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Chapter 1
Ranveer
I am too shocked to move my feet, bewildered at how harsh reality can be. It feels as if I have been hit on my face with a thick iron lump hammer; that’s all I can think of to describe the mayhem within me at the moment. I am still reeling from the fact that in a fraction of a second, my world has turned upside down, something for which I was not ready.
My heart feels so damn heavy and tight in my chest. My entire body is hurting, and my head is throbbing with the avalanche of thoughts whirring in it. A mix of sorrow, guilt, and dubiety is bubbling within me. However, amidst all this, one emotion makes its way to the surface—rage. Fuming with anger, I glare at the woman before me, the biggest mistake of my life. My ex-wife.Fucking Soha.
I regret the very fact that I had ever married her once. She is nothing but a nasty piece of work and a manipulative bitch who never loved me; all she cared for was the numbers in my bank account. Nevertheless, lucky for me, it didn’t take me long to discover her real face. Still, I tried to make things work, but after two fucking years of our marriage, I couldn’t do it anymore. That was it. That’s when I gave her the divorce papers. As expected, she didn’t throw any tantrums and happily signed in return for the hefty alimony. Nonetheless, I didn’t care. All that mattered was that I managed to pull myself out of the misery. Even so, that didn’t stop her from screwing my happiness over the years. The way she enjoyed doing that, I assumed she made it her aim in life.
Mili is the only reason I couldn’t completely cut ties with Soha even though I loathed the very sight of her. Having no option, I continued to have a civil relationship with her, who is well aware that I stay in touch with her only so that I can co-parent Mili. And that includes supporting her financially besides giving her the child maintenance.
Over the years, I did my best to steer clear of her, keeping our meetings to the point, and restricting the communication with each other only to discuss Mili. I always preferred to fly down to Dubai to meet them instead of them visiting me. But just my luck; this one time she showed up with Mili at my doorstep.What do I say? This woman doesn’t have an ounce of self-respect in her. I did make it very clear to her to never drop at my house, especially unannounced. However, she is too uncaring and self-seeking to take anything else into consideration except her own selfish needs. Her coming here uninvited was like a bolt from the blue, which pulled the rug from under my feet.
I am sure she did this intentionally out of some greedy motive of hers, which I am yet to find out. But one thing is for sure. Her fucking visit has wrecked my marriage. She is the reason that Alisha, the only woman I gave my heart to, is not here with me and has bolted out on me. Alisha didn’t even give me a chance to explain why I hid the truth from her. Nothing. Not that I blame her, as somewhere, I am at fault for hiding it from her. Yet, when she simply walked off and disappeared, I panicked. My first reaction was to hunt her down and force her to hear me out. But then, I knew she needed this time. So, even though it shredded my heart to pieces, I unwillingly gave her some time to settle down. Also, before I could reveal the truth to Alisha, I had to first tackle Soha.
My fingers twitch as I remember the devastated look on Alisha’s face when she saw Mili in my arms, calling me Dad. My heart stabs with regret to think that I am the one who brought this hurricane into our lives. It’s because of me that Alisha’s heart has been smashed to pieces. How I wish I could protect her from this trauma! If I had any inkling that this is how she would face reality, then I would have surely confessed it to her earlier and spared her the heartbreak.
My one stupid mistake brought tears to my wife’s eyes, something which I vowed to never let happen.How will I ever convince Alisha to forgive me?
“Daddy, I am so hungry. I want the chocolate cake,” Mili’s sweet voice pulls me out of my troubled thoughts.
I look down at my five-year-old daughter. That’s when I realise I am still standing at the threshold with Mili in my arms. I try to force my thoughts back into some semblance of normalcy, as I don’t want Mili to catch the burns from the fire that is smouldering within me.
“Let’s feed my princess.” I kiss her cheek and head into the kitchen, completely ignoring Soha, who is hot on her heels.
“God! The flight was crazy long. Luckily, I booked business class,” Soha says from close behind. “By the way, you still didn’t tell me who that girl was,” she asks, but I don’t bother to acknowledge both her presence and her question. How I wish I could just shut her off! “Can you stop evading my questions and answer me?” she prompts, annoyance reflecting in her voice.
I smirk over my shoulder at her to see her standing with her hands on her hips, pointedly glaring at me, before I step into the kitchen. “I am sure you won’t like to hear the answer to that,” I counter without giving away anything. “Also, a message or a call would have been highly appreciated before you showed up here unannounced,” I grumble the last bit.
She shrugs her shoulders as if it’s no big deal. “Then how would I have been able to surprise you?”
I am about to retort that it’s more of a shock than a surprise, when Mili puts her tiny soft palms on my cheeks and turns my face towards her. “Daddy, who was that aunty? I found her to be very pretty, just like a princess.”
I grin at my daughter’s words. Not that I am surprised to hear that my daughter resonates with my sentiments. Alisha sure is the most beautiful person inside out.
“She is someone very special to me,” I say honestly. I can’t tell my daughter the truth as of now, but at the same time, I hate to lie to her.
“More than me?” She frowns and pouts.
I smile, kissing her nose. “Nope, she is as important as you,” I say without giving it a thought. No matter what, I can’t deny the fact that Mili is a part of my life. I just hope like hell that Alisha is able to accept this bitter truth that is interwoven into my life.
“Oh!” Mili nods thoughtfully, as if she got the meaning behind my words. I am hoping she won’t ask further, as I won’t know what I am even supposed to explain to her what Alisha means to me. Words just can’t express my feelings for her. To my luck, she focuses her attention back on her previous statement. “Where’s the cake?”
A light chuckle escapes my lips. She is not likely to forget something like that. Shaking my head, I make her sit on the white marble counter. “Stay still while Daddy brings your cake,” I say, tapping her nose. Then, I turn to walk up to the fridge.
“Ranveer, we need to talk,” Soha interrupts as she folds her hands and leans against the counter near the fridge.
“Nope.”I groan in frustration as I pull the plate of cake out of the fridge. I am in no mood to suffer the double torture of getting into a conversation with her and bearing the piercing ache of missing Alisha.
“Too bad, we are still going to have the conversation.”
“Why don’t you say what you have to and then just get the hell out of here?” I clench my jaws and let out my wrath in a low harsh whisper, not wanting Mili to overhear me.
“Ranveer, you have been ignoring my calls and messages. We haven’t spoken in the last couple of months.”
“And I should care because…?”The bitterness in my tone is enough to put her to shame, while I pin her down with my stare. That’s when I notice she has coloured herblack hair to a deep shade of blonde, while her black eyes still display the same wickedness as they did all these years.
“Because we can’t keep going back and forth like this. Mili needs both her parents. Your short visits are not doing any good to either of us. I dealt with it during the last few years, but I can’t. Not anymore. We need to stay together like a normal family. If for nothing else, then at least for your daughter’s betterment.”
