by MV Kasi
Dev Singham had looked and felt like a sin. A sin that her body involuntarily craved sometimes.
Had she been anyone else, and without the history between them, Sabitha was sure his seduction would have worked that night.
Even though the episode had been quite humiliating and made her feel enraged, she had relived his touch several times during some nights.
She would rather shoot herself in the head than ever admit that to him.
CHAPTER 8
It was close to two in morning. Dev had gone to bed just three hours ago, only to be woken up by a call from one of the investigators.
As soon as he finished the call, he called his brother.
“Have you heard?” he asked.
“Yes, just got a call as well,” Abhay answered.
Raidu apparently flew to India. The investigation teams were trying to find out where he had gone after landing.
“I somehow suspected he would return to India,” said Abhay. “But I didn’t know when and from where he would take off.”
Dev sensed a similar frustration and disappointment in Abhay’s voice.
“That doesn’t make any sense, though,” Dev remarked. “Why would he fly to India where he knows we have more power and network here? We would be able to track him pretty easily here.”
“Not if he has contacted someone equally powerful,” said Abhay.
Dev frowned. “Like who?”
There was a pause. “Anika thinks her aunt might be helping him or is involved somehow.”
“Who? Neelambari Prajapati?”
There was a sigh. “I know it sounds unlikely,” said Abhay. “But Anika feels very strongly about it. She even wants to prove wrong some of the things we have taken as facts until now.”
“Such as what?”
There was another pause. “She wants to tell you about them in person when we reach home.”
Dev blinked a couple of times, trying to keep his tired eyes open. He didn’t have the energy to insist on knowing those facts right away.
“I’m sending two more teams to join the search in India,” Dev informed his brother. “They’ll probably start from the location Raidu landed.”
“That’s good. We already have whatever we could find on Samuel Mathews.”
“Yes. I’ve asked the team to figure out how he got to the United States as well.”
Dev could hear Anika’s voice in the background speaking to someone. “Are you planning on staying there for much longer?” he asked.
“No,” Abhay replied. “We’ll fly home in a few days.”
Dev ended the call. He sighed. He had three business deals that required back-to-back phone meetings to attend the next day. After which he would have to oversee the training at the site.
Although he was damn tired and his calls would start in less than four hours, he called his lead investigator again. They discussed the details and the investigator gave him the strategy the team was planning on using to find Raidu.
Dev was about to end the call when the investigator’s next remark wiped away his sleep completely.
“What did you just say?” Dev asked to confirm if he had heard correctly.
“You asked us a couple of months ago to find out whether there was anything suspicious about Sabitha Prajapati. We sent a report clearing her. But I just found out that she’s been trying to look for someone as well. I don’t have many details yet. All I know is she’s hired many different companies for the search, one of whom leaked the information to me.”
Dev frowned. “Get me the details. Raidu is the top priority, of course, but have someone tail Sabitha Prajapati again as well.”
Dev ended the call and lay on his bed.
Who the hell was Sabitha Prajapati trying to locate? Was she searching for Raidu? Were Anika’s theories about Neelambari Prajapati helping Raidu escape, true? Why would Neelambari do that? And if Neelambari was helping Raidu, then why would Sabitha have to search for Raidu? She should already know where he was located.
There were too many unanswered questions.
But one thing Dev knew for sure was that one had to keep their enemies closer. And so he would ensure he spent as much time as possible keeping a close eye on Sabitha Prajapati.
CHAPTER 9
Sabitha returned home after a long day at the site. Dev Singham had scheduled back-to-back training for the management since early that morning. By the time they were done, it was quite late and everyone was exhausted. It had been that way for the past two weeks.
Dev Singham was still at the site to oversee the night shift, just like he had been most of the times since the planning work had started. The man was trying to kill himself and everyone around him.
Feeling famished, Sabitha was about to head for dinner when her aunt stopped by. Neelambari was sitting in the large living room next to the dining area, flipping through some magazines.
Even though Neelambari no longer held a self-imposed promise to stay in her suite, due to her thirty-year-old habit, she preferred to stay there.
Sabitha knew her aunt stayed up because she wanted to find out something specific from her.
“Sabi,” Neelambari greeted with a smile. “You seem tired, and you look like a mess.”
At Neelambari’s comment, Sabitha felt even more tired. She groaned internally wondering if she would get to hear another of those ‘talks’ about how a Prajapati woman needs to dress and carry herself.
“What do you want, Neela? I’m rather tired and also in a hurry.”
Neelambari’s nostrils flared, but she pasted a determined smile on her face. “I heard from someone that Abhay Singham is returning home in a couple of days along with his wife. I wanted to know if you heard anything else about them.”
Sabitha frowned when she heard her aunt refer to Anika as simply ‘the wife’. Until a few months ago, before Neelambari’s visit to the Singham Mansion, Neelambari wouldn’t stop talking about Anika, her dearest niece who was the epitome of pure and innocent womanhood.
