Page 50 of Married in Vengeance

Choose. Her ultimatum from earlier that day lay between them. Pick a side. But Ram had already picked a side, hadn’t he?

Ram nodded at Aadhya wordlessly, taking a step away from her bed. There was too much happening in his head and in his heart for him to make sense of right now. And Ram needed the world to make sense. He needed to live in a world that made sense.

His childhood had been tumultuous with very little stability, his father’s career making him both powerful and friendless. A fact that had serious repercussions for his three children at school and socially. Ram had been the shield that stood between his family and the world that came at them with a fury that seemed endless.

He’d sworn to never follow in his father’s footsteps. He loved his father, he fought for him, he endlessly allied himself with him, but he did it all from the right side of the line. He lived his life firmly planted on the right side of the line. There were no shades to his life. Only white.

Until Aadhya.

Her betrayal and his actions since had shown him that he was his father’s son after all. For the right incentive, the line didn’t matter. And yet, as he stood here, watching her, he wondered where the line even was. He didn’t know anymore because he’d obliterated it in his quest for vengeance.

Twenty-Eight

AADHYA

Aadhya swallowedhard as she stared at the folder full of documents in front of her. She sat down in her seat carefully, her legs shaking too hard to hold her up. The last thing she needed to do was collapse and disgrace herself completely.

Sweat beaded her brow as she slowly leafed through the papers, her hands trembling with each error her gaze picked out. If she could see it now, how had she not earlier?

“I-“ She stopped when she realised she was croaking. She picked up the glass on her table, water sloshing over the rim as her hand shook. Aadhya took a careful sip, wetting her throat, and tried again.

“Anna, I-“

“Don’t.” Aarush’s hard voice brought her stumbling, pathetic excuse to a stop. He got up from his chair and walked over to the door of her cabin, shutting the door so no one could hear them.

Aadhya shut her eyes as her brother walked back to her desk, shame coursing through her. “I’ll resign,” she said quietly.

“Like hell you will.” Aarush leaned on her table, his palms braced on it.

Aadhya squared her shoulders and met his furious gaze, her heart fluttering like a trapped butterfly in her chest. “Anna-“

“I know you didn’t fuck up, Aadhya.”

“You do?” she gaped at him.

“Of course I do,” he replied irritably. “Do I look stupid to you?”

Years of annoying her sibling almost had her responding with yes but she bit her tongue at the last moment.

“No?” she asked meekly.

He glared at her, shoving his hands into his pants pockets and pacing in the small space in front of her table.

“Why are you here today? I thought you were sick.”

“I’m better,” she lied, even as her legs did another quaky, quivery move under the table.

Silence fell between them as she continued to stare at the damning file on her table and Aarush paced like he needed to meet the whole day’s step count in the next five minutes.

“You know what your problem is, Aadhya?” he said finally.

“I’m sure you’re about to tell me,” she retorted dryly.

Aarush ignored the sarcasm, stopping his frantic pacing and coming to stand before her table.

“You’ve never believed you deserved this position.”

“That’s not true,” she snapped automatically. “I’m a gold medalist who has worked her butt off to earn not only the certifications required but also the practical experience. I was the one interning with Nanna and suffering through his tough love regime of passing on real world experience while you farted around the States!”

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