Wrecked - An After-Divorce Romance✨

Chapter Twenty One

   She could never get used to him in a suit. Not that he didn't look in those, but she missed his brightness and openness that he gave out when he wore his button downs and t-shirts.

       She smiled and started with her presentation. It went well and in the end she felt happy that she could answer the questions of the panel happily. That was until he opened his mouth,

      "You have significant gap in your research by a year. May I know the reason why?"

      "Oh..I was going through a medical treatment at that time." She muttered.
 
      She could feel the atmosphere in the room turn. "I hope you're well now. Nothing serious I hope?"

      That bastard. She thought. But deep inside her anger she felt the pang of betrayal. How could he do this to her? It called out. She squashed it.

           "I overcame it anyway and I think it's a testimony to my determination." The other panelists nodded their heads, they were impressed. All except one.

         "What happens when you relapse?"

      "What?" She asked shocked.  "I am perfectly healthy now."

       "Don't you think it'd be too risky? Would you place your bets on a wild guess?"

     ***

             Khushi came out of the room and looked at Ravya's sweet face. "Well? Did you rock it?"

        "I didn't. It sucked."

     Khushi knew what to expect but after a couple of days when the results were posted, Harshita gloated around the unit, distributing chocolates, imported ones to be infact.

       To reject her project wasn't that bad but to see Harshita win the grant was utter misery. She felt angry, the kind of anger she hadn't felt in years.

           She took the stairs to the terrace. Kushi then sighed and tried to calm her breathing. As soon as her heart pace returned to normal, awareness rushed in.

   He was here. 10 feet away with a lit cigarette in his hand and the other hand tucked in his pant pocket.

         Khushi had to reluctantly admit that he did look handsome. So very handsome. And once upon a time he had been hers.

         "You're staring."

         "Do you have a problem with that?!" She snapped at him and he looked at her with an irritated expression.

       "Are you mad at me?"

      "Oh geez! Guess I shouldn't be, after you ruined my research project."

          He put out his cigarette and stamped on it. "We aren't that close enough for me to care about that."

       He tried to move past her but Khushi caught his upper arm stopping him. "Given what's happened in the past, I thought atleast we could be civil with each other, if not friends."

         "Oh you want to talk about civility? Civility would've been you not supporting my sister who is about to marry a murderer!"

        "Is that why you sabotaged my funding?"

        "No. Yes. I don't know."

      "Okay but who do you think informed Sakshi and urged her to mail you?"

             ***

      Now Dhruv felt guilt gnaw him inside out. That's why Sakshi has mailed him because she had told her to.

         "You're still doing nothing to dissuade my sister."

           He watched her roll her eyes. "She's my age when I married you. Dishu is a grown woman. And she told me he had his reasons which I believe to be true."

     He swiped a hand through his hair on frustration.

        "Our broken marriage is exactly why I don't want her to rush into this." He flicked his hand towards both of them.

        Again an eye roll from her, "Age had nothing to do with it."

      "Yes. It was you and your penchant for lies that broke the camel's back." He snapped at her and saw her eyes flash hurt.

     "Excuse me?!"

     "Am I wrong?"

     "I had my reasons..."

     "And those reasons were pure BS..."

         He was stunned himself by how viciously it had slipped out, she seemed the same too. She looked at him hurt and dejected. Like she expected it.

        "They might seem BS to you but it felt overwhelming to me. You don't even know what illness I had or how I came over it..."

        "It was cancer. I know."

      Now it was her turn to look shocked. "You knew?"

         "Yes."

         "Since when?"

         "About 2 years back."

         "You left because of that?"

      Dhruv didn't answer for a moment as he tightened his, fist controlling the emotions that struggled to burst through. He nodded without looking at her.

       "Ah...you must've felt guilty." She said in realisation.

    He laughed. "I didn't feel guilty. I felt angry."

         "What?"

      "I was angry at myself for wasting years and years on people who only pitied me, oh you must've thought that you were noble for hiding it from me, but all the while you pitied me thinking I deserved a better wife, hmm..'

***

     Khushi watched in horror as he trampled on her deepest secrets. But he kept speaking.

      "Hmmm... You must've thought I didn't know what was good for myself and while I ran behind you, begging you to stay,you must've that I was being childish. And that your lie was kinder than honestly."

He spoke with a think smile on his face. 

      "So spare me the watered down excuses. You might've not died, but the Dhruv you knew has died."

     She stumbled back without saying anything. He smiled a smile which didn't reach his eyes.

          "And I sabotaged your funding because I could. Consider it petty revenge for your cruelty in past."

    He walked away after that. And for a long time, Khushi stood in the same place blinking back tears.

    ***

A/N: vote and comment. Not edited