62. Love Demands Truth. #2
"I swear, sometimes I feel Dhwani deserves compensation for tolerating you."
"Hm. Unfortunately she seems obsessed with me already."
"I'll hang up."
"You always threaten but never do it."
The line instantly disconnected.
I stared at the screen for two seconds before laughing under my breath.
Yeah.
Definitely protective elder brother behaviour.
After a few minutes, as I drove onto the highway, my phone rang again.
And of course... it was Samarth again.
I sighed deeply before answering through Bluetooth.
"What is it now?"
"Fucker..." his voice came sharp instantly. "You didn't tell me Kingsley filed a case against Raizada Jewellery Emporium?"
My grip tightened slightly around the steering wheel.
"You called Ishaan?" I asked immediately.
"Does that even matter?" he snapped. "Can you fucking stop hiding things from me for once?"
"For fuck's sake, I didn't hide anything," I argued back.
"For fuck's sake, you didn't tell me either!"
"Yeah because you disconnected the call, asshole."
"Because you were talking bullshit instead of important things!"
"Oh really? You were the one threatening to bury me professionally five minutes ago."
"And now I might actually do it."
I scoffed while overtaking a car. "What exactly did you expect me to do? Call you at midnight and say congratulations, corporate war started?"
"YES!"
His shout almost made me pull the phone away despite Bluetooth.
"Because that's what family fucking does," he continued angrily. "They tell each other when things go wrong instead of acting invincible all the damn time."
Damn.
That line hit harder than expected. We stayed silent for a few seconds, then his calm voice came from the other side.
"How bad is it actually?"
I stared ahead at the road silently for a moment before replying honestly.
"Bad enough to create noise. Not bad enough to destroy us."
"And Ishaan?"
"Tired." I admitted quietly. "More than usual."
"I'll come back if needed," Samarth said after a pause.
"No." I answered immediately. "Handle your work there. We can manage this."
"And if things get worse?"
I looked ahead at the long road before replying calmly, "Then we'll fight worse too."
"Have you taken any legal advice?" Samarth asked, his tone calmer now though the tension still sat underneath.
"Yeah," I replied while turning the car toward the office route. "We hired Advocate Arora. She's coming for a meeting today."
There was a brief silence on the other side.
"Arora?"
"Hm."
"I never heard about her before," he said slowly. "What's her full name?"
"It's Advocate Mrinalini Arora. She's from Mumbai."
"Oh. Do tell me what she suggests after the meeting."
"Hm. Sure."
The call disconnected after that.
I reached the office and attended the first meeting of the day with the investors.
Honestly, it was exhausting.
Half of them were worried about their money. The other half were worried about public reputation.
And my job was to make all of them believe Raizada Jewellery Emporium was still stable despite the legal chaos trying to surround us.
I explained the situation carefully, assured them that the legal team was already handling everything, clarified that the allegations had no contractual basis.
Basically... corporate language for calm down, we're not sinking yet.
Some looked convinced. Some didn't.
But at least nobody walked out of the meeting threatening to pull investments immediately, so I counted that as a win.
After almost an hour, I finally walked out of the boardroom with Ishaan beside me.
He loosened his tie slightly while checking something on his tab. "Three investors are still doubtful."
"They'll stay doubtful until the media stops barking."
" Yeah but..." Before Ishaan could reply, both our steps slowed automatically.
Because standing outside my cabin like he owned the entire floor was Mr. Kingsley himself.
My jaw tightened instantly.
Meanwhile the old man looked at me slowly from head to toe before smirking faintly.
"Well, well..." he spoke mockingly. "Looks like someone didn't sleep the whole night."
I stayed silent.
He stepped a little closer.
"Pressure suits you badly, Mr. Raizada," he continued smoothly. "Dark circles, tired eyes... should I assume investors aren't reacting very positively?"
Ishaan immediately moved half a step forward, but I grabbed his arm.
"You know, Yugant," Kingsley sighed dramatically, "if you had simply respected our old understanding and married my daughter, none of this would've happened."
A humorless laugh escaped me.
"Oh yeah? Marry your cheating daughter?"
The smile on his face stiffened slightly, but only for a second.
"Oh please," he replied casually. "You weren't some saint either. You were involved with that girl too. We could've ignored both sides and moved forward after marriage."
My jaw tightened instantly.
"No, we couldn't." My voice turned colder. "Because you people knew I was involved with Dhwani from the very beginning. You knew I never wanted to marry Olivia."
