38

Sanyukta tried hard to find her voice to say no, but while she was searching for it, Rehaan pushed her down on his bed.

Tears filled her eyes and she moved her face to the side before Rehaan could touch her lips.

"Hey," he said, sounding frustrated.

"No, please," she told him weakly. "I don't want to kiss."

"If you don't know how to do it, it's okay," he urged.

"I... I just want to go to my room," she begged now, tears falling from her eyes.

He let go of her and she sat up, wiping away her tears.

"S - sorry I really just wanted to be friends. I don't have any other intentions," she squeaked.

Rehaan placed a hand on her shoulder, making her cringe again.

"I won't let you go without kissing me," he told her darkly, scaring her.

Then all of a sudden there was a knock on Rehaan's door.

"That bastard," Rehaan swore, assuming it to be Randhir.

"Rehaan!" Parth's voice said as he banged on the door.

"Oh," Rehaan mumbled and he went to open the door.

Parth walked in and winked at Sanyukta.

"I came to tell you I have to sleep in your room," Parth said.

"Why?" Rehaan asked, clearly irritated.

"Don't tell anyone but... I'm scared," he whispered.

Sanyukta smiled with relief. What she didn't know was that it was Randhir who sent Parth, indirectly rescuing her.

39

Rehaan's ego shot up when Parth chose him over Randhir, so he couldn't even reject his younger brother. Sanyukta walked out of the room without another word, her heart filled with warmth by Parth's action.

The teenage boy who seemed to care too much about looking cool, falsely admitted to being scared... for her?

As she was walking past Randhir's room into her own, she felt his hand grip her wrist and pull her into his room. He locked the door to his room and pinned her to the wall.

"I know I'm nobody to tell you this, but if you go there again, I swear he's going to rape you," Randhir hissed. "He's dangerous. Stay far away."

Sanyukta angrily pressed her lips together and struggled, but he held her tightly against the wall.

"So what?" she finally said, "If I get raped then it's my problem. Why do you care?"

"I... I don't," he said and then let go of her. "Fine. Go ahead. Get raped. I don't care. Just don't come crying to me after."

Sanyukta was about to unlock his door, when she turned around again and grabbed his shirt angrily.

"Don't touch me again. Don't talk to me again. Don't look at me again," she ordered.

"Then don't go near Rehaan again," he warned her.

Sanyukta pushed him back hard, tears filling her eyes.

"I'll kill you," she warned. "If you torture me, I'll kill you."

Then she charged at him again and started to punch his chest.

"Torture?" he asked.

"Yes... these feelings are torture," she sobbed, throwing punch after punch at his chest.

He just let her hit him, completely taken aback by how deeply she had fallen for him.

"Then be tortured," he finally said, grabbing her arms and pinning them behind her back. "I don't care."

She glanced at his lips and suddenly all sane thoughts left her mind as she closed the distance between their lips, kissing him. Randhir, surprised, let go of her hands and held her face gently between his hands and returned her kiss.

40

Randhir knew this was wrong, but he enjoyed kissing her. It was like there was something that made her different from all the other girls he kissed. It definitely wasn't experience because she still wasn't the best kisser... but she was the one he enjoyed kissing the most, as strange as it sounded.

As their lips worked in unison, she rested her hand on the nape of his neck and deepened the kiss, her tongue entering his mouth, wanting to taste him even more than she already was. Randhir's hands moved down to her back and he pulled her closer to him, unable to break the kiss, despite knowing how wrong this really was.

Finally, they broke the kiss and Sanyukta breathlessly looked into his eyes. Then without another word, she kissed him again, not able to get enough. As they kissed, they somehow landed on the bed, with her falling on top of Randhir. Her hands reached under his shirt and she tried to lift it up.

Randhir rolled her over on the bed so she was lying under him as he took his shirt off and threw it on the side. Sanyukta looked at his toned abs and her eyes went wide. She reached out and felt them, breathless just by the sight. Randhir captured her lips in yet another kiss.

Finally, he broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers.

"Do you even know what's happening?" he asked her.

"No," she whispered, feeling his breath against her skin. "And I don't want to know."

He fell on the bed next to her and closed his eyes, trying to take control of the situation. He couldn't do this just because he lusted after her. Her feelings were far too deep already.

Sanyukta snuggled into him and closed her eyes too. Randhir relaxed and fell asleep, deciding that he would go back to avoiding her in the morning. Right now, it was better that she was here with him than next door with his older brother.

