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What the heck did he mean by his words? Convoluted, but she didn’t have time to decipher his statement. She had a job to do—make Lok Shakthi work for its people.
Chapter 27
Shortly after, Sanjana stepped on the stage, holding the stack of papers her father had handed her just before the event commenced. He had told her he made some slight edits to the version they had created for the speech. She maintained her smile as she adjusted the microphone.
Accordingly, she walked through what the plan was for the next few months, problems that would be prioritized to act on, and the next set of topics to have the NGO focus on for the upcoming year.
As her speech came to an end, she noticed there was an extra paragraph added toward the end, and she kept reading it as she knew it was what her father had added.
“Lok Shakthi, the power of the people, started as an idea, a collaboration between friends with the one goal to serve the people of our region, and we have evolved over the past couple of years. With the plan we have laid out, we also recognize that we need to elevate ourselves to have a bigger impact with what we are doing.” Sanjana faltered a bit when her eyes sped forward and saw words that shocked her, but she did not stop. “For us as a group, we are proud to announce thatLok ShakthiNGO is now going to beLok Shakthi People’s Party!”
Sanjana paused when the auditorium broke into a clamor, and she was dreading to read the rest of the passage. Was she too late in making the deal with him? Had he already taken everything from her father?
She went back to rereading the last statement as people settled down and continued, “The members of the Lok Shakthi People’s Party are thrilled to announce Mr. Pratap Bhargava, who was elected unanimously as the president of the party, and we will contest in the upcoming elections at the state and national level. And now I invite the president and founder ofLok Shakthito address the audience.”
Sanjana’s voice shook at the last part, realizing that the political party was established, and her father and his friends were the core party members. Nowhere was Jai’s name mentioned, which surprised her.
Was this a bigger plan than what she expected? Announce her father as the president and then move him aside after winning the elections next year? She was horrified at that thought and didn’t know how he got her father to fall for the trap. How can she save her father’s vision from the selfish agenda?
Why would he make your father the president if he wanted the limelight? Jai’s name was nowhere mentioned in the announcement. Is it possible he never once intended to take anything away from your father and, in fact, worked to elevate him?A pragmatic voice spoke loud and clear, making a shudder pass through her.
If he meant well, why didn’t he tell you? Why keep it a secret?Another voice disagreed.
Sanjana watched as her father approached the microphone, his eyes sparkled with pride and joy as he looked at the people gathered in the auditorium. Before he started his speech, which she had no idea what he was going to say as the prepared material was no longer valid, he turned to look at Sanjana. “I want to take a moment to thank my younger daughter for doing the honor of announcing the formation of theLok Shakthi People’s Party,” he paused to let out a laugh. “And I commend her for reading the announcement as-is and maintain the poise like she was not shocked with what she was reading.”
The crowd cheered, and she looked at her mother’s and sister’s expressions and realized she wasn’t the only one who didn’t know about the news. Her eyes shifted to the man sitting next to her mother, and her heart jumped when she clashed eyes with her husband.
He was smiling at her knowingly, and she winced and looked away when he winked at her. The words he said just before she left the room where she talked to him played in her mind.
“You will be the one to tell me and everyone what the decision is about the political party.”
Sanjana slowly lifted her eyes and looked at her father, pushing away all thoughts as her mind raced to find the answers and real intentions. Her father looked in the direction of where her mother and sister were seated and said, “No one except for the core members of the organization and some very close well-wishers who do not want to be named were aware of this decision. Not even my family knew because we wanted to be sure about the direction we were taking, and I can proudly say we know we will serve at another level when we run the state the way it should be run while we influence the national leaders to do the right thing for our region.”
Her father continued to address the audience, but for Sanjana, the beating of her heart deafened her. Tears started to gather when she realized how much she had misunderstood Jai. She remembered the words he said the night Bharath confronted him about the news he had heard about the political party formation.
“Sanjana, I love you, and I would die for you, but I cannot give up the mission I am on. You’ll know soon why this is so important.”
Her knees started to turn weak, and she took a few steps away from the stage and stepped out of the auditorium as her breathing started to come fast. She leaned on the wall feeling weak when things started to fall into place.
It was his mission to do good for the people of this region, and if that was the reason he married her, how could that be wrong? He respected her and took care of her like she was his while giving her father the platform and the visibility he deserved.
She realized she was wrong to think he wanted the limelight when, in fact, Jai had been the one putting her father in front of the people and the media. Starting with the wedding, the event her father hosted every year, to having the first international airport be inaugurated by him to now, convincing a man who was against politics to stand up as the leader the state and the country needed.
Jai had single-handedly laid out the plan to make their region, state, and eventually the country better. How could she even think he could be in the wrong and, worse, how could she not trust him and give him the time he asked for to explain? It was a matter of a few days, and yet, he did not break her father’s trust even if he was hurting.
The burning question of why he chose to marry her was clear in that moment. He did so for the sole purpose of giving the people a good leader and not for his gain as she had misunderstood a few days back. It was his way to influence her father, who was against politics, to take on that challenge in order to have a bigger impact.
She blinked away tears when she realized her husband was bound by duty to his people, and for that, he had offered up his personal life in return. Would she have married him if he had told her the truth? No. She would have declined his proposal, laughed at him for even thinking her father would consider getting into politics.
The door next to her opened, and she turned away, not wanting to be seen by anyone with tears in her eyes. She wiped her eyes and stayed still, expecting the person to walk away, but she heard no footsteps.
A moment passed, and on impulse, she turned to look at the person standing by the door. When her eyes met the ones of the man she would love forever, she sobbed. He swiftly closed the gap between them, wrapping his arms around her, his lips going to the top of her head as she buried her face into his chest. “Jai, I’m sorry. I should have trusted you, and…” Her voice was lost as she wept, guilt twisting her stomach.
The hold around her tightened, and he leaned closer and whispered, “We need to pick up where we left off with your proposition. I want to see what else you were going to offer up.” He chuckled, making her laugh and cry at the same time.
*****
Later that night, she held his heated gaze. “You said you would do anything, love,” he teased, holding the canister of whipped cream in his hand, a wicked look in his eyes.
