Vijay: The reluctant woman

Chapter 20: The Mastermind

The lodge door creaked open well past midnight. Priyanka stepped inside without a sound, the emerald-green saree still wrapped around her body like a second skin. The peach-colored pallu was now slightly disheveled, the fabric clinging to the curves of her heavy breasts and the soft swell of her bare midriff. Her long braid had loosened, jasmine petals scattered across her shoulder. The kajal around her eyes was smudged, yet her expression remained completely unreadable — a blank, distant mask that gave away nothing.

Suresh was waiting on the edge of the bed, still dressed as Sandhya in the deep blue saree. The moment he saw Vijay’s face, he stood up slowly, concern etching his features. Without a word, he guided Priyanka to sit on the mattress, one gentle hand on her shoulder.

“What happened?” Suresh asked quietly, his voice low and careful. “Tell me everything.”

Vijay stared at the floor for a long moment, the green saree pooling around his legs. Then the words began to spill out — halting at first, then faster, raw and heavy. He described every detail of the meeting: Ramana’s warm smile turning to open lust as his eyes moved over the deep cleavage and bare midriff, the sudden shift to genuine affection when he looked at the face, the sincere proposal, the offer of marriage, the request to move in during the courtship period, the promise of a peaceful life for the children. Vijay’s feminine voice cracked several times as he spoke, the shame and confusion bleeding through every syllable.

Suresh listened without interrupting, his face calm and attentive. When Vijay finally fell silent, Suresh let the quiet stretch for several heartbeats.

“I don’t know what to say, Vijay,” he said at last, his tone gentle but honest. “I know this is difficult for you. Unthinkable, even. The situation you’re in now… no one should ever have to face something like this.” He paused, then added softly, “Just prepare yourself for what’s coming. It’s going to get heavier before it gets lighter.”

A slow, almost imperceptible smirk curved the corner of Suresh’s lips. It was brief — gone in a flash — but Vijay caught it.

Suresh stood up casually, reaching down to pull the end of his blue pallu. He inserted it neatly into the waistband at his hip with practiced ease, adjusting the drape so the saree sat perfectly on his sensual figure. He glanced back at Vijay one last time, offering a small, reassuring smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“I’ll leave you to process what happened,” he said quietly. Then he turned and walked out of the room, closing the door softly behind him.

Vijay remained sitting on the bed, staring at the wall, the weight of the evening pressing down on him like an invisible hand.

Suresh moved down the narrow corridor to the next room. He pushed open the door without knocking.

Ravi was waiting inside, bare-chested, wearing only a simple white lungi tied low on his waist. His muscular torso gleamed under the dim light, broad shoulders and defined chest on full display. Suresh stepped in and closed the door behind him.

For a moment Suresh’s eyes lingered on Ravi’s powerful masculine body with a flash of raw jealousy. Then his gaze dropped to his own reflection in the small mirror on the wall — the deep blue saree hugging his hourglass figure, the ample cleavage rising and falling with each breath, the smooth bare midriff, the feminine curves that had become his prison. His breasts flared noticeably, the blouse straining against them.

Anger flashed across Suresh’s face.

He reached up and yanked the pallu free in one sharp motion, letting it fall. With quick, irritated movements he unwrapped the entire saree, letting the blue fabric pool at his feet until he stood in just the short blouse and petticoat. He sat down heavily on the edge of the bed, the feminine body now even more exposed.

Ravi’s eyes scanned Suresh’s body with open lust, lingering hungrily on the ample cleavage.

Suresh noticed instantly. His voice cracked like a whip.

“We’re inside a closed door,” he snarled. “I am not your item girl here. I am Suresh — your superior. Is that clear?”

Ravi’s face paled. He stood up straight and saluted sharply, exactly like a police officer addressing a senior officer. The sight was surreal — the muscular man in a lungi saluting the half-dressed, voluptuous woman sitting on the bed.

Suresh’s expression remained cold.

Ravi swallowed hard. “Sir… is it true that the big shot we were looking for is actually Ramana? The same man who killed your wife?”

Suresh’s lips curved into a slow, dangerous smirk.

“Yes,” he said softly. “Not only that. The same Ramana is our Vijay’s long-lost elder brother.”

Ravi’s eyes widened in pure shock. “Oh my God… Vijay’s own brother wants to marry him? He just agreed to marry his own brother? We can’t put Vijay through this… he’s a good boy. Stuck as a woman is bad enough. We have to save him from any more of this nightmare…”

The smirk vanished from Suresh’s face.

His feminine features twisted into visible, ice-cold anger.

“Don’t you dare,” Suresh hissed, voice low and lethal. “I have worked for this for two years. This is exactly what I was planning. Do you think Vijay accidentally saw the murder? That he accidentally reached Vijayawada? That he accidentally ended up at Babai’s house? That he accidentally became a sexy woman? That he accidentally joined our troupe? That we accidentally came to this village? That Ramana accidentally fell in love with Vijay’s feminine image?”

Suresh leaned forward, eyes burning.

“Nothing happened accidentally. I was — I am — and I always will be behind every single step. Everything is my fucking plan.”

Ravi stared, stunned into silence.

Suresh’s smile returned, cold and terrifying.

“And you… you think I didn’t know you were working for Ramana all along? I knew it from the very beginning. Every piece of information I gave you was exactly what I wanted you to pass on. You delivered it perfectly. And now we are exactly where I needed Vijay to be.”

Ravi’s face drained of all color. “Sir… why?”

Suresh simply smiled. He slowly slid one feminine hand down his own smooth leg, fingers tracing the skin beneath the petticoat. He pulled the fabric up deliberately, revealing his shapely thighs… and the black leather holster strapped around one leg.

Ravi’s eyes widened in terror. He lunged toward the door.

Suresh’s hand moved like lightning. A short, compact gun with a silencer appeared in his grip. He pulled the trigger twice.

Two soft, muffled *thuds*.

Ravi crumpled to the floor instantly, a dark pool spreading beneath him.

Suresh lowered the gun and looked down at the dead body with calm, unreadable eyes.

“Why?” he repeated softly, almost to himself. “You asked why… I want to give Ramana the exact same pain he gave me.”

His feminine face, still beautiful in the dim light, held a chilling serenity as the weight of years of careful, ruthless planning finally came into focus.

The game had never belonged to anyone else.

It had always been Suresh’s.

To be continued...