“You are, but I can have one more, can’t I?” Rajat teased back, smirking.
Karan’s jaw tightened slightly, wondering who that was, but before he could think, Rajat’s phone buzzed again. He picked it up, walked a few steps away, and murmured something in a softer tone. His grin was unmistakable even from a distance.
Kanika, who was lounging on the opposite couch in her satin dress, appeared at Karan’s side with another glass of wine.
“He’s been smiling like that too much recently,” she said, tilting her head toward Rajat. “I think there’s someone special this time.”
Karan took the drink but didn’t respond. “Rajat has never been private about his life,” he said flatly. “Except this time.”
Kanika gave a little laugh, swirling the wine in her glass. “You sound jealous, Karan.”
He turned his head sharply toward her. “If I were jealous, Kanika, you’d know it.”
That shut her up.
A few of their other friends joined them with another round of laughter, talking about old college days, mischief, deals that failed spectacularly and others that made them millionaires. The music had picked up when Rajat finally came back, still smiling, his phone tucked in his pocket.
“Don’t ask,” he said when Karan looked at him pointedly.
“I wasn’t going to,” Karan said dryly, but Rajat knew that expression too well…that faintly irritated look Karan gave when something didn’t add up.
“Well, in that case,” Rajat said, clinking his glass against Karan’s, “to good friends, their bad decisions, and one night of forgetting everything else.”
Karan smirked faintly, lifting his own glass. “You first.”
The men drank, and more friends joined in with friendly banter, some teasing Rajat about the farmhouses he bought just to throw lavish parties, others joking that Karan was only there to keep him from bankrupting himself.
None of them noticed the headlights pulling up the long driveway and a sleek car gliding to a stop inside the farmhouse gates.
Mishti stepped out of the car, looking extremely out of place. Parties like these weren’t new to her. But tonight, she was walking into a party where she wasn’t expected.By her husband. She took a steadying breath and walked to the patio.
The moment she stepped there, heads turned. The rich black designer saree she wore glimmered with every graceful step she took, and the delicatedorisof her blouse tied at her back, teasingly revealed just enough to make hearts skip, and one heart, in particular,to stop.
Karan froze midway, his glass of scotch halfway to his lips, when his gaze found her. Everything else faded. All he saw washiswife. She had a pretty face, but tonight, she looked… breathtaking. The glow on her face, the confidence in her eyes,the softness of her smile, it all tugged something deep inside him.
Kanika, standing beside him, noticed the way his eyes lingered, and her smile faltered instantly. “What isshedoing here?” she muttered, unable to hide the bitterness.
Karan didn’t reply. He was too lost watching Mishti walk across the garden, demanding attention without trying.
Rajat spotted her too, and his face instantly lit up as he strode toward her.
“Welcome, Mrs Mishti Wadhwa,” he teased.
“Happy Birthday, Rajat.” She smiled warmly and handed him a small, neatly wrapped box.
Rajat looked at the gift, then at her, and grinned. “Gift? Wow! Thanks a lot. But you didn’t have to give me a separate gift. Karan already gave me one!”
For a fleeting second, she caught Karan’s eyes on her. She knew he was watching her ever since she had set foot here.
“If he can forget to take his wife to this party,” she said lightly, “I thought he might forget gifting you on her behalf as well. So, I got a separate one.”
Rajat broke into hearty laughter.
“Well said, Mishti! You have a good sense of humour. Thank you for coming,” he said, eyes twinkling with happiness, before whispering only for her ears. “And now I’m confident that only your quiet courage can match Karan’s temper.”
He turned briefly toward Karan, who simply took another sip of his drink, trying to drown the sudden heat that climbed his neck. He hadn’t expected Mishti to come here without his knowledge.Without his permission.
“Come, let me introduce you to some of our common friends,” Rajat said warmly, gesturing her forward.
