52

-• love me? Prove it. •-

I stalk inside the restaurant where Niharika is supposedly having a lunch date with her girlfriends. It doesn't take long for people to notice my presence. I see several phones come out of their pockets to photograph me. Any other day, I'd have stopped to politely ask them to put their phones down, but I'm far too pissed to treat anyone with patience right now. Hence, I use the flick of my fingers as a command, and the smart folks immediately obey, while the manager comes out for the dumb ones.

"Niharika Chandra," I pause briefly at the reception.

The receptionist eyes me skeptically, frozen in her place. The man next to her takes the charge and asks her to scoot aside as he ducks to get the information from the monitor.

"Table no 27, floor no 8." He answers.

"You," I address the saree clad woman. She jumps in fright, her eyes ping pong-ing between me and her coworker. "Look at me," she finally meets my eyes. "If you see me in the future, in any of your potential workplaces, the last thing you should do is make me wait. We don't want you to lose your job now, do we?"

She shakes her head frantically.

"Who am I?"

"Shourya Singh Rajawat."

"Good. Remember that." I pull away from the desk and make my way towards the elevator.

It stops on the eighth floor. The slick metal doors open, revealing floor-to-ceiling walls offering a panoramic view of the city. I glance around the floor, and find table no 27 tucked far in the corner, with two long curved sofas sandwiching a brown table in the centre. I can hear the ladies giggle and laugh as they chatter over a glass of champagne. But as I walk closer, they take notice of me, and the lively discussion dies away. One by one, I catch the six pairs of eyes, until the last one is nudged in the elbow, causing them to drop the phone in their lap and lift their head up.

Niharika's eyes go wide in surprise. "Shourya," she puts the glass of champagne on the table and gets up from her seat.

"Busy?" I raise a brow.

She looks around the table, at her girlfriends who shrug or shake their heads. "No," her eyes return to me.

"We've somewhere to be. Come along." I turn around and walk away. She doesn't follow immediately, so I've to stop, look over my shoulder and pin her with a hard stare. "You want me to repeat what I said?"

"No- No," In a moment of frenzy, she grabs her purse and phone, waving bye to her friends before rushing up to me as fast as her high heels allow. I turn and resume walking.

Niharika keeps silent until we're in the close proximity of my car. I manoeuvre the wheel carefully, threading through the growing traffic of the last weekend day.

"I thought you were working overtime today," she breaks the silence as we leave the traffic behind, touching the long, almost empty national highway.

"I was until I remembered you." I glance at her. She already has her eyes on me, enamoured with my presence. Is this a lie too? I wouldn't know. But I'm sure to find out soon. "I believe I never gave you a chance to prove your love."

"Huh?"

"I want to see how much you love me." I drum my fingers on the steering wheel, not peeling my eyes off the main road.

"What does that mean?" She inquires curiously, but there's an underlying trepidation lacing her tone. Wouldn't blame her. In every sense, I'm as unexpected as a storm, she had never been able to understand me.

"You'll know." I throw her a casual smile.

She forces a chuckle. "I'm getting nervous, Shourya."

From the corner of my eyes, I notice her wringing her fingers. Good. I like nervousness on people, especially in my company. Being aware of your place and status helps you make wise decisions.

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere you wouldn't run away from me." I mutter, steering the wheel off the main highway as soon as we pass the welcome board of Jaigarh.

Her head snaps towards me. "Shourya, I'm not getting a good feeling. If this is a joke, please stop. Just tell me where you're taking me."

"Patience, darling. You'll find out." I reassure her.

She barely stops fidgeting. Her gaze flickers from me to outside frequently, looking for any road signs she could catch a glimpse of. There's none. Then she starts to get restless and fiddles with her phone, almost ready to jump the gun and call an emergency number incase I turn out to be a psycho murderer. Before she can come to a decision, I stop the car at a clearing and cut off the engine.

"It's an unmarked sunset point." I tell her as she looks around apprehsively.

Her attention returns to me. "Why are we here? It's one in the afternoon."

I hum, "Come out." Opening the door, I step out of the car and slam the door shut. She doesn't obey right away, scratching the bridge of her nose, turning her phone on and off, breathing heavily, as if she's trying to make sense of the situation, perhaps figuring out whether she's in danger or not.

I slam a hand down on the bonnet.

She flinches and looks up at me, startled, eyes wide like saucers. I tilt my head to the side, the last command, a forthcoming warning. She senses the hint of foreboding if she doesn't listen this time, and that's enough for her to work on an auto mode, unlocking the door and stepping out of the car.

"Come here," I beckon her close.

Niharika swallows visibly.

"Why are we here?" She looks around the area for the umpteenth time. But no matter how many times she looks, she'll never know the depths this cliff plunges to unless she jumps herself. And I've every plan to make her if she doesn't tell me the fucking truth.

