50

-• the underrated spy •-

Taranya

If there's one thing I've learned from my husband, then it's to pretend you've got the shit in control even when you're in the middle of a catastrophe. There's no way I can keep driving any further. In less than a mile, the long trees will reveal the glimpses of the farmhouse, and once someone gets a whiff of our secrets, there will be no stopping from bringing them to light. The risk is too big, and exactly something we can't afford. That's how I find myself flipping on the turn signal as I slow down to the left of the highway and press the brakes.

The car behind me automatically slows. I push the door open and step out, revealing myself fully to the glaring headlights. Niharika's eyes meet mine and she parks the car behind mine before getting out as well. I close the door and walk to the end of my car, leaning back on the trunk as I cross my arms and wait for her.

She slams the door close and approaches me.

"And I thought you loved my husband? Is this your epic coming out?" I smirk. "Was your heart always with me?"

"Excuse me?" She screws her face in disbelief.

"I'm giving you the benefit of doubt, Niharika. It's not a regular occurrence that a renowned lawyer stalks her boss's wife." I shrug.

"I was not stalking you!" She hisses. "I was following you."

"You've the arguing skills of a toddler's intelligence. I'm concerned about your career, Niharika."

She grits her teeth. "I'm not explaining shit to you. Especially when you've a lot to do on your side." She points towards me and the deserted road. "Does Shourya know you're cheating on him?"

For the first minute, I'm taken aback, then I almost laugh, before realising from her point of view, she must have enough visual evidence to make such bold accusations. The last few nights, when I had to have dinner with the Rajawats? I spent an awful lot of time texting back and forth with Shourya. After that uncomfortable encounter last week, he had been trying his best to get me back into the ease of our bonding, and he always sent me corny jokes to make me laugh. I had to clear my throat every time I caught myself wanting to laugh out loud. We're treading the line of friendship and I'm all up for it. But maybe I should have kept my chatting to the confines of my office cubicle, seeing as people in the Rajawat Estate are always so keen on keeping an eye on each other.

"What happened? Cat got your tongue?" She mocks.

I look at her, focusing back on the brewing misunderstanding. "No, your audacity left me speechless. If you think I owe you any explanation, you're wrong."

"That's what someone says when they have something to hide." She crosses her arms on her chest smugly. I don't retort. She can make up ridiculous theories in her mind for all I care but I still don't give jack shit. "Fine, you don't owe me any explanation? I get it. I don't hold any significance in your life. But Shourya? I'm sure he'll be ecstatic to know his wife is driving out of Jaigarh when she leaves the palace under the pretext of going home." As she says that, her phone is already out and Rudra's number is on the dial screen.

Anxiety curls into a knot in my stomach. I know the truth. Rudra knows it too. It's the fact that no one else does. Niharika thinks I've lied to Rudra, when he knows I've lied too, but how do we make her understand that? She's looking out for the man she loves, maybe has a sliver of hope that by bringing my so-called "deceit" into light, she'll be opening Rudra's eyes and making herself notice more. I don't blame her. She's taking whatever chance she can get, clinging to every hope that shines with the possibility of her future with him. The feeling unsettles me, and I've half a mind to grab the woman by her throat and tear her vocal chords apart so she finally shuts up forever, but I hold back.

Murder is a crime.

Murder is a crime.

Murder is a crime.

Rudra doesn't answer her call. Her confidence deflates and she tries again. He doesn't answer again.

"I'll call him," I tell her, embarrassed on her behalf. She drops her arm, hand clutched around the slender phone in a deathgrip, and the moment Rudra answers my phone on the first ring, I notice her knuckles turn white.

"Yes, my girl, what is it?"

Niharika clenches her jaw.

"The call is on speaker. Niharika is with me."

I hear some shuffling on the other side before Rudra's voice becomes clearer. "Where are you?"

"I'll send you the address. Be there soon." I hang up and share my gps location with him on WhatsApp. Niharika is frowning as I close the phone and push it back inside my pocket.

