Page 95 of Wicked Trap

Her friend nodded. “Thanks, Tanvi.”

Waving her friend goodnight, she went in search of her father. She couldn’t spot him anywhere in the lawn area. She saw his assistant waiting by the back entrance to the house.

“Hello, Mr. Prasad. I can’t find my father anywhere. Please tell him I’m leaving.”

The man nodded anxiously. “Sure, Miss Shetty. Your father is having a meeting and had asked not to let anyone disturb him.”

She frowned, wondering who her father was meeting.

“Thanks, Mr. Prasad. Have a good night.”

Her father’s assistant followed her outside. “Narendar will drop you home, Miss Shetty,” he said.

Since it was late at night, she agreed to have her father’s driver drop her home.

She got into the back seat of the car. When the car began to move, she leaned back her head and closed her eyes.

She was angry and disappointed that she couldn’t meet the chairman. But she was also looking forward to returning home to Arjun and falling asleep curled in his arms.

The thought made her smile.

CHAPTER 28

“Mr. Varma. Thanks a lot for coming. I was hoping you’d come earlier so we could spend more time together.”

Aryan was seated across from Girish Shetty in the older man’s office room. The party hosted in Aryan’s honor was continuing outside.

“I got tied up with another commitment, Mr. Shetty.”

The older man nodded. “Yes, I understand. I’m simply glad that you were able to make it.”

Aryan didn’t say anything. He hadn’t intended on attending the party that night. He had wanted the older man to be anxious about the large party funding that was promised at the beginning of the construction of the mall.

But knowing that Tanvi was attending the party, hoping to meet the Prism Corporation chairman, he decided to come. It was a huge risk. But he wanted to ensure she wasn’t disappointed.

He knew it was flawed thinking because she would be disappointed for not meeting the chairman. But he wanted to distract her and fill her mind with thoughts of him to be able to forget the other disappointment.

He hoped it worked. The passionate moments in that small room were still branded in his mind.

“Mr. Varma. The construction of the mall is going to start in six weeks as planned. They will be cutting down trees in three weeks. All the politicians, officers and the contractors involved are here attending the party. They can vouch for the same.”

Aryan sat back in the chair. “And your daughter?”

Something flashed in the older man’s eyes. “My daughter promised not to intervene, Mr. Varma. She is here at the party, and she is very eager to meet you.”

Aryan knew Tanvi had left the place fifteen minutes ago. He had received a notification that she was headed home. He was glad that she agreed to take one of her father’s cars instead of choosing to call a taxi. He had asked Girish Shetty’s assistant to follow her outside and personally put her in the car.

“This is my daughter’s picture,” the man said, pointing to a photo frame placed on the office desk. It hadn’t been there during the previous visits. The photo seemed to be taken a couple of years ago. “She resembles my late wife.”

“I know how your daughter looks, Mr. Shetty. Yes, she is beautiful. I’ve seen the videos of her protesting in front of the Prism building.”

The older man’s face reddened with embarrassment and anger. “Yes. She deeply regrets those moments as I had mentioned before.”

Aryan kept quiet.

The older man fidgeted. “You see, Mr.Varma, my beautiful daughter is... available.”

Something about the older man’s tone made Aryan’s skin crawl. He wasn’t entirely sure if the man was trying to arrange a marriage alliance for his daughter.

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