I Fell In Love With a Billionaire (Love Therapy Spinoff)

Chapter 24

A/N: A few days past weekend but here is part 2 of the party. Enjoy :)

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All Rohit could see was red. The betrayal! How dare she?! And as if he were seeing things, Tania shrunk further into Deepak. Shreya put a hand on Rohit's back and weirdly enough, that gesture managed to calm him down to remind him of where he was.

"Hello Deepak," he greeted, and then decided to ignore Tania.

"Hello Rohit," Deepak replied. "Shreya, you look absolutely beautiful."

"Thank you," Shreya responded. She was befuddled at the couple before her but the events of yesterday suddenly made sense. Deepak was there for Tania. She was suddenly curious about the history between them.

"Hi Rohit," Tania hesitantly greeted him. She could see all the pain she inflicted on him in his eyes and felt immense guilt for it. However, that didn't mean she didn't catch the effect Shreya's gesture had on Rohit.

Rohit only nodded in response. He feared he couldn't control himself if he even as much as opened his mouth.

"Arjun," Rohit heard Deepak say. "Can I have a word?"

As the men excused themselves, Ayesha took that opportunity to offer to show Shreya around. Shreya looked at Rohit to check if he was alright. It was the longest second but Rohit finally gave her a forced smile.

"Ro," Tania started but Rohit cut her off

"Not here," he growled.

Rohit held her by the wrist and led her outside to a more secluded spot.

"Explain yourself," he finally said.

Tania's face was full of remorse but she didn't dare to reply him.

"What were you thinking coming here with Deepak?" Rohit continued. "He's my business rival for god's sake! Do you know how much trouble you've caused? I thought you understood what it meant to be my girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" Tania retorted. "In what way have you treated me as a girlfriend? You come to me when you need me and when you don't, you go running to Shreya."

"Shreya is the mother of my child," Rohit seethed. "Are you doing this to spite me for choosing Shreya over you? I told you that tonight is a business opportunity and nothing else. And I was sorry for missing your show, Kavya needed me. It wasn't as though I didn't try to get back in time."

"But Deepak...," Tania started but decided against telling him.

"But Deepak what?" Rohit pressed. "What did Deepak do?"

Tania remained quiet. This time, Rohit didn't push for a response, instead he went straight up to Deepak. Deepak unbeknownst to the imminent threat was chatting with Shreya and Ayesha.

"What did you do to Tania, you sick bastard?!" Rohit roared as he grabbed Deepak by his collar.

The girls let out a little yelp as they didn't expect Rohit's presence.

"Rohit," Tania intervened, putting herself between the two men.

"I guess you found out," Deepak mocked.

"Deepak!" Tania flung a warning to him.

"Can someone please tell me what is going on?" Rohit demanded.

"Your lovely girlfriend made a bet with me," Deepak revealed. "She would be my date if you didn't show up for her show yesterday. And you didn't. You have no one to blame except yourself Rohit Sehgal."

Rohit was livid. He could hear anger ringing in his ears. Tania had used him as a bet?! He balled his hands into a fist and squeezed them hard.

"Rohit?" Tania's voice was barely audible. She reached out to touch Rohit but was stopped.

"Don't!" Rohit warned. "You can stay for the party but I don't want to see you anywhere near me tonight."

Tania took a step back and nodded reluctantly.

Rohit then turned to Deepak.

"You too," he spoke through gritted teeth. Rohit composed himself then turned to the Shreya and Ayesha. "I'm sorry you had to see that. It was uncalled for."

Ayesha had let it slide but Shreya's eyes held the most concern for him. Rohit wished she would stop looking at him that way or it would break his resolve. Again, he balled his hands into a fist and squeezed them. The feeling of his nails digging into his own palm was the only thing stopping him from doing anything reckless. It thethered him to the present, to reality.

"I promised to introduce Shreya to some people," Rohit forced out. "If you'll excuse us."

Rohit held out his arm and waited for Shreya.

"We'll catch up soon," Shreya told Ayesha and took Rohit's arm.

Rohit then led them back into the main hall where the majority of the party was. Shreya was quiet the entire time, she could see him mentally fighting off the anger.

"Do you want to dance?" Shreya asked, trying to distract him.

Rohit nodded and led her to the dance floor. He placed one of her arm onto his shoulder and took the other in his. His fingers hovered just slightly over her waist until he saw the consenting look on her face. He pulled her in and their bodies swayed to the music. Being so close to her caused a riot of frenzied energy to course through him.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Why?" Shreya questioned. He wasn't the one at fault. "But since you're in an apologetic mood, I'll accept it. I don't know when I'll ever see it again."

Rohit finally smiled, a real smile, the ones that reached his eyes.

"Shreya," he said her name with the most reverence. "Thank you. For tonight. For Kavya. For everything. You don't know how much this means to me."

Shreya hmm-ed in response, she had no words or a smart comeback to that. Rohit had just made himself vulnerable and it took her by surprise. The moment the music ended, Shreya took a step back to put some distance between them. As much as Tania had hurt Rohit tonight, she knew he was already spoken for. Shreya wouldn't do anything that would jeopardize that. Rohit cleared his throat and scanned his surroundings. When he didn't see either Tania or Deepak, he visibly relaxed. She hoped that for all of their sakes, things would remain this way.

"I think we really should meet other people," he told her. Again, he held out his arm for her. "Chalein (Let's go)?"

And like the previous times, she took it. For the entire night, Shreya never left Rohit's side. She became his pillar of strength and it grounded him. Rohit, on the other hand, proudly flaunted her. He eagerly introduced her to everyone and then sang praises of her. By the end of the night, they were the couple on everyone's lips. They had accomplished what they came for and more. The encounter with Deepak and Tania was now a distant memory.

When they reached home, a wave of emptiness suddenly swept through them. Rohit walked Shreya to her room and stood in the threshold of her doorway.

"I meant every word I said," Rohit spoke up. "I really do appreciate everything you've done for me."

Shreya smiled at him.

"I had a great time tonight," she replied.

Rohit nodded and returned the smile.

"Good night," he said.

"Good night," she responded.

***

A/N: Awwww... They had fun despite Deepak and Tania's pact. Now, for some repercussions... Muhahahahaha