Once he fell asleep, Sanyukta lifted her head from his chest and smiled. She picked up his phone and entered his passcode. She had done all this to get access to his phone tonight for the confidential files she could send to her father.

Her plan had worked.

41

As Sanyukta went through the files, she saw some confidential documents that would surely be of good use to her father. She managed to open Randhir's e-mail account (which luckily he hadn't signed off), and she used his e-mail ID to send her father the documents she had found. Then she deleted the e-mail from the sent folder to erase any trace of the message.

After she was done, she went through his messages and paused as she looked at the name "Vidhushi" as one of the people he texted frequently. She opened the conversation and started to read. As she read, her heart hurt more and more, yet she was unable to stop reading. Tears prickled her eyes as she read all the "I love you's" and all the sexy talk. There was no doubt after reading his conversation with Vidhushi that she was his girlfriend.

Sanyukta met Randhir a month ago. How could she stand any chance to replace Vidhushi in his life? How could she even make him want to stop seeing her? Vidhushi must mean so much more to him than she did.

She left the conversation and sniffled, trying to calm herself down, but her heart felt shattered. It was difficult for her to breathe.

"What are you doing?" Randhir's voice then asked.

Her hand froze on his phone and she turned to look at him fearfully.

42

Randhir grabbed the phone from her hand and stared at his lock screen. She had pressed the power button quickly when he asked what she was doing.

"I thought I heard it ring so I was going to give it to you," she mumbled.

Randhir turned it on and checked his call history. There was nobody that had just called.

"Nobody called," he said, turning to look at her.

"Oh... I guess I was just hearing things in my sleep," she said, and then yawned. "Good night."

She closed her eyes and Randhir placed the phone under his pillow, suspicious of what she was doing. Maybe she had gone through his phone to find out more about Vidhushi.

Randhir had no idea that the severity of what she had just done was far greater than he could imagine. He had no idea that she leaked the most confidential files that his father had entrusted him with... and what made it worse was that his name was connected to those files.

He had no idea what would happen to him now. This action of hers was going to change his life... massively.

43

The next day in Sanyukta's tutoring session with Parth, the youngest Shekhawat was watching Sanyukta with admiration, almost like he was seeing his tutor in a different light.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked him self-consciously.

"I'm trying to look at you the way that Randhir looks at you," Parth pointed out.

"What?" she gasped.

"I mean... the way he came to me and told me to go to Rehaan's room. He was so possessive," Parth said.

"He told you?" Sanyukta asked, shocked.

Parth nodded.

"He sent me there because he didn't trust Rehaan with you," Parth explained. "But Rehaan's shit. He was boring. You know he snores?"

Sanyukta laughed.

"You snore too," she said and then pinched his nose.

"Hey!" Parth said, frowning.

"You're cute," she commented.

"Cute? I'm fifteen!" he said, sounding defensive.

"That doesn't mean you're not cute!" she argued. "But... what do you mean when you were talking about the way Randhir looks at me? He looks at me a certain way?"

Parth smirked.

"Now you wanna know?" he asked Sanyukta. "You still like him despite all my warnings?"

"I mean... you don't have to tell me," she mumbled.

"I'll tell you," Parth said. "I've seen him look at you in a way he hasn't looked at any other girls."

"Really?" she gasped.

Parth nodded.

"It makes me wonder if for once he's serious about you," Parth said. "But then that would suck for me... I won't stand a chance if Randhir claims you."

Sanyukta giggled again and pulled his chubby cheek.

"Stop!" Parth said, sounding annoyed. "Let's do work!"

For the first time in his life, he suggested doing work.

44

Parth seemed to be an expert on these romantic matters at the mere age of fifteen. Those romantic shows he watched surely seemed to teach him a lot about love... he could detect that his older brother was serious just by the way he looked at Sanyukta.

Sanyukta didn't know how valid Parth's words were, but she felt good when she heard the younger boy say that Randhir looked at her a certain way. It was almost like he loved her too.

Could it be that he could love her, and he had a reason for not confessing his feelings?

That evening, she was having dinner alone when Rehaan sat next to her with his own plate.

"Tonight, my room," he said sternly.

"No," Sanyukta said right away.

"We have to finish what we left incomplete yesterday," Rehaan urged.

"I'm not the kind of girl who you can get," Sanyukta told him and stood up, leaving her dinner half-eaten.

Then she stormed out of the room, irritated by Rehaan's persistent behaviour.

This was one Shekhawat brother who irritated her to another level, then there was Randhir, for whom she felt these torturous feelings for that she couldn't even understand, and finally Parth, the sweetest and most innocent boy, despite being so messed up by his brothers.