Sabitha knew there was a confrontation of sorts between her aunt and cousin in which her cousin must have had the upper hand. Sabitha hadn’t asked what had transpired and neither did she care to know.
“No. I haven’t heard anything either,” Sabitha replied. “I’m surprised your spies didn’t root out the information to you by now.”
Neelambari raised her chin. “I promised Abhay Singham I wouldn’t spy on his wife or her family. Unlike his late father, I always keep my promises.”
Sabitha raised an eyebrow. “Then how did you find out Abhay Singham and Anika were returning home in two days?” she asked.
“I got that information because Dev Singham is apparently making arrangements in the Singham Temple to receive his brother and his wife.”
Sabitha frowned. “You are spying on Dev Singham?” she asked.
Neelambari smiled. “Not exactly spying when most of the boy’s life is splattered all over magazine covers.”
Sabitha highly doubted if information of Dev Singham making arrangements in a temple was newsworthy. She was too tired to argue or care about it right then.
“This boy,” continued Neelambari, pointing at Dev Singham’s picture in a magazine. “Even though he doesn’t look much like his father, his charm and magic with the ladies is very similar to that of Vijay’s. It was a known fact that women had always thrown themselves at Vijay, both in London and also within our three provinces. But Vijay never strayed or betrayed me in any way.”
Sabitha found the entire conversation creepy and disturbing. It wasn’t the first time her aunt spoke as though thirty years hadn’t passed since Vijay Singham broke off his engagement with her aunt.
Neelambari sighed dreamily, lost in her memories. Sabitha didn’t bother speaking anymore and walked to the dining area. She knew how her aunt got when she was lost in the past.
Sabitha sat down for dinner and summoned for Sanjay. As usual, she was alone at the large dining table.
Her grandfather joined her only during breakfast time, and Neelambari still preferred her meals brought into her suite. Sabitha was a creature of habit. Even as a child, she sat at the same huge table for every meal, just so she could feel like she belonged to the Prajapati family.
“Madam,” greeted Sanjay.
He stood a few feet away from the table, ready to update her with the happenings around the Prajapati estate and province.
“Two more teachers left, madam,” said Sanjay. “They didn’t carry their belongings with them when they went. They pretended they were going on leave.”
“How many days has it been since they left?” Sabitha asked quietly.
“Seven days. They were supposed to be back by this morning.”
“I see.”
“We have already placed another ad for more teachers,” Sanjay added hurriedly.
“Were the ads posted internationally as well?”
“Yes, madam.”
“Raise the salaries to double of what we are currently offering.”
“But madam, the salaries are already unusually high. It will seem—” He broke off when Sabitha turned to look at him. “I will double the salary in the ads, madam.”
Sabitha indicated to the serving woman who was placing food in a plate to stop and leave. The woman left quietly.
Sabitha realized she barely noticed what she ate these days. When she was younger, she had always been curious about food and asked questions of what went into the dish so she could replicate the same if not make improvements. Now, food was simply sustenance.
“Did the shipping company come back with their offer?” she asked while continuing to eat.
“Not yet, madam. I’ve called them this morning as well. They still think it is risky coming this far.”
“We’ve already discussed a neutral point outside the three provinces.”
“I have told them the same, madam. But they think it’s risky because Senanis will still try to intercept them and destroy our goods.”
A significant income for the Prajapatis was from the ethnic goods they made and sold online. A shipment company came every week to collect the goods to export them around the world. Since Sabitha had set up the business model five years ago, there was a revolving door of shipment companies. At first, the Singhams destroyed the goods, and after the Prajapati-Singham wedding, it was the Senanis who took over the destruction.
“Tomorrow I’ll speak with the shipment company owner personally.” She was done with her meal. Pushing her chair back, she got up. “You may leave,” she instructed Sanjay.
Nodding his head, the old man left. Sabitha watched him for a couple of seconds. She recalled how the dynamics between Sanjay and her had changed drastically in the past six years. Until six years ago, he was a fatherly figure to her who sometimes gave her treats or took her along with him and his son to ride within the Prajapati province.
Dhruv was Sanjay’s son. He had also been Sabitha’s playmate and friend during childhood.
But once Sabitha rose up to take charge, she deliberately changed the dynamics she had with everyone around her. Along with their respect, she wanted everyone to fear her. Only then did all the opposition against her leading the Prajapatis stop completely.
However, sometimes she did feel that for the sake of leading her people effectively, she had alienated herself from the basic human softer emotions.
She didn’t regret the choice.
Sabitha was going past the living room when she noticed her aunt and the maids had left for the night. Her eyes fell on the glossy magazine her aunt had been reading.
She didn’t know why, but she reached for it and took it along with her to her room.
She took a quick shower and slid into her bed, feeling bone tired. She usually listened to one of the audio books in her collection before retiring for the night.
Ever since she had discovered there were audio books, she hadn’t stopped making use of them. Even as a child, she somehow managed to save the money she was given for her clothes allowance to buy audio books. Those books opened up a new world to her.
