Two Days Later
Haider has some news, so I ask him to meet me in my office cabin. His tone over the phone was enough to tell me this was urgent. The last two days have been absurdly peaceful, but my intuition warns me that something is about to go wrong. Which is why, the moment Haider walks into my office, his tense expression immediately puts me on alert.
“What happened?”
Haider quickly walks further inside.
“We received new intel that’s going to blow your mind, Raghav.”
That sounds serious.
“You remember you had asked the men to look into Shamsher Vardhaan’s death?”
Of course I remember. Finding out who killed Shamsher Vardhaan stopped being about mafia politics a long time ago. It became personal because of Siya. Whoever murdered her father could someday become a threat to her, and I have no intention of allowing any danger to surround my wife.
“Did we find anything?” I ask.
Haider nods. “We found who planned the assassination.”
The muscles in my shoulders go rigid. “Who?”
Haider looks directly at me.
“Samarjeet Vardhaan.”
For a second, I genuinely think I heard him wrong. Then I rise from my chair abruptly. “What?”
“Yes.” He nods. “Samarjeet planned his father’s assassination.”
I stare at him in disbelief. Shamsher’s own son. The heir he had raised and trusted? But why? Then my mind instantly begins piecing together his motives.
Power.
Succession.
Control over the Vardhaan empire.
Every piece fits together disturbingly well. But before I can fully process it, Haider hesitates, looking even more uncomfortable than before, as if the real bombshell is still waiting to be dropped.
“What?” I demand.
“And the second intel is that…” He swallows hard before saying it. “Siya isn’t Shamsher Vardhaan’s daughter.”
“What?What the f*ck does that even mean?”
Everything stops. Suddenly, the first revelation about Samarjeet murdering his father becomes irrelevant. The second one has all my attention.
Siya isn’t a Vardhaan?
I stare at Haider, whose expression doesn’t change.
“We verified it. We ran the reports twice.”
I take a step towards him.
“Who gave you this information?”
“The same source that confirmed Samarjeet’s involvement.”
