MG FF: The Innocent - Chapters 20-27 on p. 41 - Complete - Page 32

Geet falling for Maan but not accepting her feelings but in dream her brother advice her and she thought to let give chance

Neil missing his mom and boys in school teasing him Geet should tell Maan about it

Pinky heard just little conversation of maan and adi and told Geet about it

She should first conform about it she doesn't know how Geet will feel or react Pinky don't even know Geet thinks her brother is dead

Chapter 19

No no no no no no no no no no no no.......... You are not doing this....😳 this will definitely separate Maan and Geet please don't do this.... Nahi oye yeh nahi ho sakta yaar.... Geet dreamed about him last night and he told her to give Maan a chance to love.... Agar bich raste me darar ho jaiga toh Maan phir andhere me chala jayega aur Geet bilkul akeli padjayegi.... Everything is going so well and smooth even sweet and romantic to be exact... Now I don't think 🤔 that anymore... Yeh pinky ko bhi abhi tapak na tha kya... Bekar me bhanda phoddiya na Geet ke samne... Ab zarur bhawal khada ho jaiga.... Ho sakta ki woh ghar chod ke bhi jaa sakte... And Neil and Geet are both emotional support for each other... Neil really needs people like Geet to survive... Cause they get bullied by everyone else reasoning for loneliness but the truth is they appear more independent than others children and more intelligent than their age... Jaise humare Mr Top's ki thara... Awww not the piggy bank... Mera bhi hai piggy bank 5saal se rakh rahi hoon and it's a good habit to keep you will be organized and responsible towards your spending category and necessities... But I'm really afraid what's going to be with Geet with the cat is now out of the bag...., 🥺🤗

❤️

@ MA1970 - Thank you very much for reading and posting a comment! Geet definitely didn’t know that day!

@ Alamelu - Thanks for checking out this chapter and dropping your thoughts! Good questions, let’s see what happens . . . .

@ maangeet.gmmg - I really appreciate you reading and sharing your thoughts, thank you! Next chapters will be up soon. :)

@ anmirza - More will be revealed in the coming chapters! Thanks for reading and posting. :)

@ khwaishfan - Many thanks for your sweet feedback, I appreciate it so much. :) She really was excited and restless to see him!

@ simranDi - Thanks so much for reading and for giving such lovely feedback. :) Such a good point about the dream!

@ Charanjeetkaur - Many thanks for reading and for the kind comment! The next chapters are going up soon!

@ coderlady - Thank you for reading and commenting on the various chapters! Chapter 8 has more information about Rocky and Geet but the last time Geet saw him was when she was nine and he was eleven!

@ ferdouz - Thank you so much for following along and sharing your thoughts! So glad you liked the dream!

@ Creampuff - Many thanks for reading and for your feedback! More will be revealed soon! <3

@ kabslock - Thank you for reading and taking the time to post feedback, much appreciated!

@ sanum23 - Very good points! Thanks so much for checking out the chapter and leaving your thoughts!

@ UmaDevi97 - Aww, thank you so much for reading and posting such impactful feedback! So true about Neil and Geet! Love your thoughts about a piggy bank too hehe. The story will be continuing soon! <3

Hi lovelies! Thank you for your comments on Chapter 19! I replied to everyone who posted a comment on the page before this one. :)

I finished writing the story and have posted all of the rest of the chapters (chapters 20 through 27)! Many thanks for reading!

(Link to chapter index)

Chapter 20

For several long moments, all Geet could do was stare at Pinky, who was looking down into her lap. Had Pinky really just said that Rocky had actually been *alive* all of these years and then had been gunned down by Maan’s gang just a few weeks ago? How could that possibly be?

“There must be some mistake,” Geet said finally. The air around her felt hazy, as if she had entered an alternate universe. “Rocky died in childhood. We were in different foster homes and my foster mother told me that Rocky died after an infection he had developed. He was walking in the woods and a rabid animal bit him.”

