Page 3 of Wicked Trap

Aryan knew his other older brother was right. Time was of the essence for what they were planning.

“Aryan? Why aren’t you saying anything? Do you agree with our plan?”

At his oldest brother’s question, Aryan finally spoke.

“No,” he replied.

At his reply, Yash Varma’s jaw clenched.

“What part of it don’t you agree with?” Bhargav Varma asked calmly.

Aryan looked at both his brothers.

“I don’t agree with the part where we should keep the families out of this,” he said. “Did the bastards leave our family alone? They came after our mother and us too. They destroyed us and left us homeless.”

There was a loaded silence.

All three Varma brothers were known for their cold ruthlessness in the business world. But Aryan’s two older brothers barely displayed outer emotions. Yash Varma and Bhargav Varma thought it was a waste of time. They often said that anger or happiness or sadness didn’t change the course of a person’s life. Feeling such emotions would only make one miserable.

But Aryan was different from his two brothers. He felt it all and showed it back tenfold. He was often considered the wild card, and his rivals in the business world didn’t know what to anticipate from him. A genius when it came to computer programming and software, he had made his first billion when he was eighteen. By then, his two brothers were already self-made billionaires. Despite all hardships and tragedies they had faced during childhood, they were successful.

Or so they had thought.

They hadn’t realized that success was a state of mind. They had recently discovered the betrayal behind the devastating past loss. Unless they sought retribution and brought justice to the loss, all their successes so far would mean nothing.

“When Ma finds out, she would not be happy about dragging the families into it.”

Aryan looked at his brother and knew his brother was right. Their sweet and kind mother would be shocked and hurt.

But it only made him stick even harder to his path of retribution.

“When you two quit school at the age of thirteen and fourteen and were out working in construction to put food on the table, do you know what I did at home? I was with Ma at home. I might have been only eight or nine at that time. But I recall every moment as I watched Ma breaking into pieces even as she tried to put on a brave front for us.”

His brothers no longer remained stoic. Rage was visible on their faces as they recalled the dark times when their family had to struggle for basic necessities.

“Let’s go all in,” Aryan stated. “Drag in their damn families or anyone that will help destroy those bastards. I don’t care who the fuck needs to be involved. I want every teardrop that Ma shed in the last fifteen years accounted for, even if it cannot ever be compensated.”

Aryan’s brothers knew he was right. The mental and physical anguish they suffered, especially their mother, could not be atoned.

“All right,” said Yash.

Bhargav nodded as well. “Let’s go all in.”

***

“Here are the files you requested, Mr. Varma.”

The private investigator placed the thick folders on Aryan’s office desk inside a high-rise building that overlooked Times Square. The investigator looked confused as though wondering why a billionaire chairman of a well-known software company in New York was requesting an investigation on people halfway across the world who had nothing to do with software or business.

“Thank you. You may leave now.”

The investigator nodded and left. Aryan picked up the thick file in front of him. It was of a noted criminal lawyer who was now a powerful politician. All of the old man’s wealth was put into a trust in the daughter’s name who was the man’s only child.

Even though there was a file with a detailed investigation on the heiress in a smaller file, Aryan opened his sleek laptop and typed in the woman’s name. Several articles and videos mentioned her. He clicked on the video link at the top.

He froze momentarily at the first glimpse of her.

He had expected a glamorous society heiress pouting at the camera while partying with her friends—the kind he was used to dating. But the woman in the video was neither pouting nor was she glamorous.

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