Page 26 of Married in Vengeance

“So much fun,” the squealer by the lights replied. “Dude, your house is amaze balls.”

Ram wasn’t sure but he thought Aadhya snickered. He glared at her as he tried to formulate a polite answer to that one.

“I was so excited when Aadhya invited us for a sleepover.” Another one, he couldn’t keep track of names, said.

“A sleepover?” he echoed in horror.

“Shit.” Squealer stretched her arms over her head. “I’m going to sleep like a baby tomorrow. That bed was soft as a cloud when I lay in it earlier.”

“Tomorrow?” Ram thought he might pass out. He could actually feel his vision greying at the edges.

“Well duh.” She tapped the lights on and off again. “Tonight’s all about the disco party remember.”

Fuck his life. Ram looked at Aadhya who smiled, her face going in and out of sight with the light still flashing.

She came right up to him, sliding an arm around his shoulder, cupping the nape of his neck and bringing her cheek to his.

“Ruin, my love, comes in varied forms.”

And with that soft whisper and an even softer smile, she grabbed her tormented, apologetic looking best friend and sauntered back towards the bed, leaving him standing alone with the other lunatics clamoring for his attention.

Fourteen

AADHYA

She watchedRam’s entire body get tighter and tighter like a spring being wound too tight. One more twist and he would snap.

A small, bitter smile twisted her own lips as she watched Nidhi chatter away to him about her fashion line. That was a slight exaggeration. Nidhi ran a tailoring unit that catered mostly to friends and family. There weren’t many people outside that circle who even knew what she did.

She could see Ram’s jaw, that very chiseled, slightly stubbled jaw, clench as Nidhi’s inane nattering sent his blood pressure through the roof.

“What are you doing Aadhya?” Gayatri’s tense voice cut through her gleeful thoughts.

“Hmm?” she asked, still watching Ram’s frown get deeper until it seemed to cut actual grooves through his face.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Gayu hissed.

Startled, Aadhya looked at her. “You teach the kids at your school with that mouth?”

Gayatri’s lips thinned into a flat line. “Stop fucking your marriage up before it’s even begun.”

“My marriage was fucked from the moment he tied this around my neck.” She picked up the gold chain around her neck. Shackles came in all forms. Hers was just in twenty four karat gold.

“What do you mean?” Gayatri grabbed her shoulder, shaking her. “What is going on?”

Aadhya opened her mouth, wanting to tell her it was nothing but the whole, sordid story spilled out of her.

Gayatri’s eyes narrowed. “So, what exactly is this crime you’ve committed?”

“I don’t know.”

“Have you asked him?”

“I have. He says I should know,” Aadhya frowned mutinously. Pooja was trailing a finger down Ram’s chest. Aadhya wondered if the bitch needed all her fingers to run that chain of spas she owned.

“Alright, then.” Gayatri clicked her fingers in front of Aadhya’s face, breaking her murderous train of thought. “Let’s think.”

“Think?” Aadhya blinked at her.

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