Page 37 of Since You Stole My Heart

He exhaled slowly. ‘It might be better if Siya explains.’

Kashvi felt uneasy as she wondered what could have pushed her sister this far.

‘How the hell can he even justify that?’ Whatever Siya heard only seemed to enrage her more. ‘Oh, he’s not interested in doing that? In that case, you tell the man to get ready because he will face me in court!’ she shouted before hurling the phone against the wall.

It shattered into pieces.

‘Jaan,’ Abhay said softly.

She stopped just long enough to throw him a frustrated look. ‘Don’t even think about telling me to calm down. You know exactly what they’ve done.’

‘I’m not telling you to calm down. Break as many phones as you want, I’ll buy you more,’ he said with a faint smile. ‘I’m just asking you to sit down for a moment.’

But Siya heard none of it, lost in the storm raging inside her. She dragged a hand through her hair. ‘I should’ve known they’d pull something like this.’

Kashvi crossed the room and caught her gently by the arm to stop her pacing. ‘Di, talk to me. What’s wrong?’

The rage melted away, and her shoulders sagged as the fight drained out of her.

Siya opened her handbag and pulled out a leather folder. Kashvi recognised it instantly since she had signed those papers just the night before.

‘Weren’t you supposed to submit this today?’

Without a word, Siya held it out to her. ‘I did. It came back already.’

Kashvi took the folder and flipped it open as unease coiled in her chest.

Her eyes moved over the familiar text before settling at the bottom of the page. The word stamped there was impossible to miss.

REJECTED.

The bold red letters sat stark against the white paper, and cold numbness spread through her as the meaning slowly sank in.

The trustee board had rejected her request.

A hollow ringing filled her ears, and it felt as though the world had tilted off balance. Voices blurred in the background, but her mind drifted elsewhere.

Kashvi had been so certain last night.

She thought back to her call with Akshay, one of the organisation heads, who had told her they were just a weekaway from shutting down without funding. She had promised to transfer the money as soon as her inheritance came through.

‘Thank God. The kids will be so happy to hear that. I can’t tell you how many of them have been crying. They don’t want to be sent to another orphanage, and we aren’t ready to let them go either,’ Akshay had said, laughing with relief.

Her grip tightened around the file as a barrage of questions closed in.

‘How could this happen?’ Kashvi murmured.

Siya spoke, regret hardening her expression. ‘I don’t know. I submitted it as soon as I reached the office this morning. It was supposed to take a week, but within five minutes they sent it back.’

Five minutes. That was all it had taken to shut down something that affected hundreds of people.

The folder trembled in her hands, and Swayam gently pulled it away. ‘Hey, look at me,’ he urged softly.

She turned to see him looking down at her, concern etched deep across his forehead.

‘It might not be as bad as it looks,’ Swayam said reassuringly. ‘Trust boards have complicated paperwork, don’t they? It could just be an error.’

The possibility wrapped around her heart like a fragile hope, helping her breathe again. Until Siya scoffed.