As soon as Sidharth gave his order, the orderlies he had brought with him immediately rushed over. Their deadpan expressions said: “Don’t take this personally.”
One of them twisted Deepika’s arms behind her back and cuffed her wrists. Another deftly cut a strip of masking tape and stuck it over her mouth.
In a split second, Deepika found she had been silenced.
She could no longer defend herself. She burst into tears, and
her knees buckled beneath her.
Luckily for her, the two orderlies on either side of her had a firm grip on her arms. If it weren’t for them, she would have crumpled to the floor by now.
Grandfather Shukla and Anand were stunned. They exchanged a glance, before turning to look at Sidharth.
“Sidharth, what are you doing? What crime did Deepika commit? Why are you arresting her?” Grandfather Shukla’s expression was terrible to look at.
Kirat had turned out to be an evil schemer, but Deepika… What did she have to do with it?
She was a victim, too!
Uncle Ved and Aunt Jiva stood on either side of Grandfather Shukla, supporting him between them. They did not dare look up; the formidable aura emanating from Sidharth paralyzed them.
The young master had not returned home in six years—and now, as soon as he was back, he had immediately turned the entire household upside down.
If the two older Rautela’s were paralyzed with fear, Urvashi and Priyank were positively shaking in their boots. The two siblings stood behind their parents, gaping at Deepika with undisguised sympathy. They knew Deepika
had gone to great lengths to convince Sidharth to come back for the New Year—if she knew then that he would be back to get his revenge, would she still have welcomed him with open arms?
There was no cure for regret, however.
Deepika had made her bed, and now she had to lie in it.
Urvashi chewed on her fingernails: she had a bad habit of doing it when she was nervous. She looked at Deepika’s tear-stained face, and then at Sidharth’s solemn, no-nonsense expression. Fear welled up inside her.
She wondered whether the young master of the family had come home after his long absence just to “repay” Deepika for the way she had treated Rita in the last 10 years.
Sidharth looked at Grandfather Shukla. “Grandfather, Deepika may know something about the death of her mother. To be safe, she has to be kept under supervision while we investigate. Would you rather the police take her away and throw her into a cell, like they did with Kirat Reddy, or would you rather I detain her instead?”
“Are you saying she had something to do with the death of her mother?!” Grandfather Shukla was utterly shocked. “That can’t be right! Deepika… Deepika… Let her say something! She isn’t that heartless—I don’t believe it!”
Grandfather Shukla had watched Deepika grow up. She was the only daughter of his eldest son, Ashok, and he refused to let anything bad happen to her.
Everyone in the Shukla family was dumbstruck by the news.
Deepika had heard the entire exchange. She shook her head frantically. She tried to say that she had had nothing to do with her mother’s death, but Sidharth had ordered his men to cover her mouth with tape. Her protests, no matter how articulate, were reduced to incomprehensible
mumbling.
Everything Shehnaaz had learned as a law student told her that Deepika deserved a chance to defend herself, but the order to gag her with tape had come from Sidharth himself. Shehnaaz had already decided long ago—in an entirely unprofessional manner—that Sidharth was always right. She therefore assumed that he had a good reason to gag her; perhaps Deepika knew something else, something that could not be revealed in public?
The wheels in her head spun rapidly. She said, “Sidharth has been on the case for the last 10 years. Grandfather Shukla, I think you should put a little more faith in him. I’m sure he has his reasons.”
Sidharth’s gaze swept over Shehnaaz’s face, before returning to rest on Deepika, who was still being restrained by the orderlies. “Take her to the Special Ops
detention center.”
“What are you trying to do here?! Answer me!” Anand was livid. He had kept a tight lid on his boiling
temper for the entire night, but this was the last straw.
Sidharth clasped his hands behind his back. He looked his father in the eye. “…We’ll give her a polygraph test. We need to check whether she’s lying.”
Deepika was shocked. She fainted, unable to withstand the enormous psychological stress she was under.
The two orderlies walked out the door, supporting the unconscious Deepika between them.
Grandfather Shukla opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Instead, he erupted into a series of earth-
shattering coughs. He coughed so hard he doubled over, looking for all the world like a sad, withered prawn.
Uncle Ved and Aunt Jiva rushed over to him, patting him on the back to ease his coughing. Urvashi and Priyank took out their phones, and said to Sidharth: “Young Master, do we have your permission to call a doctor for Grandfather?”
Sidharth pressed his lips together. After a moment, he said: “Where’s Head Nurse Rautela?”
Head Nurse Rautela had taken care of Grandfather Shukla for
several decades now. She knew everything about his physical health and medical history, and was the person best suited to look after him.
