Chapter 18
Shauna sat opposite Rhea and Jiya, acutely aware of how close Akash was seated beside her and how carefully the two women across from them were watching them both.
While these two girls were her closest confidantes, Shauna knew Jiya shared an entirely different bond with Akash.
He was like a brother to her. And Rhea and Akash had remained friends despite her own tumultuous history with him.
“Do you girls want something to drink? To eat?” Akash asked.
Rhea threw him a hard look. “Does it look like we want anything right now?”
“I’m so glad I decided to take a flight from Delhi and come here,” Jiya said, looking at Shauna. “I heard your voice and figured something was going on. I just didn’t expect what I saw.”
“You.” Rhea pointed at Shauna. Then at Akash. “And him.” Her sister’s eyes narrowed. “You were kissing.”
Shauna winced.
“From what I saw,” Jiya said coolly, her arms crossed, “kissing is a rather tame word. You were devouring each another.”
Rhea’s head snapped toward Shauna. “When in the ever-loving fuck did this start? And why do we know absolutely nothing about it?”
“It’s… it’s—” Shauna faltered, nerves finally catching up with her. She dragged a hand through her hair, suddenly unsure where to even begin.
Jiya’s gaze dropped pointedly to Shauna’s left hand.
“What is that?” She pointed to her finger.
Rhea followed her line of sight. “Oh my God. Is that an engagement ring? Who gave it to you? Him?”
Shauna tucked her hand into her lap, her pulse skidding. She’d never kept anything from these two. Never. And for them to find out like this made her stomach knot.
“We—” Akash began.
“—when did you two even start getting along?” Rhea cut in, incredulous.
“Actually—” Akash tried again.
“Fuck. I can’t believe you both got engaged,” Jiya said, finally losing her cool. “When? How? Who knows about this? How did this even happen?”
Akash clicked his tongue. “If you two would let me talk, then I can explain.”
Rhea crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back in her chair, her expression closed off. Jiya, on the other hand, sat straighter, her lips pressed into a thin line.
Akash took a breath. He spoke calmly as he laid out the situation, piece by careful piece. The board. Sehgal Media. The pressure he was facing. The agreement he and Shauna had reached—a contract marriage that would stabilize the company, silence the board, and benefit them both.
The girls didn’t interrupt once. When he finished, Rhea and Jiya stared at the two of them in silence, and then Rhea exploded.
“What the hell is wrong with you two?” she demanded. “A contract marriage is not the right solution.”
“I cannot believe Janak suggested this,” Jiya added sharply. “This is so not him.”
“He agrees it’s the right thing to do,” Shauna said quickly. “And we both agree with him.”
Rhea shook her head. “No. No, absolutely not. You can’t just give up your life for a company, Shauna. That’s not okay.”
“I’m not giving it up,” Shauna insisted. “I’m choosing this.”
“And what about you?” Jiya shot at Akash. “How are you even considering this? It’s madness.”
“We’re both okay with it,” Akash said evenly. “This isn’t a sacrifice. It’s a decision we’ve taken together.”
“A terrible one,” Rhea muttered.
Shauna leaned forward. “It’s right for us. And I want this.”
“For as long as we’ve known you two, you’ve fought like cats and dogs,” Jiya said slowly, clearly choosing her words.
“We’ve watched you argue and bicker for years, to the point that it had become annoying.
And now, suddenly, you’re agreeing to a contract marriage?
” She shook her head. “It doesn’t make sense to me. ”
Rhea’s gaze shifted to Shauna. “I’ve heard so much about how much he irks you. About how you don’t even like him. And now you’re agreeing to marry him?” Her brows knit together. “And if this is just a contract, then why were you making out with him?”
Jiya turned her attention to Akash, her eyes sharp “How long has this been going on? Or was that your first time, just testing the waters to see if there was chemistry?”
Heat flooded up Shauna’s neck. Akash chuckled under his breath as if this were mildly amusing instead of deeply humiliating. God, what was wrong with him? He looked infuriatingly composed while she sat there burning under Rhea and Jiya’s scrutiny, mortified by every second of it.
