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“Who else? She’s all he can think about. Ria’s contract, Ria’s schedule, Ria’s riyaz. It’s strange how my entire life revolves around my husband’s work wife.”

“Sarang is not the kind of man who would cheat on his wife,” I murmured. “As far as I know, they are just colleagues.”

But I couldn’t deny the truth in her words. Even if he wasn’t cheating on his wife, Sarang spent far too much time with Ria. Sure, it was all in the studio, but still. It made his wife look like afool. I’d be heartbroken if Viren humiliated me like that. Not for the first time, I wondered why Sarang had married Tarana at all if Ria took up so much space in his life.

“I’m just sick of playing second fiddle to Ria,” said Tarana. “And I’m sick of being the perfect wife and bahu.”

“What do you mean, babe?” I asked warily.

She turned around to say something but stopped and stared at me hard for a few seconds.

“You look different,” she said.

Then her eyes widened.

“Ohmigod! You’ve had sex!” she yelped, and I slapped a hand over her mouth.

“Are you out of your mind?” I asked. “You don’t know me well enough to say something like that!”

“Sorry, but I have a sixth sense for that sort of thing, and I have no mental filter, which is a very bad combination. You’ve always had this untouched virgin quality about you, but now…now you’re giving full sex goddess,” she said with a wicked grin.

“Am not,” I argued.

“Are too,” she insisted. “And I’m very happy for you.”

Fuck! If Tarana could read me so easily, so could Sufi. I really didn’t want the details of my sex life to be common knowledge. That’s it! I was never having sex again. Viren and his magic dick were never getting anywhere near me again. This was far too embarrassing!

“Okay, stop turning so red,” cried Tarana in alarm. “Your family will never forgive me if I make your head explode.”

“You are a menace,” I informed her. “I always thought you were this innocent girl from a small town. But you’re not.”

“No, I’m not,” she agreed. “I might have grown up in a small town, but I’m not dehati in the least. I was born to be a star, Sunaina. Unfortunately, I became a bahu. Ugh!”

I stared at the woman in front of me, wondering how I’d slotted her so incorrectly. She was right. She wasn’t a small-town girl at all. She had the same quality I had seen in so many other women in this city of dreams. She was ambitious as hell. I wondered how far she’d go to make her dreams come true.

“What do you mean by star?” I asked carefully, hoping she didn’t mean a social media star.

“Are you still taking on new clients for your business?”

Oy, this was exactly what I was worried about.

I was a social media manager for several mid-level influencers. None of my clients had ever made it really big yet, but they were growing steadily. I was still waiting for that breakout star who’d go massively viral, but I knew for sure that a society bahu with stars in her eyes was not it.

“Umm…yes…but I’m quite selective about the kind of work I take on,” I said politely.

In reply, she pulled out her phone and played me a video.

“Is that you?” I gasped, staring spellbound at the sight of her singing a mash-up of a classical bandish and Unholy.

Holy crap!Tarana was no society bahu/wannabe influencer. She was a music professional!

It wasn’t just the singing, which was amazing, of course, but it was also the presentation. The way she looked and carried herself. She owned the screen!

“Tarana Sharma, you were right,” I breathed. “You were born to be a star.”

“Pandit,” she corrected me. “Tarana Pandit. I haven’t taken Sarang’s name.”

“Why not?” I asked curiously.