A Coward

The middle-aged man's body started to tremble when he noticed that no one intervened to mediate. Even his colleagues were standing as mute spectators. There was little that anyone could do when even the Chief Minister was ignoring this event. No one was foolish enough not to notice the hidden meaning behind this action. The head of Security looked at Vandana Sharma for askance who shook her head while concentrating on her mobile.

The middle-aged man closed his eyes for a moment. The trembling stopped as his breathing became steady and his eyes. His eyes looked glazed, and no other emotion could be seen on his face as he walked forward. The middle-aged man bent his knees and caught Divit's shoe. He wiped the drops of soup with his handkerchief while Kala cackled along with other bodyguards of Divit.

The middle-aged man got and stood there with his head bent like a person awaiting punishment. Divit's smile broadened when he saw this action. His ego was satisfied when he saw this Middle-aged man's inner struggle and compromise. The feeling was no different than the time when Divit forcefully grabbed an unwilling woman in front of her relatives, and no one came to her rescue. Finally, that woman would accept her situation and even cooperate with him on the bed. This feeling of conquering minds through instilling fear and despair was quite exhilarating. Divit felt like he was a god during those times.

"Good boy, go play with those who are at your level and don't disturb an elder like me," Divit said as he pinched the middle-aged man's cheek, and returned to his seat. Divit knew that he would be stopped if he tried to do anything more. After all, his would-be sister-in-law was watching from a distance and Mahendra would not want to make a poor impression by spilling blood on this occasion.

The middle-aged walked towards the exit as he did not want to stay in this place for another second.

"Ghani, take a break. I will contact you later. Everything is going to be fine," the Head Of Security patted the middle-aged man's shoulder, trying to comfort him. It was just a token gesture and did not help the middle-aged man feel better, in the least. The middle-aged man nodded his head and went away.

Aditya gazed at the man's back as he left. He was aware through his 'Sensifull' ability that the middle-aged man was someone who preferred death to dishonour. Aditya was sure that this man was going to go berserk, but something changed when he had closed his eyes. It looked like this person, who was called 'Ghani', had remembered something which controlled his impulse in the last second.

At that moment, the middle-aged man's heart calmed down. It seemed that this man had something more valuable than his life and honour, which he needed to protect. The middle-aged man couldn't go against Divit because of this reason.

As for Aditya's conscience, he did not feel guilty for being unable to help this person. The reason was simple; each one had their priorities. Aditya couldn't risk saving an unknown person with no guarantee that he would come out unscathed. Aditya would endanger his life and identity. This action might even threaten his parents' lives by going against Divit in the form of 'Aditya'.

Divit would not need much time to find out that Aditya's parents were in the Organisation's custody. Depending on the Raipath family's authority, Divit could easily make things difficult for Aditya.

Anupama had a guilty look when she saw the man cleaning Divit's boots. She also gazed at him as he left. Aditya had released her long ago, but still, she did not make a move. Anupama looked at Aditya with a complicated gaze. The laughter and merriment of the last few minutes had disappeared.

Aditya noticed Anupama's change and said, "Anu, some things are not as simple as they look. You might think I am a coward and a weakling for not acting. Maybe I am a coward, as I fear the consequences of taking action. It is for the same reason that I stopped you. There was a good chance that you might have saved that man from further humiliation. At the same time, there was a small chance that you might have gotten hurt, which I don't want to see happening to you."

Aditya chuckled as he washed his hands and pointed out, "I feel for the man's pain eventhough I am unable to help him now. At least, I am not the one sitting, drinking wine and gleefully chatting, unphased by this incident and feeling no sympathy for that man."

Anupama's brows pressed when she heard these words. A few moments later, her eyes widened and turned to look at her father. V.V. Acharya was excitedly discussing with Mahendra. Vandana Sharma had a stiff expression, and anyone could see that she was not comfortable. Anupama did not know how to react when she saw her father acting this way.

Kumari lost her appetite because of this incident. Many had already started leaving as no one was n the mood to party anymore. Anupama had to greet them, and so she left after inviting Aditya and others to a private lounge, where they could spend some time before leaving for the night. Because of the guests and her parents, Anupama did not get much time to chat with her friends. Also, Anupama wanted to ask Aditya and others if they knew something about the Raipath Family, which she seemed to have missed.

Aditya's other friends also did not have the mood to stay here anymore and so prepared for going to the private lounge. Kumari also tagged along. Aditya planned to stay for a little time and leave. He had promised Kumari's parents that he would drop her back before midnight.

As Aditya wiped his hands clean, a person came and conveyed a few words. Aditya slightly frowned as he glanced at V.V. Acharya who was in the distance and nodded to the person. Aditya said that he would catch up later and followed that person to the observation deck.

Aditya noticed that Divit was also leaving as he walked out, followed by his bodyguards. Aditya came with a plan to act based on the circumstances. His men were ready to move, and he retained the space to be flexible in his plans.

But Aditya felt that tonight was not ideal for any adventuring due to several reasons. For one, he was not in his prime health which would restrict his movements. Aditya's subordinates were not yet trained to a satisfying level where he could order and forget about them. At best, they could be described as a bunch of hot-blooded, fit amateurs with highly powerful weapons. They were lightly trained in firearms and unarmed combat. Aditya wanted to ask Saira to get them trained, but it would have to wait as he did not plan to make anyone know about 'Rudra', not even his close ones.

Also, Aditya had a tingling sense of danger when he saw the two bodyguards of Mahendra. Aditya had an inkling that these people were not simple. They were many unknown variables which could derail the whole operation if Aditya moved without complete information. Anyway, he got quite a few leads from the discussion of Mahendra and V.V. Acharya. Aditya should be satisfied with this success and wrap things for the night. He might as well go home early and start studying the quantum realm, like Maahi.

So, Aditya could only wait until he was cured and might even have to delay until the Artificial Intelligence was created.