Rhea’s eyes flicked between them. “Fuck. When did it start?”
“Nine months ago in Singapore,” Akash said without hesitation.
Jiya’s mouth fell open.
“What?” Rhea croaked. “Singapore?”
Jiya flopped back in her chair. “I think I need a drink to listen to this.”
She flagged down a waiter, and while the girls focused on ordering, Shauna reached out and caught Akash’s arm, shaking her head sharply.
“They don’t need to know about Singapore,” she whispered.
He leaned in slightly. “We agreed we’d be honest with the people closest to us. And after what they walked in on, they’re not going to buy half-truths. I just want to get through this interrogation and go home. It’s been a long day.”
She looked at him then. Saw the faint shadows under his eyes. The exhaustion etched into his face. The board’s resistance and constant pressure were clearly wearing him down.
Something warm stirred in her chest. Not pity, but something deeper. A pull she didn’t know how to name and didn’t trust herself to examine too closely.
Rhea tapped the table, snapping their attention back.
Akash filled them in then. He told them about the night in Singapore. How it hadn’t been planned. How it hadn’t been meaningless either. How he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her afterward.
And when Janak had suggested marriage, he’d been shocked. But the more he’d thought about it, the clearer it became that he could do this.
Because it was her. He could do it with Shauna. A marriage between them would give them both what they needed, professionally and otherwise. And if he was being honest, he was glad it was her. Because whatever else had gone wrong between them, the chemistry had never been the problem.
“Fuck,” Jiya cursed. “This is insane.”
“I can’t believe you kept this from us,” Rhea said sharply.
“And what exactly should I have said?” Shauna lifted her chin. “Should I have gone with: Hey girls, guess what? I slept with Akash and I can’t wrap my head around it. And now I can’t stop thinking about him.”
“I couldn’t stop thinking about you either.” Akash took her hand in his, running his thumb over the inside of her wrist. “I’m so glad you’re finally admitting that you felt something that night.”
She glared at him. “How is that the only thing you heard out of what I said?”
Ignoring him and his annoying grin, she faced the girls. “I couldn’t even believe he and I had happened. How was I supposed to say it out loud?”
“Exactly the way you said it now,” Jiya said.
Rhea remained silent for a long moment, watching Akash and her. Then she nodded once. “You know what? I think this is a good idea. It will benefit both of you. I agree. You should do it.”
“What?” Jiya gasped.
Shauna blinked, her breath catching. She hadn’t expected such quick acceptance from her sister.
Jiya caught Rhea’s elbow, turning her to face her. “Are you crazy?”
Rhea shrugged. “I do think it will be good for Sehgal Media if they get married. And it will give each of them what they want. Won’t it?”
Jiya’s jaw dropped, her eyes widening. Rhea lifted her brow. Something unspoken passed between them, and Jiya’s expression softened as she nodded slowly.
“Alright,” Jiya said. “I agree with her.”
Rhea turned back to Akash and Shauna, her eyes sharp. “Have you thought about a date?”
“Six weeks from now,” Akash said easily.
Shauna frowned. He said it so confidently as if he had already thought all of it through.
“Why that timeline exactly?” she asked.
“Because my house will be ready by then,” he replied. “I’d like us to live there once we’re married. Most of the work is already done. Structural changes, the layout, everything major is complete. It’s just paint, furniture, and finishing touches now.”
Her confusion deepened. “I thought you lived in Keya’s old apartment.”
“I do, for now,” he said. “But I’m talking about my family home.
It’s been closed for years. My grandfather left it to Keya and me.
And Keya gifted her share to me. It’s mine now.
I’ve been working on it for a while. I tore parts of it down—walls, rooms, things that no longer made sense.
I wanted it to breathe again. I want to live there again. I want us to live there.”
“Oh, and FYI, Aaliya is designing it,” Jiya added, her eyes twinkling, “And it’s a massive mansion on Malabar Hill.”
