by P. G. Van
“Why did you invite his father?”
“Isn’t it easier just to take care of this in one shot, don’t you think?” He raised a cocky eyebrow.
“What do you mean by ‘taking care?’”
“Well, it means you get back everything that’s yours, they come clean with everything they have done with the fake marriage, and then apologize to my beautiful wife for putting her through crap,” he teased.
“Right… you do realize Surya’s father is a very powerful man. He is into politics.”
“I give a shit. They will look you in the eye and beg you for your forgiveness,” Dheeraj said in all seriousness, but she couldn’t help but laugh.
“I would really like for them to ask… beg me for my forgiveness, but all I need is for them to stop lying about me being married to Surya.” She scrunched her nose.
“Whatever you wish for, baby. You should never have to wipe out memories because of pricks like them,” he said, holding the elevator door for her as she stepped inside.
The elevator doors closed, and the next moment she felt her back crash into the metal wall as his body melded into hers. He held her hands to her sides, his breath warm on her cheek. “I will give you everything you ever dreamed of, and all I want is for you to be mine, forever. I want that smile to be pasted on your lips, never a tear unless they are happy ones, and if you cry, that will only be because you can’t handle the pleasure I give you. I want to be the one who gives you everything that makes you happy, only me.”
Anjali felt delectable thrills pass through her, and she smiled slowly looking up at him. “I’m yours and will be yours even if you don’t want me.”
“That’ll never happen,” he growled, nipping on her ear.
“What happens when I get fat with babies?” She laughed.
“I will enjoy every curve of yours and lick every inch of that hot, soft body.” Dheeraj pushed into her, and she felt his hard desire press into her belly.
“I love you, Dheeraj. Don’t ever let me go.”
“Never… I will love you, cherish everything about you, kiss you like I can’t help myself, and cuddle up with you after I’ve pounded the hell out of you,” Dheeraj growled, and she pushed him away, laughing.
“Oh my God, you couldn’t say all this when we are in our bedroom.”
“Why in the bedroom, let’s misbehave. Who says we can’t do anything here.” He crooned making her shudder with pleasure.
“Dheeraj, this is your office, and we are in the elevator,” she whispered.
“Promise me you will let me have you tonight… my way.”
Anjali smiled, blushing. Their intimacy had gone to a new level in the past few days. She experienced the beauty of make-up sex, the thrill of surrendering to his possessiveness, all while he made her soar through the skies like a shooting star.
Anjali gently kissed him moving her lips along his jawline. “I’m yours, you’ll just need to wait till we get home.”
“What do I do with my hands until then? I can’t keep them off you,” he said making her laugh, and the elevator dinged open at the same time.
“Stop saying such cheesy stuff.”
“Don’t pretend like you don’t like it,” he whispered nodding at his co-workers as they walked toward his office.
“I like it but not just anywhere.” She rolled her eyes at him.
“Fine, I’ll be sure to set up time on your calendar to say everything I want to say to you,” he taunted.
“Dheeraj, what are you trying to do?” It was at that moment she realized he was up to something.
“Nothing.” He shrugged, taking off his suit jacket.
Anjali smiled. “Leave your jacket on. I like it when you wear the full suit just like at our wedding.”
Dheeraj smiled and walked over to her cupping her cheek with his hand. “When all this mess is cleared up, I want to get married to you, again.”
Anjali fought happy tears. “I love you. I want the traditional wedding this time. I want the silk, the flowers, the chaos, and our children at our wedding, the most important guests.”
Dheeraj smiled, pulling her into his embrace. “Consider it done.”
“Okay, now I want all this mess cleared out. Where are Surya and his father?” she demanded.
“They are in the conference room. We can go when you’re ready.” Dheeraj’s voice was calm.
“Let’s go talk to them, Dheeraj. I’m done being scared.” She stood up to walk toward the door.
“If that’s what you want.” Dheeraj chuckled following her out of his office.
Anjali stopped after taking a few steps and looked at Dheeraj. “Does the conference room have cameras?”
“Every angle and inch of the room is covered by the cameras in case you want to watch their expressions again on tape.” He winked.
“You know me too well,” she said, smiling.
“If you are ready, let’s get started.” Dheeraj looked at her, as they walked down the hallway to the conference room. Anjali stayed silent biting her lip.
“Baby, you don’t need to say a word if you don’t want to. I’ll do all the talking.” His voice was soft but assuring.
Anjali felt relief sweep over her, and she smiled placing her hand in his. “I really don’t want to talk to them. I spent too much time thinking about how to get back at them and finally resigned myself to the fact that I could do nothing and, at best, get a portion of what’s mine. Just…”
Dheeraj placed his finger on her lips. “I got this. I will take care of it all. You just need to sit next to me and smile.”
Anjali laughed, holding his hand. “I won’t lie. I’m still very nervous in spite of all that distraction you created in the elevator.”
“It might have been to distract you, but I meant every word I said,” he said taking a step ahead of her as they walked down the long hallway.
Dheeraj came to a stop outside a door and let go of her hand. “Lead the way. I want to see their expression when they see you.”