She lived in the Shukla residence, but had temporarily returned to her family home when Sidharth had suddenly called on Christmas Eve to say that he would be back for the New Year.
Uncle Ved and his wife stealthily exchanged a glance, before turning their heads to stare at the floor before them. They did not dare say a single word.
Rita finally realized that there were several new additions to the family.
The Rautela’s had only moved into the Shukla residence after
Rita’s accident. She did not know who they were, and had no recollection of ever meeting them.
She shot a questioning look at Shehnaaz.
The Rautela’s were just as much of a mystery to Shehnaaz. She returned Rita’s look with a light shrug, indicating that she knew nothing.
Sidharth watched the two women exchange puzzled looks. It amused him to see the two of them caught off-guard for once, and the frown on his face faded. He turned to Urvashi and Priyank, and said to them: “Call
Head Nurse Rautela, and tell her to come back. I’ll take my mother and Shehnaaz to my official residence.”
After a slight pause, he walked over to Grandfather Shukla and
patted him on the shoulder. “Happy New Year, Grandfather.”
Grandfather Shukla looked up at him. His grandson was all grown up now…
“All right, you can go. But…” Grandfather Shukla clenched his
teeth, “…you have to come home for the Makar Sankranti.”
“Okay,” Sidharth replied readily. He kept his promises to his grandfather.
Deepika had already been taken away. Sidharth turned and led Shehnaaz and Rita out of the Huo
residence.
Anand watched them leave in helpless despair. Suddenly, he snapped out of it and ran to catch up with them.
He ran out the iron gates, and saw that Sidharth had gotten into his car. Shehnaaz had followed behind him, and was now sitting in the middle of the backseat. The empty spot next to Shehnaaz was for Rita.
Before Rita could get in the car, however, Anand reached out and grabbed hold of Rita’s coat-sleeve.
Before exiting the house, both Shehnaaz and Rita had put on their coats.
Shehnaaz wore a knee-length down jacket. Rita wore a lavender cashmere coat that was light, but cosy. The cashmere coat was in a straight, baggy cut, but it did nothing to hide Rita’s voluptuous curves underneath.
Anand looked at Rita with an expression that wavered between sorrow and joy. He held onto her
sleeve, unwilling to let her leave.
Rita, however, had given up on Anand after everything she had seen and heard that evening. The love she had for him had died out after witnessing his intimate
gestures with Kirat.
She took hold of Anand’s hand and pushed it away. She brushed her coat, and said: “General Shukla, please mind your manners.”
“Rita, do you hate me?” Anand’s eyes were a little wet, but he fought off the tears. After so many years of sorrow, the revelations that evening were just as shocking to him as it had been to Rita.
“General Shukla, what reason do I have to hate you?” Rita arched an eyebrow as she pulled her coat together. Her heart was aching, but she did not think it was necessary to show it.
Anand closed his eyes. “That means you hate me. I know you very well, Rita—you always try to appear calm and composed when you’re trying to hide what you actually feel, deep inside.”
“Oh, you actually know that?” Rita let out a long sigh. “You know me so well, and yet you chose to believe the lies of others when I was unable to speak for myself. You chose to divorce me.”
“…Rita, do you honestly believe that I was stupid enough to believe that you and my brother had an affair, just because of a few letters?” Anand’s voice was
solemn. He was about to reveal a secret, and he wished he did not have to do it. He had been determined to protect his dead brother’s reputation, but if revealing the truth was the only way to resolve the misunderstanding between him and Rita, then so be it.
Rita was the one true love in Anand’s life. But he had loved her too deeply, and the depth of his feelings had backfired on him: the moment he saw those
letters, it had seemed to him that his deepest, most secret fear had come true. He had been afraid that she would leave him, so he had decided to take the initiative and leave her instead—he would mercilessly extinguish his feelings for her, before she could break his heart.
Rita looked straight ahead. She said nothing.
The winter nights in the imperial capital were exceptionally cold. It was a moonless, starless night.
The entrance to the Shukla residence was lit by a single street lamp. Rita’s face appeared pale and entirely devoid of expression in the harsh light.
Anand looked at her hesitantly. He said bitterly: “… Rita, did you know? The night before our wedding, my brother told me, in a fit of drunken honesty, that he was in love with you. He said you were the only one for him… But
you chose me instead. Do you know how happy that made me? How touched I was that you chose me over him?”
“My brother was a genius. I looked up to him ever since I was a young boy. My parents only ever cared about him, they didn’t care about me. But that was okay, because I admired and worshipped him, too. I didn’t mind being his sidekick, his lackey for the rest of my life.” This was the first time Anand had spoken about his complicated feelings for his brother. He had never mentioned it to anyone, not even to Rita when they had been happy newlyweds.