Shauna stared at her in shock. Aaliya Singh Talbot was one of the most exclusive interior designers in the world. She was very selective about what project she took up, and for her to take up this meant it would be truly very special.
“How do you—”
“He and I are childhood friends, remember?” Jiya said dryly. Her eyes narrowed on Akash. “And yet he never told me he was the heir to Sehgal Media. The idiot.”
Akash winced, looking genuinely guilty. “We already discussed this, remember?”
Shauna looked at Akash—really looked at him—and realized how much she didn’t know about him. At least the parts that mattered, like his past, his family history. But once she was married to him, she would know everything.
Her gaze dropped to her hand. He was still holding it, his thumb tracing circles around her wrist. Her breath stilled. The ring caught the light.
Fuck. She was actually marrying him.
Akash turned to her fully. “I’d like you to come with me and look around. See the interiors. And I want you to change anything you don’t like.”
“You want me to make any changes I want?”
He frowned. “Yes, of course. It’s going to be your home too. I want you to be happy living there.”
Warmth rushed through her chest. He genuinely was trying. Maybe she should try as well.
“I’d like that,” she replied gently.
Shauna found herself staring at Akash. He was already looking at her, his gaze steady, intent, as if the rest of the room had faded into irrelevance.
Her eyes lingered on him. On the sharp line of his jaw, the calm confidence in the way he carried himself, the warmth in his eyes. Then his lips curved into that familiar smile, and her chest tightened. Her going-to-be husband was a very handsome man.
His thumb shifted slightly, pressing against the inside of her wrist, right where her pulse was running away. A shiver raced down her spine. She needn’t deny what lay between them any longer. She was attracted to him, and she could allow herself to feel it. Accept it.
Her lips parted, and his gaze latched onto her mouth.
The air between them thickened with something unspoken and dangerously familiar. Want curled low in her stomach.
A hand slammed down on the table. Both she and Akash jolted, turning to face the two girls.
“Good,” Rhea said briskly. “Now that you’re both back with us, let’s discuss the biggest question. What are you going to tell the families?”
“The truth,” Shauna replied. “Although I don’t even know how to go about doing that.”
Akash glanced at her, then gave a small, helpless smile.
“We… haven’t thought that far ahead,” he admitted to the girls. “She agreed to marry me a few minutes ago. Why don’t you help us? What do you think we should do? How do we tell them?”
“And we are not telling them about Singapore,” Shauna declared.
It was one thing for these two to know. However, it wasn’t something she ever wanted to share with her grandfather, parents, or siblings.
Jiya sighed. “You’re going to face a lot of opposition to this contract marriage.”
“Hmm,” Rhea said quietly.
Shauna’s stomach tightened at the thought of answering her family’s questions. They would be disappointed in her for doing this. For marrying Akash for her own selfish need to own Sehgal Media.
But even as her nerves flared, one truth stayed solid beneath the fear. No matter what they said, she was going to do this.
This was the most insane thing she had ever agreed to, and she wanted her family standing beside her.
“It will be fine,” Akash said. He placed his hand over hers, squeezing gently, and only then did she realize how tightly she’d been gripping his fingers. “Don’t worry. We’re doing this, so we’ll figure it out. We’ll make them understand.”
She smiled, her heart easing despite herself.
Around her, the others began talking over one another, making plans and rejecting them.
Shauna barely heard them. She was watching Akash.
How effortlessly he had soothed her, as if he’d known exactly what she needed.
As if they’d been doing this for years. God, how quickly they were slipping into the rhythm of a real couple when, for so long, they hadn’t even agreed on the smallest of things.
She pulled her hand from his, unease fluttering through her chest. They weren’t a normal couple. This was a deal for mutual benefit and mutual gain. And yet the danger loomed clearly before her. One she had to accept.
In trying to make this marriage real, she might end up falling for the one man who could break her completely. For a second time.
He thought she was dangerous. God. He had no idea how dangerous he was to her.