As Sanyukta angrily stormed out of the dining room, Rehaan watched her go, an evil smile on his face.

"Trust me, I will get you... no matter what it takes Pooja," he said out loud, his tone intense and dark, "and I will get you before Randhir does."

45

That night, Sanyukta paced back and forth in her room, confused by what to believe. Were Parth's words true? Could it be that Randhir really had feelings for her, and he just wasn't telling her for some reason?

The possibility that Randhir could love her was bothering her. She wasn't able to rest until she found out. He never told her he didn't hate her. He just kind of ignored it and showed indifference. Maybe he didn't have it in him to leave Vidhushi. Maybe Sanyukta did hold a special place in his heart.

Regardless of what the reason was, she needed to find out.

Sanyukta left her room at around midnight and knocked on his door quietly. Randhir opened it right away and looked at her like she was out of her mind.

"Why are you here again?" he asked her.

She entered his room and he locked the door.

"I don't feel safe alone," she answered, trying to sound casual.

"You're safe in your own room," he pointed out.

"Not as safe as I am here," she told him, looking up into his eyes.

Then she placed her hands on his waist and pressed her face into his t-shirt, inhaling his natural scent. It was intoxicating.

"Stop," he told her, but she had slipped her hands inside his shirt and reached up his body, feeling his hard and toned abs.

"I can't," she replied, her fingers brushing over his nipples and pausing there. "Please don't stop me."

Randhir grabbed her hair with his hands and pulled her back. She arched her head back and looked at him longingly. With the vulnerability and acceptance she looked at him with, he couldn't help it anymore. He pressed his lips against hers roughly.

"I could do anything to you," he murmured against her mouth darkly. "You shouldn't trust me either."

"I don't trust you," she whispered breathlessly. "But that doesn't matter... it doesn't change what I want."

Randhir then picked her up in his arms and carried her to his bed, kissing her senselessly the whole way.

46

Randhir was kissing her like never before, senselessly, passionately, hungrily. It was like he was ready to rip her clothes off... and the way he desired her was increasing the ache in between her legs.

Who knew you could ache so much? She wanted something between her legs now. Sanyukta grabbed his pants, trying to pull him down further against her, but he was already pressed against her.

His lips now moved to her neck, sucking on every part of her that he had access to. His hands roamed up her body, resting on her breasts. Sanyukta's eyes were squeezed shut and her heart was hammering nervously as he rubbed her breasts over her pyjama shirt.

"Fuck," Randhir groaned, trying to get lower on her body, but his mouth was stuck on the top of her shirt.

For the first time in her life, she found a swear word sexy.

Randhir got off her and sat up on the bed.

"Sit up," he ordered.

Sanyukta obliged and sat up. He reached under her shirt, his fingers brushing against her navel, but Sanyukta grabbed his hand and took it out, slipping it between her legs, pressing it up into her crotch and letting out a soft moan.

Randhir's eyes widened.

"Oooh," she moaned, feeling better as soon as she felt his fingers there. "That feels so good."

"You know how to have sex," he pointed out.

"Huh?" she asked, her face burning.

"That's where people have sex," Randhir said.

Sanyukta blushed.

"There?" she asked.

"Yes," he answered and he took her hand, bringing it over to his crotch, over his pants. "Using this."

"That's what it's for?" she asked, blushing.

"Just like you feel good when I do this, I feel good when you do this to me," he told her, moving her hand across his hardness, as he used his other hand to stroke her soft spot from over her pyjama pants.

She looked into his eyes again, trying to find what it was that Parth found. How did he look at her? Was it with love? How did someone look at someone else with love?

Finally, she blurted out, "Do you love me?"

Randhir was stunned by her timing.

47

"Love?" Randhir repeated after her, as if she had lost it.

Sanyukta nodded, still hopeful that he wouldn't say anything mean but her heart felt like it would fail at any moment. Randhir eyed her, as if he was trying to understand what her motive was behind asking her that question.

"I can't love anyone," he finally said.

That didn't make sense to her. She edged away from him and brought her knees up to her chin, wrapping her arms around her legs, and pouting her lips.

He hadn't answered her question. Instead, he avoided it.

She felt his warm hand on her shoulder and it made her want to lean into him and cuddle, but he took it off immediately and sighed, running his hand through his hair.

"That's it. We've done too much," he told her. "You should go to your room."

Finally she lifted her head and turned to face him, her eyes boring into his.

"Why can't you love anyone?" she asked.

Randhir stood up and shook his head.

"I can't tell you. Now please go," he told her. "I'm asking you nicely."

