“I cannot believe Janak suggested this,” Jiya added sharply. “This is so not him.”
“He agrees it’s the right thing to do,” Shauna said quickly. “And we both agree with him.”
Rhea shook her head. “No. No, absolutely not. You can’t just give up your life for a company, Shauna. That’s not okay.”
“I’m not giving it up,” Shauna insisted. “I’m choosing this.”
“And what about you?” Jiya shot at Akash. “How are you even considering this? It’s madness.”
“We’re both okay with it,” Akash said evenly. “This isn’t a sacrifice. It’s a decision we’ve taken together.”
“A terrible one,” Rhea muttered.
Shauna leaned forward. “It’s right for us. And I want this.”
“For as long as we’ve known you two, you’ve fought like cats and dogs,” Jiya said slowly, clearly choosing her words. “We’ve watched you argue and bicker for years, to the point that it had become annoying. And now, suddenly, you’re agreeing to a contract marriage?” She shook her head. “It doesn’t make sense to me.”
Rhea’s gaze shifted to Shauna. “I’ve heard so much about how much he irks you. About how you don’t even like him. And now you’re agreeing to marry him?” Her brows knit together. “And if this is just a contract, then why were you making out with him?”
Jiya turned her attention to Akash, her eyes sharp “How long has this been going on? Or was that your first time, just testing the waters to see if there was chemistry?”
Heat flooded up Shauna’s neck. Akash chuckled under his breath as if this were mildly amusing instead of deeply humiliating. God, what was wrong with him? He lookedinfuriatingly composed while she sat there burning under Rhea and Jiya’s scrutiny, mortified by every second of it.
Rhea’s eyes flicked between them. “Fuck. When did it start?”
“Nine months ago in Singapore,” Akash said without hesitation.
Jiya’s mouth fell open.
“What?” Rhea croaked. “Singapore?”
Jiya flopped back in her chair. “I think I need a drink to listen to this.”
She flagged down a waiter, and while the girls focused on ordering, Shauna reached out and caught Akash’s arm, shaking her head sharply.
“They don’t need to know about Singapore,” she whispered.
He leaned in slightly. “We agreed we’d be honest with the people closest to us. And after what they walked in on, they’re not going to buy half-truths. I just want to get through this interrogation and go home. It’s been a long day.”
She looked at him then. Saw the faint shadows under his eyes. The exhaustion etched into his face. The board’s resistance and constant pressure were clearly wearing him down.
Something warm stirred in her chest. Not pity, but something deeper. A pull she didn’t know how to name and didn’t trust herself to examine too closely.
Rhea tapped the table, snapping their attention back.
Akash filled them in then. He told them about the night in Singapore. How it hadn’t been planned. How it hadn’t been meaningless either. How he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her afterward.
And when Janak had suggested marriage, he’d been shocked. But the more he’d thought about it, the clearer it became that he could do this.
Because it was her. He could do it with Shauna. A marriage between them would give them both what they needed,professionally and otherwise. And if he was being honest, he was glad it was her. Because whatever else had gone wrong between them, the chemistry had never been the problem.
“Fuck,” Jiya cursed. “This is insane.”
“I can’t believe you kept this from us,” Rhea said sharply.
“And what exactly should I have said?” Shauna lifted her chin. “Should I have gone with: Hey girls, guess what? I slept with Akash and I can’t wrap my head around it. And now I can’t stop thinking about him.”
“I couldn’t stop thinking about you either.” Akash took her hand in his, running his thumb over the inside of her wrist. “I’m so glad you’re finally admitting that you felt something that night.”
