Hello, Mr. Major General (1)

Chapter 184 - Confrontation

Kirat’s eyes almost shot out of their sockets.

This was not the mentally compromised Rita she had observed in the last 16 years.

She… she looked and sounded entirely normal!

How was that possible?!

Kirat stared at Rita, unable to hide the suspicion in her eyes. She asked tentatively, “What’s wrong, Rita? Is your mental condition acting up again?”

“You failed to cure me in the last 16 years, but someone else was able to do it.” Rita smiled gracefully. Now that the women were standing face-to-face, the difference in their looks could not be more obvious: Rita could
have passed for Kirat’s daughter.

Kirat’s face darkened. She immediately said, “Who was it? Who tried to cure you without the consent of the military and the Ministry of Science and Technology?! That’s illegal!”

“You’re one to talk, Physicist Reddy. How many laws have you broken so far?” Shehnaaz walked over to Rita and slid a hand around her arm. Together, arm-in-arm, the two women stared Kirat down. “The court summons will be sent to your home address after the new year holidays. Please make sure you’ll be around to sign for it—if you’re not, we may have to put out an arrest warrant and start a nationwide manhunt for you, and that would be really embarrassing for the Reddy family, I’m sure.”

Shehnaaz’s reply was perfect: not only did it serve to remind Kirat that she was the one on trial here, not the mysterious doctor who had cured Rita, it also sent a message to the other members of the Reddy family in the audience, warning them not to try to cover for Kirat…

Reva blinked. She looked at Shehnaaz in surprise, as though seeing her for the first time.

Arvind and Sourav, who were standing shoulder-to-shoulder, saw that General Rawat and Chairman Bhatt had joined the crowd. Their faces darkened.

“What law did I break?” Kirat returned to her senses. She glared balefully at Shehnaaz: the young lady had embarrassed her in front of so many guests, and Kirat hated her guts for it. “Don’t accuse me of things I haven’t done.”

“I only make accusations when I have evidence at hand.” Shehnaaz shrugged nonchalantly, before resuming her assault on Kirat’s self-confidence: “Physicist Reddy, you should have resigned from your position as Madam Rita’s psychiatrist when you officially began dating General Shukla 10 years ago. It was a conflict of interest, and you should have stepped down, if only just to avoid potential gossip. But you didn’t, and you abused your position. You neglected your patient for 16 years, even though there was an easy cure for her condition. From that point onwards, you’ve broken at least two different laws—you’ve violated the code of professional conduct for psychiatrists, and also the military’s rule against the abuse of power when performing official duties. You should have known better, but you did it anyway. Why? If you didn’t do it for General Shukla, then what was your purpose?”

Kirat’s heart skipped a beat. She clenched her fists, feeling the sweat on her palms, and bit on her lower lip, almost drawing blood.

Rita looked at Kirat with perfect indifference.

When she spoke, her voice, too, was entirely impassive, showing no signs of emotion. “Kirat Reddy, since you already
admit that you love Ashok Shukla, let’s talk about what
happened back then. I’m sure you still remember how you used to beg me to play Cupid between you and Ashok Shukla. He got married, but that wasn’t enough to deter you—instead, you continued to ask me to help set him up with you. I refused to do it. Did you begin to hate me
because of that? I can’t think of any other reason for you to treat me this way.”