Chapter 17 #2
Mina whirled to face him and planted her fists on her hips. “Hem, I know this is the first relationship you’ve had since your breakup, but we really need to work through this if we’re going to be happy together. This is the last time I’m going to tell you that I’m not Lisa.”
“I know that?—”
“Then you should start taking what I tell you at face value. The city is amazing, but this is where I’d be on weekends.”
His shoulders relaxed, as if he’d been waiting for her reaction this whole time. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, his cell buzzed and he turned to check the readout.
“Ajay is getting antsy. Let’s go.”
He led her outside and down the path to the main house. Mina’s astonishment grew as they approached the large three-story estate building. Her palm felt clammy in Hem’s as he led her up the wide marble staircase and through the double doors.
However, all her joy faded when they heard shouting from the foyer.
“Shit,” Hem said.
Mina matched his long strides until they were in the biggest kitchen and living space she’d ever seen. The ceilings were at least three stories tall and the view of the forest was spectacular.
“What is going on?” Hem said.
His words were drowned out by raised voices.
An older woman, a man in a suit with movie star hair, and Ajay shouted at each other in Punjabi and English. The unmistakable Mr. Deepak Singh looked ashen and sat in silence. He wore a white kurta pajama and a beige shawl that wrapped around his shoulders.
Hem tried again to get everyone’s attention, but they were too busy yelling at each other to hear. Mina stuck two fingers in her mouth and let out a piercing whistle. The room fell into complete silence from one heartbeat to the next.
“I can’t believe that worked,” she said.
“Thanks, hirye. Now. Can anyone tell me what the hell is going on?” Hem asked.
When they all began talking at once, he made a T shape with his arms. “One at a time, damn it. Ajay? What’s happening?”
“Brahm came here to tell us about our dearest uncle Gopal,” he said.
“What about him?”
Brahm shoved his fingers through his perfect hair. “The bastard sold his shares of Bharat to WTA for top dollar. WTA now has a sizeable amount of shares in our company. They’re a major shareholder.”
“What the hell? How did Gopal get Bharat shares?”
Everyone turned to look at Deepak. The old man stared into space, looking defeated and worn. The image was completely different from the framed magazine covers in the foyer of Bharat’s offices.
“Pa- ji,” Hem said softly. “Please tell me you didn’t.”
“He needed to focus on the family and not on his addiction,” Deepak said in Punjabi. “It was supposed to help him gain a vested interest in working for the company.”
“Well, that sure as hell didn’t work did it, Chacha?” Brahm snapped. “I’m here to tell you that you can’t save him. Not anymore.”
Ajay and Hem started in unison, but it was the older woman who quieted the room this time.
She stared at Mina as she yelled, “Enough! I didn’t realize that we had .
. . company.” She walked toward Mina and reached out to touch her hands.
“I’m Hem’s mother,” she said in English.
“I’m sorry about this scene you’ve just witnessed.
My son has better sense usually and warns the family so we’re all on our best behavior. ”
Mina responded in Punjabi. “I’m working as an attorney at Bharat right now, Auntie- ji. I’m well aware of all three of your sons’ temperaments. No need for such formality with me.”
The woman’s eyes filled with tears and Mina backed away, not sure what to do. Luckily, the British man intervened.
“Mina, right?” He came over and extended his hand. “Brahm. I run the UK office.”
“Ah…nice to meet you?”
“Can we focus for a second?” Ajay said. “We need to know exactly how many shares and if WTA is making a move to buy the twenty- five percent we released to the public.”
“Dad,” Hem said. “Tell us everything. Now.”
“Hem, leave him be,” his mother said.
“No, this is serious! He could be tanking our chances of stopping WTA. At this point we may have to sell off parts of the business.”
“You’re not in charge anymore,” Deepak said, his voice laced with a venom that hushed the room. “You left, remember? You left me and the business because of a woman. And now you’ve come back, because of a woman? I will not hear anything from you.”
“I left because you went behind my back to pay off Lisa to break up with me!” Hem roared. “What kind of father does that to their own son?”
“The kind that doesn’t want their child to ruin their life.”
“Deepak!” Hem’s mother snapped. “Watch yourself.”
“And he may not be in charge anymore, but I am,” Ajay said as he stepped forward. “And Dad, I want those answers.”
The brief respite was over, and the shouting continued, but this time, Deepak was raising his voice, too. His anger seemed to focus on Hem.
“I told you going public was a bad idea, Dad!” Hem’s voice vibrated. “Your family first mentality doesn’t work in the fucking real world.”
“Did you learn that from Lisa, or after you left Bharat?”
“I formulated my own opinions, and it looks like I was right after all.”
“You failed me when I needed you!”
“No, damn you, you drove me away. And I still came back, didn’t I?”
Deepak got to his feet, his legs visibly trembling, his cheeks ruddy with exertion. “Blame me for your own wrongdoing. But you run, Hem. You never stand and face your problems. What will you do when you push this girl away from you? Will you blame me for that, too?”
“Stop deflecting,” Ajay said. “Dad, you got us into a mess, and we’re here to get out of it. Hem is here to help.”
“I’m solely responsible for WTA,” he shouted. “Do you think I intended for this to happen? I made this company the way it is!”
“And you’re doing a good job at screwing it over, too,” Hem snapped.
Deepak said something, but the words were lost in a coughing fit. The voices around the room quieted when Deepak started gasping. He clutched his arm and collapsed back in his chair.
Everyone moved at once. Time slowed, and Hem barely made it to his father’s side before he crumbled to the floor.
“Call 911,” he shouted, but Ajay already had his phone out. Brahm held back Hem’s mother who began to sob in her shawl.
“Deepak!” she cried. The housekeeper came running in and Mina intercepted him.
“Please make sure the front gate is open, and there is a car ready,” she said.
“We need them here now,” Ajay roared.
“We can call the helicopter.”
“Too slow,” Hem said. “Ambulance is our best option.”
Mina’s heart pounded as she watched the scene helplessly, the fear on Hem’s face, the glassy loss of focus on Ajay’s, and the shock on Brahm’s handsome features.
She ended up holding Hem’s mother at one point as she sobbed into Mina’s shoulder. Long, agonizing minutes passed until the ambulance finally came and Deepak was loaded onto a stretcher.
Mina followed everyone outside and to the car. She was about to get into the back of one of the vehicles when Hem stopped her.
“Take the Bentley back to my place. Or I’ll have our housekeeper order a car for you.”
“Hem, I want to go to the hospital with you.”
“No,” he said. His lips thinned, and his eyes were wild with panic. “No, I don’t want you here with my family. I should’ve never brought you.”
His words pierced her heart until the pain almost consumed her. “Hem, you don’t mean that. I can help.”
“You were right,” he said, hurriedly. “You need to focus on Bharat and not on me. Go home, Mina. I’ll call you when we’re done.”
Ajay called Hem’s name and he slipped into the passenger seat of the sedan without a backward glance. The car roared down the drive and Mina was left standing at the base of the steps, reeling from Hem’s rejection.