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Ouch! I mean I didn’t want to marry her either, but that was a bit harsh. Sure we didn’t get along, but I would never say such a thing about the little viper.
“What’s wrong with my son? Isn’t he good enough for you?” asked my mother angrily.
“Enough,” roared Ranvijay, and the squabbling women went silent in surprise.
“This is a legal matter, Ma. Please don’t turn it into a business opportunity,” he said coldly. “You can matchmake to your heart’s content, as long as you keep it separate from my work. Right now, we’re here to find legal solutions to both these problems, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”
“You can try,” challenged his mother sweetly. “But even if you sue all these media houses, even if you track down and expose the source of the leak, it won’t change the fact that the images are real. They aren’t doctored. You cannot erase the past. And putting a gag order on the media will only work against Veer because you can silence the media, but you can never silence trolls.”
Ranvijay blew out a heavy breath and scowled at all of us.
“I hate to admit it, Veer. But she’s right. You can’t strongarm your way out of this mess. You need to finesse your way out of it.”
When his mother clapped in delight, he turned to glare at her.
“I don’t mean he needs to be married. That’s not going to do much to change his image. He needs something more constructive.”
“Like what?” I demanded.
“Show the world what you do for your people. I’ll arrange for someone to create a documentary about some of your pet projects in Jadhwal, like the schools and hospitals. It can go live within a month. We’ll hire a PR team to build your social media profile. And ramp up your social work over the next few months.”
That didn’t sit right with me because I didn’t do all that for show. My work made a real difference in the lives of my people and I wasn’t going to cheapen that by exploiting it for publicity.
“No,” I said starkly. “My philanthropic work is private. I can prove myself once I get elected. Just do as much damage control as it takes to get me a party ticket with Pragati Party.”
“I’ll try, but I’m not sure they will risk fielding you now. Raman Chandel, the party president, is very particular about keeping the party image clean because he’s positioning his party as the alternative to the corrupt ruling party.”
Nandini Aunty cleared her throat gently.
Ranvijay shot her an irritable glance.
“Yes, Ma?”
“I don’t want to disturb the busy men at work, but did you mention Raman Chandel?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Because I might be able to help you there. I knew him when he was the principal of the local engineering college. Ranvijay is right, beta. He is one of the most upright and incorruptible people I know. Your only hope is to meet him in person and impress him with the work you’ve already done.”
“He’s already turned down Kirori Ji’s request for a meeting, Ma,” said Ranvijay. “He wants nothing to do with Veer after the scandal broke out.”
“I’ll take care of that, don’t worry. Prof. Chandel won’t turn me down,” she said with a grin. “You boys just turn up for the meeting and impress the heck out of him.”
“Do we want to know how she’s planning to convince him?” I asked sotto voce.
“We don’t,” replied Ranvijay feelingly. “My mother has her ways, and I’m sure we’re better off not knowing what she’s up to.”
“Well, now that that’s sorted, can you help me out, RV?” asked Isha. “I’ve emailed you a copy of the will.”
“Sure. But only if you feed me first. I’m famished,” he cried, putting an arm around her, and any gratitude I felt towards him vanished into thin air.
Isha laughed and led him out of the room, and it took all my willpower not to follow them out. Why did I care what they were up to? But all I knew was that I wanted to rip Ranvijay’s arm out from its socket and ram it down his throat!
I turned around to find the Mom battalion staring at me thoughtfully.
“Ranvijay is really charming,” pointed out my mother.
“And Isha is very vulnerable right now,” added Isha’s mother.
