Page 116 of Addiction

Her face fell. “Who are you, Mihir? I don’t recognise you anymore.”

“I am who I am because of your betrayal and your deception.”

Ananya stared at him for a long moment. She walked closer to Mihir who lifted his chin and looked down at her. Very casually, she pulled the gold chain from inside her t-shirt and dropped it down on her chest. Mihir’s eyes fell on the chain exactly as she’d intended and they widened.

Fuck. Armaan shut his eyes for a brief second. The situation had just gone from bad to a whole lot worse.

“How the fuck do you have this?” Mihir roared. He put a finger through the chain and tugged on it, ensuring he didn’t touch Ananya at all. “I want this ring back.”

Ananya flicked the chain from his fingers and stepped back, looking satisfied. “Sorry, since I have had this ring for more than what, seven years now, I think it belongs to me.”

“Anna,” Mihir began.

“You lost the right to call me that after you rejected me over and over again. My name is Ananya,” she hissed. “Address me as such or not at all.”

“You don’t get to dictate to me ever,Anna.”

“You asshole.”

Mihir took an irate step near her.

“Navya, look,” Armaan interjected. “Mihir and Ananya are in a room together, and they’re talking. Isn’t that what you stipulated as a precondition for dating me? See, I’ve fulfilled it.”

“What?” Ananya and Mihir both said at the same time.

Navya giggled. “They’re not talking; they’re biting each other’s head off.”

“Shut up, both of you,” Ananya snapped.

“I want my ring,” Mihir ordered.

“You will never have it.”

“I’ve been avoiding a war with you for years,Anna. Don’t give me a reason to fight with you. That ring is my legacy. I will destroy you for it.”

“Not if I destroy you first,” Ananya challenged him.

“Guys,” Armaan interrupted. “No one is destroying anyone, okay?”

Ignoring Armaan, she stepped closer to Mihir. “You want a war, Mihir, I’ll gladly give you one. I’ve wasted years of my life yearning for a selfish bastard like you. But now, I’m done. I’m done pining over you. I’m done hoping to have a decent conversation with you to clear the air. I don’t even care what you think of me anymore. You are an asshole, and you don’t deserve me. Ever since that yacht incident, I’ve been miserable, depressed, and upset because of you. I’ve even stopped looking after myself. But that stops today. I can’t get those tears and years back, but I will get retribution for the time I wasted on you.” She lifted her head higher. “From this day on, revenge has a new name for you, and it is Ananya Mehra.”

Mihir’s lips curved. “Fancy words, but then you always had a good play on language,da?” He lowered his face to hers. “Bring it on. Let me see what you got,Anna.”

“Never even in my wildest dreams, I imagined I’d feel this for you, much less say it, but I truly hate you from the bottom of my heart,” Ananya seethed.

Mihir’s lips tightened. “Good, now you know what it feels like.”

They stared at each other for a hot, charged moment before Ananya walked away from him. Reaching the door, she looked sideways, “Don’t forget to read the next issue of Noir. It will be the beginning of your doom, Mihir Oshnov.”

With those parting words, Ananya stormed away. Mihir opened the terrace doors in the direction opposite her and left through them.

“Have they gone?” Vedant asked aloud.

“Fuck, yeah,” Armaan replied.

“Am I the only one here who thinks that that conversation was filled with sexual tension?” Vedant sounded extremely amused.

“So much so that I wanted to fan myself,” Navya murmured.

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