Page 68 of Lawfully Yours

He stared at her a beat longer, then gave a short nod, seeming to relax a notch.

“Okay,” he said. “Okay. I just… I didn’t expect this mess. I didn’t even know those pictures still existed. And Noyonika, I didn’t think she’d ever speak to the press.”

Arundhati moved to her chair and sat, motioning for him to do the same. But her mind wasn’t on him now.

It was on what she’d just done.

She had covered for Kushal. Lied without blinking. Smoothed out the jagged edge of his absence. Not just as acolleague. Not just to protect a case. But because some part of her still behaved like a wife.His wife.

And that realisation shook her more than anything Anant was saying.

She looked at Anant and gave him a tight nod, listening to his excuses, his panic, his crumbling defence.

But inside, she was wondering—when did I become the one making excuses for him? When did I start defending the man I was waiting to get a divorce from?

*****************

The day had been no less than a storm. Ever since the scandal broke, Arundhati had been holding the line, handling Anant, calming the legal team, preparing the PR draft, and managing a brewing crisis that refused to settle. She hadn’t had a moment to breathe, let alone check in with her uncle about Kushal.

By late evening, she had reached her limit. She marched straight down the hallway, and pushed open the door to Raj Verma’s cabin again.

He was on a call, mid-sentence. But he wrapped up quickly, sensing the urgency on her face, and placed the phone back on the receiver.

“I was just about to call you,” he said.

“Did you hear from him?”

Raj gave a half-smile. “Kushal’s at his penthouse.”

Arundhati blinked. “What?”

“At home,” Raj confirmed. “I spoke to the security desk at his building. His car’s parked downstairs. They said he hasn’t stepped out since he came in this morning.”

Her brows pulled together, the panic flaring again. “Is he okay? Did they say anything else?”

Raj nodded, trying to soothe her worry. “They saw him in the gym this morning. He even ordered lunch from outside. So, yes, he’s fine. Alive. Breathing. Clearly not in any problem.”

Arundhati let out a breath, but it wasn’t relief. Now that she knew he was fine, the panic twisted into anger.

While she had been dodging fire from the press, shielding a crumbling client, lying to save face, forhissake, he was at home, working out, eating takeout, and going ghost?

“I’m sending Akash there,” Raj added, glancing at his phone. “If Kushal won’t answer his calls, Akash will talk to him in person. We’ll get to the bottom of this.”

“No,” Arundhati said quickly. “Don’t send anyone.”

Raj raised a brow. “Why not?”

“I’ll go myself,” she said.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” she snapped. “Because Kushal’s vanishing act today is unprofessional. And no matter what his reason is, I’m not going to let him off easy. Not this time. Not just because he’s your golden boy.”

Raj studied her, perhaps seeing more in her expression than she wanted to show. He nodded slowly.

Without another word, she turned and stormed out to fetch her car keys from her cabin, and then headed for the elevator.

By now, she had already realised allthiswas his game.