Ruthless (The Revenge Games Book 2)

by MV Kasi

  He nipped her ear playfully, "You did have quite a wild past," he said.

  When she didn't comment or react, he pulled away to look at her. Slowly his expression turned serious. "Sia, what you and I have...no one can understand it. And that's okay. It might be crazy, but it's real, and it's how we both are. I've already told you this. We're going to be together, no matter what."

  Listening to the conviction in his voice, her mind began to ease and she began to believe in what he was saying.

  CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN

  Jagadish Naidu was arrested on the murder charges of Judge Sundaram.

  It was utter chaos inside the police office where he was being questioned. Mindful to his status, he was offered a glass of juice which he drank owing to the heat in the overcrowded room. And also upon special requests, they let Ajay and Sia stand outside the room where they were visible to Jagadish Naidu.

  "It's a clear cut case Mr. Jagadish Naidu. Your DNA and fingerprints were found around the victim's house. We also feel, there is enough evidence for your motive as well. Videos of you molesting young children were found in Judge Sundaram's safe box at his house. I'm sure there must have been some sort of disagreement or blackmail attempt by the judge, due to which you were driven to murder. And we also found large financial transactions made to Judge Sundaram's account from yours."

  "Is that true, Mr. Naidu?" one of the officers questioned.

  "I've told you several times! I'm innocent! They framed me!" Jagadish Naidu pointed at Sia and Ajay.

  "Framed you how, Mr. Naidu?" the officer asked in a condescending manner.

  "I don't know. But I know she must have killed Judge Sundaram."

  "What would be Mrs. Manthena's motive?"

  "She hates me. She wants to ruin my reputation until I'm left with nothing."

  "Mr. Naidu, there is no need to be dramatic. Did you or did you not exchange several calls with Judge Sundaram before visiting him on the evening of his murder?"

  "I didn't call him! And neither were those pictures or videos sent to me on my phone by him that day. I don't know how the calls or the messages—"

  "Mr. Naidu, that's for the investigation team to decide. And we haven't found any strange anomalies—"

  "That's because of him!" Jagadish Naidu pointed at Ajay. "He's capable of anything. In fact I think he must have killed Judge Sundaram."

  "Mr. Naidu, first you blamed at your niece. And now her husband, who was also not present at that time. They both have no motive to kill Judge Sundaram. It was your car, your DNA, your call logs, and last but not the least, your gun with your fingerprints! And aside from murder, the videos of you and the children are criminal enough to—"

  There was a manic light in Jagadish Naidu's eyes. "I'm being framed. They are in this together!"

  "Why? You niece was even getting divorced, even though she knew she would lose the vast property from the Naidu Estate. What would motivate her to frame you if she already had the money and was willingly to give it all up?"

  "I know it's her."

  "That's not enough. We want to know why!"

  "Because I touched her when she was a child. And now she wants to pay me back."

  "Sir—" Jagadish Naidu's lawyer protested. "Please don't say—"

  "What do you mean touched? Touched her how? Can you please be clear?" the officer pressed, cutting off the young defense lawyer. None of the competent defense lawyers were available to take up the case. The one's Jagadish Naidu used to have on his payroll, had all mysteriously remained silent. Maybe because they knew he lacked funds to pay them and also because there was no way in hell, anyone could get him out of this case.

  "I had sexual relations with her!" Jagadish Naidu said, ignoring his lawyer.

  There was a stunned silence. Even Jagadish Naidu's lawyer was stunned as well. But he composed himself. "Sir, that's enough. You don't have to say anything."

  "I have nothing to hide now. I'm being framed for a murder I didn't commit!"

  "Mr. Jagadish Naidu, can you please elaborate on what you mean by sexual relations with your niece when she was a child? From the information we have, your niece left the country when she was nine. How can an adult have sexual relations with a child? Unless it's rape."

  "It was consensual," Jagadish Naidu immediately answered, brushing it off. "All the relations I've had, they have always been consensual. But after all these years, she remembers it differently. They all do!"

  "They? Who else apart from your niece?"

  "A few over the years. But there is another man who wants to get back at me for the same reason. He was with her when they tried framing me during the Citizen Hotel event. So even now, he must have been with her, planning all along to frame me."

  "Sir. First you said it was Mrs. Manthena, then her husband. And now, you are accusing another man. I'm not sure—"

  "They are all in it together. And that man—" He pointed at Ajay. "He is quite capable of killing a person in cold blood!"

  "Mr. Naidu—"

  "He killed his father!"

  There was absolute silence.

  "What?"

  "Yes, he killed his father who was in the military."

  "As far as we know, the investigation did not show a prior arrest record for Mr. Manthena. When was this?"

  "When Ajay was seven," Jagadish Naidu replied.

  There was silence.

  "Sir, I know you are under severe mental stress. With your wife passing away, your political career on hold. Your family and friends are also concerned about your erratic behavior. Would you like to plead guilty due to mental illness? Your sentence will—"

  "I'm not crazy!"

  "Then how do you think a boy of seven can kill a grown man who has been in the military? And that too his own father? And why wouldn't there be a record of any such thing happening?"

