Page 10 of Right Where I Belong

Aditya rolled his eyes.

“Anyway,” his mother continued. “She called me, gloating about how lovely the event was. How lovely Kanika is. She clearly believes that my loss is her gain. As if.”

“Ugh, as if!” Keya shuddered.

“I’m so glad that witch is out of your life forever.” His mom mock-sighed dramatically. “Good riddance.”

He groaned. “Here we go again.”

“Good that you went and saw her treachery for yourself,” his mother added. “Better late than never.”

He looked heavenward.

“Aunty, imagine if she’d succeeded in trapping Aditya,” Keya said, looking horrified.

Raashi made a face. “No, please, I don’t even want to imagine that.”

“Gee, thanks,” Aditya muttered. “You all seem to think I have no brain of my own, and Kanika could have trapped me easily.”

“Please. You behaved utterly foolish about her,” Keya said, shaking her head.

“Rohan warned you that she wasn’t right for you,” Rithwik said, referring to his twin.

Aditya had brought Kanika as a date to Rohan and Jiya’s wedding reception, and both of them hadn’t hesitated to tell him to be very wary of Kanika.

“Anyway,” Raashi said. “As you can clearly see, we’re all just glad she’s out of your life for good.”

“You know,” his mother began, “initially I thought Kanika wasn’t serious about you. That she’d get bored and leave you heartbroken.”

“Bored? Heartbroken?” He gave her an irate look. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, Mom. You make me sound like some tragic character from one of those emo-dramas you like to binge-watch on TV.”

“Oh, come on,” his mother said, waving a hand. “She always seemed a little too discontent, like she was always chasing the next shiny thing that would give her happiness. Unfortunately for all of us, one of those new shiny things she wanted wasyou. I just hope—for your sake—you weren’t actually in love with her.”

“I wasn’t. Can we drop the subject now?” He was done talking about the mistake that was Kanika. His closest ones had never approved of her, and it rankled that he’d been so wrong about her. It made him feel like an idiot.

“Good riddance,” Rithwik said.

“I said drop the subject,” Aditya said, flatly.

“Alright, alright,” his mom said. “I’m just happy to know that she’s not going to be an issue any longer.”

“She won’t be.”

His mom exhaled a sigh of relief. Dropping her napkin, she rose. All of them stood as well.

His mom addressed him, “Are you leaving for Dubai again soon?”

“Next week mostly.”

“Good,” she kissed his cheek. I hope you find the ring.”

They sat as she left.

“What ring?” Keya asked.

“Wait… before we get to that,” Raashi gave him a pointed look before she said, “Be honest. You’re not pining over Kanika, right?”

Rithwik leaned closer, his expression serious. “Please tell me you’re not.”