CHAPTER 22
Sebastian
RADHIKA SINGH’S WEDDING TO HER EQUALLY WEALTHY fiancé took place in Jaipur, a city located in the northwestern state of Rajasthan. Also known as the “Pink City” for its trademark pink and red sandstone buildings, it was the perfect host for one of the year’s most anticipated social events.
The weeklong festivities started with a welcome dinner on Thursday, two days after my meeting with Maya.
That segued into a whirlwind of themed parties, musical performances, and formal ceremonies held at various venues throughout the city.
However, the highlight of the week was undoubtedly the grand reception.
It took place on the lavish grounds of the equally lavish palace hotel where half the guests were staying, and the wedding planning team had managed to turn the outdoor venue into a temporary indoor one large enough to fit two thousand guests.
Between the structured roof and walls, multiple performance stages, and wall-to-wall flooring, I almost forgot we were technically inside a tent instead of an actual ballroom.
“Sebastian!” Maya’s father found me on the east side of the tent, watching a live artist paint scenes from the revelries in real time. Their details were so exquisite, they could pass for photographs. “How are you enjoying the party?”
“It’s great. There’s no wedding like a Singh wedding,” I said smoothly.
He smiled, his mustache bristling with pride. “That’s true.” He lowered his voice. “Priya’s wedding will be even better than this. But you didn’t hear that from me.”
Maya obviously got her competitive spirit from her dad.
The thought of her tugged hard at my chest. I’d caught glimpses of her throughout the week, but there were so many people and so much going on that I hadn’t gotten the chance to… what, apologize? Make amends? Set aside my pride like Dante had with Vivian and tell her the truth?
Another wave of restlessness rolled through me, but I regrouped and continued to make small talk with Neel.
“I’m happy to see the collaboration is going well,” he said. “Your father is also quite happy with the progress.”
“Is he.” It wasn’t a question.
My father and I hadn’t discussed work since I walked into his office and forced him to give in to my demands. In fact, we hadn’t discussed much at all. My mother acted as our buffer, her chatter about physical therapy and the latest society gossip covering up the underlying tension between us.
Neel believed my father was happy with the progress we were making, but I knew he was just waiting for me to fail with the launch event.
“Of course.” Maya’s father gave me a speculative look. “Everyone is excited for the launch event. It looks like it’s shaping up to be quite a night.”
“Thank you, sir,” I said. “I’m excited for it as well.”
He had to know about my deal with my father. They were best friends. But I couldn’t tell by his tone whether he was rooting for me to fail or succeed, or if he cared at all.
He glanced over my shoulder and flinched. “Uh-oh. Incoming,” he said. “Nice talking to you, Seb. Good luck.”
With that, the Fortune 500 CEO—one of the most powerful businessmen in the world—bolted off like the hounds of hell themselves were after him.
I understood why a second later, when Maya’s grandmother glided over. She was decked out in a richly embroidered saree and glittering heaps of jewelry.
“Sebastian,” she said. “Just the person I was looking for.”
“Good evening, Mrs. Gupta. You look wonderful. Green is your color,” I said with a smile. “How can I help?”
“Hmm. You were always a smooth talker.” She clucked her tongue, but she blushed with pleasure, nonetheless. “I hope you’re enjoying the festivities?”
“Of course. Like I was telling Mr. Singh, there’s—”
“No wedding like a Singh wedding. Yes, yes.” She waved a hand in the air. “I have to admit, this is quite the spectacle. However, you’ll never believe what happened earlier.”
A thread of amusement wound through me. “What?”
“I lost one of my rings.” Maya’s grandmother held out her hand. It was positively weighed down by gold. “It was a beautiful ruby that my late husband bought for my birthday. I’m absolutely devastated.”
“I see. I assume it has as much sentimental value as the diamond earring you lost at Maya’s birthday?”
“Why, yes! It does!” She beamed, her smile suspiciously bright for someone who was absolutely devastated.
“Could you be a dear and help me find it? I last saw it somewhere near the dance floor.” She pointed toward the floor in question.
“I hate to ask, but you were so helpful with the diamond earring.”
