Author's pov

"How's that fucking news able to be published?" Henry is cussing someone on the other side of the phone. "I want damn answers and to clear this fucking mess. I don't care; just find out who did this."

He cut the call at the exact moment James called, "What the fuck is going on?"

"I don't know," Henry answered with a pissed voice and rubbed his face with his palm.

"You don't know???? That fucking news is spreading like wildfire. How could you let that happen.?"

James is angry, and he doesn't like scandals. They both are far away from scandals, except for Richard. But they both make sure his actions never affect their family name.
He never imagined that such a big scandal could be caused by Henry.

"I have no idea, but I swear to God that whoever's behind all this will pay for this............"

"WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOURSELF?"
A loud roar interrupted his conversation, but when he turned to find the source of the voice, a pile of newspapers hit his face like a slap.

That's none other than Samriddhi. When she saw the newspaper, she couldn't control herself and came to him. She is fuming in anger. When she reached his mansion, she met Smith and asked, with venomous, gritted teeth, "Where is he?"

"Ms........" Smith tried to speak, but she stopped him by showing her hand, and without even saying a word, she gave Smith a 'Don't you dare look'. Her eyes were red-shot in anger. She passed Smith. For a second, he was scared.

But Smith knows that's not the time to scare, so he ran behind her.

But she was quick enough to enter, while roaring like a tigress, and throw a newspaper on Henry's face.

Smith was stunned for a second by what just happened. He stepped forward, but Henry stopped him by showing his hand. He stopped right there.

Actually, the news is that Henry is in an intimate relationship with some unknown girl, and that woman is none other than Samriddhi. There are also some intimate pictures of them that were going viral.

Those pictures were edited, of course, because nothing ever happened between them except for two pictures. One is from the night of the party, when she almost tripped because of Karl and Henry was holding her in his arms, and the other is from yesterday, when she stumbled onto him when she got home after grocery shopping.

Yes, she was right yesterday; she had been followed by the paparazzi. She was not hallucinating, and the evidence was right in front of her eyes.

The rest of the pictures were edited, but they were too disgusting. Some of them were kissing and hugging. She is so furious after watching all this.

After throwing the newspaper on his face, there is dead silence for a moment. Neither Samriddhi nor Henry said anything, but only he knew that this was the calm before the storm.

In anger, she stepped closer and started hitting his shoulders and chest with her fist.

Henry didn't flinch once. He took everything in silence.
But she is not silent at all, and with every punch, she is blaming him.
"HOW COULD YOU? 👊
WHAT I EVER DID WRONG TO YOU? 👊
WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?. HUH.? 👊
I HATE YOU. 👊
WHY??????" Screamed this time, and then bam punch 👊

Each and every member of his housekeeping staff is stunned by this woman's behavior. No one ever dared to talk to him in a raised voice except for James, and this tiny little girl is screaming and even dared to hit him.

She is breathless because of all the anger and hitting, but she still doesn't stop.
"What do you want from me? ?👊
I told you I'm not like the sluts you are used to hanging out with.👊
I told you to stay away from me. 👊
Then why?????👊
You humiliated me.👊"
And this time, a little sob left her mouth. She tried to be strong, but these traitor tears don't hold anymore.
"Why did you do this to me.? You and your brother almost got me to rap...."

"ENOUGH!!!!!!!"
Henry roared this time. He didn't even let her complete her sentence, and he held both of her wrists. He didn't let her complete, especially a particular word he didn't want to listen to or let her say.

She didn't flinch but started struggling to get out of his hold, but his hold is so firm that she can't.

"Enough is enough, and don't you dare to say that word ever again." He said it in a calming tone, but not so calm.

"I didn't do anything. I swear. " He tried to make her understand.

Only if she is ready to listen, "leave me."
With a jerk, she frees herself from his grip. "Then what is this? Care to explain or have some logical explanation because, as far as I know, you and your family are the most renowned and wealthy family in the U.S.A., then who dares to do something like that, and you are not so naive that without your knowledge someone dares to publish something against you?" She questioned.

"I'm trying to find out who did this, and trust me..."

"Trying to find? trust?" She cut him off. "Do you even know the meaning of the word trust?."

"Samriddhi, calm down and try to understand. For God's sake, once in life, hear me out." He literally begged.

"Anything left?????" She asked sarcastically.

Henry clenched his jaw and closed his eyes, but he dared to say anything because he knew somehow he was at fault.

"I will find out who did this, and I promise you everything will be handled, and no one dares to blame you for anything. I'll make sure that everything will be alright and be as usual as it used to be. I promise. " He tried to convince her.

