“I think Mr. Jagadish Naidu already knows the truth about your wife. He has hired several lawyers to get out of the situation he’ll soon find himself in.”

Ajay was listening to the well-dressed man in front of him. Harsha and the man had come to visit him to convey information to him. There were meeting in the hospital corridor, outside Sia’s room. “I’ll need more information on what was being discussed with his lawyers, Hari.”

“Of course, Ajay. Give me a few more days and I’ll have everything sent to you in a detailed report.”

“I’ll continue helping Hari with whatever he needs, Jay,” said Harsha.

Ajay nodded. “Thanks Harsha. I’ll try coming into the office in a few days if you need my help. Meantime, call me if you need my help with anything.”

“Sure.”

Ajay shook Hari’s hands, thanking him. Soon Hari and Harsha walked away from the hospital corridor, towards the exit. Going back into the room, he sat next to Sia.

His eyes fell on their daughter’s face as she slept peacefully in a cradle, placed next to the bed. He didn’t want to think of anything beyond his wife and daughter. But he knew that as soon as Sia woke up, she will want to pursue her retribution. Until then—while Sia lay helpless—he simply couldn’t let her enemy scheme and plot against her.

He had to equip himself and also her, to be able to fight their enemy. Jagadish Naidu was now his enemy as well. The moment Sia became his, he took it upon him to fight for her cause. If only he had known the true identity of the abuser, things would have been in place much sooner.

 

One Year Ago

 

“Are you sure you want to begin investigating Dr. Naidu, Jay?” Harsha asked with a frown.

“Yes. I’m quite sure.”

Ajay understood why Harsha was having some serious doubts. Harsha knew that Ajay had spent the first eleven years of his life in the same village as the Naidu family. Ajay had also introduced Harsha to Jagadish Naidu, his wife and his son, Dr. Kranthi Kumar. During their interactions, Dr. Kranthi appeared to be a kind and gentle man whose sole mission was to help the downtrodden and helpless. Nothing particularly seemed off about him.

“I don’t think any person would be so driven by the need for revenge like Sia, simply because they imagined things. I know that Sia’s suffering is real. I need to find out the truth and prove it once and for all.”

“But—”

“I need to do this, Harsha. Not just for Sia’s sake, but also for my sake.”

Harsha nodded. “But we don’t have any private investigators on our payroll. Unless you want us to do the investigation ourselves. It’s not going to be that easy,” he stated.

Ajay shook his head. “No. It’s too risky to do everything by ourselves. We need a professional. I’m going to contact Pavan to suggest someone.”

Harsha nodded. “Yes, that’s a good idea. When it comes to private investigations, Chauhan Security is top of the line. And we both know Pavan quite well.”

“Yes. I’m going to get in touch with him today. I just wanted to give you a heads up so you are not surprised when you find out.”

During the next few minutes, Ajay winded up everything at work. He didn’t want to call from his office where most of the phones could be tapped easily. The minute he sat in his car, he scrolled through the phone numbers until he found Pavan Chauhan’s number and then dialed it through the bluetooth.

The call was answered within a few rings. “Hello Jay. Long time, man,” a friendly voice greeted.

“Hey Pavan. How are you?”

“I’m good as always. It’s you we should be worried about. You seem to have disappeared from the face of the earth after getting married!” Pavan laughed.

“Yeah. I guess I have. Been quite busy lately, but I’ll come by your place soon.”

“Anytime, Jay.”

Pavan Chauhan was an ex-military man who was a protégé of the Colonel. Although Pavan and Ajay had a fifteen year age gap between them, they were pretty close since they had similar ideas when it came to entrepreneurship and building contacts. They both started security business around the same time. Ajay’s was more on the technology end while Pavan’s company was based on human resources like private investigations and security guards placements.

“I need a favor, Pavan.”

Not wanting to stay in the parking lot, he started the car and drove towards Sia’s place that was slowly turning into their home.

“Sure. Anything you want, buddy. Tell me. What do you need?” Pavan asked.

“I need one of your best private investigators,” he replied.

“Alright. Sure. That’s not a problem at all. I’ll definitely send you one of my best ones.”

“Not just the best, Pavan. I need someone who isn’t afraid to bend the law a little while he’s at work,” he said.

There was a chuckle. “Whoa. That’s a surprise coming from you Jay. Usually you are quite a straight shooter with no hanky panky,” said Pavan. “Anyway, don’t worry. I have plenty of investigators that not only bend the law but are damn good at not getting caught.”

