Oberoi's Ardhangini

CH | 80

As soon as Aarushi's words escaped from her mouth, the room turned silent as all the three of them were in their own thoughts, trying to figure out the situation when Pranavi broke it off with a huff, "What exactly did Kuldeep say to you, duffer?"

Shreya voiced out her thoughts in the next second, "Why did you pretend to be his girlfriend when the both of you don't even like each other? What was going on?"

"Exactly. Are we missing out on something, Aarushi?" Pranavi queried with raised brows while her eyes were focused on Aarushi's melancholic face and Shreya squinted her eyes, unsure of what was going on inside Aarushi's head as the deafening silence prevailed in the room, making the already sad mood even more awful.

Aarushi chewed her lips while her eyes darted away as if she was deep in thought and strode to the sprawling glass and leaned her head onto it while igniting another cigarette.

Eyeing the dark night from the corner of her eyes, she took a puff and tilted her head while her sleeves were folded onto her elbow and she opened the window when the fresh chilly breeze hit her. 

She took a deep breath while her flowy hair became disheveled, and she appeared like a depressed badass woman as she had undone the first button of her shirt feeling suffocated upon reminiscing the events from the past weeks.

Taking a peek at her somber silhouette with her shoulders slightly bent, Pranavi and Shreya exchanged glances while the worry was evident on their faces because it was really rare for Aarushi to act so mysterious and sad at the same time.

They decided to stop questioning her because they thought maybe Aarushi wasn't ready to share further and sighed in understanding.

With a nod, they both stood up and walked to Aarushi unhurriedly and called slowly, "Duffer."

Hearing it, Aarushi hummed, still in thoughts while a frown was etched on her face, when Pranavi opened her mouth, afraid Aarushi would push her away, "We won't force you but remember we will be always with you, it didn't matter what troubles you were having."

Shreya continued as she stood on the other side of Aarushi, "Don't keep everything to yourself. Just give us a call when you want to share, and we will be with you to assist you in anything we can do. Alright?"

Listening to their words, tears welled in her eyes and her eyes turned red while her eyelashes trembled. With a quivering voice, she mumbled, "I'm cornered."

"What?" Shreya and Pranavi asked in unison when Aarushi muttered with her eyes shut, trying her best to stop the damn emotions that were making her vulnerable, "I don't exactly know what his intention is in making me his girlfriend, but I did some groundwork."

When the words sunk into their heads, Shreya was the first one to react, "What did you find out?"

Aarushi's eyes flickered as she let out the smoke, "Apparently, he got affected the day after we made out. I don't know who did it nor I am able to dig in further. It was as if there were no loopholes and to top it off, everything was directing the evidence to me."

After she completed, Pranavi spoke with her narrowed gaze while licking her dry lips, "As in you plotted everything to get into his bed?"

Aarushi gave a nod and Pranavi sighed, while numerous thoughts were running through her mind.

Shreya queried with a frown, "What happened to him the day after you guys made out?"

Aarushi ran her slender fingers in her loose hair and continued while her eyes stared at the peaceful night sky which was a stark contrast to her turbulent life, "I'm not exactly sure of all the details, but I gathered some input from his company people. And I found out that he was questioned in the board meeting as someone took the photos of us in the corridor and me leaving his room with wrinkled clothes."