Chapter : 16

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Dhiraj Khurana sat at the head of a large, dimly lit conference table in his private study, the room filled with the quiet murmur of tense voices. His secretary, a sharp-eyed man named Raghav, was hunched over a laptop, rapidly typing away as he tried to contain the crisis that had exploded around them. A few of Dhiraj's most trusted men were scattered around the room, speaking in hushed tones, their expressions a mix of concern and determination. They were all trying to salvage what they could from the disaster that had befallen them.

But Dhiraj’s focus wasn’t on the men or the frantic energy buzzing around him. It was on his daughter, Shivya, who sat on a plush armchair in the corner of the room. Her usually flawless composure was shattered; her eyes were red-rimmed, and her hands trembled slightly as she clutched her phone. She was scrolling through social media, reading the flood of articles and comments that were tearing her reputation apart.

The exposure of Dhiraj’s illegal businesses had hit hard, but what made it worse were the salacious details of Shivya’s affairs with married men that had come to light. The media had latched onto the story, and it was quickly becoming the scandal of the year. The damage to their reputation, both personal and professional, was incalculable.

Shivya was trembling, but it wasn’t just fear that coursed through her veins. It was anger—raw, seething anger. Ananya’s cold, dismissive eyes flashed in her mind, fueling the fire within her. How dare Ananya humiliate her like this? Shivya was certain that Ananya was the mastermind behind everything—the exposure, the scandal, all of it. But the question that gnawed at her was how to prove it.

Finally, unable to hold back any longer, Shivya stood up, her voice trembling with fury as she addressed her father. "Dad, I’m sure this is all Ananya’s doing. She’s trying to destroy us, destroy me! She has to be behind this!"

Dhiraj, who had been staring blankly at a stack of papers, lifted his gaze to meet Shivya’s. His face was a mask of frustration and exhaustion. The past few days had aged him, and the burden of dealing with this crisis was clearly taking its toll. He sighed deeply, rubbing his temples as if trying to ward off a headache.

"I know she’s behind it, Shivya," Dhiraj said, his voice heavy with resignation. "But the real question is, why? Why would she do this? Ananya is ruthless in business, yes, but she never interferes in others’ affairs unless there’s something in it for her. What could she possibly gain by going after you?"

Shivya hesitated, biting her lip as memories of the incident with Rihaan flooded her mind. She had tried to harass him, thinking it would be easy to manipulate the mentally unstable man. She hadn’t expected Rihaan to be so resilient, nor had she anticipated Ananya’s fierce protectiveness over him. The realization that she might have crossed a line with Ananya hit her hard, but she couldn’t bring herself to confess it to her father.

If she told him the truth, he might blame her for everything, might even refuse to help her. She couldn’t afford that—not now, when she was desperate for his support. So she swallowed her fear and kept the incident to herself, choosing instead to focus on her anger.

"I don’t know why she’s doing this, Dad, but I know she hates me. She’s always looked down on me, always acted like she’s better than everyone else. Maybe this is just her way of showing that she’s in control, that she can crush anyone who crosses her," Shivya said, her voice trembling with barely contained rage.

Dhiraj studied his daughter’s face, sensing that she wasn’t telling him everything. There was something more to this, something she was hiding, but before he could press her further, the door to the study burst open. One of his men rushed in, his face pale with urgency.

"Sir, there’s a police officer here. He’s demanding to see you immediately," the man said, his voice tinged with fear.

Dhiraj felt a cold wave of dread wash over him. The police? They couldn’t possibly have traced his illegal businesses back to him—he had been meticulous in covering his tracks. No one knew those businesses were his, so why were they here? What could they want?

He shot a glance at Shivya, who had gone even paler at the mention of the police. A sick feeling settled in his gut as he motioned for her to follow him. Together, they made their way to the entrance hall, where a uniformed police officer stood waiting, his expression unreadable.

Dhiraj forced a confident smile as he approached the officer. "Good evening, officer. How can I assist you?"

The officer’s gaze was cold and unyielding as he spoke, "Mr. Khurana, we are here to arrest Shivya Khurana for the sexual harassment of a mentally unstable man."

The words struck Dhiraj like a physical blow. For a moment, he was too stunned to respond, his mind struggling to comprehend what he had just heard. Sexual harassment? A mentally unstable man? It made no sense—how could this be happening?

Shivya, standing beside him, let out a choked gasp, her eyes wide with disbelief. "What? No! That’s not true!" she cried, her voice shaking with panic. "This is a mistake!"

Dhiraj quickly regained his composure, his mind racing as he tried to figure out how to handle the situation. "There must be some mistake, officer. My daughter would never do such a thing. Do you have any proof?"

