‘Don’t worry, you don’t have to deal with them for long. I’m going to murder them as soon as I get off stage.’
His hand flexed against her hip, grabbing it harder. Abhay lowered his mouth until it hovered just above her ear. ‘Keep talking in that bossy tone and I’ll forget we’re in public.’
With all her strength, she suppressed her gasp, but couldn’t control the tremble in her body. His warm chuckle against her ear told her he had caught it too.
Swayam exclaimed, ‘C’mon, don’t be shy! Let’s hear the story from the hero of this romantic saga.’
Siya pinned him with a glare sharp enough to slice through his mischief, but that only prompted him to high-five Luv. They both looked far too pleased with themselves in enjoying their misery. Meera rolled her eyes at them while Kashvi shook with laughter.
Traitors, the whole lot of them, Siya thought.
She had barely looked away from their friends when she felt Abhay’s rough palm firmly slide across her waist. Her breath rushed out in a sharp exhale. His touch was possessive and the pull of his hard body against hers racked up the heat in her body, and her flushed cheeks felt warm. It did something dangerous to her insides.
The cameras flashed around them as Abhay lifted the mic to his lips and pulled her close enough that every tiny nerve in her body went still.
‘I know this is the part where I’m supposed to pledge my undying love and say how lucky I am to have you,’ he began,his gaze never leaving hers. ‘But the truth is, even if I strung together every perfect word, in every language I know, it still wouldn’t come close to how I really feel for you.’
The embers of his blazing eyes burned up the space between them into ashes until even the air had no room. When he looked at her like that, the entire world faded away. All she could feel was the soft tremor in his voice as his fingers gently pressed into the curve of her waist.
His voice dropped an octave lower, ringing with such raw sincerity that it tugged at the tightly-coiled edges of her armour. ‘Everyone has heard the story of how I met Siya years ago, but actually, she walked into my life at a friend’s birthday when we were kids.’
What?!she screamed in her mind. They met when they were kids…or did he make it up to sell their love story? Her heart thudded hard against her ribs as her mind raced through all memories she had of childhood parties she’d been forced to attend, to grow up “with the right people,” but for the life of her she couldn’t remember it.
‘She was wearing blue, her wild hair tucked under a ridiculous clown-themed birthday cap, as she scolded me for trying to steal a piece of cake. She had this… fire even back then, and I didn’t understand it at the time, but I think a part of me fell in love with her that day.’
Her eyes went wide, disbelief splashed across her face. The tenderness in his gaze told her he wasn’t lying, which was the most terrifying part. And the second he saw that flicker of genuine shock in her expression, he chuckled.
‘That’s exactly how she looked at me the first time I told her that—like I’m insane,’ he teased and a small ripple of laughterand admiration fluttered through the crowd. ‘But what she’s never really understood is that she makes my heart race every time she walks into a room. The day she became my wife, my whole world came alive with joy.’
Siya barely managed to keep her face neutral as cameras captured her every reaction. A flush rose in her cheeks and to cover it up, she gave a small smile, hoping it was enough as entertainment fodder.
Abhay locked eyes with her, unflinching and unbearably tender, and gently tangled his fingers with hers. ‘I’ve loved her quietly, fiercely, and sometimes even selfishly, but always completely with my heart. She is the only woman I have ever prayed would be mine, in every lifetime. So, it’s my honour to hold her in my arms and announce to the world that she is myjaan.’
He’d spoken softly, but it hit her chest with the force of a battering ram. It was just a word, and it wouldn’t have any power if Siya didn’t let it get to her, but she felt defenceless against that endearment. The ease with which he seeped in through the cracks she had worked so hard to repair and burrowed deep into her heart frightened her.
The room broke out in applause and whistles, in awe of everything he had declared so fearlessly. With a smile plastered on her face, she desperately began trying to gather her scattered emotions before they slipped past her fragile walls, and she hated how he had undone them with a simple gesture.
Abhay inched closer and pressed his lips lightly to her forehead. He whispered, his voice hard to catch over the chatter in the room. ‘I know the situation is not ideal, but I can’t wait to marry you.’
The sunlight brought out the ring of hazel in his brown eyes, and lost in them, Siya finally allowed herself to lean against him and bask in his woodsy, fresh scent. Because no matter how hard she tried to resent him, she couldn’t deny the truth. She wanted to believe him and that scared her the most.
She should have stepped away by now, exactly like she’d rehearsed to do, offering an excuse with a smile. But Abhay tightened his arm around her waist like he had no intention of letting go, and when his thumb stroked softly along the curve of her hip, all thoughts flew out of her head.
The journalists swarmed closer, armed with their phones and cameras. Siya knew the eyes of the room were on them so she mirrored his affectionate expression and tried to relax in his arms to seem natural. The warmth of his hard body beside hers pulsed like a steady drumbeat under her skin.
A young woman from a well-known entertainment blog stepped up, her mic tilted forward. ‘How did you two meet?’
He had done all the heavy lifting to establish their relationship, so Siya lightly squeezed his hand to signal she got this one. ‘Apparently, he met me a long time ago,’ she teased, ‘but I met him four years ago. He was just as charming as he is today, and he stole my heart in a night.’
Abhay laughed softly beside her. His hand flexed against her waist and she knew he saw far more than her rehearsed expression. He spoke in a hushed tone. ‘So romantic.’
Siya nodded at someone who shouted at her to change the pose. She tilted her head back to look up at him so they could snap a candid. Her smile dripped with sugar as she replied, ‘I’m glad you like it. You should thank my father, since he wrote it in the speech script for me.’
‘How about writing the speech yourself next time, even if it’s full of curses and anger? If my heart is destined to break, let it shatter by your hands, not his,’ he requested, nuzzling his lips on her temple.
Siya almost faltered at the honesty in his tone, but before she could dissect the tingling sensation in her lower belly, a sharp voice rang out in the room. Siya turned to see the journalist with sharp cheekbones, blood-red lips, and an overly smug smile step forward. Ah, another person in the long list of people she wanted to avoid.
Rajni Acharya, well-known for her sensational headlines and fake rumours. ‘Ms Siya—oops, sorry. Mrs Siya,’ Rajni corrected herself, and though her apology sounded genuine, Siya knew of her tricks.
