The bar's backroom was silent now, save for the soft whirring of the old monitor.
Romy stood stiffly, his eyes still fixed on the paused image, the moment Monty, lost in intoxication, kissed a stranger. The picture burned into his mind, unwanted, stirring something he didn't want to name.
He took a deep breath, then stepped out.
A few words, a quiet exchange with the head of security, and a bundle of folded cash later, the footage was gone. Deleted. Erased like it never existed. Romy ensured it.
Not for Monty's sake alone.
But because he couldn't bear the thought of the world seeing Monty like that, vulnerable, exposed, confused. Especially not now, when everything else was already spiraling out of control.
"Come on," he said, his voice rough but composed. "Let's check the cameras outside. There might be more."
Monty nodded silently, still recovering from what he'd seen, what Romy had said. There was confusion swimming in his eyes, but also a flicker of trust. He followed Romy without question.
They accessed the exterior footage.
The grainy black-and-white video rolled, timestamp flickering at the bottom. There she was, Naina. Her frame slipped into view, graceful yet purposeful, her arm looped under Monty's as she dragged him. His legs stumbled, his head drooped. He was barely conscious.
Monty leaned forward, eyes narrowing.
"There. You see that? She's taking me with her. I couldn't even stand properly!"
Romy stared at the screen. The way Naina moved… she wasn't panicking. She wasn't checking if Monty needed help. She looked too calm. Too in control.
"She's not calling for help," Romy muttered. "She's not even looking around like someone worried about you."
Monty quickly saved the footage on his phone and sent it to his father, Prem Choudhry, hoping it would finally tip the scale in his favor.
But when Prem opened the video later that evening, he frowned. The clip played again and again.
From an outsider's eye, it looked like a concerned girlfriend helping her drunk boyfriend. Not suspicious. Not threatening.
Definitely not the damning proof Monty had hoped for.
He called Monty immediately, frustration rising in his voice.
"This isn't any kind of proof," Prem said curtly. "It looks like that girl is just worried about you. Do you think the media will forgive you after seeing this?"
Monty's shoulders slumped as he ended the call. The anger he'd kept bottled inside began to give way to helplessness. Nothing felt real anymore, what he remembered, what he forgot, what he felt. Nothing.
Behind him, Romy's voice broke the silence.
"That footage doesn't clear you... but it doesn't condemn you either," he said gently. "We're still missing pieces."
Monty looked up, defeated. "Maybe because I was the fool. Maybe I let her play me. And now everyone thinks I'm this monster, abuser, liar, cheat."
Romy stepped closer, watching Monty's trembling fingers grip the edge of the table.
"You're not a monster," he said, softer now. "You're someone who trusted the wrong person."
Monty met his eyes.
And for a fleeting second, he wished Romy had been the one to walk him out of that bar. Not Naina
After 2 days.....
The private jet soared into the cottony sky, slicing through the clouds like a blade through silk. In the spacious business-class cabin, Monty and Romy sat side by side, neither speaking for a while.
There was a quiet between them, tense, but not uncomfortable. It was the silence of two people sitting on a ticking truth.
Monty had leaned his head back just minutes earlier, eyes fluttering shut as sleep claimed him, perhaps from exhaustion… or escape. His chest rose and fell steadily, lips slightly parted, his soft features relaxed for the first time in days.
Romy glanced sideways at him, first casually, then longer than he meant to.
It was strange, he thought. The same person who'd been a mystery wrapped in scandal… now looked so peaceful, so heartbreakingly unaware.
Romy's eyes lingered.
And his thoughts began to spiral.
"Why did you do it, Monty?" he asked in his mind, the questions bubbling just beneath the surface."Why did you marry me in Preety's place? Why dress as a bride and stand beside me, say vows under that sacred fire? What were you hiding… and what were you protecting?"
He clenched his fists in his lap, willing his heart to stay quiet. But the ache that bloomed in his chest wouldn't leave.
It wasn't just confusion anymore.
It was betrayal.
And something else.
Longing.
Everything made sense now. Why Monty had been absent during the ceremony. Why the bride had trembled during the vows, speaking in hushed tones. Why the wedding night never happened.
Because the bride was never Preety.
It had been Monty all along.
And yet, Romy had never been allowed the truth. Not until now. Not until fragments of secrets began to form a picture too large to ignore.
He deserved answers.And he would get them, here, in Switzerland, away from prying eyes and ears.
Just then, a slow movement caught Romy's attention.
Monty's eyes blinked open.
Sleep still clung to his lashes, but the moment he met Romy's gaze, firm, unflinching, and intense, his breath hitched.
He shifted in his seat. "What?" he asked, trying to sound casual, even as his voice cracked faintly. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
Romy didn't blink. "Just thinking."
"About what?"
Romy tilted his head. "About everything that doesn't make sense between us."
Monty looked away. "There's a lot that doesn't."
Romy leaned closer, his voice low, almost a whisper. "Then maybe it's time you start telling me the truth."
Monty tensed but said nothing.
Meanwhile, far away in India, Mr. Roy had just instructed Preety to return to Prem Mansion for a few days. "You might feel lonely at home," he had said. "It's better you stay there while Romy's away."
But truthfully, it was a cover no one was to know that Monty had gone in place of anyone else. The trip to Switzerland was strictly confidential, and Mr. Roy trusted only Romy to handle it. No assistants, no guards.
Preety returned to Prem Mansion the same evening. But the tension was thick, her presence more political than emotional. Her eyes occasionally scanned the grand halls as if she expected to see Monty walking down them.
But Monty was miles away, flying toward a different truth.
Back on the jet, the steward brought them drinks, and Monty sipped quietly, trying to shake off the heaviness of Romy's gaze.
But Romy wasn't finished.
"I need you to stay close during this investigation," he said plainly. "And not just because we're looking for evidence against Naina."
Monty arched a brow. "Then why?"
Romy looked into his eyes, unflinching. "Because you owe me answers, Monty. About everything."
Monty opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
He knew this moment would come. But now that it had, he didn't know which truth to begin with.
The one where he ruined Romy's wedding?Or the one where his heart had broken quietly, long before the altar?