Anjali took a deep breath, wiggled her shoulders, and pushed the door open to the conference room. She had worn a beautiful magenta-colored silk dress that hit her ankles, the heels adding grace and command to her stride. She looked down at the three men sitting at the table, two of them overly familiar to her but not the expressions they had on their faces.
Surya looked pale, and his father was slightly more composed as they took in the sight in front of them. She averted her eyes from the two men who looked at her like she was a ghost and smiled at Dheeraj’s lawyer. “It’s good to see you, Mr. Singh.”
Anjali took a seat next to Mr. Singh and looked around at the men who stood behind Surya and his father in dark uniforms and semi-automatic weapons. She was shaking on the inside to be facing them but one glance at Dheeraj gave her the confidence she needed to look at the two men who ruined her future in their eyes and return their glare.
Dheeraj cleared his throat, and that made the men look away from Anjali. “I suppose we need no introductions, and I suppose you know why Geetanjali is here.”
“What are you doing here?” Surya demanded.
“It’s my land that’s being discussed, why wouldn’t I be here?” Anjali said, surprised by the sarcasm in her voice.
“Mr. Varma. Don’t waste our time. I have better things to do.” Surya’s father got up, and Dheeraj held up his hand gesturing him to sit down, and he did.
“Trust me when I say this is where you want to be if you want to be able to do what you do,” Dheeraj said, his tone cold.
“Who do you think I am, Mr. Varma. I am only here because my son told me you have grand development plans for our region.”
“Yes, I absolutely do, and it requires you to come clean with everything you have done so far with Geetanjali’s ancestral property.” Dheeraj’s voice held a command over the conversation.
“What do you mean ‘come clean?’ Don’t make it sound like we did something wrong. This woman was the one who
agreed to marry my son and then abandoned him,” Surya’s father barked.
Dheeraj placed his hand on her knee under the table and patted it gently. “Abandoned? Why do you think she left?”
“Ask her,” Surya growled.
“It was not even a real marriage. I was convinced to do it just so my grandma could see me get married and die happily. I was told I could go back to my life.” Anjali gathered the strength to speak up even though her legs shook with anger.
“That is what your grandmother asked us to tell you. How could we break the promise of a wonderful woman like your grandmother,” Surya’s father said in his standard sleazy tone that made Anjali’s skin crawl.
“I don’t want to hear the same crap you have told me in the past every time I told you I had no interest in staying married to your son. You ruined my career by keeping all my inheritance. I wanted to be a doctor and open a hospital just as my grandmother wanted, and you two ruined it all and don’t tell me about how wonderful my grandmother is. Don’t give me that!” Anjali let out a sob, and Dheeraj put his arms around her making the two men go dead silent.
“Mr. Kota, Surya… I know you have had these conversations before, but I want to put this argument to rest before I invest money in your region,” Dheeraj said patting Anjali’s hand.
“How do you know her?” Surya asked looking at them.
Dheeraj looked at Anjali and smiled.
“Surya, this is Dheeraj Prakash Varma, my husband,” Anjali said, her eyes locked with her husband’s loving ones.
Chapter 22
The looks on their faces said it all about how much shock and surprise Surya and his father were in, and it gave her so much joy, she couldn’t help but smile. Her eyes wandered to look at the man she loved and smiled at him. When their eyes met, she felt a surge of energy sweep through her.
“How is that possible? She is married to my son,” the older man stated in a calm voice as he looked at Anjali and Dheeraj, hiding away the shock.
Surya started to mumble something, but Dheeraj cut him off. “I will lay down my conditions, and the Kota family can agree, or we take this out in the open and put it in front of the media because we have nothing to hide. We will pursue this in court because what my wife had to go through is unjust.”
“Your wife?” Surya’s voice wobbled.
“Sorry to say, Mr. Varma. Your marriage with Geetanjali is invalid because she is already married to my son.” Surya’s father had an arrogant look on his face.
“True, only if the marriage with your son is valid.”
“Why is it not valid? We have the legal documents required,” Surya almost barked.
“Oh yes, that document that you have been using to live off of my wife’s inheritance and enjoying every luxury of the palace owned by the Devarakonda family.” Dheeraj chuckled, standing up to reach for a file on the table. He opened the folder and placed a few documents in front of Surya and his father.
There were three sheets of paper and two photographs, one photograph she recognized immediately. It was the picture of her in bride’s attire sitting on the hospital bed next to her grandma, holding her hand with Surya standing on the other side of the bed. Chills ran down her spine just at the memory of that day, but she swallowed the painful lump and sat in silence.
“Surya, this you may recognize as the picture taken the day you claim to have married Geetanjali, and here is the date of your marriage registration which would have required her to be present to sign.” Dheeraj’s voice was cold as ice.
“Yes, and she signed the papers, validate her signature,” Surya said confidently, and Anjali knew they probably had her legit signature that she would have signed at some point.
Dheeraj smiled. “You are correct, the signature is hers, but it is no good.”
“What?”
Dheeraj pushed one of the documents closer to them. “This is Geetanjali’s birth certificate. The date on the picture indicates the traditional wedding occurred when she was seventeen.”
