Page 160 of Since You Stole My Heart

Lavanya fell silent for a moment. ‘Because no matter how much I love him, there’s no way my self-respect can survive what he’s done. Not to me, and definitely not to other women.’

A sob of relief escaped Kashvi. ‘Thank you, Lavanya. You’ve no idea what this means to me. I owe you big time.’

Lavanya shook her head immediately. ‘No, you don’t. I should’ve seen the red flags sooner. If I had, maybe this wouldn’t have happened to you. So this is just me trying to make up for the part I played in it.’

‘What you’ve done is help me, and probably countless others too... I’ll never forget this.’ Then worry threaded through Kashvi’s voice. ‘But you need to be careful. Viraj has already proven he can get violent, and once he realises you took the laptop, he’ll be livid.’

‘He already knows,’ Lavanya said with a sad smile. ‘He’s been blowing up my phone for the past hour. I haven’t received this many calls from him in an entire decade of dating him.’

Unease rippled through Kashvi. ‘Then stay here until we figure out what to do next.’

‘She’s right, Lavi,’ Swayam said, resting a hand on her arm. ‘You’ll be safer here.’

Lavanya shook her head decisively. ‘I’m done here. I never liked Mumbai. I only stayed here for Viraj because he wanted to live with his family. But not anymore. I’m going to my grandparents’ place in Jaipur. My flight’s in an hour.’

‘Did you talk to Maasi?’ Swayam asked.

‘I didn’t go into details. I just told her things weren’t working out and that I’m going back home.’

‘She wouldn’t have taken that well,’ Swayam said, already imagining the reaction.

‘She didn’t.’ Lavanya looked away. ‘She likes me, but at the end of the day, she’s his mother. She’ll always choose Viraj.’

‘Why didn’t you tell her the truth?’ Kashvi asked.

Lavanya was silent for a moment.

‘Because it wouldn’t have changed anything.’ Lavanya let out a resigned sigh. ‘She loves him too much to see who he really is. And even if she did, I don’t think she’d be able to accept it.’

‘I can only imagine how she’d react to all of this,’ Kashvi murmured, dread slowly spreading through her veins.

‘Do you want my advice on how to break this to her?’ Lavanya asked.

When Swayam nodded, she said, ‘Don’t tell her anything. At least not until after you deal with Viraj. He’s keeping her in the dark, so you should too.’

‘Are you sure that’s a good idea?’ Kashvi asked hesitantly.

Lavanya struggled for the right words. ‘It’s like... if you tell her about all of this without naming him, she’ll say a man like that deserves punishment. But the moment you tell her it’s Viraj, she’ll start justifying him. We all make exceptions for the people we love, even when we shouldn’t.’

‘I get it,’ Swayam said, his jaw tightening.

‘I should go. I need to get to the airport.’ Lavanya adjusted the strap of her bag higher on her shoulder.

Swayam pulled her into a hug and gently patted her head. ‘I’m sorry, Lavi. I should’ve known better. I should’ve made sure Viraj was treating you right.’

A sob escaped her before she forced out a brittle smile. ‘I was too much of a fool in love. I never told anyone, so you couldn’t have known. You just focus on getting your girl out of this mess and bring her to Jaipur soon.’

Mindful of Kashvi’s injuries, Lavanya carefully wrapped her arms around her. ‘I hope you start feeling better soon, Kashvi. And I hope I see you again soon. Don’t let this idiot annoy you into leaving.’

Kashvi held Swayam’s gaze and narrowed her eyes. ‘Don’t worry. He’ll behave.’

‘I will,’ Swayam promised with a quiet laugh. ‘Call me when you land.’

Lavanya nodded. ‘Yeah, and you take care of yourself too, okay?’

With a small wave, Lavanya walked out, the door shutting behind her with a soft click.

Kashvi turned to Swayam, taking in the worry etched across his face. ‘Hey, we’ll get through this.’