The Accidental Husband

CH 36 || Concealed Feelings

Arvik

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Aavya did not have to serve her notice period after her resignation. While the standard protocol mandated sixty days of notice to serve in her old organization, I saw no reason for her to wait. She was finally closer to her dream and, with Linti offering her a position already, why delay her dreams? So, I covered the loss for her company by paying her two months' salary upfront. She was reluctant as if it was a big deal. But for me, it was a minor act for someone as integral to my life as she was. I was not doing it for someone I hardly knew. She was my wife, and I could do whatever was in my control to make her life easier.

With Aavya now working with Linti's team on the fifty-second floor of the building we'd rented out to them, she was under my watchful eye, not too far from reach. I was quite pleased with how her life had turned out to be. Seeing her settle into her new role and finding joy in her work brought me immense satisfaction. Yet, amidst this contentment, one thing still nagged at me – or rather, someone.

Isha.

When at the reception night Aavya revealed to me what her ex-best friend Isha and Isha's cousin Arush had done to her, I'd already begun plotting their downfall. But I had yet to materialize the plan. Things became easy for me when, through Shawn's research, I found out Arush was in San Francisco all this while. I had orchestrated the plan to ruin Arush first, starting with creating minor bumps in his life. The master plan was to bring him to his knees, where he would beg for Aavya's forgiveness. Though I would enjoy the show, I was going to make sure Aavya never forgives that fucker.

As for Isha, my knowledge of her remained limited. I had not found out much about her until the party in Atlanta. I was not surprised that destiny made me meet my pawn. Rather, I was infuriated when I saw her. It was not my first encounter with Isha. What angered me more was her pretense of not knowing me at all.

That was bullshit!

The truth was, she knew me all too well.

I knew she wouldn't easily forget our peculiar, unfortunate first meeting. Initially, I never expected to see her again, nor did I give it much thought. Yet, I should have delved deeper. If I had done that I would have found out sooner there was more beneath the surface, more to what met my eyes. Something significant was transpiring all this while, unbeknownst to me. It served as another reason for keeping Aavya close to me, within the same office building. Until I systematically removed Isha from my wife's life and exacted punishment for her wrongdoings, I wouldn't rest. Her sins outweighed even Arush's, and I had no intention of showing leniency toward those who harmed Aavya.

If only I'd known on that fateful day that she was the one who had hurt my soon-to-be wife, I would have eradicated any chance of her leading a peaceful life. But then, I had known nothing much, nor how my life would turn out to be, except that I was not going to let Kunal marry Aavya.

As I waited for Aahir and Reyansh at our usual spot in the Euphoria Club, I took measured sips of whiskey, reminiscing about my very first encounter with Isha before my wedding.

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FLASHBACK

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Ever since witnessing Kunal's altercation with his mother, a persistent unease settled within me. My intuition, always a reliable guide, echoed this concern. My intuition had never been wrong about anything, and I chose to pay heed to its warning. I decided to confront Kunal directly. Such a conversation could give one of two outcomes. The first one being, he would assure me everything was fine and I could tell if he was lying or not. Because Kunal was never a good liar, he sucked at that. If the first outcome would not come into the picture, then it would be the latter one. The second one included, he would panic when I would ask him about that fight. If something big was going on, that meant I would have to find out by any means, by my trickery. As there was no way he would have told me the truth if the latter case happened.