Rich Brat: Sweet Revenge Of A Lazy Princess

Shreya slurped on her coffee quite greedily making a hell lot of noise that actually resonated real loud in that silent room.

"You are not much for manners, are you?" Abishek asked. Somehow, he actually enjoyed getting to know Shreya. He liked observing her unrestrained self. Even knowing he was a foe, she did not bother to hide herself… and he can see that it came from a place of absolute confidence… in herself and in her people around her.

"Manners consume time and I do not have time to waste on such silly things… Especially with you." Shreya shrugged her shoulders.

Abishek just smiled back quietly.

"Anyways, you won't eat or drink anything I serve you here… so why bother?" She continued after a pause.

Abishek was not surprised by her comment nor did he deny it. After all, this was something they had learned when they were in the army… never to take any food or drinks in hostile territory. That kind of habit gets ingrained in you.

Silence ensued after that until Abishek broke it.

"You know when we started out… it was actually to save people…"

Shreya did not react but she rolled her eyes sarcastically. No explanation he gives is ever going to justify anything he did in front of her, ever.

"When we… I mean me, Abimanyu, and Kabir- Naren's father retired from the army… we actually struggled a lot. We did not really know how to have normal lives anymore. The army was all we knew and we weren't that good at anything else. The army gave us a sense of identity and when we came out, we lost it… And that is not a place you want to be…"

"And that justifies everything you did?" Shreya asked arching her brows delectably.

"NO… of course not. I am not trying to justify myself. I am just trying to figure out when it all went wrong. We were so desperate financially and emotionally that we turned to one thing we knew… we freelanced our skills. And back then, since we decided to do only rescue missions… Nobody will be getting hurt… nobody objected."

"We three were legendary back then. We had a 100% success rate and we earned a reputation for ourselves in that sector… And that reputation was contagious. Slowly, we started taking more jobs that ventured slightly outside the line… and it gradually went from something good to something immoral so fast that we never even noticed. Everything just became a business suddenly… impersonal. After all, even if we did not do it, someone else will. And we wanted to be the ones who did it… we liked the attention and the feeling of superiority it gave."

"And by the time we actually realized what we were becoming, it was already too late." Abishek finished with regret written all over the face.

"If you are looking for someone to comfort you for your granddaughter's death and come and tell you it is not your fault, you are seriously looking for the wrong person. Because I am that person who is going to end up saying 'You had it coming'. I am that person who is going to tell you 'You are just a hypocritic'. You have been doing to same shit to countless people almost all your a.d.u.l.t life… and the same thing happens to you… You suddenly realize that it hurts. Please! I am not a little naïve kid to believe in bullshit like that!" Shreya comments in her same noncommittal unempathetic voice. Her sarcasm with the last sentence couldn't really be missed.

Abishek looked at Shreya and actually smiled looking at her…

"I am actually looking for someone who could tell me that 'I had it coming' actually… It is almost like a breath of fresh air for someone to actually recognize you for the person you are…"

Shreya just gave him a bored look. "Look, you want to get to the part you are actually going to be useful to me or I am getting out of here… I really am not that idle."

Abishek chuckled once again. In some part of him, he actually felt more comfortable talking to Shreya than anyone else at that moment… even when he knew the gesture is not going to be reciprocated.

"I can tell you anything… you just have to ask… Like I said I am done running and hiding…" Abishek said solemnly looking straight at Shreya.

"Well, then let's start with the person who is actually responsible for my parents' death? And Girish uncle's shooting?" Shreya asked.

Even when she was very reluctant and every part of her brain was fighting against it, her instincts actually told her that Abishek was being genuine.

Maybe if they had met in a different place and in different circ.u.mstances, she might have actually been able to believe him right away following her gut as she had always done for so long… but the facts were against her… so she couldn't help but be suspicious of Abishek.

When Shreya first heard about his granddaughter… she was shocked at her but then she actually did not really know what to feel about the whole situation.

Abishek had only one daughter who was married out of the country… and she had a little princess who was just 5 years old.

She looked like a happy child from what she had gathered… and she also knew that Abishek did not really bring any of his children into this business… just like how Abimanyu never brought Malini into this. And Naren was pulled into the business only when his own father had died all of sudden… otherwise… if Kabir had been alive till now… Shreya did not know how Naren's fate would have ended. Maybe even he would have been steered clear of these. And he would have just been an arrogant jerk and not a monster.

At first, Shreya thought that maybe they did not really even trust their own kids to let them in. But looking at Abishek, she knew that they did not want to drag their kids into the hell hole they had made for themselves. And that they might not be exactly proud of syndicate themselves in spite of founding it.

Abishek answered each and every question Shreya had put forth very earnestly. And he did keep his words and answered about anything and everything he possibly knew. He did not hold back even when Shreya insulted him in her ever so sarcastic tone… And he did not lose his composure throughout the conversation no matter what she said… it was the kind of composure who had completely surrendered to their fate after a long struggle… where they had lost every last ounce of self-preservation in them.