ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴏʟʟᴇɢᴇ ʀᴏᴍᴀɴᴄᴇ [ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟᴇᴛᴇᴅ]

• Part 64 •

Nikita POV:

We all sat down in the living area, me barely being able to drink the coffee he finished making for me. I noticed his anger at its peak as I saw Shruti sitting opposite me, her face afraid.

"So?!" Mayukh asked, "Is anyone going to talk or are we just going to stare at each other?"
Ved sighed, "Okay. I think it's best you hear it from Shruti, and then I'll step in."

Mayukh groaned and rolled his eyes and looked at Shruti, "Talk."
Shruti looked at him, "Mayukh.... I..."
"Talk. Or leave." He said, sternly.

"Mayukh," she started, "You have the wrong idea of what happened 3 years ago. I want to clear it out. I'll answer everything after I tell you." She got no answer from him so she continued, "The person responsible for all of this is Riya.

"What did Riya do now?" Mayukh said, still very irritated.

"Mayukh, Riya is my family friend. Her mother was chancellor when our school was ending and when we applied, and she used that to her advantage and wrote me a recommendation to study in USC, in the US. She knew it was the perfect school for my career."

"Okay?"

"3 months before our... our breakup, Mom got an email from USC saying that they're ready to fund my course, the whole 3 years of it, and that I would have to leave a semester before. My mother saw it and instantly said I should go.So then, she said yes on my behalf. I didn't know how to tell you about it, but the day I thought to tell, Riya started to message me saying that she was worried she wouldn't get into university and things and asked me if I could ask you to help."

"Why and how would I help?"

"You can get her using your contacts. That's what she wanted."

"Why would you help her?"

"Riya and I were friends, Mayukh. I realized much later on what her true intentions were. She told me all sorts of things that her parents were having issues and everything. I even reassured her that she'd be fine since her mother is chancellor but she said that the you all will not let her in. Riya asked me to get her into events and things, but she always just used my name."

Mayukh sighed, "Why did you let her?"
"She was my friend since 7th grade, Mayukh."
"You couldn't just tell me all this then?!"

"I didn't like hiding it from you but she swore to our friendship that I shouldn't tell and I felt bad for her since I knew she might not get into university. Her track record wasn't the best. So, I tried to help."

"Then?" 

"Then, one day, when I was coming to school, on the last few days of it, I saw you and your brothers looking at me in extreme anger. I didn't understand what was going on. When I tried to explain.... You know the story."

"Why didn't you tell? You just dealt with us saying all that?"

"I couldn't defend anything because all the documents had the Roy's label as her mom was the chancellor. I tried to tell you guys about Riya but they didn't let me talk. I tried to talk to you but you didn't let me confront Riya or even hear me out, instead you just blocked me in front of him and then walked away."

I saw his face change into a little bit of guilt.

"I spent weeks trying to contact you through your parents, Gautam Bhai and Jhanvi, but no one was ready to talk to me. Eventually, I came to terms with it."

"You couldn't have tried more."

"How could I Mayukh? You wouldn't see my face. Ved Arup and all blocked me too, on email and literally everything. I even tried using LinkedIn to talk to you guys but I was blocked there too." She chuckled, " and that's not the worst part. The day I was leaving for US, I decided to leave much earlier because my accommodation contract started 1 month earlier than university does, Riya texted me to meet me one last time. I thought it's a friend trying to talk so I went."

"And?!"

"She told me it was her plan and that she didn't like that you and I together and now that I was leaving, she can have you. I tried to record the conversation to show as proof but she caught me and broke my phone. I had to get a new one before I left. The new phone had no contact of you or anyone and I was blocked on social media. I assumed it's a sign that I should move on, so I did."

"So why are you here now?"

"I am back earlier because US semester are a bit different. We started early so I ended in December. I had my graduation in January, and then I came back to India." She hesitated but continued, "I was scared to come to Bournbrooke honestly, but then I realized that  Riya and her mom both don't work here anymore, so I got a motivation to come and try to tell you the truth."

"So that's why you came here."

"Yeah. I thought it's a good time to clear the air because it's been a while."

He sighed, "Okay. How do I know you're being honest about this?"

"This is where I come in." Ved stood up and gave Mayukh his phone, and asked him to scroll, "I got to know this and went to Riya to gather some information because I knew you wouldn't believe me. Here you go."

"What? Is this all true?" Mayukh asked, looking shocked evidently.

"It is Mayukh." Ved said, "Shruti was also a victim of what Riya tried to do to Nikita. The only difference is that... well, I don't really know, but yeah everything is true."

I saw Mayukh's face change, it went from anger to horror to extreme sadness and guilt. I saw him look and walk towards her, and then hold her shoulder, "I'm so sorry Shruti."

I saw Shruti cry, but then steady herself, "It's... it's okay. It's done now it's been years."

"I owe you a huge apology for everything. I'm really sorry. I can't even imagine how it must have been for you. I can't believe how you might have felt that your boyfriend just... just cast you aside without even hearing you out. I've been a horrible boyfriend to you, I'm so sorry."

"Hey, it's okay. It's fine." She said, "I'm glad that I got the opportunity to tell you this."

"I... I'm going to make up for this. I'm going to help you out. Can we hang out once? Can we please just... and I'll make you meet everyone at home as well, they should know the truth."

"Oh that's really not necessary, Mayukh. You heard me, and that's more than enough. I'm happy that you're aware of everything now."

They looked so lost in the conversation. I saw Ved join the conversation as well and apologize to her. I saw the way Mayukh had held her shoulder and a part of me got scared. It just hit me: his ex got proven innocent. What if he goes back to her? She's not even a bad person, and they've been together from before, what if the feelings just come back? They're going to hang out again and.... I got scared.

So, I quickly left the flat and ran to mine. I reached my room and locked my door and then went in front of the mirror and cried. I messed up by bringing them together.

What will happen now? 
They're going to hang out.

I quickly went to take a warm shower to clear my mind but it didn't help much. Just a little. I got to my work and then finally made a decision that I would do whatever he wants. In the sense that, I'd be okay with his decision.
Whatever his decision is.
Who his decision is.

At around 10pm, I got a message from Mayukh.
M: Hey, you left early? What happened? Is everything okay?

What do I say? Should I be honest?
No, of course not. That will ruin things. It's not fair either. He should be free. 

N: I had a bit of work, that's why I left. I hope everything is sorted between you and her now?

He replied within a second.
M: It did, thank you! We're going out tomorrow, and I'll make her meet Mom Dad so they can also understand the whole story.

She's going to meet his parents.
N: That's wonderful! Have fun.

I don't know how I'm going to handle this, but I need to be strong about it.

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