Using them, she had learned science, history, geography and many other subjects that wouldn’t have been possible due to her disability. She listened to financial and business courses and even heard the speeches of various entrepreneurs. Along with the help of highly-qualified people like Dhruv, Sanjay and several others, she was able to manage running the Prajapati Estate.
A yawn escaped her.
She had been up since four that morning and will have to get up even earlier the next day. She knew as soon as she closed her eyes, she’d pass out. But she reached out to the magazine that she had placed next to her bed on the nightstand.
She stared at it for a few seconds. Even if she could read, she didn’t think any of the content within a gossip magazine would ever interest her, but it was the man on the cover who had caught her eye.
Dev Singham.
As usual, he was dressed in an expensive suit. He wasn’t facing the camera but was speaking to someone next to him while his hand was wrapped casually around a woman’s waist. The woman standing next to him was clinging to him while looking straight into the camera with a pout.
Sabitha stared at the woman for a while. The woman had a beautiful face, a glamorous hairdo and expensive-looking clothes and shoes. She had placed a well-manicured hand on Dev Singham’s broad shoulders. The bright red nails matched perfectly with her lipstick and shoes.
Sabitha’s eyes fell on her own unpainted nails and then on the calluses on her fingers.
She stared at her fingers for a while before she flung the magazine away and turned off the lights.
CHAPTER 10
“A hearty welcome to our savior!”
“May he or she be blessed with the Singham power!”
“May he or she break the curse and shower us with God’s blessings!”
Amid the loud cheers, Dev felt a chill pass through his body.
He blinked. And then, he blinked again. But it didn’t work. The gruesome images kept flashing in his mind along with the smell of burning flesh.
Reaching towards his neck, he opened a couple of top buttons on his shirt, but that didn’t help either.
He still felt suffocated. He tried to move again, but he couldn’t force his body to cooperate.
Cheers continued, and people shouted in joy as they welcomed the news of the Prajapati-Singham heir.
The images and the smells of half-burned bodies now dominated all of Dev’s senses.
“Dev?” a deep voice called out to him from his side.
“Dev?” a woman’s softer voice called out as well.
Dev felt the world spin and the temple walls closing in around him.
“Dev? Are you all alright?” Anika asked as she stepped towards him. Abhay was watching him in concern as well.
Dev couldn’t answer. He had to get out. He needed to get out of the place that brought the memories. He began to walk away towards the temple gates.
“Dev!” he heard Abhay calling him. But Dev continued walking away towards the car, ignoring everything and everyone.
As soon as he got into his vehicle, he started the engine and drove away in a hurry, the sound of squealing tires attracting attention from everyone.
He knew Abhay and Anika could easily get home using any of the other cars that had arrived at the temple, celebrating their return and the news of the pregnancy.
A shudder passed through Dev’s body as he saw the image of the Singham Temple in the rearview mirror.
He hadn’t visited the Singham Temple or any other temple since he had been a seven-year-old. He just couldn’t.
But since Anika and Abhay had wanted to pay a visit to the Singham Temple before going to the mansion, he joined them.
Big mistake.
After meeting them at the airport, he should have dropped them at the temple gates and driven away.
His heart was still pounding inside his chest with
helpless panic.
Except for his late grandmother, nobody knew the real reason why he didn’t visit temples. They thought he didn’t believe in God or he was one of those arrogant people who simply liked shunning cultures and traditions. They were wrong.
He not only believed in God, he also had a healthy respect for traditions and culture. He just could not visit a temple.
Because temples reminded him of the massacre that had happened twenty years ago.
The aftermath of which he had not only witnessed in person but also recalled quite well.
“… and then, I won my father’s jewelled knife as a prize.”
Seven-year-old Dev’s eyes were widened as he listened to his grandmother’s childhood adventures. Whenever he and his family visited Singham Mansion during the holidays, his favorite time was when he spent time with his grandmother. She not only told him about all the exciting adventures, but she had also taken him and his brothers to the Senani lands where she grew up.
“Show me the knife!” Dev demanded excitedly.
His grandmother smiled. She took out a jewelled knife from a sheath that was tied to her waist. He had seen it hundreds of times before, but he had always been fascinated by it.
He touched the handle reverently and saw the glinting of jewels in awe.
“I gifted it to your grandfather after I married him,” she said with a poignant smile. “He carried it with him until he passed away.”
Dev had never seen his grandfather. A bad man had killed him before Dev was born.
Dev held the knife. “Can you teach me to throw it like you did when you were young?” Dev asked excitedly.
“Sure. I can show you.”
He began to sit up on the bed when his grandmother laughed and pushed him back gently. “Not right now, my little monkey,” she said. “When you get better.”
Dev scowled. He was stuck in bed because of a stupid fever.
His parents had taken Rana to the temple for some important occasion. But since Dev was sick, they left both Dev and Abhay with their grandmother.