Chapter 39

Sabari was stunned when Prasanna uttered Sidharth’s name. Prasanna’s eyes were enjoying Sabari’s reaction to the news. There was an unusual silence for few seconds and Prasanna cleared it.

“Are you Ok Sabari?”

“I just cannot believe what you said just now… Was that Sidharth?”

“Ya… it is him… Your MD…”

“It cannot be… “

“Do you have any reasons for it?”

“Hm.. Nothing specific.. “

“It is hard to believe… But, it is him.. “

“Motive?”

“Betrayal”

“I didn’t get that… Can you explain?”

“As a ‘Chief of the Research Scholars’, Prathap is the top paid employer in your company. In spite of it, Prathap has sent the confidential research papers of the Bionic Project to a foreign Bio Tech company. “

Sabari raised his brows in surprise.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes… That reason was enough for Sidharth to kill Prathap”

“How do you know all these?”

“That is something that you need not know”

Prasanna’s answer raised Sabari’s temper.

“Then, why the hell do you want to tell it to me? You should have reported it to the cops”

“Good point… I don’t have any evidence to prove”

“Being so, what is the need for you to invite me and my wife here?”

“You are the one who is gonna help me”

“What kind of help?”

“I’m sure that Sidharth killed Prathap. But I don’t have evidence. At the same time, Sidharth need to be punished for his crime.”

Sabari was annoyed and replied, “Do as you please… But, what am I to do with that?”

“I’m not going to punish him.. “

“Then, who?”

Prasanna smiled at Sabari and pointed his index finger towards him and replied, “It is you”

Sabari stood and fumed at him.

“Are you *****g playing a game with me?”

Prasanna was unmoved.

“Your anger doesn’t scare me Mr. Sabari…. In a way, you are right… it is kind of a game… “

Ananya who was listening to their conversation, broke her silence.

“I need to talk here…. “

Prasanna smiled at her and said, “You are welcome… please…”

“You said that Sabari have to punish his MD.. Right?”’

“Ya…”

“How??”

“This is one heck of a straight question that I expected Sabari to ask me straight on my face… But he didn’t… Looks like you are eager to do that job”

Prasanna chuckled and continued.

“There are two ways to punish Sidharth… One is the extremist way… and the other one is the Non-violent… Sabari can choose whichever is suitable for him”

Sabari interrupted, “What do you mean?”

“Let me clear that…The extremist path is very straight… Just kill Sidharth…. The non-violent or Ahimsa way of punishing him is to quit from Sidharth’s company. By doing so, the Bionic project would be abandoned forever.”

Sabari and Ananya looked at each other wondering how to respond. A few seconds of silence persisted in the room. Prasanna was waiting for them to respond and he broke the silence.

“Are you guys gonna speak something?”

Sabari replied, “Listen…. If you are sure that Sidharth killed Prathap, you have to report it to the cops… Instead, it doesn’t make any sense asking me to punish him… This is ridiculous and I can’t do that”

“Sidharth is a smart fellow. He planned brilliantly and killed Prathap without leaving any evidence. Though he is away from the clutches of the cops, I want to punish him.”

“If so, you can do that yourself”

“It is not an easy job. Sidharth doesn’t believe anyone so easily. Right now, you are the only person whom he trusts. Only you can do the job for me… I can devise a plan for you to execute”

“What if, I don’t do it?”

Prasanna smiled at him and said, “It is simple. I will send the short film as a DVD to the right people.”

“If your plan is to send it to the cops please do. I will confess about what and why we did. That would bring you the trouble too.”

Prasanna giggled hearing Sabari’s statement.

“What made you laugh?”

“Your assumptions and plans… What made you think that I’m gonna send the DVD to the cops?”

“Who else then?”

“Did you forget the name ‘Abilash’ ?”

Sabari and Ananya were astonished as they heard Abilash’s name.

“How do you know Abilash?”

“Somehow… That doesn’t matter now.. Just imagine your situation if Abilash happens to watch the video”

“No… “

“What??”

“I don’t want that to happen”

“If so, you have to choose one of the two options for Sidharth”

“Ok.. I will choose one”

“Which option?”

“I will quit and stop all the research on Bionic project”

“That’s good… Do it right away… I want you to meet him in person with your resignation letter. Moreover, I need a sort of acknowledgement from Sidharth in some form…”

Sabari nodded his head half-heartedly and replied, “Ok… “

Sabari and Ananya were ready to leave. Prasanna stopped them once again.

“Ananya…. You are not allowed to leave this place. You need to be here until Sabari returns with his resignation acknowledgement from Sidharth… “