*The much-awaited update. What will RK do?😳😳
Those seatbelts still tight, right? #JustChecking*
Chapter 27
RK paced around the board room at his lawyer's office frantically. He had driven here instead of going to his own office and Agarwal had also come here from the airport. For the past few hours, Agarwal and his teams were busy working on the new developments while RK waited restlessly. Time was short and there was a lot that needed to be verified and documented. But as the clock struck 2 pm, Rishabh's patience wore thin. He could not afford the risk of cutting it this close. Sultan was expecting him at 3 pm, and he still hadn't shut down that option until he knew for sure this was going to work. He couldn't take the risk.
Rishabh sat back on the chair for a moment as the thoughts in his brain ran amok and his head felt dizzy. He hadn't had his medicines or any food all day and the circumstances couldn't be any more stressful. Feeling dizzy, he closed he gulped some water and closed his eyes as his blood pressure rose. He needed to focus. An image of a smiling Madhu, standing under the shimmering moonlight near the pool the previous night came to him and his heartbeat began to calm.
Madhu was most important. Above everything.
This whole thing was a long shot, but he couldn't wait any longer to see if they had enough evidence. The lawyers can continue working, he was going to go to Sultan and get the money to secure Madhu anyway. He grabbed at the file containing the papers of his house and stood up, resolved to go to the place Sultan's men had informed them, while simultaneously warning for Rishabh to come alone.
Just then, the door opened and Agarwal stepped in.
"We got it" he yelled, and Rishabh stilled.
"International espionage?"
"Yes. We have it nailed, bulletproof. I got the papers."
"Let's go then." RK breathed in relief for the first time all day as he walked towards Agarwal and they both left the office.
"Do you know where she is right now?" RK asked as their car left the lawyer's office.
"The Colaba house. She's home. We have had people monitoring her ever since we learnt about her and Shenoy and they have confirmed." Agarwal answered and RK nodded.
"We have to tell Sultan I don't need his money any more and cancel the meeting." RK said.
"What if Dipali doesn't..."
"She has to. I will not leave her an option."
"Ok. I will ask my contact to tell his men. He may not take it very nicely though."
"I will apologize, if I have to. Just as soon as this is over." RK said as the car sped away negotiating Mumbai's Western expressway traffic.
"Dipali, this is where your game stops" he muttered as he thought again about his conversation with Radha earlier in the day. It looked like his destiny had finally decided to be kind to him. Finally!
"I didn't have a choice" Radha cried out as Rishabh turned to leave the room. He stopped.
"I stayed silent because I didn't have a choice. If I told you...or anyone...if I didn't let Dipali stay...you'd have sent Sikky to jail for sure. I couldn't..."
RK slowly turned, then crossed his arms and calmly asked, his voice steel-like.
"What did he do?"
Radha continued to cry, unable to come up with the words.
"Answer me dammit. Why did you think I would sent Sikander to jail? For sleeping with Dipali..."
"He committed massive fraud. I don't know the details. He told me you had put him in charge of a negotiation, and he had accidentally leaked some papers, and now if everything came out he would be put to jail in the Middle East?"
"The Qatar realty deal?"
"I am not sure what it was. He just told me he had made a mistake, and then Dipali had helped him cover it up. She had the signing authority in that company. She had 80% shares. You were in US at that time. Sikander convinced me that if I went against him or Dipali, or disclosed anything to you, the cover-up would get revealed and then he would go to jail. I couldn't watch my son..."Radha choked on her voice.
Rishabh's face did not betray a response but his mind was actively triangulating the events from those days based on what Radha had just said. He knew the deal they were talking about. The Prince of Qatar had personally invited ten companies from India to bid on his dream project that involved the royal family, specifically the princess herself. Kundra industries was among the best positioned to win it, because they had expertise ranging from construction to event management, apparel to retail and could actually deliver the multi-layer project before deadline. In reality, it was more than a media city project like it was first advertised, and they had discovered that there was going to be a new oil security council that the princess was creating for all OPEC nations which would be centered there in a discrete building.
Rishabh had all but done the prep work on the project and they were in the last but slow phase of negotiations when he had to go to US for something more urgent. He had thought it was a good opportunity to let Sikander get some confidence and get involved more in the business as Radha has always wanted him to. He had left him in charge as the paperwork was being finalized by lawyers on both sides. A month or so later, he had been informed that the Prince had withdrawn the whole project due to security concerns. He couldn't get any information at the time but the royal family was extremely secretive, so he did not pursue the matter. Three months later, the project was back on, but fresh bids were invited and Kundra Industries did not receive an invitation. To date, RK did not know the exact reason.
