Devika paled. All the strength went out of her, andshe had to steady herself on the horizontal bar before her.She trembled all over, her teeth chattering loudly.
The lawyer representing Devika walked to the front ofthe courtroom with an unhappy expression on his face. Heshowed the judge Devika’s medical records from sixyears ago, and pointed out her history of mental illness.“Your Honor, Devika Gandhi did not mean to do it. She had amental breakdown six years ago, and had to leave the military because of it.”
The lawyer turned around. His gaze swept nonchalantly across Sidharth’s face. “As the saying goes, it takes two to tango, and matters of the heart are never simple. But it would be pointless to argue about it here; it’s all in the past now, and no one can say who was wrong and who was right in a failed relationship. I would like to remind everyone present, however, that the law states that the mentally ill cannot be held legally accountable for their actions. You cannot convict them, not even if they personally killed someone. And we know the two Special Ops men died by accident, so…”
Sidharth stood up and interrupted the lawyer. Hecalmly said, “As this is a secret trial that will never be made public, allow me to remind you that the two Special Ops soldiers who died did not lose their lives by accident. It was an act of revenge, related to the mission I undertook with Devika Gandhi in Europe seven years ago. That is all, Your Honor. I hope you will take what I have said into
consideration.”
When Sidharth stood up to speak, Devika’s eyesimmediately lit up. Her face brightened. After listening to what he had said, she seemed to lose
herself in the memories of their mission together. A parade of emotions flickered across her race: joy, heartache, fear, and profound sorrow.
She suddenly began to sing.
“When the pear trees are a-bloom, and the river is veiled with a gentle mist, Katyusha stands on the steep banks, singing a song of spring…”
“The young warrior stationed at the border longs for his sweetheart, so far away, but he bravely fights to defend the motherland, because he knows Katyusha’s love will always belong to him…”
Devika had a beautiful singing voice, and the song “Kaytusha” had a haunting melody. But Sidharth
thought the lyrics to the song were exceedingly ironic,coming from her.
He interrupted her singing. “…You don’t deserve to sing this. Your Honor, if you’ll excuse me, I have other things to attend to.”
Sidharth turned and walked out.
Devika abruptly stopped singing. She stared at Sidharth’s retreating back, unable to believe her eyes, and gave a loud, sorrowful cry: “…Sidharth! Is your heart made of steel?! Are you even madeof flesh and blood?! You’re nothing but a killing machine! I curse you, Sidharth: you will spend your entire life alone, and every girl who falls in love with you will end up paying for it!”
Sidharth stopped walking. He raised his head to the ceiling, but did not say anything for a few seconds. He
turned to look at Dou Qingyan, and said: “You appear to be lucid enough to curse me. Your mental illness has been miraculously cured, congratulations. Your Honor, please add ‘faking a mental disorder’ to her list of crimes. I hope you will conduct a fair trial, and show our fallen soldiers that there is still justice in the world.” As the saying went: “Justice may be delayed, but it will never be denied.”
There were no longer any doubts as to Devika’s innocence.
Devika’s lawyer was shaking in his boots. He knewthey had lost, and it took him every ounce of his self-
discipline to remain in the courtroom and see the trial through instead of bolting for the door.
Reva testified against Devika and her four accomplices. She had evidence proving that the four men had not only stolen the secret prop photos, but other confidential information from the Special Ops computers, culminating in Prime Minister Dou’s miraculous “counterattack” in the
previous general election.
The judge presiding over the special military court made no attempt to hide his disdain. At 4 o’clock in the afternoon, the judge announced his verdict. “Devika Gandhi stoleconfidential military intelligence and leaked them, resulting in a massive setback for our Special Operations Forces men working in Europe. She falsified her medical records and
pretended to be mentally ill in an attempt to avoid punishment for her crimes. She is also guilty of character
assassination. I now sentence her to life imprisonment, andshe is to be stripped of her political rights.”
When Devika heard this, she swayed on her feet, before her knees finally gave out on her. She collapsed in a
dead faint onto the bench in the dock.
