Her Corporate Takedown: Entangled with a Billionaire

*CHAPTER 84: SHELLI AND ROSHNI*

"Were you in that much of a daze after our second kiss?"

'So were you,' thought Roshni as he said that.

"Do you really not recognize me, Leiya?"

Roshni's name was at the tip of my tongue and for some reason I really wanted to call him that, but I don't know if that was just my own wishes taking precedence over reason.

"I'm sorry. I really don't think I know you. Are you Shelli's fiancé?"

"Yes, I am. After all that we've been through, it really hurts that you don't recognize me. I even saved you from that horrible experience you went through with Karren."

"This can't be Roshni, can it?" I asked, while looking at Andrei in doubt.

"It is him," Andrei replied.

That's what my gut feeling told me, but I seriously couldn't believe it.

"Are you really Roshni?!"

"It really is me," Roshni said while he stepped in to hug Leiya.

"But how? You look so different. You sound different too. You even dress differently than-"

Roshni stepped back after he hugged her with a huge grin on his face.

"Was that all a disguise?"

"It looks like you're catching on with how this works. Come on, let's have some wine."

We all sat around the table of wine and charcuterie in front of the TV while I stared in awe at Roshni's and Shelli's true appearances.

Before, Roshni had a dark brown complexion with long and thick black hair down to his upper back. However, the most confusing part about his previous persona was that he spoke with a clear Indian accent.

The Roshni before me now was of fairer complexion, had short black hair and spoke with a clear American accent. He sat beside me and we shared one of the large charcuterie boards together while we had a glass of wine.

"Looks like you have something you want to say to me," Roshni said.

"How are you so different now? I completely thought you were Indian."

"I am of Indian descent but now, it’s diluted over several generations. I do make for a pretty convincing Indian when I dress the part, so I use it for my main disguise."

"Trust me, that was extremely convincing. You looked and sounded so much like an Indian that I wouldn't have believed otherwise. Now that I look closely, I can see a bit of it in your features."

"When did you realize that I was an Undercode user?"

"Andrei mentioned that the heirs usually have their partners close by and I always noticed that I had never seen Shelli’s partner. When I thought about it, it made the most sense that you were personally involved with Andrei. The fact that he knew which flavors of crepe we got that night, the fact that you brought me home in the morning exactly when Andrei wanted me to come home and the fact that he colluded with you to pass on the memory card to me in the café, all pointed to evidence that you were an Undercode user and most likely to be Shelli’s fiancé.”

“Oh, you really thought it through.”

“When did you find out that I was involved with Andrei?”

“That same night we spent on the hill. After I went to get the crepes, Andrei and Shelly, our lovely stalkers, came by to update me on the situation. Just so you know, Andrei actually came back during the night when you were sleeping. His excuse was that he would watch over us so that I could sleep, but he was actually staring at you sleeping the whole time.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

“How do you know about that? Weren’t you sleeping?” Andrei asked.

“Not initially,” Roshni replied. “I wished I had fallen asleep so I didn’t have to see you being so creepy.”

“Never mind that. Tell her what happened the first time you and Shelli met.”

I mind a lot actually, though I became more curious about their meeting. “What happened when you two met? When did you both meet?”

"We met when we were ten. Shelli was obsessed with Indian people and Bollywood movies at the time."

"She still is," Andrei cut in.

"So, she specifically asked for an Indian partner. Her family scoured the States for an Indian Undercode user, but Indians rarely have the trait. I was the closest person they could find, so they brought me to be her partner. Can you believe that the first time we met, she said I wasn't brown enough to be Indian? She said that I didn't look anything like the people in the movies, so she rejected me from being her partner."

Andrei and I burst into laughter at the way he said it. Shelli paid us no mind and enjoyed her wine with her eyes closed.

"So, what happened then? It's obvious that she changed her mind."

"I dressed up as one of her favorite characters from her favorite Bollywood movie and acted as that character for a whole week. After that, she caved and I was allowed to be her partner, but now she makes me dress up like Bollywood characters every so often."

"You might have recognized one such time when you went shopping at the K-mall."

I looked at Andrei, confused by his statement.

"Don't you remember seeing a suspicious Indian stalking you everywhere? It might've felt like you saw several of them, since he changed clothes after every store you went to."

"That was Roshni?!"

"Yes, it was."

"By the way, I used my real name at Bolster because I wanted you to trust me, but my public name is actually Kamil. I also use a different Indian disguise than what you're used to at Bolster. It was actually the disguise I used when I followed you at the K-mall, but you might not remember it."

"Since he used his real name, and got close with Gillian, we had to use a completely new disguise," Shelli said.

"That makes sense," I replied.

"Also, I already have your code, but you should take mine now," Roshni held out the notorious black phone and transferred his code to my phone. Sure enough, Roshni's name was registered to the code that came through. Then, we spent another half hour laughing and relaxing over wine and cheese in Shelli's CIA hideout.

