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“You came so close to fulfilling your dream, Veer. And you messed it all up,” said Baba, disappointment weighing heavily in his tone as he stared at me in disgust. “Being clean as driven snow was your USP. If you don’t have that, you have no trumps left. Don’t expect a ticket from the party after this!”
“What have you children been up to on all those trips to Europe?” cried Ma. “Where did we go wrong in your upbringing?”
“What did I do?” asked Diya indignantly.
“Don’t involve Diya in this, Ma,” I warned. “This has nothing to do with her.”
“Yes! This is all your fault,” accused Baba. “Doing drugs and hookers out in the open.”
I tried to hold onto my patience because they had every right to be upset with me, but it was a struggle since none of those accusations were true.
“There have never been any hookers on my yacht, Baba. And I have never done drugs. I don’t know why you’re so ready to believe these wild accusations. It’s as if you don’t know me at all,” I said bitterly.
“Who cares about what we believe, beta?” asked Baba defeatedly. “Our lives are all about public perception, and these two photographs have just cemented your reputation as a wild, playboy prince.”
“So we’ll hold a press conference and present our side,” argued Diya. “And we’ll sue all these websites for defamation.”
She was the only person on my side, I realised. The rest of my family was only too eager to believe the worst about me.
“The situation is out of control, Diya. There’s nothing we can say to turn public perception in Veer’s favour. Not when journalists are posting articles about all his hot ex-girlfriends, most of whom happen to be lingerie models,” said Dheer.
“Hey, just because you lived like a monk doesn’t mean I had to,” I snapped.
“Maybe you should have, then your list of girlfriends wouldn’t look like a Victoria’s Secret catalogue,” he said drily.
“Guys, stop fighting and focus,” said Diya, clapping her hands loudly. “You should all stay with us for a few more days because I’m sure every reporter in the country is parked outside your palace right now. You don’t need them yelling questions at you until you’ve decided how to fight these accusations.”
She led us back into the palace and we joined Dheer in his study. I got on the phone with my assistant and asked him to come to Trikhera right away. We needed to stem the damage as soon as we could.
“I’ll get Raksha involved,” said Dheer. “We need to find the source of the leak, and if anyone can find the person behind it, it is her.”
My mother led Diya upstairs to rest for a bit while Baba, Dheer and I tried to make some sense of this mess.
“We need a fixer,” I said grimly. “There is no way we can fix this issue by ourselves. We need an outsider to look at the situation objectively and figure out a way to minimise the damage and prevent further attacks. Because that’s exactly what this is. Someone doesn’t want me to be CM.”
“I know just the man to help us,” said Dheer. “Do you know Ranvijay Rathore?”
“The Maharaja of Mirpur? Isn’t he a hotshot lawyer in London?”
“Not anymore. He’s back in India and heads a big law firm in Mumbai. He’s a total shark and trust me, if anyone can fix this problem for you, it is him.”
I gave in wearily. The more hands there were on board, the sooner we’d find a solution. One thing was certain, I refused to be cowed into letting go of my dream.
CHAPTER 9
ISHA
Icame downstairs at teatime prepared to do battle with my traitorous mother.
I mean, I could understand Dadi Sa being a devious cow even from beyond the grave. That was in character for her. But I couldn’t understand how my mother could even suggest that I go along with the asinine terms of her will. She was supposed to be on my side.
I was fully prepared to give her the silent treatment until she saw the error of her ways, but to my surprise, she greeted me distractedly as she fussed over Diya.
“Beta, you need to go and lie down for a bit,” she said, as she forced her to put her legs up on the pouffy ottoman in the family room. “All this stress isn’t good for you or the baby.”
“Ma’s right, Dee. You don’t need to worry about Dadi Sa’s will. Bhai Sa and I will figure it out between us,” I replied.
Ma shot me a scathing look.
