Page 244 of The Redemption
But instead of answering, she dramatically turned her face away, crossed her tiny arms over her chest, and lifted her chin. The attitude was unbelievable.
She huffed. “If you won’t let me hold that gun, then why should I tell you my name?”
I stared at her, completely baffled by her defiance.
Just then Ranjit Gill walked in and headed straight for her… his daughter.
“What are you doing here?” he asked her. “I asked you to sit on the bench.”
She immediately looked guilty, but only for a second. Then she grabbed his hand. Ranjit looked at me and gave me an apologetic smile.
“I’ll be back in an hour, Raghav.”
I gave him a small nod. He then looked down at the little girl again before taking her away.
I still remember watching them walk towards the mansion gates, her braids swinging behind her as she chattered about something and tried to walk faster beside her father. But halfway across the courtyard, one of her sandals slipped right off her foot. She didn’t even notice at first. She took another two steps before realising it. She immediately let go of Ranjit’s hand andturned around. I remember watching the tiny girl march all the way back to slip her sandal back on. Then she looked straight up at me. The same stubborn chin. The same defiant eyes. Exactly the same look she still gives me today whenever she wants to challenge me. After that, she turned around, ran back to her father, grabbed his hand, and disappeared through the mansion gates.
I shake my head. God. How could I have forgotten this? The girl who kept losing her sandals had somehow managed to erase herself completely from my memory. I sit frozen for a moment as everything finally connects. So I had met Siya all those years ago and never even realised it.
Ranjit Gill was the man whose kindness stayed with me long after he was gone from my life, and somehow, years later, I ended up marrying his daughter. Life has truly come full circle.
I slowly look at her again. Siya has calmed down considerably now, though the grief still remains in her eyes.
“You know,” I say, gently squeezing her hand, “that rebellious little heart of yours has always had a mind of its own. And your favourite hobby of defying me? It seems you’ve been doing that since childhood.”
She looks at me curiously, and I smile as the memory comes back to me. “I still remember those braids and the way they kept swinging every time you moved your head. They were quite distracting, you know.” She narrows her eyes as I continue, “And what’s funny is that, even after all these years, you still haven’t learnt how to keep your sandals on.”
For a second, she just stares at me. Then, she finally smiles as her fingers tighten around mine.“You know, wherever my father, Ranjit, is right now... I know he would have been very happy.” She lowers her gaze to our joined hands before continuing. “Because the boy he loved so much, the boy he protected like his own son... ended up becoming his daughter’shusband. I think he’d finally be at peace knowing his daughter is in safe hands.”
I nod, wanting this to be true. Siya once again gives me a small fragile smile that lasts only for a few seconds before the present situation haunts her mind again. What Samarjeet had done.
“Siya,” I cup her face. “Samarjeet didn’t just kill Shamsher Vardhaan, he killed the man you loved as a father. And no matter what happens, he will pay for that.”
Siya remains silent. But one question still remains.
Samarjeet is Rukmini Vardhaan’s son. Her own flesh and blood. I can see the fear in Siya’s eyes. Because justice sounds simple until it demands a mother’s sacrifice.
If we go after Samarjeet, if we make sure he pays for what he has done... will her mother be able to bear it? She has already buried the man she loved. Can she survive watching her son meet the same fate? Or will a mother’s heart refuse to choose?
Sometimes the deepest wounds are not inflicted by enemies. They are inflicted by the people we love the most. And no matter which side Rukmini Vardhaan stands on when the truth finally reaches her, one thing is certain.
She is going to lose someone.
CHAPTER 45
RAGHAV
Next Day
We are in Siya’s mother’s room. Siya has just told her that Samarjeet was the one behind Shamsher Vardhaan’s assassination. Initially, her mother couldn’t believe it, insisting that someone must have forced him to do so. But then she broke down, crying bitterly, as deep down, she knew that her son was capable of committing this horrific act.
The room falls silent as Siya wraps her arms around her mother, trying to console her. I remain where I am, watching, because there’s nothing I can possibly say that would lessen this grief. The two women before me are my family, and seeing them shattered like this feels as though someone is slowly twisting a knife inside my chest.
Finally, I move towards them and stop in front of Siya’s mother. Her shoulders are still trembling, and the tears refuse to stop no matter how many times she wipes them away. She is no longer the formidable woman who stood beside Shamsher Vardhaan through decades of bloodshed, wars, and power struggles. Today, she simply looks like a wife who has lost her husband because of her evil son.
I gently take her hands in mine. “I know this is impossible to accept.” She shuts her eyes, but I continue anyway. “Siya and Ican never truly understand what you’re going through right now. But the ugly reality is that Samarjeet killed his own father, and he has no regret...” I choose my words carefully. “What he did is a sin, and it cannot be forgiven.”
She looks up at me teary-eyed.
