Page 18 of Married in Vengeance

“Why?” she whispered finally. “Why are you doing this?”

“You know why,” he told her, dropping his shields and letting her see the loathing that churned within him. “You know why!”

Shaken, she stumbled back a step, her hands going to push her hair out of her eyes. “You’re a complete bastard.”

“Noted.” He nodded. “Go home,” Ram told her, stepping away from the door and leaving the path open for her to leave. “You can think through your choices, past and present. And then, let me know which poisoned choice you want to make now.”

“Rot in hell, Gadde,” she muttered, stepping around him.

“I’m already there, Reddy,” he murmured, watching her angrily swipe her tears away as she left.

Ten

AADHYA

Fury sentAadhya storming into the street without a thought of where she’d go next. She didn’t want to go back to Gadde Mansion and if she turned up at her house the day after her wedding, her family would get worried.

She tapped on the cab rental app on her phone and booked a cab, sighing. The griha pravesh puja was in two hours. She’d have to be back for that or all hell would break loose. But she still had these two hours…

She was standing on the crowded pavement waiting for her cab when the office door opened and the young boy she’d watched crying earlier emerged with his family and another man.

The man, clearly their lawyer, saw them off before turning towards her with a friendly smile.

“Hi. You’re Aadhya right?”

Aadhya nodded, warily.

“Ram’s partner, Karthik.” He held his hand out for her to shake. “I was at your wedding but I doubt you’d have registered anyone in the crowd.”

Aadhya shook his hand, smiling. “Nice to meet you.”

“Are you waiting for someone?” he asked, looking around the crowded road frowning.

“Just my cab.” Aadhya adjusted her chiffon dupatta which was falling off.

Karthik stared at her. “Why do you need a cab? I’ll have one of the office drivers drop you wherever you want to go.”

Right on cue, Aadhya’s cab pulled up beside them. “It’s already here.” With a last smile, she opened the car door. “Have a good day.”

“Aadhya, wait!” Karthik cast a worried glance towards the office. “Does Ram know you’re taking a cab?”

“What I do or don’t do in my life, Karthik,” she snapped, her frustration with the day spilling out on the poor man. “Has nothing to do with the great Ram Gadde.”

His eyebrows shot up as he watched her slide into the car and give the driver the OTP to start the ride.

“Alright then,” he murmured, shutting the door behind her and stepping away from the car.

Aadhya’s pulse beat an angry rhythm as she watched the crowded roads flash by. Within minutes, the cab pulled up in front of the multistoried building that housed the corporate offices of Laxmi Builders. Her family’s legacy and Aadhya’s first baby, this company was both her privilege and her refuge. As Chief Architect, she worked with her brother, the CEO, to take their heritage forward.

She wondered if Aarush was in office this morning or still snuggled up with his wife, sleeping off yesterday’s wedding reception shenanigans. Not that Aadhya had had any chance to partake in said shenanigans. She’d been home and tucked into her solitary bed well before a toddler’s bedtime.

She smiled absently, acknowledging passing staff’s greetings and ignoring their puzzled frowns at her unexpected presence atwork that day. Tapping her foot, she waited impatiently for the elevator to arrive.

“Aadhya? Beta why are you here?” Vara Prasad Sir, their company’s senior most architect and an employee of over twenty-five years with the firm, walked up to her, a stack of rolled up drawings in one arm. “Griha pravesh is today kadha?”

“In a couple of hours, Prasad Garu. I just wanted to check on some work and then I’ll go back.”

“Arrey beta.” He flashed an avuncular smile. “Work can always wait. But these precious, new moments in your marriage won’t.”

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