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“Me too.” Rithwik put a hand on Rohan’s shoulder. “I don’t even want to know the details right now. I just know that I believe him.”
Rohan’s chest swelled.
“Rohan…” Varun began. “Tell me what happened.”
Finally, after years of silence, Rohan spoke about that one incident because of which he’d never had a whole night’s sleep. Until Jiya had entered his life.
“That’s a lie. I was never ever in that room with him!” Pavan said agitatedly.
“Shut the fuck up,” Rithwik fumed. He turned to Aisha. “Take the kids home right now.”
Aisha didn’t need to be told twice; she rushed out of the restaurant with her children.
“How dare you?” Nandini’s expression stiffened. “Varun, Tara…is that how you’ve brought up Vaibhav’s son?”
More fury stormed through him. This woman was such an actress.
“You forget, Mrs. Grewal, that I was there all those years ago when you were having an affair with Vaibhav.”
His mother gasped again.
“First, you lie about me, and then you lie about my wife. I will not stand for it,” Pavan hissed.
“Please don’t pretend,” Rohan scoffed. “You knew she was having an affair with him. I suspect you even encouraged it. How else did you get to blackmail him otherwise?”
Pavan’s face reddened. “That’s not true.”
Rohan took a calm step forward. Paani Org. How had he not seen it earlier? With all that had been going on between Jiya and him, he hadn’t focused on his suspicions regarding that organization. But now, it all added up.
“Until recently, Fortuna was being debited monthly by a substantial sum to a charity account. Since it was listed under donations, we never looked into it for the longest. But recently, I found one of the threats you sent Vaibhav. You’d sent him a handwritten note asking him for money. I was curious and found out more. Paani Org.— Pavan and Nandini. Wasn’t very clever of you to name it on both your names. I guarantee that if I dig deeper, I will find that it is indeed owned by you. You’d been threatening Vaibhav, and he’d been paying you under this charity organization you’d created. Even after they died, you continued to get the money as it was listed under charity. You got away with it for years. No one suspected anything until I stopped the payments, and sure enough, like cockroaches, you came scurrying out of your corner.”
Stunned silence followed his words.
“No wonder you were worried about the charities…” Rithwik said.
“Rohan,” Varun Bali called out finally. “Are you sure, son?”
“Absolutely.”
His father looked at the other couple. His expression was calm, quiet, and intent. “You have caused enough harm to my son and my family. Do not approach us ever. If I see you anywhere near anyone in my family, I will destroy you.”
Nandini Grewal curled her lips. “Vaibhav was a fool. He was like a little boy, waiting to step out of his elder brother’s shadow. When we befriended him, we were in debt, but soon he and Diksha agreed to everything we asked for. They would loan us money and never remember that we needed to pay them back. They bought us expensive watches and phones, all so that we remained their lackeys.”
Pavan waved a hand. “Getting him to pay us money was so easy. He and Nandini had been having an affair for years. He kept giving me money and buying me gifts out of remorse. But in the end, Diksha found out about it, and she was furious. And Vaibhav, the fool that he was, felt guilty. He wanted to go back to her, but she didn’t want him back. That’s when I started sending him the threats. You see, Nandini had clips of Vaibhav and her in compromising situations. He started paying us monthly to ensure we never let them out in public. We didn’t, and we remained silent for years, even after their deaths. But then, a few months back, the payments stopped. And we realized only Rohan could have done that. We returned to Delhi immediately. We tried getting in touch with him, but he was so tightly surrounded by his staff at work and home that we couldn’t get across. The only thing we learned through some common acquaintances is that he visited Sehgal Plaza often. That was how we managed to meet him the first time.”
“And I suppose you were hoping to accost me tonight as well?” Rohan stated.
“But now all our cards are in the open,” Nandini said gleefully. “We will give you all the files we have on Vaibhav if you pay us ten crores.”
He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Years had passed, and yet these two hadn’t stopped playing their games.
“So, you’re blackmailing my family again,” Rohan said. “I shouldn’t have expected anything less from you both.”
Rithwik shared a look with Rohan. His twin was the calmest, funniest, and most easy-going person on the planet…until someone threatened his family.
Rithwik crossed his arms over his chest, his expression cold. “You’re foolish to think we are scared of you.”
“Exactly,” Rohan agreed. “What is the worst you can do? Put out the pictures on a public platform? By all means, go ahead. In fact, I dare you to.”