“Perfect,” said Ajay. “And please make sure that it would be someone who can be trusted to not blackmail us with the information they might uncover during the process.”

There was a pause. “Of course. That’s a given. And I think I already have someone who can be made available for you right away. He’d be perfect.”

“Great. Thanks, Pavan. I owe you a favor.”

“No problem at all. Call me anytime if you need anything else, Jay” he said before hanging up the call.

Ajay wondered if he was doing the right thing. He knew he was doing it mostly for himself. He wanted to justify that he was right to let a person like Sia into his heart again.

But what if he was wrong? Would he give her up if it was proven that she had been lying?

No. He couldn’t give her up, no matter what.

He knew it in his heart that she wasn’t lying.

But what if he allowed her into his heart, gave her everything he could, and it still wasn’t enough to earn her love?

Yes, there was definitely a possibility of that happening. But the risk would be worth it. It was in his nature to thrive on risks and challenges, and to not back down when faced with possible failures. He would definitely be able to win her heart and ultimately her trust.

But what if she lets him down again? What if she left him like his mother?

He scrubbed his palm over his face to stop his head from thinking too much. He was going to take chances and go with his gut feel that demanded that he follow his heart. Period.

 

* * *

 

A week later, Hari Prasad sat across Ajay and Harsha at their office, looking nothing like what they had expected.

They were expecting a middle aged man, who probably looked a little shady, but blended well within the crowd. But the man in front of them was young. He appeared to be the same age as him and Harsha. He was also dressed like a typical corporate employee in a formal shirt and trousers. The only thing that gave any indication to his actual job—was his eyes. They were bright and alert.

“I know I’m not what you expected Mr. Pavan Chauhan to send your way, when you asked for a PI,” Hari remarked with a small smirk.

“Are we that obvious?” Harsha asked with a laugh.

“I’m quite good at my job, Mr. Manthena. And one of things in my job is to observe people and read their body language.”

“That’s good,” Ajay commented. “But I hope you’ve been told that what we are going to ask you to do might require you to push some ethical boundaries to get the information we need.”

“Yes, Mr. Chauhan explained it to me.”

“Are you sure you can you handle that?”

Hari nodded. “Don’t let my age define my expertise and experience with such matters. I have successfully broken a few boundaries before.”

“Such as what?” asked Harsha. “Can you provide us with some details regarding a case you’ve worked on previously?”

Hari shook his head. “No. I’m sorry, I can’t. I might have broken several laws during my job, but I always maintain absolute confidentiality regarding the cases I handle. That’s the only way I can survive and remain in this business,” he said.

Ajay knew Pavan’s teams were involved in several high profile investigations that were deemed dangerous. Also, Ajay trusted Pavan enough to know he wouldn’t send a novice to him.

“Have you read through the Non-Disclosure document before you signed it?” Ajay asked.

“Yes,” replied Hari.

“The validity for that document began the moment Pavan told you about me,” Ajay stated.

“Yes, of course. I noticed the date as well, Mr. Manthena. You can trust me when I say that whatever we discuss now or in the future will never be discussed with anyone else.”

Ajay nodded. He wasn’t naive to trust just about anyone. But he had no choice. Because the pros of hiring a PI outweighed the cons. He needed to find out the truth. Both for his sake and also for Sia.

“I want you to investigate Dr. Kranthi Naidu,” he said evenly.

There was a frown on Hari’s forehead. “You mean Jagadish Naidu’s son, Kranthi Kumar? The famous children’s doctor?” he asked.

“Yes.”

Hari was silent and appeared lost in thought.

Harsha cleared his throat. “I assume you have done some background check on Ajay and our company,” he said.

“Yes. I have, Mr. Manthena. I only had a week before I could agree to the assignment and meet with you both.

“Found anything interesting about me during the week?” Ajay asked him casually.

Hari smiled. “Only that you were arrested as a teen for breaking into a secure server of a popular social media. Rest of it was information about how you started your company and built to what it right now.”

Ajay was not surprised that Hari could dig into confidential information that was not available on record or to the general public. Pavan definitely chose the best.

“You are good. But let’s hope you can help with investigating Dr. Kranthi,” Ajay remarked.

Hari smiled. “How far do you want me to go with this digging?”

“As far as possible. Don’t hold back,” Ajay instructed him smoothly. “Money is not going to be an issue. I am willing to pay whatever is required for you to get the job done. And I’m going to do that through wire transfers using an anonymous name via a secure site.”

