Page 85 of Married in Vengeance

“It’s not about what I think but what I know.”

“And what do you know?” she challenged.

“I know that Ram signed those papers, but you still haven’t. You didn’t even look at it until now.”

His words slammed through her like a sledgehammer. “I’m not taking his money,” she told him, her voice quavering.

“Tell him. Not me.” Aarush watched her steadily.

“He betrayed me.”

“And I abandoned Priyanka at a bus stop.” Aarush rubbed a tired hand over the back of his neck. “You defended me until the bitter end and Priya eventually forgave me.”

“You had your reasons,” she said.

“And Ram had his.”

“Yours were valid!” she fired up.

“Who’s to judge, Chinna?” Aarush shrugged. “At the end of the day, the real question is, not can you forgive him but do you want to forgive him?”

Aadhya didn’t answer, her throat clogging with unspoken emotion.

“You’re the only one who can answer that question.” Aarush’s eyes softened at her obvious distress. “He’s a good guy, Aadhya. One of the best, to be honest. It doesn’t justify what he did but itdoes tell us that he’s as human as the rest of us. He screwed up once like the rest of us peasants do on a regular basis. His halo is just a bit askew now, that’s all.”

He came over to where Aadhya stood, silent tears streaming down her face. “And none of that matters if you don’t want to forgive him. You should do what you want to do. Only what you want to do.”

She buried her face in his shirt, sobbing openly now. Aarush smoothed her curls back from her damp cheeks.

“What do you want Aadhya?” he asked again.

“I want him,” she whispered, a weight sloughing off her shoulders at the admission. “I want him.”

Forty-Seven

RAM

He stoodoutside the palatial mansion that was home to the family that owned and had built most of the property in the state. Thunder boomed through the night sky as he looked up at the lit windows. He knew exactly which one was Aadhya’s.

Second floor, third window to the right. The blinds were drawn close and he couldn’t see anything but he leaned against the car, looking up, hoping for a glimpse of something. A shadow, a profile…anything.

But nothing. He’d been standing out here in the dark, leaning against his car and staring at her window for hours now. And he’d seen nothing. This was what his life had come to. This moment on the pavement like a doomed Roadside Romeo.

A bolt of lightning streaked through the sky and the heavens opened up, rain pounding down and drenching him in seconds.

“Saab.” The Reddy’s security guard hurried over with an umbrella, but Ram shook his head, patting the man on his shoulder in thanks. The man hovered for a second more before regretfully moving back to his post and the dry warmth of his security cabin.

A second later, his phone rang. He swiped it open and put the phone to his ear.

“You’re stressing my security out,” Aarush growled in his ear. “Either come in or leave.”

“I don’t think I’m welcome in your home.”

Aarush sighed. “Fuck you Ram. Come in.”

“No.”

“Then leave. You’re getting soaked.”

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