Married in Vengeance (Dynasty Rebels #4)

Chapter 42

Forty-Two

AADHYA

The days passed in a blur. Endless meetings, strategy sessions, anxious closed door discussions that ended in shouting matches…and then there were the legal conversations.

If there was a prize for being able to sit across the table, with perfect poise, from the man who’d broken your heart, exploded your life and crushed the debris from that explosion beneath the sole of his perfectly polished shoes, then Aadhya was competing in the Olympics.

She didn’t want to dwell too long on the fact that she kept running to the toilet to throw up or locked herself in conference rooms and breakout spaces to get her frantic breathing and anxiety attacks under control. She definitely didn’t focus on the fact that she cried herself to sleep every night.

What mattered was that she sat down at a table with Ram Gadde, held his gaze and made intelligent, controlled conversation. And she did it without a single tear in sight.

She ignored the fact that his haunted eyes traced her face at every opportunity and tracked her every move. She didn’t acknowledge the fact that he did everything possible to not touch her, not even a finger grazed her even when he held out papers for her to review and handed her a pen to sign on court documents.

“Even if we find proof that Prasad is behind all this,” Aarush was saying. “It doesn’t take away from the fact that our clients are suing us.”

“There is a huge difference between the owners defrauding them,” Ram replied, his deep voice sending an involuntary shiver down her spine. “And a disgruntled employee sabotaging the company. Once we have proof, we’ll haul that bastard’s ass to court on criminal charges and work out a financial compromise with the disgruntled clients.”

Once we have proof, not if we have proof. She wished she shared his confidence, but she’d been watching Virat’s legendary control fray at the edges, and it didn’t do much for her hopes.

Almost like she’d conjured him up, Virat shoved the doors to Aarush’s office open and stormed in. That by itself had her straightening from her slouch. Virat did not storm. He was far too controlled for that.

“Got the bastard,” he announced.

“Yes!” Aarush got to his feet, adrenalin clearly doing a number on him.

Ram on the other hand did nothing more than lean forward, his laser like focus on Virat. Aadhya’s pen started tapping against the table, a frantic tap-tap-tap.

“Dickhead has a nephew who graduated from IIT Kharagpur. A tech genius who works on the shadow web. He was an ethical hacker who went rogue.”

“He’s behind all the tech stuff, the shadow emails from Aadhya’s account, the document tampering on your server, all of it. We finally picked up his trail and have his digital fingerprint all over this mess.”

“What happens now?” Aadhya’s tapping grew frantic. Ram glanced down at her hand, his gaze softening and her hand slowed automatically. She clenched her hand around the pen, but she stopped tapping.

“We play it one of two ways. We take it to the cops, or we confront the asshole.” Virat shoved his hands through his hair, his victory high still jittering through his nerves.

“We take it to the cops and we confront the asshole after he’s arrested,” Ram said.

“I want to confront him now,” Aadhya said immediately, feeling contrary.

“We can’t afford to have him skip town,” Aarush said. “For now, we don’t let him know we know.”

They hadn’t let him know they know in the past few weeks. It had been a new level of hell for Aadhya who’d had to keep working with the man. He’d once been an avuncular figure in her life, a mentor of sorts. To think he’d tried to destroy her like this was something that still boggled her mind. Her pen started to tap again as the bitter, angry thoughts flooded her brain. He’d attended her cradle ceremony and then, years later, sent a sex tape of her out into the world! Who was that man?

“That is the most sensible option.” Virat watched her as he spoke. “But I think Aadhya should be the one to decide. She is the victim here.”

“I’m not a victim!” The words burst out of her, the pen snapping in her grasp.

The men stilled.

“Could we have the room?” Ram asked quietly.

Virat nodded and left without a word. Aarush hesitated a minute, waiting for a signal from Aadhya and when she nodded, he squeezed her shoulder and then left.

Ram stood, coming towards where she sat. Aadhya didn’t move, her gaze on his shiny, polished shoes as they approached her.

“Hey,” he said softly, going down on his haunches and peering up at her so she had no choice but to meet his gaze. And still, she noticed that he didn’t touch her. “It’s going to be over soon.”

“I know.” The words were a hostile mutter.

“You just need to hold on a little longer.”

“I know,” she snapped. “I’m not an imbecile.”

He fell silent but he didn’t move. He just kept watching her.

“What happens when this is over?” she asked, her voice trembling as a toxic spiral of emotion flooded through her.

In response, he pulled his laptop bag closer and pulled out a sheaf of papers. He held them out to her, but Aadhya didn’t take it. She eyed the folded sheets like it was a venomous snake.

“It’s the MOU for our divorce,” he said quietly. “Read it and let me know if the terms work for you. If anything doesn’t, all you need to do is let me know and I’ll have it changed immediately.”

Aadhya still didn’t reach for it. Her heart started a slow thud in her chest, picking up pace as she stared at the papers. This was what she wanted, wasn’t it? This was what she’d asked for. He was giving her exactly what she’d asked for. Freedom from him.

“I’ve already signed it. If you’re okay with the terms,” he continued. “Sign it and send it back to me. I’ll have it filed in court.”

He waited a moment and when she didn’t move, he dropped it into her lap. Again, not one inch of his skin touched any of hers.

“We’re near the finish line now, Aadhya. Don’t give up. Don’t let go. You’ve got this. And whether you want it or not, you’ve got me. I’ll see you through all of it until you don’t need me anymore.”

“Guilt is a powerful motivator,” she said bitterly.

“So is love,” he answered.

Anger fought with yearning in her heart as she looked at him. “You love me?”

“I’ve always loved you Aadhya. There’s never been a moment that I haven’t.”

“You have a funny way of showing it Gadde,” she mocked.

Pain tightened his face as her jab hit home.

“Let me know if you need any edits in the document,” he told her, rising to his full height. “I’ll get to work on the police complaint now.”

He was halfway to the door when she called out to him. “Ram?”

He stopped immediately, his face turning in profile towards her.

“I wish I’d never met you.”

She saw his shoulders slump, the weight of her words seeming to bear down on them.

“I wish that for you too,” he told her, his voice hoarse with emotion. “But I never wish that for me. You’re my shooting star, Aadhya. You blazed through my life, the brightest, most optimistic, hopeful part of it. You deserved the best of me. But it’s not what you got. And that will always be my life’s greatest regret.”

“Tell me how,” she whispered.

“How what baby?” he asked, the words hopelessly soft and loving, tearing her heart apart, shredding her.

“Tell me how to stop loving you.”

Ram shut his eyes, the words seeming to break him. He shook his head in defeat.

“Now that I don’t know, sweetheart. Because I’m going to spend the rest of my life loving you. There is no one else for me. There never has been. And now there isn’t you either.”

This time when he went to leave, she didn’t stop him. There was love between them but there was no trust. And there was no relationship without trust.