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“Only if you don’t agree to the terms of her will,” he clarified.
“How old is this will anyway?”
“The will is four years old, but it was updated to add the clause about the Goel Foundation three months before she died.”
“This proves what I’ve always said,” I announced to my family. “Dadi Sa was a vicious, two-faced bitch.”
“Isha,” said my mother, her voice sharp as a whip. “You can’t say such things about your dead grandmother.”
“I can say much worse, actually, Ma. And she would deserve every word,” I replied quietly. “That woman hated me so much that she would rather give my dream house away to our biggest enemy. To the people who tried to kill Bhai Sa and Diya. And after she did such a horrendous thing, she had the balls to look us in the eyes and smile at us every single day until she died. She didn’t feel any guilt about doing this to us!”
“We’ll challenge the will, Isha,” promised Bhai Sa.
“It won’t do any good, Your Highness. The will is iron-clad,” said the lawyer. “I did my best to dissuade her from adding the last clause, but she was very insistent.”
“She was clearly off her rocker, Mr Bose,” said Diya.
“No, she wasn’t. She was as sane as you or I. Here’s a letter from her doctor certifying her to be of sound mind at the time of making her will.”
I let out a loud snort.
“She clearly thought of everything,” I said bitterly. “I guess this is it. The mean old bitch made sure I’d never get my house.”
The lawyer let himself out after he completed the formalities related to the reading, and I tried to hold it together because I knew everyone in the room was pitying me. They could keep their pity, I thought as I blinked back angry tears.
I should have known I couldn’t trust Dadi Sa. She had never been kind to me when she was alive, so why would she start now?
Diya came and sat next to me, and it was all I could do to hold back my tears.
“I’m sorry, Isha. I know how much the house meant to you,” she said, putting an arm around me.
“I won’t let her win,” I said slowly.
“What can you do, though? The lawyer was clear that there was no point in contesting the will.”
“I’ll bring the house down with Bhai Sa’s damn rocket launcher before I let it go to a Goel,” I raged.
“Or… you could agree to the terms of the will,” said Ma, slowly. “You could get married.”
I turned to check if my mother had suddenly sprouted horns on her head because why else would she play devil’s advocate?
CHAPTER 8
VEER
The door to Dheer’s study opened and a scared little man scurried out of the room. By the way he hunched his shoulders as if he was expecting a sharp blow any moment, I guessed the will reading hadn’t gone down too well.
Since the entire property was entailed to whoever held the title of Maharaja, Dheer and my sister had more than enough for the next seven generations, so I wasn’t worried about them. But Isha… there was something desperate in her eyes as she talked about moving out of her childhood home. I should know. For some reason, I could read every nuance, every little change on her expressive face. I could tell when she wanted to run me through with one of the huge swords that hung on the walls of the big drawing room. I could also tell when she couldn’t decide if she wanted to slap me or kiss me. And I could tell when she was worried. Today, Isha was worried.
Truth be told, I didn’t like the idea of her living by herself in a haveli on the other side of town. Especially now that the Goels had stepped up their illegal activities on Dheer’s land. They had sworn to bring down the Trikheras. Alka Goel might be dead, but Ayush was still rotting in jail, and he had been issuing some serious threats against my sister’s family from prison.
I knew Dheer could protect his family. While they were in the palace, that is. I didn’t know if he could keep Isha safe when she was living alone. And for some reason, her safety mattered to me. A lot.
And while she certainly knew her way around a gun, she was far too gentle to survive in the wild.
I turned around as the door to Dheer’s study slammed open and Isha stomped out. She wiped at a vase on the side table and sent it crashing to the floor.
When she saw my raised eyebrows, she flipped me off with both hands as she walked past angrily.
