Circle of Trust

Chapter 30

The amazing new cover is by a very talented designer and a dear friend @WhisperingWater who has recently published her first book, Her Charming Secret. Congratulations Fir, and Thank you :)

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She was angry at him. He could feel the fumes roll off her body every time he stepped close. She had every right to be pissed off at him. He was calling himself thousands kinds of fool for not following his instinct earlier and checking to see if their mysterious neighbor was Yashvi.

What would he have done if he had found out earlier? Sent her packing? Confronted her? About what? There were way too many unresolved issues between them. She had upped and left suddenly, not once but twice in the span of two years – the years that he had spent pining, questioning, confused, believing himself to be in love until he found out what love really was, with Naina.

His wife looked glum getting his dinner ready, while he took every excuse in the book to hang around her in the kitchen. The bottles were filled; he discretely emptied them and filled them up again, his eyes glued to her tense shoulders. Her back was to him as she stood in front of the stove preparing rotis.

The water from the aquaguard overflowed onto his hands while he pondered different ways to explain to Naina. He cursed and shut off the tap, not taking his eyes off his wife who stilled for a second before she continued with the cooking.

He took his time mopping the counter and the floor clean, all the while practicing his apology; he owed her one for putting her through having to meet his ex. Why hadn’t he talked to her about his previous relationship? He slapped his forehead standing right in the middle of the kitchen still holding the wet mop in his other hand.

Naina glared up at him as he squinted down at her. She grabbed the mop from his hand, squeezed the water out in the sink, and slung it to dry.

“Dinner is ready,” she announced walking out to the dining area. Varun stood still, worry creasing his brows.

He needed to tell his wife that Yashvi didn’t matter to him. His friends’ horror tales about their wives’ catastrophic meeting with their exes filled his mind, stealing him of his breath. Quickly grabbing the water bottle he had just filled, he gulped down the entire bottle of water, streams of it flowing down his chin and wetting his shirt.

He hadn’t showered after coming home to witness an apocalypse in the making. Truth be told, he was terrified of leaving Naina even for a second without knowing what was going in her head. What had Yashvi been telling her when he had walked in? All he could wager on was the fact that his wife knew who Yashvi was. The way she had turned to leave them both alone in the living room was enough to let him know that without a shred of doubt.

His heart clenched. He owed her more than an apology and an explanation; he needed to get down on his knees and tell her everything, beg for her forgiveness for having treated her badly because of that woman’s heartlessness. No, he wasn’t absolving himself of the blame; he had been a fool to have continued loving her despite everything she had dragged him through. No, he had been right in shunning Yashvi out of his life. She deserved to be with her father.

“Dinner is getting cold,” his wife’s voice jolted him out of his thoughts. He looked up to see her already walking out of the kitchen. He sighed.

Any other time and she would have kissed him and gently lead him to the dining table and fed him. He heaved a heavy sigh. Being a cad had its disadvantages.

Varun was surprised to find a lone place setting at the dining table. Naina was nowhere in sight. He saw her on the stairs and called out to her. Her silence was killing him.