Page 101 of Lawfully Yours
“Kushal!” Rajveer greeted, pulling him into a warm hug. “Man, it’s been forever.”
“It has,” Kushal agreed, clapping him on the back.
Ananya turned toward Arundhati, a glint of mischief in her eyes. She looked at the two of them, standing close, and something clicked.
She narrowed her eyes slightly. “Wait... What happened with your divorce filing? Please tell me you two are rethinking about it.”
Arundhati stiffened.
Kushal glanced sideways at her as Ananya continued, almost pleading. “I mean, seriously. From the first time we met, I don’t know why, but I kept telling Rajveer that you two justfit. Call it a gut feeling. Chemistry. Whatever. But I’ve been rooting for you guys since the start.”
Arundhati looked down for a moment, unable to decide what to say, while Kushal diverted the topic and invited the two for drinks with them.
**************
The games had already begun outside—laughter, cheers, and the sound of champagne glasses clinking floated through thegarden as couples playfully competed under fairy lights and fire pits. But at one table, tucked into a quieter corner of the resort’s lounge area, four people sat away from the frenzy…Two pairs, once tangled in divorce proceedings, now having something deeper.
Kushal and Arundhati sat side by side, though neither looked at the other. Across the table sat Rajveer and Ananya, fingers entwined, hands resting on the table like they were made to stay connected. That one simple gesture somehow made both Kushal and Arundhati restless.
Rajveer had just finished recounting a story from their earlier court days when he smiled and tightened his hold on Ananya’s hand. “After we called off the divorce,” he said, glancing at her, “I decided to move to New York permanently. For her.”
Ananya looked at him with warmth in her eyes. He continued, “She was going to shift to Australia since my firm is headquartered there, but I didn’t want her to make such a big sacrifice. One of us giving in was enough. Who did it first... that doesn’t matter anymore.”
Arundhati sipped her wine, listening with a heavy heart.
Rajveer smiled and added, “So I sold the Melbourne penthouse. Had to invest somewhere, right? Guess what…we bought one in Delhi.”
That caught Kushal’s interest. He leaned forward. “Where?”
“Skyline Vantage,” Rajveer replied with pride. “We’ve been living there on and off. Waiting for my New York project to kick off.”
Kushal blinked. “Wait—Skyline Vantage? As in, Tower 3?”
Rajveer nodded. “Yup. Tower 3, East Wing. Corner unit.”
Kushal stared at him for a beat, something slowly clicking into place. “There are only two penthouses in that tower,” he murmured. “One’s still on the market... and the other—”
Rajveer cut in, grinning. “Ours. We bought it. And we’ve been living there the past few months whenever we’re in India.”
Kushal leaned back slowly, a look of disbelief spreading across his face as he turned to Arundhati. “They’rethe couple,” he said quietly. “The ones I told you about... the ones across from our place.”
Arundhati was surprised. She remembered vividly standing on the balcony of Kushal’s penthouse, watching a couple on the opposite terrace laugh, kiss, cling to each other like the world didn’t exist. That fire, that intimacy…it had left a mark on her, even then.
Rajveer and Ananya exchanged confused glances. “Theyare the couple?” Rajveer asked. “What couple?”
Kushal waved it off with a dry smirk. “Nothing. Just... your PDA at that height could give anyone emotional vertigo.”
Rajveer asked, still puzzled. “Hold on. How couldyousee all that?”
Kushal looked at him like it was obvious. “Because my penthouse is just a few blocks away, opposite Skyline Vantage.”
Rajveer’s eyes widened as realization hit him. “Shit—you live near us?”
Kushal shrugged with a casual sip of his drink.
Ananya laughed while Rajveer groaned, turning to Ananya. “Told you people watch us.”
“Oh come on,” Ananya said, nudging him. “Since when do you have a problem with public displays of affection?”
