Chapter 12 #2
Abhay placed a hand on her back as he said, alarmingly calm, ‘It does seem like you love the sound of your own voice, which is why you keep talking trash. But if you want to keep talking, you’ll keep my wife’s name out of your mouth.’
Karthik shook his head slowly. ‘Bunch of fools. All you need to understand is that there are rules, and we can’t exactly bend them for anyone, not even for the Kashyap princess.’
Swayam stepped up behind her, aligning his shoulder with hers. Kashvi drew strength from the warmth radiating off him and asked, ‘Memory issues? Is that what you’re calling it?’
Karthik raised a brow. ‘What would you call it?’
‘I would call it manipulation.’
‘You’re upset, I understand. You came here expecting to walk away filthy rich. Instead, you will leave empty-handed. But on the bright side, now you get to hear my residential plans for this land.’
He only wanted them here so he could take the very piece of legacy tied to their mother’s name and tear it apart while they watched.
The anger eroded her composure, and Kashvi snapped. ‘The foundation building is home to over a hundred kids and elderly residents. You’d be uprooting all of them.’
She desperately searched for a speck of humanity in his cold gaze, but found none.
He only looked back at her with that same measured calm as he said, ‘I’ve asked my assistant to look into relocation options. I’m sure she’ll figure out where they can be moved.’
He clearly didn’t know that his assistant had leaked the proposal to Dhruv, but it made sense to Kashvi now why she had done it. She must have seen the sheer disregard he was showing towards the people involved.
She couldn’t keep the disgust out of her voice as she asked, ‘You’ve asked her to relocate an entire community of people without even understanding what they need?’
‘I’m not their nanny. Real-world matters require my attention, Kashvi. What happens to them is none of my concern.’
Kashvi willed herself not to react to the familiar undercurrent of condescension in his tone.
‘What happens to the children who are in the middle of their education programme? What about the elderly residents who require constant medical supervision? The staff depend on us for both employment and housing, so what about them?’
Karthik pressed his lips together as he slowly clapped.
‘Bravo. That was quite the speech. I have to say, Kashvi, the way you have thrown yourself into this… hobby of yours to help the unfortunate is impressive. But maybe now you should focus on getting a real job and leave the business to adults like us.’
Kashvi couldn’t help but wonder how someone so cruel and inhumane was tied to her by something as inherent as blood. The idea made her stomach churn.
She swallowed, forcing the bile down, and turned to Piyush. ‘You knew about the clause as well. Why didn’t you inform me?’
Piyush hesitated, his gaze flicking briefly towards Karthik.
He looked frustrated as he said, ‘I’m sorry, Kashvi.
If it had been solely up to me, you would have been informed.
But all members of the trust are bound by NDAs, and only an authorised family member can disclose things if they choose to. ’
‘That’s not important,’ Karthik cut in, glaring at Piyush. ‘The bottom line is that it’s too late for you to do anything about this.’
The implication was clear. Karthik was the only one who could have told her, and he had chosen not to.
Her father had planned her downfall down to the last detail. If she hadn’t gotten married, she’d be helpless and out of options right now, and that’s exactly what he had wanted.
He had tricked Siya out of her rightful share, and he had come for her next. Now he sat there looking self-assured and pleased because he believed he was still in control of their lives.
A quiet, sharp urge to wipe the smirk off his face struck her, and Kashvi said, ‘You’re right about how I have to be married to be eligible. But you’re wrong about one thing, Dad.’
‘And what’s that?’ Karthik drawled.
‘It’s not too late,’ Kashvi said, her voice resolute.
Swayam stepped closer behind her, sliding his arm around her shoulders. Though he had been quiet all this time, she saw the restrained anger in his eyes mirroring her own.
‘I’d like to introduce you to my husband, Swayam Sharma,’ Kashvi announced, affectionately patting his cheek once.
‘Namaste, Sasurji,’ Swayam said, though he watched him with open hostility.
From somewhere behind them, Abhay scoffed in amusement.
For the first time since they had walked in, Karthik said nothing.
Karthik’s smile faltered. His voice lost all civility as he asked, ‘What the fuck are you talking about?’
Kashvi pulled down the collar of her high-neck top just enough to reveal what she had kept hidden beneath it. His eyes widened with panic as he caught the light glinting off the mangalsutra resting against her collarbone.
‘That’s not possible,’ Karthik muttered, more to himself.
