Page 113 of Reckless Hate

“I’m Ved.”

“Viraaj’s son?” her mother whispered.

“Kavita and Viraaj Simha’s son.”

Samantha saw her mother’s eyes flash at the mention of Ved’s mother.

“What are you doing here!” her mother demanded.

“I’m here to check on Samantha.”

“Who are you to check on her?”

Ved’s eyes flashed. “I’m her boyfriend.”

Samantha’s mother looked even more shocked. She stared at Ved for a long moment and then at Samantha. A moment later, she burst out laughing. She hiccupped a couple of times because she was drunk.

“By God, this is so amusing. My daughter managed to trap a Simha even if I couldn’t.” Her mother turned to her. “Congratulations, my love. You landed a good one, so you don’t need your father’s trust fund at all. The Simhas are quite loaded. One of the richest, in fact.”

Samantha’s face burned with angry embarrassment. Her mother was making it sound as though Samantha had deliberately laid out a trap for Ved.

Ved didn’t seem to look concerned. He looked at her mother. “My father mentioned you had proposed to him many times during the university days.”

Samantha’s mother’s eyes flashed angrily. “Yes, I did. I liked him, and it wasn’t just for his money and power. But the bastard thought he was too good for me. Eventually, he went on to marry a nobody. Your mother wasn’t half as beautiful as me or even as interesting. She was just some mousy do-gooder who wanted everyone to like her.”

Samantha knew Ved’s mother hadn’t cared about what people thought about her. Kavita Simha genuinely wanted to help people in need and was kind and affectionate to everyone. Most of the charity deeds that she did weren’t even known by anyone. Samantha knew of them because Ved’s mother had taken her to those places along with Ved.

Samantha’s mother raged on. “But I taught him a good lesson for rejecting me,” she said. “I trapped him in a way I knew he couldn’t get out. I told him that everyone would believe me and not him. No one was ever going to believe that a beautiful woman was forcing herself on a man and the man wasn’t interested.”

There was sudden silence.

“Dammit, Ruby,” Samantha’s stepfather cursed. “What the hell are you saying? That kid is a damn Simha. He could use your words against you.”

Samantha realized that her mother was quite drunk. It not only made her overly emotional, she was also cockily confident.

“He can’t do anything to me. People won’t believe him either. I’m a woman, and I know how to put on a damn good act.” Samantha’s mother stepped towards Ved. “If you don’t get out, I will call the police and tell them that you forced yourself into my home and molested my daughter!”

Samantha was pissed. She had taken enough of her mother’s emotional abuse over the years, but she wasn’t letting her mother threaten her loved one. “That’s enough, Ma,” she said coldly. “Don’t ever threaten Ved again.”

Her mother was furious. “You will do as I say or you will never see Sohan again, let alone adopt him legally like you want to.”

Angry helplessness filled her mind at her mother’s threat. As Sohan’s biological parents, her mother and stepfather held all the rights.

“Samantha doesn’t have to listen to you,” Ved drawled. “Because she will automatically be Sohan’s guardian.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Samantha’s mother asked.

Ved’s mouth twisted before he smiled chillingly. “When you and your husband get arrested, Sohan’s guardianship will be given to Samantha.”

“Arrested? Why the hell will we be arrested—”

As though on cue, half a dozen or so uniformed French policemen came into the house. Samantha’s mother and stepfather looked shocked before they began to put on an act.

“Officer, arrest this guy! He attacked me!”

“Yes, officer. He forced himself inside and even molested my daughter!”

Samantha’s heart thudded in fear for Ved. “They are lying. He is my boyfriend. I called him here.”

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