Healed By Honey (The Roys, #3)

Chapter 4 - Good & Bad

Fate can be so cruel. Fate doesn't care about your preferences. If you need calm, fate will gift you a hurricane. If you're interested in blessings, fate will give you traumas. You may not always understand why things happened the way they did. You may spend your whole life trying to decipher the knockout game fate plays with your life. But ultimately, things will always end just the way it's meant to. It comes unnoticed, but leaves you scarred for the rest of your life.

The knockout punch is always the one you never see coming. – Aimee Mann

It was her father who expressed her dilemma in words. "You? Wasn't it you who protected me yesterday?"

The men came and stood a feet away. Only the coffee table separated them from her father, uncle and brother.

Through the slits of the balcony railings, Ritu observed the men closely. The man at the front wore a worn-out black flannel shirt with a white plain t-shirt underneath, and a pair of black pants with white slip-on shoes. She recognized the person on his right. It was the same person who was yelling nonsense through the mic yesterday. She did not see the other two men before, but from their clothes, it was evident they belonged to the lower working class.

The man at the front cast a downward look. "I apologize for what happened yesterday. It happened in the spur of the moment. Wasn't intentional." His voice was low-pitched, almost modulated. When he talked, he pronounced each and every word loud and clear. There was a hint of guilt trip, but mostly it was smooth and confident.

Abhiraj took a deep breath and exchanged a meaningful glance with Vijay before shifting his gaze on the men again. "Well... have a sit."

As soon as the men settled down around the coffee table, Vijay asked impatiently, "Let's get to the point straight. What exactly are your demands? What's with these protests, harassments, and violence?"

The man with the purple shirt cleared his throat to respond, but was immediately interrupted by Vijay. "We'll only make a conversation with late Mr. Basu's grandson. Unless you're him, please keep your mouth shut."

The man flipped out. "You! Rich filthy people! What do you think of yourself? You've no right to talk to me like that! Do you even know who I am? I'll make sure you understand..." He didn't get to finish his hateful reproach because the man in black tapped on the former's shoulder and tsked. "Aakash, stop. Let me talk."

Although Aakash held back, he was still fuming.

The man in black turned forward and conjoined his palms together. He inclined his head slightly and said, "Let me introduce myself. My name is Jai Basu, the unfortunate grandson of late Mr. Jagannath Basu."

Vijay frowned. "So, you're Jai. Alright then. Let's resolve the matter diplomatically. I'll start with a basic question. Why are you doing this? It's not like we took the plot illegally. We have the legal documents. The bank conducted the auction due to late Mr. Basu's incompetence in returning the loan. Abhimanyu bought the plot in the auction in front of everyone. There's nothing hidden. Then what's with all this drama?"

Jai took a moment before answering, "I am situationally helpless regarding the matter of the orphanage, but the demise of my grandpa has my undivided attention. Until I unearth the assassin, I can't rest. Clearly, the first and foremost suspect is Mr. Abhimanyu Roy."

Abhiraj raised his hand and interrupted, "Just because he talked to your grandfather before the incident happened?"

Jai calmly answered, "Why not? They talked for three minutes straight."

Abhiraj frowned and looked over at his son, "Abhimanyu, what did you talk?"

Abhimanyu fixed his gaze at Jai before saying, "I don't think I'd talk about it here. If the matter is stretching to the court, I better unveil it there. Besides, some matters are better stay between two people. Late Mr. Basu asked me a favour and I said yes. It's not the right time yet to disclose it."