Leap of Faith

The Royal Ex

"Alina and I hit it off from the day we met when we were not more than seven. Her father had invited us to Mukherjee mansion to celebrate the first factory of SpeedEx. Our friendship grew over time as were Kar and Mukherjee families. Of course, our dads were always busy but our moms met as often as it was possible. As we grown older, everything was just like it was supposed to be. I thought we liked each other," he pondered. "Things started to change when dad first bought our house in Mumbai. Alina and I could not meet often enough. I called her almost every day and then on my sixteenth birthday, I plucked up the courage and confessed my feelings."

"She said yes?" I asked knowing the answer. 

He nodded thoughtfully. "We dated for three years until she realized that she could do better. Of course, it killed my mom as she was looking forward to our relationship resulting in marriage."

"What had happened?" I queried pressing the hold of his hand.

"She told me that she was tired of possessiveness and insecurities. She broke with me and was ready for a new adventure. Frankly, it was her circle of more influential friends. She realized with me she had no future."

"How did you cope up?" I managed to ask, after an awkward silence.

"I couldn't. My belief in love shattered. I turned rebellious and in turn, earned my father's disapproval. In those years, I behaved in a way that was completely opposite of my dad's expectations of me," he said sighing. 

"Your dad must have been mad," I mumbled showing as much empathy as I could express.

"Precisely! He forced me to go to the US for studies. I missed Alina, missed our early relationship years. I hated being away from my mother and Riya."

"Your father didn't like Alina, did he?" I queried. 

"I couldn't tell. He never objected it, though," he informed. "We rarely spent quality time with each other as he was never there. Especially when I turned older."

"That is sad," I murmured.

He acknowledged my remark with a short nod and continued, "When I was in the US, I was officially a rebellion. I spent money like a maniac and thrashed expensive cars. I was doing everything in my power to disappoint him."

"How did he take that?" I asked almost instantaneously.

"He became angrier to the point that he had decided not to pass the business to me. He was sure that I would ruin everything for him," he said with sad eyes.

"Let me get this straight," I paused. "If he had decided not to pass the reins of the business to you, then who was he planning to give?"

"My cousin, Vikram. He was the blue-eyed boy in my father's eyes at that time. He was an intelligent, fierce, and aggressive businessperson. He worked under my father since he had graduated from Cambridge."

"How old is he?" I asked as my curiosity rose.

"He is almost eight years older to me."

"So what happened to him? Where is he now?" I queried.

"When my father died a few years ago, he left SpeedEx and started his own business in the UK. He is the CEO of Stagmac Inc holding. As he was always interested in manufacturing business, He kept his ownership share in SpeedEx, and he, in turn, is a board member. And yeah, he is here to attend his little sister's wedding."

"Hmm. Tell me about your cousin sister. Who is she marrying?" I asked, cleverly changing the troublesome subject.

"Ishika is an overly pampered girl and a little pretentious. I personally do not like her. I was not thinking of coming here, it was you who brought me to this stupid wedding."