Destined to be One

Chapter 18

Varun sprang into action ready to protect Niyati from a threat but she didn't even flinch when the door slammed back. It was almost as if she was expecting the drama that was about to unfold in front of them. He frowned when he saw Niyati's parents storm into the room. He grimaced at the anger he saw in her mother's eyes and gave Niyati a questioning look. She shook her head discretely letting him know silently to stay out of what was about happen.

He ignored her silent signal and stepped closer to her. He knew whatever took place in next few minutes is going to bring lot of pain to Niyati. The taught had barely left his mind when he saw her mother raise her arm and slap Niyati before he could step in front of her. For a moment no one moved, even Niyati's father looked too shocked to react. Varun was about to step in and move her away from her mother but she raised her arm to stop him.

"Now that you got that out of your system mother, what can I help you with?" Niyati said with the calm that he knew she was far from feeling.

"How dare you accuse my husband of stealing from your precious company." Her mother shouted as if she wasn't standing a foot away from Niyati.

"Mother, I never accused him of stealing anything. All I am asking for is justifications of some of the things billed to the company that does not make sense."

If anything, Niyati's reply only made her mother angrier. "He has full authority to run my hotel on my behalf and any expenses acquired for running the hotel is billed to the company." Her mother spat out. "And what makes you an expert on running the business? The only reason this company belongs to you know was because your grandmothers wanted to punish us for defying them."

Varun inhaled sharply at the cruel words but Niyati didn't even wince and continued as if her mother's words hadn't cut her deep.

"I have no problems authorizing payments for things that make sense but when a bill is submitted for an item purchase gets delivered to a hotel that does not belong to our company I will not authorize payment for it." Niyati reached for the files on her desk and held one out to her mother and another one to her father.

"That also goes for the payments for the company credit cards."

Her father snatched the file out of her hand and flipped through it clenching his jaw as he turned the pages in the file. Her mother only glared at her and refused to acknowledge what was obviously a proof of misuse of company funds.

Her mother's expression only grew colder as seconds ticked by. She refused to take the file from Niyati, "This is not the end of this discussion, I will get you your precious proof to justify the bills then we will see who is right." She stormed out of the office angrier than she had arrived.

Varun braced himself for her father to complete the job of cutting Niyati to shreds but he only hesitated for a moment then followed his ex-wife out of the office without saying anything to his daughter. He may not have spoken a word but the look he gave her spoke thousand words.

For a moment Varun was too shocked to say or do anything. He knew Niyati and her parents did not share a close relationship and they were indifferent to her but their behavior today was downright hateful. They hadn't even asked her how she was feeling after her accident. The more he thought about the angrier he became at her parents for treating her with such callousness and he felt helpless because he can't take away the pain that he saw in her eyes that she tried to hide from him.

He couldn't understand why she didn't stand up for herself. The girl he had known few years ago would not have put up with these types of treatment from anyone then why did she let her parents treat her like this? After she came back his sister had filled him in on Niyati's parents' marriage and divorce and he finally understood why she had lived with her grandmothers instead of her parents but he still couldn't understand why she let them treat her so cruelly, unless.... he gave her a sharp look and studied her for a moment. She avoided looking at him and busied herself rearranging the papers on her desk. She was embarrassed that he had witnessed her parents at their worst.