Fatal Attraction

Part 27

Asmita's cabin,

"Please take your seat, Mr. Malhotra," said Asmita, adopting a professional mask as she took her seat opposite his. The intensity in his eyes was unnerving and disconcerting. He had transformed in terms of his appearance, but the language of his eyes, which expressed volumes about his tempestuous emotions towards her, be it obsession or love, had not changed through the eight years, she noted.

"Since I know a part of this story, maybe we should begin where we ended. How did sacred realization happen?" she asked him, mockery lining her voice and her eyes as cold as required for a heart to stop.

Her tone twisted the dagger pierced in his heart. He knew he deserved every bit of the pain and she deserved every bit of the pleasure she would get by tormenting him. Maybe that was the way for him to earn his redemption.

"It wasn't until Sunita prepared herself to break the alliance that I realized what actual love was. She held herself responsible for what had happened, left, and she was ready to forsake her own love for her redemption. When Amit broke his relations with us to be with his love, that's when I realised I had never loved before. Nani breathed her last soon after, unable to take the shock, and that's when regret really kicked in. Before that moment I regretted letting you go, but after that moment, till now and probably till my last breath, I would regret hurting you."

His amber eyes clashed with her hazel ones. They searched for any signs of warmth, any signs of forgiveness which would pull his wretched soul out of the vortex of darkness in which he had found himself in since she left but the destiny decided to not give mercy onto him any sooner.

Asmita was facing a crisis. She had vowed to place her professionalism before her personal interests when she took her oath as a therapist and she could feel her heart preparing her to betray that oath.

She had seen his panic attacks and could swear on her life that he was not faking them, but there was no way she could be sure that he was not faking his emotions at that instant. The Daksh Malhotra she had known was the most manipulative person one could have the misfortune to meet. He could twist the most trivial of matters to cause a war that demanded everything dear of those involved.

"How would you describe your regret to be? Given a chance, would you want to change what you did in the past?" she asked, knowing well that she was toeing the line of professionalism. Her heart, which craved to hurt Daksh just as he hurt her, could not let go of an opportunity so well presented.

Daksh failed to find a similarity between the Asmita he had known and the Maya Singh seated in front of him. Gone was the gullible, docile, and fragile Asmita who would whimper at someone's pain. The one in front of him was the one who wouldn't hesitate to hurt the ones who hurt her. His conscience reminded him he deserved her hatred more than anyone else and everything else.

"Regret is like a burning amber, with a searing touch, which was more addictive than any drug. It killed me every second, yet, I wanted to embrace it as close as I could. After all, that was the only emotion which colored the memories I had of you. When you walked out of my life, you took away the zing of it, the colors of it. But you left behind one emotion and I drowned myself in it, because you would have wanted it."

His confession with unwavering and never-flickering sincerity, which only made her more confused and hence more furious.

"And about the changing the past part, Mr. Malhotra?" she asked, setting her anger aside as curiosity took the better of her.

A sad smile played on his lips. "I wouldn't change the part of marrying you ever. I wouldn't change the part about loving you. But yes, if given a chance, I would definitely take a different way to win you over. Heck, I would win that chance, no matter what it takes, if it is possible, but alas, life is not that merciful."

It troubled Asmita more than she would ever care to admit seeing the chairperson of DM Designs in such a despicable state. The new side of Daksh Malhotra seemed to threaten her sanity as she wondered if anyone could manipulate so well or he was being truthful.

"Life is certainly not merciful. Because it considers your choices and uses them against you in the most painful way possible. And we come down to choices you made. Like you have said, there were several ways to tackle the situation at hand. But you acted with an aggressiveness which showed everything except love. Why or rather, what compelled you to take that step?" she asked him.

She wondered if she was the most fortunate person to have her most troubling questions answered or the most unfortunate to be in that situation where you would hear your culprit talk about what made them torment you.

"I guess, it goes down to upbringing. My parents died in a car accident when I was very young. My maternal grandparents, who left none of wishes unfulfilled, brought me up. I was born with a silver spoon and the thought that I wouldn't get something would torment me to an extent where I would go mad. And then I met you. Everyone whom I met till then was behind me for something. But you were innocent. I was probably so used to girls using me to climb up the corporate ladder, or status, or anything that you enchanted me. Someone so different yet so forbidden and as they say, forbidden fruit is the sweetest," he said with his voice thoughtful and eyes reminiscent.

Asmita's analytical brain signed her that his upbringing was probably the biggest reason behind his behavior, as she had learned.

"So that's what your feelings were, Mr. Malhotra? A conquest? To win the forbidden fruit? And the prize? Bloated ego?" she asked, slamming her palm against the table, frightening Daksh with her sudden actions.

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Daksh -_-