Page 46 of Married in Vengeance

“What do you know so far?”

“When I know something, you’ll know,” Virat returned coolly. “As of now, all we know with surety are that the emails can be traced back to Aadhya’s office email account.”

“Well, that’s stupid,” Ram said. “If she was going to blackmail me, why would she do it from her work account?”

“For it to be blackmail, she needed to have asked for something. And it’s not directly from her work account. It’s routed through another anonymous address. And yes, it’s still stupid because it’s not a complicated cover. But the real question as always is, if it is her, what’s her endgame?”

“She’s been having some issues at work too.” It felt disloyal to relay that to Virat, but Ram knew for his friend to be effective, he needed all the facts.

“She is?” Virat’s voice sharpened. “What kind of issues?”

Ram told him what he’d overheard when Aadhya had been on the phone with Aarush.

“I’ll look into it,” Virat promised.

“It’s not her,” Ram said again, a weird, rootless conviction sprouting in his heart. “It can’t be.”

Virat sighed. “My gut agrees with you. But we need proof.”

“Why does your gut agree with me?” Ram stopped in front of the bedroom door, one hand reaching out to touch the oakwood panels, his fingers splaying out and his palm pressing down. A vain bid to reach for the woman sleeping behind it.

“I like Aadhya. I find it hard to believe she’d pull this shit.” Virat’s voice vibrated with frustration. “And yet, everything I pull up points to her.”

Ram shut his eyes, his hand pressing harder against the door. “What did this latest email say?”

Virat’s voice when it came through the line was hard and cold. “It said, ‘It’s time.’”

Twenty-Six

AADHYA

Aadhya woke latethat afternoon feeling like her brain had turned into cotton fluff and her mouth had chewed on the bark of a tree. But for the first time in a while, she woke up fever free. She rubbed her gritty eyes and sat up in bed, her skin feeling clammy and sensitive like someone had rubbed sandpaper all over it.

She caught sight of her phone on the bedside table, eyeing it like she would a venomous snake. What fresh hell had broken loose in the office? How angry was Aarush Anna? Had she fucked up again?

She swallowed hard, her sore throat working as she struggled to push past the confused emotions clogging it.

“Water?”

Aadhya stared at the broad hand holding the glass in front of her face. Slowly, ever so slowly, she looked up to meet Ram’s gaze. And here was another confusing mess. Where was the man who glared at her like she was his mortal enemy? The one who made love to her like he wanted nothing and no one more than her but also like he hated himself for wanting her that much and her for inspiring it in him?

This man looked at her with a host of conflicting emotions in his eyes. Even the thought of making sense of it exhausted her.

“Thanks,” she said hoarsely as she took the glass and sipped gratefully. “I’m better now. You don’t need to hang around. I’m sure you have work or something to get to.”

“Or something,” he said, sitting down beside her instead of running from the room like a rabbit on rollerskates. “How do you feel?”

“Better,” she mumbled, looking away from him and at her phone. Her stomach churned at the messages and emails that had surely piled up while she slept.

“Aadhya?”

“Hmm?” Distracted, she reached for her phone.

“What’s going on at work?”

Her hand curled into a fist an inch away from her phone, dropping to her side. “Nothing,” she said defensively, turning to face Ram. “Nothing that’s any of your business.”

“It’s not?” The sardonic edge to his voice had her ire rising.

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