“Well, there’s no arguing with that.” Ruban collected the few nimkis still left on the plate and tossed them into his mouth. “But there might be another angle to it, too. Some of the chatrooms that mentioned Dhriti’s connection to her step-father…well, they also talked about something else.” He waited for Vikram to return from the kitchen and take his seat once more. “The plane crash that killed Dhriti’s parents? Apparently, many at the time speculated that it’d been caused by an Aeriel. Not that it was ever proven.”
“I’ve heard about that rumor, yeah.” Vikram reclined in his chair, looking boneless and relaxed. “Haven’t found any evidence to support it. But it was a very long time ago, more than thirty years. Not an easy thing to investigate. Still, from what little I’ve observed of her, I don’t think Dhriti Pathak is driven by any overwhelming desire for revenge.”
“And even if she was, it’s unlikely Kushal Mayiti would risk a prison sentence to try and avenge the wife that betrayed him.” Simani added, matter-of-fact.
Vikram chuckled. “It’s unlikely for sure. The man started Tej Enterprises the year after his wife left him. Couldn’t have been easy, starting a new business with a toddler at home, and no help to speak of. I think I’d hold a grudge.”
“You think?” Simani narrowed her eyes. “If you did that to me, I’d have personally hired an Aeriel to blow up your plane. Make no mistake.”
“Well, at least all that betrayal and heartache made him rich, in the end.” Vikram noted. “He may never have been driven to start his own businesses, if not for that. Who knows? Maybe I’d be a billionaire today, if only you’d betrayed me in a timely fashion.”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Simani glared at him, delivering a sharp retort.
They squabbled for a few minutes, going back and forth with increasingly outrageous claims of imminent betrayal. And subsequent vengeance.
Ruban buried his head in his hands. On the principle that if he couldn't see the unfolding chaos, it wasn't happening.
The fact was, Vikram probably wasn’t all that far off the mark.
Ruban tried to imagine himself in that situation. Betrayed and abandoned. Left all alone to fend for himself and care for a developmentally challenged toddler.
How would he have reacted? What would he have done? Would he have been magnanimous enough to take in his ex-wife’s orphaned daughter, after her death? The daughter she’d had with the man for whom she’d betrayed him. Ruban knew next to nothing about these people. And yet, just the thought of it made his blood boil.
Had Kushal Mayiti felt the same way? Did he still feel it? Was that what was driving him – a desire to take posthumous revenge on the woman who’d broken his heart almost forty years ago?
Or was it something simpler? Deeper? A father’s all-encompassing urge to provide for and protect his vulnerable child, who was unable to protect himself.
Kushal Mayiti wasn’t getting any younger, after all. Would he trust Dhriti with the wellbeing of his son, after he was gone? Was she likely to honor that trust, if given? Was she worthy of it?
What was her agenda, in all this? Ruban wondered. What was she hoping to get, once all the turmoil had subsided and the dust settled? Was it just love and gratitude towards her adoptive father and brother? Or did she get some kind of financial kickback, in return for her help? Or was it that she hoped to inherit Kushal’s empire, since his own son wouldn’t be able to take the reins once he was gone?
And perhaps even more important than what Dhriti wanted…was what her adoptive father thought she wanted. And whether or not he planned to give it to her.