Page 22 of The Redemption
“What?”
For a second, I’m too stunned to speak. Then the outrage kicks in.
“How could you fix the date on your own?” I demand. “And so soon? The wedding was supposed to be in four months. That was the timeline you gave me.”
“It’s not that I gave you my word, Siya. And I had no choice. The Singhals are applying pressure. They want to gettheirdaughter married to Parag. They’re offering the Reddys expansion in the western corridor if the alliance happens. This strengthens their hold… and weakens ours.”
Damn the Singhals!
“So you just preponed my wedding date?” I snap.
“Only to secure our position before they can negotiate,” he replies, unbothered. “I don’t trust the Reddys either. What if they receive a better offer from the Singhals and decide to reconsider? I am not giving them that window, Siya. Once your marriage is formalised, the alliance is sealed.”
Of course. So that’s what I am. A seal.
I begin pacing the length of my suite. “I’m not a shipment that needs to be dispatched before a rival bidder steps in, Samarjeet. I am not marrying so soon. This is my life. Four months was already a compromise. One month is nothing less than an ambush.”
Samarjeet laughs, and the sound grates on my nerves.
“You are forgetting again, Siya,” he says angrily the moment the laughter fades. “After Dad, I’m the one who decides who you marry and when.”
My fingers tighten around the phone.
“You better start accepting the reality,” he adds. “I’ve already spoken to the Reddys. They are completely fine with the new date. Everything is set in motion. As soon as Parag wraps up his current operations, he’ll come to get you. And when he does, you’ll return with him to begin the wedding preparations here in Cape Town.”
The casual way he says it makes something inside me snap. “Return with him? I just got here.”
“It’s not a request, Siya. Your trip ends when Parag returns… or it ends now. The choice is yours.”
I feel the heat rising up my spine. If only he were here in front of me, I would have definitely broken his jaw for sure. Before I can argue further, the line goes dead. The audacity of him preponing the wedding I don’t even want annoys me. I want to hurl the phone against the wall and watch it shatter the way he just tried to shatter my plan and timeline.
But I don’t do that.
Breaking objects has never solved strategic problems. I need a backup plan. I sit down on the edge of the bed. Four months had given me space to find a crack in this arrangement. Butone month?
This isn’t a deadline. It’s a f*cking countdown.
“Think, Siya. Think.”
If the Singhals are pushing this hard, it means there is a vulnerability somewhere. And… vulnerability can be exploited. A slow grin spreads across my face as the pieces begin to arrange themselves in my mind. Well, I guess I know what I have to do.
The Singhals.
If played correctly, they could become the solution to my problem for now. I know it’s a risk. A dangerous one. Reaching out to another mafia family without Samarjeet’s knowledge could easily backfire in ways that would make my currentproblem look minor in comparison. But when have I ever been afraid of taking risks?
I flew halfway across the world from Cape Town to this quiet valley in Himachal, walked straight into RK Estate, and planted myself right under the nose of a man who once ruled the underworld as the Dark Prince. If I can do that, I can certainly handle these smaller complications that stand between me and my freedom. One way or another, I will find a way to get this marriage sword off my neck.
CHAPTER 5
RAGHAV
Same Night
It’s close to midnight when Haider steps into my cabin at the resort.
“We’ve got more intel on the Reddys,” he says, sliding his iPad across the long oak table towards me.
I pull the device closer and tap the screen once, rotating it so the images face me.
