Redemption of Royals (Royal #1: Book 3) | ✔

70

-• the end •-

"Take the oath,"

Virat Rajawat places his right hand on the holy Bhagavad Gita and says, "I solemnly affirm that the evidence which I shall give to the court shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth."

As soon as the Gita is taken away, Ishaani replaces him and stands in front of the witness box. "Your name?"

"Virat Abhimanyu Singh Rajawat."

"He's lying! My son is dead!" Abhimanyu Singh Rajawat panics, looking towards his secretary who quickly ducks his head low. "You- You told me-" he stops, realising he trusted the wrong man, and instead paces his gaze across the courtroom, locating his youngest son. Except when their eyes meet, he finds himself looking into the exact replica of ebony eyes he had once gotten rid of, and the realisation comes crashing down on him. He gasps for breath.

Rudra smirks.

"This is a court. Please maintain the silence." The Judge slams her gavel.

"Anyway," Ishaani brings the focus back to the person giving the testimony, "What exactly happened the night you disappeared, Mr. Rajawat?"

Virat sighs. "My wife had gone into labour for her second kid a few weeks before. It wasn't my child. It was my father's. In his greed for a pure bred royal, he sexually molested my wife to make her conceive his own child."

Abhimanyu removes his handkerchief and shakily wipes off the sweat gathering on his temples. The testimony means nothing if there's no proof. He can still turn this around. He has to. And he will.

"When she died, I couldn't face myself anymore. I lived like a coward, we both did, me and my friend. But we both lost the person who was most precious to us. I was angry, ashamed, and I wanted to put an end to it all. I had a friend in the hospital who worked on the third floor. Indra Sahane. His son now works in his place. I took him out for drinks and stole his ID card. Vikarm was in London when I called him. He warned me to return home, and I know I should have listened, but when I saw those little kids in those cylindrical glass confines, I couldn't just turn my back around and resume my life. I had my phone on me and I recorded everything. Unfortunately, I was caught."

"Who caught you?"

"My father's men." He answers. "They took me to the rooftop. My father came, confronted me, and he was furious that the son he hated all his life was going to become the reason for his downfall. I think I accidentally called Vikram again, because I heard his voice through my phone. They noticed and smashed my phone in. But I had a camera pen on me, gifted by one of my students, and it recorded everything. Nobody knew of it. Then I was pushed off the rooftop. But I think God wanted to protect me," he smiles tearfully. "The hospital was in need of new mattresses, and that night the trucks delivering them were parked right beneath the rooftop. I fell into one of them. I escaped, but my father sent his secretary behind me. I was afraid if I got caught, it was over, so I put the pen in a round container, and stuffed it in the locker room of the golf club that Vikram and I were members of. I sent him the location, and then discarded my phone in fear I'll be traced back. For years I lived underground. I was hoping Vikram would find me but he gave up on me and my son, and I couldn't risk reaching out to him again. But then sixteen years ago Sara found me, I don't know how. She took me to Scotland and I had been living there with her for the last fifteen years."

At the mention of her, Yuvraaj's eyes flit across the room towards the woman. She stares ahead blankly.

"That pen? Do you still have it?" Ishaani asks.

Rudra moves forward and hands over the pendrive holding all the recordings.

"When Mr. Vikram Singh Chauhan tried to retrieve it, he was caught up in an accident and unfortunately lost his life. We found it near the car wreckage."