Hello, Mr. Major General (1)

Chapter 93 - I Won't Give You The Satisfaction

Shehnaaz knew who Shefali Arora was, of course, and was annoyed. Shefali was just a nobody; she did not deserve the gratification of instant recognition.

Shehnaaz made a show of looking Shefali over. She said, with a cheery smile on her face, “My name is Shehnaaz. Do I know you?”

Shefali sputtered. She stared at Shehnaaz, her eyes wide with surprise. “You don’t recognise me?”

“Oh? Should I? Why?” Shehnaaz was determined not to give her any sort of emotional satisfaction.

Shefali had not expected this at all.

She had assumed Shehnaaz thought of her as an eyesore, a thorn in her side…

But here was Shehnaaz, saying she didn’t remember her at all.

That can’t be right!

Shefali recalled what Parth had told her about Shehnaaz: she was an orphan, with only a distantly related
uncle acting as her custodian. Her family was poor.

You’re only clinging to Parth like a leech because of his wealthy, distinguished background, aren’t you?

Shefali chuckled. She said to Shehnaaz in a bright, easygoing manner: “That’s okay if you don’t remember. We’ll just have to get to know each other again.” She put out a hand. “I’m Shefali Arora. I was Parth’s classmate throughout middle school and high school. We even shared the same desk.” She carefully watched Shehnaaz’s face as she said, in an overly dramatic manner, “Oh, it’s not what it sounds like! Seriously – don’t get me wrong here! Parth and I are just bros, nothing more. We enjoy confiding in each other when we’re upset, but that’s pretty much it, really.”

Shehnaaz was standing in the middle of the campus avenue, her suitcase in hand. She stared at Shefali as though she were an idiot. She shook her head and walked away, deliberately taking the long way round to avoid Shefali.

A female student, one of Shehnaaz’s classmates, saw Shehnaaz and immediately went up to her to say hello. “Who was that? What a weirdo…”

Shehnaaz smiled. “Who knows? Total nutcase. I mean, I don’t even know her. She walked up to me and started
prattling on about how she used to share a desk with Class Rep, et cetera et cetera. It was cringeworthy, I had second-hand embarrassment just listening to her.”

“Seriously? Wow, did she come all the way here to like, assert her sovereign rights over him?” The classmate knew
that Parth was trying to court Shehnaaz. She laughed and gave Shehnaaz a playful nudge.

“What sovereign rights? C’mon, you’re a law student, you know that makes no sense.” Shehnaaz laughed. She returned to her dormitory, merrily talking and joking with her classmate the entire way.

Shefali’s face was now alternating between red and white. She was so annoyed by Shehnaaz’s actions she
wondered if she was going to have a stroke.

It was evening; many of the C University students were out and about. Shefali stood in the avenue for a long moment, feeling awkward and out of place, before she remembered what she had come here for. She made for Parth’s dormitory.

She had summoned all her courage to come to C University to look for Parth, and she hadn’t done it on a whim.

News of how the C University senior law students had almost lost their lives while holidaying at Sahyadri Mountain Resort Villa had spread from C City to the rest of the India like wildfire.

The TV stations took turns covering the story. The country’s biggest websites were relentless with their follow-up reports. The forums and Weibo could not stop discussing the
incident.