"Come here." I repeat.

Her feet obey and she meets me in front of my car, keeping adequate distance between us. I step closer. Her breathing grows deeper, and the thin, heart shaped lips fall apart to keep the oxygen going in and out. "What's wrong?" I slide a hand over her jaw, gently cupping her cheek. She tilts her head up to meet my eyes. "Is this not what you want? Am I not who you want?" I lean closer, my hand snaking my hand around her nape, before threading my fingers into her dark brown locks. She gasps when I grab a fist of them and yank her to me. Her hands fly to hold my chest. "Do you love me, Niharika?" I whisper, my lips ghosting over hers, not touching, but close enough for her to anticipate the upcoming. She nods softly. "How much?" I whisper in her ear.

"A lot. I love you a lot." She murmurs.

"A lot?" I pull away, and her lashes flutter.

She peers up at me innocently, her hand riding up my chest and curling around my nape. "Yes, a lot."

"Enough to kill someone for me?"

"Yes."

"Enough to kill yourself for me?"

"Yes."

Lies.

So many lies.

I'm going to have so much fun with this woman.

"Then do it." I pull back.

She blinks, her hands floating in the air where few seconds my shoulders were. I lock my hands on my back, smiling casually at her.

"Do- do what?"

"Kill yourself for me." I shrug. "Jump off at that cliff." I nod to her right.

She stumbles back in shock, her eyes snapping from the cliff to me in a split second. "Have you lost it!?"

I shake my head. "No, I haven't. You said you love me. Then jump off that cliff."

"What!?" Her face screws in disbelief.

"If you want me, Niharika, prove me that you'll love me more than I love Taranya. Show me that the love I'm offering to that woman, will be given to me with the same intensity and more."

"Why do I've to prove it?" She asks me brokenly. "I do love you more than she loves you, more than you love her. That's the only reason I'm still waiting for you." Her eyes brim with fresh, salty tears.

"Then why won't you prove it, sweetheart?" I ask softly. "If Taranya asks me to jump off the cliff, I'll do it. That's how much I love her. Why won't you?"

"Really?" She chuckles sarcastically. "Fine. Prove yourself first. Jump off the cliff."

"I said, if she asks me, Niharika. You haven't earned that right yet." I remind her.

She shakes her head and rakes a hand through her hair. "I'm not doing this. You're deranged!" Her eyes narrow in slits.

"I thought you loved me." I say softly.

"I do!" She growls. "But I'm not proving shit to you!"

"Why? Do you not love me more than Vineet?"

"Of course, not! He-" she stops, frozen, her face ashen white, and she blinks up at me in shock.

Her first instinct is to flee. I click my tongue in displeasure and round the car from the other end, catching her around the waist before slamming her into the back of the car. She whimpers when her back takes the hit. I fail to find sympathy or guilt. "I hate liars." My voice trembles with rage. I crowd her in and sieze her jaw, tugging her face closer until we're inches apart. "Do you hear me? I can't stand liars." I sneer in her face. She cries softly, tears rolling down her cheeks in an unstoppable trail. "I've given twenty five years of my life to that hell. I've worked day and night, and I've committed atrocities you'll have nightmares about. And you thought you'll just barge in with your tragic love story and ruin my twenty five years of hardwork? Are you fucking kidding me!?" I growl, pummelling my fist into the metal next to her head. It leaves a dent.

She shakes violently, thrashing in my arms, trying to fight me off desperately. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Her hands struggle to join, and she resorts to begging. "Please let me go. Please, please, please!" She sobs behind her clasped hands.

When I back away, she drops to the ground and encloses her knees to her chest, crying with her face buried in her arms. I stuff my hands in the pockets of my trousers, looking down at her with a grimace. She wanted to fight a monster bigger than me like this? If Taranya hadn't found her truth in time, I'd have lost everything. God, I don't even want to think what would have happened if she were to ruin our plans for her stupid, thoughtless revenge.

"How did you find out what happened to Vineet Kumar?" I ask her sternly.

She sniffles, and rubs her nose to her sleeve before lifting her head to meet my eyes. "He was offered a scholarship from Sunrise Orphan Home."

"I know the drill. How did you find the truth?" I skip to the main point.

"When Vineet left, I personally went to see him off at the airport. Everything looked normal. I genuinely thought he was actually going away for further studies." She's cut off by a hiccup. "After he departed, I waited for his calls. He called me a week later. We talked. He sounded fine. Then we moved to texting. Since that was better. But as the time went on, the texting grew infrequent, and in two weeks, it completely stopped. I kept sending him emails, messages, voice notes, voicemails, but he never responded to any. Then a month later, I received a letter. He said to not call him anymore. He wants to focus on his life there and he's not inclined on continuing whatever we had. I didn't believe him." She shakes her head.

