Main Drawing Room - 6:23 PM
Raghbir sat in his chair with the expression of a man who'd seen enough of life to be difficult to shock, but was managing anyway.
Saroj sat beside him, her face carefully neutral.
Kritika had been asked to leave—family only for this conversation.
Shaurya stood by the window, arms crossed, expression dark.
Tanisha sat on the sofa, Kabir conspicuously absent, her face a portrait of confusion.
Samarth stood at the front of the room, his expression carved from ice. He'd laid out the evidence with clinical precision—the harassment allegations, the NDAs, the surveillance photographs, the package sent to Nimisha.
The security footage of Kabir at the sex shop.
The footage of him following Nimisha to the bookstore.
The recording Abhay had managed to pull from the east corridor camera—audio of his confrontation with Nimisha.
Silence had settled over the room like snow.
Then Tanisha spoke.
"You're lying." Her voice was flat.
"Look at the evidence, Tanisha—"
"You're lying!" She stood, her face contorted. "You've never wanted me to be happy! You've always needed to control everything and everyone—"
"These are facts," Samarth said, his voice steady. "Not opinions. Documented facts from multiple sources."
"Documents can be forged! You have the resources—"
"Seven women, Tanisha." His voice hardened. "Seven women who've signed NDAs after reporting his behavior. Seven lives he disrupted with money and threats. Do you think I fabricated seven separate women's testimonies?"
"I think you're jealous." Tanisha's voice cracked. "You're stuck in a loveless marriage, and you can't stand that I found someone who loves me—"
"He doesn't love you," Samarth said, and the gentleness in his voice was almost worse than the coldness. "He's using you to get close to this family. To get close to—" He stopped.
"To Nimisha." Shaurya's voice filled the silence. "Say it, bhai."
"To my wife." The words were hard. Possessive. "He's obsessed with Nimisha. That's why he pursued the engagement. That's why he sends her gifts. That's why he cornered her today when he thought she was alone."
Tanisha's gaze swung to Nimisha, who'd been sitting quietly in the corner through the entire meeting.
"You." Tanisha's voice changed. "You seduced him."
The room went very still.
"Excuse me?" Nimisha said softly.
"You seduced him! You wanted him to look at you, to want you—"
"Tanisha—" Raghbir's warning voice.
"She's always walking around this house like she's the only woman who exists! Men stare at her constantly! She knows what she does to them and she uses it—"
"I want nothing to do with him." Nimisha's voice was quiet but absolute. "I have never encouraged him. I have spent months trying to avoid him."
