He bows his head. “Sir… they said they have orders, and they have to follow them.”
“Send them in.”
He nods and rushes out.
I take a long, controlled breath, but it does nothing to steady me. Instead, I hurl the glass across the wall and watch it smash and shatter against the floor, just as an officer enters the room with two constables in tow. Their posture goes stiff, their eyes flicking nervously from the broken glass to me.
The aged officer clears his throat. “Mr. Rathore… our hands are tied.”
I arch a brow. “Wrong choice of words.”
“There’s been a major leak on social media of videos and pictures of Veer taking drugs,” he explains. “People are tagging the police department and the commissioner, demanding immediate action. We’re forced to make an arrest. At least for the night.”
My fingers curl into a fist.Fucking Meera.
I should’ve kept that woman on a leash. I knew Veer was doing drugs on the first floor, and I assumed no one would see him, since no one is allowed on that floor.
But how the hell did I underestimate Meera? How the hell did I not see it coming when I caught her making her way up the stairs?
Instead of connecting the dots, I let my jealousy get the better of me when Samarth showed up. Seeing her take his hand and walk away drove me straight to the bar, and I let my guard down. That’s exactly when they must have gone up.
Damn it. I let it happen. I let her have her way to humiliate my family, and I can’t forgive myself for it.
My vision ripples with red as I grit out. “Not happening.”
“Mr. Rathore, we don’t have a choice. The orders are directly from above. We have to take him.”
A vein throbs at my temple, and I glare at him, knowing that right now I’ll have to agree with him if I don’t want this to turn uglier than it already has. Every instinct in me screams to fight it, to remind him who I’m, but logic claws its way up through the fury, forcing me to hold myself together. Even if every part of me hates it.
Finally, I nod. “Fine. Do what you have to do.”
The officer signals the two constables, who climb the stairs. I remain rooted where I’m, my chest rising and falling in measured fury. Minutes crawl by. And then they descend, Veer sandwiched between them, his hands cuffed.
“Bro…” Veer mutters, still hazy from the high.
I step forward and lock eyes with him. “I’ll get you out in a few hours.”
He nods, swallowing hard as they lead him out the door. My eyes stay glued to them until they disappear from sight. I don’t know how much time passes, but I remain standing there, rage vibrating through every inch of me.
Meera set him up. Meera leaked his pictures and videos. She has no idea what she’s just done.
And then, almost as if summoned from the chaos boiling in my head, I see her walk into my living room, a victorious smile on her face. She’s changed out of her lehenga into a simple blue salwar suit, her hair left loose around her shoulders.
“Mr. Dev Rathore, I couldn’t help but come personally to thank you for the lovely engagement party you hosted for my friend,” she says, standing in front of me.
The anger burning inside me wants to retaliate for this little game she’s played. But another part of me can’t stop staring at her… the part that wants to pull her close and punish her with sweet torture.
The fucking power she holds over me.
“You did this?” I manage to ask.
She shrugs lightly. “Of course I did. I had to thank you in some way. And what better than this?”
My fists curl tightly at my sides. “You have no idea what you’ve done this time.”
“Oh, I do.” She crosses her arms. “In fact, I planned every bit of this. I knew the press wouldn’t dare touch a Rathore, so I used social media instead. I leaked everything myself.” Her smile widens, smug and sickeningly proud. “And right now, Samarth is making sure the attention keeps escalating. Live videos, hashtags, influencers, the works. It’s trending beautifully.” Holding my gaze, she speaks with that infuriating calm that never leaves her face. “So tell me, Mr. Dev Rathore, how does it feel… to lose?”
My jaw tightens. “My brother doesn’t deserve to be in jail.”
