My answer came without hesitation. "You know, people don't wake up one morning and commit massive fraud. They begin with small things. A harmless lie. A leaked document. A stolen file. And when no one stops them...They grow."
I leaned back in my chair.
"My job isn't to punish the final crime. It's to eliminate the possibility of it."
He remained quiet. He had heard this philosophy countless times. He knew there was no point arguing.
Still...
His expression carried the same concern it always did as if one day he hoped I'd think differently.
I wouldn't.
After that he didn't say a word.
I reached for my glass.
The chilled water did nothing to quiet the irritation rising inside me.
Instead my mind betrayed me once more not with the board meeting. Not with the investor presentation. Not even with the employee I had just thrown out of my company.
It returned to the terrace.
To her.
The memory replayed with infuriating clarity.
Chahat stood with her back to me, her shoulders trembling ever so slightly beneath the soft fabric of her lehenga.
She had been crying then.
Rivan.
I remembered the way he had called her name.
"Chahat..."
The concern in his voice hadn't escaped me. Neither had what followed.
Without hesitation, he had walked up to her and asked her something.
She had merely shaken her head and then he had pulled her into his arms.
My jaw tightened unconsciously.
The fork in my hand paused midway.
I remembered every second of it. The way she hadn't resisted. The way her forehead had rested briefly against his shoulder. The way he had placed a comforting hand on her back as if he had every right to touch her.
Something inside me had snapped.
For one irrational moment I had wanted to walk straight across that terrace, pull him away from her and drive my fist into his face until he forgot her name.
The thought had come so naturally that it had startled even me.
I wasn't a man who lost control over emotions.
I calculated.
I observed.
I acted only when necessary.
Yet standing there watching another man touch her. I had wanted violence.
Not because Rivan had done anything wrong. He hadn't. He was comforting a crying friend. Anyone looking at the scene would have found nothing unusual.
So why?
Why had it bothered me?
My grip around the fork tightened.
The metal bent ever so slightly beneath the pressure.
I leaned back in my chair, closing my eyes for the briefest moment.
Another memory surfaced.
Throughout the evening, Rivan's attention had wandered to Chahat more often than I liked.
His eyes kept finding her in a room full of people.
The realization irritated me far more than it should have.
And she seemed comfortable around him.
Comfortable enough to explain herself.
'Rivan sirf mera dost hai.'
(Rivan is just my friend.)
Her voice echoed in my head again.
I scoffed under my breath.
Sirf dost.
He looked at her differently that much was obvious. Any man with eyes could see it.
The question was...Does she also?
I drummed my fingers against the table.
It shouldn't concern me.
Chahat Rathore was my fiancée's younger sister.
Rivan was apparently her bestfriend.
Their lives had nothing to do with mine.
Then why was I sitting here.
Replaying that embrace over and over as if it were some unfinished business?
It was absurd.
The problem was for the first time in years. My mind refused to obey me.
"Kartik." Ayaan's voice sounded distant.
Then again...
"Kartik."
I blinked.
The haze around my thoughts shattered.
My gaze dropped instinctively to my hand.
The stainless-steel fork was no longer straight. Its handle had curved beneath my grip.
I stared at it for a moment.
I hadn't even realized how tightly I had been holding it.
Slowly, I loosened my fingers.
The bent fork landed on the plate with a dull metallic clink.
His eyes followed the movement before settling back on me.
He didn't say anything. He didn't need to.
The evidence was lying right in front of us.
I exhaled sharply and leaned back in my chair.
My thumb and forefinger pressed against the bridge of my nose as I closed my eyes.
A dull ache had begun to form behind them.
I let out a frustrated breath.
"Is ladki ne..." The words escaped before I could stop them. "mera dimaag kharab karke rakkha hai."
(This girl has completely messed with my head.)
The cabin fell silent.
A heartbeat later he asked, "Kaun?Chahat?"
(Who? Chahat?)
My eyes flew open. I looked at him.
For the first time in years actual surprise crossed my face.
Ayaan simply raised an eyebrow.
Neither of us spoke.
For several seconds, we only stared at each other.
Then he leaned back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest.
"So..." A faint smile tugged at one corner of his lips. "It is Chahat."
I straightened immediately. "I never said that."
"You didn't have to." His smile widened ever so slightly. "I guessed."
I narrowed my eyes.
"And judging by your expression," He pointed toward me with his chin. "I guessed right."
A muscle ticked in my jaw. "You've started assuming too much. This conversation is over."
He sighed.
"I've worked with you for almost eight years. You've been distracted since the engagement."
I was feeling disappointed with myself.
He cleared his throat. "Is there something I need to know?"
I continued looking at him.
Without blinking.
Without answering.
The silence stretched long enough to make even Ayaan uncomfortable.
Finally, he laughed nervously.
"I mean...It's your decision. If you want to."
"What exactly are you trying to imply?"
He immediately shook his head. "Nothing. You know I don't interfere in your personal life. I was just surprised."
"Why?"
"Because I've known you for years." He smiled faintly. "I've seen actresses trying to get your attention, you didn't care. Businesswomen flirting with you, you didn't care. Daughters of politicians, you didn't care."
"So?"
"But during your own engagement, you looked distracted."
My jaw tightened. "I wasn't distracted."
"No?"
He raised an eyebrow.
"No. Then why were you looking at her?"
The question landed with uncomfortable precision.
I had no answer.
Or perhaps I didn't want to think about the answer.
After a few moments, I spoke.
"She fooled me."
Ayaan frowned.
"What?"
I nodded, "The day I went to see Mukti. She was fierce and bold. She challenged me and told me that 'I'm not someone you could handle'. And it provoked me. So I said yes to her. Later I found out It wasn't Mukti, It was Chahat sitting on her sister's place pretending to be Mukti."
Realization slowly spread across his face.
"Oh."
"No one has ever had the audacity to lie to me like that. Not in business. Not in my personal life."
He was frozen in his place after registering every word and after a minute.
"Haahaa..."
I was this close to throwing something at his face. Preferably something heavy.
Something that would shut him up because for the last ten minutes, he hadn't stopped laughing.
Not even once.