Page 100 of The Redemption
“Though,” I admit, “I’ve seen Parag Reddy, and trust me, I understand the urge to punch him. One punch minimum. Maybe two. Preferably hard enough so he never flashes those smug gums at another human being again.”
Siya bursts out laughing so suddenly she almost falls back into the couch.
“Oh my God,” she wheezes. “Finally. Someone else sees it too. How does he grin like he already owns the planet? That face practically invites violence.”
I end up laughing with her despite myself. And somewhere between this conversation, her ridiculous ideas, I finally understand why Raghav crossed every line for her.
Siya Vardhaan is not the kind of woman men like Raghav usually meet. She’s genuine in a world built on manipulation. Fearless in a world that survives on fear. Beautiful, intelligent, stubborn as hell, and bold enough to challenge a man like him directly to his face instead of blindly agreeing with everything he says. Men like Raghav have probably spent years surrounded by people who obeyed him without question, nodded before he spoke, and feared him too much to ever say he was wrong.
But Siya? She pushes back and gives back just as good as she gets. No wonder Raghav walked straight into that disaster willingly.
Just then, my burner phone buzzes against the glass table.
One message. Then another. All encrypted attachments. The moment I open them, my expression changes. Ayaan has sent Siya’s new identity documents. Passports. Clearance approvals. Travel authorisations. Everything is finalised.
As I scroll down further, I suddenly freeze. Because the destination listed in the documents is not what I expected. It’sQueenstown, New Zealand.The place where Siya and her mother are supposed to begin their new lives from scratch, under completely new identities, away from the mafia world.
It’s not India. Not RK Estate. Not Shivtara Valley. And nowhere near Raghav.
How is that possible? My brows pull together slowly. Because that is not the extraction endpoint Raghav gave me. He had made his instructions very clear… bring Siya and her mother back to RK Estate.
But these documents are official GLEN clearances routed directly through Ayaan and Krish. Which means everything has already been approved. Right from the New Zealand citizenshiptrails for the two, the residential records in Queenstown, and completely clean identities.
It’s as though Siya Vardhaan and her mother never existed under their real names at all, only under the identities GLEN has created for them.
But Ayaan knew what Raghav wanted. So why did he change the plan so suddenly? And is Raghav aware of this?
I stare at the screen longer than I should.
“What happened?” Siya asks, noticing my confusion.
When I don’t answer, she leans forward and snatches the phone lightly from my hand before I can stop her. Her eyes scan the screen. And within seconds, her entire face lights up.
“Oh my God,” she breathes. “The documents are ready?”
Excitement rushes through her as she scrolls through the files one after another. She looks almost overwhelmed by it.
“I still can’t believe we’re actually doing this,” she says softly, almost to herself. “I’m really getting out.”
Then her eyes stop at the destination details.
Queenstown,New Zealand.
The smile that spreads across her face afterwards is so genuine that, for a second, I forget this girl belongs to one of the deadliest mafia syndicates in the world.
“I love this place,” she murmurs, still staring at the details. “I can’t believe Mom and I are actually going to live somewhere like this.”
Her fingers tighten slightly around the phone. As though she has already started dreaming her life there.
“You really want to go there?” I ask carefully. “To New Zealand?”
She looks at me like the answer is obvious.
“Of course I do. Why wouldn’t I?”
I study her silently before asking the question that has now started bothering me even more.
“I thought you’d want to go back to RK Estate.”
