Married To My Nemesis

CHAPTER 20 - DANGEROUS GAME

My heart is chained to the demons of my past. Set it free.

He knew he was playing a dangerous game, Amartya Suryadev Shetty was not allowed to be this careless with his life's decisions. In other words, whenever he smiled, he felt guilty, whenever he felt his heart flutter, he felt his qualms spike his adrenaline in all the wrong ways, and whenever he felt things were changing, they always meant he was in for a gamble.

Amartya's life was never easy, but he forged it into a perfect mechanism that he believed worked well with him. After his father's death, all he wanted was to go hiding in the woods where no one would ever come to know who he was, but thanks to his regality and his birth as the official heir of AmarVani, people couldn't help but be awestruck by his aura, his presence, his magnificence and the mantle he was born to acquire. What was next? His mother had called him home and now he was the MD of his father's empire, exactly the kind of life he did not want, where media kept a close watch on him and people begged for him to sign deals with them, and as if that wasn't enough, he was about to get married, to the daughter of the man who had killed his father.

And yet, even after everything going exactly the way he had not intended, he found some relief in this place, the place he believed love lived in. Earlier that day when he signed the documents at the doctor's office, he had no doubt about how he wanted to be Sia's legal guardian. Amartya could not point at the reason why he felt such resonance with this kid, but she provided warmth to his age-old soul, which it could not find, not even in his own home. Sia did not give two fucks if he was the Amartya Suryadev Shetty, or Raghav, or just a common man who had no name. For her, he was her prince, the admiration she held in her eyes for him had no conditions, his power had no power in this connection and he could be himself, with her.

Speaking of being himself, another person he could feel that way, was her, whose name he did not know, but he liked it that way, because deep down inside he held compunction for the fact that she did not know his reality either. After the night at the AmarVani mansion, a little part of him always found comfort in her presence. His intrusive thoughts shushed and his alter ego fucked off, which he would often thank her for, in his head.

Amartya had almost banned new people to come into his life because that would mean that they could hold power in his life, he could get attached, they would bring changes and one thing, most likely, the only thing he hated with all his might was change. Giving away his power. Letting people close, giving his heart in their hands, which they could step onto and break, into a million tiny pieces. Another reason why he had no bad feelings about the marriage his mother had promised his hand into. A relationship that had no emotions from the very day one, could do no harm, he thought.

He kept fumbling with his fingers as Sia placed herself neatly time and again in his lap, getting cozy. His eyes fluttered as he raised his head when he heard the tinkling of her anklets as she made her way upstairs. He cursed under his breath, the six feet two-man grown man was fighting for his dear life, to not think of this specific person he so wanted to think about

"You, you should stay the night."

She had said. Which then meant him staying with the kids and her. Which meant him playing with the kids while she would watch, Which meant him tickling Sia while she would giggle. Which meant him sleeping on the floor, while she would sleep with Sia on the bed, Which meant him lying wide awake, listening to her breathe all night long. Which meant he would be up at five, watching the dawn as the kids would be asleep and so would she be. Which meant he would then walk downstairs and prepare milk for the kids and tea for her. Which meant he would then raise his head and stare at the wall in front of him as he would hear her anklets tinkle, as she would make her way downstairs. Which then meant his heart would skip a beat, anticipating her scent to soothe his mind anytime now. Which meant that the tea would be ready for the two of them and he'll sip from his cup while she would from hers. Which could mean he would smile to himself thinking maybe he had done a good job because she had already finished her cup. Staying here would mean they would then wake the kids up together, all the while Sia would be in his arms, refusing to take a bath but the older boys would want to get up and ready on time, abiding with everything their Snow would say because they were now "big boys". Which would then mean he would wake Ananya up and help her get ready, all the while Sia would be playing with his curls, making him sigh. Which would then mean he would drop the kids to school and go back to Little homes, for absolutely no reason, other than the fact that he wanted to see her face one more time.