“Ah. Impressive.”
She is. “Any other concerns?”
“No. Just some advice. Time is of the essence, and you need to work fast,” he warns ominously. “I bet your father is plotting behind your back. The upcoming meeting is his best shot at removing you and he’ll hit you full force.”
“I’m aware of the time crunch,” I say dryly. “Stick to your part and I’ll stick to mine.”
There will be one last scandal, but it’ll involve my father’s name in the headlines, not mine.
After I hang up, I see Arya’s last text.
ANGEL: I forgot to ask… Don’t I need to come to the police station to file an FIR against the man?
ME: Don’t worry. I handled it. He’s not assaulting you or any other woman ever again.
I don’t think she’ll see my message anytime soon when, instantly, a bubble pops up. A weird and warm sensation spreads inside my chest. It becomes almost uncontainable when her text flashes on my screen.
ANGEL: That makes me relieved. You’re my hero.
Her claim hits me like a bullet.
Villain. Liar. Machiavellian. Backstabber. That’s who I’ve been in everyone’s life.
I wouldn’t know the first thing about being a hero. Arya certainly wouldn’t be calling me that if she knew the violence I inflicted on the man to avenge her.
She believes I’m a good man because it’s the only side I’ve shown her.
The side only she elicits.
I didn’t even realize I was spilling my guts to her until they were out of my mouth. Worse, I didn’t want to take them back. I wanted to bare my soul to her. Let her innocence and warmth surround me.
What can I do right now to make you happy?
I was sucker punched. The earth was yanked from beneath my feet at her offer. The answer was on the tip of my tongue before I became alert to the danger they possessed. For a moment, I wondered what it would be like to make her mine completely.
Hollow dream is what it is.
A fatal compulsion that could obliterate everything I was working toward. And eventually destroy her life.
She would run if she found out about my vices. The sins I’ve committed in the past. The transgressions I’ll commit in the future. The lies I’m telling her. The secrets I’m hiding.
I won’t be her hero then.
I’m a broken man and she deserves someone whole.
Today the lines blurred.
I need to draw them again.
This timepermanently.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Arya
The afternoon I spent with Nathan, despite how it came to be, was the most wholesome and at peace I’ve ever felt in months.
He wasn’t a close book. I felt closer and connected to him by sharing the wounds left by our older siblings.
