Ch45Surrendering to You #4
Actively avoiding even the slightest chance of an encounter with her husband, she quickly got dressed and slipped out of the Vardhan mansion under the pretext of some urgent, mundane errands.
By the time she finally wrapped up her tasks and turned back toward home, almost half the day had already slipped away.
The afternoon sun cast a warm glare over the bustling city as Rivanya sat in the plush backseat of her luxury car, her cheek resting against her hand as she stared mindlessly out of the window.
In the front seat, the driver navigated the familiar streets with practiced ease, the low, melodic hum of the car radio playing softly in the background to fill the silence.
Despite the passing scenery, Rivanya's mind was entirely elsewhere, caught in a web of heavy, unresolved thoughts.
Her primary focus had shifted toward a looming necessity-she needed to leave for Indore as soon as humanly possible.
There was a dark, deeply buried truth waiting for her there, a secret that had remained entombed for years, and she knew she couldn't find peace until she uncovered it.
As the car rolled onward, she couldn't help but mentally track the sheer chaos of the past forty-eight hours.
So much had changed, so many boundaries had blurred, and the intensity of her life was shifting at a terrifying speed.
Closing her eyes for a brief moment, she offered a silent, desperate prayer to Gauri Maa, begging the divine mother to protect her family and ensure that nothing worse would unfold.
But life has a cruel, predictable irony.
It is a universal truth that the exact moment we console ourselves by thinking, "What could possibly be worse than this?"
the universe decides to answer by unleashing something infinitely more devastating.
And a catastrophic new storm was already howling at the gates of Rudraksh and Rivanya's lives, ready to tear their world apart.
Suddenly, the driver clicked a button on the dashboard, switching the radio over to a live news channel. Within seconds, the robotic, urgent tone of the news anchor shattered the peaceful ambiance of the car, broadcasting the biggest breaking story of the hour.
"Breaking news coming in this afternoon. A fatal accident has occurred at the high-profile Pune construction site belonging to India's leading business tycoon, Rudraksh Vardhan. Reports confirm that due to severe administrative negligence regarding safety protocols on-site,
a laborer has tragically lost his life. Legal experts state that strict criminal and civil lawsuits are currently being filed against the Vardhan Group, and immediate legal action against Rudraksh Vardhan himself is expected to be taken by the authorities within the next few hours..."
The moment the words left the speakers, the ground beneath Rivanya's feet completely vanished.
A suffocating numbness trapped her throat as her brain violently struggled to process the horrific words she had just heard.
Her vision blurred. With trembling, ice-cold hands, she fumbled with her purse, desperately pulling out her phone.
The moment her screen lit up, her worst fears were realized.
The digital space was in absolute flames.
Every single major news portal, social media platform, and financial column was publishing the exact same headline, flashing photos of the chaotic construction site alongside bold letters tying the tragedy directly to her husband's alleged carelessness.
A paralyzing terror gripped Rivanya's heart.
Panic surged through her veins, replacing her shock with a desperate, overriding instinct to protect.
She looked up at the rearview mirror, her voice shaking but laced with a frantic urgency.
"Drive faster! Please, take the shortcuts, we need to reach the mansion right now!"
For the entirety of the journey, Rivanya was a complete emotional wreck.
She sat on the edge of her seat, her fingers tightly intertwined as she bit her lip to keep from crying.
Every fiber of her being screamed at her to get to Rudraksh, to stand by his side, to hold his hand through the media trial that was undoubtedly about to crash upon him.
But it seemed as though the universe itself had turned its back on her.
As if mocking her desperation, the car suddenly came to a grinding halt.
Ahead of them lay a massive, suffocating gridlock.
Rivanya's car became hopelessly trapped in a brutal traffic jam that didn't move for almost thirty-five agonizing minutes.
Minutes felt like hours, and hours felt like a lifetime.
Stranded in the middle of the crowded highway, listening to the incessant honking of cars, Rivanya could do absolutely nothing but sit in her helplessness, her heart breaking under the agonizing weight of her own frantic anxiety as the storm outside grew darker by the second.
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