Hari nodded.

“Any other questions?” Ajay asked Hari.

“Yes. Before I get started, I need to know why? Is this business or personal?” asked Hari.

Ajay hesitated. “Personal,” he replied finally.

“Can I get some details? Because it helps to know what direction I should be taking, and what kind of specific information I should really be looking for.”

Hari was right. Ajay knew he had to take the plunge and provide as many details as possible. Only then, will Hari know what exactly he needs to be looking for. But everything inside him rebelled at the thought of someone else knowing what Sia went through as a child.

Harsha and Hari were watching him expectantly, waiting for him to reply.

Taking a deep breath, he forged forward. “Fourteen years ago, Dr. Kranthi raped my wife.”

There was a slight widening of eyes in Hari’s face, followed by a look of disgust. “How old was she then?” he asked.

“She was only eleven years old at that time, and her cousin, Dr. Kranthi was sixteen. From what I know it wasn’t a onetime thing. There was a police case registered, but since there was no concrete proof of the crime, or maybe because it was covered up well, the case was dropped.”

“Why didn’t your wife register a case later?”

 “My wife was adopted by someone, and taken to America, where she lived for more than a decade. She returned to India last year.”

“So now, she has asked you for your help? To prove that the crime happened?”

“No. My wife isn’t even aware that I know,” Ajay informed calmly. “She doesn’t trust anyone, and doesn’t want anyone else to know about her past abuse. She’s running her own parallel investigation, trying to prove that Dr. Kranthi is a pedophile. I decided to investigate as well.”

“If she didn’t tell you, how are you sure that her cousin actually raped her?” Hari asked.

There was a loaded silence. “I’m not sure,” Ajay said, grimly. “That’s why I want to have him investigated thoroughly. To see if he is abusing children under his care—at the hospital, or at the children’s orphanages run by the Naidu trust.”

“I see.” Hari made some quick notes on his phone.

Harsha handed over their business card. “If you need help from our side, especially with anything that is technology related, let us know. I can also send you the details we retrieved from the Naidu Estate’s encrypted server,” Harsha offered.

“Sure. I know what Manthena Corp does. I’ll definitely need some help when I start my investigation.”

“So, when can you start?” Ajay asked.

“I’m already on the job now, Mr. Manthena. As soon as I leave this building, I’ll begin investigating,” Hari replied, getting up from the chair.

“Please call us using our first names,” Harsha requested. “We are both Mr. Manthena’s. Harsha and Ajay will be fine.”

Hari nodded. “Sure. I’ll be ready with an update by next week, Ajay.”

“That’s fine. And before you leave, there is one more important fact that I should mention to you,” Ajay informed grimly. “I know the Naidu family personally. I’m not close to them, but I have interacted with them a lot of times in the past.”

Hari’s head snapped up in surprise.

Ajay shrugged. “I used to live in the same village as them, until I was eleven years old. You can find out the rest during your investigation, or call me later to find out more.”

“Definitely. I’ll finishing doing some groundwork over the next few days. And then, meet you for more information.”

“Sounds good.”

They shook hands, and Hari left their office building after giving them his contact details.

Ajay sighed and sat back in his chair. For the first time, he felt lighter. He was going to find out what happened all those years ago and bring justice to Sia.

 

* * *

 

Ajay continued to meet PI often over the past few weeks. He gave Hari all the information that was needed.

“What have you found so far?” he asked Hari, not bothering with any pleasantries.

For the first time, Hari looked uncomfortable. “Nothing,” he stated. “Or at least nothing incriminating so far. Dr. Kranthi Naidu seems to be living a squeaky clean life. Apart from the police complaint that your mother filed, a long time ago, there is nothing odd or unusual about him.”

Ajay felt a crushing disappointment.

“What about the camera footage?” Harsha enquired. “Did you check all the footage we sent you of his hospitals and orphanages? We used our program to only include the parts where Dr. Kranthi was around.”

With the sheer volume of the number of hours of camera footage they had, Ajay and Harsha had to embed the facial recognition software to weed out the parts where Dr. Kranthi wasn’t present.

“Yes. I have obsessively scanned though each and every one of them.” Hari answered. He looked at Ajay. “It’s only been two months. Maybe he is cautious, and doesn’t like taking risks often. I’ll continue digging. Meantime, if you want a detailed report of what I’ve found so far, I have it in here.”

Placing a thick file on the table, Hari stood up to leave. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t find proof for any ongoing abuse of any kind. At least so far. But I’m determined to bring out the truth soon.”

