Page 122 of Reckless Dare

He waited until there was only five minutes remaining to the class. That’s when he saw Ava.

He frowned when he saw something strange. Ava’s eyes looking slightly swollen—as though she had been crying.

Angry that Neeraj or someone had dared to upset her, he went to her.

“What happened, Ava?” he asked.

She looked up at him, and he flinched when he saw anger, hate and pain in her eyes.

“I found out,” she said.

He frowned. Did she mean she found out what he was planning to do?

He knew it was impossible. Not even his parents know what he planned.

“Found out what, Ava?” he asked.

“About the dare. About you breaking my heart deliberately.”

He froze.

She watched him with pain and anger in her eyes. “I heard you speak. I heard everything, so don’t try to say it’s a lie.”

The dare wasn’t a lie.

The bell rang, indicating the class would begin. Ava turned and was about to leave when he caught her hand.

“Wait. I need to tell you about my—”

Before he could complete, she slapped him hard on his cheek. There were gasps from the students standing outside the class.

“Don’t touch me!” she said. “I don’t want to talk to you. I hate you!”

He flinched, not because of the slap. He flinched at her words.

CHAPTER 39

Ava woke up in bed and could feel the dull headache that had been persistent for days.

Her heart had turned numb to the pain and she felt empty on the inside. How did she trust her tormentor with her heart?

Maybe I deserve to be betrayed like this.

She hadn’t talked to anyone, not even her parents in days. She didn’t want to talk to anyone or be near people.

Nitya had asked once about why she looked so upset and when Ava didn’t respond, her friend didn’t push. Pooja sensed her hurt too and tried to cheer her up by bringing her sweet treats. Although Ava was happy that Pooja was leading a healthy life and enjoying food, Ava couldn’t bring herself to enjoy the treats.

The agony she felt from the betrayal, cut her too deep.

She told herself that she had to move on. And that she could not let a privileged guy’s dare ruin her. She was at Simha to study and be a doctor like her father.

Taking a shuddering breath, she got out of the bed and prepared for her classes.

It was later in the afternoon when one of the students called out. “See you at the drama club, Ava.”

The words jerked Ava out of the haze when she realized she had a drama class that day.

A part of her wanted to tell the director she would not be able to make it by faking an illness. But another part of her didn’t want to because then her tormentor would think she was pining for him and suffering a broken heart.

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