Love Rivals: The Day I Saw Your Tears

70. If You Couldn't, How Could I?

(Sarah's Pov)

Nitya was clearly misunderstanding me. Her eyes were filled with anger.

I shook my head, trying to stay calm. "Nitya, it’s not like that. There’s nothing between Ryan and me."

But she wasn’t having it. Agitated, she pushed me away and snapped, “If you two already loved each other, then why did you both play with my feelings?”

I took a deep breath and tried to explain, stepping closer to her. “No, Nitya, you’ve got it all wrong. Everything you’ve heard is a lie. I didn’t love him. I just wanted to break his marriage.”

Her face turned red with anger, and she fumed, "What? You wanted to break this marriage? So you could marry him?" She pushed me again, her voice rising with every word.

I felt the sting of her accusation, trying to stay composed. “No, it’s not like that—"

"Then what?" she screamed, pushing me hard this time. I stumbled back, nearly losing my balance, but Ryan rushed forward, catching me before I could fall.

I shrugged him off. Turning back to Nitya, I pushed her back and blurted out, “Yes, I wanted to stop your marriage. But not for the reason you think. I wanted revenge -- Ryan broke off my engagement, and I wanted to hurt him the way he hurt me. So I pretended to be in love with him, but I don’t love him, Nitya. I never did, and I never will."

My voice faltering as I admitted, “But what now? My plan has completely backfired. Not only did it fail, but now it’s caused a bigger disaster. His mom and my dad have gone ahead and finalized our wedding. And no one, no matter what I say, believes me."

Ryan grabbed my hand and pulled me outside, his grip tight with urgency. His brows were furrowed, his voice sharp as he asked, "What were you talking about in there? What kind of nonsense is this?"

I met his intense gaze, forcing a smirk onto my face. "What, Ryan? Surprised?" I said mockingly. "Did it hurt? Did your heart break?"

He took a step closer, his expression serious. "I’m not playing around, Sarah. You know exactly what I mean. This isn’t a joke."

I let out a small, bitter laugh, my smirk growing colder, "Sarah? How could I love her? Have you even looked at her? She's boring... just plain boring. All I ever wanted was to distract her. And it worked, didn’t it? She scored miserably in the board exams and failed NEET. That’s all I cared about."
I paused, my eyes meeting his with a sharp edge. "26th May, 2017. You remember that day, don’t you?"

Ryan bit his lip, his expression tense. "So... you don’t love me?" he asked, his voice low, as if the answer pained him.

I scoffed, shaking my head. "If you couldn’t love me, Ryan, how could I possibly love you?"

He exhaled, his face hardening as he tried to process it all. "Alright," he said slowly, his voice firm now. "Then we’ll keep it this way. I won’t fall for you, and you'll make sure you don’t fall for me either. I’m not ready for marriage, and you clearly don’t want it. So, let’s just stay as we are—even after the wedding."

I nodded, folding my arms across my chest, "It’s better this way," I replied.

______________________________

A week passed in a blur as the arrangements for the wedding were finalized. The big day had arrived, and  I stood in front of the mirror, barely recognizing myself in the red velvet lehnga choli. It was beautiful, sure, but the heavy embroidery and layers of fabric made it nearly impossible to move. The vast, ornate jewelry draped around my neck felt like a chain, so tight I could hardly breathe.

Just as I was struggling to adjust the dupatta on my head, Shriya burst into the room with a dramatic flair. "Wow, look at you! You’re stunning," she gushed, her eyes wide as she took in the whole look.

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, right," I said dryly. "As if I had a choice in this."

Shriya raised an eyebrow, smirking as she stepped closer. "Well, well," she teased. "Remember when you used to tease me for not being in a relationship? I warned you not to get in such trouble. Now look who's paying the price."

I knew deep down that all of this—everything happening around me—was the result of my own choices, no one else’s. There was no one to blame but myself.