Page 47 of The Pursuit
That’s when he argued, “Your relationship is a liability, a weakness that could compromise your ability to do your job effectively. Both you and Krish. But if you still want to prove me wrong, then this is what I have to offer you, Trisha. So,listen carefully.”
My heart was beating fast, dreading what he was going to say next.
“I give you two choices. Option one: for the failure of this mission, I would ground you forever from fieldwork, and you would be assigned only desk-based jobs henceforth. Not to mention, Krish will lose his Director role permanently at GLEN. Or option two: you get to continue your next missions, and Krish will only be suspended for a few months for his mistake. Now, the choice is yours. You select the first option, and you will have Krish, but you will ruin his career forever. Is that what you want?”
I felt frustrated and disappointed with the choices Krish’s father was forcing me to consider.
“I know my son. If I gave him these options, he would still choose you, willing to lose his entire career for you. But Trisha, remember one thing. If you really love Krish, then you wouldn’t destroy his efforts and hard work for years to be where he is today. I want him to take my role one day when I resign. All of these dreams will be shattered, and for what? Just because he loved a woman. I’m not saying love is wrong. You two can have a future, but right now, the state that you two are in, I don’t think it’s the right time to dwell on relationships. Krish needs to focus on his work, and being in love would distract him from that. Remember, great people are born by making great sacrifices. This is your only chance to show your greatness, Trisha. Let my son achieve the goals that he is so close to. Don’t be a thorn in his way. I hope you will make the right choice.”
I shivered as I shared this conversation with Krish, unable to control my tears for the first time. He shook me gently,his eyes boring into mine, shocked that his father could do all this.
“Your father gave me an ultimatum,” I managed to choke out. “And you know what decision I took, Krish. I couldn’t bear to strip you off from your Director’s role forever.”
Krish’s expression hardened, his jaw clenching in anger, shock and disbelief. “He... he did that? He threatened you?”
I placed a trembling hand on his arm, trying to calm him. “Krish, please understand. Your father was only looking out for your best interests. He wanted to protect your future, your legacy.”
“At the cost of our happiness?” Krish shot back. “At the cost of our love?”
I shook my head, the tears flowing freely now. “I didn’t see it that way at the time. All I could think about was how much you had sacrificed to get to where you were, how close you were to achieving your dreams. I couldn’t be the one to take that away from you, not when your father was right—our relationship could have compromised our ability to do our jobs effectively. I thought... I thought if I walked away, it would be easier for you to move on, to focus on your career without the distractions of our love.”
Krish cupped my face in his hands, his touch gentle yet firm. “Don’t you see, Trisha? None of that matters without you by my side.Youare my dream, my legacy. And if my father can’t understand that, then it’s his loss, not ours.”
His words cut through the pain and self-doubt that had plagued me for so long. In that moment, I realised that Ihad been trying to protect Krish from the wrong thing. It wasn’t our love that was his weakness; it was the fear of losing each other that had made us both vulnerable.
He stroked my hair gently, his own voice thick with emotion. “Why didn’t you fight for us, Trisha? Why didn’t you come to me with this?”
“I’m sorry, Krish,” I whispered. “I’m sorry for letting your father’s threats dictate our lives.”
Krish pressed his forehead against mine, his breath warm on my face. I instantly slid my arms around his form and hugged him tight. He kept stroking my back as we both tried to understand and accept the turn of events that had torn us apart, leaving us with no other choices at the time.
“I need to speak to Dad in the morning. This is a serious issue, and I won’t let him control our lives any longer,” Krish muttered a while later.
I pulled away, shaking my head. “You wouldn’t do anything like that,” I said firmly.
“Why not?” he challenged. “I want to give this an end, Trisha.”
“The only end to this is to keep continuing what we’ve been doing so far,” I replied. “At least until our present mission is over.”
Krish looked confused, so I explained further.
“Once again, you and I are working together. I’m guarding Meher’s life, and you’re assisting Ayaan against some mafia gang who is after the Shergills and Walias. We can’t afford any mistakes this time, as this mission ismore personal to us than just a job with Ayaan and Meher involved. I don’t want our relationship to become a liability again, as your father once termed it.”
Anger flashed in Krish’s eyes. “You still want us to act like we don’t want each other?”
I didn’t want to, but that was the best thing to do for now. My silence gave Krish the answer he needed. And he wasn’t convinced.
“You’re still repeating the same old mistake, Trisha, of keeping an unnecessary distance,” he said, his voice rising.
I knew I had to make him understand, so I pleaded a bit.
“Please, Krish. Try to understand what I am asking from you.” I leaned in to press a soft kiss against his cheek.
“Don’t,” he said tightly, although his anger seemed to mellow a bit. But he still wasn’t giving in to my demand. Emboldened, I kissed his other cheek, and that seemed to be the end of his patience.
In a sudden movement, Krish pulled me onto his lap on the couch. I gasped at the abrupt change in our positions.
“Stop kissing me like I’m a baby who could be appeased with kisses,” he murmured, his voice deep and husky.
