by MV Kasi
Was he feeling… upset?
Maybe he was.
He could definitely try and reason that irrational feeling.
He was upset because… he didn’t want two of his enemies uniting and causing trouble for the Singhams.
Yes, that must be it.
Yeah, right. Like you really believe that.
Dev ignored the snickering voice inside.
CHAPTER 15
“Dhruv?”
“Yes, madam?”
“Ask all of our men and the maids not to go up to the middle floor until I pass an order.”
Dhruv paused for a second before nodding his head. “Sure. I’ll inform them right away, madam.”
Sabitha was up and ready, preparing for the arrival of Anika and Dev Singham. They were to arrive within a few hours.
Thirty minutes later, everyone was cleared from the middle floor. Only Neelambari along with a couple of her personal maids were in her suite. Sabitha knew Anika’s presence would clear them all out as well.
“How dare that ungrateful brat come here unannounced!” Neelambari’s booming voice reverberated across the Prajapati Mansion.
Sabitha knew one of her aunt’s spies must have called to notify her about spotting the Singham vehicles on the Prajapati lands.
“Sabi! Sabi!”
Sabitha sighed when she heard her aunt frantically calling for her. When Sabitha deliberately didn’t respond, her aunt and the personal maids hurried down the stairs.
“Sabi!” Neelambari called.
“Yes?” said Sabitha.
“Your cousin is heading here. Do you know why she is coming?” Neelambari asked with panic-laden eyes.
“Dev Singham wants to go through some urgent documents with me. He has to take them with him when he leaves for the city. Anika must be joining him. Do you want me to inform them to go away because you are too upset to receive them?” Sabitha asked in a toneless voice.
Neelambari’s nostrils flared. “No! I am going to meet her. I’m not upset. I’m Neelambari Prajapati. No one can shake my calm.”
Ten minutes later, Neelambari along with a swarm of maids and guards waited in the receiving room.
Soon, the Singham vehicles arrived. They were received by the Prajapatis with Neelambari standing at the top of the stairs watching everything with a regal look.
When Anika got out of the car and took a few steps towards the mansion, Neelambari froze. Sabitha frowned as she watched her aunt stare. But it wasn’t Anika Neelambari was watching, she was staring at Abhay Singham with a rapt look.
Then as though in a trance, Neelambari went down the steps and stood in front of Anika and Abhay Singham. With trembling hands, she touched the barely visible bump on Anika’s stomach.
“The Singham heir,” Neelambari whispered in awe.
“Yes,” said Anika. “I want us to set aside our differences so my child can get to know his or her grandmother. The Singhams and I give the sole credit of this heir to you.”
Sabitha felt Anika was laying it on a bit too thick, but Neelambari bought it. Neelambari was egotistical enough to lap up everything Anika said to her in praise.
“Make way, everyone!” Neelambari shouted in glee. “The Singham heir has arrived to our Prajapati Mansion. Let us celebrate this occasion!”
Neelambari threw in a series of orders to the people to have delicacies prepared along with various gifts that she wanted to send along with Anika to the Singham Mansion.
***
Dev watched in amusement while the Prajapatis scrambled around like headless chickens following Neelambari Prajapati’s orders. Meanwhile, he ensured Anika and Abhay’s bodyguards stayed close. Ravi who was Anika’s personal bodyguard gave a subtle indication to Dev that everything was clear.
Nodding back to Ravi, Dev turned to Sabitha Prajapati who was observing everything with her usual closed-off look.
He went closer to her. “Shall we?” he asked.
Nodding regally, she began walking away.
Dev followed behind her, watching her as she strode through a hallway and then up a flight of stairs. His eyes were glued to her long, thick plaited hair that was swishing about her perky ass.
He felt extremely annoyed with himself for not being able to look away from that part of her anatomy. She wasn’t just some random woman he could be checking out. She was Sabitha Prajapati, his enemy.
Unfortunately, his eyes or the rest of his body along with his mind didn’t seem to be understanding of the fact. He finally looked up when she stopped in front of a room and slid something out.
He thought it was a key, but he realized that it was the same jewelled knife she had used to stab him in the leg the night before Abhay and Anika’s wedding.
Instead of feeling rage, he was disgusted at himself when his cock began to twitch. He watched with reluctant awe as she efficiently and successfully broke into her aunt’s suite using just the knife.
The woman in front of him had always managed to get him hard no matter how he felt about her. He tried to avoid her as much as possible. But each time he thought he had gotten rid of her, she blew back into his life like a fucking storm, ripping apart his mental peace and leaving a mess behind.
What was it about her, he didn’t know. He wasn’t willing to examine what he felt for her, but it was obvious that lust was one of the primary feelings. He also realized that the burning hatred he used to feel towards her was slowly waning off as days went by and they worked together.
He shook away his confusing thoughts and focused on the task at hand.
He watched her as she took a few steps inside her aunt’s room and slowly turned around. Something about the way she was taking in the details of the room, made him think it was the first time she was entering it—which would be crazy. This was her house. The house she grew up in.
