66. The Breaking Point #3
"I... he might..."
My patience snapped. "Dhrithi." I stepped closer. "Yes or no?"
She flinched.
"Yes!" she cried. "I mean... not exactly in the hearing, but he has video recordings of..."
The rest of the sentence died in her throat.
Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks.
My stomach dropped.
No.
No, no, no.
"Oh my God."
I pressed my hand against my forehead and started pacing across the room. My pulse was racing so fast it felt painful.
This couldn't be happening today.
Not today.
"Dhrithi, what recordings?" I asked, forcing myself to stay calm. "Tell me exactly what he has."
She looked away.
That silence was enough to make my imagination run wild. A thousand worst-case scenarios flashed through my head.
My breathing turned uneven.
"Dhrithi!" I grabbed her shoulders. "Look at me."
She slowly lifted her tear-filled eyes.
"What recordings does Ruben Kingsley have?" I asked again, my voice quieter this time. She was already scared, I don't want to make the situation worse.
"He has recordings of us..." Her voice broke. "I mean... when we were together." She squeezed her eyes shut as tears rolled down her cheeks. "He recorded us." Her shoulders shook. "When we were having sex."
The room went completely silent. I just stared at her.
Dhrithi covered her face with both hands and started crying harder.
"I didn't know, Dhwani. I swear I didn't know. He never told me. I never saw any camera. I never agreed to any of it."
My mind went blank.
Then anger rushed through me so suddenly that I felt dizzy. This was worse than I had imagined.
"He just told me yesterday. He said if I don't do what he wants, he can release them."
My stomach dropped.
Blackmail. That bastard was blackmailing her.
I turned away and started pacing across the room, trying to think.
One problem.
After another.
"Dhwani..." Dhrithi called weakly.
I stopped and looked at her. She looked terrified.
As if she had been carrying this alone all night.
Fresh anger burned through me.
Not at her. At Ruben.
I stepped closer to her and pulled her into my embrace. "Shh... stop crying. We'll deal with this, okay?"
She shook her head violently.
"No. Bhaiya..." Her voice broke. "What will happen when Bhaiya finds out? He said if Bhaiya wins the case, he will release those videos on illegal websites. He said he will write 'Yugant Raizaada's sister' in bold letters so everyone knows who I am."
A fresh wave of tears rolled down her cheeks to my neck.
"I am so scared, Dhwani. I don't know what to do. I don't know anything anymore."
She pulled away from me and bit her lower lip so hard that a drop of blood appeared.
My heart sank. I genuinely didn't know what to do either. Should I keep consoling her? Or should I immediately tell Yugant and Mumma? Because this wasn't something we could hide.
Not anymore.
I held her shoulders firmly.
"Dhrithi, look at me."
"Dhrithi, look at me. Look at me." I cupped her face and forced her to meet my eyes. "Go change your clothes and come out quickly."
She immediately shook her head.
"No. I can't face Bhaiya, Dadi and Daadu."
"I know it's hard," I said softly. "But we have to try to make things right. Yugant told me to bring you for breakfast. If he doesn't find you downstairs, he'll come here himself. So go and freshen up. Until then, I'll think of something. Do you hear me? Go."
After a lot of convincing, I finally managed to send her to the washroom. The moment the door closed behind her, I started pacing around the room.
What should I do?
My eyes moved towards the clock hanging on the wall.
10 a.m.
The hearing was at 11:15. We still had some time.
My phone. Damn it.
It was still lying in my room.
I waited impatiently until Dhrithi came out after changing her clothes and washing her face. Her eyes were still swollen from crying, but at least she looked a little better.
Without wasting another second, I took her phone and opened the contacts. My eyes landed on Samarth Bhai's number.
Relief washed through me. As I was about to press the call button, Dhrithi immediately stopped me.
"Not Samarth Bhaiya. Please." I looked at her. "I won't be able to face him either."
I closed my eyes for a second. God. Then what was I supposed to do?
I scrolled through the contacts again. My thumb stopped on a number saved as Mr. Robot.
A small frown appeared on my face. "Is this Ishaan?"
Dhrithi blinked. For a moment she looked even more horrified. "Not him either."
"Why?"
"He'll tell Bhaiya."
I looked at her as if she had lost her mind. "Of course he'll tell Bhaiya."
Fresh tears gathered in her eyes.
"Dhwani..."
"No." I cut her off. "We're not doing that thing where we become mahaan women and try to deal with everything alone. Because honestly? It's useless."
She stared at me. I took a deep breath.
"This is already bigger than us. We have to tell him. I'll make sure he won't tell Yugant."
My finger hovered over the screen.
"Dhwani, please..."
Ignoring her protests, I pressed the call.