“I didn’t find the earring,” I pointed out. I suspected she’d never lost it to begin with, but I wasn’t dumb enough to say that out loud.
“No, but you helped rule out the conservatory, which made Diya’s search easier later,” she said without missing a beat.
I glanced at the dance floor, torn. I would bet my last dollar Maya was over there.
Her grandmother was obviously trying to set us up, but I couldn’t figure out how I felt about it. Our history was too complicated for a simple matchmaking scheme to smooth it over.
And yet…
“I’m happy to help, Mrs. Gupta,” I said. “I hope I have better luck finding the ruby than the diamond.”
“Wonderful. I hope so too.” Her eyes twinkled as she patted my arm. “Take as much time as you need. I’m going to make myself feel better at the dessert station.”
She left, and I pivoted in the other direction, toward the dance floor.
I passed by my parents, who were deep in conversation with some of my father’s business associates and their wives.
Dante and Vivian stayed home because Josie was still sick, but I spotted a few of my other friends in the crowd—Vuk taking photos of Ayana in the corner, Dominic and Alessandra swaying to one of the musical performances, Kai and Isabella piling up their plates at the various food stations, which served everything from biryani to chaat and kebabs.
I didn’t stop to say hi to any of them.
My vision had tunneled to the dance floor, and my heart beat faster the closer I got.
But even with her grandmother’s assistance, it was difficult to pick Maya out in the crowd of whirling, dazzling dancers. I had no idea what she was wearing or whether she’d moved on in the time it took for me to get here. Every time I thought I saw her, another guest spun past, blocking my view.
The music pressed in on me. My heartbeat escalated in sync with the crescendo as I scanned the floor, driven by the sudden urgency to find her.
Just minutes ago, I hadn’t been sure whether I wanted to talk to her, but now that I was here, and she was hypothetically within reach, I couldn’t not see her. I needed it more than I needed my next breath.
I pushed forward blindly, oblivious to the people bumping into me or stepping on my feet. Frustration chafed beneath my skin.
A group of shrieking teenagers passed by, obscuring my vision.
Then the crowd parted… and there she was.
I stopped, slightly breathless despite having barely moved.
Maya was dancing with her sisters about half a dozen feet away.
The music’s heavy bass drowned out her laughter, but it was evident in her smile, in the sparkle in her eyes and the glow on her face.
Her hair cascaded down her back in a shining dark waterfall, and the intricate crystal pattern dotting her lehenga glittered like a map of fallen stars.
Her jewels flashed beneath the lights; her billowing skirt swayed with every movement.
The other guests spun and twirled around us to the escalating drumbeats, but despite the frenzy of color and music, she was the sole star in my universe. The only focus of my attention.
She was beyond ethereal, and I hadn’t seen her this happy since she beat me in our university debate. I’d forgotten how brightly her joy dazzled, or how devastating it was to my self-control.
When she smiled like that, I had the unsettling feeling that I’d do anything to have her look at me in the same way.
Neha’s gaze landed on me. She whispered something to Maya, who turned right as I came within earshot. I greeted her sisters with customary politeness, but I barely noticed when they made their excuses and left.
They disappeared, and suddenly, it was only the two of us.
The world stilled. The music muted, and everything else fell away as our eyes locked.
Maya’s smile faded, but a hint of color bloomed across her cheeks as the moment stretched taut around us.
Maybe it was the setting, a special kind of wedding magic, or the inevitable result of celebrating love for a week straight, but our argument last week seemed like a lifetime ago.
The anger, the uncertainty, the jealousy—they blinked out of existence, one by one, until I was left with nothing but the desire to see her smile again.
“Your grandmother sent me on a mission again,” I said. “She lost a ruby ring.”
“Did she?” Maya’s eyebrows arched. “She’s gone her whole life without losing a single piece of jewelry, yet she’s managed to lose two in the past four months. Strange.”
“Very.”
Silence fell again, thick with words unspoken.
“You look beautiful,” I said, more quietly. The term didn’t come close to encapsulating the effect she had on me, but it was safe. Neutral.
For now, it’d have to do.
