A husband's regret

Episode 31

Jaipur

India

Rudra pulled over a neat and freshly laundered blue shirt over his aching muscles. One mug of hot coffee and an unexpected closure had motivated him to bring justice to all secrets in his life.

To conclude it all.

"Are you sure?" His best friend's invested gaze met his through the mirror before him.

He was hunched over the sink, palms pressed over cold tiles. He sighed, vision fleeting down before it snapped back again. "It's time...to be the King I thought I'd avoid...being."

Vikram blinked off the soulful gaze as he ended his search. His lips quirked up while he regarded him. "That's an overstatement, sadist."

He smirked.

Time to settle the past once and for all.

Because he had a certain someone to meet later.

***

Abhinav shakily played the evidence on the laptop. The usb drive held the fate of his past's reality, of who his father was....as the rumours were true at last. Those rumours which his brother assumed were a conspiracy to create a rift and nothing more.

When list of contracts after contracts and illegal tickets of targets listed off on the blue screen before him, he knew that was it. The shattering of his happy family. Death of a dad he never had.

The door slammed open, his father's particularly displeased frown evident. "That's not how you believe world over your family."

He was too numb to argue back.

"That's not how you hide facts from your children," There was the familiar retort, his brother stalking inside as if he were a predator, which he was when provoked. Just like himself who was minutes away from snapping in hurt.

Their dad pressed his lips in a thin line, shaking his head and sighing while he clasped his hands behind his back. The familiar political outfit only aggravated the situation. "You won't get my view. It was necessary. That's how politics works. Sometimes...we've to side with the wrong ones."

Rudra arched a brow in amusement, humming and nodding in suppressed fury. His jaw was ticking, a sign he would lash out anytime now. "Where are the...slogans you brainwashed in us? Family over outsiders? As far as we know...you began it with Manya, who was the recent girlfriend of your foster son."

Forehead marred with stressed lines, the old man tilted his head. "It was necessary. But Kabir was meant to be kept in dark about this."

"And Bhavani? Your next target?"

The man huffed as he glared. "I didn't raise a fag. Your hormones get out of control because of him. I'm trying to help you, by erasing him."

It was Abhinav who chuckled, throwing back his head in amusement. "Dad, fuck. Your logic is extraordinary. You were pressuring Kabir to poison him. Amazing."

"Don't get too ahead of yourself. I wanted you to tie knots with Rana's not Rao's, that's a weakness for me. This alliance is useless," His father spat, turning his razor sharp glare at Rudra. "And you, your abnormal urges end here. I'll fix your engagement with—"

"—Enough," The crisp command tore through the strangling atmosphere. Rudra had a no nonsense scowl on his face. "I wish I knew...how corrupted you've been all along. Kabir's right. My trust clouded my judgement. I thought if I left you to full autonomy, you'd work in a better way, and now, I regret not taking up my roles sooner. You're the one promoting terrorism, mafia and crime...everything in my territory. You were the one helping Solankis all these years and even now...you're worrying for a political dismantle instead for someone who your son loves...who saved his life."