Page 82 of Reckless Dare

Maybe I should have waited until Monday to speak to him.

But she couldn’t wait. Each time she tried to relax and spend the rest of the evening catching up on some coursework, she was reminded of how she had slapped Abhiram Simha.

She cringed and she felt ashamed.

Yes, he deserved to be yelled at and insulted publicly for what he had done to her in the past. But slapping him was taking it too far.

Oh God.

She could still recall how his eyes had flashed darkly but he didn’t react or say anything in his defense.

Why didn’t he?

He could have easily told her the truth which would have utterly humiliated her. But he had kept quiet instead.

Maybe it wasn’t the truth? What if those witnesses were simply manufactured to make Neeraj the bad guy?

She had to find out.

She went to the rugby stadium knowing the Vipers practiced on Sunday evenings. Her heart thudded as she searched for him.

He was on the field and was busy with the practice. Biting her lip, she sat on the stands, deciding to wait for him.

A couple of minutes later, she heard some familiar voices. It was Ved and Rana Simha who were Abhiram’s cousins. As soon as they saw her, they stopped.

“Why are you here?” Ved snapped. “Are you here to yell or slap Abhi again?”

A bolt of guilt passed through her, but she kept it on hold. Abhiram Simha’s cousins might be protective of him, but that didn’t mean they had the right to make her feel guilty. She was sure they must have known how she was tormented by their cousin.

“I’m here to find out the truth,” she said. “Neeraj told me that he was beaten because he went out on a date with me. But I heard something different.”

The Simha cousins fell quiet watching her closely. She felt slightly intimidated because the guys looked somewhat similar to her tormentor. Tall and broad, they had the distinctive features that made it obvious they were related to each other.

“Neeraj told you Abhi hit him because of your date?” Rana Simha asked.

“Yes,” she replied.

Rana didn’t say anything more. He quietly took out his cell phone and pulled up something before holding it out for her.

Her heart sank when she saw a clear video shot on Friday night. She recognized the clothes that Neeraj wore for their date. Neeraj was standing with a few of his Eagles teammates.

“You can try all you want, Abhi, but I will be the one nailing that chick first. She kissed me tonight already and was eager to put it out. You have no idea what she let me do.”

Ava was shocked and humiliated. She knew Neeraj was talking about her. With her heart thudding sickly, she watched the rest of the video clip. Neeraj looked angry that Abhiram Simha wasn’t reacting to the taunts.

“The only reason you won the elections is because of Neelima Raj. Everyone knows she is the whore of Simha men. What do your dads do? Take turns and visit her here? Or does she fly in the private jets to visit each of your dads?”

That’s when hell broke loose.

She saw her tormentor striding towards Neeraj. Neeraj tried to throw in a punch, but Abhiram Simha easily caught his hand. He punched Neeraj on his face before twisting Neeraj’s arm until Neeraj was crying out in agony.

“One more time you disrespect Neela madam or any woman, I’m going to break your arm.”

His voice was calm but she could see the seething anger in his eyes. He let go of Neeraj’s arm, only to punch him hard again until Neeraj was lying on the ground whimpering in pain. The video clip ended at that moment.

Ava’s heart sank even further. “I didn’t know,” she whispered.

She felt sick to her stomach that she trusted someone like Neeraj. The guy was just using her and she blindly believed him to be the good guy. The things he had said about Neelima Raj made her want to punch him as well. It was beyond disgusting.

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