Before Pinky could respond, the front door opened and shut. Maan appeared in the foyer, shrugging off his coat. Pinky rushed toward Maan, who looked surprised to see Pinky in his house, then spoke in a low tone to him -- no doubt explaining what she had revealed to Geet.

Geet waited with bated breath as she observed Maan’s expression. Surely he would say that all of this was just a big misunderstanding?

Only when Maan swiveled his head in Geet’s direction with a grave look on his face did Geet realize that the news was true.

“I’m so sorry,” Pinky whispered again. She gave Geet an apologetic glance and then quietly let herself out.

The tick of the grandfather clock pulsed loudly. “Geet,” Maan’s voice was gentle as he walked toward her. “We need to talk. I --”

“So it’s true that you killed my brother?” she said, her voice cracking.

Maan pulled back, stung. After taking a moment to gather himself, he said, “Let me explain.”

What could the explanation possibly be? And why had her foster mother lied to her about Rocky’s death?

Rubbing the back of his neck, Maan said, “A few weeks before I met you in the alley, a young man who called himself ‘Viper’ approached a few of my men. He had heard about our gang and I said I would allow him to do grunt work to prove himself. I ordered a background check on him, but my investigator needed time to gather information for his report, which was extensive.”

Geet vaguely remembered that, the very night of the shooting in the alley, she had been sent away from Maan’s office and had crouched behind a vase while Maan and one of his men talked. She remembered Maan giving the man a file of affidavits and then later saying that “Viper is dead and gone.” Viper had really been her *brother*?

“Why are you talking about background checks instead of what happened in the alley?” Geet asked.

“You told me you’ve never killed anyone, but even if you didn’t, obviously you must have ordered the shooting!”

Geet felt a tightness in her chest that she had been within a few yards of her brother that night but hadn’t gotten a look at his face due to the dark alley running with blood. Would she have even recognized him? “Rocky loved me so much, I know he did, and you took away his chance to find me after so many years! His little sister!”

Maan swallowed, looking pained at Geet’s outburst. “Geet, I know you’re hurting, and I am so sorry for that. Please let me explain. After I met you, I ran a background check on you as well, but I didn’t get it until that night when you ran out of the gazebo. After you went back into the house, one of my men gave me both your and your brother’s background checks together. The report gave Rocky’s other aliases and legal name, and that’s when I matched up the family sections in both reports. Only then did I know you were siblings.”

Geet thought back to that evening in the gazebo. How could she forget the sparks she felt with Maan that night? After escaping from the gazebo when Sameera had showed up, Geet had changed out of the dress she had spilled water on, showered, and readied herself to flee. Maan had then appeared and had been uncharacteristically kind, asking Geet to eat dinner. At the very edge of her memory, Geet remembered a sheaf of paper sticking out of Maan’s back pocket when he had come to her room. Had those been the background checks for her and her brother?

Geet felt something within her splinter. So that was why Maan had been so nice to her starting that very moment? Because he wanted to get on her good side? So that she wouldn’t go running to the police to report that his gang had killed her own brother?

How much of Maan’s affection for her was real? Had *any* of it been real? Were the clothes and books that he bought her and the “date” on the yacht just to buy her silence?

“I don’t feel well.” Geet raised her hand to her temple. “I need to get some rest.” She didn’t want to hear more. Maan hadn’t denied that Rocky had died on Maan’s watch, and Geet wasn’t sure if she could even handle the details right now.

“Of course,” Maan said hoarsely. “Let’s talk more in the morning . . . .” His voice trailed off as Geet walked out of the room on wobbly legs.

---

Thank you for reading!

Chapter 21 | (Link to chapter index)

Geet had barely closed the door to her room before she lunged for her ratty tote bag in the closet.

Maan’s staff had tossed or donated her old clothes, so she pulled from “her” wardrobe the simplest outfits she could find. While she folded the fabric with shaky hands, she thought briefly about how she never got to explain that her background check -- which for some reason Maan had been keeping in his coat pocket -- was false about her supposed “wrongdoing.”