  "He...he..." Jagadish Naidu shook his head. He began to squint in an erratic manner and shake his head. "It's true. My wife helped him cover it up. I didn't see the need to oppose her."

  "Sir, even if what you are saying is true. You will be considered an accomplice to a murder that happened when Mr. Manthena was seven."

  "I don't care! They took everything from me. I want to see them get punished!"

  "So to punish them, you are trying to place the murder you did on to them?"

  "Yes!" he shouted. And then, he thought and shouted. "No! They are the murderers!"

  But, by then it was too late.

  They got everything in recording.

  CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT

  "I think his fate is pretty much sealed," said Ajay as soon as he and Sia arrived home.

  Sia shook her head. "Until he is behind the bars and remains that way for a while, I don't trust the system," she said.

  "This time, I'll do everything in my power to make sure he is not released under any circumstances."

  "What if they realize there are chemicals in his bloodstream making him speak the truth?"

  "They won't. It's not like he slurred or anything. There is no reason for them to do it."

  Listening to his statement, she let loose her biggest fear. "I sometimes still wish you had stayed away from all this, Ajay. You got involved with me again, and now...you lost your innocence by killing a man for my sake."

  She took a deep breath. "I was mentally prepared to take a life. But even then, I hesitated at the last minute. And now...his murder is going to haunt you, Ajay. I didn't want that."

  "I lost my innocence a long time ago at the age of seven, Sia"

  "What do you mean?" she asked.

  "When I killed my father," he said.

  "What?" she asked stunned. When her uncle was accusing Ajay for his father's murder, she had thought it was a mad raving from man who has been pushed to the limits and also due to the chemicals pumped into his body.

  Ajay's face turned into a stone, revealing no emotions. "I killed my father," he repeated. "I deliberately pushed him into the water and let him drown. Even t
hough he begged for help until he was dragged down into his watery grave."

  Sia was quiet, trying to digest the revelation.

  "And you know what the most disturbing part is?" Ajay asked. "That I still have no remorse. Not even for a moment have I felt bad about killing my father. Given another chance, I would have done it again."

  "But, why?" she asked him softly.

  Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes. When he opened them again, she could see the darkness of his past that still haunted him.

  "Because...when my father was drunk, he turned into an animal that attacked my mother and beat the shit out of me."

  She didn't say anything. She simply waited until he finished before she could offer him any kind of comfort.

  "My father was in the Army. My mother had told me that it was the war that had messed up with his mind. That made him drink and be violent with his wife and son. And apparently, he wasn't like that before. She told me that he loved us both. But after a while, I didn't care about the reasons. I just wanted him to stop. I wanted to protect my mother from his abuse."

  He watched her with a vulnerable look on his face. "When I was seven, my father visited us during my holidays. And by then, I already began to dread his visits."

  "On that particular day, my mother worked hard. She cleaned the house thoroughly, prepared all his favorite dishes...But when he came home, he hit her because there wasn't enough salt in some dish."

  He scoffed bitterly.

  "I still remember that there was nothing wrong with the dish my mother had prepared. My father just needed an excuse. And when I intervened, he turned on me. My mother tried to protect me, and in the process, she was hit so hard that she lost conscious. There was so much blood from the cut on her head that I thought she was dead."

  He turned to look at her with a devastated look of a small boy who was recalling the incident clearly. Her heart broke that Ajay had to witness such violence at a young age.

  "And guess what he did next? After knocking his wife unconscious?"

  "What?" she asked.

  "He went out for a smoke," he spit out. "I was so angry and mad thinking that he killed my mother that I marched towards him and I pushed him into the well in our backyard. The well was the kind that had a very short wall around it and offered little safety. He was sitting on it and smoking."

  "He was so drunk that he couldn't even shout much. I didn't even bother to get help. Because I wanted him dead."

  "What did your mother do when she gained conscious?" she asked softly.

  "She knew I was responsible. Because I confessed to her. But she decided to take the blame."

  "Then why wasn't she arrested?" Sia asked. She also didn't think the school in the village would have hired a murder suspect.

  "Your uncle's wife helped us," he said quietly, shocking her. "Our neighbor, an old woman knew what happened and she told your uncle's wife. Mrs. Geetha Naidu made sure the police thought it was an accident. She even got my mother a job as a teacher in the local school."

  *****

  Sia' heart ached for Ajay as he described the death of his father. The love she felt for him was overwhelming.

  "Does my confession make you afraid of me?" he asked her with a vulnerable look in his eyes. "I've killed. Once for my mother and the second time for you. I'll probably kill again if it's to protect the ones I love."

  "I'm not afraid. Or think less of you in any way. In fact your confession made me love you even more," she whispered, holding his face within her palms. "I'm proud that you are so strong and resilient. You fight for everything you believe in. Including us. Especially us. It didn't matter to you how many times I pushed you away, thinking you and Anika were better off without me." She smiled and it felt wobbly with emotion. "You just wouldn't have it. You dragged me back into your life, kicking and screaming" she laughed through tears. "And not just that, you yourself have gone through so much in your childhood, but you never let it define you in a negative way. You used those experiences to become stronger. That's one of the things I love the most about you."

