Page 73 of A Royal Deception

“I’m not crying for that, Rani Ma. I’m crying because it’s over,” I said with a loud sniff.

“What’s over?” she asked in surprise.

“Everything. Our marriage. My life. My future. Take your pick,” I said bleakly.

“Oh, my dear child! Don’t think like that. Have the two of you fought? It’ll blow over. These things always do.”

I shook my head stubbornly.

“Ranvijay has asked me to leave. He was quite clear about it.”

“He’s an idiot,” exclaimed Rani Ma. “I don’t know what’s got into that boy. It’s all this vigilante business. But don’t give up on him, Shivina. I haven’t seen him so happy in years.”

“I’m sorry, Rani Ma. But I can’t replace his first wife. I can’t fill that hole in his heart,” I said miserably.

“That witch was the one who blew a hole in his heart in the first place,” replied Rani Ma with a loud snort.

“What?” I asked, taken aback at her vehemence.

“Devika never made him happy. But her death did release him from the misery of those daily quarrels.”

She sighed heavily and led me to the big sofa.

“Sit, child. I don’t know what Ranvijay has told you about his first marriage.”

I let out a bitter laugh.

“Nothing. He’s told me nothing of value.”

“Then you need to hear this,” she said firmly.

I didn’t want to hear any more because it wouldn’t make a difference to our marriage. That was over even before it actually began. We’d never had a chance because Ranvijay didn’t want to give us a chance. But Rani Ma was determined to be heard.

“Devika married Ranvijay only for his money. She was in love with someone else, and she cheated on my son throughout their marriage. But she kept acting like Ranvijay was making her actively miserable when my poor son did his best to make her happy. Nothing he did for her was ever enough.Hewas never good enough. Eventually, he discovered the cheating. She was riding in the paddocks behind the palace with her lover when he arrived to confront her about it, and she took off at a gallop out of fear. He gave chase, but before he could catch up with her, she fell off the horse and died.”

My heart hurt for the betrayal Ranvijay had faced. It had turned his heart to stone, and clearly, my love wasn’t strong enough to melt it.

“When he decided to marry Kavya, I was sure she was just like Devika. But then, by a weird twist of fate, he married you, and for the first time in his life, I saw Ranvijay happy. I have arranged many happy marriages in my time, my dear. But even I couldn’t have arranged such a wonderful marriage for my son. So don’t give up on my hardheaded son yet, beta. Be patient with him and give him one more chance.”

I shook my head in denial.

“If I thought I had any chance of melting his heart, I’d give him as many chances as he wanted, Rani Ma. But he doesn’t want any. I’ve been deluding myself into thinking this was anything but a marriage of convenience, and now that I know the truth about how he feels about me, I refuse to stay where I’m not wanted,” I said firmly.

She sighed again, and this time, she looked like she’d aged ten years.

“What do you plan to do?”

“We will move out after Zarna’s exams. I don’t want her to know any of this until then.”

I left her sitting on that sofa and went upstairs, wondering how I could stay in the same room with Ranvijay for the next couple of weeks. But he didn’t put me in that position because he didn’t come home that night.

I cried myself to sleep and woke up in the middle of the night, thinking he’d come back. But his side of the bed was still empty. After that, I lay there hollow-eyed and wide awake until my alarm went off.

Zarna noticed my red-rimmed eyes when I went to her room to get her ready for school, but I passed it off as a cold.

“Don’t lie to me, Di. I know you’ve been crying,” she said worriedly as she shovelled some poha into her mouth. “Did you and RV fight?”

“It’s complicated, Z,” I replied as I made her bed.

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