NEIL

“I wasn't expecting he'd come.”

“Right, I haven't seen him in over a decade. He never came back to India after that incident.”

“Why does the sight of him give me goosebumps? Do you think he actually did—”

The words died in their mouths the moment my eyes met the ladies whispering in a corner.

Their lips twitched, slowly curling into a smile. “Neil beta, hel—”

I closed the doors, cutting them off before turning around to notice my father had already taken his seat in an armchair.

“Your secretary said you wouldn't be able to make it here, just like every other time anyone sends you an invitation,” my father said. “Seems like you actually think of someone as your family.”

He sniffed in mockery, matching his expression with the bitterness of his words.

There wasn't anything about us that made us think of each other as family. In fact, we've hated each other since I began to understand my own family dynamics, but that doesn't mean I'd create a scene at my sister's wedding.

So when my father insisted upon having a conversation, knowing how we ended up, I had no option but to hear him out.

“I had a heart attack two months ago. Your younger brother sent you the message, but,” he chuckled, shaking his head. “You didn't bother replying to him, let alone showing up.”

I stopped in front of the couch facing him, unbuttoning my jacket, and took a seat. “You do look fine.”

Men like my father always needed attention that could make them the topic of gossip among people. I haven't ever checked, but I am positive he must've used it to expand his social network.

“Meeting my son after four years, and this is what I get to hear. Could you be kind enough to ask me about my health?”

A message pinged on my phone, and I retrieved it, reading the text. “Like I said, you look just fine.”

Secretary: The papers are signed, sir.

“You'll never change, will you?” My father scoffed, picking up the glass of scotch and taking a small sip. “You are my son, so how about you work in India, take care of me, and do as I say—maybe then you can get rid of the sin you committed?”

My thumb paused over the screen for a second before I continued typing a reply. “Grandfather died, so how are you going to wash away your sin, Father?” I looked up at him, watching the color drain from his face. Locking my phone, I slid it into the inside pocket of my jacket.

“Do not talk to me in that tone,” he snapped. “Staying in New York and building a stupid company won't clear it all. Looks like staying away from here has made you forget your place, Son. You think you came back to Jaipur for Niharika? No. You came back because you wanted to see if people still look at you like a criminal.”

He was so wrong about that. If it were up to me, I wouldn't have showed up here in the first place. Not when Niharika told me about the wedding, and certainly not when I became aware of this old hag's presence.

Unfortunately, the old man was correct about one thing: the only person I was close to and thought of as mine was my sister. So, when she told me she really wanted me to come to her wedding, I couldn't refuse.

“Let's not talk about why I came here and what actually made me do those things. You didn't summon me here to ask about my health or talk about yours. You summoned me because the banks are closing in on your assets, and your youngest son is too busy spending your money in London to actually manage it.”

My father’s jaw clenched. His hand tightened around the glass, and his brow twitched.

There it was.

I crossed one leg over the other, resting my arm on the headrest. “Never thought you'd be weak enough to take my help.”

He loosened his grip on the glass, gulping down the rest of the scotch all at once before settling the glass on the side table.

“I had a heart attack because of this. It was real, and I didn't fake it.”

I chuckled, shaking my head. “If your doctors were actually worried about your health, they wouldn't recommend you drink alcohol.” I stood up, pulling down the cuffs of my shirt and buttoning my jacket. “I’ll give you five minutes to compose yourself,” I added, looking down at him. “After that, I’m heading down to meet my sister, and just in case you really want me to help you out, you keep that shitty face of yours away from me.”

Five minutes later, I walked out of the room with my phone pressed against my ear. Usually, Niharika would run to meet me whenever I showed up, but this time my sister wasn't even picking up my calls.

“Neil?” My feet paused before I turned to find Aditya standing at a distance. He is the eldest son of my second Bua, a year younger than me. “I heard you came and were searching for you. Anyway, how are you?”

“Good.”

“You know Mama Ji said you wouldn't come, but I was sure you'd join us.” He stepped closer, standing beside me as he added, “Dang! I am still shorter than you.”

I nodded, looking around, completely ignoring his words. “Where's Niharika?”

“I saw her walking toward her room on the second floor. She was talking to Jiju, and do you know, Bhai,” he stepped closer, “I think they fought again.”

I narrowed my gaze at him.

“That's her room.” He pointed to a specific room, and I began walking toward the staircase.

Surprisingly, the haveli was almost empty, and it took little to understand that everyone must be in the outer courtyard of the haveli for the wedding rituals.

The taste of the conversation with my father from earlier still occupied a bitter space in my thoughts, which was unnecessary. My world moved too fast to give a damn about a man like him, and he knew it well.

The echo of my shoes stopped the moment my soles touched the carpet, standing in front of my sister's room.