I can't wait for him to come and cajole this woman. I've to put out the fire myself.

"I know it's hard to believe, given the circumstances," I wave my hand around the deserted road, "but I'm not cheating on Shourya. You'll have to find something else to throw me out of his life."

"Then what are you doing here? Why do you keep lying?" Her fury settles, replaced with confusion, swimming with a thousand different questions.

"I'm working on a story." I reply.

Niharika scoffs.

"I'm not lying," walking to my car, I grab my backpack from the backseat and reach her side again, standing across from her against my trunk. "Over the last few years, there has been a rise of illegal drug trade in the state. Some of our trusted sources tipped us that the outskirts, mainly of the Jaigarh have detected movements in the lower side of jungles, especially by the river. I wanted to check myself."

"Alone?" She frowns, taking the files I give her.

The story is a hundred percent true, but the bullshit I'm riding on top of it is not. I'm a journalist. Not a spy. I solely brought the files for work purpose, to dig through news material online and connect with the local reporters in order to get a lead on the story, not to go to the site by myself like some Bollywood cheap rip off of a James Bond movie.

I shrug. "I'm a crime reporter. But lately, my growth has been stilted, they're focusing more on my status and name than my degree. This was the only way I thought I could prove myself." Jesus Christ, I should write scripts. I'm making up shit as I go by.

She glows deep red in humiliation. "So you lied to Shourya because you didn't want to worry him?"

I nod.

"Fuck," she swears under her breath, returning the files to me. I shove them in the backpack and toss it inside the backseat windows. "But- But why were you smiling at your phone screen? Every dinner, sometimes even breakfast, you were always chatting with someone on your phone."

"I've six brothers, Niharika. One of them is unemployed, one is a brooding artist, two of them are my age, one is a golden retriever, and the eldest one is like a stricter, scarier version of Narayan Shankar from Mohabbatein. I've a wholesale amount of entertainment in my family."

She blinks, now mortified.

"I-" she doesn't get to finish as a robust, loud growl of a bike engine cuts her off. My heart plummets to the depths, then soars with a new found exhilaration. We both stare at the black monster that slices through the air, and the man riding it geared in all black, from his shoes, to those black denim jeans and a fitted leather jacket, the definition of a bad boy that had once made my seventeen year old squeal like a fangirl.

Nothing has changed. Because internally, I'm still fucking squealing.

Niharika's jaw falls slack when he stops the bike next to my car and swings his leg off the leather seat, ripping off the helmet and unstrapping the black gloves. He tosses them both inside my car and joins us, panting roughly. "What's up, ladies? What's this all about?"

None of us say a word. I'm not capable of. And I already get the real deal. I can't even imagine being in her place.

"Tara? Niharika?" He looks between us. "Ladies, I left my work halfway and covered the two hours worth distance in less than an hour. Speak up." He demands.

"She followed me thinking I'm lying to you and running off to meet my lover in the middle of the night." I blurt out.

His gaze whips to her.

"It was a misunderstanding." She clarifies.

"Why would you have a misunderstanding? Were you keeping an eye on on us? On her?" He barks out furiously.

Niharika flinches. "Shourya, I care about you-"

"This? This is the way you show it? By following my wife in the middle of the night and confronting her on a deserted road? Given her status, do you have any idea how life threatening this could have turned out by stopping in the middle of a highway without a protection if you guys had someone else following you?" He narrows his eyes in slits.

She swallows. "Will you not ask her what she's even doing here in the first place? She left Veer Mahal way back." Her eyes flicker to me, dragging me under the running bus along with her. This bitch.

Rudra stiffens. Now he'll have to act like he doesn't have any idea of my whereabouts. My poor husband.

"What were you doing here, Taranya?" He fixes his stern gaze on me.

I fiddle with my fingers.

"She lied to you because she needs to work on a crime story. What she was planning to do was a hundred times scarier than me stopping her in the middle of a road without protection." Niharika adds fuel to the fire. Or at least she thinks that's what she's doing.

"What?" Rudra acts even more pissed off.

