Page 66 of Lawfully Yours

“Is Kushal in the office?” she asked tightly. “Has he been informed?”

“That’s the issue, ma’am. He’s not at the office, and his phone is unreachable.”

Arundhati’s breath caught. “What?”

“Yes, Ma’am. We have all tried to reach him since morning, but to no luck.”

Kushal never left his phone off. Never missed a crisis. And this was not just a scandal. This was a goddamn explosion. Of all the days. Of all the times. Kushal had to go missing today? Was it because of last night? But… this firm was his priority. He would never take his clients and cases lightly. Then why was he suddenly not in contact?

Arundhati gritted her teeth. “Okay. I’ll handle this.”

She ended the call and immediately dialled Kushal, but it went straight to voicemail. She tried again. Nothing. Her pulse pounded with disbelief and rage.

“Kushal, where the hell are you?” she muttered, slamming her palm against the steering wheel.

Without wasting another second, she called Anant.

He picked up after two rings. “Arundhati—”

“What the hell, Anant?” she snapped. “Why didn’t you tell us about Noyonika? About this entire thing?”

“It’s not what it looks like,” he said, too quickly.

She scoffed. “Oh, come on. Don’t insult our intelligence. The pictures are clear. The interview is worse. She’s painted you out to be a lying, cheating and abusive husband. Do you understand what this does to your case?”

“I swear, Arundhati, she’s my ex. It ended before I married Sadhna.”

“Then why is she claiming otherwise? This jeopardises our entire case.”

“She’s just trying to ruin me now,” Anant replied. “I swear, I didn’t think it was relevant. I didn’t expect this to resurface.”

“You should still have told us,” she snapped. “We are your lawyers. We’re supposed to defend you, but if you keep hiding facts like this, how the hell do you expect us to protect you? Your oversight has given Sadhna’s legal team ammunition. We need to strategize immediately.”

There was a long silence on the other end.

“I’m coming to the office,” he finally said. “I’ll explain everything in person.”

She didn’t respond.

“I tried calling Kushal to explain this, but he is unreachable,” he added.

“He… He will be there soon,” she assured him. “Will see you at the office, and please stay away from the media. Do not give them anything. Come soon.”

She disconnected, letting out a growl of frustration and slammed her hand against the wheel again before dialling Kushal again. But she was met with the same result…voicemail.

“Where the f*ck are you, Kushal?” she muttered.

She stared at the screen again. The headlines were multiplying by the second.

‘Who is Noyonika Talwar? Anant Mukherjee’s ex-lover breaks the silence.’

‘Anant’s infidelity surfaces—New blow to Anant-Sadhna’s case.’

Everything they had built for this case so far, every careful strategy, every stitched-up narrative, would go in vain if they didn’t defend this somehow.

And Kushal was missing. Wow!!

Arundhati’s knuckles tightened around the steering wheel. This wasn’t just a PR disaster. It was a legal turning point, and she knew Sadhna’s lawyer, Maanya Kapoor, would be sharpening her knives already.