"...he told me he and Dipali were in love. He said you did not love Dipali anyway and that Dipali planned to divorce you soon on mutual incompatibility and then marry Sikander. At first I was reluctant, but they both convinced me. Dipali would get a sizable alimony from divorcing you and she told me Sikander and her would live happily on that money along with me. I thought...that money...half of your money was supposed to be Sikander's anyway. Maybe this way..."Radha choked. She had done so much for Sikander, while he had abandoned her and skipped country at the first sign of trouble. Here she was alone and with barely any money to survive, while the son she did everything for hadn't even bothered to call her in weeks.
"I wish you had just asked for the money. It would have been much easier than this deceitful route you took. You didn't have to pretend to love me..."
"...I did love you, Rishabh. I know what I did was wrong. i just loved Sikky..."
"more. I can understand that you loved him more than me. But I don't think you ever loved me as a mother even a little bit, because you wouldn't have watched me get destroyed alone."
"They lied to me. Dipali...she..."
"You trusted her! She always lied, to everyone. I trusted her too, but I didn't know her. You trusted her even knowing her capabilities. She cheated me for you and Sikky. She cheated you and Sikky for Shenoy. She'd cheat him for someone else. She only cares about herself and money."
"She is a..."
"...before you call her what she is, think about what it makes you. You are as much a liar as she is. At least she cheats strangers." RK finally said, leaving Radha speechless as she watched her son - her true son who had always loved and respected her far more than the boy who'd come out of her womb - walk away from her. But as she broke down, she was well aware that she had pushed him away with her own hands.
**************
"What are you doing in my home?" Dipali asked as soon as she came out, surprised at finding RK there.
"Your home? Well, my father bought it in my name. It's been mine since I was 8 years old." RK asked, his voice calm yet taunting.
"Well, dear hubby, did you forget you signed it over to me, your dear sweet wife, a year ago." Dipali smirked. "But anyway, I am not so bad that I will throw you out of my house like you did to me the last time I came to see you..."she said playfully, moving closer to him. She traced her finger playfully on Rishabh's cheek as she continued. "Come...let me show you some of my special hospitality, for old times sake. After all, tomorrow is the last day of us being married."
RK flicked her finger away. "Not tomorrow. Today."
He held out his palm towards his lawyer who handed him a file, which he then passed to Dipali.
"Sign this. Right now. You're withdrawing your case against me, signing this document of mutual divorce waiving off reconciliation and arbitration and finally, signing over all the property and shares I gave to you."
Dipali did not take the file from Rishabh, instead burst into maniacal laughter.
"You have really lost your mind, husband! Good joke! In your dreams am I giving you back anything." She sniggered, but RK stood there unaffected, his demeanor one of controlled aggression.
"Well, either you sign this file, or I am signing this one." He said in a nasty yet still unemotional voice while holding out a second file, the kind that normally sent chills down the spine of his business rivals.
Dipali hesitated, unsure at what RK was playing at. He wasn't angry or reactive like she had thought he would be. His confidence made her nervous and her hands shook a little as she took the second file from RK and opened it to read what the papers said.
Dipali's face went pale as she went through the first couple of documents. Her fingers quaked and the file almost fell of her hand, but RK caught it.
"Easy Miss Sinha. Why don't you sit down and go through all of it?" He sneered.
Dipali looked up to him with fear in her eyes.
"You... how..."
"How..hmm...those papers say everything, but if you want I will give you a quick summary. That there is evidence that you helped conceal a leak of documents and pictures pertaining to a high-profile project of the royal family of Qatar as well as those that compromise the security of the royal family itself. It says that you were aware and you signed off without consultation with any other board member or senior management of a company where you had 80% of the shares, the fact that these documents provided under a strict non-disclosure agreement were leaked to anti-Qatari forces. You stalled the deal from Kundra industries end until the leak became known to the counter-party and they withdrew the project anyway. In fact, there is evidence that the classified material was sold to Iranian spies and the money deposited into a joint account owned by you and your boyfriend Sikander Kundra.
Further, it says that this evidence is being submitted under whistle-blower protection laws both to the CAG of India and the Qatari govt, who were suspicious of but had no direct evidence of your company's involvement in this leak. As you'd know, under Qatari law, this is treason and they'd demand an immediate extradition. But more interestingly, under Indian law this evidence would be enough for me to get the power of attorney you have on the shares overturned. I don't need to win the adultery case. I don't need any grounds whatsoever. All I need to do is to sign these papers, filing an additional case against you."
"You...this...this is your company."