"It's easy for you to say that because all of this may be normal for you, but not for me. My reputation has been stained because of you. I'm the one who's going to face humiliation, not you, because I'm not that powerful like you, and it's easy for society to blame the girl. They are calling me by names, not you."

She broke down this time; tears are not ready to stop. Henry took a step forward to console her, but she stepped back. "Don't. "

She wiped her tears and left his mansion, but said before leaving, "I hate you."

Henry is standing there, numb; he doesn't know what to do. For the first time in his life, he didn't like someone's tears. Her tears were like knife stabs in his heart. Her vulnerable state kills him. All he wants is to find that person and make his life hell, whoever did this. Whoever is behind Samriddhi's misery? He wants to give the same pain and humiliation to that person.

She headed back to her home, only to find a crowd of journalists and reporters waiting for her.

The moment she stepped out of her car, God knows from where, they all jumped on her like bees.

They didn't let her pass and started asking absurd questions.
"How long do you know Mr. Henry Brown?" one asked.

"You two seem very close in those pictures."

"Is it serious or just a fling?" Other asked.

"Why you????"

"Or you are just fuck buddies?"

"Are you with him just for his money?"

"How long have you been sleeping together?"

She is feeling numb while listening to all of their baseless accusations. She didn't say a word because she knew no one would ever listen to her. For them, what they saw was the only truth; her story and her perspective didn't really matter to them.

Mrs. Kohli came into the crowd and took her inside with utter difficulty. The crowd tried to get inside, but Namrita was quick enough to close the door.

Samriddhi broke down this time. Her whole life, she didn't let anyone point a finger at her, and now a whole city is accusing her of what she didn't even do.

She locked herself in her room. She is crying nonstop and complaining to God for all her miseries: "Why Bhagwan Ji (God)? Why's it always me? What wrong did I ever do? If I was always a good girl, then why me? Aapne sare dukh mere hisse hi kyu likhe hai? (Why have you written all the misery in my fate?). Mai mumma nu kya jwab du gii agar una nu pta lg gya (if my mother finds out what I'm going to explain to her), oh god. Please, just make it stop. I'm begging you. I can't take your tests anymore, please."

All her miseries got doubled when her boss called her and ordered her to come to the bank right now. She tried to explain it to him, but he didn't even let her complete it and cut the call.

With a heavy heart, she gets ready to leave for the office. Everyone in the house asked her to stay, but she said it was urgent. Her manager ordered her to come, so she couldn't stay home.

She is not in the state to drive, so Namrita drops her bank. The coming bank today is another bad decision; everyone is looking at her with disgusting and judgmental eyes.

She headed towards the manager's office and then knocked on the door. The door was already open when her manager screamed at her, "What the hell have you just done? Do you have any idea? Is this why you are here—to trap a billionaire and get settled down here?
Damn, I should have known that when suddenly The Henry Brown switches his accounts here, that's all your plan to trap him."

"No..sir..it's...not...what...it's .....seems like." She replied, sobbing.

"Cut this bullshit. All your crocodile tears are not going to deceive me." He accused her.

She tried to justify herself, "Please....trust.....me.....i-i"

"Shut up, and I'm not going to let this affect my job, so it would be better if you gave your resignation by yourself."

She looked up with shocked eyes. She had worked hard for this job, , she couldn't give it up on some baseless accusations. "No, sir, please..."

He cut her off. "Enough and write your resignation letter; you have only 30 minutes."

"And on what basis are you forcing her to resign? I'm sure you know you can't force her, or she will sue you."
She heard a calm but threatening voice. Samriddhi turned and saw the man who was the whole and sole reason for her miseries.

She didn't say a word, but her manager dared to say, "Mr. Brown, you should stay out of this matter."

"Oh, really care to explain how? As far as I know, my name is at stake with an innocent girl's reputation. So don't teach me what to do or what not to do." He replied with a clenched jaw.

Samriddhi left the manager's office and went to her desk. Before she could sit down, her colleagues started asking her if the news was true and if Henry was there for her.

Before she could reply, a crowd of paparazzi entered the bank and started taking Samriddhi's pictures and asking the same absurd questions.

She tried to get away from there, but she is surrounded and has no way to escape.

Then, a strong grip held her hand and took her out protectively. She followed him quietly at that moment. She didn't feel like he was her destroyer; instead, he seemed like a knight in shining armor, her savior.

They passed the crowd, his bodyguards are holding everyone back and Henry bring her out safely.

"A-are y-you h-happy n-now?" She asked him when they came out. She was hiccuping because of constant crying.

He turned and said, "You are not in a state to listen, so I'm not going to say anything, but you need to leave from here. Go with Smith, and I promise everything will be fine."

