Page 36 of Married in Vengeance

Ram turned on him. “She’s fucking with me and you think I’m at fault somehow?”

“I’m not saying that.” Virat put his hands up in the air, palms out.

“Then what are you saying?” Ram’s hands fisted on the steering wheel as he fought for his legendary control.

“Aadhya may have sent these emails, but you took it one step further,” Virat pointed out. “Youmarriedher. Why?”

“Why?” Ram muttered. “Why?”

“Yes, Ram. Why? Why the fuck did you marry the woman you know was trying to blackmail you? We don’t even know what she wants.”

“Because now that she’s married to me, if I go down, if she takes me down, then she goes down with me.”

Virat stared at him. “Seriously? That’s the most fucked up logic I’ve heard.”

Ram stared grimly through the windshield at the rows and rows of parked cars. “It’s the only logic that works.”

“Is it?” Virat asked. “Or did you just want to marry her so badly that you used any excuse, even one as despicable as this, to do so?”

Ram threw the car into gear and reversed in a squeal of his tires.

“Not going to answer me, huh?” Virat smirked.

“You’re a dick.”

Virat chuckled. “Still not an answer, my friend.”

Twenty

AADHYA

She was filthy,covered in dust and grime from six different project sites. She was also heartsick, angry, hurt, and lonely. So very lonely. She’d been married for sixteen days now. A marriage that had taken her away from her dysfunctional family that loved her and plonked her in the middle of an even more dysfunctional one that didn’t seem to care too much for her.

Aadhya stood on the broad, marble stairs that led to the front door of Gadde Mansion and wished she could be anywhere but there. Maybe she could check herself into a hotel for the night. One night without the complicated vibes and tense but obtuse innuendo would mean better sleep, she was sure.

Before she could turn on her heel the front door opened and her mother-in-law stared out at her.

“How long were you going to stand there?” Athama asked.

“As long as it took me to decide whether to come in or leave,” Aadhya replied candidly.

The older lady’s eyes didn’t even flicker at the blunt statement. She seemed to be thinking something through andafter a moment of thought, she said, “Would you hear me out for a moment? After that you can decide whether to come in.”

Curiosity kept Aadhya in her place. She dropped her laptop bag to one side and waited. She didn’t ask to enter the house and her mother-in-law didn’t step aside and order her in either.

“When I said you were too dark for that shade of lipstick, I wasn’t looking to insult you. I was just stating a fact.”

Aadhya flinched, her mother-in-law’s eyes tracking the miniscule movement.

“Does it bother you?” Athama asked. “Your complexion?”

“No.” Aadhya shrugged. “I’m comfortable with who I am.”

“Then why did you feel bad when I said what I did?”

“I didn’t,” Aadhya began to protest instinctively and then checked herself. “Well okay, I did. A little bit. But not because I am sensitive about my complexion.”

Ram’s mother cocked her head to one side, waiting silently.

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