ARYA

“You are kidding me; there's no way you'd meet that asshole ex-best friend of your brother at your friend's wedding.” Drishti's voice crackled through my phone as I propped it on the spare pillow before tossing and turning on the bed. “Are you sure you weren't high on drinks?”

“Hey! She doesn't drink, and remember the part where she mentioned that idiot is her friend's brother?” Sanvi finally spoke while walking outside her room.

The camera only showed her forehead until she reached her kitchen and placed her phone on the table.

Drishti facepalmed, matching the exact reaction I had when Niharika told about Neil this morning. My heart rate rises every time I think about that moment from this morning.

For a moment, I regretted talking about Neil with my school friends, but then again, they were the only ones who would hear me out without judging me.

“Friend's brother? That doesn't give him permission to stand in her bathroom,” Drishti looked toward me. “Tell me you gave a tight punch to his stomach.”

“I threw the hand shower at him,” I said. “But he ignored me and walked away like I was air.”

The sick feeling touched my stomach again. If only the geyser wasn't dead, I wouldn't have met him. Or if the water hadn't stopped, I wouldn't have had to walk out like that and embarrass myself.

But Drishti wasn't wrong either; I was technically blind, not him, so the least he could have done was walk away.

“Did you two ever date, Arya?” Sanvi finally reached down to pick her phone up from the table, the camera now facing her. “I mean, you are so upset, as if you met your ex-boyfriend and not your brother's asshole friend.”

“This is the reason why I always told you that you'd regret joining the school late, Sanvi. Why would she date a man who was older than her?” Drishti pushed herself up from the chair, reaching for the vintage English bookshelf behind her. “Not to forget Arya was scared of him, thanks to his grumpy face and nature.”

“You can't insult me like that, Drishti.” My eyes moved from one friend to another. “Anyone would be terrified by the way he glared.”

The last thing that bothered me right now was his nature, but I certainly wasn't sure why my friends were making different assumptions about him. I didn't call them to discuss this, but rather to find a solution.

“Can you guys help me out instead of fighting and caring about his nature?” I finally spoke, cutting both of them off.

Sanvi snapped her fingers, munching on one of the cookies from the jar Drishti sent us both. “That's what I am saying.”

“What do you plan on doing? I mean, are you going to talk about it all—like from the humiliation he caused you at school to everything else to Niharika?” Drishti spoke.

I pulled the duvet closer to my chin, shaking my head. “I can't do that.”

“Why not?” Drishti spoke. “Niharika should know what kind of an asshole her brother is.”

“Are you worried she'd break the friend—”

“No, it's not about our friendship.” I knew she wasn’t stupid enough to break our friendship over this topic. We have been way too close; her family practically thinks of me as their daughter. “Niharika is too close to her brother, and I don't know, but I don't want to ruin her mood, especially now when this is perhaps one of the best moments of her life.”

Drishti rolled her eyes. “Sadly, you do have a point. Maybe you can tell her later.”

“And the project? You said your father asked you to deal with the project, and Neil is the GC of the legal team. Usually, you do background research, so how come they don't know about Neil?” Sanvi spoke, checking on something in her cabinets.

“Because Neil doesn't have a huge name, nor does he show up publicly. He is mostly known by the name NK and his arrogant personality. Apart from work, no one even knows what he looks like,” I replied.

I grabbed my phone and tossed it to the other side. “I'll talk to Bhai and probably ask him to cancel it all. Vidyut Bhai will instantly lose his mind hearing Neil's name, but he's the one who can help.”

“Good. Talk to your brother.”

“And the wedding? You still have to share the same roof for five more days.”

My stomach tightened at her words. “I think.”

It would be highly suspicious if I suddenly moved out of my friend's haveli. She'd definitely question me if something happened; even my overprotective brothers would call me the moment they found out I shifted out of the haveli.

Because it truly was a big deal. Being the only daughter in my generation, my whole family was overprotective toward me. They didn't agree to me staying at my friend's haveli. Achyut Bhai said it wasn't safe and that I should stay at the best hotel, but I fought tooth and nail to stay here.

Now suddenly moving out of here would only make them suspicious, and I don't want my family to know about Neil.

“I'll do the best thing… ignore him.” I added.

Drishti sighed.

“That won't do, but it would serve satisfaction to his ego. I know the logic of a man like him; they get triggered the moment they see a happy woman, but if the woman ignores him or does anything that makes him feel superior, he'd be happy,” Sanvi spoke.

Drishti nodded. “I agree,” she said, sitting back on the chair, dusting the book with a cloth. “You need to show him that his presence doesn't affect you even a bit. Make him feel how happy and positive you are.”

“Yes, I'll stay the hell away from him.”

“No, do not make it obvious. Ignore him when you can, but do not run away from him. Show him how bold and confident you are now. You are Arya Suryawanshi, idiot.”

Just as I was about to speak, a soft knock caught my attention toward the door.

I looked toward my friends. “Someone's here; I'll get back to you guys.”

The call ended, and I jumped from my bed, walking to the door, and opened it.

“Helloo!” Niharika spoke in a hoarse voice, instantly bursting into laughter. “Wanna go on a walk?”

Ten minutes later, we were walking in the outer courtyard of the haveli. The haveli looked beautiful at night with all the decorations and the folk songs.

“Did something happen?” she asked.

“No, why?” I crossed my arms, hiding the way they trembled. No way she heard our conversation, did she?

Niharika chuckled. “You sound different today. I kid you not, Arya, trust me, you'll be able to get the deal. If Uncle has given you the responsibility, it probably means he has seen capability in you.”

Relief washed through my veins. At least she didn't hear me; otherwise, I might have unintentionally spoiled her mood.

