Page 40 of Since You Stole My Heart

Kashvi cringed inwardly. She had been blissfully unaware of it until a few months ago, when Siya uncovered the old harassment complaints against their father buried in HR records.

She gave a reluctant nod, backing off.

Dhruv ignored the tension, shifting the focus to the matter at hand. He slipped his bag off his shoulder and pulled out two large sealed envelopes. ‘She gave me something else too and said we need to see it.’

‘What does it say?’ Abhay asked.

‘I don’t know, I didn’t open it.’

Kashvi frowned. When he noticed, Dhruv added quietly. ‘It’s a Kashyap family deed. I figured it wasn’t my place to read it.’

The scathing words she’d thrown at him a moment ago suddenly felt unfair, and she looked away. Dhruv had known for years that she didn’t consider him family, yet he’d still shown up in the hour of need. She didn’t know how to feel about that.

He held out the envelope to Siya. ‘If there’s anything else I can do, just tell me. I’m here.’

Siya gave a quick nod and tore the brown paper open. She pulled out a thick stack of papers, and her expression tightened with each clause she read. As a seasoned lawyer, she rarely reacted like this unless something had truly struck a nerve.

With every passing second, Kashvi’s heartbeat sped up.

Swayam gently tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. ‘Whatever happens next, we’ll deal with it together. It’ll work out.’

Kashvi nodded when she couldn’t speak. She could only hope.

‘What the fuck?’

The words tore out of Siya so sharply that everyone flinched. She crushed the paper in her hand. ‘That bastard!’

Kashvi didn’t need to ask. The shock and fury were written all over her sister’s face. If she was referring to their father, whatever was written in the deed was far worse than a technicality.

She felt the truth sink in, cold and certain.

I’m so fucked.

Chapter 8

Abhay immediately moved closer to his wife. ‘Siya, what’s wrong?’

Dhruv had already caught on. ‘What did Dad do now?’

Siya slammed the thick stack of pages onto the coffee table. ‘Every time I think he can’t get any worse, he proves me wrong in the most disgusting way possible.’

Abhay reached for her arm and gently turned her to face him. ‘What did he do?’

‘It’s clear now that he planned all of this years ago and made sure we’d never see it coming.’

Kashvi hesitated before picking up the crumpled pages. A sick feeling spread through her gut as she reached the section detailing the financial provisions for future heirs.

She read the first line carefully.

This deed identifies itself as a private family trust established by Dayanand Kashyap in 1975 for the benefit of his future descendants. To be an eligible beneficiary of the family trust fund, the lawful heir of the Kashyap family shall beentitled to receive a sum of one hundred crores from the trust corpus upon attaining the age of twenty-five years, subject to the following conditions:

•The Beneficiary must remain a legal resident of India

•The Beneficiary must not be disowned by the Kashyap family

•The Beneficiary must not transfer shares outside the family

•The Beneficiary must not have any criminal convictions or pending charges under Indian law