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You.
She’d almost gagged on the word but she’d managed to force it out with enough authenticity to please the asshole sitting across from her.
“Why did you marry him then?”
Raashi let her gaze rest on him. Anant Madhavan was a good looking man. Tall, well built, a touch of distinguished gray at his temples, those deceptively kind eyes…it made for a package that would turn any girl’s head. Especially when he levelled all that attention on her, making her feel like she was the center of his universe. He’d moulded Raashi into his perfect woman and she’d bent over backwards to excel in that role.
And at one point in Raashi’s life, he hadn’t just been the center of her universe. He’d been her entire universe. And today, he was just an annoying speck.
Falling in love with Harsh had changed everything. Because falling in love with him hadn’t changed her. Loving him hadn’t made him her whole universe. Loving him had just been about sharing her universe with him and hopefully, after all this was over, building a shared universe of their own.
She loved Harsh as Raashi, not as the version of Raashi he expected her to be and that made all the difference. Because Harsh didn’t have expectations of her. He just enjoyed her, every mood, every facet, every version of her. He gave it all space to grow and the stunted child inside her revelled in it.
Why did she marry him? For so many idiotic reasons…only to find the real one along the way. But she couldn’t tell him that, could she?
“Because I thought I needed to move on from you. Definitively. I wanted to move on from you. Desperately.”
The air chilled around them as they stared at each other. Anant’s expression didn’t change but she saw it in his eyes. Years of studying this man’s moods so she could pre-empt them left her uniquely capable for this moment.
“And why are you here now?”
“Because I heard something and I realised that I couldn’t move on, not from you. I heard about Vinitha.”
He stilled, every muscle locking into place. After a second, he forced a frown to his face. “Who?”
“Raashi 2.0?” She raised an eyebrow and allowed herself a little smirk, knowing he liked the hint of sass.
As expected Dirtbag unlocked his muscles long enough to throw his head back and laugh. “There will never be another you, Raashi,” he said affectionately. “Forget an improved version.” His warm eyes roved over her body making her want to sanitise herself. “You are a masterpiece. My masterpiece.”
She wanted to gut him like a fish, but she forced herself to stay in her seat. “Then why her?” she asked instead.
“Because you left me Raashi,” he said reproachfully. “You left for the US and then refused to stay in touch. I tried multiple times to see you when I came down, but you wouldn’t let it happen. You even threatened to call the cops on me, remember?”
Yes, she remembered. Raashi had been pretty darn proud of that move. “You tried to ruin my father,” she demurred now, doing her best to look chastened.
“And you helped me,” he reminded her gently. It was always so gentle, so kind…until it wasn’t. “You were the one who made it happen. We did it for us, Raashi, for our future. How have you forgotten?”
Watching him weave his toxic magic was mesmerising. She felt like she was outside of her body watching the past play out once more.
“What are you getting out of her? The kid?” She needed to bring this to the point and get out of here before she threw up all over him.
“The kid?” He frowned, looking disappointed in her for not taking his blatant invitation to walk down memory lane with him.
“The seventeen-year-old child you’ve replaced me with. What are you getting out of her?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Did you smoke up before coming here? Are you high?”
“Vinitha Naidu. She’s seventeen and in twelfth grade. Her mother is the Chief Financial Officer in your organisation. You’ve been in constant contact with her over the last eight months. I have phone and message records as well as video footage of the two of you partying at your farmhouse. You might be careful, Anant, but my replacement isn’t.” She rolled her eyes and allowed herself another little smirk. “I’m a seasoned research scholar. You didn’t think I came here without facts, did you?”
“Why did you come here at all?” He leaned forward, eyes blazing with fury. The greenish purple bruise around his left eye brought her immense satisfaction. Harsh deserved a very special kiss for that one.
“I want you back. If I leave Harsh and come back to you, will you leave this girl?”
She saw it then, the blaze of victory in the glittering gaze he swept over her.
“Will you leave him?” His voice was husky, a yearning in it that had once pulled her deep into his vortex.
“For you?” She leaned forward, meeting his manic desire for her with her need for revenge. “Yes.”
