An inside job.
The paranoia that descended over the estate was immediate and suffocating. Security was doubled. Meetings that had been held in the house were moved to undisclosed locations. And everyone looked at everyone else with suspicion.
Especially Advika.
She felt it in the way conversations stopped when she entered a room. The way Sidharth's men watched her with careful, assessing eyes. The way even Lakshmi, who'd been kind to her, seemed more distant.
But it was Nisha who said what everyone was thinking.
It was two days after the attack. Advika had been in the library, trying to lose herself in a book, when she heard voices from the hallway. Sidharth's office door was ajar.
"I'm just saying, the timing is suspicious." Nisha's voice carried clearly. "We've had no security breaches in five years, and suddenly, four months after she arrives, we're hit?"
"Correlation isn't causation," Rishabh replied, ever the voice of reason.
"But it's a hell of a coincidence." Nisha's voice grew sharper. "She's a Pradhan, Bhai. Where do her loyalties really lie? Have you even considered that she might be feeding information to her father?"
Advika's blood ran cold. She stood frozen in the library, her book forgotten.
"I've considered it." Sidharth's voice was flat, emotionless.
The words hit like a physical blow.
"And?" Nisha pressed.
"And I'm looking into it."
Advika's vision blurred. Her hands trembled. He actually suspected her. After everything, after the past four months, after the nights in his bed and the slowly building trust—he actually thought she was capable of betrayal.
She should have walked away. Should have gone back to her book and pretended she hadn't heard.
Instead, she found herself moving toward his office, pushed by a rage and hurt so profound she couldn't contain it.
She shoved the door open without knocking. All three siblings turned to stare at her—Nisha with satisfaction, Rishabh with guilt, and Sidharth with his infuriating neutral mask.
"You think I'm the mole," Advika said, her voice shaking. "You actually think I'm betraying you."
"Advika—" Rishabh started.
"No." She held up a hand, her eyes locked on Sidharth. "I want to hear it from him. Do you think I'm feeding information to my father?"
Sidharth's jaw tightened. "I think I'd be a fool not to investigate every possibility."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only answer I have right now."
The words were like a knife between her ribs. She'd known he didn't trust her—had always known it—but hearing him say it, seeing the cold calculation in his eyes as he looked at her like she was just another suspect...
"My rooms have been searched," she said flatly. "I noticed this morning. Someone went through my things."
"Standard security protocol—"
"Don't." Her voice cracked. "Don't insult my intelligence. You had someone search my room because you think I'm a spy. Just admit it."
"I'm being thorough," Sidharth said, his tone still maddeningly calm. "After what happened—"
"After what happened, you decided the illegitimate daughter must be the traitor. Of course. Who else could it be?"