After Hari left, Harsha looked at Ajay. “Jay... are you sure Sia didn’t just misunderstand her cousin?”

“No. The abuse happened. I’ve already told you that no one goes through the things that she does, without having a history of abuse.”

Harsha didn’t seem convinced. But he was determined to find out the truth for Ajay’s sake.

Over the next few days, Ajay spent most of his time, reading the painfully detailed report that Hari had put together so far. Although there wasn’t anything significant to raise red flags, there were some interesting facts about Dr. Kranthi’s finances.

Dr. Kranthi was quite selfless. He did not draw any salary from the hospitals he ran. The hospitals built with the Naidu trust fund. Even Jagadish Naidu, his father, had declared publicly that most of the profits from the estate went towards the development of their village and the surrounding areas. The entire Naidu family seemed to be living off the basic amount allocated to the ‘guardian’ of the huge trust fund. Almost as if something was stopping them from making use of the money.

Hari would need to dig in deep to see if there was something stopping them from making use of the trust money in its entirety.

 

* * *

 

A month had passed before they made some kind of progress.

Hari looked satisfied. “I got some critical details from the private computers and the servers you hacked into. I found a will for the Naidu Estate.”

“What does it say?” Ajay asked.

“According to that will, if your wife fulfills the conditions stated in the will, then the entire estate, including the hospitals and charitable organizations will be hers.”

Ajay read through the report that had a copy of the will. He was stunned. According to the will, the conditions stated were for the female heir to be married with a child within an age of twenty five. And for a male heir, the age stated was thirty five. Failing to do so would revert back the status of the heir to the next in line.

Finally. he knew why Sia got pregnant in a hurry.

“So if Sia declares herself as the rightful heir and proves that she has fulfilled the conditions of the will, the Naidu’s will be left with no money,” Harsha deduced. “At least not enough to afford them the lifestyle they are currently used to.”

“The lifestyle Dr. Kranthi lives is simple enough. At least on the outside,” said Hari

Ajay jumped on that remark. “What do you mean?”

Hari looked victorious. “I have gone through some of his bank transactions that are allegedly donations.”

Taking the bank statements in hand, Ajay quickly scanned the documents. “These are definitely big amounts. But a lot of people donate to children’s charities and hospitals. What is the odd part of it?” he asked.

“The statement you are holding is from a joint account opened by Dr. Kranthi and his father.”

“So?”

“The huge transactions you see that were allegedly donations used towards campaigning. Not towards charities. There are separate accounts for charities that the trust manages.”

Frowning at the implications. “You think Dr. Kranthi has some kind of alternate business or dealings that he is making money from?”

“I believe so. The transfers are happening from several accounts. I traced those people and I found that the common person they all knew was Judge Sundaram Saini.”

Ajay frowned in thought.

“You know Judge Sundaram?” Hari asked.

Ajay nodded. “Not personally, but I met him a couple of times. I might even meet him again next month in a charity event.”

“Will Dr. Kranthi be there as well?” Harsha asked.

“No,” replied Hari. “Although I know that he was invited. But they have a different appointment on that day and are not attending the event.”

“We can change their calendars to put the charity event and send out some messages to remove whatever event they were to attend that day,” offered Harsha.

“No,” said Ajay. “I have invited my wife to this charity event. And I don’t want her to see any of the Naidu family members in her condition.”

“That should be fine. And besides, I guess it would be easier to speak with Judge Sundaram without the Naidu family around.”

“What about you, Harsha? Will you be able to speak with Judge Sundaram as well?” Hari asked.

“No. I have a family event that evening. Ajay was invited too. But since the charity event had been planned much before and is important for our business, we decided to divide and conquer.”

“I see.”

“Do you have some kind of inkling as to where the money might be coming from?” Ajay asked.

“No. But I can sense that something not entirely legal is going on with these transactions. I’m going to dig in deeper to find out.”

“We’ll need to hurry up on a lot of things with this investigation. My wife is expecting our child in a few weeks. I want any leverage we can get to be prepared for whatever is thrown towards us.”

 

* * *

 

A month later, Ajay attended the charity event with Sia.

Not even in his horrible nightmares, did he think that things could go so wrong. Not only did Dr. Kranthi attend that charity event unexpectedly, but he also met with Sia in person. Sia also found out the truth about Ajay.

As for Ajay... by the time he could digest the truth of Sia’s revelation, and the identity of the actual abuser, she was gone.