Lakshay’s revelation
Lakshay’s POV:
Lakshay didn’t understand how he kept fucking things up. His relationship with Aanandhi was so fucking turbulent, that it felt like he was constantly riding the freaking Titanic.
“I have to say, you have done a wonderful job of pissing off your sister-in-law and my lover at the same time. Way to go, Lakshay,” Atharva said in a hard voice. He was cuddling Vishwa, who wouldn’t look up at anyone.
Lakshay winced.
It was never his aim to hurt Vishwa. He was his favorite brother, after all. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t related by blood. Vishwa was family even before his brother decided to corrupt him.
“Vishwa, I’m sorry. You know I don’t hate you. I was just mad at Atharva for pushing Aanandhi like that,” Lakshay apologized, trying unsuccessfully to garner his attention.
Vishwa slowly raised his eyes to meet his. He was hurt, that much was obvious, but there was another fierce quality in that gaze.
“You called me a freak and unnatural,” he whispered. The volume of the tone did not lessen the ferocity of the blow.
Lakshay sucked in a deep breath.
“Vishwa,” he trailed off as he noticed the unshed sheen of tears in his eyes.
God, he fucked up spectacularly!
Vishwa got up, gently pushed Atharva’s hand off his shoulder, and walked away.Atharva watched him go with pursed lips.He turned his blazing eyes on him.
“Fix this mess, Lakshay. I don’t care what you have to do. My Vishwa better be back to normal by lunch, or I’m gonna make sure you sleep at the hospital tonight,” he growled and stalked off after Vishwa, no doubt.
Lakshay put his head in his hands and tugged the short strands of hair till he winced.
He was supposed to have a nice breakfast with Aanandhi, not have a huge fight with her and everyone else in the process.
“I’m so glad I’m not you,” Vignesh commented and scraped the last pieces of chicken off his plate with a spoon.
Lakshay grunted and started thinking of ways to go about fixing this mess. What was so wrong with being amazed by Aanandhi’s easy acceptance of Atharva and Vishwa’s relationship? And yes, he probably shouldn’t have compared Aanandhi with his wife. It was bad enough he called her Harini once. Continuing to do the same after they decided to date wasn’t conducive to a healthy relationship.
“I think I’m gonna see if I can catch up with Aanandhi. Maybe we can go sightseeing together,” Vignesh mused aloud, looking excited about the prospect of spending time with his wife.
He was always excited whenever Aanandhi’s name was mentioned. Lakshay thought he had a crush when they were younger. Harini used to comment on it as well. Pretty much everyone in the whole world was aware of Vignesh’s overwhelming affection for Aanandhi. Everyone except for Vignesh himself. Lakshay wondered if he should mention his thoughts to Vignesh. He decided against it since the last thing he wanted was to pique his brother’s interest in the woman he liked and encourage him to doggedly pursue her. Vignesh was nothing if not persistent in his romantic pursuits.
But, Vicky didn’t have what it took to be a responsible lover and husband.
Case in point.
“Where’s Maragathavalli?” Lakshay asked his younger brother.
“She’s having the mother of all hangovers. I heard her throwing up when I came to find Aanandhi,” he replied as he licked his spoon clean. Lakshay wrinkled his nose at the display. Appa and Amma would be appalled by his dreadful table manners.
“You left your sick mistress alone?” Lakshay asked drily. Now this was why Vicky was not prime relationship material, right there!
Vignesh shrugged.“This is not the first time she’s had a hangover. She doesn’t like it when I hover, and it’s not something I prefer either. It works for both of us,” he said with a shrug.
Lakshay resisted the urge to facepalm. His brother was an idiot if he thought women preferred to be left alone while sick. In fact, the concept applied to everyone, but Vicky lacked the intuition needed to understand the situation, and Lakshay refused to enlighten him. He briefly wondered if that made him a bad brother. He quickly shook himself of such silly notions. His brother had to grow up on his own time.
As soon as he got up to leave, Vignesh scrambled after him. Lakshay quietly sighed to himself. Younger brothers were like puppies. You couldn’t get mad at them, or they’d cry. In Vicky’s case, he’d whine and bitch.
Fortune smiled upon him in the form of a gold digger named Maragathavalli. The girl wore a pair of expensive sunglasses that definitely belonged to Vignesh. As soon as she saw Vignesh, she fell into his arms and clung to him like a limpet. He quickly strode off when she started whinging. What did Vignesh even see in her?
He shook his head and reached the hotel foyer. How was he going to locate Vishwa now?
He called Vishwa, but he didn’t pick up the phone. He then tried Atharva, who said that Aanandhi had taken Vishwa shopping with her at a mall nearby. He also received a few threats that he should behave, and Lakshay put up with it for the time being.
Lakshay didn’t hate Atharva. He found his lifestyle a bit too extreme for his tastes. Sure, they’d both had fun partying when they were younger. Then Lakshay had settled down after he met Harini. Atharva never did. Atharva has been tolerable ever since Vishwa came into his life. But he did know that the two of them were pretty wild and did crazy things. Their relationship was not normal. Lakshay didn’t want Aanandhi to get pulled into that train wreck. Aanandhi has been accepting of everything thrown her way so far. The last thing he wanted was for her to run off because Atharva couldn’t rein himself in.
Lakshay took a taxi to the mall and strolled in with his hands in his pockets. Where would he even begin his search here?
He decided to ignore the supermarkets and sports equipment stores.
He decided to duck into the first clothing store that caught his eye. He walked along, ignoring the curious gazes of the shop assistants and brushing off the ones who wanted to help him. He continued this search for about an hour before giving up and calling Aanandhi. Her phone was unreachable, and Lakshay cursed aloud.
His stomach was also grumbling, and he needed a snack before he crushed his own cellphone.
He ate his sandwich at the food court, all the while keeping an eye on his surroundings.
It was then he noticed two people at a little boutique. It was Aanandhi and another woman. They were both wearing matching skirts and giggling together.
And then, they were kissing?
Lakshay didn’t understand what he was looking at. He took his phone out and snapped a picture.
Aanandhi liked women?
Was that why she agreed to this horrible marriage in the first place?
But she’d kissed him yesterday!She was turned on! Lakshay literally had first-hand (or was it first finger) proof?
Did she only kiss him so he wouldn’t grow suspicious of her behavior?
Lakshay needed time to process this new information. A lot of time…