"Why not?" I sit down in front of her.

"Because Vineet hated letters." She looks into my eyes, a small smile plays on her lips as she slips into the fond memories. "He hated writing essays, stories, letters, he hated languages. He wasn't very creative." She chuckles. "It was why I always used post it notes to bother him during lectures. I knew he hated them, but he'd indulge me anyway. Because he loved me." Her eyes tear up once again. "I couldn't believe he'd send me a letter to break off things between us. But I had no way to reach him. I knew something was wrong, and I took it to my father, but upon discovering his daughter had an affair with an orphan, he locked me in my room and grounded me for a month." She sniffles. "There was nothing I could do."

"Then what brought you here?"

She looks up. "Atharva Saxena."

My spine goes straight. "Atharva Saxena, as in the son of Abhay Saxena?"

She nods. "He joined our university in the second semester along with his sister. She was also taking law."

"Anagha."

Niharika hums. "That's how I became friends with her. And slowly, he came around to hang out with us frequently. We started to hook up and we got close enough to share our secrets. One night, he asked me about my past relationships. I told him about Vineet and he was quick to join the dots. He said he made an irreversible mistake back in Jaigarh, lost the trust of the girl he was in love with, and had to restart his life in Delhi again."

"Right, an irreversible mistake." I comment sarcastically.

If he wasn't such a dumbass, we could have used Inayat Rizwan's testimony to make our side stronger. But neither Inayat, nor Dr. Khan is willing to help us anymore.

"He told me the truth. He told me all about the crimes your family is committing. And he also told me he had a lapse in judgement about you, that he should have trusted you and Taranya. I've no personal hate towards you, Shourya. I really do love you. Yeah, I didn't approach you with genuine interest, but over the time, I did fall for who you are." She says earnestly.

I sigh tiredly. There's no way I'm trusting her again.

"If it weren't for Vineet, I would have left the moment you told me about Tara. I was so blinded by revenge that I didn't care I'd be trapping you in a loveless marriage. Maybe if you hadn't confronted me today, I still would have continued to pursue you. I wanted a permanent position of power in the palace, and I knew it was only possible through you."

"Well, you'll have to scrap off those amateur plans now." I say tersely. "I'm never marrying you. And the contract you have? It's fake."

She frowns at me. "But it has your signatures -" she stops, realising there's nothing I cannot do. "Right, how can I underestimate a tech genius." She murmurs under her breath.

"You'll have to leave, Niharika." I say curtly and get up from the ground, dusting off my pants.

She scrambles to stand straight and looks at me vulnerably. "Shourya, please, my Vineet deserves justice."

"And he'll get it." I tell her calmly. "We're closer to the end." I walk up to the driver's seat.

She follows me in a hurry. "Then why can't I stay?"

I pause at the door. "Because you're not capable enough to stand next to me." I open the door and go to sit in when she grabs my arm, stopping me again.

"Shourya, please, I've spent seven years of my life mourning my first love, and three years planning this revenge. I know it was stupid. I know I'm not smart as you, but I've given my all to this, please don't ask me to leave." She begs me.

I release an exasperated breath. "Niharika," I pin her with a sharp glare. She flinches and stands straight, her hand dropping from my bicep. "It took my wife zero trouble to dig through your past and find your real intentions. You didn't manage to stay off my radar, I made the mistake of assuming you're exactly what you show, and hence, you came this far. But I can't trust you anymore. You've to leave."

"Leave?" She cries. "And go where? Back to Delhi? Where I know my father is waiting for me to marry me off to the first rich man he comes across? Atleast there's something I can look forward to here."

"You need to move on." I tell her gently, pitying the woman sobbing in front of me.

She shakes her head, crowding me against the car. "You don't understand, Shourya," her hands come to hold my jacket. "Delhi is not for me. Vineet is still there. In the memories, in the lanes we sneaked off to, in front of the snack stalls we used to have Pani Puri competition, on the streets we walked, the zebra crossing we crossed, the markets we explored, he's everywhere. And it haunts me. I really loved him. And if he was here, and had asked me to jump off this damn cliff, I'd have did it, without a question. I love him as much as you love Taranya." Tears roll down her cheeks unstoppably.

I nod, trying to release the hands fisting my jacket. "Leave me." I command.

She drops her hands in defeat, tear stricken eyes meeting mine. "Imagine yourself in my place. Would you not avenge the world if it took her from you?"

"I'd burn it down."

"Then help me burn it down." She states. "Once the truth is out, you'll need a legal shield to protect you. I'm a lawyer, Shourya. I'll be your shield."

"How can I trust you?"

"You're the only man I've loved after him, you already know what lengths I can go to for the people I love."

What do you think? Should he take the risk?

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Don't forget to vote and comment. Makes my day.