CHAPTER 4

Mihir doesn’t come home until 2am. He purposely did it.

“Oh, you waited,” he says.

“Is this all part of your tiny punishment?” I say. “Try harder, Mihir.”

He raises an eyebrow. “The least you could do is be grateful. I literally saved you from going to jail. Self-defense won’t help you. She didn’t have a weapon.”

Just then, it hit me.

“You hired them, didn’t you?” I ask and he smirks. “Was the whole accident scripted too? Is she really in the hospital or is she having her vacation in Ibiza?”

“I thought you knew me well, Heather. Why would I waste my time and money to see you cry? Luck was just on my side.”

My palms are balled into fists at my sides. He looks at them and frowns.

My knees ache. I’ve been kneeling down for the past seven hours.

“Who asked you to kneel down, Heather? I thought you'd gotten rid of everything I thought of you.”

He takes a chair out from the arrangement at the corner of the room. He makes me sit while he crouches down to my level.

He touches my collar bones.

“Since you left, they’ve become so evident. Aren’t you eating properly?” Why is he trying to sound caring all of a sudden?

His hands travel down to my limbs as he inspects every single inch of my body, taking note of every scar.

“You shouldn’t be touching me like that,” I say and he laughs. “I’m not your wife.”

“You said you were late for work. Which company is it?” he totally ignores whatever I just said.

Shit.

I totally forgot about the office.

“It’s mine,” I say, taking pride in the fact that I could actually start up something by myself with my own funds, knowing he would kill me if I worked while I was his wife.

His hands travel to my stomach as he raises the thin material to check.

“Who is Bird Claw to you at this point?” Bird Claw is his nickname for Talon. I don’t want to sound like a backstabber, but Talon has a nickname for him.

“He’s my friend and you know that very well.”

He ignores my statement. “You’ll stay here with me.”

“And what do I stand to gain from this?”

“My protection. My coverage. We both know you’ve been getting your feet stuck in the muddy part of the business world.”

He’s right. I might lose a large part of my company that hasn’t even started properly. Coupled with the death threats if I didn’t shut the company down.

“How did you know all this?”

“I still have Brad.”

Brad is his information minister, getting Mihir all the information he needs within seconds. He’s more like an AI robot to me. We never liked each other.

“Are you still thinking?”

“If I agree to stay with you, I won’t be repaying the two million dollars.”

“You know it was part of the contract right from day one. If you stay in a marriage with me, you’re not paying.” He clicks his tongue. “But you chose to be disobedient didn’t you?”

“Permanently this time,” I say, trying to stop myself from smiling as he thinks about it for a minute.

“Fine,” he says. “But we get to tell the press whatever I want. We have an interview in a few hours. So do whatever you want to do, but quickly.”

Maybe he has changed? The thought is on my tongue but I swallow it back. I’m not stupid to tell him anything that would make him think I trust him again.

I almost ask him if I should sleep on the same bed with him. He doesn’t say anything else as he goes to have his bath. I see that as a sign to leave the room.

“You haven’t had anything to eat,” MaryAnne tells me. And I sigh.

She’s the only one who seems to care about me.

“I’m sorry for how I spoke to you over the phone.”

She smiles upon my apology. “You wanted to get rid of everything. I get it. I’m just shocked you’re back.”

“It's only for some time. I’ll be gone again soon.”

“I hope so, ma’am. I really don’t want you going through the same thing over again.”

I nod and tell her to leave. I don’t feel like eating. I head outside for some fresh air. I walk around their mansion, running my hands through the fine coat of paint. The expensive paintings on the wall haven’t changed. Everything is exactly as I left it. 

Now, this is the luxury I was used to. I was used to gold being melted and designed on the wall in streaks. My mind tells me Mihir is watching me right now, planning his next move. 

I was in this marriage for six years. Nobody dared ask why I didn’t get pregnant. Everybody thought we both decided not to have kids. If only they knew how much Mihir loved kids. He would practically stop on the road to pinch a random baby’s cheeks. He was the dream husband for them and they thought I was the selfish one even if nobody dared to say it to my face.

And now…

I push the thought out of my mind.

He was the nicest man when I met him. Borrowing that much money from him just to pay my father’s bills was the biggest mistake. He came up with the idea of getting married to him, and then I wouldn’t pay back the loan. It was the best thing at that time. He drew the contract, but still got an IOU made. I should have known then.

And with an accident I’m responsible for? I have all the guns pointed at my choice. He took care of my parents alright. They practically disowned me when I informed them of our divorce. He still took care of them. They loved him.

What about the price I had to pay?