Page 21 of Forged By Fate

Dhruv’s name sprang to my mind, and I realised that he was already waiting in the wings. Hmph. If she was willing to settle for someone with such a limp handshake, that was her problem. But I hoped she didn’t settle for him just because he was the first man to ask her out after her divorce. I hoped she’d wait until she found someone worthy of her.

“Good for her,” I said coldly, and Daima shook her head in disgust.

“I thought I had raised you to be smarter than this, Viren. That girl is the best thing to happen to you in a long time. Do you even realise how she’s changed you?”

“Nonsense,” I said roundly, not wanting to listen to this, but Daima went on.

“When Aisha came to live with us, you were a complete playboy, Viren. And overnight, you turned into a saint.”

“So it’s Aisha’s influence, not Sunaina’s,” I pointed out, but Daima shook her head.

“When Deven died, and you had to take on Aisha’s responsibility, you buried your own needs and feelings so deep that you turned to stone. But in the past two and a half years, Sunaina has chipped away at that stone and made you human again. You may not have realised this, beta, but when Deven died, I was worried a part of you had died with him. Sunaina brought that part back to life. You’re laughing again. She’s softened your sternness. You’re back to being the sweet, tender Viren that I was scared I’d lost forever.”

I swallowed over what felt like shards of glass in my throat. Was this true?

No!

Daima was overreacting. When Aisha came to live with us, I was grieving for my brother. Grief was known to turn even a loving person to stone. There was nothing unusual about that. And over time, my grief had softened and been replaced byacceptance. And I learned to be happy again. That’s all there was to it. I refused to accept any other explanation.

“You’ve been watching too many daily soaps, Daima,” I said wryly. “Now, can you be packed and ready to leave this afternoon?”

She pursed her lips and stared at me in disappointment for a few more minutes before she nodded.

“Of course.”

“Good. I’ll tell Sufi to make all the arrangements,” I said before I made my way upstairs.

CHAPTER 11

SUNAINA

The flight to Mumbai felt interminable.

Aisha was sulking in a corner because her Chachu was going back to work so soon. Sufi and Daya Bua were very subdued and shot me sympathetic glances from time to time. Tahira and Viren’s aunt were very happy, though. Especially when Viren isolated himself in one section of the large private jet on the pretext of reading a contract.

Meanwhile, I sat at the opposite end of the cabin with my nose buried in the latest issue of Vogue, and when that didn’t put a stop to the pity being directed at me, I slapped an eye mask on my face and pretended to be asleep for the duration of the flight. The flight attendant turned down the cabin lights around me, which was a blessing because, under the cover of semi-darkness, I could finally allow my tears to trickle down my face.

I cried silently, not wanting to draw any attention to myself. I didn’t even know why I was crying. It wasn’t as if I didn’t know there was no hope for me. I knew very well that a man like VirenChaudhry was never going to fall in love with a woman like me. So why was I surprised when he chose to end our vacation early rather than be forced to spend more time with me, pretending to be in love with me?

This was all my fault. I should have known my place. I was nothing more than an unofficial nanny to Aisha. If I had just stayed where I was slotted, I could have had a wonderful life. I had my own room in Viren’s wing of the mansion. I had a full complement of staff at my beck and call. I could go where I wanted. I could do what I liked. I had a handsome allowance. As Viren’s wife, I lived a very luxurious life. And as his ex-wife, I’d be even richer because our contract stated that he would settle property and investments worth almost a hundred crores on me. All because of what I did for Aisha.

But I was too dumb to settle for that. No. I had aspired for what could never be mine. I didn’t want Viren’s money. All I wanted was his love.

When I fell in love with him, I knew he would never be mine. I had even made my peace with it, even though it hurt me to see him treat me with the same impersonal kindness with which he treated the rest of the staff. But I knew that was all I could ever expect. So why did I forget that important fact and start hoping for more?

I had allowed Viren’s kindness, Aisha and Daya Bua’s love, and Sufi’s unwavering friendship to go to my head. I had begun to believe in the tangled web of lies we had all woven together when all I had to do was hold onto my end until I was asked to let go.

I took a slow, deep breath and gritted my teeth to force back the sob that rose to my lips. Because of my stupidity, I had destroyed everything that was holding me together. I was about to destroy my family.

The lines in our battle were clearly drawn, with Daya Bua, Sufi and even Aisha on my side. When our marriage ended, they were going to blame Viren, and I couldn’t allow that. I couldn’t allow them to turn on him because he had lost one family already. I couldn’t be the reason why he lost the second family he had built for himself.

No matter how much it hurt me to do it, I had to make sure our divorce was extremely amicable. And after the divorce, I had to walk away from the people I loved with a smile. I had to assure them I wasn’t shattered at being cut out of their little family for good because if they knew how much I was hurting, they would never forgive Viren. I would do it for him. As my last act of love.

And I knew exactly what I had to do to convince everyone, including Viren, that I was going to be fine. I pulled off the eyes mask and wiped my tears before I pulled out my phone to send a text.

Sufi slid into the seat next to mine and pressed the button to summon the flight attendant. She arrived with a small tray that she laid on the table in front of us.

“What’s all this?” I asked in horror.

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