Page 125 of Wicked Trap

Sukanya laughed. “I think Rishaan enjoyed it a bit too much.” The three-year-old’s clothes were covered in mud.

Tanvi smiled. “I’m glad.”

“We’ll see you next week, Tanvi.” Narmada’s voice lowered and she shook her head with a laugh. “I can’t believe those reporters somehow sensed Ma is readying the mansion for the wedding.”

“Must be one of the wedding vendors who leaked the information,” Sukanya said.

Tanvi knew it was impossible to keep the wedding a secret. As long as people didn’t gatecrash the event, she was fine. The Varma brothers would ensure there was enough security placed at the mansion and around the estate.

“I’ll manage the reporters,” she said with a smile.

Waving them goodbye, she walked towards the other side of the parking area where there was lone pickup truck waiting in the distance.

As soon as she opened the truck door and sat inside, it began to move. A deep voice spoke in the tone of a journalist. The man wore a blue checkered shirt and a cap.

“I want to know too, Miss Palki. Why haven’t you married the hot hunk, Mr. Aryan Varma? Why did you reject the poor man’s multiple proposals for five long years?”

Tanvi let out a laugh. She recalled the multiple proposals, most of which were made on a day-to-day basis. “Aryan Varma is an arrogant ass,” she said in a mock, annoyed tone. “The only reason I finally agreed to marry him is because of his family who I happen to love.”

“Huh,” he said. “I thought it was because you are addicted and can’t get enough of Aryan Varma’s massively huge—”

She slapped his arm with a laugh. “Stop it, you jerk!”

“I was about to say huge heart, princess,” he said.

“No, you weren’t!”

He grinned, flashing his dimples.

Tanvi’s stomach fluttered. Even after five years, the man next to her made her feel like how it had been during their initial days of meeting.

“So where are we going?” she asked.

He had come to pick her up from the volunteering event. But no one recognized him because he wasn’t in his usual sports cars or fancy bikes. Instead, he arrived in a pickup truck and was wearing a cap and sunglasses.

“We are going to your place again. Ma has spies in the penthouse to ensure I’m not defiling her future daughter-in-law before the wedding.”

Tanvi’s cheeks heated. Parvathi Vardhaman wanted to follow the tradition of the bride and groom not meeting for a week before the wedding ceremony. But the older woman’s arrogant son had already broken the tradition multiple times.

The pickup truck stopped in front of a big house. Five years ago, Tanvi had moved into the house that belonged to her mother’s family. It was the same house she had spent her first seven years of childhood.

“Are your friends arriving tomorrow?” Arjun asked.

“Yes.”

Rashmi and Kavitha were flying in from the United States and arriving the next day. Tanvi was looking forward to spending time with her friends who would be with her until the wedding. Her other friend, Divya, would be joining them a day before the wedding.

“So technically, we just have tonight then,” Arjun said with a frown.

Tanvi laughed. “The wedding is only five days away,” she reminded.

She knew she would miss him too, even though it would be just four days. They have been together for five years, and they slept together most nights in either his penthouse or her home. She even accompanied him sometimes on business trips to New York or elsewhere. It was only when she visited the Vardhaman Estate that she was given one of the guest rooms, but Arjun still managed to sneak in.

After the wedding, she would officially be able to share his bedroom suite at the estate.

She was very excited about the wedding. Not only would she be marrying the man she loved, but she would also be getting a family who loved her.

Despite what Girish Shetty, the man she grew up thinking was her father, had done to the Vardhaman family, every member of that family welcomed her with open arms. They didn’t hold a grudge against her. If anything, they empathized with her because Girish Shetty was also responsible for the murder of her biological father and mother.

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