"Because if I had told you, you wouldn't have allowed me!" I play along.

"Because I care about you, Tara!"

"Well, then don't! I'm not asking you to!" I glare back at him. "I don't want this marriage, geez. It's like a leash around my neck. I can't breath around you!"

"What?" He looks hurt.

Shit. I hope he knows I'm acting too.

"How can you say that? After everything I've done for you?" He whispers, placing a dramatic hand on his chest.

"What did you do? Blackmail me? Manipulate me? Use me? Betray me? Fool someone else with your pity story, Shourya. I just want an out." I snort.

"Another year. Another year and I'm getting rid of you." He growls.

My jaw drops. "You're getting rid of me? I'm getting you rid of you, you fucking asshole!"

"Do not swear." He warns.

"Fuck. You."

"I- I'm out, guys. Excuse me." Niharika hightails out of the situation in less than a minute.

"Is she gone?" Rudra whispers, his eyes pinned on me in a glare.

I chance a glance to my right. She's backing out of the spot. "Not yet."

"I fucking hate you. God, I regret the day I asked you to marry me! You're nothing like the woman I fell in love with!" He shouts.

"Oh, poor Shourya is heartbroken after blackmailing a woman into marrying him. How sad!" I mock.

"Are you cold?" He murmurs, running a heated gaze down my bare arms.

"No, I'm hot."

He stifles a smile behind a clear of his throat.

"You don't look so bad yourself." I add softly.

"Why thank you, Mrs. Rawal."

The car finally turns around and drives off.

Rudra and I are on each other in a flash, crushing our mouths together, ripping moans of pleasure that I've no idea who they belong to and fighting for dominance. He pins me to the back of the car, cuffing my hands over my head and hiking my crop top over, his mouth latching over my clothed nipple so quickly I almost hit my head on the metal at the quick rush of electricity it sents through me.

Then he wraps my legs around his torso and carries me to the backseat of my car, throwing me inside before climbing on top of me. The space is compressed, there's not much room to move, but he's agile with his actions, deft as he removes his jacket, rips off the black t-shirt, works on his jeans and before I can grab the sense of the moment, he's entering me with a thrust so powerful I blurt out a bunch of nonsense.

The car fogs up, his grunts and my moans reverabate, the sex of smell and our scents permeate the air. I scramble to hold whatever I can as he rocks into me at an insanely ruthless pace, almost slamming my head on the door and I know for sure I'm going to feel sore on the both the ends in a few hours.

By the end of it, I'm blinking wide eyed, staring at the roof of the car, still reeling in the after effects of the earth shattering orgasm.

I sit up straight, my limbs trembling and eyes blinking constantly. Rudra crawls to the front seat and rustles through the dashboard before finally finding the box of tissues. Then he returns and cleans me, my mouth, my chest, before giving me a tender kiss on the lips. I watch him dress up and step out of the car. He brings my shorts with himself, showing me the ripped, muddied panties in his other hand.

I chuckle tiredly.

"Sorry," he's sheepish as he gets back inside the car and closes the door.

"My backpack has a new set of undies." I tell him. With his help, I finally put on my clothes. Then he runs a brush through my hair, since I can't find the strength to raise my arm and braids them loosely. "Where did you learn this?" I eye the braid fondly.

"I saw you oftentimes at the dressing table. It's not that hard." He kisses my shoulder. "Now you sit, I'll drive you to the farmhouse."

"The glasses?" I realise I'm not wearing them anymore.

He grabs them from his pockets and slides them over the bridge of my nose slowly. "I had to remove them when we were kissing."

"I didn't even notice."

He smirks. "I'm stealthy like that."

"You misspelt sneaky." I nuzzle his nose with mine.

He laughs against my lips, the sound is a melody in my ears. And we kiss again, this time softer, gentler, more romantic, less animalistic. He pulls away after a small brush of his tongue over the seam of my lips and gets behind the wheel. I lay my head back as he drives us to the farmhouse.

