Chapter 26 #2
Viraj patted her head. ‘It doesn’t have to be like this, but you make me lose my temper. All I want is for you to obey me and give in. Would it really be so bad to have a life with me?’
Revulsion burned through the fear. ‘I would rather jump off the tallest building I can find than spend a single second of my life with you.’
The hint of vulnerability in his eyes vanished, replaced by something dark and volatile. ‘Fine. Let me give you a reason to do that.’
With a sneer, Viraj pressed the upload button. Her heart leapt into her throat, and her breath froze.
A new prompt appeared on the screen with two options.
Are you ready to share?
When his thumb hovered too close to the flashing green tick, Kashvi screamed desperately, ‘Stop!’
‘You think I want to do this?’ Viraj snapped. The possessiveness in his tone made her skin crawl. ‘You’re mine, and mine only. The idea of creeps sitting behind their screens looking at this picture of you makes my blood boil. But you’re the one forcing me to do this.’
Before she could react, he caught her jaw again in a bruising grip. His fingers dug into her cheeks as he added, ‘You’re too slow and dumb to understand the danger you’re in. That’s why I have to make it real for you. Otherwise, you won’t give me what I want.’
Her teeth clenched under the strain. ‘I’ve been asking you what the hell you want, but you just keep playing these sick games.’
His eyes darkened with barely restrained rage. ‘Have you asked me nicely? Have you begged me?’
The heavy, humiliating question drove deep into her chest. She crushed the revulsion in her heart and said, ‘Tell me what it will take to get you to leave me alone... please.’
‘Now we’re getting somewhere,’ Viraj said with chilling approval, ignoring her dig. ‘I want you. And I want a hundred crores.’
The number hit her like a shockwave.
‘Are you fucking kidding me?’ Kashvi asked, unable to hold back the disbelief roaring through her voice.
‘And that’s not all,’ he went on. ‘You will divorce Swayam and walk away from him for good.’
It would be easier to rip her own heart out. ‘No, I won’t,’ she said quietly.
‘Yes, you will. What’s so special about the guy anyway?’ he asked, curious.
‘Everything,’ she said without hesitation. ‘And you can never have me, because I’m only his.’
Viraj frowned. ‘I don’t understand what you see in him.’
‘If only you could. Just like you don’t understand the sanctity of marriage,’ Kashvi said, a hint of pity in her voice.
‘Yeah, yeah,’ he mocked, waving a hand dismissively. ‘How about you run and fetch me the money, and then I’ll see how to make you behave like a good girl.’
‘Why do you think I have that kind of money?’
Viraj chuckled. ‘I know you do.’
Kashvi laughed in disbelief. ‘You wrecked my home. You broke everything I own. Did you find that kind of money lying around anywhere?’
He trailed a finger down her cheek. ‘I destroyed everything for fun, especially your reading nook. Swayam mentioned he was planning to build it for your birthday, and I wanted to knock some sense into him. That’s why I destroyed it first.’
‘You’re a fucking sadist,’ she spat.
‘And I’m fucking proud of it. So, the money?’ he asked, lifting a brow.
‘I don’t have a hundred crores!’
He tilted his head, something cold glinting in his eyes. ‘You may not, but your family’s foundation does. You gave your inheritance to it, didn’t you? Just take it back.’
A cold unease spread through her as she stared at him. That information wasn’t public, so how could he know?
‘Like you said, I gave it to the foundation. It’s all gone.’
Viraj shrugged. ‘I didn’t ask for that exact money. I said you have to get a hundred crores. I don’t care if you borrow, steal, or sell yourself for it. Just get it.’
‘I’m not doing that,’ she said, shoving hard against his chest.
He caught her wrist and trapped it in place. ‘Did you hit your head? Have you forgotten that I own your life?’
‘You’re insane if you think you can get away with this. I’ll use every resource and family connection I have to expose you in the same media you’re threatening me with.’
‘Aww.’ He made a face of mock offence. ‘Would you really do that to your man?’
‘You’re not my man!’ Kashvi glared at him.
Viraj shook his head. ‘I’m not talking about myself.’
Her breath hitched. ‘What does Swayam have to do with this?’
‘Nothing at all, but I can make it look like everything.’ Viraj clicked his tongue. ‘You may think I broke in here, but I didn’t have to. Your husband made it very easy for me.’
‘You’re lying,’ she insisted, clinging to that belief.
Viraj laughed. ‘The poor man just loves me so much, it’s pathetic. Once I told him I’d been feeling depressed and lonely, he invited me to stay over. It was easy to make a copy of the key.’
The memory surfaced instantly. When she’d come home to Swayam, he’d mentioned offhandedly that his cousin had stayed over while she’d been away. The pieces slid into place with horrifying clarity.
‘If you expose me, I’ll say Swayam was the mastermind behind all this. He saw an opportunity when you needed to get married for your inheritance. Then he gave me access to your life, your pictures, and your home to do his dirty work.’
Oh God, why had I not connected the dots sooner?
Her stomach churned violently, and Kashvi felt like she was going to be sick.
‘So if my name slips out of your mouth to anyone, even by accident, your boo-boo will take the fall for something he never did,’ Viraj said with a proud smile. ‘All because you’re too much of a greedy, selfish bitch to give up your money.’
She knew Swayam would never do this to her. She knew it with a certainty that lived in her bones.
But the world didn’t.
If Viraj acted on his threats, his web of lies would unravel everything they had built.
They were cornered.
Her gaze flicked to the phone in his hand, and fear choked her because he could destroy their lives with one click. She had to get that phone.
A sharp blade of rage pierced her heart because he had threatened her man. ‘I think your mother might disagree, Viraj. From what I saw, she trusts Swayam a lot more than she trusts you.’
‘Shut up!’ he shouted, his voice stripped of its earlier confidence.
His composure was cracking apart, and Kashvi hit him where it hurt most. ‘Why? Because it’s true? Honestly, I think she even loves him more than you.’
‘Don’t you dare say that!’ Viraj warned, leaning closer.
The phone was within reach, but she needed him completely distracted. The sight of that crack in his armour and the faint sheen of tears in his eyes only fuelled her need to hurt him back.
‘If your own mother would choose him over you, what chance do you think you have of the real world believing you?’ she asked, her words sharpened by the hurt and rage twisting inside her.
‘My mother loves me more!’ Viraj screamed, shoving his face close to hers, and Kashvi seized the opening.
Ignoring the glass buried deep in her palm, she slapped him with her injured hand using every ounce of strength she had. Pain jolted up her arm as the glass dug deeper into her flesh, but it also sliced across his cheek.
Viraj howled in pain.