Chapter 22
Armaan
It had been a week since Papa came home, and the house felt more alive than it had in years. We spent our days together as a family, sharing meals, talking late into the evenings, slowly rebuilding the bond that had been broken.
This morning, Papa and I were taking our usual walk through the garden. The air was cool and fresh, carrying the scent of jasmine and roses. Birds sang from the mango trees, and a gentle breeze rustled through the leaves.
We walked in comfortable silence for a while, just enjoying each other's company. Then Papa spoke.
"Viya is a lovely girl, Armaan."
I smiled involuntarily. Just hearing her name made warmth spread through my chest.
"She is more than lovely, Papa. She is everything."
He glanced at me, and there was something knowing in his expression.
"I can see it in your eyes when you look at her. The way your entire face changes. You are genuinely in love with her."
There was no point denying what was so obviously true.
"I am. Completely. She is everything to me."
We reached the stone bench beneath the old banyan tree and sat down. Papa was quiet for a moment, choosing his words carefully.
"I know why you married her, son."
My stomach dropped. I looked at him sharply.
"Maa told me. About the kundali. About the prophecy. About the arrangement."
I let out a long breath and dropped my head into my hands.
"Papa, I—"
"I am not judging you, Armaan. I understand the pressure you were under. Maa’s health, the fear of losing someone you love. I know that fear intimately."
He was thinking about my mother. About the loss that had shattered him.
"It was supposed to be simple," I said quietly. "Marry Viya for a year to satisfy the prophecy, then divorce her quietly and marry Avija. That was the plan. But everything changed."
"Does Viya know? Does she know why you really married her?"
"No. She thinks I married her because I wanted to. Because I chose her."
Papa's expression grew serious.
"Then it is time you told her the truth. She deserves to know, Armaan. All of it."
"I know. But Papa, what if she cannot forgive me? What if knowing the truth destroys what we have?"
"Then you deal with that. But secrets like this destroy relationships anyway. Better she hear it from you than find out some other way." He paused. "What about Avija? Does she know how you feel about Viya?"
"No. I have been avoiding her. But I need to end things with her properly. She needs to know there is no future for us."
Papa nodded.
"Do that. Soon. Then tell Viya everything. Do not wait too long."
◆◆◆
The next day, I sent the message I had been dreading.
“We need to talk. Meet me at Indigo Restaurant today at 2 PM.”
Avija's reply came quickly.
“Finally! I was starting to think you had forgotten about me. See you then.”
I arrived early, the sterile elegance of Indigo Restaurant feeling like a cage. I requested a private booth in the back, away from prying eyes, and ordered a coffee that sat untouched, growing cold as my resolve hardened.
At exactly two o’clock, Avija swept in. She was a masterclass in perfection—expensive silk, flawless makeup, and a smile that had once convinced me we were meant for each other.
Before I could offer a formal greeting, she wrapped her arms around me, the scent of her heavy perfume a sharp contrast to the soft jasmine scent I had grown to crave at home.
"Armaan! Finally," she laughed, pulling back to study my face. "I was beginning to think you’d forgotten I existed. Two months without a single word."
"Sit down, Avija. Please."
The gravity in my voice made her pause. She sat, crossing her legs with practiced grace, but her eyes narrowed. "You look like you're presiding over a board meeting. Did something go wrong with the plan? Is the girl being difficult?"
"I’m not divorcing Viya."
The silence that followed was deafening. Avija let out a sharp, brittle laugh. "Stop. That’s not a funny joke, Armaan."
"I’m not joking. I am staying with her. For good."
Her expression shifted from disbelief to a cold, rising fury. "We had an agreement! You marry the orphan to break the curse, she takes the fall for the prophecy, and then we have our life together. That was the price of my safety!"
"And I was a fool to agree to it," I said, my voice dropping to a low, dangerous register. "I thought what I felt for you was love, Avija. I truly did. We had history, we had the same circles, we made sense on paper. I called it love because I didn’t have a name for anything deeper."
"Two years, Armaan! You don't just 'misinterpret' two years!"
"I did. Because I hadn't met her yet." I leaned forward, the memory of a stalled elevator and a shared breath rushing through me.
"With you, love was a habit. It was comfortable.
It was a choice I made every day because it was expected.
But what I feel for Viya... it isn't a choice. It's a fundamental shift in my soul."
I looked her directly in the eye, finally seeing the ambition beneath her tears.
"I thought I loved you, but it was just a shadow. Real love isn’t plotting to sacrifice a girl's life to save your own. Real love is what I feel when I see her mending a broken button, or breathing through a panic attack in my arms. It’s a devotion that makes the rest of the world—and your 'plan'—look like a sin. "
"You’re choosing a nobody over me?" her voice shook with rage. "She’s a pawn! A shield!"
"She is my wife," I corrected, my tone final. "And I will spend the rest of my life making up for the fact that I ever let you call her a sacrifice."
Avija stood up, her face twisted in a mask of bitterness. "Does she know? Does the 'innocent' Viya know she was just a spiritual lightning rod for you?"
"I’m going to tell her everything."
"Then I hope she destroys you," she spat, grabbing her purse. "Because once she realizes you never wanted her—that you only took her to save me—she’ll realize that your 'real love' is built on a foundation of lies."
She stormed out, leaving the restaurant in a wake of whispers. I sat back down, my heart hammering against my ribs. I had burned the bridges behind me.
Now, I just had to hope that when the smoke cleared, Viya would still be standing there on the other side.