Chapter 17 #2
Every single person in the room held their breath.
They expected him to unleash the terrifying wrath of the Devil of Delhi.
They expected him to scream at her, to call security, to have her arrested for trying to destroy his life's work.
Raghav looked incredibly smug, completely confident that his trap had worked perfectly.
Siddhant stopped right next to Poorvanshi.
He was so close she could smell the familiar, comforting scent of cedarwood and black pepper. He looked down at her pale, terrified face, and then he looked down at the red folder resting on the table.
Siddhant calmly reached out and picked up the red folder.
He opened it. He looked at the printed emails, the IP addresses, and the confidential blueprints. He studied the "irrefutable" evidence for exactly five seconds.
Then, with a smooth, completely unbothered motion, Siddhant closed the folder, gripped it with both hands, and violently tore the entire stack of papers completely in half.
The sound of the tearing paper ripped through the silent room like a gunshot.
Before anyone could even react, Siddhant dropped the torn, shredded evidence into a small metal wastebasket in the corner of the room.
"What are you doing?!" Raghav gasped, his eyes wide with absolute shock. "That is the evidence! She is guilty!"
Siddhant turned around. The cold, calculated mask was completely gone, replaced by a dark, simmering, murderous fury that made his earlier anger look like a gentle breeze.
"She didn't do it," Siddhant stated.
The four words were spoken with such absolute, unwavering certainty that they hung in the air like a physical law of the universe. It wasn't a defense, it was a pure, undeniable fact.
Mr. Desai stood up, his face red with indignation. "Siddhant, are you blind? The IP address matches her room! The emails came from her account! The evidence is right there!"
"The evidence is fabricated garbage," Siddhant snarled, stepping forward and completely shielding Poorvanshi behind his massive back. "Do you think I am a fool, Desai? Do you think I don't know exactly how my own corporate security systems work?"
Siddhant planted his hands flat on the polished table, leaning aggressively towards the board members.
"Her email address was spoofed using a basic proxy server," Siddhant explained, his voice dropping to a terrifying, deadly pitch.
"And the router in the East Wing of my mansion?
It was accessed remotely by someone inside the West Wing.
Someone who knew exactly how to bypass the internal firewalls because they helped build them. "
He turned his deadly, obsidian eyes directly onto his father.
Raghav completely recoiled, his face draining of all color as he realized Siddhant had already figured it out.
"You orchestrated this with Viraj Khanna," Siddhant whispered, his voice vibrating with a terrifying promise of absolute destruction.
"You gave him the files, and you framed her, thinking I would be blind enough to believe it.
You thought you could use her as collateral damage to take back control of this board. "
"No!" Nandini cried out, shaking her head frantically. "Siddhant, you are blinded by her! She is a liar!"
"The only liars in this room," Siddhant roared, his voice shaking the massive glass windows of the boardroom, "are the two of you!"
The entire board watched in horrified silence as the Devil of Delhi completely lost his mind, defending a woman against his own blood.
Siddhant stood tall, turning his back on his father and facing the terrified board members.
"Listen to me very carefully," Siddhant commanded, his voice cold, heavy, and absolutely final.
"Miss Rathore is innocent. This was a targeted, malicious cyber-attack designed to frame her and disrupt the Singhania merger. I have already dispatched my private cybersecurity team to trace the real IP bounce back to Viraj Khanna’s servers.
By tomorrow morning, I will have the actual proof.
And when I do, I will completely destroy the Khanna Group, and I will hand over the internal conspirators to the federal authorities. "
He looked at each board member, his eyes promising sheer ruin to anyone who dared to disagree.
"If any of you," Siddhant said softly, the lethal threat dripping from every single syllable, "ever disrespect her, ever accuse her, or ever look at her with suspicion again...
I will not just fire you. I will systematically dismantle your careers, your finances, and your entire lives. Am I completely understood?"
No one moved. No one breathed. The board members nodded quickly, absolutely terrified of the man standing before them.
"Get out," Siddhant ordered, looking at his father and stepmother. "Both of you. Before I forget that we share the same last name and throw you out the window myself."
Raghav and Nandini didn't need to be told twice. They scrambled out of their chairs and practically ran out of the boardroom, their pathetic, malicious plan completely shattered. The board members quickly followed, eager to escape the suffocating, deadly tension in the room.
Within thirty seconds, the massive boardroom was completely empty, save for Kabir, Siddhant, and Poorvanshi.
Kabir let out a massive breath, running a hand over his stressed face. "I am going to go to the IT department. I need to make sure they secure the server logs before Viraj's guys try to wipe them."
"Do it," Siddhant nodded sharply.
Kabir slipped out the door, closing it quietly behind him.
The silence that fell over the room was heavy, but it was no longer toxic. It was the quiet, settling peace after a massive, violent explosion.
Siddhant stood with his back to Poorvanshi for a long moment, his chest heaving slightly as he tried to rein in his violent, protective adrenaline. His hands were clenched so tightly into fists that his knuckles were stark white.
Poorvanshi slowly stood up from her chair. Her legs were trembling, and her heart was completely overflowing with a massive, undeniable wave of pure love.
She walked around the table and stopped just behind him.
"Siddhant," she whispered softly.
He turned around instantly. The cold, terrifying mask he had worn for the board members completely melted away. His dark eyes were filled with deep, protective anxiety as he looked down at her.
"Did they scare you?" Siddhant asked, his voice rough and incredibly gentle.
He reached out, his large, warm hands gently gripping her shoulders.
"I am so sorry you had to sit through that.
I wanted to handle it before they dragged you in here, but Raghav bypassed my authority and called the board directly. "
Poorvanshi shook her head, tears of pure relief and overwhelming emotion welling in her brown eyes.
"You didn't even look at the files," Poorvanshi whispered, her voice cracking slightly. She reached up, her hands resting flat against the solid, warm wall of his chest. "The evidence was perfect. It was logical. It pointed directly to me. Why didn't you even look at it?"
Siddhant’s expression softened entirely. He moved his hands from her shoulders, sliding them up to gently cup her face, his thumbs lightly brushing across her cheekbones.
"Because I know your heart, Poorvanshi," Siddhant murmured, his voice incredibly deep and thick with absolute devotion.
"I don't need to look at a piece of paper to know the truth.
You are the most honest, fiercely loyal person I have ever met.
You would never betray me. And I will never, ever doubt you. "
The absolute, unconditional trust in his words completely broke her.
Poorvanshi let out a soft, choked sob and threw her arms around his neck, burying her face into his chest. Siddhant caught her instantly, his massive arms wrapping tightly around her waist, lifting her slightly off the floor as he crushed her against his body.
He buried his face in her dark hair, breathing in the scent of her, completely anchoring her in his strength.
They had tried to use her to destroy him. They had tried to turn his heart into a weapon. But Raghav and Nandini had completely misunderstood the nature of the Devil of Delhi.
His love wasn't a weakness. It was the most terrifying, unbreakable armor he had ever worn.
And as Poorvanshi held onto him in the quiet, empty boardroom, she knew that together, they were absolutely invincible.