Her career was finally taking off, but she couldn’t find the joy in everything going well for her. It was as though there was a deep worm burrowing through her soul and emptying the happiness out of her. She felt like a shell with nothing left inside. Every cell in her body craved Arjun, longed and ached for him. It’ll get better with time, Rani kept telling herself. Except each day she became hollower inside.
Her cell phone buzzed. It was a text from Anaya. Heads up! Amma saw this. Rani clicked on the link in the text. It was an article in a popular Indian magazine. After she scrolled past the ads, the headline stopped her heart. Arjun and Hema, India’s Hottest Couple, to Tie the Knot in a Month. She had never seen a picture of Hema but there she was with Arjun’s family. She stood tall by his side, classically beautiful in a Rajasthani lehngah, a red skirt adorned with mirrored jewels and a matching cropped top choli that left her stomach exposed. She had one hand on Arjun’s arm and the other holding Jhanvi’s hand. A perfect family.
Rani’s phone rang. It was her mother. She hadn’t told her parents about the breakup with Arjun but it was time to face the music.
“That rascal. How could he cheat you like this?” Her mother spared no niceties as she cursed out Arjun. Rani let her mother vent her frustrations.
“Amma, we broke up a month ago.”
The line went silent and Rani’s heart lurched. She had avoided telling her parents because she didn’t want to lose them and Arjun all at the same time. She should’ve been nervous, afraid of what her mother would say, but she found herself not giving a damn. It was like she was going through the motions of life but not feeling anything.
“What happened, Rani?” her mother asked quietly.
“I met his parents and it was clear they would never accept me. Arjun was ready to go against them but I didn’t want him to. I didn’t want to make the same mistake I made with Navin. I would go into that house and be unhappy.”
“Are you happy now without him?”
“No.” Tears streamed down her face. It seemed to be the only thing she could do: cry until the tears dried up and then curl up on her bed and wait until she had fresh tears.
“Then what is the point of your stubbornness?”
Rani closed her eyes. “It’s not stubbornness. It’s self-preservation. I don’t want to end up the way I did after Navin.”
“So are you feeling better now than you did back then?”
The question gave Rani pause. She was in a better place. She had her career, she had future plans. And yet she’d never felt emptier in her life.
“I didn’t mourn losing Navin. I mourned losing you and Dad. I need you to get through this. I don’t want to lose you again, Amma.”
“You won’t, Rani. We were wrong in the way we treated you, I see that now. If something had happened to your father and you weren’t here—” Her voice broke. “You are our daughter and we should have shared in your pain, not pushed you away.”
Rani hung up with her mother and stared at Arjun’s wedding announcement. She tried to picture herself where Hema stood. The article called Hema beautiful and elegant. Rani would always be the average-looking divorcée.
9>He likes the finer things in life. And he should have them.
Twenty-Four
It should have been one of the proudest moments of Arjun’s life, but all he felt was restless. His hotel’s grand opening was perfect. Nothing was out of place. Normally hotels did a soft opening to work out the kinks, but they hadn’t had the time. It was a huge risk, but he’d spent every waking minute making sure they were ready. Not that he’d been able to sleep much anyway.
He glanced at the four-poster bed where he and Rani had made love for the first time. When he’d moved into the owners condos, he had taken one of the other bedrooms, unable to face the memories of his first night with Rani.
But then he’d walked into the master bedroom in the middle of the night and slept there. The linens had been changed but he could still smell and feel Rani in the bed.
His phone buzzed, reminding him it was time to go downstairs. The opening night party was tonight and his parents and siblings were waiting for him. He silenced the buzzer. He could be late.
He ran his hands over the luxurious bedding and closed his eyes. He could see her sitting on the bed, telling him how handsome he looked and fretting about her own clothes for the evening. They would discuss who they had to talk to at the party tonight and how to make sure that his brother, Sameer, didn’t end up in the tabloids tomorrow. If he kept his eyes closed, he could almost see the life he could’ve had with her.
A knock on the door forced him to get back to the real world.
“Dude, you’re five minutes late. Ma sent me up here to make sure you weren’t dead.” Sameer greeted him at the door with an easy smile. Like Arjun, he was dressed in a classic black tuxedo, except his white bow tie was a little crooked and his hair looked like he’d just gotten out of bed. Normally Arjun would have said something, but what did it matter?
“Hey, you okay, bro?”
Arjun nodded, then patted his brother on the shoulder. “Do you mind asking Ma and Dad to come up here? I need to discuss something with them.”
Sameer rolled his eyes, then disappeared. It wasn’t unusual for Arjun to meet with his parents before a major event.
Arjun ran his hands over the wood carving on the door. Diwali was his favorite holiday. The return of the Lord Rama, whose wife had followed him into a fourteen-year banishment. Would Rani follow him? He had heard through his staff that she was leaving RKS and that she was starting her own firm. He felt a surge of pride for her. She’d been right to end things between them. She could achieve so much more without his obligations weighing her down.