He watched as she used the knife once again and broke into another attached room which was the bedroom. She took a couple of steps inside and suddenly stopped short, making him bump into her. He had to hold her waist to stop her from toppling over.
As soon as she found her balance, she turned to glare at him before she shoved his hands away from her as though he carried a contagious disease.
He glared right back. Before he could ask what her fucking problem was, he froze when his eyes fell on the walls of the room.
It wasn’t just a room. It was more of a bloody shrine.
There were picture frames of different sizes. And each and every frame had the picture of only one person—his father’s.
“This woman is a bloody lunatic who is obsessed with my father.”
Sabitha was quiet. She was observing the frames closely. “There are handwritten letters, too,” she said softly.
He went towards her and stood next to her. She was right. They didn’t have to search the room. The letters were freaking framed and hung on the walls in plain sight. He quickly scanned them. They were written by his father when he had been studying in London.
“We might not have much time. We need to hurry before someone comes up looking for something in Neela’s room.”
Dev dragged his gaze away from the letters. “Take pictures of the letters on these two walls, I’ll get the ones there,” he instructed.
For a change, she didn’t argue or snap back at him. She began to click pictures using her phone. He did the same on his phone.
As soon as they were done, she said, “Let’s go.”
As they carefully locked the doors and went down the stairs, he asked, “Haven’t you seen those framed photographs or letters before?”
“No,” she answered after a long pause. “I haven’t been to my aunt’s suite before.”
He frowned. “No one was allowed into your aunt’s room? Even for cleaning?”
“A few maids are allowed.”
Something about her tone and words bothered him. “Why weren’t you allowed? You must have gone to speak with your aunt in her room on occasion.”
She w
as silent and her shoulders were stiff.
Then it dawned on him. The realization made him angry. No, not just angry, but furious. And his anger wasn’t directed at Sabitha Prajapati.
He was furious with Neelambari Prajapati. The woman hadn’t allowed her own niece into her rooms. He was pretty sure Neelambari didn’t allow her niece to touch her either, only because Sabitha Prajapati’s mother had apparently belonged to a different class.
He hated that kind of narrow-minded thinking. But he knew a lot of people within the Singham province believed in the class system, too. He and Abhay had tried many times to change their mind-set, but it had been ingrained over the decades and passed through generations of people.
Dev saw a few Prajapati men waiting down the stairs,. They looked like they were ready to attack him at the smallest of indication.
“Madam,” said one of the men.
“Resume free access to the middle floor,” she instructed them softly.
The men nodded and left.
Before she walked away from Dev, she threw him an offhand look. “I’ll send the images to Anika,” she said.
Dev watched as Sabitha Prajapati went back to the receiving room. She stood at a distance, next to a wheelchair, speaking with her grandfather while her eyes continued to observe everything around her.
CHAPTER 16
Sabitha had just finished listening to a documentary on engineering marvels. Pulling out her earphones and placing them on the nightstand, she turned off the lights in her room.
She slid under her bed covers, hoping to pass out asleep as usual. But unfortunately, her mind remained alert and kept her from feeling sleepy even though she was tired.
She didn’t know why her mind was on overdrive. As far as she was concerned the day was quite uneventful.
Sure, the Singham family had visited and there was a lot of commotion done by Neelambari, but luckily, there was no bloodshed or any kind of tensions that erupted that day. Two men, each belonging to Singham and Prajapati, respectively, had apparently started an argument about something, but since Sabitha had instructed beforehand, the rest of her men were able to intercept and take the arguing parties aside to warn them to either cut it out or face consequences.
During dinner, Sanjay had given her the breakdown of expenses for that day. Several expensive gifts had been sent from the Prajapati Mansion to the Singham Mansion that afternoon. Sabitha wished her aunt would open her eyes and bother about the Prajapati people’s basic needs than be more concerned about such unnecessary show-offs.
It wasn’t like Sabitha felt Anika didn’t deserve any such gifts. It was quite the opposite. Sabitha knew Anika was a genuinely kind and caring person who deserved everything she wanted. And Sabitha knew Abhay Singham could easily afford to buy his wife anything her heart desired. Unfortunately, the Prajapatis couldn’t. At least until the canal and units were operating as planned.
Sighing tiredly, Sabitha picked up her phone. She had already sent Anika the pictures she had taken of the letters in her aunt’s room. Since the previous day, ever since Anika had spoken to her, Sabitha had been thinking about Anika’s theories.
Was it possible her father, Harshvardhan Prajapati, had really not killed Arundhati Singham?
The very few memories Sabitha remembered of her father, also indicated that he wouldn’t have killed. Harshvardhan Prajapati was capable of feeling love. He loved his daughter and he had loved his sister, brother and father immensely as well.
Sabitha slid out the jewelled knife from under her pillow. She lovingly touched the emeralds and rubies that were embedded on the handle. Her father had gifted the knife on her fifth birthday. It was most likely an odd gift in other people’s eyes, but it had been perfect for her even when she was five.
Sabitha didn’t think her life would change in any way if her father was proven innocent. However, if he was indeed innocent of that crime, then she did want to bring justice to her father’s character and memories among the people.