Her four accomplices standing behind her did not faint, but each and every one of them had turned as white as a sheet.
Each of the four men were found guilty of being anaccomplice to Devika’s crimes, and of betraying theirorganization and selling confidential information. Like Devika, the four men were sentenced to life imprisonment.
…
Once the trial was over, Reva dialed Sidharth’snumber and left him a message: “It’s a life sentence for her,
sir, with no possibility of parole.”
Sidharth did not answer the phone. The matter hadbeen dealt with, and he had moved on; he had to focus on
Bai Jinyi’s case, and get a new investigation team to re-examine the laboratory accident from 16 years ago.
The sentence handed to Devika was relayed to thePrime Minister’s office. Neha Dhupia, the Prime Minister’s
wife, fainted as soon as she heard it.
The family doctor rushed to her aid. One oxygen mask,massage, and injection later, she finally opened her eyes. As soon as she woke up, she grabbed Prime Minister Gandhi’s
collar and wailed sorrowfully: “What are we going to do?What’s going to happen to Devika? You have to think ofsomething! She’s only 27 years old! She’s too young to spend the rest of her life in prison!”
Rahul stood beside his mother, comforting her. “Don’tbe sad, Mommy. This is a bad time for us, so we can’t doanything for the time being. Once the storm has passed,we’ll plead on Devika’s behalf, and get her out on bail.”
“We can do that? Really?” Neha looked eagerly at herhusband. She was like a drowning woman, desperatelygrasping at every straw.
Prime Minister Gandhi averted his gaze. He gave a non-committal grunt in reply, before adding: “Let’s wait. Two of their men have died, we should give them some time to quell their anger…”
“The deaths of those men have nothing to do with Devika! They died because of Sidharth’s incompetence! He messed up, and now he wants to shift the blame to Devika! What a heartless villain—Devika must have been blind to fall in love with him!” Neha was angry with Sidharth, and she made no effort to hide it in front of her husband and son. She wanted badly to march up to Sidharth and yell curses to his face.
“Mommy! What are you saying?!” Rahul had to keep himself from rushing over to his mother and clamping his hands over her mouth. “You’re still a suspect! This isn’t the
time to step on Sidharth’s toes!”
“What can he do to me? Sidharth ruined my daughter’s life. Does he dare harm me, too?” Neha thought of her beloved daughter having to spend the rest of her life behind bars, and the tears began to flow, unchecked.
“All right, stop crying.” Prime Minister Gandhi waved his hand, annoyed. “You didn’t ask for my consent when you asked my men to help you get the photos. Now all four of them have been sentenced to life imprisonment. Do you honestly think you can shrug this off and pretend you had nothing to do with it?”
“Wait, are you blaming me?” Neha was so angry her tears stopped flowing. “You were the one who planted them in the Special Ops, they would never have been able to get in without your connections. All I did was drop a few hints asking for their help. They have no physical evidence or witness to prove what I’ve done. Do they think they can accuse me of a crime, just because they said so?”
“You’re absolutely sure you didn’t leave any traces behind?” Prime Minister Gandhi breathed a sigh of relief.
“Yes, I’m sure.” Neha was not a careless person. She had not gone directly to her accomplices for help; instead, all she had done was drop a few hints to their wives, andeveryone had understood what needed to be done. How could they ever trace it back to her?
Rahul let out a sigh of relief. “Okay, we don’t have to worry about that then. Mommy, you need to go out and get more media exposure, make sure to publicize all the charity organizations you’re involved in. Get public opinion on your side, so the Special Ops won’t be able to touch you without incurring the wrath of the public.”
Neha recollected herself. “Yes, it’s time for another visit to the orphanage. Rahul, help me send word to the media. I’ll go tomorrow.”
Prime Minister Gandhi nodded. “I have to attend a meeting now. Remember not to overdo it, it has to look natural.”
“I know.”
…
Early the next morning, the Prime Minister’s wife, Neha, put on a simple, unassuming dress and took the bus to the orphanage.
