She gives me a scathing look, and without another word, brushes past me.
“Should I take your silence as agreement?” I ask, turning to face her fully, letting our gazes lock again.
“Hell will freeze before I ever agree with you on anything,” she murmurs, her voice dripping with fake sweetness. “And the only reason I tolerated those few seconds of closeness was…”
She steps closer this time and extends her palms towards me. And that’s when I notice it. My car key.
Before I can ask how she got it, she tosses it into the lake in one swift motion.
I glare at her, and she meets it head-on, her own glare unflinching.
“Now jump in the water and get them,” she smirks, turning to walk away.
A slow, dangerous smile curls across my lips as I watch her go. She has no idea she’s playing on my ground now.
I am going to enjoy this. It’s time for some fun.
Chapter 5
Meera
I slide into the passenger seat beside Samarth and shut the door. My palms press together in my lap, my fingers knotting and unknotting, as he pulls out of my house without a word.
He’s still annoyed. I can tell. He didn’t greet me the way he usually does. He didn’t even open my door. And it’s all because of last night.
When I got home after dealing with that jerk, Dev, I’d called Samarth and told him what happened. He sounded worried, so much so that he came over immediately to make sure I was okay. Only after I reassured him did he finally relax. But even then, he was upset that I’d been alone at that hour.
I shift my gaze from the trees passing by to Samarth. His hands are clenched around the steering wheel, his eyes fixed straight ahead. His silence presses hard against my ribs. I know he’s holding back. He always does that, letting his anger simmer instead of exploding.
But sometimes, the quiet hurts more.
Finally, halfway down the road, I mutter, “Look, I know you’re upset. But can we talk about it instead of this silent treatment?”
“I told you they’re trouble, Meera. Then why did you leave the office when you knew I was coming to pick you?” he asks as he pulls up in front of our office building.
Neither of us steps out. Instead, he turns in his seat to face me.
“Samarth, my article got rejected. I just—” I let out a slow breath. “I needed to clear my head. I wasn’t thinking about anything else.”
“You could’ve texted me. You could’ve waited. How could you be so careless?”
“Careless?” I repeat, frowning.
He drags a hand through his hair. “Yes, careless. You walked out upset, alone, at night. Anything could’ve happened, Meera.”
I scoff under my breath. “So it’s my fault now?”
“I am not blaming you. You need to know I care about you. And you disappearing like that… it isn’t safe.”
“I get that you care, Samarth, but I am not a child. I can take care of myself, even on bad days. And Dev showing up wasn’t something I expected.”
“Of course he’d show up. Men like him thrive on creating drama whenever they sense even the slightest threat.”
“Nothing dramatic happened,” I say quietly.
I haven’t told Samarth how Dev’s light touch got under my skin. Or the way his closeness rattled my nerves. Telling him would only add to his worry. All he knows is that Dev showed up to warn me, and I didn’t pay heed.
He shoots me a look. “You sure? Because from how tense you were when you got home, it didn’t feel like ‘nothing.’”