  Ajay smiled at her softly. He wiped away the tear that ran down her cheek. She wasn't even aware that she was crying. "My love and commitment for you aren't just words either, Sia. I mean it when I say I'll be with you and our daughter until the end."

  He turned towards her with a torn look. "But I have another confession to make. Growing up, I was always grateful to your uncle's wife. Because she saved me and my mother. That's the reason why I attended her funeral as well."

  "I understand," she said softly.

  "Then also understand that my utmost priority in my life are— you and Anika," he reiterated.

  "Mine too," she said, meaning it. Over the past few hours, she realized that she cannot save the world. She made peace with that fact and wanted to start a new chapter with Ajay and their daughter. She was more than grateful to be offered a second chance.

  She had to let Varun know that she won't be able to go through rest of their plan. She would let Varun or the law take care of her uncle. And it was a proper closure for her. Her uncle losing everything and living with that knowledge or dying in the hands of one of his tormentor.

  "Let's go get Anika," said Ajay.

  "I need to call Varun and keep him posted. He must be waiting for my call anxiously."

  "Alright, I'll go and get her home. Will you be okay?"

  "Yes."

  Kissing her forehead, he went to the key holder to grab the car keys. He also pulled out the infant car seat from a shelf that he needed for Anika while driving back home.

  Watching him go, she thought of something. Something very simple that she should have done a long time back. She wanted to start over. She wanted to make a true attempt at giving Anika a normal family as much as possible.

  "Ajay..." she began.

  He looked at her questioningly.

  "Can you invite Harsha and Jyotika over?"

  He frowned. "Why?" he asked.

  She smiled tentatively. "No specific reason. I just wanted to meet them and thank them properly. And...and if they don't mind, I'd like to spend time getting to know them better," she said.

  His face softened. "Baby, they'd like to get to know you as well. And I promise you they'll love you like family too."

  "I hope so. It's just that I never had any friends or relatives before. So I might screw up in the beginning..."

  He laughed and strode closer to her. "You are worrying too much. You'll be fine," he said, kissing her forehead. "Ok. Be right back. Finish your call and get some rest."

  She nodded and waved him goodbye. When the door closed behind him, she dialed Varun's phone number. It kept ringing for a long time and went to the automatic answering machine.

  "Varun, call me when you get a chance. I want to talk to you about something important—"

  She was interrupted when she heard the front door bell ring. Her eyes fell on the forgotten car seat on the table next to the front door.

  Grabbing it, and still on the phone call with Varun, she opened the front door to hand it Ajay. Before she could register anything, she was knocked back hard, and a sweet smelling cloth was placed on top of her entire face, blinding her and also covering her nose and mouth. She struggled hard, using her elbow to hit back at whoever was holding her in a tight grip.

  The person cursed viciously, and the grip on her loosened. But slowly, her movements became lethargic, until she began to lose conscious. The last sight she saw as the cloth was slowly lowered and before darkness took over was her uncle watching her with manic filled eyes.

  CHAPTER THIRTY NINE

  The main door was left open.

  The sick feeling Ajay had felt when Sia didn't answer her phone intensified. Every menacing thought crossed his mind as he ran inside.

  He was halfway through the ride to Jo's house when he got a call that Jagadish Naidu had managed to disappear from the police station. Immediately, he had called Sia to warn her and to ask her
to get out of the house until he could get her. But Sia's phone went unanswered.

  "Sia!" he shouted.

  The silence was deafening around him. The only sounds that could be heard were the ones resonating off his body. His breathing got louder as adrenaline began coursing through his body. He threw open each and every room, checking inside even though in his heart he knew it was futile.

  "Sia!" he screamed in each and every room because most of the rooms had been soundproofed.

  He returned to the living room, hunched over with his hands on his knees, hyperventilating to the point where he felt the pain inside his chest. He had checked each and every inch of the house, but there was no trace to be found.

  He ran outside. "Sia!" he shouted, whipping about as though they would suddenly appear out of thin air. He felt his blood turn cold, causing him to shiver and the hairs stand straight on his arms.

  Before he gave it anymore thought, he ran towards the maid's quarters. Frantically trying to ignore the nervous and fearful feeling he felt inside the pit of his stomach, he focused on the task ahead.

  "Kamala!" he shouted, but there was no reply.

  Pushing the door open, he stepped inside the outhouse.

  His mind raced and his chest heaved at the sight inside.

  Kamala was lying on the floor with her eyes wide open and her throat slit.

  "No. God no," he whispered as panic began to set in even more until he had no control over his thoughts as they ran wild.

  "God, let her be okay. Please let her be okay," he kept repeating as he dialed for help.

  When he finished informing the police about his wife missing, he called Harsha.

  "Harsha!"

  "Jay, we've been waiting for you. Are you stuck in traffic?"

  "No. I came back home. Sia has been taken."

  "What? But how? And who?" Harsha asked in shock.

  "I received a call from the police that her uncle has disappeared. I know he has Sia. With those chemicals in his body, I don't think he could have taken her by himself. Someone is helping him."