Hello, Mr. Major General (1)

Chapter 16: Following the Vine to Find the Melon(4)

The next morning marked the second day of Shehnaaz's coma.

"Has her fever broken?" Sidharth
stood at the door for a while, but, as was usual now, did not enter. He took out a pack of cigarettes from his trouser pocket. He plucked one
out and put it in his mouth, deftly lighting it, and then inhaled once and blew out a ring of smoke. "Will she wake tomorrow?"

"You're getting worried? Feeling concerned all of a sudden?" Sandeep snarked at Sidharth and waved his hand in attempt to dissipate the
cigarette smoke curling in the air.
Unexpectedly, Sandeep detected a tinge of lethality from Sidharth after his snarky comment. He smartened up
and quickly said, "Not to worry, not to worry. Eat dinner first then go for a smoke."

Sidharth remained silent, keeping one hand in his trouser pocket as the other one held the cigarette. He squinted at the murky night sky outside the window, his strong silhouette unmoving.
"I'm not worried." Sidharth flicked the ash and said, "If Shehnaaz's fever doesn't break, should we take her to the hospital?"

"Hospital? Why would you want to take her there when you have me here?" Sandeep gave a snort of extreme contempt. "Wherever I am is where the best medical care is to be
found!"

"Then why does she still have a fever? Why hasn't she awaken?"
Sidharth's questions hit right on the mark. Sandeep gave in to the temporary defeat, unable to provide an answer for all his medical genius was worth.

...

At the same time, it was utter chaos in the Sinha household in the Andheri villa precinct of C City. Arti's father, Gaurav Sinha, had seen the extensive
coverage on the online news and his fury nearly induced heart attack. He bellowed at his wife, Lovely Sinha, "Look at what your nephew has done! My daughter has always been obedient and smart. How could she have
snorted that stuff?"

Lovely's eyes were swollen from crying. She was worried on the one hand about the trouble her daughter was in, and on the other, about her nephew, who was now the prime culprit. She screamed back at her husband. "My nephew was also set up! Both he and Arti are victims!"

"He is a victim?" Gaurav pointed at the door, his face livid. "It's not the first time he's snorted that stuff! I saw it
with my own eyes not long ago! And now you're telling me about him being set up?! It was he who set my daughter up! His whole family set my daughter up!"

"Gaurav Sinha, do you have a conscience or not? How could my brother's family set Arti up? My brother and his wife treat Arti better than even their own daughter. Do you
look down on my side of the family that much?!" Lovely covered her family's faults to an almost desperate extent. She was quick to jump in with retorts as soon as her husband accused her own side of the family.

Kasmira stood on the side, her brows knitting closer and closer together. She couldn't stand to listen anymore and interrupted her parents' fighting. "Father, Mother, now is not the time to blame each other. We have to quickly find Lawyer Singh to get Arti and Bhavik out before things get out of hand."

At these words, Gaurav and Lovely stopped fighting, but they glared at each other relentlessly. They both turned to look at Kasmira. "Kasmira, hurry and find Lawyer Singh, take him to the police station to get your sister
and cousin out."

Kasmira shook her head, "Mother, you take Auntie and Lawyer Singh to the police station. I still have something to
discuss with Father."

"What could be more important than your sister and your cousin?" Lovely was extremely displeased. She jabbed
her finger at Kasmira and screeched. "Do you even understand what is going on here?!"

Kasmira shut her eyes briefly. She passed the phone she had been holding and her voice was low as she said, "Of
course, but there is is something more important. Here, look for yourselves."
Gaurav and Lovely leaned over to look at the screen in Kasmira's hand. They only saw an extremely popular exposé post on one of the Empire's online forums, titled, "Let's Talk About My
Classmate-C University Faculty of Law 4th Year Girl, Arti Sinha". It not only revealed her name and identity clearly, but also the Sinha family history in explicit detail. It even
exposed the news that the Sinha's family business, Sinha Home
Improvement Company, was about to go public.