Rathore's Vengeance

Thirty One

Ekansh sat in his cabin, his face showing clear signs of exhaustion from a sleepless night. Dark circles lined his tired eyes, and his usual sharp demeanor seemed dulled by the storm of thoughts relentlessly swirling in his mind. To drown out the turmoil, he buried himself in paperwork, signing documents one after the other. Just as he tried to focus, there was a knock on the door.

Advik stepped in, his usual polite smile faltering slightly as he saw the state of his boss. "Sir, your schedule for today is fairly light. Not much work left," he informed Ekansh with a respectful tone. Ekansh merely nodded, his expression unreadable.

"Make my schedule as tight as possible," Ekansh ordered, his voice commanding, though his eyes were heavy with fatigue. Advik blinked in surprise, momentarily taken aback.

"Sir, I... I’ll do that," Advik replied, struggling to understand why Ekansh was pushing himself so hard. It wasn’t like him to request an intense workload, especially when his schedule was free.

Ekansh's eyes darkened, a cold fire burning beneath their surface. "One more thing," he said, his tone dropping lower, sending a chill through the room. Advik straightened, sensing the shift in the atmosphere.

"Forget about the marriage," Ekansh continued, his voice icy. Advik frowned slightly, the mention of the marriage clearly a delicate subject.

"I don’t want anyone knowing about it. Except we two," Ekansh added, his words sharp and final. His gaze met Advik's, a silent but dangerous warning lingering in the air.

"If anyone finds out... well, let’s just say you won’t be working here anymore. And your life... might not be as secure," Ekansh said coldly, his eyes narrowing as he spoke. Advik gulped, feeling a bead of sweat run down his back. The message was clear.

"Understood, sir," Advik nodded quickly before hurrying out of the cabin, his thoughts racing, knowing full well he had to keep this secret.

Ekansh leaned back in his chair, rubbing his temples. He could feel the weight of regret pressing down on him, but he shoved it aside. He would have accepted her as his wife, but there was something about the entire marriage that gnawed at him. His mind kept circling back to the suspicious glances exchanged between Mr. Raichand and her parents during the ceremony, and the whispered conversation between Mr. Raichand and Harish.

He knew something had been planned behind his back, but the reasons eluded him. Why would Mr. Raichand involve himself? What was in it for him? With a heavy sigh, Ekansh dismissed the thoughts, convincing himself that the marriage meant nothing. It was an accident, and nothing more.

Abhimanyu was sitting on the bed, focused on his laptop, when he noticed several bags sitting on the table. Initially, he dismissed them, but something nagged at him. His eyes landed on a small black dot on one of the bags. Frowning, he stared at it for a moment before slowly getting up and walking towards the table. He picked up the bag, inspecting it closely. His heart skipped a beat when he finally discovered a secret camera embedded in the material. His breath hitched, and fury ignited within him. Grabbing the bag, he stormed out of the room, his anger barely contained as he marched toward the lawn.

In the cool night air, Arnav, Ekansh, and Aavyan were talking amongst themselves, having just finished dinner. The peaceful setting was abruptly interrupted by Abhimanyu’s arrival. His steps were swift, his face tense with suppressed rage. Without saying a word, he slammed the camera down in front of Arnav, who frowned and glanced up at him.

"What’s going on?" Arnav asked, his brow furrowing in confusion, while Ekansh looked equally puzzled. Aavyan's gaze narrowed as he studied the small device.