Mr Kapoor nodded in assent.
‘Mr Kapoor, if it makes you feel any better and much as I would like to believe Riya loved Jay, she was really motivated by only one thing: greed and, unfortunately, you both used Jay to serve your ends.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Riya wanted to get rich. She convinced your emotionally vulnerable son that he had been wronged by his father who refused to acknowledge him. She further fuelled this by making him quit the firm as per company policy.’
‘Yes, Riya wanted to get rich and she didn’t care who stood in her way,’ Mr Kapoor said.
‘But why did she have to do all this? Why didn’t she just manipulate Jay into giving her money instead of putting us through this nightmare? She seemed like such a good friend . . .’ My voice choked.
‘Riya detested Aryana and she stood in her way,’ Mr Kapoor replied.
‘What do you mean?’
‘The shares, funds, everything was in Aryana’s name. Jay was mentally unbalanced so we hadn’t made anything under his name. We were afraid he might misuse the money or someone may take advantage of him. And that’s what happened. Riya must have gradually discovered that she couldn’t get any money directly from Jay and that first led to the blackmailing and ultimately the rift between them. She had hoped she could get Jay to extract money from Aryana and so she even became friends with Aryana. I believe they met a few times when she was in Delhi last. But Aryana loved Jay with her life and wouldn’t fall prey to Riya’s machinations.’
‘But where do we go from here?’ Mr Kapoor asked.
‘Mr Kapoor, Jay and Aryana will never come back, but you can do what is right.’
50
FOR TWO DAYS I didn’t leave home. After all that had happened, I needed time to heal. My mind was in shock and I had mostly been resting. Endless policemen and questioning, endless queries from my colleagues and from the media who had got hold of the sensational story. And I was in the midst of it all.
I had of course given in my resignation, but there was no boss to approve it. Mr Kapoor had been granted interim bail but I knew the case would continue for many years and his career was ruined. Sailesh was an accused too. Mr Banerjee had taken over the reins of the firm for now and in the last two days, as I got to know him better, I realized he wasn’t such a terrible man after all. In fact, he was quite considerate and had helped with the investigations as much as he could. He was the kind of mentor I never had, I thought to myself.
My parents were absolutely horrified when they learnt about what was going on with me. They would not let me out of their sight and insisted that I take a break from work and go on a holiday for a month. I agreed.
Riya checked into the Half Moon Bay, Montego Bay, Jamaica. A villa which usually accommodated two families was completely her’s. Now she had the money to last a lifetime. She changed into a long, flowing yellow dress.
She walked over to the private beach right in front of the villa. She pulled out her binoculars and looked at the ocean till she saw a speed boat approaching. The silhouette of the person on the speedboat was very familiar. She looked carefully—it was Tara. She smiled and turned her back and walked inside her villa, giving express instructions to the butler that nobody should disturb her.
From a distance I spotted a lone figure in yellow standing on a private beach. I couldn’t make out her features but she somehow reminded me of Riya. And I thought how lonely she must be. Then I pushed all thoughts of her from my head and changed the direction of the speedboat, never to look back again.
About the Author
GIRVANI DHYANI is an attorney based in New York City. She has a masters’ degree in Corporate Law from the London School of Economics and Political Science, London, and another masters in Intellectual Property Law from Cardozo School of Law, New York City. She has lived, worked and travelled to different parts of the world. S.T.A.L.K.E.D. is her first book.
First published in India in 2014 by
HarperCollins Publishers India
Copyright © Girvani Dhyani 2014
ISBN: 978-93-5136-285-2
Epub Edition © July 2014 ISBN: 978-93-5136-286-9
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Girvani Dhyani asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
This is a work of fiction and all characters and incidents described in this book are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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Cover design: Riti Jain Dhar
Cover image: Getty Images
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