Page 65 of Married in Vengeance

“Is no one going to answer me?” she asked, her smile fading as the tension around their little group registered.

“Is this something about my work emails? The documents that have been deleted?” When he didn’t say anything, she prodded. “Virat?”

“Aadhya,” he began and stopped, for the first time ever, lost for words.

“Tell her,” Ram said roughly.

“Yes, tell me,” Aadhya repeated slowly. “Now that you seem to havehispermission.”

“This video,” Virat said, pointing towards the cameras and the interview set. “Was first sent to Ram via email. It appeared to be sent from your official email address.”

Ram watched her cock her head, thinking that through, her intelligence sieving through the statement and finding the only feasible answers.

“When?” she asked finally.

When he didn’t immediately reply, she turned to face Ram. “When did you get this email, Ram?”

“Sept 16th.”

The day before his father had brought the marriage proposal to her own. He saw her brain compute the math, her face leaching of all colour.

“Why did you marry me?”

He closed his eyes.

“Oh no,” she said softly. “You don’t get to do that. You’ll bloody well look at me.” Stepping forward, she grabbed his coat lapels and pulled hard. “Why. Did. You. Marry. Me?”

Ram opened his eyes and met hers.

“I married you to punish you.”

Thirty-Six

AADHYA

A dull roaringnoise filled her ears as she stared at her husband.

Her husband.

Oh my God. What had she done? Whom had she married?

All around them people milled, bustling activity filling the room. But the three of them didn’t move, an island of contained chaos.

The door to the closed set was suddenly flung open and a slew of safari suited men stormed in. Ram looked toward the door, a slew of emotions flashing across his face as he saw his sister and her husband walk through the door.

She saw it all before it disappeared. Embarrassment, humiliation, resignation. All shut down, his face wiped clean of all emotion in the blink of an eye.

Veda came up to Aadhya and wrapped her in a tight hug. Still in shock from Ram’s revelation, Aadhya stood stock still, a statue who didn’t know her place in this drama anymore.

“Why are you guys here?” Ram asked.

He didn’t get an answer before the door opened again and Harsh and Raashi walked in, followed closely by Aarush and Priyanka.

“What’s going on?” Aadhya whispered, pulling out of Veda’s embrace though she wanted nothing more than to put her head down on Veda’s shoulder and weep.

“Wait for it,” Veda replied grimly.

A second later, a harried looking, portly man burst through the door with a small entourage scurrying behind him.

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