Page 43 of Forged By Fate

“I told you to stay out of it, and yet, you went behind my back to do this…why?” I asked, my voice as sharp as a whip.

“Why not?” she demanded.

I could not believe the audacity of this woman!

I strode over to her and grabbed her by the shoulders. She winced as my fingers dug into her skin, but she still glared at me defiantly.

“I told you Tanvir and his band had nothing to do with you.”

“And this collab between Tanvir and Tarana has nothing to do with you,” she countered.

“He’s my artist,” I yelled.

“You don’t own him,” she scoffed. “His band is contracted to you per album. That doesn’t mean they can’t make any other music.”

“Did it ever occur to you or Tarana to check if Sarang and I were okay with you doing this?”

“Are you serious, Viren?” she asked furiously. “Do you really believe we need your permission to do our jobs?”

“What jobs? Tarana is playing at being a content creator, and you used confidential information that you overheard to enable her,” I said scathingly.

“Are you fucking deaf?” she shrieked in response, and for a minute, I was worried she’d wake the whole house. “Did you not hear her sing?”

“I agree she sings well, but this isn’t the way to go about it, Sunaina. You broke my trust,” I said, setting her away firmly.

“Oh, really? So you have never seized an opportunity that fell into your lap, I suppose?” she asked sarcastically. “And may I remind you that I offered you this option first? You didn’t even have the decency to hear me out.”

“Why should I have heard you out?” I growled. “Hundreds of people reach out to me every single day! I don’t have the time to hear everybody’s grand idea.”

“But I’m not everybody, Viren. I am your wife,” she replied angrily, and I shook my head in disgust.

There it was! And it was exactly what I was afraid of. Sunaina seemed to think that sleeping with me gave her a say in my company.

“Fake wife,” I corrected cruelly.

She flinched at that but recovered immediately and turned a deliberately blank face to me as I went on.

“And that does not give you a say in what happens in my company,” I added.

“I don’t give a fuck about your company,” she replied.

“Then what’s this all about?”

“This is aboutmywork,” she said loudly. “Mine, not yours! Tarana ismyclient.”

“And Tanvir is mine.”

She shook her head in response.

“You’re not his manager. You merely own the publishing rights to his next album. If you get your head out of your ass, you will see that this collab between Tanvir and Tarana does not hurt your company in any way. It has nothing to do with Silver Records.”

“But why did you do this at all? All Tarana had to do was tell her husband she wanted to sing, and we could have arranged something.”

“So it’s okay for Tarana’s husband to help set up her career, but mine acts like I’m trying a hostile takeover if I even make one small suggestion.”

“Because their marriage is real,” I pointed out.

Sunaina’s eyes widened in shock, and her body bucked a little as if I’d struck her.

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