Akash stilled.
Slowly, he lifted his head.
Shauna turned, and her stomach dropped. Rhea and Jiya stood a few feet away, their eyes wide, mouths open, shock written plainly across their faces. She’d forgotten that her sister was supposed to meet her here.
And Jiya? How was she even here?
Fuck.
That morning, right after leaving Akash, she’d frantically messaged their group chat, telling them she needed to talk. She wanted to tell them everything. She needed to talk to them.
About the marriage. About Akash.
Rhea and she were meant to loop Jiya in on a video call. And now both women were standing right in front of her. And they had just caught her kissing Akash—the last man on earth they would have expected to see her with.
“Jee?” Akash said, straightening abruptly. “You’re in town? When did you get here?”
Shauna stepped past him, heat flooding her face. “I thought we were doing a video call with you. When did you come?”
Jiya’s gaze snapped to her first and then to Akash. “After what we just witnessed, how is that the relevant question right now?”
The silence that followed was thick, charged, and deeply uncomfortable.
“We need to talk,” Rhea said, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Uh, okay.” Akash ran a hand through his hair. “I’ll leave you girls to it.”
“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” Rhea shot back. “We need answers from both of you.”
Rhea exchanged a look with Jiya, and then they turned and walked ahead.
Shauna had barely taken a step to follow them when Akash’s fingers closed around her hand, pulling her back. She turned to face him.
“Are we really doing this?” he asked softly. “Will you marry me?”
Her heart stuttered. She really ought to think more about this, but her reply came easily. “Yes.”
This felt right. For her. For Sehgal Media. And for him.
Akash’s expression shifted to one of relief. A smile curved his mouth, and then he reached into his pocket. He pulled out a small black box and flipped it open.
Shauna gasped. “You got me a ring?”
“Every woman deserves a ring,” he said simply.
She arched a brow. “Even in a contract marriage?”
“Even then,” he replied, a faint smile curving his mouth. “And especially when we’re going to try to make it real.”
“It will be hard,” she said softly, her throat tightening. “I don’t know how to trust you or how to be with you.”
“Then we learn. Together.”
She swallowed. “Slowly?”
He nodded. “One day at a time.”
He slid the ring onto her finger. The moment it settled there, an unexpected thrill surged through her. She didn’t fight it. She let it wash over her, let herself feel it fully. This was right. The certainty of that burned through her.