Not that it mattered. Not that she would ever step foot back into Maan’s life. Geet’s skin felt prickly, as if bugs were crawling on her. How could she have been such a fool? As she began layering her clothes into the tote bag, hot tears blurred Geet’s vision.

Of course this was why Maan had been so kind to her, so loving. He had simply wanted to keep her from ratting him out to the police. Maan had been incredibly rude to her in the beginning and then, like a flash, he had warmed up to her.

Well, now she knew why.

On Geet’s dresser was an envelope of cash that Maan had given her in case she ever needed it. The only time she had dipped into it was to buy Neil a plush dinosaur from the toy store.

Oh, no. *Neil.* How could Geet leave him, especially at a time like this when he missed his mother so badly?

But Geet’s fury and shock over Maan and her brother propelled her to keep packing. She shut down the loving part of herself, the part that would never even think of leaving Neil, and let selfishness take the reins. Geet took a third of the bills and tucked them into an interior flap of her tote bag, vowing she would pay it back *plus* interest.

Geet then pulled out a stationery set from a desk drawer and tore off the top sheet. She scrawled a short note: “Don’t even think about coming to look for me.”

Geet considered making a run for it immediately, but decided it was too risky. No doubt Maan would try to stop her if she fled now. Instead, Geet set her alarm for four o’clock the next morning and buried herself under the duvet.

There was a lone taxi stand a mile away. Geet had seen it whenever she and Neil went to the library or to the park. Not the shortest walk from Maan’s house, but Geet didn’t care. Just a few hours from now, before anyone else in the house was awake to notice what she was up to, Geet would finally do what she should have done a long time ago.

She would leave.

---

Creeping out of the house a little after four o’clock the next morning was almost anticlimactic. The sky was still dark, which ordinarily would have frightened Geet, but her adrenaline was still roaring and she would have rather risked walking alone on the street than stay under Maan’s roof another minute. He was a liar, and her brother’s blood was on his hands.

Thankfully, there was one taxi idling at the taxi stand. Geet ducked inside and gave the address she had memorized.

The drive was long. Geet had barely slept the night before, and she considered taking a nap, but the questions around Maan and her brother continued to swirl around in her mind. How close she had been to happiness with Maan. She blinked back tears and stared out the window as the trees flew by. She remembered Neil chattering to her about trees during their first car ride together, and tried to shove down the memory.

When the taxi finally pulled up to a small, nondescript gray building, Geet paid the meter. Her stash of cash was already depleting and she had left Maan’s house just that morning.

At least the sun was starting to rise. There was a twenty-four-hour diner on the corner, and Geet made her way inside. Aside from the wait staff, there was only a trucker seated in a booth, nursing a large cup of coffee. The hostess showed Geet to a table and handed her a menu. Geet, who didn’t have much of an appetite, ordered only a glass of orange juice.

Geet kept her eyes trained on the building. It would open at seven o’clock, and she had over an hour to wait. She took tiny sips of her orange juice and then ordered a bagel with strawberry cream cheese. She practiced a speech in her head over and over to avoid thinking of the night before.

A few minutes to seven, Geet saw a slim woman wearing a blouse and skirt unlock the door of the building. Geet hurriedly parted with a few more precious bills and dashed out of the diner.

The woman who had unlocked the building was seated behind the reception desk and looked surprised when Geet rushed inside at such an early hour. Still, she smiled warmly at Geet and stuck out her hand. “Hello! How can I help you?”

“I’m Geet Handa,” said Geet, returning the handshake firmly. She tried to keep the desperation out of her voice when she recited what she had practiced in the diner. “I applied for the secretary position here at this non-profit,” she said. “I know the organization must still be deciding among the other candidates, but I can assure you that I’m the one for this job. Let me tell you about my skill set . . . .”

---

Thanks for reading this chapter!

Chapter 22 | (Link to chapter index)

“Working late already, Geet? You just started and you’re already the last one to leave!”

Geet looked up from the files she was sorting to see her boss, Angela, smiling at her. “You must have filed so many intake forms by now! Head home soon, okay? And keep up the great work.”

“Thank you,” said Geet, returning her boss’s smile and watching her exit the building.