She didn't say anything, and she sat quietly in the car. The moment the car started, she burst out crying. Smith stopped the car and tried to console her: "Ms. Please, boss, I will handle everything, and everything will be alright."

"Y-your boss is the reason." She sobbed.

After that, Smith drove in silence and dropped her off at her place, but he stayed outside of her house as per Henry's order, so no further problems would arise.

She is sitting on the couch quietly, seeing nowhere in particular. She is not crying anymore. Kohli Aunty, and Namrita are also there for her.

Hannah got a call, then switched on the TV.
It's a press conference held by James. He is sitting there with lots of mices on the table and a media panel in front of him.
They all started asking questions, one after another.

"Mr Brown What do you have to say about your brother's scandal?"

"Are you here to justify him?"

"Or it's like always, you have to clean up the mess because brothers don't have the balls."

That enraged him, so he answered bluntly. "You seem more interested in whether they have balls or not, but alas, both of my brothers are not gay, so you're probably never going to find out."

That reporter shut his mouth immediately and didn't ask anything later.

"If you all are interested in my brothers dicks and balls, then I think this press conference ends here, but mark my words, that will be your last interview ever." James said.

James is not a person to mess around with. He doesn't talk much but always gets to the point, whether anyone likes it or not. They all love their jobs, so they sit there quietly.

"First of all, you all proved once again that the media is not real anymore. You will portray a person the way you want him to be. You never realize your false accusations can destroy someone's life, and this time you dared to mess with my family, and I swear, be ready for the consequences." The threat was clear in his words.

Everyone sitting on the panel gulped nervously because they knew James was the man of his word.

"I won't clarify anything because we don't need to. The culprit will tell everything." He said.

"Bring her." He just said those two words, and everyone turned around to see a lady coming, escorted by two bodyguards.

Samriddhi saw her on TV and tried to remember her; she knew she saw her somewhere.

The lady is none other than Veronica. The reporters went crazy after seeing her there. She is a famous model, and her being here causes more confusion.

But because of James's presence, they didn't dare say anything.

Veronica stepped forward to pick up a mic because she didn't dare sit beside James.

"It's all my doing. I forged those pictures; they were not even real." She confessed.

"Why did you do this? Do you have any explanation, Ms. Veronica?" one reporter asked.

"As far as we knew, you were the brand ambassador of Mr. Henry Brown's company. Then why did you try to demolish his name and reputation?" Another reporter asked.

"I have personal reasons." Veronica said in a pissed voice.

"You didn't keep it personal, so they have the right to know." Henry came from behind her and sat beside James. He said it with a clenched jaw, and he was fuming in anger.

Veronica gulped nervously after seeing both brothers sitting calmly, because only she knew that this calm would bring so much chaos into her life.

"I want Mr. Brown...."

"Be specific with details. Ms. Veronica, which Brown? We don't want you to miss any details." James said it sarcastically.

She closed her eyes in frustration and embarrassment, then continued.

"I wanted Mr. Henry Brown, but he denied me, so I did all this to take revenge on him. I couldn't take the rejection, so I did all of this.
I don't know that girl, but she barged into his office with some files the day I tried to make him mine."

That's when Samriddhi's mind rings: 'Yes, that's the girl who was in Henry's arms when I accidentally caught them together. '

Veronica continued on TV. "Her intrusion failed my plan, and Henry slipped out of my hands. Moreover, I lost all of my projects and contracts, so it enraged me, and I decided to take revenge.
I didn't know anything about her, but lowlifes like her are easy to target. So ..........."

"Kinds like you are lowlife, not her, because she sincerely does her work with dignity, not like you, who throws yourself on men." Henry cut her with gritted teeth.

She flinched but didn't say anything. Then James interrupted, "Complete your confession."

"In short, I am behind all of this. All these pictures were edited. They both are innocent."

The whole media panel went crazy after Veronica's confession. They purposely left her with hungry reporters. They started asking her the same absurd questions. Her reputation is ruined on national television, not just because all her contracts have been cancelled; now she is completely jobless with no penny in her hands and James will make sure to throw her behind the bars.

Seeing TV Samriddhi got a little relieved, but still, it hurts. So much damage has been caused, and it can't vanish in a blink. No one can forget her character assassination by strangers.

On the other hand, both brothers were relieved that this matter was over, and they found the culprit. It's all James's doing; he found out that Veronica is behind all this, and they both confronted her.

She didn't see any way to get out of all this, so she confessed everything in front of the media.

"So, brother, happy." James said this while giving him a drink.

"No, she is hurt," Henry replied while shaking his head.

"She'll be fine; give her some time." James assured him.

"I can't see her like that." Henry said sadly.

"Then don't give up on her." James said while tapping his shoulder.

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