Page 14 of The Promise of a Traitor

“Of course I did,” Aastha said, softly. “I never forgot him.”

“That’s strange,” Advik’s voice sliced through like a scalpel, every word intended to savage her broken heart. “I never even noticed you.”

“Advik!” Maya’s angry voice was nothing compared to the deathly silence emanating from her husband’s side.

Without another word, Advik pushed back from the table, chair screeching and walked out of the room.

“Aashika, I’m so sorry.” Maya looked at her, distressed. “I don’t know what’s gotten into him. He never used to be like this. Ever since he came from the States, he just hasn’t been the same.”

But she knew, Aastha thought. She knew exactly what had gotten into him. She had. Her abandoning him without a word had. It was her fault. She’d changed that sweet, gentle man into this unforgivably rude boor.

And the saddest part of it all was that if she could go back in time, she would make the same choices all over again.

She would love him. And she would leave him.

She looked down at her plate and then back up at Maya’s worried, angry face. “Would you mind if I went to speak with him?”

“I’m not sure if he’s in the right frame of mind for a conversation,” Yash muttered. “Maybe some other day, Aashika.”

“I’m not worried,” she told Yash, trying to project confidence she didn’t feel. “I can handle his moods.”

She needed a moment with Advik alone. A moment he wasn’t affording her. A moment to explain. A moment to beg.

“Better you than us,” Maya sighed. “Go ahead. He’s probably in his room. Brooding.”

“Maya-“ Yash began but she shook her head, reaching over to squeeze his hand. “Let them have it out. She needs to decide if she wants that grump in her life or not.” She looked at Aastha. “Take a right from the door. It’s the second door to the left of the corridor.”

Aastha escaped the room before they could change their minds. She came to the door that led to Advik’s room and hesitated. She leaned in close, putting her ear to the door but she heard nothing from the other side.

She knocked on the door and waited but there was still nothing. Just a damning silence that told her how unwelcome she was.

She tried the handle and was surprised to see that it turned easily in her hand. Should she? She couldn’t piss him off any more even if she tried, she thought, so she shrugged and pushed the door open.

“I’m sorry I-“ she began before doing a slow turn. The room was gorgeous, done in shades of deep blue and cream, a large king size bed dominating the space, drawing her gaze before she looked away from it. Right across from it was a large painting that hung on the wall. Done in splashes of jewel tones, the painting looked like the frontage to a busy, little café.

Her café in New York.

Her heart started to flutter like a trapped bird in her chest, her breath catching in her chest. She looked around the room again, her every sense soaking in the essence of his private space. From the quiet hum of the air conditioner to the faint scent of his cologne on the air, to the colours that both soothed and attracted, everything came together perfectly.

The room was beautiful. And it was empty.

Chapter Nine

Advik

His short stint under the icy shower had done nothing for his temper or his mood, Advik thought sourly, as he strode out of the bathroom, towel slung around his neck. And came to an abrupt halt.

Aastha was here. In his bedroom. Standing in front of the painting of the café he’d met her at, all those years ago.

The painting he'd commissioned as a gift for her. The one he'd kept instead, because some part of him had needed a reminder of exactly how well she could lie.

"What are you doing here?" His voice came out rougher than he intended, and he was suddenly, acutely aware that he was standing there in nothing but track pants, water still tracking a slow line down his spine.

But Aastha didn't seem to register any of it. She was staring at the canvas like it might disappear if she blinked. Her hand rose slowly, hovering an inch from the surface, fingers trembling like she wanted to touch it and was terrified of what touching it might reveal.

Advik felt his chest tighten with every second that she looked at that sliver of their shared past, like she was somehow looking right into him too.

Then she turned. And the grief in her eyes hit him like a fist to the gut.