"But do you love me?" she urged, standing up too. "I mean, you haven't denied it either."

"Didn't I just say I can't love anyone?" he snapped, irritated now.

"That doesn't answer my question! I don't care about what you can and can't do. I only care about what you feel!" she responded, just as irritated. "Do you love me or not?"

Then she walked over to him and grabbed his shirt, pulling him close to her.

"Then listen to me very carefully," he hissed, "I don't love you and I never will. Don't have any expectations or hopes, because it isn't ever going to happen."

Tears filled her eyes.

"Fine. I got my answer," she told him, her voice cracking, and then she let go of him and stormed out of the room, her hand reaching up to cover her mouth so she could stifle her sobs.

This was the closure that she needed.

48

The next morning, Sanyukta used the house phone to make a call to Rudra uncle. In coded language, he confirmed that her father received the e-mail and it was useful. At the end of the call, Rudra uncle said, "I'm proud of you", which she assumed came from her dad and it made her happy. She had succeeded in something. Rudra uncle's tone sounded extremely positive, like he was very pleased.

It had been a huge win for their party.

He also advised her that she should look for more opportunities because they required more information for success. Sanyukta then decided that her mission was to get into Harsh Shekhawat's office, as difficult as it may be. One way would be to speak with the president, but it was hard to get glimpses of him... so she had to be on her toes.

That evening, Sanyukta was deliberately walking outside the office, when Randhir came out of the room. Upon seeing her there, he frowned. He wanted to ask what she was doing there, but he was ignoring her, so he just walked past her. Sanyukta ignored him too. After what happened last night, she didn't want to talk to him either... she decided to forget that she loved him, because it didn't matter anyways.

She didn't even know why she had expected him to say he loved her. Even if he did love her, what would happen? It was better this way. They would never be allowed to be together because their fathers lead such opposite parties.

It was a doomed relationship.

A few seconds after Randhir walked off in the opposite direction, Harsh Shekhawat walked out of the room and closed the office door.

He saw Sanyukta lingering there and looked at her suspiciously.

"You're the tutor?" he asked her.

It was the first time Harsh had said anything to her.

Sanyukta nodded.

"Yes, the tutor," she replied affirmatively.

"What are you doing in this hall?" Harsh asked her.

"I was about to ask you about Parth," she lied.

"Renuka deals with all tutor inquiries," he answered.

"Renuka's out," Sanyukta replied. "I really need feedback now."

"Ask Rehaan or Randhir then," Harsh responded.

Sanyukta sighed.

"Please, can we talk?" she asked. "It's really important. I wouldn't bother you if it wasn't. I know you're very busy."

Harsh contemplated it for a few seconds and then he nodded. He typed in the passcode to his office and Sanyukta watched carefully from behind him, memorizing the numbers. Then she followed him into the office to take a look at what he had.

49

Sanyukta entered the office and sat on the chair in front of the President. She tried to subtly look around. There were bookshelves on the sides with different books - history ones, religious ones, and many more. There was a desktop on the President's desk and there was a door at the back with a key lock. She wondered where it lead.

"What can I do for Parth?" Harsh asked her.

"Sir, Parth is doing really well now. I know my contract is only for another two months, and I want to be able to help him succeed as much as possible," Sanyukta informed.

"Yes Renuka told me that Parth has grown a fondness for you," Harsh told her. "If you want, we can look into extending your contract."

Sanyukta shook her head.

"That's not what I came here for. I know it's really random and sounds very strange of me to say this, but after Parth's tutoring sessions, I get really... bored. I have nothing to do. I wanted to learn some things myself. Can you possibly take me as an apprentice or a volunteer? I can even be here to serve you tea... I just want to learn about politics. It's a subject I've never received training in," she explained.

"I know you are a nice girl, but I can't let just anyone be around when I talk about the country's biggest secrets," Harsh told her sternly.

"I know, and that's why I am hesitating myself but I really think I'm capable to help," she urged. "Please."

Harsh took a deep breath and shook his head.

"No," he said firmly.

"Please sir. Here teachers are given the utmost importance and I'm Parth's teacher. I know you give me payments but I want to learn. I value education more," she urged. "And I vow I will never expose any secrets."

"How can I trust you?" Harsh asked her.

"I give you full permission to kill me if you feel like I have done something out of line," she told him, trying to sound sincere.

Harsh looked at her with surprise, stunned to see someone's persistence and determination.

Sanyukta looked at Harsh, silently pleading. Her father would save her after all once the Shekhawat's found out who she was... right?