Fourteen Years Ago
“You’re leaving?”
Vihaan stiffened, his stomach churning at the voice behind him. He breathed in, tamping down the urge to turn around. It had been two weeks since he’d seen Vera. Two weeks since she’d admitted that she’d picked money over him. Two agonising weeks of him avoiding her while counting down the days until he could leave for London.
“Yes,” he gruffed, picking up his passport from his dresser and tossing it into the open backpack nearby.
“I can’t believe I had to find out from Nanu. You’ve been completely unreachable and—” Her irritated rant dwindled away into nothingness at his lack of a response. “When willyou be back?”
“Not sure.” He was going for a campus tour but had every intention of extending his stay. His remaining exams at school were a formality he could easily accomplish online. If he could help it, he wouldn’t return to India for a very long time.
“I’m. . . I’ll miss you.”
Vihaan scoffed under his breath, finally turning to face the woman who’d become the reason for his descent into hell.
“Yeah, I bet you will,” he smiled, his eyes cold. “You’ll have to find someone else to buy you jewellery now.”
Vera’s brows knotted at his barb, confusion dimming her usual confidence.
“Is something the matter, Vihaan? Are you angry with me?”
His jaw twitched, biting back the urge to yell at her to drop the act. To admit that she’d speared his heart with her actions. He wanted to ask her if it had all been a lie. If she’d been paid all along to behave as though she found him smart and capable. If it had been the money that had made her work so hard to motivate him. Or had she simply decided that her feelings for him were not deep enough to refuse a payout?
Why was she here now? To rub his stupidity in his face?
“I tried calling you,” she continued, oblivious to his rising temper. “I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for days now.”
“What for?” he asked, sounding remarkably composed given the storm brewing within him, ready to decimate everything between them.
Vera’s lips parted, only for her to heave a sigh. Something akin to discomfort flashed in her features as she shifted restlessly, one hand coming up to pluck at her sleeve, as if picking off invisible dirt.
“We didn’t finish our conversation before.”
“You took money from Papa. What else is left to discuss?”
“I was going to tell you when we met, but then I. . .” She sighed. “Guess it doesn’t matter. It’s better that your dad spoke with you. And it all worked out. He was very generous.”
Generous? Vihaan wanted to laugh. The manner in which Vera was behaving—no regret or shame for having put a price on him and their relationship—had him seeing red. How could she be so emotionless? Maybe the only time she’d ever been truthful with him was when she’d admitted that money was paramount in her life.
Her callousness astounded him, making the pain of her betrayal sink in deeper, into a place where every emotion twisted and transformed into something dark and ugly.
“Do you still need money? Maybe there’s more you can get from me.”
“Umm, no, I. . . I earned the money already.”
She sounded so earnest, so innocent, that he couldn’t help but step closer. He raised his hand up to caress her jaw. “So beautiful, so lethal,” he muttered, his expression one of disenchantment. “I suppose you’re right. Out of curiosity, how much did you earn? Maybe I can offer a bonus.”
“Huh?”
“I have—” He looked through his wallet and took some cash out. “Is this enough for a quick fuck? Maybe not. A blow job perhaps?”
Her face drained of all colour, but Vihaan was too far gone to care. He sat back on his bed, looking pointedly at his crotch and then her. “C’mon then. What? This isn’t enough?” He removed his luxury watch and tossed it at her feet. “That’ll fetch five lakhs at least. Most expensive blow I’ll have ever had but you’re worth it.”
The air seemed to vanish around them as Vera grew deathly pale, standing motionless, as if she’d forgotten to breathe.
“Are you going to do it or not?” he asked, brow raised insolently, trying valiantly to tamp the bile rising in his throat.
“Why are you being this way? I don’t like this joke,” Vera replied, her voice cracking, her eyes shying away from him. If it was guilt that made her incapable of looking him in the face, it was too late. Vihaan’s broken pride demandedreparations.