27. I’m Sorry
I’M SORRY
DEEPIKA
I found Diya on the terrace behind the villa, sitting on a stone bench with mascara streaking down her face.
My heart squeezed at the sight of my twin and the girl who betrayed me in the worst possible way.
She looked up when she heard my footsteps and tried to wipe away her tears, forcing a smile. “Deepika.”
“We need to talk,” I said, holding onto Liam’s suit jacket, the familiar musky scent of his cologne comforting me.
She nodded and sniffled. “Yeah. We do.”
I sat down, keeping a distance between us. The night air was cool, carrying the scent of roses and champagne from the reception below. Slow and romantic music drifted up.
“Why did you do it?” I asked. “Why Yash? Why my… ex-boyfriend?”
“You want to know why I started dating Yash?” She asked, her voice cracking.
“To hurt me?”
“Because he asked me to.”
I blinked. “What?”
Diya turned to face me fully, and in the dim light, I could see how exhausted and broken she looked.
“Yash had been cheating on you for months. With other women. Actresses, models, anyone who would give him the time of day,” she said, swallowing hard. “But sleeping with me… with your identical twin, that wasn’t spontaneous. That was planned.”
My stomach dropped. “Planned?”
“You were about to get the film with the director Mahesh Kapoor. It was a career-defining lead role.” She continued, laughing bitterly, “Yash wanted it for his friend, some actor he owed a favor to. But Kapoor only wanted you.”
I remembered that role and how I had turned it down months ago, right after I found Yash and Diya together. I was too devastated to function and too broken to work. Especially with such a brilliant director.
“He needed you distracted,” Diya continued. “And hurt, so he seduced me, making me part of his plan."
“And you went along with it,” I said, my words harsh.
“Yes.” She met my eyes, a similar shade of brown and gold. “I did.”
“Why?”
“Because I wanted revenge.”
I stared at her.
“He told me everything, Dee. Bragged about how he was going to ruin you and how easy it would be to manipulate your twin sister.” Her hands clenched into fists. “And I smiled and played along. Let him think I was stupid enough to fall for him. Let him think he had won.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Dee, I never slept with him,” she said softly.
“That day… we didn’t do anything. I could never do that to you.
All I’ve been doing is gathering evidence for months.
Every text message where he admits what he did, every email to his friend about sabotaging your career, and I’ve recorded every conversation.
” She pulled out her phone. “I’m planning to release an entire expose on him right before his new film drops.
He’ll be destroyed and canceled. Everything he did to you, I’m going to do to him ten times worse. ”
My mouth went dry as I stared at my sister.
“Why are you telling me this now?” I asked, still trying to process everything she had just told me.
“I’ve been trying to talk to you for months!” She said, her voice turning high-pitched. “You never pick up my calls, don’t answer my messages. And when we’re at family events, that shithead is stuck to me like a leech. I couldn’t risk him overhearing.”
“But what about those articles about me…” I asked, thinking back to the tabloids calling me difficult, unstable, and jealous.
“You’re my twin, Dee,” she said, tears glistening in her eyes. “Do you really think I’d ever do that to you? That has Yash written all over it. He has been feeding stories to the press, making you look bad so the Kapoor team would drop you.”
I thought about it, and she was right. Yash has always been petty.
“And he’s done this before,” Diya continued. “Remember his previous relationship? Riya Talwar? She got backlash until she had to settle for small modeling gigs right when she signed up for a big breakout movie.”
I remembered Riya. She disappeared from the industry almost overnight, and whenever I asked about his relationship with her, he’d scowl and tell me how she cheated on him and hated talking about her.
“He has a pattern,” I whispered.
“Yes. And I’m going to expose all of it.” Diya grabbed my hand. “But I need your help. We have to keep playing our parts in public. Make him think we still hate each other while we strategize and take him down.”
My mind raced as I said, “Blake! She’s my publicist, she could help.”
“I hope she will,” Diya said firmly.
I looked at my sister and saw the truth and determination in her eyes. She had the absolute determination to protect me, even if it meant destroying herself in the process.
