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She stirred restlessly and her eyes met his in the mirror.
“You can have any woman in the world,” she murmured.
“Except you.”
Jessie turned around in his arms and frowned at him.
“If you really want me so much, why aren’t we together, Aryan?”
He sighed and took a step back. And another.
“Jessie, do you know why I didn’t attend your eighteenth birthday party?”
“Because you had better things to do?”
He shook his head.
“I went home that weekend intending to attend your party. I had saved up for months to buy you a present. And then, I got a harsh reality check.”
“What do you mean?”
“Nivy couldn’t stop talking about the boy band that your mother had hired especially for your birthday. And the diamond necklace that Veer had commissioned for you. And the limited-edition Chanel sling bag that your mother felt was a must-have for every eighteen-year-old princess.”
Jessie shook her head.
“Those are just things.”
“Yes… things. Very, very expensive things that were completely out of my reach, but were part of your everyday life, Jessie. My father took me aside and asked me why I was attending your party. I was honest with him. Told him I wanted to ask you out. And he pointed out that I’d never be able to give you the lifestyle that you were used to.”
“Oh my God!What is wrong with you people? I don’t need anyone togiveme that sort of lifestyle. I can buy all those things on my own, thank you very much,” she snapped.
“Yes, you can. And you would even buy similarly expensive things for your boyfriend or husband, wouldn’t you?”
“Of course! What use is my money if I don’t spend it on the people I love?”
“And how do you think that would make me feel, Jessie? To have my wife buy me things that I can’t afford when I cannot do the same for her? I thought about it, and I realised that I wouldn’t enjoy being a kept man. At all. I’d enter that relationship with a huge chip on my shoulder, and it would eat away at whatever we felt for each other. I didn’t want to hurt you like that, which was why I stayed away from your party.”
Jessie crossed her arms over her chest and looked away. Aryan knew this wasn’t pleasant for her to hear. But she needed to know that he had pushed her away all those years ago because it was the right thing to do. For both of them.
“After all these years, I thought we were past that phase. I’m doing well enough in life that I thought we could be together without money being a factor in our relationship. But I was wrong. You were very willing to think of me as a gold digger, weren’t you?”
“Do you blame me?”
He shook his head.
“I don’t. I understand why you’d believe such a thing. But I’m not prepared to go through life with that level of mistrust between us, Jess. It wouldn’t be a healthy relationship. Not for me. And not for you.”
CHAPTER16
JESSIE
Ipressed my lips together to stop them from wobbling and didn’t allow my tears to fall. Aryan’s words felt like a knife to my heart, but I refused to show him how much it hurt to have him write us off so easily.
He could say what he liked, but if he did want me as much as he claimed to, then he would work hard at solving these misunderstandings between us. Money wasn’t at the root of our differences. It was love, or the lack of it. If Aryan really loved me, then he wouldn’t give up on me so easily.
But here he was, telling me all sorts of lovely things which meant nothing when he wouldn’t back his words with actions. One minute, he raised my hopes by claiming to be miserable without me, and the next minute, he shattered them quite cheerfully, the lying bastard! I was done with these games.
If he didn’t want to be with me, then I didn’t want him either.