"Well not technically. You were the acting chairman. You had 80% of the signing authority. I wasn't even in the country. In fact, if you look at the last document in the file, it says this leak compromised a multi-million dollar project for Kundra Industries, so the minority shareholders - which is me - are suing you for sabotaging the company against your fiduciary responsibilities by misusing the power. But that's the least troublesome litigation you have on your hands."
"I...I didn't" Dipali trembled with fear. She never expected there to be so much evidence, forget about RK finding out about it after so many months had passed and the whole thing had blown over. Sikky had never told her the full extent of he secrets he had leaked over his stupid poker game with some shady characters who he couldn't pay back. He probably only knew a small part and had sold it in exchange of getting out of the debt he had and some additional playing money, but clearly, whatever he had disclosed had been enough for the spies to dig up more and ultimately for there to be trouble in Qatar, which they dealt with themselves.
"It was Sikky...not me..." she stammered.
"Ah. But you see. None of those documents have his signature. He was just a temporary project manager. In any case, he couldn't have acted alone, without your or my approval. And I didn't give any."
Dipali stared at the papers for another minute, before her frustrations took over. How could she lose everything like this! She threw the file away and stood up again in range.
"You can't do this RK. I worked too hard for you to screw it up like this. I did not do any international treason. I will not go to jail for this." Dipali screamed and tried to shove RK on his chest, but he held her hand and twisted his arm and turned her around before she could touch him.
"But you will, Miss Sinha. You will rot in jail and you will suffer for this...that is if the Qataris do not extradite you." He spoke in her ear with his voice full of fury before pushing her away. Dipali broke into hysterical tears.
"Unless..." RK continued, his voice icy again.
"...unless you sign the first file. The divorce. The property. The shares. Everything. It's 4pm and the courts close at 5. You sign it now and my lawyer will file it in the court before end of day. No more hearing needed, no more cases. You sign everything over and go back to whatever filth you came from and all this evidence against you stays buried forever. Neither the law enforcement nor the Qataris have any whiff of it, yet, and it can stay that way."
Dipali stared at the first file again as RK's lawyer handed it to her. She was back at square one. Everything she had done to fool RK, to get his property, three years...everything would come to naught the moment she signed those papers. But at least she would be alive. She would be out of jail and she could start over. Maybe with Shenoy? But he wouldn't do much for her unless she brought the money. Maybe she would have to find someone else. It felt like someone had punched the oxygen out of her lungs, but she knew she had to do this or she wouldn't survive.
Ten minutes later, she had read and signed all the papers. She handed the file back to RK, who smirked and passed it to Agarwal.
They turned to leave when she asked from behind "Why?"
RK stopped and look back at her, defeated and kneeling on the ground. "Why give me an option?" she clarified her question.
"Because I want this to be over. Today. Because I never want to see your face again in my life, not even in court. Because I never want to think about you again. Because I want to remove the sword of uncertainty hanging over the fates of the 35000 employees whose life you put in jeopardy to satisfy your greed. Because I wanted to see you like this, defeated, and think about what all you could have had if you were honest. You were the wife of Rishabh Kundra. You had affection, trust, safety, dignity and all the comforts you could have asked for handed to you on a platter. Still, you ended up with nothing. You called me a loser for giving you that trust. I was an idiot for not seeing through you, but guess who the real loser is.
Oh and by the way, I want you out of this house before dawn."
"Are we good?" RK asked the lawyer as they walked to the car.
"Yes. I am going to head off to the court now. Ajay is already there and has started filing our withdrawals and other applications. It's a fifteen minute drive from here. I will go there directly and submit these." the lawyer explained and RK nodded.
Then he continued. "I called your bank manager as we discussed. He is waiting for you in your office with the money."
"He has the cash?"
"Yes. I just got the text. It's a lot of money, so he is sitting there personally with 1.2 crores withdrawn from your personal account. That includes the extra 20 lakh buffer you asked for. You just need to sign a paper and pick it up. Then you can go home."
RK felt lighter than he had in months as he sat in the car and asked the driver to take him to the office. Everything was finally going to be alright.
He knew expecting remorse or regret from someone like Dipali was out of question. The only reason he had let her off the hook today was because he didn't want there to be a court fight of any kind. He didn't want even the smallest possibility that something would go wrong that would endanger Madhu or even drag her name in the mess. He did not want to give Dipali any chance to recover or fight back. He wanted her out of his life asap and he wanted Madhu safe and his life for good, unquestionably. Today he had done that. He had even saved his father's legacy. Dipali and Sikander would get their punishment for their sins, but for today, for this moment, revenge didn't matter.
The only thing that mattered was Madhu. He had to apologize to her, explain the reason why he had even thought about sending her back and beg her to stay.
"I am coming Madhu." he muttered and smiled to himself for the first time all day.
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