Three days ago, when Geet had practically harassed the poor receptionist at the front desk, Angela -- who had come into work early that morning -- had overheard. It turned out that Geet was one of the top candidates for the position, and Angela was impressed by Geet’s drive to come to the organization in person. She offered Geet the job on the spot.

On top of that, in line with its mission to assist women who needed legal representation, the organization ran a hostel for women in need. Angela graciously would allow Geet to use one of the rooms while Geet “was in between residences.” Geet didn’t feel comfortable divulging the extent of her situation -- that is, without Maan, she had no place to live.

Geet had waited until she was in the ladies’ room before she burst into tears from relief. Finally, finally, something was going right. Once she started earning money at this job, she could save up for her own apartment, and then somehow also get the money back to Maan that she had taken from the envelope.

Now, it was three days later and Geet was getting her feet wet in her new position. Angela and some other senior staff would talk to various female clients in conference rooms, while Geet was given strictly clerical tasks for now -- compiling intake forms, mailing referrals, drafting letters. She was deeply grateful for the work.

In fact, Geet would invent excuses to arrive early and stay late, even rearranging the stacks of paper cups in the break room. By the time she finished up, she only had enough energy to eat a simple dinner and fall into bed in her small room at the hostel.

Keeping her mind occupied was Geet’s utmost priority. She simply couldn’t allow herself to think about Rocky or about Maan. About Neil. It was particularly difficult to keep Neil out of her thoughts since Geet was now working for a non-profit that could help people like his mother, Asha.

Geet wondered if Neil hated her for exiting his life like his own mother had, and the thought made Geet’s heart ache until she sealed up her feelings again. Once Geet got a handle on things at work, she intended on figuring out a way to reach Asha, but for now . . . . for now, all Geet could do was try to put one foot in front of the other.

Geet looked up at the industrial clock on the wall. It was an hour past her clock-out time. She stood and stretched her arms above her head. Maybe there were some bags of chips in the break room that she could arrange in alphabetical order --

A loud knock sounded at the glass entry door. Who could that be at this late hour? Geet walked down a short corridor to the lobby and stopped short, wondering if it was an illusion.

Maan and Neil had found her.

---

I appreciate you following along with the story. :)

Chapter 23 | (Link to chapter index)

Geet stumbled slightly, gripping the mesh back of an office chair that had rolled into the aisle.

Maan, who was dressed in his customary dark attire, wore a stern expression on his face and looked as if he hadn’t slept in, if Geet had to guess, three days. Maan was holding Neil’s palm in one hand and a briefcase in the other. Neil was jumping up and down, his dinosaur backpack bouncing along with him.

“Hello, Miss Geet!” Neil waved through the glass with his free hand.

“Let us in, Geet,” Maan ordered.

Geet bit her lip to keep from crying. She had used every ounce of energy to stop from thinking about the both of them, and now they were right in front of her. How had Maan found her? And why did seeing him again -- after what he had done to her brother, after how he had betrayed her -- *still* stir butterflies in her stomach?

“Do you remember me, Miss Geet?” Neil lowered his hand and suddenly looked unsure of himself. “It’s me, Mr. Tops.”

The fact that Neil could think that Geet had possibly forgotten him moved her forward to open the door.

“My darling Neil,” Geet said, lowering herself to the ground and studiously avoiding Maan’s gaze. “I could *never* forget you.” She kissed his cheek and wrapped him in a big hug.

“Yay!” Neil cried, his voice muffled. “I am glad you are back from your vacation.”

Geet glanced at Maan quizzically as she stood up. Maan raised his eyebrows and gave her a look that plainly said *just go with it.*

“I brought you a welcome back present,” said Neil. He took off his backpack and rustled through it, finally emerging with a picture he had drawn of a dinosaur. At the bottom of the page, in his seven-year-old scrawl, Neil had written in red crayon, “Welcome back beetlefull MISS GEET. Love always MISTER TOPS.”

Tears rolled down Geet’s cheeks as she brought her hand to her heart. “It is my favorite present in the whole wide world,” she said, giving Neil another bear hug.