"Don't you think that you're drinking too much? Alcohol dulls the reflexes, you know," Roshni said to Andrei.

"A little alcohol won't bother me. And how about you? Alcohol diminishes your typing speed, you know?"

"A little alcohol won't affect my typing speed."

"We'll see."

After we cleared the table, I walked towards the door to head home when I was pushed by Shelli into a bedroom.

Did she want me to sleep over?

I walked into the room and, while stretching, I heard the door close behind me. I was excited about my first girls' sleepover in a long time and I excitedly turned around to see Andrei standing by the door.

"Looks like you'll have to postpone that sleepover," he said, leaning against the door with his shirt half unbuttoned.

"I'd like to turn on the lights," I said while walking towards him.

"Or we could stay just like this," he said while lowering my arm that reached for the light and pulling me into a hug.

I felt as though I wanted to stay in his arms forever…

…only if he wasn't so drunk.

"You look like a mess. You need to sober up properly."

"Do you really think I'm drunk?"

"Yes."

He chuckled as he let go of me, then he turned on the lights.

"You may use the bathroom first. There are spare clothes here."

I snuggled up under the sheets after I finished bathing and put on one of the Netflix shows I was currently following. When Andrei finished bathing, he turned off the lights and sat on the bed beside me to watch the show with me.

"I just want to say, "thank you" again. You really saved me today."

I muted the TV since it sounded like he wanted to talk.

"You're welcome, but I felt like I was being led by the nose, as always. I feel so frustrated that I was duped by that girl for so long."

"Like I said, I kept you in the dark so that she wouldn't get suspicious. You saw how she went to great lengths to make you trust her and how she used Katelyn to antagonize you, all to get you to divulge information about me. She even tried to use Roshni to mislead you. She's by far the most dangerous opponent I've met."

It was unsettling to hear Andrei admit that out loud, but I was happy that he was confiding in me.

"When we were trapped in the control room with Gillian, I thought we would never escape and you never tried to get to the entrance. Did you know Ari would activate the partition?"

"Roshni called her over. Having only one exit that the enemy is in control of makes them think they have you trapped and are in control of the situation. However, all of the rooms or offices that I use have a hidden exit. Gillian was able to c***k some of the hidden doors, but only the ones with the lowest security clearance."

Having lived through that ordeal, I knew how scary it was to face Gillian. Andrei might have thought she was the most dangerous opponent he had faced, but in the end, he got the better of her and won the battle. I couldn't help but imagine how frightening Andrei must be as an opponent to others that deal with him. It was no wonder that Gillian was so aggressive with her attempts to get rid of his ability.

"There's something bothering me though. She said that she used the Anticode to create the virus. How were you able to get rid of it?"

"Weren't we working on a program to fight the Anticode?"

"Do you mean, Paradox? I thought that wasn't complete."

"It's not, but it was a chance to do a trial run today to see if it works."

"Andrei."

"Yes."

"Did you allow all of this to go down today, just to test the paradox program?"

His pearly whites shone through the darkness as he couldn't help but smile when I called him out.

"The best way to deal with an opponent like that is to make them think they've won. After I confirmed that they had the Anticode, it seemed like a great opportunity to test our Paradox program."

"When did you find out that Gillian had the Anticode?"

"Remember I told you that Jeremy used the Anticode in his program that he tried to sell to Mr. Lango."

He must've found it laughable, the way my eyes opened slowly in realization as my mind started to connect all the dots.

"So, you knew that Karren was the spy the entire time?" I forgot he had said that already, but it had all just started to click.

"I was almost certain of it when she came here. It takes one to know one after all."

"Then, was she the one who took the picture of you and Katelyn at the club? You said it was the second spy who took the picture. Why would she do that? In the end, Katelyn had just spread rumors about the two of you by word of mouth."

"My guess was, she wanted to use it to fuel Jeremy's hatred towards me, since he liked Katelyn."

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I feel bad for Jeremy, who was used and then dumped by them."

I buried my head in the sheets I had wrapped around me to try and hide my embarrassment as the entire plot now started to make sense.

"So, the reason you had Roshni and Karren in the same department from the beginning was so he could get close to her. I can't believe I doubted him."

"It's okay. That's what made everything so much more convincing."

"My ignorance, you mean. I hate feeling like I'm not part of the team because you can't depend on me."

"Leiya, you're very much part of the team and I need you more than you know. I'll have you know, this isn't just because of your inexperience. I would use anyone in the same way to achieve the mission."

"I don't want to be manipulated in the slightest. Not anymore! I want to be able to stand my ground in your world…eventually. I just never expected it to be this scary."

"Well, I'm glad you're taking more of an interest in me and my work."

"I'm not really-!"

"Then, do you want to join me on my next job?"

"When is that happening?"

"Right now," he said with a huge grin.