Swayam turned to her, looking thoughtful. ‘Maybe we should cut him some slack. He did forget to tell you about a rather important clause, and we forgot to tell him we got married. So it only seems fair that we forgive him.’
‘You expect me to believe this sham?’ Karthik demanded, nearly shouting. ‘This is not a game, Kashvi.’
‘No, it’s not,’ she said, sharp enough to cut through his derision. ‘But neither is what you’re planning to do to those children.’
Siya slammed down the stack of files she had been holding in front of Piyush. ‘You’ll find all the documentation required to initiate her inheritance transfer.’
Piqued with curiosity, Piyush quickly opened the files.
Colour drained slowly from Karthik’s face. A strange, almost reluctant sense of satisfaction moved through Kashvi, because maybe he finally felt a fraction of what he had put them through.
‘Everything looks in order. I’ll get it all notarised by the trustees, then initiate the transfer process,’ Piyush announced in a measured tone.
The fear and tension coiled tightly around her chest snapped all at once, and an overwhelming rush of relief made Kashvi dizzy. Her knees threatened to give out, and if not for Swayam holding her firmly, she was certain she would have fallen.
She briefly closed her eyes and missed the moment Karthik lunged towards her, his hand raised to strike as he screamed, ‘You lying, scheming bitch!’
It happened too quickly. A sudden, firm grip pulled Kashvi back behind a solid barrier before she could process what was happening. Though she lost her balance, Siya caught her before she fell.
The next thing she knew, Swayam was standing in front of her, shielding her from her father as he gripped Karthik’s raised hand.
‘This will be my only warning. Take a step back right now, or you will lose your hand,’ Swayam said, firm and uncompromising.
Her heart slammed against her ribs as it hit her just how close her father had come to hurting her.
A sharp, aching frustration settled in her chest as she took in the ugliness of her father laid bare in a way she had spent years trying to ignore. This was the side of him she had not wanted Swayam to see, yet now he was caught in the middle of it.
She placed her palm against his back to calm him, and that was when she felt the rigid muscles straining beneath her touch. When he turned to look at her and their eyes met, Kashvi forgot to breathe.
His eyes were darker than she had ever seen, fury burning like lava in them, and she saw how he was holding himself back through sheer force. She had grown up associating anger with loud bursts of chaos, and that contrast with Swayam’s restrained rage made it far more unsettling.
Abhay stood shoulder to shoulder with Swayam, glaring daggers at Karthik as he pushed him back. ‘That’s enough.’
Karthik breathed heavily, glaring at the men who had dared to stand in his way. He curled his lips in disdain at Swayam as he spat, ‘Get out of my way. This doesn’t concern you.’
‘It concerned me the second you took a step towards my girl,’ Swayam said, standing firmly in place.
‘Your girl? Please. This is between me and my daughter.’
‘Then you should have treated her like one.’
‘And if I don’t?’ he asked, challenging Swayam.
‘Then you’ll find out just how far I’m willing to go to make sure my wife is safe,’ Swayam answered, dangerously calm.
‘What could she possibly be giving you in return to play this part?’ he asked.
‘Kashvi owns my heart, so she can get me to do anything she wants. That’s the reason I married her.’
Karthik scoffed, a mocking edge creeping into his tone. ‘This is ridiculous. You actually expect anyone here to believe that you conveniently got married right before this? Please.’
Her father’s gaze locked onto her and he pointed a finger at her. ‘I thought you couldn’t sink any lower in life, but marrying for money? This shows you’re a greedy bitch, just like your mother.’
Despite growing up in the shadow of his jealousy, Kashvi was taken aback by how easily he twisted anything into an accusation against her mother.
He wanted her to react, to argue, because he thrived on chaos and conflict, but she refused to let him gain the upper hand this time.
‘So let me get this straight. Your theory is that I went through the trouble of getting legally married, gathering testimonies, registering everything officially, all for what?’
‘For money, what else?’ Karthik snapped.
‘For money,’ she repeated with a thoughtful hum. ‘The same money I have outlined to fund new departments? The same money I have no intention of keeping, but rather reinvesting entirely back into Maa’s foundation?’
Doubt flickered across his face, and Kashvi pressed on. ‘Despite not planning to keep the money, I apparently bound myself legally to someone, knowing full well that when this ends, I carry the label of a divorcee with me for the rest of my life?’