“Why didn’t you just tell me from the start?” I asked. “I would have broken up with him, and then we would have…”
She shook her head. “You loved him, Dee. I tried to talk to you about him, and you thought he was going to propose to you.”
I remembered that and gave her a sheepish look.
“And if you had broken up with him, it wouldn’t have been worth it.
And then… you found us. You were heartbroken, and Yash was watching everything.
If I had told you then, he would’ve known I was playing him.
” She squeezed my hand. “I had to let you hate me. I’m sorry, but I thought it was the only way to make this work. ”
We sat in silence, the weight of months of misunderstanding settling between us.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered again. “For all of it… and for every moment you thought I betrayed you.”
I pulled her into a tight hug and felt her collapse against me. I breathed in her familiar scent, my heart squeezing tight as tears welled up in my eyes.
She had betrayed me, yes, but Liam was right. Once we talked through it… I didn’t care about it at all. I just wanted her to be safe and happy, and I knew what would make her happy.
Both of us happy.
“We’re going to destroy him,” I said into her hair.
“Together?”
“Together.”
We stayed like that for a long moment, two halves of the same whole, finally reunited.
When we pulled apart, I made her promise not to tell anyone yet, not even Liam.
Just for a while.
“Why not?” she asked.
“Because I want everything ready and planned before we make a move. And…” I hesitated. “I need to figure out how to tell him. He’s been nothing but honest with me. I owe him the same.”
Diya nodded and smiled, “At least, one good thing came out of it.”
I tilted my head, and she continued, “You two finally get along without killing each other.”
We giggled together, and I told her how happy he made me, but I knew I didn’t have to tell her that. She could see the hickey making me blush.
We promised to catch up again soon, in secret, before I hugged her again and left.
The reception was still going strong when I returned, my heart lighter than it had been in months.
Liam found me immediately, pulling me into his arms and kissing me as if we hadn’t just seen each other twenty minutes ago.
“Everything okay?” he murmured against my lips.
“Better than okay.”
He smiled, making my knees weak, and I was struck by how much had changed. How this man, whom I had spent eighteen years hating, had become the person I trusted most in the world.
“Bridesmaids!” Kiara’s voice rang out. “Bouquet toss time!”
Liam released me with a laugh. “Good luck.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m not participating in this heteronormative ritual.”
“Sure you’re not.”
He pushed me gently toward the growing crowd of women gathering in the center of the hall. The massive crystal and gold chandelier overhead was dripping with light that refracted across the polished floor.
Kiara stood on the small stage, bouquet in hand, and grinning like a madwoman.
“Ready?” she called out.
A chorus of excited screams answered her.
She turned her back, counted to three, and threw.
The bouquet sailed through the air and got stuck in the chandelier.
Uh oh.
Everyone groaned, but the women jumped, reaching up and trying to dislodge it in their high heels and scrappy dresses. I stayed on the side, watching the chaos with amusement.
Then strong arms wrapped around my waist.
I yelped as Liam lifted me effortlessly onto his shoulder, steadying me with one hand while I grabbed onto his head for balance.
“What are you doing?” I gasped, suddenly eight feet in the air.
He beamed up at me. “Helping you get the bouquet.”
Everyone around us was laughing, clapping, and cheering us on. I reached up, stretching, and my fingers closed around the ribbons. The bouquet came free, and I held it up triumphantly.
Liam lowered me down gently, and the moment my feet touched the ground, I kissed him sweetly on his lips.
I didn’t care that my dad might scold me later for showing affection and kissing Liam in front of our entire family.
I waved the bouquet around proudly, and the crowd erupted in applause.
My heart fluttered as I smiled up at him. His charming grin made my stomach flip. I genuinely loved him, and Liam James loved me back.
If someone had told me I’d be in love with the boy who had tormented me our entire childhood, I would have slapped them with a chappal.
But now it seemed like the most natural thing in the world.
Liam leaned down and whispered in my ear, “I can’t wait to get you alone.”
I gave him a look and said, “Behave.”
His smirk was all the answer I needed.
He was not going to behave.