A Secret She Carried [REWRITTEN]

CHAPTER ONE

Ranbir Mithal, the CEO of Mithal Corporation, stood before the enormous glass window of his Mumbai head office. Enjoying the bird's-eye view his 25th-floor office offered him; with his hands neatly tucked in the pockets of his perfectly tailored Italian suit pants, he watched the sun dip into the horizon turning the sky into a colored canvas of shades of orange and red with a dash of pink.

He watched the twilight as it slowly blended into the darkness reminding him that this was it; he had once again lost another day; another day he was never going to get back. 'Time flies so fast.' He thought to himself as he blinked several times trying his best to fight off the tears that dared to escape from his eyes. Why was it so difficult to live without her? Why couldn't he just forget her and move on for good? But he couldn't do that; he had made a promise to himself that he would never give up on her not now nor ever and he intended to keep his promise.

Another day had come to an end and there was still no trace of her. He had looked for her almost everywhere in the past five years and there hadn't been one place where he hadn't looked for her. It had been so long that he had almost given up, and yet a part of him hoped that one day he would find her. The mere thought had kept him alive for so many years. But then again, how do you find someone who does not want to be found?

Sometimes he wondered, maybe whatever had happened had happened for good. Maybe she was better off without him. It wasn't like he had been the best choice for her. After all, he was the man who had objectified her like she was a piece of property. In fact, she deserved someone much better than a spoilt rich brat like him or at least that's what he was back in the day. However, he was the one she chose over so many others and that really must mean something right?

But he had broken her heart or should we say ripped it apart, for what? A stupid mindless bet he had with his friends, a bet that had meant nothing to him. He could never erase the memory of the look on her face when he saw her standing at the doorway with tears rolling down her cheeks. She had overheard every word he had said; words that he never meant, words he never wanted her to hear.

He could still remember every single word that he had uttered, word by word and the mere thought of the effect it may have had on her fragile heart scared him to the core. He had used an innocent girl for his pleasure; he had played with her emotions and mocked her sincerity. She had given him everything; her mind, her soul and also her innocence. And what did he give her in return apart from heartache? Absolutely nothing.

He regretted not going after her that night. Maybe he could have stopped her from leaving, maybe change whatever had happened, to some extent at least. Or at least he could have explained to her that whatever she had heard was a lie and the truth was he was utterly and madly in love with her. And he was willing to do anything and everything for her.

He knew what he had done to her was wrong and no girl deserves to be treated in that way. Let alone, someone like her who had gone through so much for him. But he had already received his punishment for it. He was willing to do anything and everything to win her back. He loved her so much that he was willing to wait for her all his life.

"Are you even listening to me brother?" Karan Mithal, his younger brother demanded, snapping him out of his thoughts. Shaking off the uneasy thoughts he walked back to his desk and sat down on his plush leather chair. "What has he done now?" he asked in a stern yet tired tone. He had a really long day and this conversation was giving him a headache.

It wasn't new for his brothers to come running to him whenever anyone of them screwed up, but in most of the cases, it was always Rohan who screwed up. And every time that would happen Karan would come running to him complaining like a child. He just hoped that this time Rohan hadn't gotten himself into too much trouble. He was in no mood of getting involved with the media trying to clear his mess.