Maan cleared his throat. “Neil, I need to talk to Miss Geet.” He eyed her. “In private. Where can Neil wait for a while?”

Geet couldn’t think of anything she wanted to do less than talk to Maan, especially since the butterflies continued to betray her, but she was reluctant to cause a scene in front of Neil. She led Neil to the break room and settled him with the dinosaur book that he always carried in his backpack. “We’ll be just a minute,” she promised.

Back in the lobby, Maan had hoisted his briefcase on the ledge of the reception desk and was drumming his fingers against it.

“How did you find me?” Geet asked, taking her position behind the office chair once more. “I left you a note not to look for me!” She paused. "By the way, I did take some money from the envelope you left for me, but I will paying you back plus interest, just you wait, and --"

He walked toward her, his gaze cutting like steel. “I have a personal investigator. It wasn’t difficult to find you. A flimsy note wasn’t going to stop me. And cut it out about that paying me back nonsense."

Geet gripped the back of the chair. Even after everything, Maan’s sheer power and magnetism simply entranced her. Geet averted her eyes and tried to still her racing heart.

“How could you leave me the way you did.” Maan’s voice was low, and it was more a statement than a question.

“How could I *not* have left?” Geet whispered.

“Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been about you?” Maan demanded. “How distraught Neil was when he came after school and you weren’t there? I had to tell him that you went ‘on vacation.’ Poor Pinky has been out of her mind with guilt and worry, and Adi has been on edge as well. Not to mention that *I* haven’t eaten, slept, or been able to concentrate on work since you left. You didn’t even give me a chance to explain.”

Geet’s stomach sank as she listened to the stir she had caused, but she was stuck on Maan’s supposed anxiety over her departure. He couldn’t *really* have been worried about her, right? “I didn’t want to hear any more lies.”

“What lies?” Maan looked so confused that for a moment, Geet allowed herself to believe that he really *did* care for her.

*Don’t be a fool, Geet,* she told herself sternly.

“You . . . you made me believe that you actually cared for me.” Geet was gripping the back of the chair so tightly that her fingers were starting to ache.

Maan inhaled deeply and reached his hand out to touch her shoulder. “I *do* care for you. You have no idea how much I care, sweetheart.”

Jerking backward, Geet cried, “Don’t call me that!”

“It’s the truth.” Maan pushed his foot against the chair between them, sending it gliding down the corridor. “I swear it on what I most hold dear.” He stepped closer and cupped her face in his hands. “You.”

Geet was feeling faint from Maan’s close proximity, his touch. His words.

He was truly an excellent liar.

“Is all your anger really directed toward me, Geet?” Maan asked gently. “I have no doubt that your brother loved you. But Pinky told me what you believed about him being dead. If he had really been alive, then why didn’t he look for you all of these years?”

“Don’t you dare talk about my brother!” Geet cried. “Don’t you dare! You’re the one who took him from me!” She let out a sob.

Maan pulled Geet fully into his embrace and placed his palm on the crown of her head. How could it feel so comforting to be in the arms of her brother’s killer?

“Geet, there’s so much you don’t know,” Maan murmured into her hair. “So much you didn’t let me explain. But the most important thing that I want to tell you right now is that my feelings for you are absolutely, one hundred percent, the truth.”

---

Thank you for checking out this chapter!

Chapter 24 | (Link to chapter index)

Geet broke away from Maan and stepped several paces backward into a cubicle so that a chest-high wall separated them. “I remember wondering why you had started being so nice to me after I left the gazebo that night,” Geet said, swiping at her eyes. “It’s because you got the background checks of me and my brother at the same time and figured out that we were related. You didn’t want me to go to the police and report that one of your men had gunned him down.”

Maan let out a bark of laughter. “Are you serious, Geet? Yes, I admit that I started acting kinder to you after I realized you two were siblings. It was partly because I felt sorry for you.”

“Sorry for me? Don’t you mean that *you* felt guilty?”