The media “bumped” into her on the bus, and followed her all the way to the orphanage, where they photographed her talking to the orphans and playing games with them.
Just as Neha decided she had done enough for the day and was about to wrap up her visit, a middle-aged
woman with wild, unkempt hair and red, puffy eyes slipped through the main entrance and threw herself at Neha’s feet.
The woman who rushed out knelt down in front of Neha and bawled, “Mrs. Gandhi! Mrs. Gandhi! Please save myhusband! He only stole the photos for Miss Gandhi because you
told him to! Please save him! I beg you!” She began to kowtow on the ground, her forehead turning red and swollen immediately. Soon after, the media rushed in from outside the door and pointed their cameras to furiously take photos and record Neha and the woman begging her.
Neha was frozen for a second, then finally recognized the middle aged woman as the wife of one of the accomplices! “What are you talking about? I’m very sorry about the
incident, it was my daughter’s rashness that implicated yourhusband.” Neha started crying immediately and Rahul squeezed himself in when he saw things taking aturn for the worse. He shielded his mother and walked awaytogether.
…
“What happened? How could someone have gone to the orphanage to look for you?!” Prime Minister Gandhi was both shocked and furious. He had been elected and knew better than anyone about how important public image was. His wife had been engaged with charity work for many years and earned him lots of bonus points. This time however, it may be drag him down and even the charity activities that gave him bonus points in the past may be taken intoquestion.
“This was an accident, nobody expected this to get exposed.” Rahul cradled head in his head with distress and sat on the couch. He glanced at his weeping mother, then at his red faced father and urged him, “Dad, we should think about how to clean up the situation right now. We must control the media and stop them from broadcasting these uncensored videos.”
Prime Minister Gandhi left his home with a fearsome expression. He went to his office to discuss the matter with his staff. After emergency public relation measures, a few of the major TV stations and press agreed to not broadcast the video nor report on it. As compensation, the Prime Minister
would give them other opportunities. Just when Prime Minister Gandhi’s family assumed the incident had blown over, a cellphone captured video exploded on social media.
Although the image was blurry, anyone could recognize who the the familiar, gentle and demure women in the video was. The Prime Minister’s wife had high exposure and was well known by the people because she had accompanied the Prime Minister on both campaigns. She was born in a
wealthy merchant family and married the civilian born Prime
Minister Gandhi. She assisted her husband and ran the household, helping him reach the position of Prime Minister–this was the story repeatedly embellished by the media and known by all people in India.
“Wasn’t this squashed down? Why is it being broadcasted again?” Neha saw her image in the video and grew
angry. The Prime Minister ordered his staff to question the media outlets, but they told them that this was social media and not TV and press. The Prime Minister had only requested them not to broadcast on TV and press, but never said anything about social media. The Gandhi’s finally realized someone was playing them, but they had too many political enemies to determine who was behind it. They had no way of stamping the incident out at the source. For example, the nominee running against him during the last campaign would never let them off if he found out the truth. Also, the several potential competitors that Prime Minister Gandhi had targeted were also suspects. Just when they hadn’t decided how to counterattack the social media accounts posting the
video of the Prime Minister’s wife, the video had spread throughout the nation. It became the latest social hot topic with an incredible number of shares. The TV stations and press couldn’t help it anymore and didn’t want to let go of this new hot topic. Within a few days, the news of the Prime Minister’s daughter and wife collusion and abuse of power was broadcasted by all major media outlets. The news was published in a peculiar way–no specifics of the incident were revealed, but only implied that the Prime Minister’s wife ordered subordinates to abuse power and caused serious consequences. Now the subordinate had been arrested and put in jail, and the Prime Minister’s daughter had beensentenced to life imprisonment–but Prime Minister’s wife remains scot free despite being behind all this. Coupled with the video of the subordinate’s wife begging Neha, it
had a huge impact on the public.
“I didn’t think you would be that kind of a Prime Minister!”
