Page 182 of Since You Stole My Heart

‘What the hell? What are you doing?’ Viraj snapped.

‘Shut up. Let me handle this,’ Karthik chided. He turned his glare to Kashvi. ‘You’re so desperate to send me to jail, but do you really think you’ll survive in there?’

Siya chimed in. ‘She has a better chance of surviving than you. Kashu was a minor when the accident happened. The law will be kinder to her.’

Kashvi caught the intent behind it and added, ‘I’ll testify against you. I’ll reveal exactly what you made me do as a witness. Maybe I’ll get only a couple of years for my naive part in it, if that. But you?’

She answered her own question with a click of her tongue.

‘This is ridiculous. No one will believe I had anything to do with Arohi’s death. I wasn’t even in the car.’

Siya shook her head. ‘The last call Maa made was to you, right before the accident. We found the record of it.’

Karthik scoffed, some of the tension leaving his shoulders. ‘Everyone already knows that. I even gave interviews about it because my PR team said it would help my popularity. And it did.’

Siya clenched her jaw. ‘I remember you crying about wishing for more time with her.’

He was fucking sick.

Kashvi glared at him. ‘But you hid the fact that we were in the car too. You kept that out of the media. But we’ll reveal it. All I have to do is confess that you told me to close her eyes, and I obeyed because I was your little girl.’

His jaw clenched. ‘Do you even hear yourself? Are you really crazy enough to ruin your life for this?’

‘If I have to lose everything to destroy you, then so be it,’ Kashvi shot back without hesitation.

He raised his hands, his words tumbling out in a rush. ‘No, listen to me. We can work something out. It doesn’t have to end this way.’

Siya spoke calmly. ‘And it won’t… if you agree to my conditions.’

Kashvi whirled around, her forehead creasing in shock. ‘Di, what?’

Siya squeezed her hand but said nothing.

‘You bitch!’ Karthik burst out. ‘I should’ve known you came with an agenda.’

Siya held his gaze, unyielding. ‘I learned from the best. This is your only chance if you want to hear it, because I’m too busy to visit you in jail later.’

Karthik barely held himself back, his fists clenched on the desk. ‘Fine. What the fuck is it?’

‘Don’t tell him just yet,jaan,’ Abhay cut in smoothly, glaring at him. ‘He still hasn’t asked nicely.’

Karthik let out a sharp exhale. ‘What do you want?’ he asked through gritted teeth.

Siya’s expression turned cold. ‘You will hand over all your electronic devices so we can wipe out your sicko collection. You will be blacklisted from every Kashyap property and business. And you will step down from the trust board, with your access to the fund cut off permanently.’

A beat of silence passed, thick and suffocating.

Viraj let out a disbelieving laugh. ‘He won’t agree to that. This is insane!’

‘Oh, thank you for your useless opinion, because it leads me to my fourth condition,’ Siya remarked in a sickly sweet tone. She turned back to her father. ‘Viraj takes the fall for you and goes to jail. He’s a serial predator who has extorted over fifty women.’

Karthik chuckled. ‘Finally, this is something I can agree to.’

‘It’s in your best interest to agree toallof it. You have five minutes before the police arrive,’ Siya said.

Viraj glowered at her, agitated. ‘Fuck you!’

Swayam spoke easily. ‘Siya, add dowry harassment and domestic violence to the charges too. Lavanya texted an hour ago that she will file an FIR against him.’