Redemption of Royals (Royal #1: Book 3) | ✔

35

-• what should I call you as? •-

Taranya

He's here.

And yet I can't go to him.

I don't know what's more terrifying. The fact that every inch of my body desperately wishes to be in his arms, or that I wanted him to return to me like a dying man gasps for air, or that I'm not supposed to feel this way towards a man who has always broken my trust.

It doesn't matter anymore.

Because he's right in front of me, and circumstances have changed.

I knew I had committed an irreversible mistake when he blackmailed to tamper with Shourya's health. It's because of me the boy lost more than seven years of his life. And now he's a man, unnamed, without an identity, sans the memories, clinging to me because he thinks I'm his wife ever since he saw the magazine cover.

Shourya & Taranya. The Royal Couple.

It read on the cover page.

I can't blame him for thinking that I'm his wife. My husband stole his life, and he doesn't even know. I couldn't him tell him the truth when he assumed the worst. What would I even say? No, you're not my husband. It's Rudra. Your half brother. He made sure you were in coma for seven years so he can replace you and become the heir of Rajawat Empire. I'm sorry. But can you please slip back into coma? Thank you.

He looked so lost when he first met me. It's when he assumed I'm his wife that he settled, was grounded again, and obeyed Yuvraaj's wish to stay in the hospital until Rudra returns from Scotland.

Which was supposed to be only a three-day stay.

I played along as Shourya's wife for his sake, and because I was guilty too. Like it or not, I'm partly to blame for his condition. But I had hoped Shour- Rudra will return soon. I had hoped I won't have to string along with the lie for more than a day. I was proved wrong the very next day, and the day after that, and the day after that, until the lie lasted a week, and Shourya had accepted the lie as his only reality, his only hope to start anew.

"Now that Rudra is here, I can be discharged and come home with you, right?" Shourya asks as I unpack the tiffin on the makeshift table over his lap.

My eyes flicker to Rudra.

It hurts.

The way he's watching me, looking at me, as if he'll break apart if I don't go to him now.

"Ye- Yeah," I whisper shakily.

My hands tremble too. I feel like crying. I feel like hugging my husband. My real husband.

A hand lurches forward to grab my wrist. Startled, I drop the spoon, and it clatters to the floor. "What's wrong?" Shourya leaves my hand as I step back in surprise. I glance towards Rudra.

He's furious.

Before he can react, I pick up the spoon and reach around the bed, grabbing Rudra's arm before hoisting him up. Shourya stares at us befuddled. "I need to talk to him about your discharge process. You should have the lunch. I'll be back in five." And I drag him outside the room.