Hello, Mr. Major General (1)

Chapter 183 - Fishing For The Truth

Oh. My. God!

Scandalous!

The room erupted into noisy chatter.

Everyone had previously heard that Anand had divorced Rita because she had been too mentally impaired for the two of them to continue living as husband and wife. Anand had dissolved their marriage, but had been kind enough to allow her to continue living in the Shukla residence. Not only that, he had even hired personal caretakers for her.

Anand’s honorable behavior had earned him widespread praise; he had shown himself to be a
responsible man who did his best to provide a comfortable life for his ex-wife, even when his heart had eventually found someone else to love…

But what Shehnaaz had just said changed everything..

“What’s going on? Evidence of General Shukla being cheated on?! That means his ex-wife… had an affair?!”

“…That’s the only explanation, right? I mean, she did say something about it tarnishing Madam Rita’s reputation.”

Although the guests consisted of top-ranking officials in the Indian military and political circles, they were just as fond of gossip as everyone else. They began exchanging their speculations with one another, unable to restrain their curiosity.

Kirat heard what the guests were saying, and grew increasingly livid with every passing minute. She clenched her jaw; she was so annoyed her teeth were in danger of shattering.

She glared balefully at Rita, who had not said anything and was merely standing there smiling at her. She was supposed to be mentally impaired—where was all this coming from?

Kirat inwardly spat on Rita: I thought of you as my best friend, but you betrayed me. You began seducing Ashok Shukla, right after I told you my feelings for him… If you hadn’t seduced him, Ashok would never have treated me like I was invisible…

Kirat’s anger had reached boiling point. She gave a mirthless laugh, and said, “Shehnaaz Gill, you ignorant child, don’t stick your nose in matters you know nothing about. Anand came up with a completely irrelevant reason to
divorce Rita because he wanted to protect her reputation. Why are you airing her dirty laundry now? You think you’re doing her a favor? You’re just making things worse for her!”

“I’m making things worse for her?” Shehnaaz arched an eyebrow. “Prove it. You can’t just say that in front of everyone without any evidence to back up your claims. Have I been mistreating her on a daily basis for the last 16 years? Have I terrorized her, oppressed her? No. So how exactly am I making things worse for her?” Shehnaaz looked directly at Deepika as she said that.

Deepika’s face was full of anger; she stared defiantly back, unrepentant.

Shehnaaz smiled at her. She made a gesture that said: “Just you wait—you’re next.”

“Don’t change the subject. I’m talking about what you’re doing right now, at this very moment. The last 16 years have nothing to do with it.” Kirat clenched her fists as she looked daggers at Shehnaaz. “Rita was an immoral woman. She was having an affair with her brother-in-law. Anand wasn’t going to put up with that,
naturally!”

“Shut up!” Shehnaaz’s expression was stern. “Didn’t you hear what I said? You need evidence to back up your accusations. If you try to tarnish Madam Rita’s reputation
in public, we will take you to court and sue you for defamation. Everyone here is a witness. If the court calls on any one of you to testify in court, I hope that all of you will be brave enough to do your duty.”

…

General Rawat and Chairman Bhatt were seated in a private area within the hall, away from all the other guests. They gaped
at the scene unfolding before them, wondering if they had
accidentally stumbled onto a rehearsal for a farce. They
exchanged a look, and smiled wryly as they shook their heads.