Shanaya listened to Nazir’s words as usual and with great effort, calmed herself down. She walked to a corner of the room—grabbing a drink from a serving guy on the way—and pretended to admire the decorations. Her eyes caught the massive golden mirror chandelier in the center of the ceiling and briefly imagined it collapsing. Kabir had promised to come to the party, but at the last minute, Noor fell sick. He had still urged Shanaya to go. Neil needed her since his parents were going to be there. Her cousin was in the hall somewhere. She would have searched for him, but the thought of meeting another person’s eyes who would unsettle her kept her from doing so. She pulled out her cell phone and started calling Neil. He rejected her call, igniting fury. But then she remembered how she had ignored his calls earlier and realized it was only fair if he did too. Sighing, she finished her drink and glanced at her wrist. In the end, she decided to wear the bracelet, even though it had

When Shanaya returned to the main hall just a few steps behind Dhruv, she did not fail to notice the numerous gazes that followed them. Suddenly, a hush spread over the crowd, and she stumbled in her steps—barely keeping herself from dashing into Dhruv’s back. He turned to see her, his face bearing a puzzled look. “Walk with me?” he offered, and she declined, shaking her head. Dhruv’s eyes lit up immediately, his lips pressing together in amusement. She knew what he was thinking: a while back, she was crying on his chest, and now she could not even walk with him. Shanaya found Nazir and decided she would spend the rest of the party by his side. Neil had, in a way, ditched her. But she could not leave now, even if she wanted to. The old man greeted her with a captious look in his eyes. His gaze moved to someone behind her, and Shanaya realized Dhruv was behind her. “Mr. Malik,” Dhruv said, stepping forward, his voice devoid of emotion. He held his chin high despite being much talle

"What was that?" Neil questioned when Shanaya got into the seat and slammed the door shut. But she did not answer him immediately. She took her time to even her breath, looking back for a glance at the retreating man who had made her breathless. “Dhruv was just upset that I was leaving without saying goodbye,” she told Neil, feigning normalcy in her voice. It was the truth and yet, it felt a lot like she was hiding something. “I’ll believe that,” her cousin remarked, turning the key to start the car. They were on the road soon, the car running smoothly at a uniform speed. Trees and street lights sped past them, and Shanaya could not be more to be alone. Neil was not a fool—she knew he understood what was going on. He knew of their past, and from what he had just witnessed, Shanaya was sure he had jumped to a conclusion.She told herself she did not care what Neil thought of her. At that moment, she only cared about the privacy her apartment provided her. But her mind played evil

Dhruv did not greet her back, instead choosing to silently study her office. He walked around, tracing his fingers over the bookshelves and paintings hung over the walls. His eyes drifted back to her, taking in her outfit. “That,” he said, pointing a finger at her, “does not match the place.” Dhruv was the last person she needed to point it out to her. “Doesn’t it?” she pondered, pretending to be unaffected by his words, and walked to her desk, her handbag slipping off her shoulder. “You look very out of place as well. How did you even get in? Did you lose your way?” “I’m just where I want to be,” Dhruv mumbled, low enough almost to go unheard. Then he skeptically looked at the hoodie he was wearing, his lips twisting into a frown. “You want me back in a suit? Are you hoping to make a client out of me?” “One of those things will be very profitable for me,” she claimed, and noticed the twitch of his lips, but before she could see his smile, he looked away. Suddenly, the truth Shan

Even long after Dhruv had left, Shanaya's heart would not slow down. She paced around the room, taking deep breaths but her hands were trembling slightly, denying her unspoken pleas. She wiped the sweat of her palms over the coarse fabric of her trousers.The lie had come quickly to her mind, but before she realised what an awful one it was, Dhruv had already heard it from her. His reaction on finding out she would be spending time with Kirti had been somewhat unexpected. He did not look happy, but even if he internally opposed the idea, he did a good job of hiding that. “It’s alright,” Shanaya tried to assure herself. Sighing loudly, she slumped back into her chair. “It’s okay. It’s absolutely fine.”She wondered if telling Dhruv the truth would have really been a bad decision because the way she felt after telling that lie was a feeling she did not like. After the events of the previous night, something had changed between them—no matter how much she despised accepting that—in mor