Page 53 of Married in Vengeance

Ram took a deep breath. “Can we sit?” he asked. “Please?”

Aarush was his friend. Had been his friend, he amended as he saw the venomous look his ‘friend’ shot him.

“Or stand,” he said when no one moved.

“Do you know what I thought when my father told me that you’d offered for Aadhya’s hand in marriage?” Aarush said conversationally, his eyes still filleting Ram with his glare.

Nobody answered.

“I thought, wonderful. There is no better man in this world for her. Because no matter what, Ram will do right by her. He always does right.”

Ram closed his eyes, the words shattering the last remnants of his self-respect.

“When Agastya deceived Veda into marrying him, how did you feel dickhead?” Aarush asked softly. “How did it feel to know that the man you disliked and distrusted had married your sister? How did it feel to know that he was going to break her heart and there was fuck all you could do about it?”

Ram swallowed hard, each word cutting him off at his knees.

“Now think for one minute about how it feels when a man you consider a friend does the same thing.”

A deafening silence fell around them as Ram stared into his friend’s betrayed eyes.

“Why Ram?”

When Ram didn’t immediately move to respond, Aarush stepped away from him, turning towards the door. “I’m done with this shit,” he muttered.

“Aarush.” Virat’s calm voice stopped him. “You need to stay so we can figure this out.”

“I’ll stay if he tells me why he did it.”

“She was blackmailing me.” The words were hoarse, but he forced them out. He owed Aarush that much. “I don’t know why or what she wanted yet, but I know she did. I married her because it was the easiest way to get to the truth. And because-“

“Don’t stop now,” Aarush said mockingly. “And because?”

“And because I thought that by tying her fate to mine, I made it impossible for her to take me down without going down herself.”

Aarush swore under his breath. “Fuck you, Ram.”

Yeah. Fuck him. Fuck his life. Fuck everything. Exhausted, Ram dropped into his chair, covering his face with his hands.

“I don’t know who sent you those emails, but it wasn’t my sister.”

“Every string I’ve tugged at, every lead I’ve followed has ended back at her,” Virat said. Before Aarush could turn on him, Virat added, “But my gut agrees with you. None of what I’ve learned adds up to the Aadhya I’ve come to know.”

“You still took your information to this asshole.”

“I did,” Virat agreed. “My job is information. Facts. I took the facts I had to my client.”

“She didn’t do it.” Aarush swiped a hand over his face, his head hanging low. “Aadhya didn’t do it.”

“I-“

“Don’t talk.” Aarush didn’t let Ram finish that sentence. “She has someone gunning for her at work and now, I find out she has her own husband gunning for her too.”

“You’re being sued.” Ram stood, one hand braced on the table. “Aadhya and your company.”

Aarush laughed, a harsh sound. “Yes, Mr. Obvious. I know. Are you offering to represent us?”

“I can’t.”

---