“The legal one was when she was not a minor, and it was a week later. The traditional one was only because of her grandmother’s illness,” Surya’s father chimed in.
“Sure. I’m sure it was only because of that, but did you say, Geetanjali was present at the registrar’s office for the legal registration of a marriage when she was a major?”
“What is your point, Mr. Varma?” Surya seemed agitated.
“Was she present at the registrar’s office or not?” Dheeraj insisted.
“Yes, how else do you think she signed the document?” Surya seemed to have lost his cool.
“Was it also the same day she signed the power of attorney in your name?”
“Yes, all the same day, so what?” Surya pounded his fist on the glass table.
Dheeraj pushed the other picture toward him. “How do you explain this picture? This is imagery captured by the university campus cameras where she was that day, hundreds of miles from Devarakonda where you claim the marriage registration and the power attorney were signed by her.”
“She was there, she is lying.” Surya pointed his finger at Anjali.
“Mr. Kota, lower your finger. The woman you are accusing is my wife, and I will go to any length to prove you wrong. We either settle this in private or go public with everything.”
“We have nothing to be afraid of. We will go to court,” Surya barked, but his father put his hand on his son’s shoulder as if asking him to calm down.
“Mr. Varma, what are you suggesting we do?” The older man seemed to calm down a bit.
“I want you to accept that the marriage you have been claiming to be valid is invalid. I have already put in a petition for that. Then you will rip that fake power of attorney you have and hand over every piece of Geetanjali’s inheritance including the palace you have been enjoying as your residence.”
“Why do we have to give that all back? It’s ours.” Surya stood up in an attacking stance.
“Sit down, Surya. I’m not done talking,” Dheeraj barked, and a silence fell over the room.
When Surya sat back in his chair, Dheeraj turned to look at Anjali for a moment before turning to look at the two men.
“I’m asking for what my wife rightfully owns, and that is only to give it back to the community. Her dream was to fulfill her grandmother’s wish to build a hospital for premature and newborn children. I am not a fan of uprooting families, but your family has enjoyed riches that are not yours for way too long, and we need the palace because it is the prime location for the hospital.”
Anjali cupped her mouth with her hand when she heard the last part of what Dheeraj said, and she could not help the happy tears that rolled down her cheeks. Dheeraj walked over to where she sat and rested his hand on her shoulder to comfort her.
“Surya, I have everything I need to take everything away from you, even the revenue you made from the property all these years, but what I need you to think about is your children.” Surya’s eyes widened. “Yes, we know you are married and have two small children. How long were you going to keep the truth in hiding?”
Surya and his father stared at Dheeraj in disbelief.
“What’s your choice, Mr. Kota?”
Surya’s father let out a low laugh. “You think you can threaten us? You will not be able to reverse anything that had been registered in our region.”
Dheeraj chuckled. “I can even reverse your current position as a politician and make you go back to your old profession of being a goon.”
“How dare you?” Surya’s father growled standing up.
“Sit down, Mr. Kota.” Dheeraj roared making Anjali wince at the sudden burst of anger.
“You either give back what’s not yours or else everything you have done becomes public, and you will need to resign your current position. You and your son will be arrested for forcing a minor into marriage and producing a fake marriage certificate.” Dheeraj paused for a moment looking at the pale faces of the men. “What is i
t going to be? Don’t waste everyone’s time.”
“You think I am afraid of your empty threats?”
Dheeraj lifted his chin. “I just need to click a button to send everything to every news channel there is in the country, and you will be trending on the top for a long time. You can raise your voice at me all you want, but are you up for what you will face with the media? Forcing a minor into marriage and then your son marrying again while living off of the minor’s inheritance. It sure is a juicy story for the media.”
Surya went dead silent, and Anjali could tell he was holding his breath. Finally, Surya’s father nodded. “We need time to move, but we agree to all the conditions.”
“Thank you, Mr. Kota. Mr. Singh, would you mind escorting them out of the building?” Dheeraj asked, his eyes following the angry men who were leaving the conference room.
Dheeraj shut the door of the conference room and walked back to where she stood fighting back happy tears.
Dheeraj ran the rough pad of his thumb on her cheek and smiled. “I hope these are happy tears.”
“Why didn’t I ever think of it?” Anjali sobbed into his hand, kissing his palm.
“What?”
“Converting the palace into a children’s hospital. What better way to use such a huge building?”
“Just an idea. We still need to get Surya and his family out, and then we start construction.” Dheeraj winked.
“Thank you… for everything!” She smiled going up on her toes to kiss him, the man who made her every dream come true including the dream of falling madly in love.
*****
Six Months Later…
“Happy birthday, Inara!” Anjali kissed their one-year-old child who was theirs in every way. The adoption panel gave them full custody to Anjali and Dheeraj, and that was by far the happiest day in their lives. Raghav was sentenced to life in prison for the death he caused, and days after the judgment, he killed himself in his prison cell.
Dheeraj kissed their child, and Anjali saw the sadness in his eyes. It was a year back that his sister passed away in the accident. He did not want any celebration that day, but Anjali convinced him that they had to make the day special for Inara.