Avery's mind was racing. "Your sister?"
Priya walked into the room and closed the door behind her. "Her name was Anjali. She was 24. Beautiful. Kind. In love with the wrong man."
She pointed at the photos in Avery's hands.
"That's her. With Rohan. In Mumbai. Six years ago."
"What happened to her?" Avery asked, even though she was afraid of the answer.
Priya's face hardened. "Rohan happened. They dated for two years. She thought he was going to propose. Instead, she found out he was only with her to get information about my father's company. My father was Rohan's biggest competitor."
"That's... that's horrible. But murder?"
"She confronted him. They had a huge fight. That night, Anjali's car went off a cliff on a mountain road." Priya's voice cracked. "The police said it was an accident. But I know better. Rohan's family paid them off. Millions of dollars to close the case."
Avery felt sick. "Do you have proof?"
"Not enough to reopen the case. But I have this." Priya pulled out her phone and showed Avery a video.
It was dark and grainy, but Avery could make out two people arguing. A man and a woman.
"You used me!" the woman screamed. Anjali.
"Don't be dramatic," the man said. Rohan's voice. "It was business."
"Business? I loved you!"
"Love doesn't exist in my world, Anjali. Only power."
The video cut off.
Avery felt like she couldn't breathe. Was this the man she married?
"Why are you showing me this?" she asked.
Priya looked her straight in the eyes. "Because you're next. Rohan doesn't marry for love. He marries for strategy. Whatever game he's playing with you, it will end badly. It always does."
"He said it was for his grandfather's will—"
"His grandfather has been 'dying' for five years," Priya interrupted. "It's a lie. Everything with Rohan is a lie."
Avery's phone buzzed. A text from Rohan.
Rohan: Where are you? James said you disappeared.
Then another one.
Rohan: Avery, answer me. Now.
"He's looking for you," Priya said. "You need to decide right now. Do you trust him? Or do you trust me?"
Avery looked at the photos again. At Anjali's smiling face. At the funeral. At the newspaper headline.
Her phone buzzed again.
Rohan: I know you're in room 2847. We need to talk. I'm coming up.
"He knows?" Avery gasped.
Priya's eyes widened. "He's tracking you. He's been tracking you this whole time."
Heavy footsteps echoed in the hallway. Getting closer.
"Go!" Priya pushed Avery toward the bathroom. "The window leads to the fire escape. Run. Get far away from him."
"But what about you?"
"I'll be fine. Go. NOW!"
Avery ran to the bathroom. She could hear someone pounding on the door.
"Avery! Open this door!" Rohan's voice. Angry.
She climbed out the window onto the fire escape just as she heard the door burst open.
"Where is she?" Rohan roared.
Avery climbed down as fast as she could. Her hands were slipping on the metal. Her heart was hammering.
She reached the ground and ran. She didn't know where. She just ran.
Behind her, she heard Rohan yelling her name.
She turned a corner into an alley and crashed right into someone.
Strong hands grabbed her arms.
"Gotcha," a man's voice said.
Avery looked up and her blood froze.
It was a man she'd never seen before. Tall. Scarred face. Dead eyes.
"Mrs. Rathore," he said with a nasty smile. "My boss has been waiting to meet you."
"Who—who are you?"
"Someone who knows what your husband really is. And trust me, sweetheart, murder is the least of his crimes."
He dragged her toward a black van parked at the end of the alley.
Avery screamed. She fought. She kicked.
But he was too strong.
The van door opened. Inside, she could see another figure sitting in the shadows.
"Welcome, Avery," the figure said. "We have so much to discuss about your dear husband. And about the seventy-five million dollars he's using to buy your silence."
"Let me go!" Avery screamed.
The man threw her into the van. The door slammed shut.
As the van started moving, Avery heard one more thing that made her blood run cold.
"Take her to the warehouse. And make sure Rohan knows exactly where to find her. This ends tonight."