“Like I said, there’s so much you don’t know, Geet.”

Geet furrowed her brow as Maan continued, “So, yes, maybe I got a little nicer --”

“A *lot* nicer.” Geet thought about her new wardrobe and the yacht trip.

“But,” Maan went on, “I never feared you were going to turn me in. Partly because you had already told the police when they showed up that you hadn’t seen anything that night, and partly because . . . well, I was too busy falling for you to think much about it. Maybe I deliberately pushed it out of my mind. Even if I didn’t act like it, I was drawn to you the very night we met, Geet. When you fainted in my arms. I kept my feelings in check because of Sameera. Because of my own ego. Because I’m used to always being in control of my emotions.”

Geet leaned against the desk in the cubicle. The journey from that night in the alley to this very moment was dizzying. Were Maan’s declarations actually true?

“When were you going to tell me about my brother?” It was all Geet could think to say at such a charged moment like this.

“The only answer I have to that is ‘someday.’ I kept trying to tell you, but I would stop myself. I was definitely going to tell you, but not when I was trying to court you. I didn’t want to tell you so soon.”

“Why not?” Geet demanded.

The corner of Maan’s mouth quirked up. “Oh, I don’t know. I had the sneaking suspicion that you might not want to be with me anymore.”

Geet picked up a highlighter from the desk and began fiddling with it. Maan was actually starting to make sense, which somehow made her feel even more on-guard. *Don’t fall for it, Geet.*

Maan hesitated a moment, then walked into the cubicle with Geet. “And I couldn’t risk being apart from you.” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Seeing how loving you were with Neil, how kindhearted you are in general . . . how you took care of me that one drunken night . . . I knew that I wanted you. For always.”

“Please stop,” Geet said brokenly. *Please don’t make me believe you again,* she thought.

Maan held up his hands in surrender and backed out of the cubicle. He walked back to the ledge of the reception desk, opened his briefcase, and took out a thick file folder. “I ask that you read through this file,” he said, setting it down on the ledge. “The answers to your questions are in here. When you’re ready to come home, I’ll be waiting.”

How confident Maan was that Geet would come back to him. How could she betray the memory of her brother by getting close to Maan again?

Maan began to move toward the break room when something came over Geet. “Wait. I have to clear the air about something. I never told you but I saw that you were carrying my background check in your coat pocket. It says that I was evicted from my last shelter due to my ‘wrongdoing,’ and that was completely false.” Why it was so important to Geet that she explained herself to him, she didn’t know.

Geet took a deep breath. “There was a man who would deliver food to the shelter’s cafeteria every morning. He liked me and would always seek me out. When I would ask him to leave me alone, he told the headmistress that it was *me* who was following *him* around. She would give me warnings that I was setting a bad example to the other girls and wouldn’t believe me when I denied it. One day he grabbed me by the shoulder and tried to hug me to him. The headmistress saw and thought it was me coming onto him. She kicked me out that very day, which was when I met you.”

Maan, surprisingly, was nodding. “Yes, I know.”

Geet tilted her head. “You know?”

“When I saw that notation of ‘wrongdoing’ on your background check, I knew there had to be some mistake. I got my investigator to look into what had happened. I can’t believe the headmistress believed that delivery man over you.” Maan clenched his jaw. “But don’t worry. I tracked the man down and, well, it’s best you don’t know what I did, exactly. Let’s just say he won’t be bothering *you* or any other girl again. My investigator also found the headmistress, who is supposed to be writing you an apology letter.”

Blinking, Geet stuttered, “What? Really?”

“Of course. I was carrying around the background check because I wanted to show *you* what it said and that I had cleared your name. I wanted to tell you at the right time, since I knew it must have been an emotional altercation for you.”

Geet could hardly believe her ears. Everything that she thought she knew was turned upside down. Maan stepped closer to Geet once more, then pressed his lips to her forehead. “I would never allow anyone to hurt you, Geet. Or speak badly of you. I always knew you were innocent.”

---

Thank you for reading!