I stepped closer."But guess who still forced that marriage despite knowing everything?"
Kingsley stayed silent.
"And meanwhile," I continued, "I knew absolutely nothing about Olivia and Adhvait."
He waved his hand dismissively like betrayal was some minor inconvenience.
"Come on, man. It wasn't even a big deal. You both could've stayed exclusive after marriage too."
Disgust crawled through me instantly hearing that sentence.
People like him genuinely treated relationships like business contracts.
"But no," he sighed mockingly, "you chose to insult us publicly in front of hundreds of guests."
His expression darkened afterward.
"And that brother of yours...Bullshit," Kingsley spat coldly. "I will personally make sure he rots in jail for the rest of his life."
A dark laugh escaped me.
"As if I give a fuck about him."
Kingsley frowned slightly at my response.
"We have nothing to do with him anymore," I continued calmly. "And regarding the debt you gave me two years ago, we can settle that professionally. I'll return every penny with interest. End of story."
But Kingsley slowly smiled.
The dangerous kind.
"Guess what?" he murmured. "I don't want a settlement anymore. I want you to stand exactly where your brother stood."
His voice lowered further. "And maybe then I'll finally get some peace watching your family cry again while begging me."
I stepped forward enough for my voice to drop cold and sharp.
"Guess what? That's not happening again."
I straightened my suit calmly. "So keep your fucking threats to yourself..." I said coldly, "and get the hell out of my office."
I looked directly into his eyes. "We'll meet in the courtroom."
He gave me a look, and walked away.
I turned toward Ishaan sharply. "Where the fuck is Advocate Arora?"
"Here I am, Mr. Raizaada."
The voice came from behind. Calm. Smooth.
I immediately turned around and found a woman in her late forties standing there gracefully.
She wore a deep printed Banarasi saree, elegant without trying too hard, carrying a leather file in one hand and a handbag in another. Her posture was composed, eyes sharp yet strangely warm.
Not intimidating loudly.
"Yeah... Advocate Arora is here," Ishaan said before walking toward her and shaking hands politely. "Thanks for coming on such short notice."
She smiled professionally. "My pleasure, Mr. Awasthi."
Her voice sounded smooth enough to calm a courtroom and destroy someone legally in the same breath.
For some reason, she felt familiar. Not exactly her face. More like... her presence.
Or maybe something about her reminded me of someone else entirely.
Pushing the thought aside, I stepped closer and held out my hand professionally.
"Yugant Raizaada."
She looked at my hand for a brief second before shaking it firmly.
"Mrinalini Arora."
Her grip was confident. Steady. The kind that instantly told you this woman wasn't someone who lost arguments easily.
Well, even Dhwani didn't lose arguments either.
We made it to the cabin.
Ishaan and Ms. Arora settled onto the chairs in front of me while I leaned back slightly, trying to organize the mess already running inside my head.
"Okay," Ms. Arora spoke calmly while opening the file she brought. "Was that man outside the same person who filed the case against you?"
Oh.
So she heard the conversation outside.
"Yeah," Ishaan answered before I could. "He's the one."
Her brows lifted slightly, almost amused. "Not bad."
Then she crossed one leg over another elegantly before looking toward me directly.
"Let's start the work then. Tell me how all this started."
This time her eyes stayed fixed on mine properly.
God.
She had the same eyes as Dhwani.
Not just the eyes.
Something about her entire personality strangely reminded me of Dhwani too. It's just that she was calm and Dhwani was full of chaos.
"Mr. Raizada?"
I blinked.
"Mr. Raizada, are you listening?"
"Yeah. Yes, I...umm" I cleared my throat awkwardly. "I'm listening. What did you ask?"
God. That was embarrassing.
"How all this started," she repeated patiently. "The case and everything around it."
I nodded once before leaning forward slightly.
"Alright..."
I rotated the paperweight absentmindedly between my fingers.
"My brother brought Kingsley to me a few years ago when the company was struggling financially after my parents death. I needed investors to keep Raizaada Jewellery Emporium stable, and Kingsley helped me, but"
"But?" she asked calmly.
"But..." I exhaled slowly, "he put a condition."
Her expression stayed unreadable.
"He said he wouldn't take the debt back as interest. Instead, he wanted me to marry his daughter."
"And you agreed," she completed the sentence herself.
I gave a slight nod while looking down at the paperweight again.
"Well," she leaned back slowly, "I expected that. Businessmen and their obsession with turning human relationships into legally unpaid transactions."
Was that a taunt?