AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Mili can’t stop praising the good time she had with you.” She gives me a fake smile, her black eyes mocking me. I clench my teeth and try to keep a latch on my temper. Since I can’t ask her to leave, I simply nod.
“I am glad that Mili is making friends here. It will make the process easy when I plan to shift here permanently,” she says. Her eyes gauge my expressions, making sure I got the point. “As you must have seen how close she is to Ranveer, I am beginning to hate the idea of keeping her away. Also, I am hoping that will give Ranveer a chance to come around with the idea of us living together as a family. It will be like Mili’s dream come true,” she says and gives me a perfect smile.
I continue to stare at her, as my muscles tense. Her words hurt me deeply and make me wish I had the power to disappear into thin air.
Her face becomes sombre in an instant as she adds, “But that is only possible if you let go of Ranveer. Please, for Mili’s sake, walk away from his life.” Her words are like a punch to the gut, but I fight off the flinch I am feeling from their impact. “I didn’t mean to hurt you, but I couldn’t stop myself from giving this one shot for Mili’s well-being.”
Of course, she has every intention of hurting me. She wanted to make it clear that with Mili, she will always have the upper hand, and in the end, Ranveer will be hers.
“Who is she?” Siddh interrupts, looking from Soha to me.
Soha keeps staring at me, her eyebrows arched as she waits for my answer. “That’s Ranveer’s ex-wife,” I reply while still staring at Soha. As soon as I say that, she gives me a triumphant smile. I presume hearing the word ‘ex-wife’ doesn’t bother her as much as my discomfort pleasures her.
“And Mili is Ranveer’s daughter,” she adds. “I wish I could continue this conversation, but I am meeting Ranveer and Mili for lunch, and I don’t want to keep them waiting,” she says, rising to her feet.
“Sure,” I mumble, hoping I never have to see her again.
Without giving me another glance, she turns on her heels and saunters out, making sure she is getting all the attention from the men sitting at a corner table. The sight makes me nauseous. Soon, she walks out of the joint.
Siddh is stumped for a second. He then clears his throat and asks, “Ranveer… er… your husband has… an ex-wife?”
“He does,” I confirm, because that’s the reality, though it totally sucks. “Are we done here? Or do you have anything else to say?” I snap at him, impatient to change the subject, and leave this place as soon as possible.
“There is one thing I need to discuss,” he replies.
“What’s that?” I hiss, hoping this discussion ends as quickly as possible. I am not able to concentrate on anything, because all I can think about is Soha and Ranveer with Mili and how perfectly they fit each other.
“Our house back in London which we picked together… I thought of putting it up for sale,” he says and pauses for a moment. He then lowers his gaze and licks his lips before adding, “Now that you don’t have plans to ever come back, it would make sense.”
I squeeze my eyes close and rub my forehead. “Do what you feel is the best. I don’t want to have anything to do with it.”
“It’s on our joint name, so you will have to fly down to London for the paperwork and also collect your share,” he reasons.
My eyes open just enough to glare at him. “You can mail me the sale deed for me to sign, and sure as hell keep the money.”
“Just think about it once.” He runs his hands through his hair with his eyes locked on mine, and the look he gives me is filled with remorse and sorrow which should not make me feel bad for him, but still, it does. I nod my head in reply. “I never wanted to hurt you,” he murmurs. The emotions I used to have for him in the past, rear up. I don’t desire him; I don’t even like him anymore, but a part of me still feels sorry for him. I am disheartened he failed to be the person I assumed him to be.
“Some things are not in our control,” I say. My throat feels constricted due to all the emotions welling up in me, but somehow, I hold myself. He nods once before he rises to his feet and stands there staring at me for a long moment, probably hoping I would change my mind. But when I don’t budge, his shoulders slump, after which he turns around and leaves.
I watch him go after which I drop my head onto my arms which are folded on the table. My throat chokes up even more and unshed tears burn my eyes. I am cudgelling my brains, despite being aware of the pros and cons of getting into this disaster. For that matter, I don’t know if we would have even made a good couple if he hadn’t gone behind my back, and that is one of the toughest things for me to reconcile myself to. It’s easy to feel hateful, especially towards the person whom you trusted and who has betrayed and hurt you, but that doesn’t imply you can’t be concerned about them, even if you ought not to, even if you feel irked with yourself for empathising with such a person.
Chapter 13
Ranveer
I scrawl my signature across the bottom page of the revised invoice that my secretary dropped on my desk earlier this afternoon. Letting go of my black Mont Blanc pen on the top of the document with more force than needed, I lean back in my black leather chair with a frustrated sigh, wondering how many more days I can bear the underlying tension that’s brewing between Alisha and me. Running my hand through my hair, I try to ease my body, try to make myself believe that the distance between us isn’t permanent, and soon, we will traverse this bridge. It doesn’t matter whether, at present, we are together or not. Either way, the love between us is there, intact, and this makes it special. But no matter how many times I try to soothe myself, I just can’t. My mind is generating immense frustration in this current torrent of tangled situations life has presented me with.
“You still look like shit, man. I assume Alisha still hasn’t taken your sorry ass back. Not that I am surprised.”
I know Akshay is provoking me, trying to push all the wrong buttons. In reality, he is only here to check on me. He worries for me and knows how much Alisha’s absence affects me. He made it perfectly clear to me that he would stand by my side as a good friend, like he has always done. However, that doesn’t stop him from trying to annoy the hell out of me.
“Payback is a bitch. You are aware of that, right?” I clench my fists on the desk in front of me, leaning forward. The threat of murder which is written all over my face unfortunately doesn’t daunt him a bit, as I watch him saunter across my office. “A prior appointment would have been appreciated and made me more prepared for this unpalatable yet unavoidable encounter.”
He shoots me a cheeky grin as he drops into the plush revolving chair in front of my desk. “You don’t have to act like a grumpy bear. I just came to check on how you are doing.”
“Am doing fucking great, and am on top of the world,” I snap back, not in the mood for this causerie bullshit.
“By the look on your face, I don’t think I can agree with you. You are anything but happy.”