Chapter 25 | (Link to chapter index)

Geet watched the numbers on her alarm clock click from 1:37 a.m. to 1:38 a.m. She was still reeling after such an emotional visit from Maan and Neil, and she couldn’t sleep.

Before Maan had taken him home, Neil threw his little arms around Geet’s neck and vowed to see her in one week. His school was taking a week-long overnight trip to the mountains for an academic retreat. Geet wasn’t sure what to tell him, and simply gave Neil extra hugs and kisses.

Sighing, Geet rolled over in her bed, which was little more than a cot. Indeed, her hostel room was a third the size of “her” room at Maan’s house. Still, she was grateful for a place to stay. She thought of Maan’s words from earlier that day about how he would be waiting for her to come “home.” How could she ever think of the house of the man who had killed her brother as her home?

The file folder that Maan had given her was propped on her scarred wooden desk. She hadn’t flipped through it yet. Maan had told her that it would answer her questions, but, deep down, was she even ready for those answers?

When Maan had asked her why Rocky had never come looking for her, Geet had simply batted the question away. But now it burrowed deep in her mind.

Why *hadn’t* Rocky searched her out?

Geet flipped over her threadbare blanket and stared at the file folder as the clock marched to 1:40 a.m. She took a deep breath. Getting up from the bed and taking a seat at the desk, Geet began to read.

---

Maan’s investigator had compiled a compendium of information, such as interviews, newspaper articles, police transcripts, and other documents. By the time the sun rose in the sky the next morning, Geet hadn’t moved from her chair. Her fingers were shaking as she read and re-read the contents of the folder. How could she have been so in the dark about so many things?

The first document was the transcript of an interview that Maan’s investigator had held on a three-way call with Geet’s foster mother, the one who had told her that Rocky had died after an infection from a rabid animal in the woods, and Rocky’s foster mother.

The investigator had asked for details from both women and quickly realized that Geet’s foster mother had gotten her information wrong. Geet’s foster mother had fostered many children, and it had been the sibling of another foster child who had perished. Geet remembered her foster mother as being flaky and rather inattentive, but this was the true height of irresponsibility and incompetence.

The next few documents were newspaper articles and police reports detailing Rocky’s run-ins with the law as he grew older. Trespassing, assault, robbery, drug overdoses, and three failed suicide attempts. Geet had had to take a break after reading those documents. To her, Rocky would always be the playful eleven-year-old boy like in her dream. He had apparently been battling too many demons to search for his little sister.

The most shocking documents in the folder were five affidavits signed by Maan, Adi, and three of Maan’s men on the date of Rocky’s death in the alley. Geet remembered crouching by a vase in Maan’s hallway the night of the shooting and hearing Maan mention affidavits, which these documents clearly were.

The affidavits detailed how Rocky had wanted to join the gang and soon grew frustrated that he wasn’t able to do higher level work. The night of his death, Rocky had threatened to “do some damage to prove how tough he was,” and Maan and his men had followed him. Ultimately, the group had reached the alley, and Maan and Adi tried to talk some sense into Rocky. Rocky had seemed like he was calming down and then suddenly whipped out a gun he had been carrying and shot himself.

Along with the affidavits was a report by a medical examiner who had ruled that Rocky’s death was consistent with suicide.

There was also a short note that was clipped to the affidavits: “Maan Sir has ordered to (1) preserve these affidavits in case of legal implications, and (2) otherwise not bring attention to the suicide because it would still be considered ‘gun violence’ and the Police Commissioner has been monitoring the organization.”

After reading all of *those* documents, Geet ran into her small washroom and threw up. Her brother had seemed to have lived a tortured life, and it had ended just as tragically. And she had been there when it ended, except didn’t know it. Until now.

Yes, it was possible that Maan, Adi, and his three other men were lying. It was also possible that someone had paid off the medical examiner to confirm that it was a suicide. But even Geet had to admit that it wasn’t entirely unbelievably, especially considering Rocky’s past behavior and suicide attempts.

Plus, something in Geet’s heart and gut knew that Maan was telling the truth. Could it be that it was *Maan* who had been the innocent one all this time?

