Book 4 in the Proposal Series.
YUGANTIKA IYENGAR
"You cannot fight your doom. It will fucking destroy you, Pookie."
She laughed, wrecking it deep within her guts. A voice that could slice through all the weak hearts. "No one can bring doom on me."...
Hestia (Goddess of thedomestic and civic hearth, the home, sacred and sacrificial fire, virginity,family, and the state)
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"Who was she, Kedar?" His grandmother had asked the moment she had vanished into thin air, leaving him questioning his own sanity with all the dramatics she had pulled in a span of 3 minutes and 21 seconds. Yes, he was counting. He had begun taking notice of the time he spent in her company and her thoughts too. It was too much to ignore.
"What are you staring at? I am asking you something here." She was an impatient lady, and currently, he was surrounded by such women all the time.
Turning to face his grandmother, he tried to clear his throat. Savitri Subramaniam was no fool. She wouldn't accept any excuse he gave her. She would want the past, present, and future of a subject if she hung on to it. How was he supposed to explain the history he shared with this troublesome woman and all the consequences that came wrapped around with deadly thorns? You touch, you die.
And he touched all the time, poked and nudged the thorns, not fearing the repercussions.
"Well, we do have all the time in the world, Tushar." She used his official name instead of the one used at home, and Tushar knew he was nearing the end of her patience.
"She is...a woman?" he offered with a grimace.
"You think I can't tell that much?" Savitri asked, raising an eyebrow.
Tushar sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Her name is Yugantika. We were...I have known her for a while, not long. It didn't end well."
Savitri's eyes turned curious, but her voice remained firm. "Go on."
He was choosing his words carefully, not knowing what cards she had played after stepping outside the temple. "Can we take this home, Amma?"
"Why? Do you need more time to think of a backstory?"
"I am not going to lie to you." He suppressed a groan and tried to swallow.
"Fine." Did she agree? "Tell me one thing, is she the one in the article?"
He nodded instantly, not realizing it was the start of the blunder he was about to create around his life.
"Let me call Pradeep. We are going to hear it together." She walked away briskly to call his grandfather, leaving a wide-eyed Tushar realizing how deep he was about to fall into his hellhole.
Oh, he would be buying out that newspaper company as soon as he stepped out unscathed from this interrogation. They didn't get to stalk him and snap pictures of the exact moment when he held her an inch away and omit all the scenes where she was ready to eat him alive. All of this was because Awasthi couldn't contain his excitement at snagging Pradeep Subramaniam's supposed heir for his daughter.
That phone call he attended; Tushar could bet his entire fortune was with his group of gossip mongers, tipping them off about the to-be-decided alliance. He would be putting him in his place soon too.