He left the door ajar for his parents, who arrived a few minutes later. His father wore a tuxedo and his mother glittered in a black sari with Swarovski crystals on the pallu. They looked at him expectantly.
He handed his laptop to his father, who gave him a puzzled look.
“That holds the proverbial keys to the hotel, and to our entire empire. I organized all the files so you can easily access anything you need.”
“I don’t understand,” his father said, sounding bewildered.
“I’m not marrying Hema. I don’t know why you issued a press release with that old picture of all of us together. I’ve been very clear about my intentions. You gave me an ultimatum that I either marry Hema or leave the family. So I’m giving you back your empire.”
“Arjun!” His mother sounded shocked.
“After tonight, you won’t see me again.”
His parents looked dumbstruck.
“Beta, what nonsense is this?” His father’s voice was louder now.
“You can’t be serious,” his mother exclaimed. “Is this about Rani?”
“This is about me. And my life. I don’t want to be bullied into who I marry or how I live my life. I love you both, and not being a part of this family will kill me. But if you’re willing to lose me over your stubbornness, then I’m your son, and no less firm in my convictions.”
Jhanvi sat on the chaise longue in the sitting area. “You’re willing to give up everything for that girl.”
“Don’t you see? I love Rani precisely because of who she is, the way she thinks. I never wanted her to yield to you or follow our family parampara. I wanted her to help me change your way of thinking to be more like hers.”
“Why are you speaking in past tense?”
“Because I took too long to come to the realization that she was not the one who needed to change. I was.”
* * *
Rani sat at the bar, nursing a cup of coffee. She would’ve left the opening night party hours ago but it turned out that several of the potential clients she’d been courting were here. In fact, most of the who’s who of Vegas were here. She’d already set up two m
ore pitch meetings.
She stared into the coffee cup, trying to find happiness in how far she’d come in the six short months since she’d first met Arjun. She’d gone from being a junior architect to starting her own company. But all she could think about was how she wished she could tell Arjun that the coffee was too bitter and he needed to find a new vendor, that his hotel was awesome, and that she was finding it really hard to give a damn about the career she cared so much about. More than anything, she wanted to tell him that she’d follow him anywhere he wanted to take her. So what if they moved to India and she had to endure his stifling household? She’d get to hold him every night. She had all the control she wanted and yet she couldn’t get the one thing she needed.
“Rani, dear, do you mind if I sit here?”
Rani couldn’t have been more surprised to see Arjun’s mother take a seat next to her. She had seen Arjun’s entire family from far away, taking the requisite publicity shots at the ribbon cutting earlier. But what could Jhanvi possibly want with her now that Arjun and Hema were getting married?
Jhanvi didn’t wait for permission as she perched herself on the bar stool, and Rani couldn’t help but admire the elegant way in which she managed the feat in a sari. Rani herself had dressed for the occasion in a floor-length royal-blue gown with a low back and a slit in the side.
Arjun’s mother ordered a whiskey on the rocks. Her drink was delivered immediately.
“You look beautiful, dear. That color really suits you.”
“Thank you.”
“I noticed you earlier at the ribbon cutting so I told the security people to find you.”
“You were looking for me?” She had not expected that. Surely the woman was too busy planning Arjun’s big fat Indian wedding to worry about Rani.
She ignored Rani’s question. “Do you know that I became a mother before I was a wife?” Rani sensed the question was rhetorical and kept her eyes on Jhanvi, giving the woman her undivided attention.
“The first time I held Arjun, he looked into my eyes with such innocent love, and I knew in that moment, even though I hadn’t given birth to him, he was my son. I agreed to marry his father not because I loved Dharampal but because I’d fallen in love with Arjun. Among all my children, Arjun holds a special part of my heart. I always want to protect him.” She gestured around her. “All this seems to attract the wrong sort towards him.”
What was she saying? “I was never interested in Arjun’s wealth...”
“You misunderstand me. I’ve been shielding him from having his heart broken for years. His father once broke my heart and I didn’t want Arjun to go through that. But it seems that’s exactly what I’ve done.”
Her chest tightened. “What’re you saying?”
“I’m saying it’s clear that my son is in love with you and that he’s willing to give up everything for you.”
Rani’s heart jumped into her throat and she sat straighter. “What do you mean he’s willing to give up everything for me?”
“We gave him an ultimatum that if he didn’t marry Hema, he would be disowned. So tonight, he left the family.”
Rani gasped. He did that for me? Why hadn’t he told her what he was planning to do?
“We wanted to scare him. Not in a million years did I think he would actually leave the family. So I’ve come to beg you to bring him back to us.” Jhanvi’s voice cracked.
Rani looked at her shining eyes and suddenly realized that the two of them shared something very powerful. A love for Arjun. And that made her feel a little closer to Jhanvi.