I check the time on my wrist watch. It's seven thirty. But since it's winter, the sun has set early. I'm sure I can make it before dinner.

After we reach, Rudra asks the bodyguard to bring his bike to the farmhouse before we both walk inside to the smell of food wafting through the air. Shourya is at the table when he hears the sound of our footsteps and he turns around beaming, but the smile fades when he takes the notice of his half brother behind me. I glance over my shoulder at Rudra. He appears just as uncomfortable.

"Someone followed me. I freaked out and called him."

The disappointment washes off, replaced with worry. "Who? Are you okay?" He comes closer and I almost stumble back, in fear he smells the sex on me. I'm still sweaty, and my mouth is still feeling the salty taste of my husband's cum that he made me swallow.

Don't. Don't think about it.

"Yeah, I'm fine. He's leaving anyway." I force a smile at him.

The sound of bike revving in the driveway catches our attention.

"That's me." Rudra steps back. "See you, guys." And he spins around and walks out. My heart clenches. I wanted to cuddle him, kiss him, talk about something stupid, silly, spend a night not arguing.

Shourya finally relaxes. "C'mon, tell me what happened as we have dinner. There's so much I made sure Aunt Farida brought us tonight." He steers me to the dining table. I follow half-heartedly.

The dinner was extravagant. There were fifty different dishes, including five types of sabjis, three types of flatbreads, sweets, drinks, chutneys, sauces, pickles, snacks, and four kinds of rice. It was almost like a date. He couldn't stop touching the back of my hand, sometime later I had to slip it down the table and put it on my lap. He also talked mile a minute, mostly of the things he does here, the movies he has watched, shows he wants to continue, and all the stuff we can do once the threat over his head is gone. When I look at him like this, I don't see a twenty three year old man, I still see the sixteen year boy who must have had his own dreams, who was excited about life, eager to enjoy it, live it, experience it.

I join him in his room. He pours himself a glass of non-alcoholic champagne since he's advised by doctor to not drink alcohol until he finishes his medication course. I get a glass of red wine. He sits on his bed, and I cosy up on the couch near the window, we talk again. I tell him about my day, he tells me about his. He asks me what's happening back at the palace. I give him bits and pieces. To divert the topic, I end up talking about my bestfriend and how I wish she returns to India, for she has better life here than in London. He listens with interest.

By the time the clock hand strikes twelve, he's snoring off and I'm sipping on my seventh glass of wine alone, staring outside the window and missing Rudra. He never has time to sit and chat like this. We never went on dates, he never pulled me a chair, complimented me on my dress, played with my fingers. Of course, the situation was never in our favour. I don't blame him for the things he couldn't do in past, but now we're together, aren't we? But he still doesn't have time for me. I've to steal whatever moments I can from him.

He's busy, Tara. He's working towards his revenge, your revenge. He's doing it for both of you. Stop complaining.

Nodding, I put the glass away and slide down until the back of my head touches the arm rest. A wince escapes me as I brush a sore spot. My lips smile and I blush at the memories of tonight. For now, I'll make do with what I get. Once this is all over, he's mine. His days, his nights, his every waking moment will be mine. With that thought reassuring me, I fall asleep instantly.

The next morning, I return to Rajawat palace before nine. On my way inside, I bump into the gorgeous demoness of my life and I hold back a scowl. Niharika ignores me openly as she walks past me.

"Stalking someone else now?"

"I'm going to the office." She scoffs, not stopping to entertain the tiff any longer as she saunters out of the living room in her high heels and sexy black bodycon dress. We could have been such good friends. She has absolutely killer fashion sense. We could have traded dresses. Geez, what a wasted opportunity.

"I'm going to the office," I mock in a childish tone then stiffen. "Yara?"

"Yes, Mrs. Rawal?"

"Between snooping and stalking, which is the worst crime?"

"Stalking."

"See? I'm better than her." I dive inside the elevator and press for the first floor.

It doesn't take me long to locate her room. "Can you unlock this for me?" I ask my husband's AI as I twist and turn the knob.