Rita knew that Ashok was superior to Anand in many ways, but she had never had eyes for anyone besides her husband. It had been love at first sight. She did not know that Anand had lived in his older brother’s shadow his entire life. She had given Anand a powerful boost to his self-esteem when she chose him over his brother.
Rita turned around. Under the light of the street lamp, her eyes were inscrutable, like mist over a winter’s lake.
“But I never gave more than a second’s thought to your brother. To me, he was just your older brother, nothing more.” Rita frowned. “You keep telling me I’m the love of your life, but you’ve never trusted me.”
“…Heh, I’ll admit it: I’m useless. I’m dumb. But my brother was better than me in every way, and he was secretly in love with you. How was I supposed to feel safe with him hanging around all the time? How was I supposed to trust you?”
He had found his brother’s behavior to be suspicious: his
brother was older than him, but had remained single for many years. Sidharth was already two years old when Ashok finally married—out of the blue—and had a daughter of his own…
This was why Anand had snapped when he saw his wife admit in her letter that she wished she had met Ashok before she married. He had been consumed by a single thought: she regretted it… she regretted marrying him… His older brother had passed on, but she was still in love with him… Hate and jealousy had distorted his heart and mind. He had lost control of his emotions. He had to divorce her. He had to leave her, as soon as possible. It was the only way for him to free himself from her, and find another reason to live.
Anand clenched his fists. He was a man. He could not bring himself to tell the woman he loved of his insecurities. He did not want her to think he was weak and cowardly.
“I see.” Rita was in so much pain she could hardly breathe. Her hands, hidden within her coat, were trembling uncontrollably. But she did not show her pain. She put on a nonchalant face, and said resolutely: “So you never trusted me. In that case, our divorce was a blessing: it set the both of us free. Goodbye, Anand Shukla. I never want to see you again.”
Pushing away Anand’s hand, Rita decisively turned away to the car and slammed the door close.
“Drive.” Sidharth immediately commanded. His bulletproof car hummed to a start and quickly departed from the Shukla manor. By the time General Rawat and Speaker Bhatt rushed out, they only saw the taillights speeding off, drawing a long line in the dark night. Outside the great iron
gates, the street lights glowed a fluorescent white and it was almost as bright as day.
Anand was listless as he stood under the light, the muscles on face twitching as tears shimmered in his eyes but never fell.
General Rawat looked at him to ask about Rita, “Anand, wasn’t Rita Singhania sick all this time? Why does she look all better now? Do you know when she recovered or woke up?”
Anand froze for a second, then gathered his wits and shook his head, “I’m not sure. She was still ill when Sidharth took her away a few days ago.”
“That means Sidharth found someone to treat her? I’d better follow him and see what’s going on.” General Rawat patted his shoulder sympathetically, “It is what it is, don’t think too much. Take care.” General Rawat and Speaker Bhatt went to their respective vehicles and drove off in pursuit of Sidharth’s car without delay. When they arrived at the Special Ops headquarters, General Rawat and Speaker Bhatt were quickly allowed through as they both had permits.
Sidharth had just gotten out of the car with Shehnaaz and Rita when his Bluetooth headset rang,
“Mr. Shukla, General Rawat and Senator Bhatt are here.”
“Let them in.” Sidharth said as he took Shehnaaz and Rita into the building.
Sandeep came out to greet them with a smile and pushed the glasses up the bridge of his nose as he winked at Sidharth, “Boss,. How was it? Did they get scared?”
Shehnaaz’s ears perked and she looked thoughtful between Sidharth and Sandeep. Sidharth
remained impassive as he said calmly,”Hurry and clean up,
General Rawat and Speaker Bhatt are about to arrive.”
“Oh?!” Sandeep’s face fell, “Then I’d better ‘go to bed!'” He hastily turned back to his own quarters to sort out all the records related to Rita. Sandeep and Sidharth has long prepared for this.
Rita had suffered from serious mental illness the past 16 years and suddenly regained consciousness after being treated by Sandeep for a few days. He certainly had a lot of explaining to do.
“If there’s nothing else, I’m going to bed. I’m exhausted, so don’t come to me for anything else.” Rita had no more energy to deal with anybody, the events of the night had nearly depleted all her strength and energy she had
regained since waking up.
“Don’t worry, Mother.” Sidharth personally took him to the guest bedroom on the third floor, then came downstairs to se Shehnaaz sitting alone in the living room. She had already taken off her down coat, but still wore the pea green and white silk princess dress. Knee length boots covered her calves, while the puffy hem revealed the expanse of her
creamy thighs.
Sidharth shifted his gaze, “…Go change.”
