Page 113 of Fixation

He kissed her smiling mouth. “Whatever you want is yours,moyakrasivyy.”

She cupped his face. “You need to know why I was so hesitant to tell you I love you.”

He caught her wrist. “You don’t need to tell me now. Tell me when you’re ready.”

“I’m ready,” Reina said. “Seeing you offer yourself in my place lifted all that stupid fog from my head.”

Shifting away from him, she looked into the distance. “There’s a reason I never trusted men easily. There was a reasonwhy I never had a relationship before you. That reason was my father.”

“Your father?” Vedant asked, confused.

“No,” she quickly amended. “Not Anvay Mehra. He and Sara are my adopted parents—well, mine and Navya’s. Sara is our paternal aunt—our real father’s elder sister. Our biological parents were Gautam and Latika Singh, both deceased.”

“What?” Vedant gasped. “This is huge. Everyone believes Rajiv Mehra has three sisters.”

“Well, I’m sure Navya’s told Armaan. The rest of the world has forgotten this truth, and we prefer it that way.”

“This is unbelievable,” Vedant said.

She smiled. “Sara, Anvay, Rajiv, and Ananya never once made us feel any different. Navya and I learned that families can be happy only once we began living with them. You see, our lives were very different at one time.”

She rested her hands on the railing. “Sara was the elder one, and from a very young age, she showed a keen business acumen and began to work at Poseidon. My father, however, was just another rich, spoilt brat. He was only interested in the money that came into his account every month via Poseidon and his trust fund. He was handsome, charming, and so damn reckless. He thought his wealth and looks entitled him to do what he wanted and get anything he liked. He met my biological mother, Latika, at a social event and was captivated by her. She’d heard of his wild reputation of too much wine, women, and gambling, but he charmed her thoroughly. Additionally, his family background was impressive, and my maternal grandparents were delighted to get their daughter married to one of the heirs of the Poseidon empire. Latika believed marriage would change him, but sadly, it didn’t. He continued his old ways, disregarding her feelings. He only took her out to events to maintain hispublic image as a family man. Otherwise, his many affairs and mistresses kept him occupied.”

She looked at the crashing waves. “Latika never gave up on him. She thought having children would change him. However, he only became worse. His nonchalance about everything gradually eroded her spirit. She wanted to file for divorce, but his father and her parents opposed it, and she was left stuck in a hopeless marriage with no way out.”

“Fuck, that’s so sad,” Vedant said.

“It was…” Reina breathed out. “She soon slipped into depression and took to drinking. I was six, and Navya seven.”

“Oh God…” Vedant exhaled.

“My father was awful,” Reina continued. “Her depression and alcoholism angered him. He became violent and abusive toward her and ignored us. He hated it when one of us cried or complained, so we tried to remain invisible around him. But our mother… she never spoke badly of him to us. She lived for the rare moments of peace between them.”

She traced her finger on the railing. “My mother kept spiralling. One night, she had a violent fight with my father. Navya was sleeping. My mom saw me awake, hiding behind the curtain and took me back to my room. I was only eleven, but I knew she wasn’t alright. She didn’t look well. She was so sad, and she kept rubbing the left side of her chest. She tucked me in bed and returned to her room. She went to sleep and never woke up. I saw her dead body and realised I could’ve tried to help her if only I had seen the signs. That was when I decided I wanted to be a doctor. I couldn’t save my mother, but I would save other lives.”

A tear fell down her cheek. Vedant pulled her against his chest, holding her close. “It wasn’t your fault that she died. You were a child then.”

“My mother suffered a heart attack because of heartache.” Reina sniffed against his chest. “She’d been sad for too long, and it was better this way for her. Soon after, Sara and Anvay proposed to care for Navya and me. But my father wouldn’t agree to let us go live with them. Only after Navya went on a hunger strike and I refused to talk to him that he allowed them to take us in. I think in the end, he was really happy to get rid of us. Now, there was nothing to hold him back from his hedonistic lifestyle. Sara and Anvay offered to adopt us immediately, but again, he didn’t agree for the longest. It just didn’t make sense why he was posturing so much. Nonetheless, other than the rare times he came to visit us, we were mostly free of him. For the first time in our lives, we were living in a happy, healthy environment.”

“How did you both get adopted then?”

Reina shifted slightly, but Vedant kept his arm around her waist, holding her close.

“He agreed only after my grandfather passed away,” Reina said. “I was almost seventeen then. My grandfather had left most of his wealth and Poseidon’s reins to Sara. Gautam got nothing, but he left Navya and me a substantial inheritance. That enraged Gautam to no end. He bartered a deal with the Mehras, agreeing to let them adopt us in exchange for a high-ranking position with a hefty salary at Poseidon, and the freedom to do as he pleased without any interference. Mom agreed for our sake but on the condition that he’d never force us to meet him. He agreed quite easily. In the end, he was waiting to use us to negotiate with his sister. He was that awful. Luckily for us, he passed away soon after and all of us were finally free of him. Rajiv shifted base to Dubai, and we’ve lived here ever since. Over time, everyone forgot that we were adopted. Sara and Anvay became Mom and Dad to us, and Rajiv and Ananya became our siblings. They havenever treated us differently. We fight like normal siblings, and we love one another to bits.”

She looked at Vedant. “But my history with my birth dad changed me. I became quieter and very focused on my studies. In school, while other girls were busy talking about boys and crushes, I was only studying. My family was delighted to learn I wanted to be a doctor. They had several contacts to get me into the best schools because of Poseidon’s name. But I refused to take any favours. I wanted to succeed on my own, and I did.”

“That’s amazing!” He smiled. “I’m sure they’re all proud of you. But wait, did you change your name to Dr. Singh because you thought you’d be treated differently if people learned you’re an heiress?”

“Yes. I didn’t want my career to be marked by even a hint of nepotism. I wanted to succeed on my own, and I did. I took my loathsome biological father’s name just so that no one knew I was Reina Mehra. I became so focused on my career that I forgot who I was. I didn’t put myself first, but then you came along and made me think differently about myself.”

She linked her fingers with his. “You know, the day… the day our birth father bargained for our adoption was the day Navya and I promised one another to never fall in love, for love only brought pain and heartache. He is the reason why I never trusted any man. I was always afraid of falling in love and becoming like my mother, of dying of heartbreak and heartache. But there you were, breaking my resistance, challenging me every moment, making me take notice of you… and I did. I so did. I couldn’t stop thinking of you, of wanting you, and yet I was so scared that you’d hurt me like he hurt my birth mom. And then…”

Vedant wiped the tears she hadn’t realised had been streaming down her face. “And then I actually did hurt you when I pushed you away. Fuck. I’m so sorry, Reina. You know I did itonly to keep you safe. It was wrong of me, and I’m so Goddamn sorry.”

“I know and I believe you, Vedant,” she said. “I realise now that you and I will make mistakes, but as long as we love and trust each other, we will prevail against all odds. We will make it ahead and be happy.”

“We will, I swear it, Reina.” Vedant touched his forehead to hers. “Thank you for sharing this part of yourself with me. Please know that you are always safe with me.”

---