Chapter 158 - Threat

|Eshan|

"Sorry, sir. We tried stopping him, but he just strode in pushing his way through-" The assistant of Parth stood breathless outside the door. She had clasped her hands tightly as she alternatively looked between Parth and me.

I could make out how scared she was. My thumb landed beside my right eye as my forefinger rubbed my forehead momentarily. "You can go back to your work, Maya. I'll handle this."

Parth had regained his composure. Gone was the timid and nervous boy from before. The stern, compose, fearless man stood in-between me and the man who was giving hostile look to him.

"Sir, I'll handle this. You don't need to worry," Parth said calmly and even though his voice was calm, I could hear the hidden rage in them.

My anger turned into amus.e.m.e.nt and then into pride. Though he knew that the man standing at the door was someone he couldn't afford offending, yet he disregarded everything for my sake. His loyalty warmed my heart like it always did.

"Tsk tsk. You'll handle me? You? Do you even have that capability?" The staggering man laughed scornfully. I could smell the alcohol, and it made my nose cringe in disgust.

"Leave before I call security." I gritted my teeth as I side stepped Parth and made him stand behind me. 'No one messes with my people before my eyes or behind my back.'

"Haha… You want me to leave… Ahh, how about we talk in private? I don't think you would like people to know contents of our discussion."

"I don't talk with drunkards," I snapped rudely. There was no need to be polite with a man like Rey Sighaniya. Though the twenty five year old man standing in-front of my cabin was my cousin, I never liked him a bit. Credit to his addiction to drugs and drinking habits, my uncle had almost disowned him. He loved to create scenes in my office ever so often. He had stopped doing so after the last warning he got from my uncle half a year ago. I did not understand his purpose of visiting, but nothing good came from him.

"Don't be hasty cousin brother. Would you like to see your late night adventures on every news channels? If not, let me in."

I clenched my fists by my side, while one part of me wanted to smash his face. With great difficulty I controlled myself. He was mad. He could do as he said, and I would have no means of stopping it. In this time, it took a single click to ruin someone's life and reputation through the internet.

I wasn't worried about my reputation but Innaya's. If by any chance, Rey had photos of videos in his hand, no one could predict what he would do with them.

Innaya and I hadn't done anything scandalous yet, but if at all he was referring to the night where Innaya had got drunk…

"Parth, wait outside."

"Ah... Mr. Singhaniya sure cares about his reputation it seems," Rey drawled out as he strolled inside, and plopped himself ungracefully on the sofa.

I so wished to throw him out of the cabin, but I needed to know what he had in his hands. He appeared before me after so long, there had to be something more to it. Something that could potentially harm everything I cared for- me, my business, my friends, and most importantly my wife, Innaya.

"Speak." I did not move from my place. Being in the same room with him was suffocating. I would not mind him throwing out, but that would have me dirty my hands with his filthy being. I never understood how could someone waste their life this way.

"What's the hurry bro? Come, sit. We are meeting after so long, won't you greet your brother? Hmm? Come on, give me a hug." 

I immediately stepped aside when he stood up and moved over. Picking up the glass of water from the table, I splashed it's content across his face.

"This should sober you. I don't have time for your nonsense. Get to the point," I snapped, watching him wipe his face.

His eyes glared resentfully first, and then his face fell back into that playful smirk. 

"I want my shares back," he demanded.

I frowned in my mind. I did not have his shares, then what was the point of his visit?

"Go and talk to your father. I wasn't one to take them back," I replied.

"Ah, my dad! What a great father I have!" Rey sarcastically laughed. I could see the pain behind them. I didn't know what went wrong in their relationship. However, I had no interest in knowing that as well.

He pulled out something from his coat and then threw it out. I watched as the papers floated in the air before they landed all-around me in my office.

"What do you think would happen to your reputation if I placed them on the internet? Maybe, to media? 'The business tycoon,Mr. Eshan Singhaniya playing a game of tug and war with his new playmate, in the middle of night.'?

I was taken aback once I saw them, however, I sighed in relief as well for they had not caught the face of the woman in my arms. I sighed in relief because they weren't taken last night. I sighed in relief because he didn't know about the woman in the pictures.

My blood boiled listening to his words that were getting crude.

"How did you get them?" I glared, clenching my fist by my side.

The photos were taken from a long distance, that was why there was not a single shot of Innaya's face. They were taken on the night when Innaya had accidentally gotten drunk. Though those photos didn't reveal her identity, if media were to get wind of it, they would relentlessly be behind it. It wouldn't take them long for unearthing everything about Innaya.

One could never trust the media. I didn't wish for things to get difficult for her. She was finally getting better. I would never allow this nonsense to grow into  scandal.

"That's not important bro. What's important is what you would do. I'll be generous and give you a week. Make your decision, I will see you after an week." He made his way to the door. He suddenly stopped and tilted his head as if pondering something. 

I so hated myself in the moment. I wanted to reach him a lesson for messing with me, but I stopped myself. Everything had its own time,being hasty wasn't a solution. I needed time to get to the bottom of this.

"Oh, and by the way. These aren't the only photos I have," he said before he left with a smug smile.

I threw down the glass in my hand. It shattered in many pieces and lay scattered in the ground.

***

It had been quite a while since Rey left. His words were still ringing in my mind. I felt sick at the thought that ever since Innaya and I had got married, we had got less quality time and more issues on our plates to deal with. 'Did this have no end?' For how long were we supposed to deal with these things? We had barely got any time to explore and nourish our relationship. I had not even been able to take her to a honeymoon. Innaya already had her issues and the kind of things that had happened after we got married, had just added on to them.

My gaze went back to my mother's photo frame. "Wish you were here, Mom. Wish you were here," I murmured, picking up the frame as I talked to her but hoping she wouldn't listen. Mothers' instincts! You would never know how but their child in trouble and they would just get to know. How? Some questions do not have answers.

I placed the frame back on the desk, carefully making it stand but just a moment after I kept it there, and was about to call the one on the other side of the door in, the frame fell forward, and came crashing on the floor. The glass frame now was lying scattered in pieces on the floor.

My heart suddenly stopped beating for a moment. Somehow, it felt as if it wasn't the frame that was broken but my relationship with Mom. I couldn't bear the thought. It was a macabre one.

I bent down to take out the photo from the frame. As I stared at our picture, I couldn't resist the fear that gripped my heart. My lips involuntarily kissed Mom in the picture. I had heard, at times, the universe sends you signal. I wondered if this was a way to convey that something bad was coming my way.

'Stop it, Eshan.' I forced a break to my thoughts that were all over the place. What was I even thinking? Neither did I believe in superstitions nor did I encourage them. I shrugged it off, thinking once in a while… mind begins thinking stupid things on its own.

***

Unedited :-(