“Thank you. So do you.” The color on her cheeks darkened into a dusty rose. “I mean, you look nice.”
“Demoted from beautiful to merely nice?” I placed a hand over my heart. “I’m hurt, Sal.”
“You can take it. Your ego needed the reality check.”
I smiled at our brief return to form before I remembered something that’d been nagging at me all week. “Where’s your date?”
Zeke, Zack—whatever his name was—was an idiot for leaving her alone. It was further proof he didn’t deserve her, not that he ever had.
Maya hesitated. “I didn’t end up bringing him,” she admitted. “Where’s yours?”
“I didn’t bring one.”
She swallowed. “Oh.”
Oh was right. I shouldn’t read too much into her decision to attend solo, but my pulse insisted on hammering the point home anyway.
She was here, she was single, and she was mine—at least for the moment.
The music segued into a slower Hindi love song, and I held out my hand before I could change my mind. “May I?”
Maya’s eyes flared with surprise. After a single, suspended beat, she took my hand and stepped closer.
We instinctively fell into sync, our steps flowing effortlessly as we glided across the dance floor. Her hand fit mine perfectly, and its soft warmth sent a jolt of heat through me.
“I just realized this is our first ever dance together,” she said.
“That’s not true.”
Her brow creased.
“Senior year of boarding school,” I said. “Our Model UN club went to Spain for a competition. We had a bonfire on the beach afterward, and—”
“We got so drunk, we stole the speakers from some truck in the parking lot and blasted old nineties songs the entire night,” Maya finished.
A reminiscing smile graced her lips. “I almost forgot about that. Andy Kim nearly drowned after Neville Grafton threw up on him in the middle of a Backstreet Boys number, and he ran into the ocean to clean himself.”
“He was so mortified. I think he had a crush on you.”
“Who, Andy or Neville?”
“Both.” I didn’t blame them. She was magnificent.
Maya wrinkled her nose. “Everyone was so off-key that night except for you. You would’ve made a great boy band member.”
“I like to think so. Minus the frosted tips—they’re not really my style.” My mouth quirked up. “Anyway, I distinctly remember us killing the choreography to an NSYNC song.”
She snorted out a laugh. “If by ‘killing the choreography,’ you mean embarrassing ourselves, then yes. But we didn’t dance together. We danced near each other.”
“Close enough.”
We danced in silence for a while, letting the music carry us. The singer’s sensual vocals wove through the soft twangs of the sitar and mirrored the gentle sway of our bodies.
I wanted to sink into the moment and pretend everything was okay, but I’d only be fooling myself. Until we cleared the air, there would always be a barrier between us, and I couldn’t let that stand.
“About the last few weeks.” I exhaled slowly. “I’m sorry for the way I behaved. It wasn’t right or fair.”
Maya tilted her chin up so our gazes aligned. Shock swam across her face. “Did you just apologize to me?”
“Yes, but let the record show you did it first at the Vault last summer. I’m simply balancing the scales.”
“Of course you are.” She shook her head, but her words lacked their usual bite. When she spoke again, her voice was soft. “I didn’t tell you earlier, but thank you for the locket. It’s one of the most thoughtful gifts I’ve ever received.”
“You’re welcome.”
That photo of Maya after the debate was one of my favorites.
At the time, I’d been irritated about losing, but when I saw how giddy she’d been, I couldn’t resist taking a quick snapshot of the moment.
She was so conscious of the way she presented herself, but the best parts of her shone through when she thought no one was looking.
I could’ve given her the photo years ago, but it’d never felt right.
This time… it felt right.
“Out of curiosity, why didn’t you bring your date?” she asked.
People swarmed around us, and I realized belatedly that the song had ended. The DJ was taking a quick intermission, but we lingered on the dance floor, our hands still clasped together.
Despite her casual tone, I could almost hear her heart beating as she looked at me—or maybe that was my own pulse, racing from the sudden charge in the air.
I could lie. I was good at it, and I was better acquainted with falsehoods than I was with the truth.
But I was sick of the lies, and I was tired of pretending.
I kept my eyes fixed on hers when I finally answered, my voice low. “She wasn’t the one I wanted to be here with.”