Shehnaaz looked up to see Sidharth had returned and smiled at him, “Sidharth…” She stood up and walked towards him to whisper, “…Did Brother Sandeep help you?”
“Help me with what?” Sidharth shot her a look, “… Won’t you go upstairs already?”
“Was Brother Sandeep the one to help swap your Aunt’s body ten years ago?” Shehnaaz lowered her voice even more and giggled with her mouth muffled. Sandeep was a medical student and Sidharth’s good friend. Shehnaaz had been wondering who helped Sidharth do such a thing all those years ago and immediately suspected Sandeep. She was certain it was him when he smiled so wickedly when they returned!
Sidharth curved his right forefinger to flick at Shehnaaz’s forehead, “Yes you’re smart… Go now… General Rawat and Speaker Bhatt are about to get here, I have no time for you.”
“You’re making it sound as if you have time for me when you’re not busy…” Shehnaaz’s cheeks flushed as she took the opportunity to grab Sidharth’s hand and shook it, “Is that right? Did Brother Sandeep help you? You didn’t answer me yet.”
“I said you’re smart…” A quiet smile appeared on Sidharth’s face and he patted her head, “Be good, go to bed.”
Shehnaaz shyly turned away to climb the stairs to the second floor. When she was halfway up, she realized she didn’t know which room to sleep in? Should it be the master’s or the guest? She was in the master’s before because she had been ill, but now that she’s all better, can she still stay there? That was Sidharth’s room… She bit her lip as she ran back downstairs, just enough so she could see Sidharth and leaned against the railing to ask, “Sidharth! Sidharth! Which room am I staying in?”
Sidharth, “…”
“Where? Tell me!” Shehnaaz’s eyes sparkled as she she looked at him hopefully.
“Stay where you want.” Sidharth seemed to understand what she was implying and didn’t fall into the trap. He casually passed the ball back to her.
“Hmph!” Shehnaaz’s little ploy didn’t work and she glared at him unhappily as she looked down and dragged her feet back up the stairs, Sidharth had no time for her little tantrum, because General Rawat and Speaker Bhatt were already at the entrance of the official residence. He arrived there in three strides to greet them. These two men were his superiors and he must be respectful.
“Sidharth, you were so quick. Us two old men almost couldn’t keep up with you.” Speaker Bhatt spoke humorously as he entered the official residence with General Rawat.
“This is the Special Ops headquarters? This is our first time here, it’s so heavily guarded…” Speaker Bhatt looked around before sitting down on the living room sofa with General Rawat.
“If it’s not heavily guarded here, how are we supposed to work?” Sidharth signalled for the orderly to serve tea and place on the coffee table in front of them.
“That’s true. The team led by Sidharth is our secret weapon and the ace of all aces. How can it not be heavily guarded!” General Rawat explained to Speaker Bhatt in half truths. The military had its secrets and not everything could be revealed.
Speaker Bhatt nodded, “Understood, understood.”
The three men laughed for a bit, then General Rawat and Speaker Bhatt began asking about Rita’s situation, “Sidharth, what was going on with your mother? Didn’t we hear that she was seriously ill and couldn’t recover?”
“Who told you that Mother couldn’t recover?” Sidharth picked up his teacup to blow it cool before taking a sip, “As her son, I never believed that she couldn’t get better, and who would care more about her than me?”
“Haha… haha… that’s true.” General Rawat and Speaker Bhatt laughed awkwardly and shared a glance when they detected a trace of uncharacteristic dissatisfaction and anger in his voice. However they weren’t upset, but thought this was a normal reaction for him. If Sidharth was really like a
robot and had no feelings for even his family, then they would have to assess if Sidharth was truly capable of being a leader.
“Everyone said it. After all, there have been no improvements for the last 16 years, so it was natural to think that way.” Speaker Bhatt took his cup and drank deeply from it, sighing, “Tonight was a big shock. Sidharth, can you tell us what is going on?”
Sidharth shook his head, “I don’t know either, so that’s why I had the police take Kirat in for investigation. Honestly speaking, it was probably due to Kirat Reddy’s influence that you both thought my mother couldn’t recover? She had either been incompetent as a doctor and couldn’t treat her, or she had deliberately delayed the treatment so my mother suffered unnecessarily for 16 years.”
“If that’s the case, then how much of our time has Kirat Reddy wasted?! –How wicked!” Speaker Bhatt sighed heavily as he placed the teacup back on the table, “But since she’s better now, we won’t waste out time asking how you treated her. I just wanted to tell you, you have to mentally prepare your mother. She’s the sole survivor of that military experiment, so the Senate and military will most definitely reopen the investigation and summon her for questioning.”
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I hope you enjoy reading it.
Love you all ❤️.