She reached out and grabbed Jhanvi’s hand. “It was never my intention for him to leave the family. I just wanted him to stand up to you.”
The big gesture she’d been waiting for was not for him to forsake everything he held dear. Then it hit her. Just like she’d been waiting for Arjun to make the big gesture, he had been waiting for her to tell him that she was strong enough to deal with what might come their way. He’d been waiting for her big gesture.
Rani looked into Jhanvi’s eyes, and the jumble of thoughts and emotions that had haunted her for the last weeks tumbled into place. A sudden clarity swept through her. “We can find a way to share him, can’t we?” She squeezed Jhanvi’s hand.
A tear dropped onto Jhanvi’s cheek and she wiped it away, smearing her makeup. She clutched Rani’s hand and nodded.
She drank her whiskey in one gulp, then got down from the stool abruptly. Rani looked at her questioningly. “A mother should know when to not interfere,” she said with a smile. Rani turned to see Arjun standing there. He was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, looking like the man who lit her heart on fire from the first time she’d seen him.
He raised a brow at his mother, who motioned to the seat she’d just vacated then blew him a kiss and walked away.
“Ms. Gupta, do you mind if I sit?”
She smiled. “I don’t know. It might cost you a billion dollars.”
He grinned at her and she nearly fainted at the sight of his dimple. “It’s worth the price.”
He shooed the attentive bartender away. “I’m sorry it took me so long to realize what you were saying. I love you for who you are, and I was asking you to change that when what I should’ve been doing is showing you that I’ll be there for you. Can I beg for your forgiveness? Am I too late to convince you to love a poor man with no home, no family and not a penny to his name?”
She smiled. “I see your new status as an improvement. Though I don’t think it’ll last too long.” Rani turned to point at his mother, who had moved away but was hovering in the distance.
“You weren’t the only one who handled it wrong,” Rani continued. “I shouldn’t have put everything on you and your parents. It’s my life and I need to be the one strong enough to dictate the terms. And I am. All I need to know is that you’ll be by my side.”
He let out an audible sigh. “If there’s anything I’ve learned in the last month, it’s that I can’t breathe without you, Rani.”
She sighed. “This is how it’ll work. My company is mine to run as I see fit. You will not interfere. We live here in Vegas part time, and I’m going to design a small house for us on your family property in Rajasthan. We’ll live there the rest of the time. On your land but not under the same roof as your parents. We will raise our children there. Speaking of which, we will have no less than two but no more than three children. I get to name the girls and you get to name the boys, but I have veto power over names that sound dumb.”
He grinned. “You forgot one thing?”
“What?”
He got up from the stool, then fell on one knee in front of her.
She gasped.
“Rani Gupta, I’ve loved you since the first moment we met. You make me whole. I want us to write the next chapters of our life together, to create our happy ending. Will you marry me?”
Her heart burst with love for him.
He pulled out a ring with a round solitaire. It was simple and elegant and just right for her.
“Yes, Arjun, I will.” He stood and wrapped his arms around her. The telltale flashes of cameras clicked nearby but neither of them cared.
“I do believe you designed a tacky wedding chapel in this hotel, didn’t you?”
She laughed. “Don’t you dare call my designs tacky! It’s actually a very tasteful chapel, complete with a traditional Hindu wedding mandap.”
“Then what do you say we do this Vegas-style and spend the night as husband and wife?”
10>Once he gets what he wants, he doesn’t let go.
* * *
If you love Arjun and Rani,
you won’t want to miss
Divya’s story
by Sophia Singh Sasson
coming in
February 2021
exclusively from
Harlequ
in Desire!
Keep reading for an excerpt from Cinderella Unmasked by Susannah Erwin
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Cinderella Unmasked
by Susannah Erwin
One
Nelle Lassen gripped the full skirt of her silver-and-turquoise ball gown as one strappy, high-heeled sandal landed on the first step of the stone staircase outside San Francisco’s historic Ferry Building. Then she pulled her foot back.
If she turned around now, she could go home. Take off the borrowed finery and slip into her comfy leggings and favorite hoodie. Curl up on the sofa with her laptop open to her social media accounts and her TV streaming the latest British costume drama. It was just the way she liked to spend her free evenings.
Or at least the way she used to like spending them, before her life was turned upside down and then shot out of a cannon to splat against a brick wall. Her reputation had been blackened, her career wiped from existence, her self-confidence eroded like a sandcastle during high tide. It had taken her a few months to devise a way forward and she still had far to go, but thanks to her best friend and roommate, Yoselin Solero, she’d checked off two major hurdles: new job, new city. And to go with them, a new name: Nelle, short for her given name, Janelle.
A chime came from a hidden pocket underneath the layers of tulle and lace, and she dug out her phone. “I’m at the gala,” she answered.
Marriage by Arrangement Page 16
