"Damn man, what made her so angry at you? I've never seen a couple behaving so distant from any relationship so far!." the guy behind Vikrant said when he opened the door.

"You are?" I asked as I've never seen him around here.

"Brian." He said plainly looking at new up and down. I was assuming if he was here, then he must have known about me.

"Don't bother, you know why they are together," Vikrant said to him pointing at me with a dejected look and let me towards the lobby and gave me a drink.

"Nevertheless, you've what now? Spent eight months with her already and didn't fall for her?" Brian asked, and I furrowed my eyebrows.

"How long are you both with her?" I asked curiously, and they said in unison, "it's been eight years."

"Have you ever thought of her romantically?" Even though this question made me wonder if I was asking this about my wife to other men, I was curious.

"Of course, yes!" They looked at each other and then at me and then again at each other. There was an awkward silence between us and we couldn't look into each other's eyes considering the topic of discussion was my wife, fake or not.

After a while as I was looking at the balcony door, contemplating what to do next, I heard someone clear their throat.

"Look, the way she handles things and how confident her walk is, man, I could die for her," Brian said and Vikrant hummed, acknowledging the same.

"Huh, I bet Anthony also has that kind of feeling for her," I said, lying on the sofa, getting a headache.

"She is a masterpiece. But I know Anthony, even if he had such feelings, he wouldn't show it or confess to her." Vikrant said, and I chuckled

"No, I'm serious. He is different. I don't know why but that guy will die for Liara but never confess to her even if he had feelings for her," Vikrant said and I shook my head.

"So, you tell me, have you never, not even for a minute, wanted Liara romantically?" Brian asked.

"I wouldn't deny it," I said indirectly, answering his question.

"I've seen ladies in my life. Uncountable, to be exact, but she has a different spark, irritating to the extent that I cannot control my urge sometimes." I chuckled, as if it was true.

"So why are you hurting her every time?" Vikrant asked, and I was silent. Taking a deep breath, I watched the sun slowly going down.

"I've never seen her going to this extent to help someone when she loses her shares in a company. She loves power, but for you, she did something I couldn't imagine she would," Brian said in a mere whisper, but I heard it. I saw Vikrant punching him, but I already heard it.

"What did she do?" I asked, but he just walked away from me and gulped down a glass of water.

"Something that you would have never done for her." He said with a faint smile on his face.

"Brian, stop saying absurd things." Vikrant cursed him, but he just shrugged his shoulders.

"I've been trying to help her too! She wanted me to keep her Dima happy. I'm trying my best. This is difficult for me too!" I said, irritated when I was forced to accept that I was the only person on the receiving end of this relationship.

"She is taking care of more things compared to you. You don't even dare to spend some time with her family and go back to Julie as soon as you find some time!." Vikrant said.

"Don't bring Julie into this," I said through gritted teeth.

"Why not?! How often have you tried to do something for Liara instead of creating a problem for her? She has been on a constant run for you always, but you chill around like a whore of a person who you are!" Vikrant said and I grabbed his collar.

"What did you say?" I asked in a threatening tone.

"Guys, we shouldn't be doing this." Brian butted in, but Vikrant had an angry look and stared back at me.

"You think just because you were Mafia or Don or used to kill people for fun, so I will fear and scurry away from you? No buddy, you are wrong!" Vikrant said and pushed me away.

"Liara is the only person who has me living. And I've seen her suffer just because of some stupid contract. You don't even care for her enough to control your male ego and keep them inside your pants for a year but she has been throwing away her life for the sake of some damned promise she made to you." Vikrant was fuming and so was I but I hesitated because he was right.

"I didn't ask her to do anything for me." I said.

"Yeah right!" Vikrant said and shook his head.

"Dude, we know why you are here and why you've been hiding your identity. Considering how powerful you are, you could kill any of us here, but you are not because you have a goal. She understood that and has been spending her time mostly to figure out how to help you. And when the time comes, you'd know why Vikrant is behaving this way." Brian patted my shoulder.

"We love Liara to our cores and can not see her hurting when she sees you with that Julie, but we control our anger and now that you are having a baby with her? Think how devastated she was when she found out. Your wife finds out that someone else is having your baby. Even though you guys don't have a proper husband and wife relationship, you are a couple. You've spent eight months together and went through so many difficulties. Even though Liara never said it but it has attached her to you in a way that hurt her." Brian said, and I was shocked. How did they know all these things?

"Did Liara say that to you?" I inquired.

"She asked us to fast-forward our plan, as you can't be with us forever," Brian said.

"And said that you've started your family and they need you more," Vikrant said.

"I've not started anything," I said, frustrated by throwing my hands in the air.

"But Julie." Vikrant looked at me skeptically.

"That was just her misconception," I confessed.

"Why didn't you clear that up with Liara?" Brian asked and before I could answer it, Vikrant said, "As if she'd be in the mood to hear him out." "Exactly!" I said, finally feeling relieved that someone understood me.

"This is bad," Brian said, and I looked at him, confused.

"No, I mean, by how desperate you sounded a few minutes back, I get a feeling that you like Liara." He concluded. I shrugged my shoulders as I couldn't deny it.

