Gasps fluttered through the room like a chilling breeze.
"What do you mean, Preeta ji?" Rishabh's voice cracked with alarm, dread creeping into his expression.
Preeta didn't take her eyes off Prithvi. Her voice, steady as steel, cut through the tension.
"The kidnapping... it wasn't some last-minute plot. It was calculated. It was to stop me from reaching the wedding. To stop me from exposing the pregnancy reports." She turned her head slowly, eyes now trained on Sherlyn. "Am I right, Sherlyn?"
Sherlyn stiffened. "I... I don't know what you're talking about."
"Oh, of course not," Preeta smirked. "Let me refresh your memory. You planned to marry Rishabh ji not because you liked him, but because you wanted revenge. I didn't get the time to trace every detail, but the crux of it? From day one, you manipulated everything. Every. Single. Thing."
Kareena crossed her arms, scoffing loudly. "You've clearly lost your mind, Preeta."
Preeta turned her head, her smile cold now. "If I had lost my mind, Kareena ji, maybe I'd have poisoned my own family too. Isn't that how you lost yours, Madam Luthra?"
A deafening silence followed. Kareena's face turned crimson.
"W-what are you talking about, Preeta?" Rakhi's voice came in a small, broken whisper. Her eyes darted to Kareena, visibly trembling.
"That's why I asked you all not to interrupt," Preeta replied, now facing the entire room. Her voice was calm, her words blistering. "The food poisoning at the Luthra engagement party wasn't a result of mismanagement. It was a planned attack orchestrated by Sherlyn, facilitated by Kareena Luthra." A collective gasp rippled across the room. Mahesh stepped back in shock. Dadi gripped the edge of her chair tightly.
"And I have proof," Preeta added before anyone could question her. "Call recordings. Screenshots. Everything. Enough to sink both of you."
Kareena's lips parted, but no words came out. Her face was pale. Rakhi looked at her with wide, devastated eyes. Rishabh looked like he'd aged ten years in one second. Guilt weighed on his face like an anchor.
"I didn't have time to pull every thread," Preeta said, more to herself now. "And honestly, I didn't care to. I only needed to know why I was attacked."
She clenched her fists briefly. "I had the pregnancy reports. The only real proof to stop the wedding. But I left them behind to save Madam Arora. That moment... that choice... gave you the time to strike."
"These are lies!" Sherlyn shouted, stepping forward, her voice cracking. "Why would I want revenge? And who told you I'm pregnant?!"
Preeta's glare could've shattered glass. "Don't insult my intelligence. I'm not here to argue. I've been through that enough. But the thing is..." her voice dropping to a near-whisper, filled with menace.
"The criminals who attacked me? They're in custody. And guess what? They confessed. All of them. Including the part where you used your official account to pay them. Including the part where you used your own cell phone to plan it all. Do you even realize how stupid that was?"
Sherlyn took a step back, bumping into the table. Her hands trembled visibly now.
"All it takes is a minute to retrieve call logs. And only a bit of money to listen to those sweet, sweet conversations you thought were private," Preeta said with a cruel smile. Prithvi stared at her like a ghost.
