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Her gaze alternated between the twins. “I really don’t understand what is going on here. Why are you here and talking to me? Why did you send me that picture of Rajiv and that woman? Who is she?”
Vihaan shared a look with his brother before addressing her again. “If we take you somewhere, will you promise to only observe and not react?”
The furrow between her brows deepened. What in the world was going on? However, as usual, her curiosity had been piqued, and if this concerned Rajiv, then she definitely wanted to find out what was going on. She nodded.
The two men guided her to a far corner that was hidden behind potted plants. Her eyes widened, as from the corner, she saw Rajiv chatting with a gorgeous dark-haired woman. The whole of the woman’s right arm was covered in stunning tattoos. They weren’t looking to the side where she stood, but sat together, clearly engrossed in one another. They were seated at a table far enough that she couldn’t hear their conversation.
“She’s our sister, Avantika,” Aaryan told her, his voice low.
Relief began to wriggle in her heart. Avantika could simply be Rajiv’s friend. There was nothing more to it. But if she was his friend, then who was the model he was out with last night? Just like that, the relief withered and died again.
“You ought to know that it’s her birthday today,” Vihaan added.
She looked at him in confusion. “Not sure how that is relevant to me.”
“Well, it should be,” Aaryan said, “because any minute now, he’s going to ask her to marry him.”
The air sucked out of Sheena’s lungs. She felt like she was punched. Her mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out.
Vihaan continued, “Yeah, he’s been asking her to marry him every year on her birthday for seven years now. Although, I have a feeling today is the day when she finally will give him a reply that will make all of us happy.”
Her heart felt like it was shrivelling up. So many questions raised their ugly heads, but she was too shocked to think about them. She focused on the most important thing—the man she loved was sitting with some woman he’d been wanting to marry since years, and the said woman would most likely be accepting his proposal today if what her brothers said was true.
Her ears began to ring. It was the torturous sound of her heart breaking. Was Rajiv in love with Avantika? Is that why he’d been proposing to her every year? Why had she refused him so far?
Oh God. Is that why he’d told Sheena not to think of marriage and commitment? Because he knew he’d never marry Sheena. Is that why he’d never admitted that he loved her? Because his heart belonged to someone else. Which meant… God, it meant he had merely used her to fulfil a need. But if he was that serious about Avantika, then why had he been out with another woman last night? Why had he been sleeping with Sheena then? What kind of a man was he? Nothing was making sense.
Rajiv and the woman stood. She held his arm and said something to him. His head hung for a moment before he shook it and replied to her. The woman’s face brightened into a smile. She nodded. Relief was immediately etched on his face. They both spoke happily for a few seconds before she caught him in a hug and kissed his cheek. Sheena wanted to throw up.
“Looks like that got sorted,” Aaryan said.
“Oh, finally,” Vihaan said. “I’m so glad that decision is finally made, and we can all go about our lives.”
She stared at the two men, her eyes welling up. How cruel were they to make her witness this! It was clear that Rajiv had asked Avantika to marry him, and she had agreed.
Before she could say anything to them, a young boy came running to Rajiv and the woman. The boy looked to be about five or six. He went to Avantika, hugging her legs. The smile she bestowed on him was so warm, affectionate, and proud that Sheena was certain he was Avantika’s son.
The boy’s eyes fell on Rajiv, and they brightened with delight. He launched himself at Rajiv. Rajiv caught him in his arms and swept him off the ground, twirling him in a small circle. He kissed his forehead before holding him in his arms. Rajiv lifted a wrapped gift from the table and handed it to him. The boy accepted it happily. Avantika told the child something, and the boy scrambled out of Rajiv’s arms and ran back in the direction he’d come from.
Her muddled brain couldn’t make sense of anything. Was this boy Rajiv’s son? Oh God. She didn’t know what to think any more.
She backed a step. Suddenly, Rajiv’s eyes fell on her. His eyes widened. He looked from her to his friends. His gaze hardened, and then he rushed to her. She began to back away from him, shaking her head.
She ran out of the restaurant. Luckily, a cab stopped just in front of her. She climbed inside and called her brother, weeping as she told him everything. Her brother was mad, so mad at Rajiv. He was willing to fly out immediately to face Rajiv, but she didn’t want any of that drama happening. She simply wanted to leave. Kabier, thus, promised her that he’d have a ticket ready for her to return to Mumbai organized in the next few minutes. She entered her apartment and began to pack her bag. She wasn’t going to stay here, not for a second longer. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. Her tears hadn’t stopped since she’d seen Rajiv with that woman. Pain continued to bite at her insides. God. It hurt. Everything hurt, and she had no one else to blame but herself.
Her brother had warned her. Yet, she had followed her heart and her instincts, and once again, her instincts had let her down.
32
“Going somewhere, Princess?”
Sheena swung around and glared at him through tear-stained eyes. Rajiv continued to lean against her bedroom door, watching her. Ignoring him, Sheena continued to pack her bag.
“Ignoring me isn’t going to make me go away,” he told her. She’d given him the code to her house long ago. He’d been using it for so long that he hadn’t even hesitated to enter her house now.
Sheena didn’t reply. He continued to study her. Seeing her at that restaurant, watching Avantika and him, seeing the hurt and pain on her face, the disbelief and distrust that she had most definitely felt for him had jarred him. His friends had deliberately brought her there as a wake-up call to him. The thing was that he’d woken up to his reality even before their intervention. Now, he had to convince Sheena of that. She looked up, found him watching her, and scowled.
Seeing his lips curve, she stormed toward him. “Get out of my house. Now. I don’t want you here.”