"You like her?" Vikrant asked and before I could answer, Brian slapped him on his head and said, "Of course he does." I laughed at how childish they were.

"Then why bring Julie into every matter related to Liara? Why choose Julie when your wife wants your support?" Vikrant asked and I thought it through but failed to answer.

"I- I don't know. It's just that Julie has been through so much already. She has lost everything she loved, and I didn't want her to suffer anymore." I confessed, but it felt like a hollow inside my heart. As if there was a space within that I had to fill.

"You aren't sure about it,'' Brian said.

"Perhaps you like them both?" Vikrant butted in and I shook my head.

"Why do I feel you guys are hell-bent on taking love lessons for me? I don't want to discuss it." I laughed at how foolish I was behaving right now.

"Sometimes talking things out leads you into a proper path," Brian said.

"Alright, too much about it! Let's wrap it up." Vikrant said after he watched something on his phone.

"So, do I have to wait for Liara or there's no chance to meet her today?" I asked.

"Why do you wanna meet her?" Vikrant asked, wiggling his eyebrows, and I chose not to answer him and walked out of the building, waving him off. There was this unknown pressure on my chest that kept on piling up once I found how much she was doing for me behind my back.

Either she has an ulterior motive or she really was desperate to keep her people happy. But this made little sense, though. I racked my brain again and again but didn't find any suitable reason to give justification to her quest.

"What are you doing here?" I heard the voice, which I didn't want to hear when I walked towards Shimmers as the sun went down and the moon rose to take up its position. The hustling and bustling area around Shimmers seemed to be more crowded, and I understood why. Shimmers started again, and I was happy until I heard her voice.

"Why do you bother?" I asked as I looked at Samira as she was flaunting her red hair in front of me with her body-hugging dress. I searched for her companion, and there he was. Barrak Luchellis with all his glory and perfectly fit attire starting back at me with curious eyes. This maybe the first time I saw him standing in front of me and his smile that turned into a smirk as his eyes landed on me, had me feel like he was judging me.

"It's a pleasant surprise." He said and nodded at me. I wanted to wipe that smug smile off of his face, but I couldn't. My blood boiled to an extent as I watched her look down at me and smile as if she wasn't a hoe humming around me a few days back. Her audacity to hurt my wife and then show up like this had me wonder why I saved her so many times.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Luchellies." I heard my wife say. Wait, did I say my wife? I turned around with my mouth agape as I saw Liara walking gracefully towards us. She had worn a beautiful purple off-shoulder dress and her hair tied into a ponytail showing off her cleavage. I had to force my eyes to look away from her gaze when she studied my face.

"There you are! Such a beautiful woman. A treat to my eyes." He spouted, and I walked towards him to smack the shit out of him, but Liara's voice stopped me.

"I see you've already met my husband. What a pity. I wanted to surprise you." She said, and it felt like I was not the only one surprised by how she was behaving. Samira was also unaware of the event.

"I knew you got married, but didn't know who the lucky person was. But now that I look at him, uh, what a pity." He said, and I scoffed at him. They were talking about me and I stood there foolishly looking at my wife for why she did whatever she did.

"Meet Zearo, my husband, and I beg to differ. Your impression of him will change after tonight's concert." She said as she entangled her fingers with mine. Concert? What was she even implying?

"You've got to be kidding me," Samira said, and Barrak laughed at it.

"You must know my company has hosted this concert to announce our ownership of this club. I'm humbled that you showed up after I canceled our previous meeting." She said and pulled me a little closer. I didn't find her behavior amusing and didn't want to entertain them, either.

"May I speak to you for a minute?" I whispered into her ears and she nodded at me. We excused those unwanted guests according to me and walked a little away from the crowd.

''Explain." I just said a single word, and she looked at me for a second and said, "We've organized a concert where you will also be performing. They sold out the tickets and I wanted the shimmers to be back in their original place again." She said and before I could argue, "don't worry, your stylist is inside and they will give you a makeover with a costume change. I bet they'd recognize you like the mafia who used to kill people for fun back then." She said as she came closer to me and dusted the collar of my shirt.

"Why didn't you inform me earlier?" I asked flabbergasted that I had to perform amidst the crowd. I never performed live and thinking about my skills? It was a big no.

"I sent the newsletter to your apartment before I left for California. I thought you knew." She said as she looked at me, surprised.

"You could have told me yourself," I said, shaking my head.

"I had other important things to do. I've taken care of your identity. You will be behind a curtain and play the music. You will not be facing the cameras unless with me." She said after she called someone and her eyes searched for someone amidst all the people in front of Shimmers.

"Why did you invite them?" I asked as I looked at the two people I hated the most.

"I invited Barrak and his son. Samira was an add-on after their engagement." She explained still her eyes on the people and phone attached to her ears. 

"Engagement?" I asked, flabbergasted! Samira got engaged to who? Barrak or Harry? 

***†*****†*****†*****†*****†***

Who do you think was Samira engaged to?

And three updates in a day for all those beautiful readers who waited for the updates ❤❤❤

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