Page 159 of Since You Stole My Heart

Cold anger flashed through Swayam’s eyes. ‘Did he hurt you? Did he leave that mark on your cheek?’

Lavanya gave a grim nod, her gaze drifting towards Kashvi. ‘He did. But not the way he hurt her. He just tore my heart apart.’

Kashvi swallowed hard. ‘But how did you know about me and him?’ she asked. ‘Did you overhear something at the party?’

‘No, but I saw the fear in your eyes. Then it hit me. I’d seen you at a party before, back when I was in college. You’d stumbled into me while rushing out of the house, crying.’

Her heart splintered at the memory. Kashvi quietly admitted, ‘I remember it too.’

‘I planned to talk to you about it after my engagement, but I didn’t realise I’d already waited too long.’ Lavanya sighed audibly. ‘After my mother told me about the dowry, I went to Viraj’s suite to confront him. Right outside, I heard these two arguing about a football being a birthday gift for a wife, and something about it just didn’t feel right.’

Vihaan smacked Dhruv’s arm, glaring at him. ‘Told you.’

‘His black eye didn’t help either,’ Lavanya remarked.

Dhruv raised an eyebrow, silently daring Vihaan to challenge him again.

Lavanya continued, ‘I found Viraj locked in the bathroom, beaten up. He was furious and kept screaming about how they took his phone. When I asked whether the men I’d seen had attacked him and if I should call the police, he slapped me.’

A faint chill crawled up Kashvi’s spine as she rubbed Lavanya’s arm, trying to offer some comfort. ‘I’m here. You’re not alone in this.’

‘Bloody hell,’ Swayam snapped. ‘That man has gone completely unhinged.’

Dhruv stepped forward, anguish burning in his gaze. ‘I’m sorry, Lavanya. You didn’t deserve to get caught in the middle of this.’

‘Yeah,’ Vihaan agreed, guilt evident on his face. ‘We didn’t know he’d do this, but we should’ve thought about it.’

Lavanya glanced between them thoughtfully. ‘Are you related to Kashvi?’

‘Yeah, she’s our sister,’ Dhruv said, earning a nod from Vihaan.

Lavanya sighed softly. ‘Then don’t apologise. That’s what you do when you love your family. You protect them. Viraj chose to hurt us instead, and that fault lies only with him.’

Swayam’s restraint hung by a thread as he said, ‘Viraj is not getting away with this. I don’t care what it takes to make him pay.’

His cold, unwavering resolve resonated deep within Kashvi.

Luv finally spoke. ‘We’re all on the same page about what needs to happen. But let’s figure out how we’re actually going to do it.’

Lavanya bent to pick up the bag she’d dropped earlier. ‘For as long as I’ve known Viraj, he imposed a lot of rules on me, but the biggest one was never to touch his laptop. So I broke that rule. Along with our relationship.’

Kashvi’s breath hitched when Lavanya pulled out a sleek black laptop and held it out to them.

‘How did you get it?’ Kashvi asked, caught off guard.

Lavanya chuckled softly. ‘Technically, I bought it for him, so I just took back what’s mine. But if you’re asking in terms of proof, then I borrowed it from him. At least, that’s what we can say in court.’

Lavanya handed it over when Dhruv reached for it. He quickly passed it to Vihaan and said, ‘Time to put those nerd skills to use.’

Vihaan spread a blanket over the sofa before settling down with the laptop in his lap. He powered it on. ‘It’s encrypted. I’ll need the passcode first, then maybe I can do something.’

‘09_July,’ Lavanya said instantly. ‘The code was written in his desk diary. Despite encrypting everything, he still used his birthday as the password.’

Luv observed dryly. ‘This guy really loves himself, huh?’

‘You should know there’s a locked folder under Kashvi’s name. I found it, and that’s why I came over,’ Lavanya admitted, visibly sickened by the thought. ‘If there’s proof anywhere, it’s probably in there.’

‘Why are you doing this?’ Kashvi asked quietly.