Page 63 of Married in Vengeance

“No,” Ram replied, still looking at Aadhya. “They did you a favour with the heads-up. Let’s return the favour.”

His father cursed but he turned away from them, making the call and putting the phone to his ear.

“I will fix this, Aadhya,” Ram said, cupping her cheek and tilting her face up so she met his gaze. “Trust me.”

She did. Strangely enough, despite all the upheaval in their lives and in their relationship, she did.

He had her back. Ram did. He had her. The reality of that fact finally cemented itself into her heart soothing its hurt and bruised spaces. Maybe there was hope for them after all.

But first, they had a story to tell. Their story.

Thirty-Five

RAM

The lightson the set of the news show were making him nauseous. He blinked, leaning back in his seat. Aadhya sat beside him, a silent statue.

“Are you okay?” he asked her.

She shook her head, a rebellious curl springing out of her French braid and falling on her cheek. Her hands were clenched in the folds of her red and black Anarkali kurta, the voluminous materials hiding them from everyone else’s gaze.

“I don’t want to be here,” she admitted, sweat beading her brow. Before he could reply, a make-up artist appeared and dabbed it away, using a compact to take the sheen off her face.

“I’m fine,” she told the guy, batting his hands and the brushes they wielded away. “Leave me alone.”

Ram pushed to his feet. “Let’s go.”

“What?” Aadhya stared up at him, wide eyed.

“If you don’t want to do this, we won’t.” He held out a hand to help her to her feet. Aadhya stared at it but didn’t reach for it.

“Just like that?”

Ram nodded. “Just like that.”

She continued to stare at his outstretched hand as people milled around them, getting ready for the interview that was going to implode their lives while supposedly saving it.

“You said this was our best way forward.” She raised her gaze from his hand to his face.

Ram’s jaw clenched, his mind working to find a better option. When he couldn’t, he sighed. “I still believe it is.”

“But if I don’t want to do it, we won’t.” She stared at him, her eyes boring into his.

“We won’t do anything you don’t want to,” he told her, holding her gaze. “I will never stand by and let you be pressured into anything that doesn’t work for you. If there is nothing else you believe about me, believe that.”

A smile, one he’d never expected to see aimed in his direction again, spread across her anxious face.

“Sit down, Husband. We have an interview to ace.”

He sat down. This time she took his hand, her fingers twining through his and he found himself smiling too.

“Let’s do this then, Wife.”

On cue, the interviewer appeared, introducing himself and settling into the seat across from them. The teleprompter across from them lit up and Ram found himself tensing. Years of staying out of the limelight and still, this was what his life had come to.

Across the room, the door opened and Virat slipped in, nodding to Ram before leaning against a far wall, arms folded across his chest. Ram tensed, trying to read Virat’s expression but as always, the other man gave nothing away.

And then it was time. As they called for quiet on set and opening credits rolled, he forced everything else from his mind and focused on what they had to do.

---