The officer’s expression remained stern as he nodded to one of his colleagues, who stepped forward and handed Dhiraj a tablet. Reluctantly, Dhiraj took it, his heart pounding in his chest as he looked at the screen.

The video that played was grainy, but it was clear enough to show Shivya in what appeared to be a hallway. She was standing close to a man whose back was to the camera, and it was evident from her gestures and expressions that she was harassing him. The man’s face wasn’t visible, but Shivya’s was unmistakable, captured in a moment of aggression that left no room for doubt.

Dhiraj’s heart sank as he watched the footage. His worst fears were being realized, and he felt the ground shift beneath him. The evidence was damning, and the fact that it had been captured on video made it even worse.

Shivya was trembling beside him, her hands covering her mouth as she stared at the screen in horror. "No, no, that’s not me! This is a setup! It’s fake!" she pleaded, her voice growing more desperate with each word. But the look in the officer’s eyes told them both that her protests were futile.

The officer stepped forward, his handcuffs at the ready. "Miss Khurana, you are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."

Shivya’s panic escalated into full-blown hysteria as the officer grabbed her arm, pulling her hands behind her back. "Dad, please! You have to do something! I didn’t do this! I swear, I didn’t do this!" she screamed, her voice breaking as the handcuffs clicked shut around her wrists.

Dhiraj stood frozen, his mind reeling as he watched his daughter being led away by the police. The words to comfort her, to assure her that he would fix this, stuck in his throat, choked by the realization that he was powerless in this moment. The video was too damning, too undeniable. Even he couldn’t talk his way out of this one.

As the police escorted Shivya out of the house, her sobs echoing through the hall, Dhiraj remained rooted to the spot, his body numb with shock. The image of the video played over and over in his mind, each loop driving home the severity of the situation.

His daughter was being taken away, not because of some petty scandal or a minor mistake, but because of something far more serious, something that could destroy not just her reputation, but her life.

As the door closed behind Shivya and the police, Dhiraj’s hands clenched into fists. There was no doubt in his mind now—this was Ananya’s doing. She had orchestrated this entire nightmare, and she had done it with precision and intent. She had come after him through his daughter, and she had succeeded in a way that was devastatingly effective.

But Dhiraj Khurana was not a man who gave up easily. As the initial shock began to wear off, it was replaced by a cold, burning rage. Ananya had made her move, and it had been a strong one, but this game was far from over. He would find a way to turn this around, to make her pay for what she had done. He would use every resource, every connection, every bit of power he had to bring her down.

*****

Dhiraj Khurana slumped into his leather armchair, the shadows in his dimly lit study reflecting the storm that brewed within him. The heavy curtains were drawn, blocking out the late afternoon sun, leaving the room in a state of oppressive gloom. Papers and files were scattered across his desk, evidence of the frantic attempts to contain the fallout from the scandals that had exploded around him. His secretary, Raghav, had just left the room, leaving him alone with his thoughts—a rare and unwelcome state for a man who thrived on control.

The recent events had shaken him in a way he hadn’t anticipated. Shivya’s arrest had been the final blow, the culmination of a series of crises that had spiraled out of his control. But it wasn’t just the fact that his daughter had been taken away in handcuffs that bothered him; it was the question that gnawed at the back of his mind, refusing to let go.

Why had Ananya done this?

Dhiraj could understand her desire to destroy Shivya. His daughter had been reckless, brash, and arrogant—traits that had no doubt provoked Ananya’s wrath. Shivya’s behavior had often been a source of frustration for him, but he had always protected her, shielding her from the consequences of her actions. He had assumed that Ananya’s vendetta was a personal one, driven by some slight or insult that Shivya had inflicted. But as he sat in the suffocating silence of his study, a nagging doubt began to take root.

Ananya had always been a formidable opponent in the business world, a woman known for her sharp mind and ruthless tactics. But she was also pragmatic, focused on her goals and rarely indulging in petty vendettas. Her actions were calculated, every move made with a purpose. This wasn’t just about Shivya. It couldn’t be.

Dhiraj’s mind raced as he tried to piece together the puzzle. He had known Ananya for years, had watched her rise to power with a mixture of envy and wariness. She had never shown any interest in his personal life before, never interfered in his affairs unless there was something to gain. So why now? Why had she gone after Shivya with such intensity, and more importantly, why had she exposed his illegal businesses?

The exposure of his illegal operations was what truly baffled him. Ananya had nothing to gain from it—if anything, it complicated matters for her. She was too smart to believe that taking him down would be easy, even with the evidence she had released. The connections he had, the network of power he had built, were not things that could be dismantled with a few headlines. She knew that. So why had she done it? What was she after?

