The Wrong Woman

74. Dhruv

I choked out the words I'd practised for a long time. Just not in the situation I thought it would be in, with Rani here and Mouna, gazing off into the distance with a dazed expression. Everything seemed to be going perfect for me since the divorce for the first time in my life, and the only thing missing from it was her.

Damn it, if only I could read her thoughts. "Our chapter is over," I emphasised when there was no response. "It has been for a long time. I hung onto something that wasn't there and I would have forever if you hadn't shown up."

"If you still don't believe him," Rani began, coming closer and placing a hand on Mouna's shoulder, "then will you believe me if I said he rejected me?"

Her eyes blinked rapidly and I caught the glistening of unshed tears. God, the urge to cup her face in my hands and kiss her to comfort swept over me. I pushed the feeling down, hands twitching by my sides.

"After I explained everything to him," Rani had been saying, "I told him that I'd like to restart and start anew."

"I said no," I added, stepping closer to Mouna who now looked me in the eye.

"Why now? Why two months later?" Mouna whispered, hurt swirling through her hypnotic, ink eyes. A pang of regret grasped my throat. I should have told her this sooner. I knew that, but...

"I wanted to wait until the divorce. There was a lot of things to do and a lot of mess. I was waiting for all that trouble to be over so you weren't involved. It didn't seem fair to drag you through it."

The reaction I got and the reaction I expected were two different things. I'd hoped she would step closer and hug me back, telling me how much she loved me too.

Instead, her face crumpled and she began to sob. Rani and I exchanged a look of shock and I stepped forward, letting myself cave into that urge from before and cupping her face in my hands. Her cheeks were still wet, and both she and I were dripping water all over Rani's floor, but I revelled in the feeling of her warmth.

It fit so perfectly, like they were carved specifically for me.

Who knew?

Her wet lashes teased the edge of her cheeks as she blinked. There was nothing more than a primal urge to kiss her lids, kiss away the tears and feel her against me. But again, I resisted and tapped each of her soft cheeks with the pad of my thumbs.

"You don't need to feel the same for me, Mouna," I told her, softly. My own words twisted my heart in protest. "I'm fine with being friends or even just talking. As long as I have you in my life."

She immediately shook her head, crushing the leftover hopes that I'd had. My hands slid from her face, my arms hanging limply by my side. She'd said no. So this had been a wasted effort, as well.

I sucked in a sharp breath, trying not to show both women how much I wanted to throw the door off its hinges and run out of there. I opened my mouth, to let Mouna know it was okay and leave when the unthinkable happened.

She fainted.