Chapter 9: The Truth Demands a Voice

Do I have anything to say?

From Arjun’s gaze, I could feel his hatred and satisfaction. Suddenly, I found it laughable.

He and I are only two years apart. We are real brothers, same father and mother. After Mum died, he and I should have been the only ones left in the world who were close.

I sneered. Gripped the microphone and said: “I want to say—President Priya, your fiancé is spouting nonsense and deliberately slandering me. If, because you love him, you have to watch him turn black into white and fabricate facts, I will write all this truthfully in today’s news release. The public has eyes. If a leader who can’t tell right from wrong develops a project, the public can’t trust it.”

Whether it was the once unruly heiress, or the decisive head now, she should be angry at such a blatant threat.

But she just walked step by step onto the stage under the lights. Standing at the same height, facing me from afar.

She called my name in a very soft voice: “Rohit.”

My heart was suddenly filled with a sourness. I didn’t want to hear her defend Arjun anymore. I turned my head and said, word by word:

“All the accusations against me above are baseless slander. I only had work-related contact with President Priya, my brother’s fiancée, and nothing private—”

“No contact?”

Her voice, when it came, was as soft as the music from a temple bell at dawn, yet it sliced through the crowd’s noise. My breath caught, and the world seemed to pause, waiting for the next word.

Her voice cut through the noise, and for a moment, I forgot the world was watching. What would she say next?