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My mouth went dry at the sight of him in a black sherwani that set off his broad shoulders. It was so unfair that he was allowed to go around looking like…that…on the day that I had to pledge my troth to a man who was the opposite of all…that. Why was he even here?
“Aren’t you supposed to be working?”
I knew that was a stupid question, but I had pinned my hopes on a horrible medical emergency that kept him occupied all day. My life was so difficult already. Did I need Aryan around on the day of my roka, taunting me with the idea of everything that I could never have in life?
I wondered if I could arrange to have him called away for a fake emergency.
“My mother threatened to immolate herself in front of the hospital if I didn’t attend your roka,” he said, dryly.
Oh god! I had forgotten that today was his family’s first social outing after Veer and Nivy announced their fake engagement. His mother wasn’t going to miss a chance to flaunt her doctor son in front of all the royals that she wanted to impress.
And I couldn’t blame her. I’d want to flaunt him too if he was mine. But he wasn’t, and that was the important thing to remember.
So I ignored the hitch in my breath as he came closer and held out a single red rose.
“Umm… what’s this?”
He flashed me his wry smile. The one that made my knees go weak, every damn time. The one that should have been banned on the face of this earth because I was sure it did the same thing to every woman between the ages of eighteen and eighty. And to some men, too.
“I couldn’t find a single florist on the way here from the hospital. So I picked a rose off one of the bushes in your garden. I hope your gardener won’t kill me.”
My heart felt as if it was about to explode. I tried to slow my breathing and firmed my quivering lips. Now was not the time to burst into tears. I refused to cry in front of Aryan.
“He might forgive you, but my mother might not. She’s slightly possessive about her rose bushes. So watch out for diarrhoea powder in your bowl of kheer,” I replied, running a finger over the perfectly bloomed rose.
This wasn’t the first time that someone had given me flowers, but this was the first time that a single rose had done what a roomful of out-of-season tulips couldn’t do. It made me want to load my fears and inhibitions in the Devgarh cannon and blow them out of my life, and throw myself into Aryan’s arms to take a chance on love. But I couldn’t.
Deep’s family would be walking into the ballroom any minute, and Aryan… well he had his Arshia, didn’t he? And it was all my fault.
One day, in a moment of pique when he had taken her side about something quite trivial, I had suggested that she was perfect for him. I hadn’t expected the idiot to take me at my word and ask her out.
But he had, and she had agreed. And now they were dating, and I just wanted to throw something at his fat head. He had no business bringing me roses when he was dating another woman.
I crossed my arms over my chest and tapped my toe impatiently.
“What are you doing here, Aryan?”
He cleared his throat.
“Jessie, I have to tell you something. You might not like it, but it’s very important.”
My heart stilled.
Was he… was he here to tell me that he loved me after all? And that I was making a mistake by marrying Deep?
“It’s about Deep,” he began awkwardly.
My lips turned up into a shaky smile that froze in place as he went on to say the last thing that I ever expected.
“I think he’s cheating on you.”
I shook my head to clear it.
“Excuse me?”
“I didn’t believe it either, but Arshia saw him with someone last night. She was at The Taj last night, and saw him having dinner with a woman, and… well, according to her, they looked quite intimate.”
“What rubbish! Deep would never do such a thing,” I scoffed.
