Page 59 of Fixation

Laila stood. “Youdon’t get to decide on my behalf.”

She stormed out, leaving Su Min and her behind.

“That went badly,” Su Min said.

Reina sighed. “She’s behaving like a complete bitch.”

“Because she knows he’s into you.”

Reina gaped at her.

“Oh, come on, Reina,” Su Min scoffed. “I saw him stepping out of the corner with you. I saw him take your coffee mug and drink from it. I know it was yours because you were sipping from it earlier. You can deny it all you want, but I know there is something between you two.”

Reina stayed silent, her heart in turmoil.

“Look, your secret is safe with me. I’m not going to tell anyone anything. But you need to be careful of Laila,” Su Min said. “I’ve spent a lot of time with her in the last month, and she can get vicious and vindictive. I have no doubt she will cause trouble for you with Dr. Williams. You cannot put anything past her. For all you know, she will use one of her daily allocated calls to speak to him instead of her family, just to complain about you.”

“I’ll have to deal with Dr. Williams at some point in the near future,” Reina said. “My hope is that once he sees Vedant’s recovery, he will take it easy on me.”

Su Min stared at her. “Reina, I don’t mean to pry, but I haven’t seen you making calls home. Mihir scheduled specific times in the morning and evening for us to talk to our families. Initially, we all waited our turn together. But recently, I’ve noticed you’re never there with us.”

Shit, her friend was really too damn observant. Of course, Reina hadn’t been going for the calls. Since she had her phone, she called her family at her convenience.

Reina kept her expression neutral, refusing to show the riot inside her. “I must have been with Vedant during those times.”

“Sure, not always, though. Are you having trouble with your family? Is that why you don’t speak to them? You can talk to me, you know.”

Unease curled through her. She couldn’t tell Su Min the truth, but she had to tell her something.

“To be honest, since my family resides in Dubai, the timings set by Mihir were not working for me, and so I requested them to allow me different time slots.”

Su Min’s eyes hardened. “Why didn’t you tell me? I could have requested this as well. Between Vasily living in Dubai and my parents in Seoul, I’ve had such a tough time managing my calls with the time difference. This is not fair, Reina.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think of asking this for the rest of you.”

“You should have told me; you knew I was struggling too,” Su Min shook her head. “Anyway, since I’m leaving, it doesn’t matter. You take care.”

Saying that, Su Min rose and walked away. Reina rubbed her temples. This situation truly sucked. She and Su Min had grown closer over the last month, and now she was mad at her and was leaving as well. Fuck. Reina was exhausted by the mountain of lies she only kept adding to.

During the last month, all she had done was lie to the people around her, to her family, and to Vedant. And now it wasoverwhelming her. That’s it. Starting today, she was going to address some truths. The first one was of her identity. She was going to tell Vedant who she really was. He deserved to hear this from her.

Her nerves fluttered. If she could trust him to give herself to him, to want more from him, then she had to trust he wouldn’t react negatively to this information as well. While initially she’d been wary of his reaction to this announcement, now she felt… she felt more confident that he’d be fine with it. After all, it was neither of their fault that their families were so closely intertwined. The two of them needed to move forward without that lie between them. Yes, this was the right way forward.

A fire lit her chest. She and he had something between them, something she couldn’t and wouldn’t put a name on yet. Being with him, spending time with him, and making love to him had become the highlight of her days. He was warm, caring, and kind. He was also a whole lot of fun. She loved his laughter, his stories, and she especially loved how he made her feel cherished when they made love.

Vedant Oshnov was becoming important to her, and the more she thought of it, the more she yearned for more with him. Vedant made her truly happy.

She was… God, she was definitely falling for him. It was too quick, and it was happening too soon, but it was the truth. Her spirits soared, and happiness squeezed her chest tight. If Navya could make it work with Armaan, then perhaps she could also do the same with Vedant. Couldn’t she? She breathed out. She could. For the first time, she wanted to try making things work with a man. Withhim.

Fuck, she was actually falling for a man—and not just any man, but Vedant Oshnov.

Therefore, if she truly wanted to be with him, then she had to come out and be honest with him. She couldn’t keep him in thedark anymore. He deserved to know who she really was before things got any more serious between them.

20

Vedant worked on his laptop, staring at the numbers his team had sent him. Business was good, but he had to get back in action. The ministers of two European nations desperately sought a meeting with him. His team had put them off for the time being, but sooner or later, they were bound to lose patience, and the last thing he wanted was people in power holding a grudge against him. It was bad for business.

For the time being, one of his brothers would have to take these meetings for him. He stretched his right arm up as much as it could go. He still couldn’t raise it fully, but it was improving with the exercises Reina had prescribed for him.

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