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I appreciate you reading!

Chapter 26 | (Link to chapter index)

After reading all of the investigator’s documents, Geet washed her face and quickly changed out of her pajamas. She called for a taxi, and was now twisting her hands in her lap as it chugged toward Maan’s house. The meter continued to tick upward, and the rest of her cash would be nearly depleted once she paid the fare. It didn’t matter. She would walk to Maan’s house if it came down to it.

She had so much she wanted to say to Maan. That she was sorry, that she should have given him a chance to explain before leaving him. That she also had grown to care deeply about him, and that she wanted to give their budding relationship a chance. She willed the taxi to go faster, almost bursting with desire to see Maan again.

But when the taxi pulled up to Maan’s house, Geet let out a cry of horror. Maan’s driver was at one end of the driveway, and an ambulance was at the other end. In the car, there were three men along with the driver. Geet vaguely recognized two of them as being in Maan’s gang, but had never seen the other one -- was he affiliated with Sameera’s father’s gang? He looked sullen and like he was itching to break out of the car. Adi was talking to a paramedic before jumping into the back of the ambulance. Pinky was standing off to the side, weeping.

Geet gave all of her cash to the driver, not even bothering to count the bills, and raced out of the taxi. “Pinky!” she shouted, running up to her. “What happened?” *Please, please, please let Maan be okay,* she begged in her head.

Pinky looked up and threw her arms around Geet. “Geet! They hurt Maan! They hurt Maan!”

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“You should eat a little something,” Adi said gently, holding out a candy bar. “I got it from the vending machine.”

In the hospital waiting room, Geet looked up from her slumped position in a hard plastic chair. “Thanks, but that’s okay,” she croaked. “I’m not hungry.”

When Pinky had told Geet that “they” had hurt Maan, Geet had assumed that Sameera and her father had finally carried out the attack on Maan that Geet had been dreading for so long. But Adi said he was still piecing together what happened. All he could say was that he and Pinky had come over early in the morning to check on Maan, as they had been doing lately since Geet had left, and heard Maan’s shouting before they even reached the front door. A man had broken in and inflicted knife wounds on Maan, and Adi had immediately called for back-up for Maan’s men.

Now, Geet, Pinky, and Adi were waiting for news in the hospital waiting area while Maan was being treated in the emergency room. It had been almost an hour, and Geet hoped against hope that Maan was all right. She couldn’t bear to think about his injuries. Finally, a physician in a white coat approached. “Good morning. I’ve been told you are the group waiting for an update on Mr. Khurana.”

“Can we see him?” Geet pleaded.

“Yes, but he might not be up for talking much. He was medicated and is only now coming back to consciousness.” The doctor led Geet down a hallway smelling of disinfectant, the fluorescent lights buzzing overhead.

Geet gasped when approached Maan’s bed. There was an IV drip hooked to Maan’s arm, and his eyes were closed against a sallow countenance. Thick bandages speckled with blood covered his torso and arm. “He will need plenty of rest and recuperation at home to recover,” said the doctor. “I’ll give you two a minute.”

Carefully making her way to him, Geet gingerly rested a palm on his face. “Maan,” she whispered. “I’m here.”

It took a few moments for Maan’s eyes to blink open. When they did, a small smile spread on his face. “You’re here. My angel. You came.”

“Of course I did,” Geet said, her voice clogged with unshed tears. “I . . . I’m so sorry. I read the file. I know it wasn’t you, or your gang, that killed Rocky, but that he committed suicide.”

Wincing, Maan reached up his arm to stroke her cheek. “I wasn’t sure if you would believe it, even with all the evidence, but I swear to you that it’s true. You seemed so protective of Rocky and convinced that he would have done right by you, so I didn’t want to shatter that illusion for you. That’s why I didn’t tell you right away. I was trying to protect you.” Maan’s eyes fluttered closed and his arm dropped back to his chest, as if his speech had zapped the energy from him.

“Rest, sweetheart,” Geet whispered, linking her fingers through his own. “Just rest.”

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