FEW MINUTES AGO...
Akansha and Iris walked out of the bathroom and Iris noticed that Akansha's eyes were searching for a particular person.
"Are you searching for Kevin... Or Carlos?" Iris asked and Akansha grimaced.
"Eew! Who will search for him? I'm looking for bhai." Akansha again began her hunt for her brother when she heard Iris releasing a frustrated sigh. Akansha turned around, a questioning look in her eyes.
"Your dumbo brother must be somewhere impressing guests. He'll come to you when he's done. Let's just go and chill for now." Iris said. Akansha opened her mouth to protest but Iris was already pulling her away towards a table adorned with all kinds of food. Looking at all of the delicacies, Akansha couldn't wait but dig in.
When she stuffed the last piece of cake into her mouth, Iris raised a glass of champagne towards her. Akansha politely rejected and picked up a glass of orange juice instead. With a clink of the glasses, they both chugged down their drinks. But the whole time, Iris's eyes gleamed with something which didn't feel normal.
After some time of talking, Iris started to get dizzy. At one point, she almost fell to the floor but Akansha caught her on time.
"Are you okay?" She asked, her tone filled with concern.
"I'm... Fine," Iris gave a hiccup and continued, "just a little bit...dizzy."
Akansha's face was clouded by worry for Iris and without wasting a single moment, she took her towards a room in the east corridor of the hall. As soon as Iris set foot into the room, she slammed the door on Akansha's face. Akansha was left perplexed about what happened but she chose not to question her further while she was in such a condition.
Akansha walked into the hall, her shoulders slumping in tiredness. She sat down on one of the chairs and kneaded her now aching shoulders. She leaned her head and slowly closed her eyes but snapped them open when she heard chaos going around the hall.
She pushed through the crowd and managed to get to the centre of the hall only to find live porn going on in a huge screen. Akansha made a disgusted face and turned around to walk away when she heard a familiar voice arose from the screen. She stopped in her tracks, her heart thumping badly in her chest. She turned round and again faced the screen to find Iris having sex with Carlos.
Her hand reached her mouth and she covered it in shock, lips still trembling after seeing such a horrible scene unfolding in front of her eyes. Suddenly, a bottle of wine came flying and hit the screen, shattering it to pieces. Everyone looked at that direction and saw Kevin heaving frustrated breaths.
And then, he left. Probably for the room where Iris was. Akansha and Rihanna exchanged worried glances and ran after him as well. Kartik chose to stay and calm the crowd and avoid further drama.
When the ladies ran up to the room, they saw that the door was broken. Both of them rushed in and found Kevin punching Carlos until his nose became a waterfall of blood. Rihanna caught Kevin by the arm to control him while Akansha's eyes searched for Iris. She saw her sitting on the floor and crying badly while holding onto the blanket which covered her body. Akansha's eyes darted towards her brother again when he marched up to Iris with two long strides and shook her by her shoulders.
"Why!? What did I do wrong!?" He asked. The anger in his voice was palpable but the hurt in his voice was only audible to Akansha. Iris didn't say anything. Just weeped. And it angered Kevin further. "I'M ASKING YOU SOMETHING!" He shouted, making both Akansha and Iris flinch.
Between her constant sobs, some muffled words left her lips and when it reached everyone's ears, they froze.
I... Didn't... Akansha... Drugged me.
Kevin, Rihanna and Akansha were baffled. Kevin tightened his grip around Iris and whispered in a menacing voice. "Don't you dare blame my sister for your dirty acts."
Iris trembled and repeated. "I didn't do it, Kevin! Believe me! You can check the CCTV footage if you want to!"
Akansha shook her head violently. She was innocent and she knew it. She even knew that her brother trusted her. His previous words echoed in her ears like a litany.
I'm always here for you.
"Bhai! She's lying. Don't you trust me?" Her voice cracked at the end when Kevin turned to her with a deadpan look.
"Why are you freaking out if you didn't do anything?" His voice was barely above a whisper but it was still audible to Akansha because of how quiet the room had become.
She closed her eyes and bit her tongue to control the tears from coming out. Never in her life had she expected to run into such a situation. Where her brother suspected. Where she had to fight against Iris, whom she treated as her sister. And now here she was; framing her without a hint of remorse on her face. When she opened her eyes, she only said one thing. "Let's go."
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Akansha gasped looking at the CCTV footage. It looked like she had pushed Iris into the room while Iris did that herself. She looked at Kevin, who was in a trance, then Rihanna, who was on the verge of tears, and finally her eyes turned to a raging Kartik.
"Papa, th-this is fake! I didn't do anyth-" But it was too late. Now there was no room for explanation. Just slaps and shouting.
•
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Akansha stuffed her things in her suitcase while angry tears began to flow down her cheeks, making her vision blurry but she harshly wiped them off with the back of her palm.
"Mr. Jaiswal ordered me to fetch you Ms. Jaiswal." John, the butler said from behind. Akansha zipped her suitcase and walked away without looking in the butler's empathetic eyes.
Now she was only going to India holding onto her stepmother's words.
Don't worry, Akshu. I won't let Kevin marry that girl just like that. I'll secretly investigate this case. Till then, listen to your father and go to India.
