Page 56 of Married in Vengeance

“I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I know that now.” Ram’s expression took on a predatory gleam, one that had a shiver snake down her spine. “And we’ll find the bastard who did this and nail him to the wall.”

“Madam.” Another employee stuck their head through the door before she could process his comment and reply. “Aarush Anna is asking you to come to his cabin now.”

“We’re coming,” Ram replied, twining her fingers with his and pulling Aadhya towards the door. She grabbed the hard disk as she passed her desk and followed him.

The niggling feeling was back. She was missing something again. Something she knew but couldn’t quite put her finger on. It felt like there were endless layers to this situation and she needed to keep peeling it back until she found the core of the problem.

Because no matter what lay behind Aarush Anna’s office doors, she knew they were nowhere near the core. The core, the rotten core, still stayed hidden.

Thirty-One

RAM

Anant Madhavan lost.The news came to him in a trickle that soon became a flood. Relief, exultation, and a deep, abiding sorrow for justice that came a little too late swept through him. They’d won the case in court but they’d lost so much along the way. Raashi should never have had to go through what she had. He’d failed his baby sister. And Raashi wasn’t the only one he’d failed.

His gaze went to Aadhya who was sleeping beside him, the exhaustion from the viral still making it hard for her to regain her normal energy levels. After the tumultuous day at her office, she’d come home and crashed, inevitably postponing the conversation he knew the two of them had to have. A conversation that would end everything.

His phone buzzed, messages and calls pouring in as the news spread. Until they had the orders in hand, he wouldn’t be celebrating. It wouldn’t sink in until he saw it in black and white.

His phone rang again and he glanced down. Raashi. He smiled, the first ray of happiness in the gloom that seemed to have descended all around him.

“We won!” Raashi’s exclamation was a lot more subdued than he’d expected but then his sister wasn’t one for huge displays of emotion.

“We did, Chinna. Congratulations.”

“And to you too,” Raashi murmured. “What happens now?”

“Orders with sentencing will pass in a few weeks. Then it will be truly done.”

Raashi fell silent on the other end of the line.

“Harsh and you should leave town for a few days. Get away from here, spend some time together, and come back with a cleansed plate.” He looked over as Aadhya started to stir in the bed. He wished he could whisk her away too on a holiday, but they still had their own storm to weather.

“Harsh is shooting in Switzerland for ten days. He leaves in a week. Maybe I’ll tag along.” Raashi sounded like she was scheduling a root canal rather than talking about an international holiday with her superstar husband.

“Are you okay, Chinna?”

Raashi made a noncommittal sound.

“What’s wrong?” Ram asked, his voice gentling instinctively.

“I don’t know.”

“Is everything okay with Harsh?” Across the room, Aadhya sat up in bed, her curls tumbling wildly around her sleepy face, one sleeve slipping off her shoulder as she stretched.

“Yeah.” Raashi’s voice pulled him back into the conversation. “He’s great. Everything’s great. I just-“

When Raashi trailed off, Ram prodded, “You just?”

“Why do I feel sad?” Raashi blurted out.

Ram sat down on the side of the bed, his back to Aadhya. He felt her shift on the bed and a second later, her warmth enveloped him as she wrapped her arms around him from behind. Her cheek came to rest against his shoulder blades, her curls spilling over his shoulder and down his chest. He broughtone hand up to twine his fingers through hers and left their joined hands to rest over his beating heart.

“Because you loved him,” he answered his sister, the words resonating through every cell of his being. “What Anant did to you was wrong, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that when you did love him, your love was real.”

He felt the kiss Aadhya pressed between his shoulder blades and his fingers tightened around hers.

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