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“Myra’s not a skank,” he murmured.

“Did she have her hands on my husband?” I enquired politely.

“She did.”

“Then she’s a skank. And if you use her to piss me off, you’ll only have yourself to blame when I take her eye out with my stiletto heel,” I replied with a glacial smile.

“You’d do that?”

“Try me,” I invited. “And after I’m done with her, I’ll go after your balls.”

He shot me a feral grin.

“Bloodthirsty little thing, aren’t you?”

“So says the man who threatened to rip Dhruv’s arms off for just texting me at night.”

“Hey, he was asking for it,” snapped Viren, and then he ran a hand over his weary face. He looked exhausted. Like he was at the end of his tether.

“What are we doing, Sunaina? This wasn’t the plan, was it?”

“I don’t even remember the original plan anymore,” I admitted.

“We were supposed to walk away from this with a clean break,” he reminded me.

I reached out a hand and stroked his cheek almost unwillingly. I didn’t want to touch him or have anything to do with him, but for the life of me, I couldn’t stay away. My lips wobbled as I stared at the pain and confusion in his eyes, knowing they were reflected in mine, and I had to fight back the tears that were always close to the surface these days.

“Can you walk away from me so easily, Viren?” I asked in a little girl-lost voice that I absolutely hated.

Was I so forgettable that he was ready to move on so soon? That meant my stepmother was right. It meant she won. Even after all these years, she always won. Because no matter how hard I tried, no matter how much I gave of myself, the people I loved didn’t feel the same way about me. Baba didn’t, my stepmother definitely didn’t, and apparently, neither did Viren.

He did not answer my question, but he pushed his cheek into my hand and held my wrist as he pressed soft kisses into my palm.

“Wanna get a room for tonight?” he asked instead.

I wanted to pull my hand away and plant a sharp slap on his cheek. I wanted to walk away from this man who only had one use for me these days. Instead, I nodded slowly.

“Sure,” I said. “But only on one condition.”

“And what’s that?” he asked with a cocky smile.

“No sex,” I replied, happy to see his smile falter.

“What?”

“Spend the night with me without sex. And I know you won’t fall asleep until it’s almost morning. So, spend the night talking to me,” I said softly.

“Why?” he asked in a tortured whisper.

“We’ve spent so many nights lying in bed next to each other lately, wide awake but lying in complete silence all night. Let’s break the silence for one night, Viren. Because it’s getting to me. This silence will destroy us someday. Let’s break it before it breaks us,” I begged, pressing a soft kiss on his knuckles.

Viren gripped my hand tightly and pulled me closer, cradling my legs with his.

“Are you sure about the no sex part?” he asked in desperation.

“If you really wanted to make love to me all night, I’d say yes in a heartbeat. But I won’t let you use my body just because you’re too scared to talk to me,” I replied coldly.

“I have never used your body, Sunaina” he snapped. “I have only ever made love to you. It has never been anything less than that.”