Chapter 28
Shock was written clearly across his friends’ faces.
Keya’s eyes were wide, her lips parted as though she couldn’t believe what she’d just seen.
Raashi’s expression was sharper, a frown pulling at her brows, questions brimming behind her silence.
And then there was Rithwik. The weight in his gaze cut deeper than either of the women’s.
After all, Rithwik had warned him to steer clear of Sabrina, and he hadn’t listened.
“Do we need to ask the obvious?” Raashi broke the silence. “Clearly, Sabrina is the woman Rithwik was talking about.”
“When did Sabrina and you become a thing?” Keya asked. “Why have we not heard of this before? We know she was in Singapore at the same time as you. Did it… start there?”
He faced Rithwik instead, who was watching him silently.
“How did you know it was her?” Aditya asked.
Rithwik’s steady gaze latched onto him. “Ahaan came home last week to spend the night, and he was absolutely mad with his mother because she didn’t allow him to see the India-New Zealand T20 match that you had taken them to. He told us how you’d been visiting his house often.”
Fuck. He’d never even considered that Ahaan would have spoken to Aisha and Rithwik about him. Of course, Ahaan must have been distressed to miss the match. And he was close to Aisha and Rithwik. It made sense he would have vented to them.
“I figured you and Sabrina had become friends while in Singapore, that’s why you were visiting her.
I didn’t suspect anything more,” Rithwik said.
“But seeing your face when Sabrina walked in—your expression was all the confirmation I needed that there was indeed more going on. You looked… besotted. And then watching you with Ahaan, and later with her…” His lips formed a thin line.
“This… you and her… started in Singapore, right?”
Aditya swallowed hard, his jaw tense. “Yes.” There was no use denying what was pretty apparent now. “And I’m sorry. I couldn’t stay away even though you warned me to.”
“That is irrelevant right now,” Rithwik said.
“Oh my God,” Keya said. “I’ve spent a long time with her planning everything for Kush’s birthday. I even asked her how it was in Singapore for her. But she never mentioned meeting you. Not even once.”
“Explain now,” Rithwik ordered.
“I was in a relationship with Sabrina, but she called it off.”
“And you didn’t want that. No wonder you look so sad,” Keya surmised. “Will you tell us everything?”
For a long moment, the words were stuck in his throat.
Then, taking a huge breath, he began. He told them everything.
The words poured out of him in a rush, raw and unvarnished, until there was nothing left to hold back.
When he finished, his chest felt lighter, though the ache in his heart remained.
His three friends stared at him, as if unable to believe what he’d told them.
Rithwik touched his shoulder. “I never imagined that she’d hurt you like this. I feel awful that you didn’t confide in me because you thought that I’d be more protective of her. You are my best friend, and her breaking up with you the way she did is simply wrong. You didn’t deserve it.”
“I’m so mad right now,” Raashi said through gritted teeth. “I’ve always liked Sabrina, but I hate how she’s hurt you.”
Keya squeezed his hand gently. “There has to be something in her past for her to do what she did. I can’t believe she’d be so cruel. That is not her.”
“She led him on,” Raashi argued, “and then she broke up with him.”
“To be fair,” Aditya said, “she said no to me. Several times. I was the one who relentlessly pushed her to go out with me, in Singapore and here in Mumbai.”
Raashi crossed her arms. “Why are you taking her side?”
“Because I love her, Raashi,” Aditya said. “I can’t help it if she, perhaps, doesn’t feel the same. And even if she does, she outright said she doesn’t.”
“Fuck,” Rithwik cursed. “Hearing you say that hits really hard. I can’t believe you fell in love with her.”
“This sucks,” Raashi said, looking angry on his behalf. “She shouldn’t have led you on. She should have stood her ground, if that’s what she truly wanted.”
“I still think she’s holding back because of her past,” Keya said before she turned to Rithwik. “What do you know about that?”
Rithwik frowned. “To be honest, not much. Aisha just mentioned once, long back, that Sabrina was brought up in an orphanage close to Mumbai. I doubt even Aisha knows more because she’d have told me if she did.”
Fuck. He hadn’t known that, because Sabrina had never spoken about her childhood or her past with him. He looked up and found Sabrina still standing where he’d left her, her eyes on him. His gaze met hers. Heat flared in his chest. He glanced back at his friends. He had to learn to ignore her.
“So, what are we going to do?” Keya asked.
Raashi looked at Sabrina. He followed her gaze. Aisha and Diya had joined her now, and the three of them were chatting.
Raashi huffed. “I think I’m going to give her a piece of my mind.”
Rithwik, too, turned to stare at Sabrina, his eyes dark and angry. “I think I need to have a word with her too. I’m so mad at the way she’s handled things.”
“I think we should just give her some space,” Keya reasoned. “If she does love him, she will come around.”
Rithwik and Raashi turned to glare at her. Unfazed, Keya crossed her arms and met their angry gazes head-on.
“Okay, enough,” Aditya stepped in front of Keya, addressing Raashi and Rithwik. “Neither of you is going to talk to her about anything. Am I clear?”
Raashi opened her mouth to protest, but Aditya held a hand out. “Am I clear?”
Both Raashi and Rithwik made a face, but they did nod in agreement.
“Sabrina and I are over, and that’s that,” Aditya said. “The reason I didn’t tell you earlier is because I knew you’d be biased in your judgement, either to her or to me. It’s not fair either way.”
“I will have to tell Aisha,” Rithwik said.
“Fine, only your spouses.” Aditya looked at the girls. “I know you can’t keep anything from your men. Can I request that they, too, keep this to themselves?”
The girls nodded.
“I don’t want my relationship with Sabrina to be discussed as gossip in our group,” Aditya said. “So, please let’s limit this to you three and your spouses.”
“Alright,” Rithwik agreed. “But no matter what you say, Aisha will do as she wishes when she finds out. Even I cannot control that.”
Aditya groaned.
“Okay, enough of this sad talk,” Keya said. “It’s my son’s birthday and we are celebrating. Now come along, all of you. It’s cake time.”
Keya linked her arm with his, and Aditya allowed her to drag him to the center of the party, away from Rithwik and Raashi.
She spoke nonstop about her children, pointing to their friends and relating some naughty incident.
When they reached the center where the cake was being wheeled in, Raashi appeared next to him, taking over from Keya and continued chatting with him.
In their own sweet way, these girls were trying their best to distract him from his woes, and he adored them even more for it.
Rithwik appeared at his side, putting an arm around his shoulder. “I’m right here, Aditya. Whatever you need, I’m here for you. You don’t have to face this heartache alone.”
Aditya smiled. He was blessed to have such wonderful friends. Now, only if he were as blessed when it came to matters of the heart.