Page 111 of Obsession

One small step at a time, he told himself.

First step: put the past behind them.

30

Mihir was waiting for her when she stepped out of her car. Ananya looked up at the tall glass façade of O-Corp’s Dubai tower. She thanked her stars that he’d got Zeeshan here, to his office, and not to some shady warehouse in the middle of nowhere. She wouldn’t have been able to stomach that.

Anticipation had eaten at her throughout the drive here. She’d racked her brain, trying to recall the events of that awful day seven years ago. Even so, she wasn’t entirely certain, though she suspected what might have happened. However, she needed a solid confirmation.

She pressed a hand to her aching neck. What a day this was turning out to be. Her mind was all over the place with all the revelations. She was tired and stressed, and while she wanted to know about the past, what she really wanted was to go home and process the life-altering fact that she was carrying Mihir’s baby.

“Are you alright?” Mihir asked.

She dropped her hand from her neck. “Yes.”

Mihir splayed a hand out, and she followed him into the opulent lobby. A woman in a suit handed him a passkey, which he passed to Ananya. She followed him down a turnstile and into a waiting elevator. But instead of taking the elevator upstairs, he led her down to the second basement. She exited the lift into a narrow glass foyer that opened into a busy workspace. Dozens of security personnel were seated in front of huge screens lit up with images. Her eyes widened when she saw that the screens showed images of her house, the Oshnovs’ Dubai home, their estates in Moscow and London, and every corner of the planet that had anything to do with the Oshnovs.

She looked around. This was, she realized, the security hub of O-Corp.

Mihir led her down the corridor. Ahead of them, Zeeshan was being led blindfolded into a conference room. Her stomach fluttered. Mihir was trusting her into a very sacred space, one from where he ensured the safety of everyone he cared about.

She recalled his strange behavior from earlier. Why was he pretending as if all was okay between them when it clearly wasn’t? She watched him silently walking beside her, a pensive look on his face. At the conference room’s entrance, he gestured for her to enter.

She walked inside and saw Zeeshan already seated there, with Chekov and Anton both standing a step behind him. Mihir pulled a chair for her to sit and stood right behind her.

“Shall we begin?” Mihir said, his voice a stoic reminder of why he was considered one of the most dangerous men on the planet.

He pressed a button on a remote, and the screen across from them came to life. A tap on his phone, and the text messages he’d claimed had come to him from her phone were displayed on the screen.

“Do you remember these?” Mihir asked.

Zeeshan gulped. Seeing the despair on his face, Ananya felt her heart break all over again. He’d been one of her closest friends.

“That day,” she began, her eyes fixed on Zeeshan, “I returned from my mini vacation with Mihir, and I remember you were planning on moving out of my house. I must have surely mentioned to you that my sisters were running late, didn’t I?”

“Ananya…” Zeeshan began.

“I’m not done talking,” she snapped.

Zeeshan’s eyes filled with remorse. It didn’t affect her. What he had done to her was unforgivable.

“I remember going for my Pilates class, and then I turned around, took my car, and went to Kent myself to look for Mihir’s ring. What I don’t remember is leaving my phone behind, though it makes the most sense.” She looked at Mihir. “Do you remember how it annoyed you when I did that?”

Mihir nodded. “And you did it so often. I hated not being able to contact you.”

She turned to Zeeshan. “What I am getting surer of is that you took my phone and sent those messages to Mihir. Which means you must have known my passcode. It also means you must have been reading all my conversations each time I left my phone behind. What I don’t understand iswhyyou were snooping into my life?”

Zeeshan stayed silent, not saying anything.

“Why, Zeeshan?” she asked. “Why did you do it? You were one of the most important people in my life. You know how much I doted on you, and I trusted you.”

The other man continued to stare at her, not saying anything.

“Answer her,” Mihir ordered, his tone harsh, his face brutal.

Zeeshan looked down at his hands. “You had an easy passcode—1209, your birthdate. You never bothered being discreet every time you unlocked your phone. But I swear I never snooped into your phone before.”

“I don’t believe you,” Ananya said, feeling tired.

---