Dhiraj’s gaze fell on the glass of whiskey that sat untouched on his desk, the amber liquid reflecting the dim light from the desk lamp. He picked it up and took a long sip, letting the burn of the alcohol distract him from the chaos in his mind, if only for a moment.

Ananya’s actions didn’t fit her usual pattern. She wasn’t someone who acted out of anger or spite—she was deliberate, methodical. There had to be something else driving her, something he wasn’t seeing. But what?

Dhiraj leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes as he replayed the events of the past few weeks in his mind. The scandal had started with whispers, rumors that had quickly snowballed into a full-blown media frenzy. His illegal businesses had been exposed with surgical precision, the kind of exposure that required insider knowledge. Ananya had to have known someone close to him, someone who had access to information that wasn’t readily available to the public. But who?

His thoughts turned to Shivya again. She was the common thread in all of this, the one person who seemed to be at the center of Ananya’s wrath. But it still didn’t make sense. Ananya could have destroyed Shivya without involving his businesses, without risking the kind of retaliation that could come from attacking him. No, there was more to this, something deeper that he was missing.

Dhiraj’s mind drifted back to the last time he had seen Ananya, before the scandal had erupted. They had crossed paths at a business function, a charity gala hosted by one of their mutual acquaintances. She had been as poised and elegant as ever, her expression unreadable as they exchanged pleasantries. But there had been something in her eyes, a flicker of something cold and calculating, that he hadn’t noticed at the time. Had she been planning this even then? Was this all part of a larger strategy?

His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden realization, a memory that surfaced from the depths of his mind. It was something Shivya had said to him earlier, something about Ananya that hadn’t registered until now.

“She’s always looked down on me, always acted like she’s better than everyone else. Maybe this is just her way of showing that she’s in control, that she can crush anyone who crosses her.”

Dhiraj frowned, the words echoing in his mind. Control. Ananya was all about control, about maintaining her dominance in every situation. But why target him and his businesses? What did she hope to gain by destabilizing him?

And then, like a bolt of lightning, the answer struck him. It wasn’t about gaining anything. It was about making a statement, about sending a message. Ananya wasn’t just trying to destroy Shivya—she was sending a warning to him, to everyone who might think of crossing her. She was showing the world that even someone as powerful as Dhiraj Khurana wasn’t untouchable, that she could take down anyone she chose, no matter how well-protected they were.

But there was still something missing, something that didn’t add up. If Ananya’s goal was to send a message, why do it now? What had triggered this sudden attack? There had to be a catalyst, something that had pushed her to take such drastic measures.

Dhiraj’s mind returned to Shivya once more, to the secret she had been hiding, the incident that she had almost confessed to him but had stopped herself. What had she done to provoke Ananya’s wrath? What had she been too afraid to tell him?

The pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place, and with each one, Dhiraj felt a growing sense of dread. Ananya’s attack wasn’t just about control or power—it was personal. Deeply personal. And whatever Shivya had done, it had struck a nerve with Ananya in a way that nothing else could.

Dhiraj’s eyes narrowed as he considered the implications. If Ananya was acting out of personal revenge, then this wasn’t just a battle of business rivals. This was a war, one that could only end with one of them utterly destroyed. And right now, he was the one on the defensive, struggling to understand the rules of a game that Ananya had been playing all along.

He needed to find out what Shivya had done, and he needed to find out fast. If he could uncover the truth, he might be able to turn the tables on Ananya, to hit her where it hurt the most. But to do that, he needed information, and there was only one person who could give it to him.

Dhiraj set his glass down on the desk and reached for his phone, dialing Shivya’s number with a sense of urgency. As the phone rang, his mind raced with possibilities, with strategies for how he would confront her, how he would get the truth out of her. He needed to know everything if he was going to survive this.

Shivya answered on the third ring, her voice shaky and filled with fear and desperation. “Dad?”

“Shivya,” Dhiraj said, his tone sharp and demanding. “We need to talk. Now. Tell me everything you know about Ananya and why she’s doing this. Don’t leave anything out.”

There was a long pause on the other end of the line, and Dhiraj could almost hear the wheels turning in Shivya’s mind as she debated whether to tell him the truth. Finally, she spoke, her voice barely above a whisper.

“It’s about Rihaan, Dad. I... I tried to...”

Dhiraj felt a chill run down his spine as the pieces finally came together. Rihaan. Ananya’s husband. Shivya had crossed a line, and Ananya had retaliated with the full force of her power.

As Shivya began to confess, Dhiraj realized that he was in deeper trouble than he had ever imagined. Ananya’s revenge wasn’t just about sending a message—it was about protecting the one person she cared about more than anything.

But, is that all?

Definitely not!

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