Page 54 of Wicked Trap

He lost the woman he loved to a rich man.

But he hadn’t given up. He got his revenge on the woman who spurned him. The same qualities the woman he loved had wanted in a man were also that man’s downfall. The generous heart and the need to help others bankrupted that man.

Satisfaction passed through him. I’m the winner now. And that bastard lost everything, including his life. And I’m enjoying his riches.

The woman he loved would have come running to him had she not lost her life in a fire accident. He regretted losing her. Only because she didn’t suffer enough for ditching him and he didn’t get to gloat.

But she was right when she said he was not content. It had always been his nature to hunger for more. He wanted to be the Chief Minister of the state by hook or crook. He desperately needed Aryan Varma’s money and goodwill.

He frowned as he recalled his promise to have Tanvi apologize to Aryan Varma.

His hotheaded daughter would not listen to him and most likely ruin things even more. But he had to convince and bend her to his will somehow.

Suddenly, a thought entered his mind.

Why the hell haven’t I thought of this before?

Right from the time Tanvi was conceived, she was his ticket to wealth and prestige. Indira Rao, a beautiful young woman from a rich, privileged background, married him only because she was two months pregnant.

Tanvi will once again help him trap another person from a rich, privileged background. This time it would be a billionaire from New York who would help him win elections.

CHAPTER 16

“Miss Shetty. I’m quite impressed by the work you’ve accomplished during your first week.”

“Thank you, Mr. Tejpal.”

A week had passed since Tanvi began the job at Prism. She was attending yet another meeting with her boss on the phone. She had been talking to the older man regularly, where he went over the tasks with her and cleared her doubts if she had any.

So far, the work given to her was simple. It almost bordered on boring too.

She had to schedule meetings and reschedule a few and call some people in person and ensure they were prepared for the meetings. On a few rare occasions, she even had to work on the meeting slides that were to be presented by the chairman.

None of those meeting presentations had information on the upcoming project of the mall. Most of it was surprisingly about new software or regarding companies that were soon to be acquired.

“When can I... uh... meet the chairman?” Tanvi asked. “I wanted to meet him in person to introduce myself to him.”

There was a pause. “Our chairman is very private, Miss Shetty. He prefers to deal with only a select trusted few in person. I’m sure you were made aware of it when you signed the Non- Disclosure Agreement about not meeting him or revealing information in case you happen to meet him in the future.”

Tanvi frowned with annoyance. She did recall signing the NDA. Why was the chairman so damn secretive?

She had met rich, powerful men in her life. But none of them guarded their privacy to such an extent. Whoever the man was, she knew he must have a lot to hide.

But she was determined to draw out everything and expose the man before he ruthlessly destroyed the precious ecosystem and the health of the people living in the city for his personal gains.

“All right, Miss Shetty. I’ll speak to you on Monday around the same time. Have a great weekend.”

“Good night, Mr. Tejpal,” Tanvi greeted the man, knowing that it was still Thursday night in New York.

After the call ended, she once again set out to finish her tasks quickly, so she could check the rest of the folders on the shared drives, where she would hopefully stumble across some incriminating information she could use against the chairman.

It was close to seven o’clock when her phone began ringing. She glanced at it and saw that it was Rashmi. She answered it, hoping to make it a quick call and get back to her snooping.

“Hello?”

There was loud thumping music in the background.

“Are you ready?” Rashmi’s voice asked.