Dare Trilogy | Book 3 Editing | ✓

3.10.5 | Before the Past

Posted: July 2017 | Edited: February 6th, 2020

| . . . C H A P T E R . . . . 3 . 10 . 5 - B E F O R E - T H E - P A S T . . . |

I pulled the car up to the valet entrance and one of the guys opened the car door. "Thank you," I said and quickly stepped out, letting him deal with the parking. I had to get inside before the calendar launch would start.

So, what happened was I had a last minute epiphany. Khushi was right. It was wrong to stay hidden in the corners of the huge house when I could be out there doing so much more. Before Shyam, before Aarav, I was doing something meaningful with my life. I loved being a designer. It's why Arnav and I had sold the old properties that our parents had left for us and with that money, started an idea with AR Fashion House once I had my degree. He was the brains. I was the creativity. A small idea had grown into so much that we now had more wealth than we needed. If I had kept going, we could've had multiple branches around the country.

It was selfish of me to give up on my dream and let Arnav handle all that responsibility all because he hoped that one day, I would still want to get back to it.

Today, it was that time.

I had watched Arnav and Khushi grow with each other. I had watched my brother be there for Khushi while she blossomed into this confident person who keeps the guts to fight with her fears. I needed to do the same. If not for myself, then for Aarav. I can't have him grow up and then learn that because of everything that had happened, I had stopped living my dreams.

How would he feel then?

One day, he was going to learn that I was his real mother. I did not want him to blame himself for my actions. I had given birth to him, but till now, Arnav and Lavanya were his parents. They raised him. I just was around.

Now, I needed to start being his mother too.

I had taken the easy route by letting my brother handle everything till the point that he even took it on himself to declare to the world that Aarav was his son so he could protect me from the backlash of our narrow-minded society. I needed to not hide anymore. I wanted to be able to proudly say that Aarav is my son, and for Aarav to be proud to be my son when he grows up.

I was looking around for Arnav and Khushi, but I couldn't find them anywhere in the front. "Anjali?" I turned around at the voice and felt some relief on coming across a familiar face.

We walked towards each other as I spoke, "Aman, hi. Do you know where Arnav is?"

He was looking at my outfit, and I felt a little out of balance. He'd always been kind towards me when we did work together at AR before I stopped going in. Somewhere, I had a crush on him. But, knowing the reality of my life, I never let it get anywhere. He blinked, as if recalling the question I had asked. "Yeah. Uh, he and Khushi just went backstage. What...? I didn't know you were coming to the launch."

I smiled politely as he started to walk me towards the backstage entrance. "It was a last-minute decision." He opened the doors to let me through first and I added a small, "Thank you," as I walked past him.

He nodded towards where Arnav and Khushi were. "It was nice to see you again. You should really come by the office sometimes." He said just before I would leave.

His words made me wonder if maybe he liked me too. We hadn't talked in months. Well, actually, that would be years. I had just briefly seen him before leaving for Rome during the calendar shoot. Similarly, I might see him on occasions but we never talked. I'd usually see him from a distance and stick by Arnav. He had definitely given me a look over upon seeing me. Now that I think about it... maybe he never approached me because he was scared of Arnav?