Chapter 240 - What? I am not a saint.

It had been three weeks since Naren's banquet and in these three weeks, nothing concrete had actually changed. All three companies they targeted are surviving still though barely. But Shreya had anticipated as much. Naren's company is the most hit… after all, he lacks experience and he was the one directly involved.

With a little more push, she could easily topple them, but for now, without any further progress with obtaining evidence, Shreya decided to keep them there. It will keep them busy without really giving them time to do anything else.

Malini actually found most of the accounts in which they had stashed the money… Shreya had no idea how she did it but she did. And since taking out the money now would be counter-productive, Shreya asked them to let it be for now but also asked Pritham to monitor any movements closely.

It took her three days just to convince everyone else to accept Malini's help. That was of course after Akash and others blasted her completely for going to meet her without their knowledge. After a lot of whining and griding, they agreed to let Malini in on a strictly trial basis. Thankfully, she did deliver, or else it would have been Shreya's head.

But out of all, surprisingly, it was Pritham who is most against Malini. When Shreya asked him why… the answer kinda baffled her.

"She is scary, Shreya. Whenever I ask something stupid, she gives me a look as if she was trying hard not to burn me alive… Once I almost pissed my pants. So, no matter what, I will work really very hard and get it for you, but please don't ask her to help me out! I might end up becoming a resentful ghost and haunt you for life."

Shreya laughed so hard that her stomach hurt after hearing him.

"What did you do to Pritham? He is practically sweating buckets with just hearing your name!!" Shreya asked out loud to Malini. They were just hanging out. Somehow things ended up like that. Timing is essential for a relationship to build probably. Shreya wasn't sure they could have gotten along so well even if they had talked to each other during college. But this was also nice.

And of all, it was Malini who initiated it actually… and most of the time they did not even speak. Just shared absolute silence over a cup of coffee. It had already been 4 times like that.

"Well, let's just say, I did not realize someone who could beat me in computers can also be someone so stupid and naïve when it came to other things. Now I really know what it meant to be bad at numbers. Compared to him, I can proudly say I am a genius and you are probably a supercomputer or something." Malini replied sipping on her tea.

Shreya let out a chuckle.

"By the way, are you sure this is okay to hang out in the open like this? I mean, it wouldn't affect me much, but are you sure you are going to be okay if your dad finds out?" Shreya asked next. They were sitting in an open-air café surrounded by trees and plants facing a really very busy street.

"What if I say I am actually waiting for him to find me? And that I am purposely asking you out!" Malini asked with a pointed look.

"To what purpose though?" Shreya asked frowning. With her intelligence, she had already deciphered Malini should be doing it on purpose, and since she did not particularly mind her company, she just let things slide as it is…

"Just want to show my dad that I am no longer a naïve little girl to do as he says without any questions…" Malini replied with a very complicated smile on.

Shreya paused looking at her and then after a while, she just shrugged her shoulders and said, "If you are so dead set on getting caught, then I might as well remove the people following you around! It will be counterproductive."

"You have people following me?" Malini asked surprised. After all, she did not spot a tail so far.

"Of course. I did not want to be caught off guard and let you take shit from your dad… if nothing else, at the very least I wanted to give you a fair warning if we got caught!" Shreya replied in a 'Duh' voice.

Malini looked at her surprised for a second without knowing what to say.

"What? I don't have the habit of using people and throwing them away if that is what you were thinking about me… I do not like owing favors. And more than that, I do not like abandoning people who have helped me!" Shreya emphasized looking pointedly at Malini.

"SO, you are telling me the guy is just for my benefit and not because you are afraid that I will tell my dad about us and what I had done?" Malini arched her brows.

"I won't be able to do that even if I tried. Do you really think I will be able to stop you if you really want to rat me out to your dad?" Shreya arched her brows back asking a rather rhetoric question. After all, with today's technology and with Malini's expertise, as long as she wanted, she could always warn her dad and Shreya wouldn't be able to stop her or know about it.

"Then what would you have done if I had really ratted you out to my dad without really helping you? What if I am still spying for my dad?" Malini asked curiously.

"Firstly, you have to give me some credit… I have been running the business for a while now and I do know how to read people… and you are not a spy material and even if you had ratted me out to your dad, I figured you would have informed me first. After all, you did not even cheat in your college exams in all the years I had known you…" Shreya asserted calmly and collected.

But before Malini could say anything else, Shreya actually continued.

"Secondly, you are too much of a morally conscious person to side with your dad. But finally, above all, if you had really ratted me out, I would have just killed everyone around you and your dad and left you guys alive to rot away…" Shreya had a dead serious face when she said the last part making a chill run down Malini's spines.

Malini could say nothing but stare at her with wide eyes.

"What? I am not a saint. And I am only good for people who are good to me… I am not stupid enough to play nice with people who are cruel to me!" Shreya said casually and got up from her place drinking the last of her coffee.

"Thanks for the coffee… See you around…" Shreya said and went out.

For once, Malini was really glad she made the right choice and she did not give in to her doubts. Because something in Shreya's eyes told her that if she hadn't helped her, the consequences were something she couldn't have handled.