• Part 62 •

Nikita POV:

"Forced? By who?" I asked her.

"Have you ever heard of Riya? Riya Gupta?"

I sighed, I wish I hadn't but here we go. So I nodded, "I have."

Shruti chuckled, "I might have an idea as to what happened with you and her, considering that we're on the same boat, but, Mayukh and I have been together since school, almost 1.5 years, and when we both finalized going to Bournebrooke, it felt amazing. Our relationship would continue and things would be good."

I heard her but felt a knot in my own stomach. The guy I'm wishing asks me out has his super amazing looking ex, who isn't even a bad person, right in front of him. Plus, they have history. Unlike Riya, Mayukh actually liked her.

"... Riya is his family friend. I am also his family friend but I'm not as close to his family as her parents are. Her mother was chancellor back then, and she used that to her advantage and wrote me a recommendation to study in USC, in the US."

"USC, that's a great school." I said.

"It is." She said, "She knew it was the perfect school for my career, I wanted to get into film direction, and this was exactly what I needed. I don't know how she knew. I never really told anyone much about what I wanted to do."

"Why didn't you select USC beforehand?"

"Well, I figured, Bournbrooke has the same level of global credibility as USC, so my plan was to get into USC for Masters, later on. That way, I was closer to him, I'd save up and I would have Mayukh with me."

"What happened then?" I asked, intrigued.

"Well, one day, my mother gets 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, even though I told her that I had my plans, but you can understand the way our mothers might think, she didn't want me to miss the chance."

Sounds very familiar.

"So then, she said yes on my behalf. I didn't know how to tell Mayukh 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 Mayukh to help."

"Riya asked you?"

"Riya and I were friends, Nikita. We were quite close until I realized much later on what her true intentions were. I never saw them. 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 Roy's will not let her in. Riya asked me to get her into events and things, but she always just used my name."

Oh.

"I didn't like hiding it from Mayukh 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. But then...."

I saw her face get upset, "We... we don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"No." She said, fixing herself, "You should know. Then, one day, when I was coming to school, on the last few days of it, I see Mayukh and his brothers looking at me in extreme anger. I didn't understand what was going on. When I tried to talk, they said that I've been cheating because my behaviour has been very distant, I've been hiding things, and then they labeled me as a gold digger who was using Mayukh and his power to get into where I wanted to go."

Oh my God.

"I couldn't defend anything because all the documents had the Roy's label as her mom was the chancellor. I tried to tell them about Riya but they didn't let me talk. I tried to talk to Mayukh but he didn't let me confront Riya or even hear me out, instead he just blocked me in front of him and then walked away. I spent weeks trying to contact him through his parents, his brother sister, but no one was ready to talk to me. Eventually, I came to terms with it."

"I'm so sorry this happened to you."

"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. Turns out that she told me everything - that this was her plan and that she didn't like me and Mayukh together and now that I was leaving, she can have him. 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 Mayukh or anyone. I assumed it's a sign that I should move on, so I did."

"So, you don't... like him anymore?"

She chuckled, "Relax. I know you like him and I know he likes you too. I won't lie, when I got here I did get very jealous seeing you and him, because I found out he kicked Riya out for you, and it made me sad because there could have been a time when this might have happened for me, but you're a great person."

"But, if your course is done? Why are you back? And how is your course done so quickly?"

"So quickly? It's been 3 years!" She chuckled, "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. 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 him the truth."

"And they don't want to hear you."

"Yep. I thought it's a good time to clear the air but it doesn't look like it is. I don't know if I ever can clear the air now."

"I don't think you should think like that, maybe just foc—" I tried to speak.

"Nikita? What are you doing here?" I was interrupted by Mayukh's voice, which oozed anger and frustration. I turned around and tried to speak but before I could, he came near me and looked at Shruti, "I told you to stay away from me and everything related to me."

"Mayukh, I'm just trying to explain her thr same thing that I am trying to—" Shruti tried to reason.

"I don't want to listen to anything that comes out of your mouth." He cut her off.

He looked at me, "Next time this happens, which it better not," he said that looking at her then looked back at me, "you call me. Come." He grabbed my bag and started packing my stuff while I looked at her helplessly.

She smiled at me, then got up, "It was nice talking to you Nikita." She said and looked at Mayukh and then walked away, leaving us alone.

I watched her go and then I tried to tell Mayukh to hear her but he spoke, "Why are you talking to her? You know that she is going to try to poison your mind against me or she'll use you exactly how she used me."

"Mayukh, you need to hear her out. She isn't what you think she is. She's been misunderstood." I tried to reason with him.

He looked at me, his jaw clenching, "Mishbo, I won't ever raise my hand on you, or my voice. You know that, but my anger does exist and I really don't want you to be the reason I'm angry, especially when there's already someone I'm angry at. Please stop this."

He grabbed my bag and we headed out. I followed him quietly but I couldn't help but think about Shruti. If she's being honest, then what happened to her is entirely wrong.

He dropped me to my accommodation and looked at me, then he came closer and gave me a small kiss on my lips and then pulled away, "I get really angry when the topic is her, please don't talk to me about her and don't talk to her. I'm saying it for your own good." He caressed my face and then left.

I entered inside and quickly checked till he's out of sight, then, I headed downstairs and looked around until I found the person I needed to see: Shruti.

I walked to her, she was sitting by the rooms studying when I cleared my throat to grab her attention.

"Oh, Nikita. Hi." She said, surprised.

"I'll get to the point. I don't know if I should believe you or not. I want to, but you know..."

"I understand. You have all rights to not listen and believe me. So, here you go." She took out something in her bag and showed it to me. I looked and found a few texts which weren't clear.

"What is this?" I asked.

"That's all I have when I was going crazy to do research regarding my innocence. It's a few texts which Riya sent me after we met, where she was 'pitying' my condition. The rest.... Only Riya can tell."

"And he won't talk to Riya." I completed.

"Yep. Take these." She said, "And you don't worry. I won't bother you again."

"Do you still like him?" I blurted.

She looked at me and chuckled, "Nikita, I know better than to take someone else's man. I can get him back if I want, but he'll never look at me the way he looks at you, and I'm telling you that after dating him. I won't come in between you two, you have my word."

I felt reassured, but. Not so much.

"You don't trust me, do you?" She chuckled.

"I just want to know why you're here if you don't have university, or anything to do. You've got a degree." I asked.

"Well, I'm here to convince him, and when I'm not doing that, I'm actually preparing a script. If you must know, I'm heading off to the US in 2 months, and I'm going to be directing my own short film, so I'm working on that."

"I... I see." I looked around, "I better go before..." I can't let him see us.

"Before he sees you." She chuckled. I nodded, "I understand, don't worry about me and him. I won't be a stone in your path, but I'll tell you one thing. Go for it. He's a gem."

"Do you ever miss him?"

"I did before, but in the US, I met someone and, he really helped me through everything and I think that my barriers of friendhsip is changing there and it's blossoming into something else." She smiled, "Don't worry about me."

I looked at her, "Thanks."

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