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What was even the point of all this playacting? After all these years, why was Viren pretending to be a loving husband? And whom was he trying to fool anyway? The whole household knew ours was a marriage in name only. And if this was a veiled threat against Dhruv, I could tell him where to shove his empty threats.

But I didn’t say that aloud. I merely curled my fingers into his with a loving smile and dug my nails into his skin as hard as I could. Unfortunately, the rat bastard didn’t even wince. He only grinned at me before he let my hand drop.

“What are we doing today, Chachu?” asked Aisha.

“How about a Charlie And The Chocolate Factory-themed afternoon tea?” he suggested.

“Awesome!” she yelled, throwing her arms around him.

“Would you like to join us, Tahira?” asked Viren, and I wanted to smack him.

“No, thank you,” she said coldly. “I’m having a spa day at Harrods with my aunt.”

She rose from the table and stalked out of the room and I heaved a sigh of relief.

“Can you book the tea for five people, Sufi?” asked Viren.

“Make it for four,” I said hastily. “I’m meeting Dhruv at the V&A.”

“No, you’re not. You’re coming with us,” said Viren peremptorily.

“No, I’m not,” I argued.

“We always do these things together, beta. How can we go without you?” asked Daya Bua.

“Well, you’ll have to get used to it soon, Bua. I won’t be part of this family for much longer,” I said softly.

“Umm guys…” began Sufi, but Aisha interrupted him.

“How can you say that, Aunty Sue?” she cried. “Are you so eager to leave us?”

“Not at all, baby. But you knew this day was coming,” I said, taking her hand in mine.

A muscle jumped in Viren’s cheek as he glared at me. But he didn’t refute what I said because he knew I was right.

“Guys,” yelled Sufi, and we turned to him in surprise. “You need to see this.”

He turned his phone around, and I blanched in horror at the headline on his screen.

CHAPTER 8

VIREN

Trouble in paradise?

Music mogul Viren Chaudhry’s wife seen partying in London with handsome stranger. Click to read the full story.

“What the fuck is this?” I growled, clicking on the link.

“We must have got papped last night without our knowledge,” said Sufi, looking worried. “It’s a picture of Sunaina and Dhruv.”

I stared numbly at the picture of my wife balancing a cocktail on her head as that motherfucker leaned forward to place a slice of lime on the rim of the glass.

“Where the hell were you when this was happening, Sufi?” I snarled.

“Hey!What do you think happened between us?” snapped Sunaina, but I ignored her because right now, I couldn’t even bear to look at her. I didn’t even know she had this side to her. In all the years that we had been married, I had never seen Sunaian look so…abandoned. So…happy. I had never brought out thisfun side of her. But it popped up right on cue as soon as this guy appeared out of nowhere.

“I was right next to Suanaina, Mr C. They just cropped me out of the frame. Someone took this picture on purpose to discredit Sue,” said Sufi angrily.