Who could have killed Arundhati Singham if it wasn’t her father like everyone thought?
Sabitha knew Anika was trying to prove Neela had information about what happened at the massacre or maybe Anika even thought Neela might have caused it. Sabitha knew Neela was capable of murdering someone very easily. But after several years of listening to and also having seen the proof of Neela’s obsession with Vijay Singham, Sabitha didn’t think Neela would ever hurt Vijay Singham. Neela had even ordered the Prajapatis to not harm or even touch Vijay Singham’s sons.
Sabitha sighed once again. She wished she could assist Anika more by having an investigation open up, but she didn’t want to. Not yet. Not until she found them. Sabitha’s sole and utmost priority in life was to find them. Compared to that mission, everything will have to take a backseat for a while.
Sabitha stared at the phone screen. Even though she couldn’t read, she looked at the zoomed images of the letters. She wondered what the bold handwriting of Vijay Singham said in those letters. Over the years, despite Neelambari’s constant references to Vijay Singham, Sabitha had never been curious about him. But now, she wondered what was it about him that still made Neelambari obsess even after several decades.
Sabitha recalled how her aunt had made a casual observation that Dev Singham was like his father when it came to charm and his ability to attract women’s attention. Sabitha was yet to see proof of his alleged charms, but she couldn’t dispute his ability to attract women.
Despite her hate towards him, she loathed to admit that she herself had been attracted towards him at times. Although she always ensured she held a shield against that inconvenient attraction.
But that particular afternoon, when Dev Singham had felt outraged on her behalf, because her aunt discriminated against her mother’s class, she felt a large dent form in the shield.
Maybe he wasn’t all that bad. Sure he was still an over-privileged princeling who thought no end of himself at times, but he was also capable of displaying empathy and affection. Maybe he wasn’t a complete bastard.
CHAPTER 17
“Our company is one of the best when it comes to building facial recognition software, Mr. Singham. Pretty soon we are going to be light years ahead of our biggest competitors.”
“I know,” Dev replied. “That’s why I have decided to invest.”
Dev was speaking with the CEO and founder of a company that specialized in not only building facial recognition software but also could interpret how a person would look when they aged or were in disguise. The investigators were already making use of similar software to track Raidu, but the software wasn’t advanced enough to identify if he had a good disguise.
“We are genuinely excited to have passionate investors such as you for our company, Mr. Singham. I know you have already either purchased or invested in other startup corporations such as ours.”
The CEO had done his homework. Contrary to what some people believed, Dev did not simply run the Singham industries. Right after he had graduated business school, he used part of his inheritance to invest in several small start-up companies that he believed in. Luckily, his risks paid off, and he was able to increase his investments and profits several times over without touching any more of the inherited money.
“That’s good to hear because I like being personally involved in all of my investments.”
“Dev!” a woman’s voice called out.
A frown marred Dev’s face as he turned to see who had interrupted him. “Tia,” he greeted in a guarded manner.
Lately, he noticed that Tia Mathur was turning up wherever he went. He knew they had a few common social circles, but the way she clung to him each time and the photos that kept turning up in the magazines, hinting they were a steady couple had started to bother him.
“Can I steal Dev away for a while?” Tia asked the man Dev had been talking to.
“Sure,” said the man, smiling at the famous pretty face who was batting her eyelashes at him. “I’ll set up
a meeting with you next week as we had discussed, Mr. Singham.”
Dev nodded even though he felt a bolt of irritation at Tia’s presumption.
Tia clung to his hand and led him towards the main house where a large social event was taking place that night. Dev had already met with several people and closed a couple of deals. He was done for the night and wanted to leave soon.
“I was in the middle of an important discussion when you interrupted me, Tia,” he said when they were out of ear shot of other people.
Tia pouted. “You are always ignoring me these days, Dev.”
He frowned with impatience. “Tia, I’ve already told you several times. I’m busy and I don’t have time for—”
“I know. I know,” she said. “But like I told you, I don’t expect you to take me out or commit to me. I just want to be your friend, and be there when you need to talk to someone.”
Dev sighed, not believing a word she said. His ‘friend’ had been chasing away other women who had come to speak with him.
“I’m going to be leaving in a few minutes. I’ve had a long day and have an even longer one tomorrow.”
Tia watched him with a determined smile. “I understand. I’ve heard that the canal and manufacturing units’ construction have started in your province and you are leading them. I’m very fascinated and want to know more about them. Will you take me there soon?” she asked with fake enthusiasm.
“No.”
At his blunt answer, her smile faltered, but she still stayed by his side.
Ignoring her, he went into the house to use the washroom in the guest bedroom. He splashed water on his face to remove some of the tiredness. He didn’t want to stay in the city that night. He wanted to return to the Singham Estate.
He typed a quick message to his chauffeur to pick him up in a few minutes. When he stepped out of the washroom, his ‘friend’ was waiting outside. Completely naked.
“What the hell are you doing, Tia,” he snapped, losing the last of his patience.
