Page 10 of Obsession

“My brothers are happy, as are your sisters.”

“No, they are not. You are too damn stubborn and selfish to see it for what it is. They want to get married but cannot because you and I cannot be in the same room together.”

His jaw ticked. “They can get married anytime they want. They have my blessing.”

She clucked her tongue. “You just don’t get it. You’re making it all about you. Armaan and Vedant refuse to get married unless you’re there with them.”

He tilted his head to study her. “Not sure how you expect me to respond to that, when I’ve made myself pretty clear as to what I want. Nonetheless, I can reiterate—I will happily be there at their weddings; you can make an excuse to stay out of them.”

Raw anger coursed through her, followed by extreme sadness.

“You really are a jerk to expect that of me.”

His expression remained impassive, betraying no emotion. None at all.

She steeled her resolve. “I want to negotiate.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m sure there is something I can give you that will ensure you and I can be in the same room and pretend to be civil to one another for the sake of our families.”

His lips tipped at the corners. “Is that right? Hmm. What is it that you can give me?”

His eyes coursed over her slowly. Leisurely. It felt like a sensual touch gliding across her skin. Her pulse skittered. A shiver rippled down her skin. He saw it. His caramel eyes swirled with satisfaction when they returned to hers. Fuck. She hated that he knew he still had that effect on her.

“There is nothing you have on offer that would interest me,” he said flatly.

She leaned forward and grabbed his shirt collar, pulling him to her, until their faces were merely a breath apart. “If—and it is a bigif—I were to ever offer you whatyouare so clearly insinuating, then I’m confident that you would most definitely beinterested. You see, the thing is,husband, you may have forgotten about us. But I most certainly haven’t. I remember all the ways to make you tremble. I remember all the ways to make you…beg.”

She scraped a hand down his jaw. His eyes turned molten, the brown in his irises changing to gold. She smirked. Finally, she had a reaction out of him—one that wasn’t filled with disdain and contempt. Her fingers skittered up to his mouth. His lips parted on an exhale as she boldly traced his lips. He caught her hand in his.

She shrugged out of his hold. “Don’t ever think you have the upper hand in whatever it is that still exists between us.”

“The only thing that exists between us is hate and aversion,” Mihir shot back. “I don’t want anything from you. After what you did to me, I don’t want to have anything to do with you.”

His harsh words stabbed at her chest. She had no clue what he was talking about. She’d gone over that time with him so many times in her head, and she still had no inkling as to what she had done that was so wrong that he hated her for it.

She ignored the pain coursing through her, focusing instead on the anger he’d ignited. He’d judged her and found her guilty of a crime she didn’t even know she had committed. Now, she was done playing this game with him, which meant she had to cut the final cord binding her to him.

“You said you want nothing to do with me, yet you continue to remain married to me. Why Mihir?”

At his silence, Ananya shook her head. “You and I need to move on. If you agree to my terms, then I am willing to give you a divorce.”

Her stomach fell as she said the words, but they needed to be said. She had mourned him for too long, while he had gone about his life forgetting she even existed. Forgetting that he’d married her in a little ceremony at a beautiful temple in London, one dreamy evening long ago. She needed closure from him and this was the way forward.

Mihir tilted his head to study her. “I have no interest in a divorce. Keeping you bound to me is my ultimate revenge for what you did to me. You can never escape me. You can never move on from me. I won’t allow it.”

Her eyes widened. More pain erupted in her chest. No wonder he wasn’t concerned about anything she said or did. She’d always wondered why he’d never tackled the fact that they were married. Four years had passed since she’d met him on the yacht, and yet he’d never approached her or acknowledged the fact that she was his wife. Now she knew why. Thanks to their family’s connections, he couldn’t hurt her outright, so he’d planned to destroy her in the most diabolical way—by never letting her move on. It was… It was plain awful.

Yet she asked, “Do you really think you can hurt me, knowing it will affect all the people we love?”

His silence was all the answer she needed. If this was his revenge, then she wasn’t going to let him get away with it.

“You know what, let’s tell everyone the truth,” Ananya said, feigning nonchalance. “Since you and I are going to stay married, this makes perfect sense. Let’s announce it to the world. Imagine how shocked our siblings will be. Oh, even better, this will be the perfect scoop for Noir.”

She air-quoted her next words. “Secretly tied the knot: This Russian billionaire has been hiding his marriage from the world for seven years. Yes, it’s true. Stay tuned for more revealing news from our very own Miss Butterfly in the next edition of Noir.”

The disgust on his face egged her on. “Ooh, Noir will become the most sought-after magazine once I publish our marriage certificate for the world to see. Oh, the euphoria… I guess I’ll say bye now. Thanks for giving me the best scoop ever.”

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