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“Kusum?” he snapped. “Never heard her name before.”
“She doesn’t stay here. And why should I tell you about all my friends? You should have done your homework well before choosing me to become your girlfriend.”
Her retort only aggravated Ranveer's temper. As Maya sank onto the couch, weary from standing, she noticed an envelope on the table.
“Any progress with the case?” she inquired.
Ranveer walked to her. “I don’t know how helpful that is, but yes, we have something new.”
She was about to take the envelope when he snatched it before her. “You don’t need to know beyond that yet,” he muttered disapprovingly.
“You are impossible,” she argued hotly, getting up from the couch. “I am the victim; I need to know every single detail about this case.”
Ranveer sighed in frustration. “When I say something, it is always for a reason, Maya.”
“I have my own reasons too. Now show me what’s in that envelope.”
Despite his annoyance at her defiance, Ranveer admired her fiery spirit.
“Ask nicely first,” he goaded.
Maya flared her nostrils. “Don’t fuss around,” she argued. “I don’t like it.”
Ranveer stepped towards her. “Then what do you like?” he murmured suggestively. Maya knew he wouldn’t stop until he had her pinned to the wall behind.
“Fine,” she halted. “Please, can I see that envelope?”
With a sly smile, Ranveer handed it over. Inside was a photo of the hostile woman from the coffee shop earlier.
“This woman?” she murmured.
Ranveer picked up on the sarcasm in her tone. “What do you mean, this woman? You don’t know her or you do?”
“I do,” she snapped. “I mean, I didn’t know her until today. She was in the coffee shop where I met Kusum, and she spilled her coffee on me purposely. We argued, and I felt like she knows about me, about us. She even knew I had a bodyguard, Aisha. And when I asked her how she knows me, she told me to ask you.”
Ranveer scowled in rage. So, she even reached Maya? He didn’t think she would do that after how he warned her last time.
“Who is she?” Maya demanded a reply.
Ranveer was silent.
“You can't stay silent, Ranveer. I need to know who that woman is and why she despises me so much,” Maya demanded, blocking his path.
Ranveer sighed, rolling his eyes. “You won't like the truth.”
“I've endured worse. Tell me.”
Seeing her determination, Ranveer reluctantly revealed the girl's identity. “Her name is Adira. Adira Bajaj.”
Confusion clouded Maya's face. “Bajaj?”
“Vivek Bajaj's legitimate daughter,” Ranveer clarified grimly.
Maya's hands clenched around her phone as understanding struck. Adira was her half-sister through their shared father Vivek.
Vivek Bajaj married a woman of high class, even though he had an affair with Garima those days. Adira was his lawful child. She was hardly 21 now, born when Maya was 3. Adira’s mother died a few years ago, and Maya wondered if Vivek had told Adira about his affair with her mother and their illegitimate child. That would explain the resentment in Adira's eyes. But one question still plagued Maya's mind - why had Adira cryptically told her to ask Ranveer about her identity? What connection could Ranveer and her spiteful half-sister possibly share? The implications were deeply unsettling. If they did have a history, this situation was far more tangled than Maya had realized.
Chapter 32
