CHAPTER 27! HER PAST #2
Vivaan checked his watch with a look of mild boredom. "Enough that I can't attend all their funerals, sir. Roughly three hundred thousand."
Aryav nodded slowly, looking back at the Commissioner.
"Three hundred thousand employees. Ab main sabke bare main to information nahi rakh sakta na."
"We know those men were leaking corporate data," Raghavan snapped, his voice tight as he leaned in. "We know they were silenced."
Before Aryav could respond, Vivaan tilted his head slightly, his tone perfectly flat. "Then arrest whoever silenced them."
Raghavan's face darkened with venomous fury. "Don't play games with me aryav , I am I am very close."
Aryav drove the final nail into the confrontation, his voice dropping into a register that made the hair on the back of Aadhira's neck stand up.
"If you were close, Commissioner... you wouldn't be here asking questions."
The silence that followed was heavy and absolute. It wasn't a confession. But it felt dangerous.
Raghavan stood up, his face flushed with humiliation and fury. He grabbed his folder, stepping closer to glare down at Aryav with venomous intent.
"One day, Mr. Shinghania, there will be enough evidence. And when that day comes, no amount of money will keep you out of prison."
Aryav didn't break eye contact. He simply tilted his head.
"Us din bhi intezar rahega."
The Commissioner marched out, his boots stomping heavily against the marble floor until the front doors slammed shut.
Instantly, the heavy tension in the room evaporated.
Vikrant adjusted his cufflinks, turning slightly toward his father. "Raghavan is becoming ambitious."
Rajendra Vikram didn't look up from his tea. "Ambition is expensive."
"Should we send him a reminder?"
"No." The patriarch took a slow sip. "Let him spend a little more."
Everyone began walking away casually, treating the entire exchange like a minor corporate update.
Aadhira, however, remained entirely frozen by the marble pillar. Her breathing turned uneven, and the grand room suddenly felt entirely too large, too cold, and too dangerous.
She took a panicked step backward, her foot catching on the edge of the rug.
She nearly stumbled.
A hand caught her elbow before she could lose her balance. It was a brief, steel-hard grip.
The second she regained her footing, Aryav immediately let go, his hand retreating into his jacket pocket.
Aadhira looked up, her breath catching in her throat.
His expression remained completely unreadable, his dark eyes looking flatly down at her.
"Careful," he murmured, his tone clipping the air.
She tried to steady her voice. "I'm fine."
"Clearly."
His gaze lingered on her pale face for a fraction of a second longer.
He didn't say another word, turning and walking away toward his study as if the interaction had barely required his energy.
Tara appeared beside her a moment later, her heels clicking softly as she leaned in. "You look like you're about to faint."
"I might," Aadhira whispered honestly, holding her chest.
"Do it somewhere dramatic," Tara noted deadpan.
"Tara."
"The staircase is popular."
"You look pale, bhabhi," Reyansh chimed in, joining them while casually sipping his tea.
"Four people are dead, Reyansh," Aadhira murmured, looking between the two cousins.
"Bhabhi," Reyansh replied, looking at her with a mild, almost amused expression. "For your own mental health... stop counting bodies."
Aadhira stared at them, her chest heaving at the sheer normalcy of it all.
"Do all of you hear yourselves?"
Reyansh smiled, a charming, effortless sound. "Unfortunately."
He patted her shoulder lightly before walking back toward the dining table with Tara.
As Aadhira stood trembling in the hallway, a glass of cold water suddenly appeared in her line of sight.
She looked up.
Vivaan was standing there, his face entirely deadpan as he offered the glass.
"Pehli baar hai?" Vivaan asked quietly.
"..." Aadhira blinked, her fingers wrapping around the cool glass.
"Hota hai." Vivaan glanced toward the front doors with a pleasant,completely empty smile.
"You'll get used to it," Vivaan murmured smoothly, before turning to follow Aryav into the study.
The double doors closed firmly behind him, cutting off the low murmur of voices from inside.
Aadhira looked down at the untouched glass of water in her hand, the condensation bleeding cold sweat against her palms.
For the first time since entering the Shinghania mansion, she found herself wondering a dangerous question.
What kind of man made everyone this comfortable around death?
By late afternoon, the clinical silence of the Shinghania mansion had settled back into its usual, oppressive rhythm.
The elders had retreated to their respective wings, the younger generation had scattered to their own hidden schedules, and the sprawling corridors felt entirely too empty.
Aadhira sat in the sunlit morning room overlooking the manicured front lawns, absentmindedly flipping through a glossy architectural magazine.
She was counting down the minutes until Ayaan's school Bentley pulled up the driveway.
For a fleeting second, looking out at the sun-drenched gardens, the house felt almost normal.
Almost.
A head steward approached the seating area, carrying a heavy leather-bound ledger and a stack of digitized billing files.
He stopped two paces away from Mrinalini Devi, bowing his head respectfully.
"Ma'am," he said, his voice dropping into that quiet, servile tone peculiar to the mansion staff. "The accounts team is waiting for the final sign-off, Ma'am. They require authorization before the evening bank clearance."
Mrinalini Devi didn't even look up from her embroidery. "Leave it with Reyansh's assistants."
The steward hesitated, shifting on his feet. "Dadi... the internal compliance team requested your specific signature this time. There's an anomaly in the secondary wing maintenance."
Aadhira looked at the thick leather ledger, genuinely surprised.
"A weekly household budget?"
She looked up.
"Isn't that... a little too frequent?"
Mrinalini Devi finally raised her eyes.
"In a house where hundreds of people eat every day? No."
Aadhira nodded thoughtfully.
"I understand keeping records."
Her fingers rested lightly on the ledger.
"But a household budget isn't only about how much money was spent."
The room grew quiet.
"It's about whether the house is running the way it should."
Mrinalini Devi watched her carefully.
"Explain."
Aadhira spoke calmly.
"If the grocery bill suddenly increases, it doesn't always mean prices went up."
"It could mean food is being wasted."
"Or extra people are eating from the kitchen."
"Or someone is quietly stealing supplies. we should know if someone need help, they work for us"
She turned another page.