"Of course, Mrs. Rawal." He says confidently.

The second time I twist the knob, the door opens and I'm quietly slipping inside the room. Closing the door, I turn around and see nothing special. It's a guest room, but considering she has been living here over a month now, it doesn't have any personal touch. No frames, no mess, nothing.

Without wasting another second, I go for the drawers first. I find everything. Work related files, stationery, blank pages for printer, loose change, over the counter drugs, but nothing special. It takes me equal amount of time to put everything back in its place. Later, I move to the walk in closet and look through the shelves, vanity drawers, and even upper cabinets. Still nothing.

"She's coming back."

"What?" Panic freezes me.

"She's closer." Yara continues.

"Why did you not tell me before?"

"I saw her stepping out of the elevator through the CCTV three seconds ago." He replies.

"Shit. Fuck." I swear under my breath.

Finding the wardrobe divider open, I jump inside and slide the wooden frame closed, sitting in a fetal position between the clothes. A few seconds later, I hear the door opening and the footsteps walk right inside the walk in closet.

Oh my God.

I clutch my stomach tighter in case it decides to growl out aloud. I can't get caught. That'd be so humiliating. And what will I even say? That I was getting back at you for last night? So smart, Tara.

I hear her shuffle around for a moment, then the jiggle of metal keys hit me abruptly. Brows furrowed, I lean closer to the wooden frame, only to flinch back when a thump echos, startling me from the core and I hear the manual lock latch when she turns the key outside. My jaw drops.

I stifle a gasp as the footsteps retreat and the main door slams close.

"Oh my God, we're locked!" I rattle the door. It doesn't open.

"I can help you." Yara offers.

"Really? Then help me! But how would you-" I kick my legs forward for some space, groaning in pain when my foot hits something sturdy.

I blink in the dark, take out my phone and turn on the flashlight, revealing a small safe tucked in the corner. I grab it and bring it over my lap. It has a key code. Did she come back for this? Did she lock the wardrobe to keep this safe?

"Yara, can you open this?"

"No, Mrs. Rawal."

"Why not? It's electronic."

"Yes, and such safes are directly linked with the consumers mobile phones. I'll need to hack the phone to unlock the safe. And I've been instructed to never hack smart phones or computers again."

"But you hacked my gps last night! You even hacked the traffic data to steal the car registration numbers and details!" I hiss.

"Your security was on line-"

"Well, I'm stuck in a fucking cupboard right now, Yara, I'm sure my security has already kissed my ass good bye. Unlock this!"

"I cannot unlock it. I can tell you the key code."

"Then tell me." I mutter.

Silence fills the room- cupboard, my own heartbeat and breathing is all I hear.

"2024"

I type it and the door unlocks with a small ping. I rip it open, grabbing everything that is inside. A stash of photos in an envelope, medical reports from some hospital and a bunch of post it notes. I frown as I read through them.

"Did you like the chocolate?"

"Yes! It was amazing. Can you bring me one more when you go to Switzerland again?"

"Of course! In fact, I'll ask my dad to bring you with us!"

"Thank you! I love you♡"

"I love you too, Vineet!"

And that was just the beginning. There were hundreds of post it notes, scribbled messily, all jokes, silly arguments, childish flirting and love confessions.

I put them away and take the photos out of the envelope. Young Niharika with a boy her age smiles back at me through the stilled memories. They're in love. Or, they were in love. But it's so clear, so vivid in her eyes, in their eyes. She doesn't look a day above seventeen. Neither does he. Both on the cusp of their youth, happy and in love.

I gravitate towards the medical reports. The patient's name reads Vineet Kumar. Age: 17. Along with his blood group and other medical history. The reports are normal. Nothing hints anything wrong. I wonder why she keeps them. Then I go back to the photos and that's when I notice.

Them smiling, posing, in front of a building, where the board reads, "Sunrise Orphan Home, Delhi."

The breath catches in my throat.

And that's when the wardrobe door slides open.

Just me casually dropping another plot twist.

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