Page 120 of Wicked Trap

She knew the last part was a lie.

Her hands and legs trembled. She knew she had no choice but to sign the papers. But what terrified her more was what would happen as soon as she signed the papers.

Had it been the mere transferring of the trust, her father would have asked her to do it at his house or even in the legal offices. But the fact he did it in a faraway isolated place filled with his goons indicated to what he had been planning for a while.

He wanted her out of his way. Forever.

He had been planning that for the last year, arranging for it to appear like an accident or an unfortunate incident. She recalled the recent incidents when he had sent the goons to the protest, hoping to make it appear she died in a violent scuffle. The next incident was when he sent goons to wait outside her office building one stormy night.

She had managed to escape them all. Until now.

“Why were you packing up your things in the apartment?” he asked. “Were you planning to leave?”

Her heart thudded. She knew the goons must have told him about what she had been doing when they found her.

“I was planning to move back home,” she said. She tried to force a smile. “You are right. I missed home. And I thought I should help you with your campaigning for the upcoming elections.”

He looked at her suspiciously. “Fine. Yes, we’ll talk about that later. First, sign the papers.”

She knew she couldn’t put it off any further. With trembling legs, she went towards the papers. She wasn’t going to make it easy for her father. Everything inside her had been screaming for a long time to confront him and demand the truth.

It would be risky and would more or less seal her fate. But if she were to die, she would do it knowing the truth.

“I know what happened, Papa.”

At her statement, he frowned. “What?”

She took a deep breath about to tell him what she had seen on the night of the storm and what she had discovered later. But before she could say anything, there were sounds of a scuffle.

There was shouting and footsteps of people running towards something or someone.

Her heart thudded in fear.

And then, her worst nightmare came true when she saw Arjun walking into the warehouse. He must have tracked her cell phone to know where exactly she was.

“You!” her father shouted.

Arjun appeared cool even though she could see the tick in his forehead that indicated his anger. Whether it was directed at her father or her, she didn’t know.

“How dare you come here after ruining me! You brought me to the streets! You even made me mortgage the house I’m living in!”

“The house didn’t belong to you. It is now back to the rightful owners. The Vardhamans”

Tanvi saw shock on her father’s face. She was confused for a moment until something clicked in her mind.

“My name is Arjun Vardhaman.”

Shock ripped through her. When he had told her his last name, it hadn’t registered in her mind. The family she knew with that last name had died fifteen years ago.

Or so she and everyone thought.

“Who are you!” her father shouted. “What are you talking about? How can that house go back to the rightful owner? The Vardhamans are dead! Did you ruin me because you confused me with someone else?”

Arjun’s mouth twisted into a small smile. “The house would be registered in Parvathi Vardhaman’s name.”

This time, her father’s face turned completely pale. He looked as though he were a moment away from getting a heart attack. “P-Parvathi...”

Her father’s eyes roved over Arjun’s face, taking in his features closely. “My God,” he said in shock. “You are Parvathi’s son. You and your mother escaped the fire...”

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