“I understand him. He has never made any decision that could harm me in any way possible, but I just feel I am not really,” I paused, trying to choose the correct word, “perfect for it.”

“No one's perfect. We just learn with time, and I think that's the story of every successful person. Mihir said the same thing to me when I told him about my dream and fear.”

We continued walking through different parts of the haveli. And just to change the topic, I spoke. “Did you two patch up?”

Her lips pressed together, her shoulders dropping as she shook her head. “Not really; he's too childish. He said he wants to meet me, but I refused, saying the elders won't allow us now.”

“Yep, especially after the haldi.”

“Exactly,” she paused, smiling at the kids who passed by her side. “That's the issue. He even said he'd climb the wall if necessary.”

A wide grin spread across my lips. “Jiju seems to be too excited.”

“Well, he said he wanted to give me something really special before the wedding, and Arya,” she paused in the middle of the hallway, taking my hands in hers while shooting hearts from her eyes, “I really need your help.”

I narrowed my gaze, slipping my hands out of her hold. “What kind of illegal work do you want me to do?”

“It's serious, and I really need you to promise me you'd help.”

I patted her shoulder, wrapping my arm around her as we began walking. “O moon of my sky, tell me what I must do so you can enjoy the thrill of your bachelorette life?”

“Legit a dramatic queen,” she muttered, shaking her head, and I laughed in response.

“Tell me already.”

“Yep, I will. We are almost there.” And just before I could question what she meant, she stopped in front of a door.

She knocked on the door and stepped inside. “Bhai—”

My smile faded the moment Neil looked up from his laptop. His gaze settled on Niharika for a second before he dragged his gaze to me, shooting glares.

Niharika stepped forward and sat beside her brother on the couch. “I knew you'd be working here. Come on, big brother. This is the wedding of your sister.”

She peeked at his laptop, then shook her head before looking at me. “This man is a workaholic like you, Arya. Anyway, Bhai,” she faced her brother, then stood on her feet before coming toward me. “This is my best friend, Arya Suryawanshi. Remember the girl I told you about?”

My brows furrowed, and the moment I looked at Neil, I found him staring at me. The audacity of this man; he knew about me already, and yet he showed up. And on top of that, he was looking at me.

I cleared my throat, looking away from him.

“Arya, this is my brother, Neil Khanna. Oh God, I forgot to tell him about this. Bhai, you know she is going to propose a deal at Mihir's work, so maybe you could just help—”

Neil slammed shut his laptop, and Niharika flinched. “If your friend's work has capability, the work will get approved.” His voice was punctuated with hostility.

Did he just point at my capability?

Ass fucking hole.

My friends were so right; I need to make sure that this time Neil knows I am not weak anymore, and if he thinks he's going to ruin my peace, then I will show him exactly who I am.

“Your brother seems right, Niharika,” I said with a smile. “Capability is never an issue when it comes to my family’s projects. We don't rely on favors or family connections to close deals. Our track record speaks for itself.”

I turned my gaze fully onto Neil, the cold jerk already looking at me with an expression I couldn't read properly.

“I look forward to a completely objective review of our proposal, Mr. Khanna. I’d hate for personal histories to cloud your professional judgment.”

“Not sure what made you think we reject based on personal histories; we certainly don't do such stuff at our company,” he continued to stare at me. “Like I mentioned earlier—if your proposal isn't problematic, we'd approve it.”

My palm clenched into a fist, and just before I could speak, Niharika's phone cut me off. “Give me five minutes, guys.”

Neither Neil nor I spoke a word while Niharika excused herself to the balcony.

The moment the door of the balcony shut behind her, I brought my hands to my chest, crossing them. “Do you perhaps mean we do business based on personal histories?”

Neil chuckled, standing up before tugging his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants. “Never said so.” He walked toward the table, searching for something in the pile of files.

“But you did mean that,” I walked toward him, invading his space.

“Says who?”

“It was obvious,” I replied. “Rude, and I hated it.”

Neil jerked his head in my direction, taking a step closer until I had to suck in a breath. My side touched the table, but I refused to step back.

“Your presence in my space was rude, and I despise it, too. It was obvious, and yet you stayed.” He took another step closer. “Or perhaps my appearance scared you so much that you're too worried about your deal that you had to take help from Niharika?”

“I didn't know you worked as a writer part-time. Do you always daydream? Heard it helps writers write well.”

Up close, I could notice a mole on the waterline of his left eye. My eyes followed the little band-aid on the crook of his neck before I dragged my eyes to his face.

My intuition was correct: Neil was an arrogant jerk. God knows how people even work with him. “As for your assumption, your sister dragged me here. I wasn't even interested in knowing where you stayed, and she was the one to bring up the topic about the deal.”

“You Suryawanshis would be the last thing I'd ever trust.” He stepped back, picking up two files, when the door of the balcony opened and Niharika stepped in.

“Sorry, it was Mihir.” Her eyes were focused on her phone. She closed her phone and looked up at us. “Did something,” she paused, looking at her brother, “happen between you two?”

“No,” I said.

Niharika's eyes widened, and she rushed toward her brother. Her hands reached up to her brother's neck. “What happened to you, Bhai? How did you get hurt?”

“It's nothing.” Neil turned, walking toward the couch he was sitting on earlier.

Niharika looked at me.

“Yes, Niharika. Your brother has a high temper; poor nerve couldn't take it.”

Neil glared up at me, and I grinned.

“Something definitely happened—”

“What kind of help did you need, Niharika? Be quick; I have a meeting.”

She shook her head, fighting with herself over whether she should talk about it or not, then spoke. “Both of you are precious to me. I love both of you, and I need your help. Actually, I want you both to help me meet Mihir.”