Page 97 of 5000 Nights of Obsession

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“Ihave heard enough.”Axel’scompassionless voice drifted through the door, interrupting my story.

Iignored him. “Jayhad been pushing me away.Poppyhad been pushing me away.Thenyou came along.Afterso much rejection from my family, your obsession, your desire, the feeling of being wanted, it made me weak and selfish.Itmade me forget thatJayhad held my hand whenIthought the world had deserted me.Ican’t leave him now that he needs me to hold his.”

Whilesitting on the floor,Ifelt the tension fizzing in the air.Axelrose to his feet on the other side of the door, andIknew wrath like none other was warring inside him.

“Ican’t go anywhere with you,Axel.”

Thescent of burning anger hung heavy in the air with a mix of fear only a raging man could bring.However,Ihad no fears today.

“Youcan’t stay in there forever,Piya.Openthis door beforeIhave my friend take your father’s practice to court or bankruptJordan.”

Ididn’t miss a beat. “Yousigned a five-year contract withJordan.”Thecontract was foolproof;I’densured it before agreeing toAxel’ssordid arrangement. “Andyour friend already accepted the settlement fromPapa.”

“ThenI’llpull my business from your mom andMilan’sfirm.”

“Goahead.Jayhas already agreed to let them overseeAmbaniCorp’slarge endeavor.They’llmake up the losses.”

Angermixed with the tinge of fear and the faintest hints of desperation exploded into the air. “ThenI’lltell the world thatPoppyis my daughter.She’llnever be approved forCEOif anyone discovers she isn’t biologicallyAmbani’s.”

“Youwon’t hurtPoppy, and we both know it,”Iannounced without a morsel of doubt.Axeldidn’t lovePoppy, butIalso knew he wouldn’t hurt her.Itwas the only thing he could do to forever sever our bond.

Realizingwhere the cards had fallen,Axel’scollected veneer was starting to shred.Hisvoice sounded more agitated this time.

“What’sthe play here,Princess?” he asked in a mild tone thoughIknew he was moments away from losing control. “Youknow thatI’llnever leave you alone.Evenif you manage to solve these temporary problems,I’mgoing to come back harder and hit you with everythingIhave.I’lltell the world about us.”

Ismiled sadly and ignored his threats. “Overthe last year,Icouldn’t understand what was happening to my perfect family.Wewent from daily dinners toJayworking all night andPoppystaying locked up in her room.Ihad no idea how to fix things and kept trying to find a solution, first by being the perfectMrs.Ambani, then by being the recklessPiyaMittal.”

Itilted my head to glance at him.

“Yousee,thatwas my big mistake.Icouldn’t help anyone by being only half of myself becauseIwas both.”

Itwas the truthIhad known for years.Apart of me belonged toAxel, just like a part of me belonged toJay.Fightingeither side only ended in disaster.Lettingboth sides live in harmony was howI’dfound the solution to do right by my family.

“Youwere wrong,Axel.Jaynever forced me into servitude or into playing the role of the perfect wife.Thosethings were my choice.”

Fromthe corner of my eye,IsawAxel’sbody shaking with rage. “Donot,” he chewed out, “talk about another man.”

Icontinued my story as ifIhadn’t heard him. “Afterwe married,Jaystruggled with my confrontational side because he grew up in a reserved household where people didn’t scream their feelings at the top of their lungs.Isaw the demandsJayfaced from the world and didn’t want to be another taxing person in his life.”

“WhatdidIjust say about bringing him up?”Axelslammed his palm again the door, causing a deafening rumble.

Ijumped from the noise but didn’t let that stop me from tellingAxelthe whole story.Hehad to know to understand my decision.

“Notthat it mattered.Jaynever gave me a reason to be difficult.PerhapsbecauseIwas so much younger than him, he felt a sense of responsibility toward me.Hewas immensely attentive, catering to my every whim.Attimes, it felt as if his purpose in life was ensuring thatIwas taken care of.”

Axelpounded his fist against the glass pane two more times.Iwasn’t concerned.Theseglass panes were bulletproof, and he couldn’t break them.Therewas no other access inside this house, either.

“Inturn,Iwanted to be the partner that elevatedJay, not be his downfall.Iadapted and made changes to fit in with his family and community.Insteadof succumbing to my natural instincts,Iaimed to blend in.Iswapped out my hot pink camis for neutral colors to not bring unnecessary attention to myself.Ihid away all the rotten parts of myself so they couldn’t touchJaynegatively.”

IignoredAxelas he shouted for me to open the door.Hewas getting more agitated with each passing moment.

“EverythingDadihad said came true, and we fell in love over time.Itwasn’t the all-consuming immediate blow that knocked me on my ass like you did.Itwas slow and crept up on us.”

“Openthis fucking door,Piya,”Axelbellowed.

“Youhave to know thatIthought about you and mourned you daily.Iused to wonder if this unbreakable bond was because you werePoppy’sbiological father.Ihad many other theories on whyIcouldn’t forget you, but by our fifth wedding anniversary,Istopped caring.Youwere a part of me, and the memories of you became the same as breathing oxygen.Itno longer bothered me.Italso answered the age-old question, could you love two people simultaneously?Theanswer is yes.”

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