‘You did well today and the last few weeks. You’ve grown into this role in ways I didn’t expect you to, and I don’t say that lightly. You’ve handled everything very well, I hope you know that.’
It was not a moment she could have prepared for. The part of her that still carried childhood disappointment like muscle memory didn’t quite know what to do with the softness in his tone.
She felt Abhay place a hand at her lower back and she drew strength from his touch. ‘Thank you,’ she said, and the words felt strangely foreign on her tongue.
Abhay nodded once at Kartik in goodbye and they walked out the conference room. Still, a question sat heavy in the back of her mind.Why wasn’t he angry?
***
Dhruv had known his father was simmering in rage since he caught him clenching his fists when Aagman hinted at his retirement. He’d heard the undercurrent of anger in his praise for Siya and knew he was on the edge of exploding.
But despite everything, Dhruv didn’t know the extent of his anger. The air turned heavy the second the door shut closed. Kartik turned around so fast that he didn’t even have time to shift in his chair.
The slap came without warning.
It landed with a crack so loud, it made his one ear go numb. His face whipped to the side with such force that he cut his inner cheek, and tasted the metallic tang of blood in his mouth. A burn stung in his cheek, radiating all the way down to his jaw. His vision blurred for a second.
‘You incompetent, ungrateful screw-up!’ Kartik screamed in rage. In the chaos of the moment, Dhruv was thankful that the conference room was soundproof.
He turned his head slowly to look at the man he called Dad. He clenched his jaw and the pain increased but he didn’t raise his hand to soothe the throbbing in his cheek.
‘Oh, don’t give me that wounded look. Take it like a fucking man!’ Kartik said, pacing now. ‘I should’ve known better than to trust you with something this important.’
‘What are you talking about?’ he asked, his voice hoarse.
‘I gave you a simple task. Handle the supplier. Yet somehow you managed to blow up a deal in front of every major investor we have! Because you were too dumb to understand my implication, now I look like a man who doesn’t even have his own house in order. How do you live with yourself?’
How do you?echoed through Dhruv’s mind.
‘I did handle it. If those emeralds had gone to auction and anyone found out they were fake, we would’ve been exposed to a scandal. I did what I had to—’ Dhruv said, trying to reason, but hated that his reaction was only fuelling his suspicion.
He’d repeated that Kartik couldn’t have known about Shyamlal as a mantra in his head throughout the meeting, but now, seeing him seething in anger made it more difficult for him to believe it.
‘You had to do nothing, you worthless fuck! Your pathetic attempt at being a hero sabotaged months of planning. Do you realise how much you’ve cost me today? Millions! All because you decided to grow a conscience at the wrong moment.’
‘I stopped a fraud,’ Dhruv tried to reason, anger and disbelief bleeding into each word. ‘Do you even hear yourself? Were you really going to let him go through with fake stones?’
Kartik was already shaking his head before he finished his sentence. He shouted, ‘I told you to handle it and that meant keeping your mouth shut and staying in line, not giving me your worthless opinion on it.’
Like always.
Dhruv finally had the confirmation, and the knowledge settled in his gut like a boulder. He should have known after thevicious glare Kartik had given Siya when she was distributing quality reports.
Dhruv was glad he’d taken his attention off her before she could mention she’d been the one to flag the issues. It could have been her in his place, facing their father’s wrath, cheek stinging with pain. That unbidden image ran a shudder through him. He couldn’t let it happen when all she’d been doing was working hard for their family.
‘I didn’t know you wanted him approved regardless of the quality. You didn’t say that,’ Dhruv lied. Afterall, he’d learned the skill from the very best. He could go to any lengths to gain his father’s approval and love, but he drew a line at ruining the family reputation.
‘Oh? I didn’t say it? Kartik repeated, then scoffed derisively. ‘So that’s your excuse? That I should’ve hand-fed you each instruction like a damn child?’
‘I was trying to do the right thing, Dad, to protect our brand, our family name, and you.’
‘Oh, don’t flatter yourself. There is no “our,”’ Kartik sneered as he took a seat.
‘What do you mean?’ Dhruv asked, the breath rushing out of his body in a shallow exhale.
His breath caught as Kartik stepped closer again. His words were razor-sharp as he threw them at him. ‘You’re not my family, Dhruv. You never were and you never will be a true Kashyap.’
‘How can you say that?’ Dhruv asked quietly. ‘You’re my father. You’re my family.’