“All men are equal in the eyes of law, and the Prime Minister is elected by the people. Does he really think he’s above the law?”
“Want to be an emperor huh, as if he’s worthy enough?!”
The ability of an angry public to unearth secrets is astonishing. Soon after, Prime Minister Gandhi and his wife’s family had been completely exposed. All the clues the public had missed during the election campaign were connected together to paint an image of Prime Minister Gandhi as a total hypocrite.
Prime Minister Gandhi was overwhelmed continuously for a few days and was almost forced by the
Senate to resign. That night, he returned home with an ashen face. He looked at the the luxurious Prime Minister’s official residence and thought about how his life’s efforts
and dreams were about to be dashed by this incident.
Miserable, he went to drink alone in the kitchen.
His youngest daughter, Falak Gandhi quietly in walked and sat across from him to whisper, “Daddy, what are the
consequences if things get worse?”
“Get worse? Can things get any worse?! Your daddy is about to be forced to resign by the Senate!” Prime Minister Gandhi poured himself a glass of whiskey. Strong alcohol always had the ability to numb a person’s nerves and allowedtemporary solace from undesired consequences.
Falak was shocked. If her Daddy resigns, what would become of her? She would no longer be the Prime Minister’s daughter, so no one would support her anymore. At that moment, she was displeased with her older sister–it was because of her selfishness and so called love that the entire family was about to fall apart. Deeply depressed, Falak couldn’t sleep all night and finally called Rashmi to vent. She spoke with sadness, “Professor Desai knows
about my family’s situation right? Oh, my Mummy is really innocent, this was all my sister’s fault… If it wasn’t for her, our family wouldn’t have ended up in all this trouble.”
Rashmi quietly listened to Falak complaints and whispered, “I’m responsible for this too, if I didn’t convince your sister to come home and brought her back, your family
wouldn’t be in this mess. At the end of the day, it’s men’s fault. Falak, see how cruel a man becomes when he has a change of heart, it’s like he’s cold blooded…”
“Are you talking about Major General Shukla?” Falakfrowned, “But Major General Shukla never liked my sister
thought? My sister sent herself to his door but he still rejected her.” She pounded the bed furiously, “She has no shame!”
“Haha, Falak. You’re still too young, do you really think that Major General Shukla really had no feelings for your sister and your sister still loved him to death? Love is a two way street.” Rashmi reminded her earnestly.
Falak was silent for awhile, but continued to shake her head, “No, Professor Desai doesn’t know my sister. She is such a wishful person, and it wasn’t that she didn’t know
Major General Shukla didn’t like her. Otherwise how would she have slit her wrists, then stolen the photos and went abroad?”
“Oh? You sister attempted suicide?” Rashmi was unfamiliar with the details between Devika and Sidharth’s past, so her heart lurched when she heard of this.
“Of course, I was only 12 back then but remember it clearly. She had my Daddy ask for Major General Shukla from the military so he can be transferred to a position in Daddy’s
cabinet, but the military refused. She then went to look for Major General Shukla and asked him to request for the transfer himself, but he thought she was being crazy and kicked her out. A lot of people saw this and she couldn’t stand losing face, so she came home and slit her wrists. She still has a scar on her wrist up until this day, did Professor Desai see it?”
Rashmi recalled Devika always wore a wide and flat gold bracelet, so it must be to cover the scar. “She’s so
pitiful.” Rashmi sighed, then gently said to Devika,“Falak, she’s still your sister. You can’t turn against her and
say these kinds of things to people, even if you are displeased. Understand?”
“I understand. I was just venting to Professor Desai, and won’t say this to any outsiders. I really don’t know what to do anymore, so I wanted to ask for your advice. Professor Desai, you’re a great lawyer in the United States, can you issue a lawyer’s letter on my Mummy’s behalf?” Falak took the chance to request a favour. She actually wanted Rashmi to act as her Mummy’s defense lawyer and send a letter to the unscrupulous media outlets slandering their family.
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I hope you enjoyed reading it.
Love you all ❤️.