My knuckles barely touched the door of her room before it swung ajar. Instead of stepping inside, I knocked on her door. “Niharika?”

Hearing no response, I stepped inside the room. Her room looked like a scene from an old 90s movie. The walls were carved in red fort stone, with high ceilings.

“Ni—”

The brown door opened, and a woman stepped out wearing a bathrobe. Her head was covered in foam, and a thick layer of foam was dripping down her forehead, completely covering her eyes and nose.

“Oh my god, Niharika, the shower just completely cut out,” she gasped, blindly reaching her hands out into the air, wiping frantically at her temples. “Please tell me you have a water bottle or something. This shampoo is burning my eyes.”

The sudden voice sent goosebumps all over my skin, and my lips parted looking at the woman I least wanted to encounter.

Arya Suryawanshi.

Arya was one of the most beautiful women one could see. Tall, with almond eyes and a beautiful smile that could make anyone's heart flutter. People often said she was a live goddess on earth with the perfect visuals.

I remember how my secretary smiled looking at her photographs when Mihir told me Suryawanshi was about to lock a deal with us.

It wasn't like I was shocked to find her here. Niharika had once told me she found a royal friend in college. She told me her name, and since then, every time we were on a call, once in a while Niharika would talk about her best friend.

However, what I didn't expect was to meet Arya so soon that it just irritated my thoughts.

The only mutual thing between us was our equal dislike oward each other.

She took another blind step forward, her bare foot slipping slightly on the slick marble threshold of the bathroom.

Instinct took over before my brain could stop it. I lunged forward, my hand gripping her upper arm, my fingers digging into the soft cotton of her bathrobe to steady her.

“What the hell,” she cursed, putting her hand forward to hold onto me when I pulled back my hand. “Please just don't stand there. Check for a bottle or anything and help me, or at this rate, I'll be blind.”

I walked past her into the bathroom and pushed the taps to check for water. There wasn't any water running.

Footsteps followed me from behind. “I think someone might have pulled a prank or something; the shower was doing just fine, but it stopped,” Arya said. “For now, a bottle of water can help me wash my eyes.”

I walked past her toward the vanity table and picked up the quarter-filled water bottle before stepping back into the bathroom.

Twisting the cap with a brutal snap, I poured the water on her face, but instead of helping her wash her eyes, the new trail of shampoo crawled down into them.

She brought her fingers to her eyes, trying to remove the shampoo, but dropped them. “I am going to cry now. Bet the plumbing is from the nineteenth century, and this…”

I dropped the bottle to the side, pulling out my phone as I dialed Aditya. He picked up after two rings. “Check the water. It's not working at all.”

From the corner of my eye, I noticed how Arya's lips paused. She took a step back, hand in the air trying to search for something before she wrapped it around the hand shower.

“Give me two minutes, Bhai. I am sure one of the kids must've pulled one of their pranks,” he spoke.

I hung up, lifting my foot to walk out of the bathroom when she took another step back.

“I should've known you were a man when you weren't speaking.” She swung the hand shower in the air, eyes still closed. “Come closer, and I'll hit you with this.”

“I am not interested in coming closer. I was just helping you.”

She swung the shower again, this time taking a step toward me. “Oh really! Is this the reason why you didn't let me wash my eyes and poured water on my head?”

I sighed. “I did wash your eyes; the mountain of shampoo decided to make a valley down your head. That's not my problem, woman.”

She huffed a laugh, eyes still closed. “Men are liars. Don't you think you should've been out of the bathroom if you really weren't a creep?”

She swung that thing again, and I bent back, dodging the shot.

Crazy woman.

“I should've left you with that shampoo.”

She stepped forward again, the speed of her swings getting more intense. “Don't you personally have any shame in one of your pockets? Such a shame to walk into a woman's bathroom.”

“Don't you feel ashamed that you were crying for help?”

“You could've just walked away. I would choose to be blind over taking help from you—randomly walking into a stranger's room.”

“This is my sister's room.”

“Excuse me?”

“Well, excused.”

My eyes landed on the foam near her foot, and just as she stepped on it, her body tilted.

My hand instantly wrapped around her arm, and I pulled her closer, making sure we didn't touch each other apart from our hands.

“Get your hands off me, you—”

A spray of water from the damn shower hit my face, and my eyes shut. It soaked my hair and clothes.

I brought my free hand to my eyes and wiped off the water before opening them, only to find a shocked Arya looking at me.

Her lips trembled, thin lines forming between her eyebrows. Rage covered her eyes, matching the redness caused by the shampoo.

“Neil? What the hell are you doing here?”

Instead of replying to her, I retrieved my hand and turned my back, ready to walk away, when something hit my back before falling to the ground.

“I asked you a question.”

My jaw tensed. Replying to her felt unnecessary, so I did what I should've done before.

I walked away as if she didn't exist.