Lawfully Yours - Chapter 11
Chapter 11
Next Morning
The engine purred beneath her fingers as Arundhati steered through the thinning Monday traffic, eyes locked on the road ahead but mind ticking through not the dozen things she had to deal with at Verma & Associates but the damn kiss with Kushal in her uncle’s villa last night.
It had ambushed her.
She still couldn’t believe how she let it happened. One moment, she was pushing Kushal away with her words, flinging their mutual bitterness like knives. The next, his hand was on her waist, her breath caught between fury and surrender, and his lips on hers. It wasn’t just a kiss. It was months of love, pain, pride, and betrayal, all crashing into one forbidden moment.
What the hell had she done?
They were divorcing. Their next court trial was within a month and yet—there she was, last night, melting into the man she had sworn to leave.
She could still feel the heat of his touch, the way his fingers had found the small of her back like they remembered her, as if her body had been waiting all this time for that exact contact. She hated herself for it. But more than that, she hated the truth the kiss had laid bare.
She still wanted him.
Last night, those same thoughts haunted her as she returned from the kitchen. She hadn’t dared to face him again. She didn’t know what she would say—or worse, what she would do—if she saw him. So when the first ray of sunlight spilled across the marble floor of the villa, she acted fast. She typed a quick message to her uncle, just a line—”Heading back to my apartment.”—and slipped out silently. No goodbyes. No morning pleasantries. Because if she stayed even a minute longer, she would have to face Kushal again.
And she couldn’t do that.
Not when her lips still burned. Not when her mind kept replaying that moment like a loop with no exit. Not when her heart was betraying her better judgment.
That kiss wasn’t confusion. It wasn’t weakness. It was hunger.
And worse—he had kissed her like he loved her.
Arundhati blinked back the sting in her eyes as she pulled up at a red light. She couldn't afford this. Couldn’t afford to be swept away by one night of vulnerability wrapped in tuxedos and scotch. They were done. Weren’t they?
She scoffed bitterly. Tell that to her racing pulse. Tell that to her lips that still burned.
They had crossed a line. And now, the only thing more terrifying than their fights… was the possibility that something between them still lived.
She had barely passed the signal at Carter Road when her phone rang. It was from Diya, her assistant.
Composing herself into professional mode again, she pressed the Bluetooth. “Yes, Diya?”
“Ma’am,” Diya’s voice crackled through the speaker, urgency evident, “have you seen the news?”
“News?” Arundhati’s brows furrowed. “What news? I'm enroute to the office. What's happened?”
“Ma’am, a backdated post has gone viral—Anant Mukherjee’s pictures...”
“Pictures? What kind?”
There was a beat of hesitation. Then, Diya’s voice dropped. “Intimate. With a woman. Not Sadhna.”
“What?”
“They’re everywhere. Instagram, Twitter and even news outlets have picked it up. I’ve just sent the links to you.”
Arundhati pulled over sharply, the car jerking to a halt near a café. She fumbled for her phone and tapped open the messages and downloaded the photos. Anant almost shirtless, holding a woman in his arms. Another, kissing her neck in a background of what looks like a pub. Candid, careless, undeniably real pictures dated a year back.
Her stomach sank.
“Who is she?” she asked trying to control her anger.
“Her name’s Noyonika Talwar. She’s given a statement to the media claiming they were involved a year ago, while he was still married to Sadhna.”
The phone felt hot in her hand.
“She mentioned emotional abuse and stated she left him, having no further contact since,” Diya continued. “Now she wants nothing to do with him.”
Arundhati closed her eyes.
“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 all have 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.”